Samantha clung on to Alex, no matter how much she didn't want to. She, Mark, and Alex were gliding above the clouds now with Danny and Jake following them. Mark looked up at Alex and felt a sense of both fury and pity. She seemed like the type of girl who once was an innocent young girl picking flowers in the garden. Someone had come by and corrupted her entire personality and appearance. She still had the soft, tan cheeks and skin of a young girl, but her clothes were dark and intimidating. He looked behind him as best as he could to get a better look at Danny, when Alex zoomed ahead jerking Mark's head back forward.
He groaned a little, but immediately stopped. He didn't want Alex to think that he's weak. "Where are you taking us? Who...what are you guys? Superheroes?"
"We'll explain later, but we're not technically superheroes. We like to think of ourselves as distinctive, supernatural protectors."
"Distinctive...you mean weird?" Mark regretted saying that only a few seconds later. Alex had let go of his arm, and he began plummeting down back to the crust of Earth. He heard a scream of a girl's, which was probably Samantha's, then a yell of a strong male's voice. Mark presumed that was Danny's voice, scolding Alex. His eyes began to dry up and he felt like he was burning in the cold air of the lower atmosphere of Earth. He felt his entire body go numb and begin to freeze. That wasn't a good feeling. His throat suddenly felt strained and itchy when he realized he was yelling at the top of his lungs. He heard a small laugh and felt himself jerk up again. Danny had arrived, still carrying Jake and was pulling Mark back up to Samantha and Alex. Right when Danny had touched Mark, warmth spread back into Mark's arm and to the rest of his body.
Meanwhile, Samantha was crying and throwing a fit, punching and kicking at Alex. Alex didn't even seem to feel anything and continued flying forward with a sullen face. She looked behind her as Danny returned. He sped forward so he was flying beside Alex and furrowed his brows angrily at her.
"What the hell is your problem?!" he yelled. "You could have killed him! We need him with us. All three of them, and you know that."
Alexandra's expression didn't change. Instead, she just looked away from him. It almost seemed like she was sulking. Jake was thrown to her and though Alex couldn't see him, she swiftly grabbed his arm, and he floated up as if he was flying as well.
"Oh," Jacob raised his eyebrows. "What's this new power?"
"It's not new," Alex replied. "You've been flying all this time. As long as you have contact with me when I'm flying, you'll be flying as well."
"That's only if we want you to fly with us," chipped in Danny. He continued as he saw the mortal's confused expressions. "If we don't want you to fly with us, the instead of floating, gravity will take control as usual, and pull you down."
"Is that what happened with me and the girl who has anger problems?" Mark asked to Alex.
"My name is Alex," she said sternly. "And no. I just let you go on purpose. I was angry. That's different. You don't call us "
"How many people can you carry at once?" Mark asked.
"As many as we want."
"Let me guess," Jake said rolling his eyes. "You're also invincible."
"Almost," replied Alexandra. "When we are abusing our power--"
"Taking advantage of it almost and using it too much," continued Danny, "we lose our power."
"All of it? Or just the part of being invincible?" asked Jake.
"All of it."
"So you have to be really careful, then," Samantha said pretending to be concerned. That was the first time she spoke in the conversation. She looked at Mark's confused glimpse at her and gave him a reassuring smile, but she knew that everything from here on out is going to go downhill.
"You didn't understand my previous question, though..." Jake said, playing back the dialogue in his head again. He glanced at the two supernatural beings, straining his neck to look at Alex. "You just caught me without even looking at me...How did you know I was being thrown to you? Do you have eyes in the back of your head, or something?"
"No," she simply replied.
"Then what?"
Danny took control of the conversation. They were really careful not to give too much away. "Alright, all of you keep quiet from now on. I don't want to hear another question or comment from any one of you."
They didn't say anything for the next hour or two of flight, when Alex and Danny swooped down, below the clouds, scanning the area. They were flying about a massive pathway of grass--like a field--supported by forests on either side. The sun in the distance was beginning to dip down the horizon and bright colors of purple and orange smeared across the sky. They turned slightly towards the edge of the forest and dropped down, gaining speed as the flew down. As they reached about fifty feet above the ground, they slowed down. They could have kept going until they were only a few feet above the ground, before decreasing speed, but they remembered the mortals wouldn't be able to land smoothly at a hundred miles an hour without breaking all their bones. When they landed, the supernaturals didn't release their captives, but lessened their grip on them. Even if they tried to run, they wouldn't last a day in the wilderness. They were careful to pick city-like humans.
Jake shrugged Alex's hand off his arm, and looked around him. "Is this Agetho?"
"No, this is just a resting spot about fifty or so miles away from Agetho. We cannot fly at night--"
"Why not. You must have night-vision--"
"You all will need your rest for tomorrow morning. We will be walking the rest of the way. We do not want to arouse suspicion--"
"Yea, cause' I'm sure no one would have seen you at the beach in the afternoon, where it's densely populated most of the time. And I'm sure you and your partner were flying all over the city. Yep, no one would be suspicious."
Alexandra furrowed her brows at Jake. He was pulling at her nerves, but she calmed down and replied as soft as she could, though her voice tensed up at times, "Jake, please, just get some rest."
Mark and Samantha also pulled away and were standing together. Mark reached out a bit for Samantha's hand, when she took step away from him. Mark looked up at her once again in confusion, but she said nothing. A minute passed by of silence, and the mortals all stood still, while Danny and Alex parted to check the perimeters.
Jake spoke, "So what are we to sleep on?"
"On the ground," Danny had returned as quickly as he had left. "That won't be a problem, right?" That seemed like more of a statement than a question, as he didn't wait for a reply. Instead, he climbed one of the trees, and sat himself on a branch. The mortals exchanged glances at the sudden action, but took their spots on the wet dirt as far as possible from him.
"Aren't you going to sleep?" Samantha asked, directing the question to Danny. Mark cringed. Why was Samantha showing affection to Danny and keeping a distance between Mark? It should be vice versa, but Mark decided to ignore Samantha's strange actions for now.
"I don't need to. Besides, we need someone on the watch."
Darkness soon enveloped them all. Alex and Danny took their posts with the boy on top of the trees, and the girl scanning the ground. Mark and Samantha slept side by side together, but Sam had soon crept away from Mark. They had a five foot gap between one another. Mark couldn't understand, but then realized Samantha still might be angry about his pesterings the past week. But that doesn't mean she has to join the supernaturals' side. He turned and faced the sky, resting his head on his hands. In the wilderness, the sky was teeming with twinkling bright stars and the view was spectacular from above. He looked at Alex with her hands behind her back, standing up straight, her eyes darting from one place to another. She seemed prepare for an attack. He looked towards Jake who was sitting, leaning against a tree, his legs crossed in front of him. His head was tilted slightly up, his clothes were dirtied and his face contained small cuts and bruises. He looked just about fit for a poor farmboy.
Mark could have ran, right now, but he knew he was no match for the two superheroes; "Distinctive protectors" as they called themselves. Yea, right. Though for some reason, he didn't want to run. He didn't think it was necessary. Something inside him actually told him to stay where he was and to trust Alex and Danny. Something told him to trust Alex, the girl who had nearly killed him by dropping him from a couple of thousand feet in the sky. To trust Danny: the boy who resembled Death. Mark wanted to murder that something.
