Once I got home, I quickly grabbed a couple of slices of pizza and made my way over to the couch. Another adventure in the books, another quiet night on the couch. Hoo-ee, having this much fun almost feels like work. It seemed like I had a little routine going—haha.
After a couple of hours, instead of being startled awake by the loud blare of my alarm, this time, it was Papa who woke me up.
“Good morning, sunshine.”
My eyes shot open as I frantically lifted my head. “MORNING!?” Daddy chuckled.
“Haha, no, I’m just messing with ya, darlin’… It’s about, maybe, 9 o’clock.”
I let out a sigh of relief and patted my daddy’s overalls.
“That ain’t funny!”
“C’mon now… get up. If you ain’t too full from that pizza, we got a tradition to keep.”
I popped up outta my chair.
“Sir, yes sir!”
Like always, Pa and I worked in the kitchen. As we cooked, he told me the reason he’d been coming home so late the past few days—he had been taking continuing education courses for his job.
Since he was a mechanic and all, he had to take classes to keep up with new trends and such. From what he told me, military vehicles and civilian cars weren’t exactly the same, so sometimes it was a lot of extra work for him, trying not to get his wires crossed.
“It’ll be a long few nights for the next few weeks, but don’tcha worry—I’ll be around on the weekend for your birthday!” he said as we ate dinner.
“How’ve your days been? I’m sorry to have ya all cooped up in here. What do you say we make a day of it the day after tomorrow? Just you and me—we can head down to the boardwalk after we get your cellphone.”
“Sure thing, Pa!” It sounded like a fun idea, but I couldn’t shake the thought—what if the mafia fellers saw us together? It wasn’t gonna be pretty.
“Just gotta keep my promise to myself. As soon as I get that cellphone, I’ll come clean,” I thought as I picked at my food.
“Now, girl, quit playing with your food. You’re gonna be 13 in a few days, not 3. Go on now,” Pa scowled at me just a little.
“Sorry, Pa.” I nodded and did as he said.
A short while after dinner, I headed down the hall to my room, ready and eager for training tomorrow. Me and Pa hadn’t had a chance to do anything yesterday on account of him being too tired from work.
But I wanted to make sure if we were gonna train that it was gonna be my favorite one.
“Hey, Pa, it’s Friday tomorrow, so I wanted to ask—can we use the clay shooter?”
“You bet!”
“Yes!” I pumped my fist and dropped my head onto my pillow.
Thankfully, the excitement of getting to use the clay shooter made it a little easier to get my mind off things, if only for a little bit.
The next morning, Pa hauled out the clay shooter, and it was time for practice. The clouds had cleared out, the sun was shining, and you could hear the waves crashing on the water—perfect for a morning like this.
Daddy stood on one side of the beach behind the house, the shooter positioned about 50 yards away—half the length of a gridiron.
“Ready…”
I’d pull my hands back like a little cowgirl gearing up for a duel, my itchy blaster fingers wiggling.
“Fire!”
He’d launch the first clay puck, and I’d snap my hands up, shooting it down. With each countdown, another one flew—each faster than the last.
“1!”
BANG!
“2!”
BANG!
“3!”
CLA-CRACK!
Darn, almost had that last one. But with the way these clay pucks were made, I had to hit ‘em in the exact spot to break ‘em. If I was off even a tiny bit, well, I’d be outta luck. And that last one—I only managed to nick it right on its little edge. “Almost. Just gotta work on your aim.”
He kept firing out a few more for about the next hour or so, and I was all squared up.
“Hoo-ee! 88% accuracy—very good. Gettin’ better ‘n better, darlin’.”
“Yeah! Wonder if maybe I can use my powers in competition someday.”
“Well… I ain’t too sure, but if—” He let out a bit of a cough, then cleared his throat before rubbing his neck. “If ya do… I’m sure you’ll knock ‘em dead!”
“You okay, Daddy?”
“Yeah, I’m fine, hon. Just some allergies.” He cleared his throat again, his voice soundin’ a bit more hoarse than normal.
I raised my brow at that—Daddy ain’t never had no allergies as far as I know, but who knows, maybe he’s got the flu?
After a moment, I let myself plop down into the sand, taking in the rays.
“Well, you look like you’re catching your recovery waves. I’ll leave ya to it. You’re gonna have to have some cereal this morning—I’m heading straight in today. Don’t forget to do your homework now, ya hear?”
I nodded, giving him a thumbs-up while still in the sand.
“Alright, you be good now, okay?”
Before he left, I ran after him and gave him a hug. He left a short while after that, and after eating some sugary goodness, I strapped on my baggie and got ready to head out myself. But I kept thinking—there was something else I was supposed to do, and then…
BRRRRRRRRINNNNNNNNNNGGGGGG went the house phone. I knew exactly who that was. I made my way over and picked it up.
“Yello!” I chipperly answered
“Oye! Sunny, we still hanging today?”
“Yeah…! I just got something I gotta handle first—need to see somebody.”
“Oh! Is it a boy…?” she said eagerly.
“Err… no? Is it supposed to be?”
“It’s a girl…?” She sounded confused, but I ain’t really know what she was getting at.
“No? But I’ll call ya when I’m done with what I gotta do, cool?”
“Well, how long ya gonna be…?”
“Maybe a couple hours. I promise, though—I’ll call ya. We can grab some street food at the Boardwalk and go see Hechizo!”
“Awesome! Don’t worry about paying, by the way—I gotcha!” she sounded pretty sure of herself but she footed the bill last time I oughta do my part this time.
“Nah, lemme pay you back! Pay it forward or something like that,” I said, twiddling my finger around the telephone cord recalling what Ms. Reyes had told me.
“You sure…?”
“Yeah, sure I am!” While I was on the phone, I glanced at the clock and realized that if I ain’t move now, I was gonna be late.
“Anyhow, I gotta go, or else Imma miss the train!”
“See you soon!”
Hoo-ee, that girl sure could talk. But I wondered—why was she so interested in whether or not I was seeing a boy? I don’t see any of my friends anymore. And come to think of it, I never understood why a lot of the other girls on the track team were always gushing over them. Boys were nice, sure, but I dunno—I ain’t never really cared for people like that before. Maybe I just ain’t met the right guys or gals…?
Anyhow, it was getting late, and I needed to head over to the shelter to meet Mr. Ernesto and Ms. Reyes. Everything looked normal, but when I hopped on the train, I felt uneasy. Mr. Ernesto warned me that these guys could strike at any moment, so I had to stay sharp.
I studied my map, trying to remember where I needed to go, but I kept glancing over the top of it, making sure no one was watching me. I must’ve looked all kinds of jittery, but I just had to keep my wits about me. For the rest of the ride, I kinda just sat in silence, staring at the door with every stop.
***
After making my way into the city, I wasted no time following my little mark-ups, finally reaching the shelter after about half an hour. The place looked exactly how I’d imagined—right in the middle of one of the busier roads, with a big ol’ sign that said “Sonrisa.” That means smile.
But mine sure faded once I got a good look at the place.
As I stepped inside, I noticed something was off. Why wasn’t there anyone to greet me at the door? The place looked open… so where was everybody?
Suddenly, I heard a scream—then the sound of a door slamming open.
I followed the noise and saw a woman running like her life depended on it.
“Miss Reyes…?”
“Sunny…!?” She looked surprised to see me—but not as surprised as I was when I saw what was coming around the corner.
My eyes went wide as a couple of thugs made their way down the hallway—one brandishing a shotgun, the other gripping a baseball bat.
They stopped, sizing me up. A couple of punks.
“Oh no…” I thought to myself as I watched ’em for a brief moment.
I swatted my hand back and dropped into a ready stance.
“Get outta here, Miss Reyes…”
“Sunny, you need to run—”
“Now ain’t the time!”
I knew exactly who these fellers were and why they were here.
Looked like my gut feeling was right.
Before I even had time to act, I saw the first fella raise his gun at me. Thinking fast, I threw up my hands and sent a small explosion-like shockwave through the air.
The blast hit hard, sending them flying backward, slamming the door clean off its hinges. The thugs crashed onto their backs with a heavy thud.
Just as they hit the ground, another man came rushing down the stairs. He froze, stupefied by the scene in front of him, then, without thinking, charged at me, brandishing a knife.
“Okay, just like I practiced...” I muttered to myself before getting a running start. I jumped into the air, blasting myself forward as a rush of energy coated my body, and kicked the thug square in the gut, knocking the knife clean out of his hands.
He went flying back, crashing against the corner of the hallway. Looks like all that training paid off.
“Are you okay, Miss Reyes?” I asked, turning to look at her.
“What’re you doing here…!?”
“Does it matter? You need to call the authorities or something. Where’s Mr. Ernesto?” Miss Reyes looked pretty stressed.
“He’s upstairs, and we don’t have the landline set up yet—I’d need to get to a payphone.”
“Go on, I can handle it here...”
Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings.
“Sunny, please be careful...”
“Aww, ain’t nothing a little sunlight can’t fix!”
With that, Miss Reyes hurried out of the building, but judging by the cry of pain I just heard, this place wasn’t out of the woods yet. Without a second thought, I rushed upstairs and saw a group of thugs terrorizing some of the other workers. I needed to get their attention, so I let out a sharp whistle. One of them turned, scowling.
“Girl… get over here!” he shouted pointing his shotgun at me.
“Let ’em go!” I shouted back.
“You fucking kidding me…?”
Without a second thought, the thug opened fire. The first shot hit me in the arm, knocking me back. Then another to the chest. One more to the gut.
Pain ripped through my body, shredding my clothes and searing my flesh. The hot lead tore through me, turning my insides to mincemeat. I coughed up blood as my shirt and jacket became drenched in red. The others, trapped against the wall, whimpered at the sound of gunfire, too terrified to turn their heads. I’m guessing they didn’t wanna be next.
“¡Cállense!”
Well, that wasn’t very nice—he was basically telling them to shut their traps. Someone was gonna have to shut his. As he started moving toward me, my powers kicked in. My wounds began to heal, glowing gold as my body stitched itself back together. I smirked as he hesitated, his gun still raised.
“Got anything left in there?” I asked, watching disbelief spread across his face.
He snapped out of it and readied another shot, but before he could fire, I grabbed the barrel of his gun. I wanted to test something. Just as he went to pump his rifle, I squeezed down on the barrel. I wasn’t strong enough to rip it off, but with a little sunlight, I managed to clamp it shut—just enough to plug it. Right as he fired, the barrel backfired, busting apart right in his hands. Serves him right!
A few seconds later, my body got its bearings back. I yanked the rifle away from him and smashed it right into his face, knocking him to the floor before tossing it away. The others turned to look at me, relief washing over their faces.
“Y’all are safe now. Ms. Reyes is calling for help—stay put. The police will be here soon!”
They nodded and quickly tucked themselves away, scurrying into one of the rooms. I wasn’t sure how many more of these fellas were lurking around, so I had to stay on my guard. But as I made my way down the halls, I found fewer bad guys and more bodies. No bullet wounds—just bruises. Everyone looked to still be breathing, but judging by how beaten they were, I bet they wished they weren’t. Who did all this…?
Just then, I heard Mr. Ernesto cry out in pain. My heart pounded as I rushed down the hall and that’s when I saw her.
A monster of a woman stood at the end of the corridor, her foot pressed down hard on Mr. Ernesto’s chest. She wore a dark shirt that barely contained itself against her powerful frame. And her hair—wild and thick—looked like a beast’s mane. She wasn’t like anything I’d ever seen—a good couple of inches taller than Mr. Tough Guy and twice his size in muscle. And unlike him, she wasn’t shy about showing off her strength. I swear those biceps were bigger than my head!
She had this sick grin on her face, leaning against the wall with the smuggest look I’d ever seen.
“What, nothing to say...?”
Something about this lady gave me the creeps. She did all this with her bare hands…? Noticing me, she turned, locking eyes with mine.
“Don’t tell me you’re the one who took out my boys…”
“Yeah, and you’re gonna be next if you don’t get away from Mr. Ernesto!” I said, balling my fists.
“Oh, he’s not a concern of mine anymore… but looks like I get to kill two birds with one stone.”
I growled, pulling back my hands, ready to fire off a blast her way. But before I even had the chance to blink—
She moved. The floor cracked beneath her the second she kicked off. She closed the gap between us in an instant and drove her knee straight into my chest. I gasped, the force slamming through me like a freight train. I don’t think I’ve ever seen someone move that fast…Is she a hybrid like me…?I smashed into one of the walls, denting the concrete, but managed to slump to the ground and take a knee. While trying to catch my breath, I noticed a puddle of blood forming at my feet. My vision was too blurry from smacking my head against the wall to see it clearly.
“Not bad… had to be made of some tough stuff to survive a shotgun shell to the chest…”
She cracked her knuckles as she made her way toward me. I knew she was fast enough to get right up on me if she wanted, but I’m guessing she was toying with me. Girl was pretty powerful, that’s for sure. Ain’t no way she was a regular human. I’m sure my powers could get the job done, but taking all these heavy hits wasn’t good for my sunlight output. I could only heal so much before I was tapped out, and with those shotgun shells causing some serious injuries, I’d better watch myself. I could already feel the bones in my sternum healing up—pain never lasted long, but it still hurt.
“Let’s see just how much…!”
She raised her fists and swung them down at me. I threw up my hands to block, but she smashed me straight through the ground. I came crashing down along with the ceiling, landing face-first on the first floor. By the looks of things, we’d landed in a hallway.
“Gaah…”
Before I even had time to stand up, she had already dropped down, cracking the floor as soon as she landed. I raised my hand toward her to fight back, but she grabbed it with ease.
“Pathetico…,” she muttered as she tried to crush my wrist. As she did, she took a moment to eye me, watching as my skin glowed and healed up the cut on my forehead.
“Regeneration… interesante…”
She bent my wrist back, trying to snap it real slow-like. I could feel each crack in the joint with every tug, my face scrunching up with every twist. But just before she could snap it off, I sent a funnel of sunlight through my hand and blasted her with a burst of energy that caught her by surprise. A bright golden flash erupted, followed by the sizzle of heat from the explosion, knocking us both back. I slid along the ground while she fumbled, nearly losing her footing. But when the dust settled, her face was covered in some kind of black, oozy substance. Looked like a weird shell—something on a bug.
“Ruined my favorite shirt…”
She stood herself up, one of the straps on her shirt torn, hanging on by a thin shred of fabric. A second or two later, the ooze sank back into her skin, reforming it to its original shape. Yeah, this girl was 100% a hybrid—but what the hell was that power? With the dust settling, I stood up and raised my fists, ready for a rumble. Suddenly, more of that slimy stuff started bubbling up beneath her skin—yuck. The fluid wrapped around her arm, shaping itself into a claw-like form. I braced myself and charged up some blasts of my own, but just before we could get started.
BANG
A gunshot rang out, and the bullet landed right between me and Luz. To my surprise, it was none other than Mr. Ernesto, and he looked horrible. But despite him looking as bloody as a pig on a hook he still had enough strength to hold that gun.
“You’re still alive, old man…?”
Ms. Muscles looked up at him with annoyance, and just as if the cavalry had arrived, Mama busted into the building.
“Sunny, está aquí…? The police are almost here!”
“Hmph…!” Ms. Muscles scoffed.
She turned back to me with a smirk. “Looks like my job here is done…” guess she figured with the police on their way, and Mr. Ernesto with a gun to her back that it wasn't worth the trouble. Just like that, she made a quick break for it, but not before glancing back at me one last time.
“I’ll see you soon…” she smirked before running off.
Not good. If that girl really was a hybrid, this must’ve been what Mr. Ernesto was talking about. But why send her here to take on him? Maybe they figured he had friends in high places and needed to make sure they had all the backup they could spare?
But if she was their heavy, I was gonna have to be really careful. Sunlight can fix a lot of things, but I was gonna need a whole lot of it—and then some—before I was ready for her again. I was already feeling pretty tuckered out. I wasn’t used to discharging that much sunlight at once, and I couldn’t even say for sure how much I actually had left. But at least the worst was over.
Later, Mr. Ernesto got himself looked over. He needed a couple of stitches, but for whatever reason refused treatment. I would’ve left by now, but once the police rounded everyone up, Ms. Reyes took me aside and offered to clean up my clothes before sending me on my way—though not before reading me the riot act about why I shouldn’t have been there in the first place.
“But if it wasn’t for me, who knows what would’ve happened to y’all!”
“Be that as it may, mija, this is still no place for a child…”
As we were talking, my clothes had just come out of the dryer, and Ms. Reyes—who was one heck of a seamstress—was in the middle of sewing my shirt back up for me.
“Here… see if this fits.”
I took my shirt after she was done and slipped it on. It was as good as new.
“Shee-yoo, you’re real good at this, Ms. Reyes.”
“You get used to it after a while. Ernesto used to get into fights like you when he was younger… our mother was always sewing his clothes back up. And when we got older and she got too old, I picked up her slack.” she said with a smile.
“I want you to understand something, mija okay…?”
I looked up at her and nodded.
“My brother and I are very grateful for everything you’ve done for us… but a child has no business dealing with ‘La Cima.’ If you didn’t have these powers, you could’ve gotten seriously hurt.”
“I know…”
I wanted to say something, but all I could do was pout.
“You and my brother are like birds of a feather…stubborn.”
That made me laugh.
“It’s going to take some time for me to finish your jacket. Go run along—you can have a look around if you like, but don’t go too far.”
“Okay.”
I hopped up out of my little seat and started roaming the hallways again. Without all the threats looming, it was nice to actually get a good look at the place. As I made my way around the shelter, I stopped in front of a hallway with a big ol’ set of windows. Just outside, I could see two massive buildings that looked connected, with a cross sitting atop one of them. While I knew what this place was, there was still something pretty obvious that I couldn’t help but think about.
“Hoo-ee, just what is this place?”
As I kept walking, I passed by the room to Mr. Ernesto’s office—but of course, not knowing that at the time, I kinda just strolled on by until…
“Having a look around, Sunny?” called out Mr. Ernesto from inside.
I looked back and rubbed the back of my head, Mr. Ernesto was in bad shape, he looked like a mummy with all those bandages on his face. Still don’t get why he didn’t just leave, but maybe it was better not to ask.
“Oh, howdy, Mr. Ernesto. I didn’t know this was your room.”
“Well, it’s more like my office… What’re you doing here?”
“I’m just waiting on Ms. Reyes to finish sewing up my jacket, so I decided to take a stroll.”
“Well, just be careful. With that hole you left in the ceiling, it isn’t safe.”
“Sorry, sir…”
“Don’t worry about it—nothing a contractor can’t fix… Agh…” He stopped and ran his fingers along his forehead hissing in pain.
“You feeling okay?”
“It’s just a migraine. I’ll be fine…”
Seeing how much pain he was in kinda made me let out a sigh. Felt like it was my fault he got hurt, like maybe if I was a bit faster, I coulda been here sooner.
“You cannot blame yourself, Sunny. This was my problem, not yours. And besides, no one can be everywhere at once.”
“I know, but…”
“Enough. Sometimes, there’s just nothing you can do, so cherish your accomplishment. You’re a hero.” he smiled, busted lip and all.
Mr. Ernesto sure did remind me of my dad—he always knew just what to say. Hearing his words, I placed my little hands on my hips.
“Yeah, I guess I am!” I giggled.
“But that still doesn’t answer my question… I know this is a shelter and all, but what are those other buildings for? Is that a church?”
I pointed at the building with the cross on it. Mr. Ernesto stood himself up, reaching for a cane before making his way out of his room and standing beside me near the window.
“Well… many of the people who have been displaced sometimes leave behind children—some without families of their own. So that building there is meant to give them a place where they can be cared for and, hopefully, find a new home.”
I took another hard look outside, asking, “So it’s an orphanage…?”
He nodded.
“Ah, Sunny, there you are…” called out Ms. Reyes’s voice.
Mr. Ernesto and I looked down the hallway as she approached, holding my jacket in her hands.
“Hoo-ee, you work fast…” I said, taking the jacket as Mama held it open for me.
“Fits like a glove, Miss Reyes,” I said, looking up at her as she patted me on the shoulders.
“Were you telling her about the buildings, Ernesto?”
Ernesto nodded.
“Claro… she was curious about the orphanage, why don’t you tell her about the rest of the shelter.”
“Sí… Ernesto and I started noticing it was becoming a problem, and the shelters in the other districts were subpar at best. With so many displaced during the war, we felt something needed to be done.”
Hearing that reminded me of Luz… I knew she had mentioned that she and her older sister lost their parents during the war. I wondered if they had ended up in one of those orphanages shelters Mr. Ernesto was talking about. Really made me count my blessings.
“Were y’all displaced too?” I asked, looking between the two of them. They didn’t exactly match the lighter complexion of the other hispanic folks on the island.
“Yes, Ernesto and I came here after the war destroyed our home…”
“Where was that?”
“Colombia… Being so close to the shore made us vulnerable, and the country never properly recovered after it ended. Many immigrants like us wound up here, looking for a place where we could feel secure when times were hardest.”
“What was Colombia like?”
“A lot like El Lugar, to be honest.” He said
“Just a shame this island has the same problem with the cartel…” Ms. Reyes added.
“But let us not trouble you with our woes,” she said with a gentle smile.
“You have your jacket, and we still have a lot of work to do to get this place up and running again,” added Mr. Ernesto as he reached into his pocket and pulled out some money, handing it to me.
“Here, for your trouble today…”
He placed a few twenty-dollar bills in my hand—I ain’t never seen so much money before in my life.
“For me!?” I gasped in shock.
“Sí, for a job well done.”
I took the money and, feeling overwhelmed with gratitude, gave both of them a big hug. Mister Ernesto grunted as I grabbed him, probably should’ve been a bit more careful.
“Enjoy it. I’m sure you’ve got a fun day ahead of you…”
“Sure do! Me and a friend—uh-oh!”
“What’s wrong, mijita?”
“I gotta get going! I promised a friend we were gonna spend the day together!”
With that, I took off running, heading straight for the nearest pay phone. After the day I had, I could use a little fun. Besides, it’s my birthday tomorrow. They’re right—I should be enjoying myself. Maybe they had a point when they said I can’t be everywhere at once. I just oughta take in the moment. I just hope Luz ain’t too mad about me being late.