Chapter Two
Scorpions of the Desert
Slowly crawling out from under the table, careful not to place her hands on any sharp glass or concrete, Terra cautiously looked around. The diner was now unrecognizable. Unlike the dingy diner that it had been mere moments ago, now the light from outside was filtering through what remained of the ceiling. The only thing left undamaged was the still gleaming counter, though the woman who was cleaning it was nowhere in sight.
Terra stumbled to her feet and glanced back to see the boy had a disgruntled look on his face. He too crawled out from the table after her. As he dusted himself off, the boy surveyed his surroundings, seemingly nonplused by the state of Sheila's Pancakes. As if this was an every day thing for him.
Trying not to trip over debris, Terra walked towards the now gaping hole of a wall to try and figure out what had caused this. And how did the boy know something was going to happen for that matter. Not quite realizing it, she threw a suspicious look over her shoulder to the boy. Glancing up from dusting himself off, he caught the stare and retaliated with his own unimpressed look. The girl was really suspecting him after he just saved her life? Figures. Rolling his eyes, he marched past the still form of Terra and out of the hole.
The boy shielded his eyes from the sudden brightness of the unblocked sun. He squinted and tried to find the source of the destruction. He heard gravel crunch behind him and movement next to him. He glanced over to see Terra joining him. "Danny." He offered, in hopes to pacify her suspicions.
"Huh?" Terra's head snapped to the boy to see him looking at her, hand held out in a gesture of greeting. Oh! His name must be Danny. With a small smile at the gesture, Terra returned it in kind, taking the offered hand and shaking it. Noticing the boy stiffening from the touch, Terra quickly withdrew her hand, dropping at her side. "Sorry." She mumbled, thinking she had hurt him.
All Danny could do was hum as he returned to his search, moving further out of the diner. He turned around to look back at the building. Danny's eyes went wide in surprise. "Terra..."
"Yeah?" She questioned him, confused yet elated at the use of her actual name instead of 'Blondie.'
"You might want to... Run!" He all but yelled. He jumped forward to grab onto Terra's hand. Danny begun to run off in the opposite direction of the diner as fast as his legs would take him.
"What the hell?" Terra yelled to him. She stumbled after his quick pace, her breathe hitching. She was not sure why they were now running. She looked over her shoulder, and caught a glimpse at what had spooked the boy now dragging her along. It was huge. Bigger than the diner. Fear gripped Terra's heart as she picked up her pace, catching up to Danny. Behind them lay Sheila's Pancakes. Behind that was a scorpion of humongous proportions. And from what Terra saw, it had gotten bored of the diner. Now it was looking for new prey. Unluckily for the two teens, they were the only prey for miles.
The ground began shaking under the two with each step the scorpion took. With every fives steps the teens took, only one was needed for the monster. It was gaining on them. Quickly.
Terra saw she had no other choice. Her breath was coming in short spouts. Her lungs felt like they were on fire. Unless they wanted to become playthings for a monster, she felt she needed to do something. She slowed to a stop and gulped in lost air. She steadied herself for what she was about to do.
Danny felt Terra was no longer behind him. He risked taking a look back, hoping the monster hadn't gotten the annoying girl. He Saw Terra standing still and felt a wave of exasperation hit him. Was this girl trying to get killed? He skidded to a stop. He quickly doubled back, hoping to reach the idiotic girl before the scorpion did. He could hear the crashes that accompanied each of the scorpions steps. It was getting closer.
As Danny drew closer, he could make out a faint yellow glow that surrounded Terra. The glow began at her hands and enveloped the ground beneath reached her, legs aching. Danny could only stumble as the earth beneath them was ripped up from its place in the ground. He almost fell off the makeshift platform. Danny regained his balance and pulled himself closer to Terra. He looked down to see their now growing distance between them and the monster.
Danny allowed a slightly relieved sigh to escape him and tried to catch his breath. As he did so, Danny's eyes drifted up to Terra's. He let out a startled gasp. Her eyes were glowing yellow, just like her hands. Was this girl like him? Was she... half ghost? Wisely, Danny kept quiet and allowed Terra to concentrate on getting both of them further from the monster.
Minutes dragged on. They felt like hours for the young boy. Questions popped into his head, one after another. Each one more annoying to him than the last. Was this girl a ghost or was she one of those meta humans he had heard about? What was the extent of her powers? How long had she had them?
Danny felt their earthy platform wobbling beneath them. He could see the glow of yellow in Terra's eyes flickering. Something was happening to her. Their platform was moving rapidly closer to the ground. Too Rapid. The last thought he could process before they crashed to the ground flashed through his mind. Oh this is going to hurt a lot.
A/N So, you know how you get an idea, write what you can, then totally get blocked on it? Yeah, that's me. Im sorry for not updating on a long while, I just couldnt get this chapter out correctly. I just want those of you who follow me, thank you. Now, for the less than stellar part to some- I am going to try and update as much as possible, but most likely, it's going to end up being bi monthly at the most. Thanks guys!
~Senecka
