The next day

Seattle Broadview

Von Braun-Halliwell residence

Elissa woke up to her sister's cute snores, the little girl had let go of her glamour and she could now admire Cassandra’s short golden little horns on her head; she caressed one and crushed the jealousy welling up in her heart about them. 

Elissa desired to have that part of their matrimonial line, showing that she was part of this family, after all, Malicia and Cassandra had them; but, she doubted it would happen, the books about Daes and Ancient Humans coupling, informed her that an offspring between these two races didn’t always end up showing the demonic traits of the Dae and vice-versa and that it was like the lottery. Elissa has always felt displaced; not at ease anywhere their family went. 

The gravity felt off, the world lacked colors and she felt starved for something… Elissa had no idea why. The young girl never voiced her feelings to Malicia, her own mother. The only spots of happiness in her life were her family members and letting go while training physically or magically, but lately, even this appeared dull to her.

The young girl looked around her, the white walls of her bedroom were covered in posters of fantasy characters from video games and novels, decorative European and eastern swords and war axes. It didn’t give the feel of a young girl’s bedroom at all. Elissa’s bed and furniture looked as if they were made by a Dwarf - and they actually were - and gave a rustic feel to the place. 

Her mattress was made from preserved leaves of a giant, sacred tree from Svartalfheim, a hundred times more comfortable than any modern one made by the hands of men. It was a bed that caused sloth, Elissa thought. It cost a fortune, and the reason her sister always came to bed with her is that their mother couldn’t buy another one, and Cassandra’s begging was too pitiful. The alarm on her nightstand blared to life with villain rap music.

6:30 AM, Kaiser the rapper was singing his usual song, demeaning women for all to hear. Elissa grit her teeth and was thinking that if she ever met the guy, she would deck him in the face and crush his manhood if it was that giving him the courage to babble songs disrespecting everyone. Cassandra stirred at her side, yawned and finally stretched on the bed, her big green eyes opened and she smiled at her sister who gave her sloppy kiss on her forehead.

“Mornin, little tyke.”

“Hi.”

“We are going to have breakfast, Mrs. Bell will have our hide if we don’t,” Elissa said, prompting her sister to get out of the bed.

Mrs. Bell was the live-in Brownie in Elissa’s house; Brownies are household spirits that are said to come out at night while the house’s owners are asleep and perform various chores, like cleaning or cooking. They can be easily offended and will leave their homes forever if they feel they have been insulted, or been taken advantage of in any way. Getting on the bad side of a Brownie was suicidal when they lived in your house. Elissa never forgets to leave her candied offerings for Mrs. Bell every evening at the house’s hearth. 

The consequences of not doing this usual give and take ceremony were beyond serious in the Von Braun-Halliwell household.

Cassandra went to the bathroom first, while Elissa thought about what happened yesterday when she got back home with her sister. Malicia and Heracles were waiting for them directly before the mansion, their worried faces replaced by relieved ones when they saw their children. Then, her mother slapped an unremovable, GPS enchanted, silver bangle on her wrist and then grounded her. 

Elissa felt that it was unjust and paranoid of them to do this. The young girl looked at the magic accessory on her right wrist and her anger boiled. She felt that her parents didn’t trust her by using this tool that impugned on her freedom. But she could understand, Elissa had been kidnapped before; when they lived in France. Some secret state agency took her and triggered her superhuman powers with something called a cosmic radiation emitter.

The young girl remembered the raw power coursing through her body when her ice powers were unleashed for the first time. She killed everyone on the floor where she was kept prisoner, the other scientists and guards that flash froze due to the extreme sub-zero temperature turned into morbid icy statues. Elissa was unharmed and it revealed that she had immunity to the cold. Elissa had walked unimpeded through the secret installation freezing everyone into frozen statues around her. Perchance, her father, mother, and uncle were about to storm the place and found her when she was about to leave.

Elissa shook her head as if letting go of those memories still haunting her. She stood up from the bed and began to arrange her blue and white sheets and blankets. Satisfied, the girl went into the bathroom and heard the sound of water falling. Cassandra was showering, she then endeavored to brush her teeth while waiting for her sister to free the shower cabin.

---

Once the toileting ritual was done, the girls went downstairs and met their parents in the kitchen area, where the table with breakfast was; the consequent bulk of their father, Heracles, could be seen at the head of the table, with their mother, Malicia, at his right. The air smelled of eggs, bacon, and homemade chocolate pastry, pain au chocolat, under all these layers of odors, Elissa could also smell fresh milk. Cassandra rushed to the table, and to her seat.

“Morning Daddy, Mommy!”

“Cassie, don’t run!” Malicia reprimanded.

Malicia’s eyes were thunderous, her worry for her daughters seemed to still be at the back of her mind. The older woman inspected her daughter’s outfit and recompensed her with a nod of approval at her choice. Elissa wore a form-fitting, black dress with tights covering her legs, a sky blue cardigan, and black thigh high boots with heels. Elissa’s hair was done by magic into a curly ponytail with a side braid.

“Hello, my little girls, Elissa where is my hug? Cassie, is that food more important than your dad?” Heracles voice boomed.

Elissa went to her dad and kissed him on the cheek after a warm hug, Cassandra was still eating her bacon but patted her dad’s hand as if to reassure him. The big red-headed man shook his head in defeat but still flashed a smile at his daughters and laughed. Heracles wore his golden under armor, it meant that he was there at home but in standby mode; his teammate from the Seattle Justicar HQ didn’t need him, and there was no crisis today. He looked relaxed and full of life, but the tension in his shoulders betrayed the same feeling that Malicia had on her face. Elissa’s dad was worried too, the girl had her arms around his neck and could feel it.

“Sit, Eli. You have class soon.” Heracles said.

The family ate breakfast in tranquility, with meaningless conversations about their favorite things. Malicia reminded her oldest daughter about a potion a warlock commissioned and to prepare her alchemy kit, Heracles spoke with Cassandra about some bad guy he put in prison yesterday morning, he attempted to steal a military submarine to turn it into a base of operations. At 7:15 AM, Elissa stood, said goodbye to everyone and went to catch her bus to reach her high school.

Elissa was a sophomore at Ingraham High School, it wasn’t a good establishment and was rated low because it didn’t support their own sports players. The principal was avaricious with the school budget and seemed to hate superhumans, but he seemed to hide it well. The young girl left her mansion and was out on 120th street. The Von Braun-Halliwell mansion was nested at the entrance of Bonnie View Park. Because of the park’s intersecting Ley-lines, a lot of magical creatures lived there; fairies, pixies, some goblins were there too.

The yellow high school bus stopped before Elissa and opened its doors, the young girl ‘sashayed’ inside and the heads of her peers turned toward her, judging, appraising. The young girl could see the lust in the eyes of most of the boys, jealousy, and envy in the girls. Finally, when she recognized a familiar face she walked fast towards the person. A young man with silky black hair, glasses, a thin body frame, and visibly of Arabian descent, was reading a book without paying attention around him. He wore a heavy navy blue winter jacket with a red t-shirt and dark jeans. Elissa sat at his side, kissed his cheek and greeted him.

“Hi, Saladin.”

“Ah… G-good Morning Elissa.” The young man stuttered.

His face reddened and he flashed a smile at the gorgeous redhead, he still felt jealous stares piercing him but ignored them. Elissa smiled at him and played with a lock of her hair, happy to meet a friendly face today.

“Are we going to have a test about WW2 and its consequences today? Mr. Black sounded like he was really itching for one yesterday.”

Their history teacher was really passionate about World War II and the changes it brought to the world, he often let the students debate about this subject and the consequences of the rise of superhumans and supernatural beings and how they completely changed the fabric of society. How, now that the humans lived in fortress cities, with underground shelters when Kaiju season was upon them or when an Alpha class superhuman was on the loose and causing havoc. There were three ranks to classify superhumans, Beta, Alpha, and Omega. The Betas were more numerous, the Alphas are those able to take on a city by themselves, and the Omega are those superhumans that could alter the landscape and create mass destruction.

“Y-yes, I guarantee it, the man is a history geek.” The young man shyly said, not looking Elissa in the eyes, he also avoided looking at her cleavage. His female friend was proudly showing her large chest and wasn’t impaired by the cold, it had always mystified him.

Saladin was from a conservative family that raised him to always respect women and protect them. He wanted to tell his friend, not to show off this much of her beautiful body, but who was he, to say this to her? If Elissa had been his sister, she wouldn’t have been out of the house in that outfit, the young man sighed heavily and went back to his book.

“I don’t like this subject, but it’s important to know what happened to not repeat it; that’s what history is,” Elissa said grudgingly as she continued the conversation, unaware of the effect she had on this poor Saladin.

The two friends discussed school, the indie fantasy books they wanted to buy on Tesla Kindle, and the latest superhero movie about their second favorite hero, Paragon. The discussion was cut short when the High School was finally in view and the bus entered the parking lot. The bus stopped and the driver made a sign to the students to get off; the teenagers filed out of the bus and crossed the parking lot to the entrance of the school building, some of them meeting friends, that had their own means of transportation, and waited for the bell to ring. Elissa couldn’t wait for when her father would go with her to the car dealership to buy that Camaro she dreamed about, and she stopped being dependant on public transport.

Once in the school building proper, Elissa went toward her locker near the classroom where her language class was going to be; French 3 with Miss Stone, their language teacher. The girl didn’t bother taking the manual, she was fluent in French and helped the teacher in making the class interesting for everyone. Elissa closed her locker and hoped to avoid the boys sending her notes yet again. She stepped resolutely toward the class.

---

Ernest Culver walked towards the place where his group of bullies is usually gathered, it was a blind spot in Ingraham’s security system, in the shade of a copse between the school’s buildings and the street separating them from a row of houses. He wore a heavy grey hoodie, black cargo pants, and winter boots with his student satchel. The young man’s turbid black eyes were hidden by his messy mud brown hair. 

No one would look at him twice, Ernest had always been ignored by everyone; even his hardworking parents neglected him. Today, he has come to make those jocks that had been tormenting him since the start of his sophomore year leave him alone, once and for all, something momentous had happened to him two days ago and he had stayed at home trying to accept his situation. He was a superhuman, one of the lucky few in the population with a baseline super body, strength, speed, and minor resilience, but that wasn’t all! He could use Pyrokinesis. 

He found it difficult to use at first, but now he could produce fireballs and cones of flame at will, but his control wasn’t perfect.

Ernest thought that he could scare those guys and they would stop taking his money or torturing him by burning him with lit cigarettes. He hated them, he hated them with a passion that burned him from within. Ernest finally saw them, there were three of them. Tall, wearing red and yellow sports jackets from the school’s football team. The buffest one was Harry; 1.90m tall, handsome with black buzz cut hair, cold blue eyes, and an eternal cocky grin on his face. 

He was the star quarterback of the school and loved to lord over people. Harry led this little group of subordinates around, two boys called Len and Trent with a similar build to their friend. Len was blonde with brown eyes and always looked stoic and Trent was black with short dreadlocks and a cruel mien on his scarred face. Ernest heard that he was tied to one of those gangs from Northgate near Seattle College. Ernest thought it would explain his villainous disposition. 

But still, those three were real jocks that abused their popularity, they were stupid and arrogant and dated most of the girls from the cheerleader squad. The three boys were chatting amiably while smoking joints. The young superhuman signaled his presence by coughing twice.

“Oh lookit there, ain’t that Ernerd?” Harry said noticing him.

Cold sweat rolled down Ernest’s back, he found the butchering of his name so… childish. *That guy still thinks like a middle schooler, I can’t believe I was scared by this ape.* Ernest thought while boldly rolling his eyes.

“How are you, Harriette? Heard Jenny dumped your ass?” The young super taunted.

Ernest flashed them a smile when he saw his lead bully’s happy disposition get darker. Harry threw his joint, stomped on it and cracked the bones in his neck, doing the same with his knuckles.

“It seems, Ernerd grew balls of steel since the last time we saw him, guys,” Trent said, looking at his friends while grinning.

“Yeah.” Harry acquiesced, his eyes full of hate never left Ernest.

“Maybe it’s time to give him a vasectomy?” Len was the smartest of them but was still stupid to Ernest.

“You dumb fucks, the word you’re looking for is “castrate”. But, I doubt you’ve ever opened a dictionary before in your sorry life. Bring it on, girls I have a class to get to.”

Trent’s face became red with anger, if he was thinking rationally, he wouldn’t take out the knife in his pocket and charge to stick it in Ernest. But, that’s what he did, and Ernest acted on instinct and fear when he saw the shiny pointy tool, sending a wave of scorching flames from his right hand to the young black man. Trent’s eyes opened wide in terror and then the flames stuck to him, burning his clothes, skin, and hair. The young jock rolled on the ground trying to extinguish the fire. 

His two friends looked at him in fear, but their friendship was strong; Harry took off his jacket and tried to kill the flames, Len though, attacked Ernest in rage. The young super froze because of what he did, he just wanted to scare them to make them stop bullying him. They had made his life hell for so long. Len tackled him and began to punch him in the face repeatedly, it didn’t hurt. Ernest began laughing, something snapped inside him.

*Why should I care if these assholes, live or die? No one ever tried to stop them… wait, no, only one person tried, but she couldn’t be there all the time. That redhead with the French accent…*

Ernest coiled his arms around Len and shifted their positions, the jock was now the one under him. The young super then pummeled Len until the sound of breaking bones could be heard. Len’s face was bloody and raw, his teeth flew from his broken jaw at each impact of Ernest’s fists. And to finish him, Ernest immolated him, the young man screamed and screamed. 

Ernest looked behind him, Harry was unmoving and looked at him like a deer in the headlights. The jock fled, leaving his friends to their fates. The young super laughed at that action, he always thought that Harry was a coward and he just confirmed his thoughts. Ernest stood up and kicked the still screaming and moaning Len in the side and his crotch while delighting in hearing his bones snapping.

*Now I understand why they liked to torment me this much, this is fun.* The young man laughed maniacally.

Ernest wasn’t done with his bullies, he thought that he must teach Harry a lesson. Everything was his fault after all, yes, the young super will end him in the most gruesome way. Ernest left his first two victims in the shade of the trees, not interested in them anymore. They laid on the ground burned and battered, Trent still lived but Len had expired already.

---

Harry ran with all his might, stumbling into people in the main hall trying to get to the next class. He ran to the administrative building but suddenly he felt the heat at his side, instinct told him to evade to the right. Ernest had already caught up to him, the jock put a hand on his singed left arm, he grunted when he saw the burn on it.

People panicked and screamed when they saw Ernest approach with fireballs in his hands grinning like a Cheshire cat. Harry tried to stand up and run, but Ernest lobbed a fireball at his lower body, the jock’s jeans burned and turned brown as the flame devoured the cloth. Harry screamed as the flame burned his skin, students fled the scene, some stayed, paralyzed or puking, as they were struck by this horrid spectacle.

“Someone stop him!” A girl shouted while pointing at Ernest.

“Run!” A goth guy fled the scene taking his girlfriend in his arms, not caring about her best friend at all.

“Aaaaaah!!” Most girls present fled screaming.

Ernest looked around himself, he couldn’t believe that those people ran because of a little blood. These cowardly people are the kind of people that keep their heads down and stay silent when something bad happened to him. His control slipped and his flames went wild; the thermal radiation caused the clothes of the people that stayed to catch fire and create more panic. 

Ernest tried to extinguish them but couldn’t, he didn’t want to harm those not related to his vendetta. A wave of cold suddenly engulfed everyone, a blue beam of light struck each of the students that were aflame.

The young super was also struck by one but his flame’s heat stopped the beam of cold light. Ernest looked from where the beam came from, to see that gorgeous redheaded girl that saved him before, he could recognize her anywhere, as she was the subject of a lot of his sexual fantasies. Elissa Von Braun-Halliwell was the most popular girl in school and she had even helped him a lot when the idiot trio made his life hell. But why was she looking at him as if he was a monster? Those eyes that have been kind to him before were cold and terrifying.

“T-this isn’t what i-it looks like!” Ernest said panicked.

“Oh?” Elissa tilted her head.

She looked rather angry, the situation didn’t paint Ernest in a good light after all.

“I-its all this bastard, Harry’s fault!!” Ernest pointed his bully out to her.

“I understand.” She answered, smiling at him.

It was as if the sun had shone on him when he saw the dazzling smile on her beautiful face. Her voice was calm and her eyes didn’t shine with coldness like before, Ernest was reassured that she didn’t misunderstand him and was about to go to her when he felt a cold sensation on his legs. When he looked at them he saw that they were encased in ice. The young man’s eyes bulged and his gaze returned to Elissa, but all he saw was her elbow coming straight at him and then everything went dark.