Chapter Six

John

"Six!" I yell, my heart hammering. Six stumbles and falls to her side, clutching the hole in her left shoulder. Blood slips between her fingers as an angry hiss comes out of her mouth. The look on her face wasn't the hard mask I've come to see minutes ago. It was a face of agony and pain, torture. Seeing Six in pain is the first item on the list of things I never want to see. I would do anything just to make the pain go away.

The black mass overhead dissipates as quickly as the wound on Six's shoulder drains her of blood. My arms feel tired. I can't breathe. But I have to protect Six. I'm her only hope now.

One of the Mogadorians bring out the familiar cylindrical tube which I'm sure was created to kill Six. Judging by its size, I can tell that this one is different. The same Mog aims at Six and I have to force my puppet-like legs to move, to stand in front of her. A thousand blinking lights come to life, and the tube emits a grayish patch of gas. "No!" I yell, and my brain somehow shifts into red alert. I can see everything; from a speck of dust in the air to the peeking eye from the second floor of the Millers' Residence. I can also hear some mechanical clicking from the tube as it recharges. That isn't stopping the gray gas though.

I also got the capability to think clearly again. My brain is just…hyper. I suddenly knew what to do. I hold my hands up in front of me, concentrating on that deadly air. And now I am its master.

I bend the air molecules to my will and it obeys. The air contracts and fits into my hands. With whatever strength I have left, I push the air outward, and the nearest Mog explodes to dust. The others run away, but I won't let them escape. After what they did to Six, I'm going to make sure they all die.

I will the air to go faster, chasing after them, and two rows of Mogs reduce to ash. Three Mogs remain, and all of them explode when the air reaches their nostrils. Afterwards, I will the deadly gas to disappear. I turn on my heels and pick up a stunned-looking Six. "John…how…what…" she stutters, her arm still bleeding. I can't believe what I just did myself. Can this be the Legacy that will help me avenge my planet? Energy Manipulation?

I ignore the sirens that threaten to make my eardrums bleed. After all, I do have sensitive hearing. On my way down the street, towards our exit, I spot the white tablet on the asphalt, dusty and scratched. I stomp on it hard and set it on fire. With that I run as fast as my legs can carry me.

I set Six down against a tree somewhere outside Manhattan. Her face is as white as paper. The blood, both dried and fresh, that surrounds her left shoulder looks bad. I quickly rid myself of my jacket and my shirt. I use the shirt to clean the wound. During my haste to make her feel better, I accidentally slipped a finger through the hole in her shoulder. She recoils, groaning against gritted teeth. "Sorry," I say, and try as much as possible not to dab on the open cut. Once the blood is all soaked up by my shirt, I got a perfect view of the Six's wound.

Besides the hole on her shoulder, there was also a green layer of skin surrounding it. Black veins are embossed on Six's paper white skin. "What?" Six whispers hoarsely. Her chest rises then falls at a slow rate. I swallow the lump in my throat and say, "It—it's green."

Six lies back and sighs deeply. "Don't worry, Six," I say, sitting down beside her, "I'm right here." I wrap my arms around her and apply pressure to the gaping wound on her shoulder. Six winces once, and remains still.

We remain like that for a few hours more—intertwined. Six slightly shivers in my arms. I illuminate my free hand and shine my Lumen over her arm. She relaxes and stops shivering, but when I turn my lights off, she starts shuddering again. If I'm not shining my Lumen over her, I try to keep her awake, shaking her every now and then to keep her up. To keep her with me. Stay with me, I tell myself repeatedly, hoping that Marina can get her healed, if they find us again.

"I wish the others would find us sooner. Marina can get you healed up in no time," I say, voicing my thoughts. I kiss Six's forehead. She's cold.

"How bad does my shoulder look?" Six whispers, her voice faint. I slip my arms away from her and kneel in front of her. Slowly, preparing myself for the worst, I remove my sopping wet shirt. I feel the bile rise up in my throat.

It looked worse than before in just less than six hours. The green skin surrounding the wound has stretched outward so that it covers half her entire upper arm. The blackish veins crisscrossing on her arm has reached all the way up to her wrist. I swallow back the bile that rose up to my mouth and stutter, "Um…" but the rustling from the leaves on our right stop me. I turn around and switch my Lumen on. "Who's out there?" I say as loud as I dare. Six tries to sit up behind me, but when someone with a familiar voice says, "Chill, it's me," I feel a wave of relief run through me. Nine and Cole come out of the shadows, and in Cole's hand is my iPhone. "Thank God!" I say standing up and brushing the leaves off my pants. Nine picks my jacket up and I continue, "Hurry, we have to take her to Marina." I pick Six off the floor gently, but as I did so the bloodied shirt fell off her shoulder, revealing the horrifying wound again. I bet I'll get nightmares tonight if I survive through this.

"Holy shit!" Cole exclaims, turning around with his eyes shut tight. Six buries her head in the crook of my neck in embarrassment, making me want to hit Cole as hard as I dare. But of course, I don't do it.

"What the fuck happened to her?" Nine asks, trying to hide the disgust in his voice but failed anyway. Can't we just leave already? She is dying for Christ's sake! "I'll explain everything on the way. Right now, Six is on the brink of dying and we have to take her to Marina now," I say, and I haven't even taken a step yet when Six tenses in my arms, and starts shrieking at the top of her lungs. I set her down and try to calm her, but my voice is like a mouse's squeaking compared to her screams of agony. After a while she does settle down, and the only thing she said before blacking out was, "Help me."

"Come on!" I yell, and the three of us guys run at the speed of light, with me lagging behind so that they could lead.

"Marina!" I yell in the house the others currently occupied. I have no idea where we are, but I hope it's isolated. Six's eyes roll to the back of her head and she was convulsing by the time we arrived. I put Six on the couch and hold her hand tight. "What happened?" asked Crayton, Sam and a few others in unison. "Just heal her, god damn it!" I yell angrily. Marina kneels down on the other side of the couch, but she was about to heal her when Six starts yelling again, causing Marina to flinch and yank her hands back. I gently run my fingers through Six's hair, hoping she can feel it, wherever she is. "Six, stay with me!" I say, and Six calms down. Marina does her thing. The veins that stick out on her arm crawl back to the source. The green surroundings were also about to disappear when Marina faints out of exhaustion. And the torture begins.

The pain Marina washed away rapidly comes back, causing Six to scream again. No, no, no, no, no. "Help me!" I beg the others. All I get are grieving looks.

Six gradually stops screaming, and her pupils return. I let go of the breath I was holding for so long. She sighs deeply, and falls asleep.

It was quiet in the living room. Except for Six's rattling breaths, everyone else is so silent it's as if they were statues. Still. Unmoving. I carry Six up again and she grunts when I hit her shoulder. "We'll be in the vacant room," I say faintly.

Ella leads me to an unoccupied room and once we enter, she politely closes the door for me and leaves. I settle Six on the bed and pull the covers up to her torso. I sit beside her and grasp her hand. I won't be able to sleep through the night. I have to be awake. I have to watch over her. Six's eyes open, and she whispers, "Am I dying?"

I clench her hand tighter. She's not leaving me. I will make sure of that, as selfish as it may seem. "No, you're staying, you hear me? You're not leaving me, Six," I say, the tears threatening to fall. Six pivots so that she stares right in my eyes.

"I would never dream of it," she says, "I love you."

"I love you too," I say, before I watch Six as she falls asleep again.