We never met other people who radiated so much power, so much negative intent. I felt it in my body – I felt how strong they are, I felt that they are not humans like us but definitely not like those ghoulish creatures. Is this group also a Neogen? I think that’s just the reason why we seemed to be afraid to them. I took a deep breath when suddenly, Lea whispered inside our head to run.

My nerves seemed to get an adrenaline and we all started running away from them. Before we got far away, I heard the guy in white suit saying, “This will be fun!” and they all started to run after us.

I looked back on our direction and sprinted as fast as I can. With nothing on my mind but to run, I did not notice that I was holding Aria’s hand, who seemed to not mind running whilst keeping up with my speed. I felt her hands grew cold but we had to run so I did not bother to check her.

These people can run fast. Judging from their pace, I can feel that they can catch up to us. As we exited on an open field filled with thin trees, I looked back, and I saw the man in white suit produced a strong green laser blast into our direction. The explosion created a crater in front of us but we managed to avoid the line of damage. Numerous blast followed us, but this time, I felt a numbing electricity that rushed in me every time an electric-like explosion explodes near us. Lea started hurling rocks and twigs at them telekinetically and Flint threw fire balls at them as we ran to at least keep them distracted but it seems that they didn't mind.

“They’re Neogens too!” I shouted. I never thought that we will be facing Neogens in our way and the hard part is that they are chasing us for blood. They seemed to be strong too, judging on the things that they are throwing at us, they obviously are well-trained for battle. We ran as fast as we can until we saw ourselves in front of the river. With no second thought, Blanche dipped her hands on the water. Blanche used the water to conjure a raft-shaped ice that seemed to be strong enough to accommodate all of us.

“Go! Go! Go!” Flint shouted as he gestured us to board first. Blasts of electricity and lasers has been coming in our direction and Flint has been throwing fireballs at them in return. On the other hand, Lea made use of the fallen trees, rocks, or whatever is movable near us to either throw it on our enemy or use it to block their way or block the incoming attacks, hoping that she can somehow slow them down. It works, but Lea knows that it won’t last long.

As we boarded the raft, I saw Flint catching his breath. He produced fireballs on his palms. The fireballs grew larger and he threw it on the enemies who is approaching our distance fast. He rode the raft last and as soon as he was aboard, Lea pushed the air, generating enough force to make the raft catch the flowing water in the river. We advanced but a pink wave suddenly hit our raft. The wave was translucent so none of us saw it until we realized that it hit the raft. The raft started to crack in the middle, but Blanche managed to keep the raft together by continuously blowing frosted winds on the cracked parts. At the edge of the raft, Flint stood. His two hands are on fire and is aimed to shoot. The boat gained acceleration as the river widened and flowed stronger. It seemed okay at first but our pursuers ran on the shore of the river, keeping their distance to us and out of Flint’s range. As for us, we struggled to paddle across the river. We have been crossing the river diagonally and the current keeps on getting stronger. Our view from the enemy has started to become clear, as Flint’s fire started to spread on the trees.

“Be careful on the water! That girl can produce electricity!” Althea shouted, pointing at the girl who seems to be of our age and we did our best to not to get wet or so, as we don’t want to get toasted.

As the group ran on the side of the river, I saw the lady that they called ‘Cat’ stopped running and produced a pink wave from her fingers. With a strong ‘shoo’ gesture, she was able to conjure a wave that is almost as big as our raft. At this point, I know that our raft will shatter once this wave hits us.

I readied myself for the impact but Lea managed to deflect the wave with her telekinesis. The wave sided out of our direction as Lea pushed sideways. Lea’s push was so strong that the raft almost fell off-balance but the force has given us more momentum on the river. The wave was directed to the water, but it seems that nothing had happened.

“Adrenaline!” Lea shouted.” I never knew that I could do that!” She added.

“Then keep on having an adrenaline! Blanche and Flint might run out of juice soon!” Sif shouted back at Lea. Their tones are high but that’s because of the rush that we are feeling. No one seemed to care who screams, shouts, or what as we did have an unspoken agreement that we should run. Either way, she was right. Flint has been producing more fire that I could remember him doing and Blanche has been catching her breath as she continued to keep the raft together. While they are on the defense-offense position, Aria, Althea, Ed and I paddled through the water using the racket-sized ice that Blanche created for us.

As we are near the banks of the river, we heard a strong sound of water, which is obviously a waterfall. Why are we so unlucky tonight? First, we are being chased. Second, we are in a siege battle and now this? We paddled faster than we can while Blanche, Lea and Flint struggled to keep our raft and defenses together. My heart was beating fast. Any minute now, and we will fall on the waterfall. I can’t even see it properly as the night kept the surroundings dark. Is it our doom? Is it our end? How about the circus – our family?

“Gale! I need you to concentrate! Keep your thoughts together and think of nothing but to protect us!” Althea shouted on top of her voice.

“How can I?!” I shouted back, as I saw that the waterfall is really near.

“You can do it! Believe in yourself! Don’t forget who you are and what you want!” Althea shouted. “Edward! You too! You know your worth! You know who you are, Remember the things that we have talked about!” Althea added.

“Talked about”? Ed and Althea has been talking about what?

I tried to calm myself but nothing seems to be happening. I looked at Ed, who seemed confused. I saw him closed his eyes and murmured in the midst of the commotion. With a blink of an eye, he radiated a golden, pulsating light that made me feel warmer. I felt better, and I know that I can do what I need to do. With one last glance, I looked at my friends who are struggling and told myself, “Screw this. Don’t let your family down!”

I felt my body tensed and a sort of a force field came out of me. I opened my eyes and saw a blue translucent force field growing  out of my skin. As it escaped my body, I felt calmer but senses screamed for fear. The faint but iridescent electric-like light passed through my friends but they were not harmed. Instead, the energy created a spherical form that enveloped us. At this point, the pursuers stopped running and my friends too, stopped paddling. They seemed to notice what’s happening to me. On the other hand, Ed has stopped radiating the golden light. I’m not sure why, but he seemed very tired. I tightened my grip on Trent’s cane but my hands felt nothing.

I have almost forgotten the circumstance as my heart felt a stronger willpower to protect my family, until I looked back and the last thing I remembered was I and my friends plummeting on the waterfall.

----

Lea woke me up. As I opened my eyes, the morning light filled my sight. I looked around and we are in the bank of the river. We are far from the waterfall but I can still see it from the distance.

“Gale? Are you okay?” Lea asked me. I sat down, nodding in response to her question. I was still holding Trent’s cane. I don’t know why but of all the things that happened last night, I managed to keep holding it.

I saw everyone, who seemed to just woke up too. Sif was going around, checking everybody for wounds, or so. We are still complete and no one seemed too hurt. I looked at Lea and asked, “What happened last night?”

“I am not really sure but you and Ed saved us, I think?” Lea answered.

“How?” I asked.

“Well, I am not really sure for Ed’s part, but for you, you were able to conjure a shield that is enough to save us from the fall but it seems that it got deactivated once you lost consciousness from the impact. Anyway, the shield helped us a lot. I and Sif was awake the whole time. She told me that I was the last person that she could touch and so, she did her best to keep the two us awake with her ability. Since we are the ones who are awake, we did our best to keep everyone together and here we are on the bank of the river.” Lea explained. Others were also listening as Lea told us what happened.

“How about the people who are chasing us?” Aria asked.

“We are not sure, but let’s hope that they thought that we are dead so they can leave us alone.” Sif answered.

“Althea? What do we do now?” Lea asked her. Althea has been silent since I woke up. She was just staring at the waterfall and seemed to not mind what we are talking about.

“Amber...” She said. Her voices sounded like she was about to cry but she was able to resist. “The girl around our age from last night, the one who can generate electricity. That was Amber. She was my friend from the past”.

Her words took everyone’s attention. No one spoke, or moved. Our eyes and ears waited for Althea.

“I think I was about seven, before Trent took me in the Circus, Amber was the only person that I know. She was my friend. We wandered together on the streets when our families left us. She was all I got when my mom and dad threw me out of our house the day that they confirmed that I am not a normal kid. They were normal people and got terrified with what I can do. After a week on the streets, I met Amber. She, too is different but we are alike. She told me that she was kicked out too, because she doesn’t know how can she control her electricity.” Althea said, her tone sounds reminiscent.

“One day, I saw the Circus from my power. I wasn’t sure how things work that time but I told Amber that we should go to the circus. She agreed and as we are on the way to the circus, we kind of lost each other. I did my best to find her but I failed. That’s the time when Trent saw me wandering around. I trusted him with my story and I eventually found out that the people in this place are also freaks like me. He suggested me to stay, maybe to help around the circus until Amber arrives. I said yes and for months, I helped around the circus, got myself a good place in the group until the day that my first sight of danger appeared to me. That day, Trent decided to leave with all the people and the stuff of the circus. At first, I don’t want to but he told me that if I and Amber’s agreement was to go to the circus, she might be smart enough to seek for me in a circus. Since then, I haven’t heard anything or seen her in my sight, until last night.” Althea said.

“But why was she attacking us? Didn’t she saw you?” Blanche asked.

“It’s been about 9 years, Blanche. I can’t blame her for whatever reason. I was the one who left her and I understand if she was angry or so.” Althea answered, a tear jerked from her eyes but she wiped it.

We fell silent again and waited for Althea’s next words.

“There’s a part of me that says that we can save her” Aria started. We all looked at her.

“Save from what?” Althea asked.

“Didn’t you see them last night? Their eyes did not look normal, as if they are not in themselves. I am thinking that all of them are somewhat…. uh, maybe controlled by something?” Aria answered.

“You mean, like, brainwashed?” Sif asked, holding Aria’s thigh.

“Probably. I don’t know. I just feel it. I can’t provide you with more evidence or so, but it’s just…odd. It's in their eyes.” Aria said, not minding Sif’s hand on her thigh.

Althea stood, took a deep breath and said, “Well, that’s a good chance. Thank you for that, Aria. For now, I think we should get going”.