No. 2

No. 2: A Different Kind of Life


“Scarlet, are we ever going to be normal?”
Scarlet looked down in shock at her younger sister who still clung to her hand like she was five.
Celia was watching the twelve year old kids her age playing on the school play ground.
Scarlet tapped her sister’s nose playfully.
“Hey, normal’s overrated okay? We’ve got superpowers, and all those kids are wishing they could be us.”
Celia smiled that smile that brought out the dimples in her cheeks, and took up her whole face.
It was the kind of smile that made Scarlet smile despite herself.
“Now come on kiddo, we’ve got to go eat something.”


Celia was sitting on her bed of old rags and blankets in the room she shared with her sister in an old abandoned house on Winona Boulevard. She hummed quietly to herself, waiting for Scarlet to get back with the food she had promised.
Celia rose from her cot, and fixed her hat.
“It has to get better…right God?” She asked as she starred out the window, watching the birds fly by.
She sighed and leaned her forehead against the window, the glass cold against her skin. Though it didn’t snow in Los Angeles, it sure could get cold. A shiver ran down the littler girl’s spine and she pulled her jacket closer to her body.
“Hey kiddo, look what I’ve got!”
Celia jumped at her sister’s sudden voice. She turned around quickly, her long red hair flowing out behind her. Her eyes brightened as she saw the familiar paper bag that held her favorite food.
“Oh Scarlet!! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!” She squealed, running up to her bigger sister and hugging her waist.
Scarlet chuckled as she sat down on the cot and placed the McDonalds meal out on the dirty floor.
Though they were alone in the world, and though they were on the run and had no one to turn to, for a brief moment, they could forget all that as they sat there, eating they’re favorite food. For a brief moment they felt like everything was alright.


.:+++:.


 Scarlet woke with a start. Her bright blue eyes fluttered open but she was careful to keep her breathing deep and even, tricking any possible intruder that she was still in a deep sleep.
It took a moment for her eyes to get use to the dark, but once they did she could make out the vague shape of her sister sleeping on her cot across the room. She was still sleeping undisturbed.
Scarlet rolled her neck, trying to get the kink out of it.
That’s what you get for sleeping sitting up. She thought gloomily. What woke me up?
She glanced towards the door but couldn’t see anything beyond the doorframe.
She starred at it for a few seconds but when nothing moved beyond it she shrugged and tried to get back to sleep.
Just as she was about slip into unconsciousness, there was a creak on the stair case.
It took her a moment to keep her breathing even. Once she did she rose to her feet, and moved over to the door. There was another creak, but she couldn’t see squat.
She moved soundlessly over to the cot her sister was sleeping on and woke her up silently. Celia woke up silently as usual, if she could have her way she would rarely talk at all. But her eyes grew from confused and curious, to serious and guarded when Scarlet put her finger to her lips.
The two moved silently across the empty room. Scarlet kept Celia behind her as she moved towards the door.
Her heart beat was beating so hard she was sure that whoever was out there would hear. She raised her hands in front of her, determination and fire burning in her eyes.
Her arm was jerked away suddenly, causing her to jump. But when she looked around she saw that it was just her sister.
“No! You can’t use your powers! Bad things always happen when we use them.” She hissed quietly, fear was the only thing burning in her eyes.
Scarlet sighed and brought her hands down, the fire in her eyes dimming.
She glanced around the empty room looking for an alternative to getting out of the house. Her original plan was to just fight the intruder, but with out her power she wouldn’t be able to put up much of a fight.
Her eyes landed on the window on the far wall of the room. She walked briskly over to it, and tried to open it. She found that it was stuck good, putting her back into it, it slid open with a loud creak, making her flinch as she reached for her sister.
“Climb down the tree as quietly as possible, make sure you check the ground if you see anything weird.”
Celia nodded and scrambled into the tree limbs that held their arms open for her.
Scarlet turned back to the empty room, scooping up her backpack and pulling it onto her shoulders, tightening the straps to keep it from moving around so much.
A shadow appeared in the door, but that’s all it was, a shadow. She couldn’t make out anything from it, she couldn’t see who it was, or even what kind of clothes he was wearing.
“What do you want?” She asked, her voice calm but hard as steal.
The shadow crept closer, not bothering to be answered.
“Don’t come any closer.” She warned, raising her hands slowly.
“I wouldn’t do that if I were you.” The shadow warned.
“Do what?”
“Go for that knife.”
Scarlet laughed and shook her red curls.
“What is with Ordinaries and being exceedingly blind?” She asked clapping her hands together. The spark ignited and the flame danced in her fingers.
“Who ever said I was going for a knife?” Her eyes danced with a flame of danger. The shadow hesitated for a moment before thinking better of himself and dashing out the door.
Scarlet extinguished the flame and blew a strand of hair out of her face.
“Yeah, that’s what I thought.”

Soon she had joined her sister outside in the cool breeze, guiding her to a new hiding spot.
“You didn’t hurt him did you?” Celia asked.
Scarlet looked down at her little sister and smiled.
“No. I didn’t hurt him. He might have peed his pants, but I didn’t touch him.”
Celia rolled her eyes.
“You are always scaring people.” She mumbled.
“Yes, and you are always making sure I don’t scare them too much, so you see? We balance each other out.” Scarlet said, kissing the little girl’s forehead gently.