CHAPTER THIRTEEN

MYRAH

Since I'm now friends with Essence, I wanted to know why Alyssa did what she did. When I got home that day, I immediately got my phone and texted Alyssa

Why'd u hurt Essence?!

A response popped up: This is Alyssa's dad. She can't use her phone because she is grounded. Not just for hurting you guys' friend Essence and getting expelled. I found some pictures that I need to talk to her about. Anyway, she'll be able to use her phone again next month, when she's not grounded. Sorry!

I clamped my mouth shut. He found out. I can only imagine what else he found out. What if he's a gay-hater? Or he tells a bunch of people I'm a Manipulator? Shit. What've I done? I can just imagine Alyssa's dad reprimanding her. Alyssa Nicole Neva, you can't ever have a phone with this behavior! You can't be friends with a gay girl! You can't date her!

I need to calm down. I head to my room and close the door. In the silence of the house, my breathing seems to be the only noise audible. I close my eyes, gathering all the pent up stress from the week and just letting it all gather in a mass of energy. My palms tingle, the room fills with the familiar bite of a wild winter storm. The wind that wasn't there before howls and snaps at my clothes and hair. When I open my eyes, snowflakes swirl around me like I'm living in the middle of a snow globe. I sweep my hand to the right and they attract to my hand like magnet to metal. Sweeping my hand to the left made the snowflakes follow my hand. I clapped and the snowflakes practically exploded into a blizzard. They darted around my room and the wind whipped up. I spread my hands apart towards the sky and the snow dissolves. The mini snow drifts that had gathered on the carpet were gone. There was no more wind. Everything was calm, including me. I felt much happier and enlightened. I flopped on my bed and pulled out my laptop, surfing the web until I heard a desperate knocking at the front door. I rushed down the stairs and answered the door, taken aback by who was there.

"How did you get here?" I asked them. Essence, Derek, and North stood in the doorway, Essence looking frightened.

"I know your address, remember?" North says matter-of-factly. "Also, we need to talk to you, now." His voice was urgent and Essence was tucked under his arm, hugging him tightly. I nodded slowly and let them in. They all sat down on the couch and I perched myself on the arm of the lounge chair. North stroked Essence's hair and snuggled up close to her.

"We found out that Essence's grandma, Delilah, she's… She's part of the Black Ice…" North murmurs, holding Essence close. She snivels and nuzzles his chest gently. I felt my heart skip a beat. I didn't think the stories were true. I always thought they were fairy tales that Manipulator parents told their kids in order to keep them out of trouble. They have to be pranking me.

"You're lying." I snap. "That's just a bedtime story from our childhood." North shakes his head.

"She has the Black Pills." He says, dead seriousness in his voice. The Black Pills are given to Elders to keep them irresistible. It makes it easier to get people do things for you and make offers and deals and such.

"Oh…" I say, wringing my hands in my lap. Essence grasps onto North tighter and he wraps her up in a big embrace. "Oh, I… Whoa…" My mouth and throat goes dry. I notice Derek going pale in the corner of the couch.

"Derek, you can't tell anyone about this. Please, this could—" Essence starts. Derek holds up one hand to silence her. North gives him a pointed, warning glare.

"I'm a Manipulator too, okay? I wouldn't tell anyone." Derek snaps.

"As long as we're admitting things, can I say something here?" North asks shakily after a few minutes of silence.

"Whatever." I deadpan. I fiddle with the zipper on my sweatshirt.

"Well, I've been lying to you guys. All the super cool things I've told you about are lies." Derek and I look up at him, eyes wide. North looks ashamed. Essence grabs onto him tighter.

"I've got something to say, too." I murmur. "I'm… Fuck… Guys, I'm gay…" Everyone looks at me with surprise on their faces. "And… Oh my god… I'm sorry… I like Aly… I'm sorry Derek…"

"WHAT?!" Derek shouts at me. I flinch a little. "WHAT THE HELL, MYRAH?"

"I'm sorry! But I can't help it! Have you FUCKING seen her or even gotten to know her?! Or have you just been asking her for pictures all these months?!" I snap. Derek growls and covers his face with his hands. Essence lets go of North and reaches out to comfort Derek. His hand shoots out and he slaps her across the face, the crack of his hand against her cheek resounding off the walls. North gasps and Essence grasps her cheek, mouth wide open. North gets up from his seat and when he makes his way over to Derek, he starts beating him up. They're rolling around the floor hitting, punching, and kicking each other. I back up, heart pounding up against my ribcage. Essence screams and begs for North to stop. When that doesn't work, she starts crying. All of the sudden the room filled with the sound of Essence screaming, enough at the top of her lungs and shooting a blast of ice into the air. It exploded and shards rained down on the two fighting boys. North crawled off Derek and gazed at Essence with admiration and concern.

"Essence, I…" North started.

"Stop it." Essence whimpered. She turned away from him. North brought himself to his feet and carefully approached Essence. He touched her shoulder and she jerked away from him. North looked utterly embarrassed and upset. Derek crawled away from him and closer to me, even though he looked pissed off. We sat and watched North and Essence.

"Does… Does it still hurt?" North tried. Essence nodded and found her seat on the couch again. "Can I see?" North asked carefully. Essence brushed aside the curtain of snowy and greyish hair that hid her eye and cheek. Even from where I was sitting, I could see how red it was. There was a big handprint mark left on her pale skin. Derek shuddered and wrapped his arms around his torso. North drew in a breath and leaned in, leaving a kiss on her cheek. Essence's eyes widened and brightened. She blushed a little and started fidgeting with the ring on her pinkie which, by the way, was way too big to be on that finger.

"So… That happened…" I interrupted. Essence nodded shyly and melted into the cushions. North had a look on his face that said, Oh yeah. I did that. I had to crack a smile at that.

"Should we… Go?" North asked. Essence snuggled next to him, absentmindedly humming the tune to "There's a Good Reason These Tables Are Numbered, Honey, You Just Haven't Thought Of It Yet".

"No, no, it's fine." I insist. But Derek said that he wanted to go and stormed out without another word.

"Jesus Christ." Essence chuckled. North smiled at her.

"Are you two… Like, together?" I asked. Essence shook her head.

"No! No! No… No way..." North responded, maybe a little too harshly. Essence looked a bit offended and slumped into the cushions. North looked like he immediately regretted saying that. Essence chewed her fingernails nervously.

"Anyone else absolutely hate that stupid school?" Essence immediately blurted out, changing the subject.

"Me." North and I called out at the same time. Honestly, I'd love nothing better than to just stand in the middle of the hallway, shoot a blast of ice, and freeze the students and teachers alive in their classrooms. Listen to the crackle of ice reforming, people begging for help, have a sense of power over something for once in my damned life. Me and the others would finally rule the world. Or at least a tiny bit of it.

"We could always, you know, take care of that… You know you want that." North says, mischief in his eyes. Essence smiles and perks up.

"I know. Just… How would we stage it? Where would we go afterwards? What would we do? This some next level planning shit here!" She seems excited and exhilarated. North smiles lovingly at her.

"I've got some ideas here…" I jump in, grabbing a stack of paper and a few pens. I beckon them over to the kitchen table and we spent the next few hours scribbling out plans in Sharpies and colorful pens. Luckily, Aunt Leah and Victoria were out to a Red Sox game and a dinner afterwards and wouldn't be back till late night. Convenient. Essence and North left around 8:30 pm, their share of plans tucked under their arms. Later that night, I texted Derek about the plan and warned him not to tell Alyssa yet. I would tell her about it when she returned to school.

This is the start of a new life, a new breed of insane, and a realm that's all our own.