Chapter 1: No Longer Alone
School. 10:36 AM. The start of PE. Worst. Class. Ever.
"Wonder what form of torture we're being subjected to this time?" Peter remarks.
"Laps! Don't stop running 'til the music stops!" The teacher shouts, and I groan.
"Welp, here comes another potential injury," I mutter, beginning to jog.
"Hey, Alice!" Naila shouts running to me from across the gym. I sigh. She refuses to use my nickname, no matter how much I beg.
"For the last time, It's Amber, Naila," I shout back as she matches my speed.
"Yeah, I know," she giggles. I roll my eyes. "Wanna race?"
"Sure," I agree with a shrug. Not like I have anything better to do. We race almost every gym day, and the goal is not who goes faster, but who can keep running for the longest. No speed-walking, no fake-jogging.
"Go!" We both immediately slow to the absolute slowest pace that could possibly be called jogging. We're still side by side when the music stops, the whistle blows, and laps are finally over.
After a deceptively fast safety briefing, the coach turns us loose on the court. Almost all of the boys and the more athletic girls are engaged in the game of basketball, while the less athletic of us stand off to the side.
"So, I've been thinking about this new character…" Peter starts ranting about his latest idea for his imaginary online RPG. I usually tune him out, nodding occasionally or adding an idea if something catches my attention. Yet another reason to hate gym. Okay, that sounds mean, Peter's a great friend but sometimes he can be boring.
Suddenly, I feel my phone buzz in my back pocket. "Cover for me," I whisper to Naila and Peter, quickly pulling out my phone and turning around to check it.
It's a text from Jeremy, who for some reason insists on going by his RPG name, Jet. Not that I can't relate...
STUCK IN SCIENCE. BORING. U COMING TO THE D&D RUN TODAY?
YEAH, I quickly text back. IM IN PE. WORST EVER.
I KNOW, RIGHT?
THE COACH IS LIKE, TOT- Suddenly, the floor shakes beneath my feet, causing me to stumble and hit send before I'm done typing. An instant later, the sound of an explosion nearly deafens me. What the hell was that?
WHOA, YOU FEEL THAT TOO?
YEAH. LIKE AN EARTHQUAKE OR SOMETHING.
The source of the sound quickly becomes apparent, as a large hole is now evident in the side of the building. A huge purple figure clambers in through the hole, appearing like a cross between a bear and a spider. But what interests me the most isn't its appearance, but the shining blackish purple gem on its forehead.
A shrill whistle cuts through the gym. "Everyone out! Evacuate!" The coach screams at the top of his lungs, inducing gym-wide panic. Everyone- including me, Naila and Peter, rush for the doors, and Coach barricades them behind us. We all run screaming through the hallways for the exit- until someone yanks me out of the stream.
"What the hell, Jet?" Peter asks, clearly not amused. All four of us are now packed tightly into a tiny alcove in the side of the hallway.
"We can't just run off! Whatever that explosion-thing was, we gotta investigate!"
"Are you serious?" Naila shrieks, tensing. "There was literally like, a bear-spider-monster-thing in there!"
That was the wrong thing for her to say. Jet's eyes light up with curiosity. "All the more reason to investigate!"
I groan as Jet drags us out and back up to the gym through the thinning crowd. Only one or two people even glance at us on our way up, being so focused on fleeing themselves.
We stop just in front of the doors to the gym, the impromptu barricade still in place. I can feel minor tremors through the floor, and when I cautiously look through the doors I can see the purple behemoth stomping around the gym as if searching for something, destroying anything in its path.
Suddenly, the gigantic head turns, the gem clearly visible. All four of us gasp in unison as its eyes lock onto us, and for a brief second time freezes.
Then the monster charges.
"Run!" Someone screams, and we all dive to the side as the eight-legged creature barrels through the door, breaking down the barricade like it was nothing. In fact, it appears to have taken a sizable portion of the wall with it. We huddle against the wall, praying for it to pass us by.
No such luck. The giant head turns our way, and four sets of fight-or-flight instincts kick in.
Peter and Naila take off screaming down the hall. It ignores them, but as I try to follow their example, a huge paw comes down in front of me.
"Eeep!" I scramble backwards, and find that Jet and I are literally cornered.
"I'll go to your funeral!" Jet screams, sliding under the belly of the beast and making a break for it. Once again, the beast ignores him.
"Thanks a lot!" I shout sarcastically, then return to cowering in fear. My god, this thing is huge. The fur on its head nearly touches the ceiling, and in its mouth are both bear-esque teeth and arachnoid pincers. Saliva drips off of its fangs, and I am faced with the unrelenting reality of imminent death.
The monster lunges, its front paw attempting to cleave my head off. Ducking, I start moving on pure instinct, dashing down the hall and keeping to the wall as the monster follows, and it seems to have trouble maneuvering in such a tight space. I round a bend, and for a moment I think that I've made it- until the purple behemoth crashes through the nearest wall. I realize I'm trapped again- but this time, next to a three-story drop down the central staircase. Why would anyone ever put a gym on the third floor? I have more important things to worry about now.
Like the fact that I'm totally screwed.
The spider-bear advances, its pincers clicking menacingly and the gem slightly glowing. It feels like I'm frozen in place- I can't fight it, I have no weapon, but if I jump I'll die. Crap.
Its spider-legs click-clacking on the floor, the monster raises itself up to its full height, causing a large chunk of ceiling to come down, dust raining everywhere. It roars, and I'm sure I can feel the building shaking under me. I'm absolutely terrified as its paw comes slashing down at me-
And I make my decision. The next thing I know, I'm falling down the stairwell, screaming my head off. I land on my left foot, and I scream even harder as I hear the sickening crack of a bone snapping. Breathing hard and trying desperately to block out the pain, I half-crawl, half-drag myself towards the exit.
Bricks fly everywhere as the bear-spider crushes the entire staircase, landing only a few yards away from me. I scramble backwards as fast as I can, wincing in pain as my leg catches on the uneven ground.
The monster towers over me, and I know this time there's no escape. I throw up my left hand in a futile attempt to block its strike as it brings both front paws down to crush me once and for all.
And suddenly I'm holding a sword in my right hand, and the sharp blade pierces the monster in the chest. It freezes for a single instant- and then disappears in a puff of smoke, save for the gem, which falls to the ground. I let myself relax as the adrenaline rush fades, and the sword in my hand disappears in a flash of light. Wincing, I carefully shift around and pick up the gem, tucking it in my pocket before dragging myself to the door.
"Amber!" Jet, Naila, and Peter shout simultaneously when I force the warped door open. All three of them immediately rush over to help, dragging the door open the rest of the way and carefully lifting me between the three of them.
"Careful-" I hiss as Naila accidentally touches my leg.
"Sorry. God, it's totally broken." she inches backwards a bit, revolted.
"C'mon Naila, we need your help," Jet calls, slightly annoyed. She looks up and nods, and as my vision starts to fade in and out, I can hear Peter shouting at someone over the phone while they gingerly set me down on a bench, my leg sticking over the side at an awkward angle. As I start to lose consciousness, I use the last of my strength to grip the gem in my pocket, while the other hand covers the gem on my neck.
I don't move for a long, long time.
I slowly wake up to bright lights and a loud, steady beeping. I carefully squint with one eye, and as my vision adjusts, I can see an all-white, sterile smelling room, the tiled ceiling similar to those at school. I groan, lifting my head just enough to see the machines all around me. Hospital. Great.
I gasp, and reach over to my right hand. The gem is still there, having never left my grasp.
I let out a sigh, relaxing everything but my grip. My left leg is completely immobilized, elevated and in a bulky white cast. The steady beeping of the machines is growing increasingly annoying- no way I'm going back to sleep now. I sigh and try sitting up again, surprised at the general lack of pain everywhere but my leg. Well, except for the IV in my left arm, but that's expected. To be honest, I was expecting to be extremely sore from all that.
"-astounding, I'm telling you-" A young female nurse enters the room, followed closely by an older woman in a lab coat. "Ah. You're awake," The nurse remarks upon seeing me. I tighten my grip on the gem.
"Relax. I'm Dr. Harvey, and I'm just going to take a look at your leg. You can lie down, it's not good to sit up with your leg elevated like this." I slowly nod and lie down again, not quite willing to speak.
"Now, Alice, how are you feeling?"
"My name is Amber," I reply, ignoring her question.
"Amber, then. How are you feeling?" she repeats, as if she's used to it by now. Of course she is- she probably has to deal with hundreds of patients.
"Okay. My leg hurts," I reply, relaxing a little.
"That's a good thing. It means there isn't any serious nerve damage," she says bluntly. "Veronica, thermometer." The nurse hands her a curious device that doesn't look like a thermometer I've ever seen. She holds it up to my forehead for a few seconds until it beeps, then looks at a reading. "98.8. Normal," she tells the nurse, who takes the device and writes something down. The doctor proceeds to test my blood pressure and heart rate, although I'm sure the machines hooked up to me could've told her easily.
"Well, Amber, you appear to be perfectly healthy," she muses, scratching her head. "Which still doesn't explain how you've healed so fast."
"Huh?" I ask, confused.
"It can take months or even years for a break like that to heal. It's already well on the way to being fully healed, down to a hairline fracture."
"Seriously?" I ask, trying and failing to bolt upright as her gentle but firm hand holds me down.
"Don't sit up, it'll strain your muscles," she warns. "And yes, seriously. We just took another x-ray a few hours ago."
"Wait, how long was I out?" I ask, dreading the answer.
"About 36 hours, give or take a few minutes. Don't worry, that was intentional. We kept you asleep at first for the setting, and to make sure your body got time to rest."
I give a sigh of relief. "What about my parents? Are they here?"
"They've been in the lobby since visiting hours began," she assures me, "along with four individuals around your same age."
"Jet, Peter, Naila, and Arabella!" I exclaim. "Can I see them?"
"Alright, but no physical contact. We don't want you getting infected," she smiles. "Veronica, call the front desk and ask them to send them up, would you?"
"Yes, Dr. Harvey," she replies somewhat meekly.
"I have to go now, but Veronica will be here at least until your visitors are finished. Press that red button if you need any help," she points to a button on the medical bed's control console. "But before I go, one last thing- do you have any idea why you might heal so quickly?"
A hand automatically reaches up to my neck as I reply, "No, I don't think so."
"Well, tell me if anything comes to mind," and she's gone. I sigh, deciding to enjoy the few minutes of relative silence I have left.
"Amber!" "Baby!" "Alice!" A chorus of voices shout as six people come barreling into my room.
"Are you alright? What happened? Who did this to you?" My mom is the first to make it across the room to me, and I find myself quickly surrounded by my parents and friends.
"I'm fine, I'm fine," I assured her. "There was an explosion or something at the school, and I fell down the stairs on the way out." I didn't plan to lie, but something tells me that 'giant purple bear-spider' wouldn't be the most reassuring answer.
She gives an audible sigh. "You're going to be okay, honey."
"I know, I know," I say, slightly embarrassed at the tears beading in the corners of my eyes. I reach up with my left arm and squeeze her hand reassuringly, even though I was told no physical contact. Veronica pretends not to notice.
"Blech. Family stuff can get so mushy," Jet remarks. I blush with embarrassment.
"Oh come on, man. Give her a break," Peter playfully hits him on the arm.
"You better get well real quick Alice, or I'm gonna go crazy with these two around!" Naila leans in and whispers to me. I giggle.
"Amber, I'm so glad you're okay! I just wish I was there." Ara accidently pushes Naila out of her way and wraps me in a hug. Veronica glares disapprovingly and Ara doesn't care.
"Miss, Mister, I have a few forms for you to fill out," Veronica says, projecting her voice over the chaos of the boys' argument. My mom and dad follow her out into the hallway, and I immediately seize the opportunity.
"Oh my god, you guys, you will not believe what really happened!" I squeal, gesturing for them all to gather round. "So after you guys bolted- don't blame you, by the way- I was like, totally cornered, but I dodged it and ended up trapped AGAIN but I was right next to the stairwell, and next thing I knew I was falling the whole way down, and that's how I broke my leg. And the thing came down after me, and I thought for sure then it was gonna kill me, and then all of a sudden I'm holding a sword and I stabbed it and it like, went poof and turned into smoke, and all that was left was the gem." I say in one breath. I quickly inhale as I pull my right hand out from under the blanket to show them the blackish-purplish gem I still clutch.
"Wait, what?" Ara seems confused. "I missed the first part!"
"I'll explain later," I tell her.
"Can I see the gem?" Jet asks, reaching for the gem.
"No!" I quickly pull it away again. "Sorry. I just… I don't know how, but I have a distinct feeling that if I let go of it, something really bad will happen."
"You can't just hold onto it forever," Peter remarks.
"Says who?"
"Reality."
"Besides it might be dangerous." Ara tells me.
I groan and let my hand drop again. "Well, reality sucks." Suddenly, I see a shimmering orange substance surrounding the gem, exactly like a bubble. "Whoa."
"REAL LIFE MAGIC!" Naila screeches, causing me to wince and cover my ears. The bubble floats a few inches above my hand, and I can sort of control where it goes.
"Wait, I can't let my parents see this!" I immediately go into panic mode.
"Nope. No panicking today," Peter says firmly. "We just gotta hide it. Or better yet, get it out of here entirely."
"Amber knows exactly what to do." Ara states.
"Hmm," I am no longer panicking, rather contemplative in fact. Carefully looking at the bubble, I imagine it floating in my closet back home, and gently tap the top. It vanishes into thin air.
"Whoa! Where'd it go?" asks Jet, looking around wildly.
"Back home," I say, looking at my hands.
"Well, I have to say that was officially the most awesome and magical thing I've ever seen," Naila declares.
"More than a giant purple spider-bear?"
"Okay, second most awesome then."
"Good enough."
At that moment, my parents and the nurse come back into the room. My friends decide to head home, and after a lot of convincing on my part, my parents do too. A few days later (the fastest recorded time ever, informs me) the cast is removed, and my leg proves to be as good as new.
April 15th. Maybe a month after the "monster fiasco," as me and my friends call it. I've barely gotten home from school when I receive a frantic call from Naila.
"Go on youtube and search 'crystal gem'. You are not going to believe this," she says, and then hangs up. Scratching my head, I open my laptop and type in the search term.
Whoa.
The video is titled "the crystal gems," and has 45 million views in under 20 minutes. Damn. I click on it and find myself rewarded by shaky phone camera footage of three women and two kids fighting what appears to be a giant origami spider. The skinniest woman stabs it with a spear, and the thing poofs into smoke, the video zooming in as she picks up a square green gemstone and encases it in a bubble before tapping the top, causing it to disappear. My mind is racing, trying to make connections, but the video's not over yet.
The scene changes to the young boy and a completely random dude sitting on a couch, the camera filming their conversation. Well, interview would be more appropriate.
"So, Steven, tell the viewers about yourself," the guy says.
As the Steven boy talks something clicks in my mind. I'm not alone!
Holy crap.
I grab my phone and call Naila. "Did you watch it?" She squeals, and I jerk the phone away from my ear.
"Yeah, wow. I mean like, what?" I say, totally at a loss for words.
"That monster thing at the start? You think its connected to the spider-bear thing?"
"Maybe," I reply, pondering. "What interested me more was how that skinny girl bubbled the gemstone."
"Yeah, I was wondering about that too," she says, pondering. "Do those gem-alien-people-whatever have like, magic powers?"
" 'any significantly advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic,' " I quote. "To us, yeah."
"And does that mean you have magic powers?"
"I don't know! I only did a magic thing like, once!" I say, slightly annoyed. Despite my best efforts, I've never managed to do anything remotely magical since then.
"Yeah, that's true. Still, though. That Steven kid, he's like, a hybrid thing? You saw that gem, right?"
"Yeah, that's weird. I wonder if there's anyone else like him?" I say without thinking.
I hear Naila catch her breath. "Who knows? Anyway, I gotta go. I'm not supposed to have my phone right now," she says before hanging up. I'm pretty sure I detected a faint undertone of fear. That's… weird.
I stand up and look at myself in the mirror, grabbing my hand mirror and turning around to look at the gem on my neck. If there's someone else out there who's like me… does that mean there are more?
Just as I put my phone away it beeps again, Ara this time. She sent me the exact same video.
I call her too.
"You saw the video, right?" she asks me.
"Yeah, Naila just sent it to me. Do you think other weird human-gem hybrids could exist?"
"Definitely." She says after a long hesitation. "I'm sure there are tons more out there. Maybe at our schools? Anyone could be one. Even you?"
"I dunno. I haven't been able to do any magic since."
"Don't give up, I'm sure you'll do it again someday."
"I hope so."
"I have to go now, the rehearsal for my play's about to start. You'll come right?"
"Of course! Bye."
"Bye."
I barely get any sleep that night, questions tumbling around in my mind. By the time I need to get up in the morning, I've made a decision.
Carefully tiptoeing down the hall so as not to wake my parents, I start rummaging through the drawers in the bathroom until I find what I'm looking for- hair elastics. Thirty minutes and lots of trial-and-error later, I have finally succeeded in putting my hair up into a bun.
One nerve-wracking bus ride later, I walk into school with my gem fully visible and on display for anyone to see.
To my complete surprise, I find Peter wearing a non-turtleneck t-shirt for the first time in, well… forever. The neckline is just low enough to see the tip of a red and green gemstone on his neck. Jet is wearing a tank top (for the first time ever) and displaying a diamond-shaped black gem on his left shoulder. Naila arrives just after me (during the awkward staring stage) and I turn to see her wearing a crop-top and showing her navel gem, a round purple stone.
"You too, huh?" I say, breaking the awkward silence. We all break out laughing, and I find a few tears collecting at the corners of my eyes. "Well, now you know why I'm called Amber," I say, for the first time admitting it both to them and to myself.
"And why I go by Jet," Jet adds, gesturing to his stone.
"Call me Bloodstone," Peter declares. Why am I not surprised? We all turn to Naila, who's somehow turned shy when put on the spot.
"Amethyst," she says quietly, almost a whisper. "But I like Amy better."
"Sure, Amy," I reply with a laugh. Cue the emotional hugging. I'm squished so much I can barely breathe.
Looking around, I can see many other people with gemstones on display. Still some who don't though, and that's fine too. In fact, I notice at least two people in the process of emergency-DIYing their outfits to show their gemstones. I smile. Then I realize something. The friend groups haven't changed but each group seems to be either all human or all hybrid.
Before I can worry about discrimination, my phone buzzes. Quickly glancing around for any teachers, I pull it out. Arabella has sent me a photo of herself wearing a pretty light blue sundress, the neckline much lower than her usual collared shirt. I can see half of a round blue gem visible on her chest.
YOU TOO, HUH? I reply, texting her a photo of my gemstone. LIKE, EVERYONE AT SCHOOL HAS THEM.
SAME AT MY SCHOOL, she replies. BUT NOT EVERYONE.
NOT EVERYONE.
?
I quickly show everyone the photo before putting my phone back in my pocket.
"C'mon," I say. "Magical revelations aside, there's still the english essay due tomorrow." Everyone groans, but the uplifting mood remains. For some reason, school feels so much easier, as though a weight has been lifted.
And in a sense, it has.
Author's Note: I hope you enjoyed this chapter! I'll post chapter two called A Helping Hand next Tuesday. Please feel free to review and give us feedback so we can improve the story.