Donna was awake; she hadn’t slept last night at all. She’d taken a long shower this morning after suddenly having live electric sparks come out of her bathroom’s light switch and into her hand, filling her with extra power when she’d been thinking about sitting across from them tonight … the monsters.
It was freezing now, and her hair was sopping wet, but she didn’t care. Ryan never tried to jog on her morning trail the days they had to see each other at family events. So it was the perfect time to move until she was practically flying. Not jogging like the old chubby girl she used to be who needed to lose weight or train for gymnastics. Today she would be sprinting. Her ability to run had been part of the reason she had gotten out of that power plant. If Donna didn’t have her dad, grandparents, or Spencer and Rebecca here, no doubt she would run out of this town and never stop. Her brother running away as a child finally was relatable now, and she wondered more than ever why he really ran.
She stepped out the door and found on the side of the doorstep, so she wouldn’t trip this time, a small card and a tiny gift. She knew right away who it was from and froze solid. How could a gift from her ex-childhood friend, and all the gifts he’d secretly given her when no one was watching, really be from a monster?
She felt her body fighting to turn and go electric right then. Good thing she was wet. Instead, she turned away and ran from her doorstep. She ran fast and hard, feeling her body partially charge up inside, fighting her outer wetness, and her whole being got lighter and lighter, making her speed double. She ran through the woods, tears trying to come out from her eyes, flashes of her life almost ending pouring into her memory. As Christmas Eve had come for so many today, the holiday was over for her before it even began.
Finally, Donna’s legs ached from running even though she hadn’t run away from the nightmare. Her hair was almost dry, her water bottle empty, and she knew she needed to get inside, her body naturally craving what was totally unnatural. Electricity. Electricity to get her through this day.
Her vision changed without her meaning it to as she walked toward her house like some kind of teenage electrical freak. Everything was black and blue, except for streams of light far away coming from her house, streams of electricity she knew she could mentally call to. God, how can this be my life? How can this be real?
If she called to those electrical particles, she knew they would instantly slither toward her until they reached her feet and she absorbed enough that she was no longer human anymore. Donna would become an unrecognizable thing, a creature made of electricity.
Instead, she closed her eyes as she walked ahead, forcing her vision back to normal, so she could stay human. Stay herself, at least for a few more precious minutes, and then—
Donna’s eyes were still closed as she tripped over something. Something hard that reached to her knees. Her gymnastics instincts and fright made her instantly tumble over it, and she landed on her feet and jumped around. What she saw before her was truly crazy.
A gymnastics beam.
Not her old, at home practice beam that she’d put together from a piece of shaky wood and two logs. No, this was a giant, beautifully crafted beam made of sturdy wood. It even had two side panel supports on it and had been painted her favorite color, a light blue.
Donna blinked her eyes, sure she was dreaming. When she finally realized she wasn’t, she hugged herself and looked around. Suddenly she had this bizarre and very real feeling of being watched, and felt small and alone on this strange winter’s day as the wind around her howled.
Unable to see anything around her with her normal sight except for a lonely road and the far off woods, her eyes went back down to the beam she should have been doing cartwheels over. Carved on it were four words, “Never forget your dreams.”
Right away when she saw the style of the carved words, she knew who it was from. Her heart started pounding like a rocket ship as she remembered the little boy whom she had built tree houses and secret forts with, all of which he carved his initials in. Donna felt sick to her stomach as her eyes went to the other tiny gift she had left abandon on the steps. Ryan had left all this. Which meant when Donna saw that gift this morning, Ryan must have been nearby getting ready to bring over the beam. A friggin beam from the best friend who’d stopped talking to her years ago; God, this was all so crazy. And they could have had an encounter … and he might have figured out then that she wasn’t human, just like he wasn’t. He was this monster who had tried to rip her apart not even a month ago. How could a monster have made a gift for her like this?
Trying not to process how this would have made her old self be filled with joy for not days but weeks, Donna quickly dragged the sturdy beam into her dad’s old garage. She pushed it behind a narrow pathway that was next to a pile of junk. Once it was out of her sight, she instantly felt better. Like it could somehow not be real. Her mind filled with a head full of gray dread; it was time for the holidays to begin.
Chapter Six
Lynn
Lynn faced her boyfriend, feeling so good, so hot. She was wearing a velvet, short black dress, with her hair curly and teased to match the latest style. She had made her breasts a D cup size tonight, always going back and forth changing them from a C to a D, depending on what outfit she was wearing. It hurt every time she forced her skin and bones to change and shift, but she didn’t care. This was her power, her Biomax ability, to change into any form she could master, and tonight she needed it to work for her benefit. To get the leading edge on her relationship again.
This was her Christmas Eve after all; she deserved some happiness while on a break from school and classes. They all did. Lynn had misted herself with the most expensive perfume one could find, and had plumped her lips up so her red lipstick would pop. My ability is by far the best Biomax power around, she assured herself. Any pains she felt when making the changes were necessary.
She went up to Ryan and kissed him, and finally, after a tense moment, he kissed her back. A quick, short kiss, but it was a kiss. He looked so handsome despite his refusing to wear a proper jacket and nice white shirt. But whatever, he looked so good she couldn’t wait to get him out of his outfit later. The only thing good about Christmas Eve was getting to wear cute clothes, and of course the anticipation for all the gifts. Speaking of gifts, she wore the Tiffany’s necklace Ryan had let her charge to his card as an early Christmas gift.
Mr. and Miss. Fantastic step aside, she thought to herself as they parted.
“I like this dress,” he admitted as she kept her arms tight around him.
“Really,” she asked kissing him on the cheek one last time; she smiled as she left a print of red lipstick where she had kissed him. “Would you like to know what I have on underneath it?” she whispered seductively, but before he could answer, the stupid Applegate family maid, Daisy, barged through the door.
“Oh!” she gasped, as if shocked that Lynn had snuck into their home early. “Ryan, I thought you were alone.” She frowned at Lynn. It was no secret her and the old bird hated each other. Better get used to me, she thought with an evil smile. I’m not going anywhere.
“You wanted me to let you know when Mr. Young and his daughter arrived,” Daisy said innocently as she made eye contact with Lynn and gave an equally condescending smile. “They’re here.”
Lynn’s entire body went ridged, pulling apart from Ryan as the maid left. He had wanted to know when Donna and her father were going to get here? Why should he even care? What, were they so weak and unprotected they weren’t able to drive a car without him worrying or feeling guilty? Lynn felt her blood begin to boil as her mood started to morph. They made eye contact with each other, hurt growing as Lynn refused to break down and act weak because of this. Her heart was pounding, and her skin yearned to unbend and twist back into her natural, real shape. Instead, she stood taller and got meaner.
“Don’t jump to conclusions,” Ryan started to snap in a low whisper. “Donna and her dad’s names were mentioned yesterday
at the compound when the original Bio was recorded talking about wanting to come back here and—”
“Well you’ve got what you’ve wanted Ryan!” she spat, interrupting him as she hardened her lips with a fake smile. “Now you know that the handy man and his daughter are safe.”
Before he could warn her not to say anything cruel she walked past him, leaving his room, and walking quickly out into the open where Ryan couldn’t use his nerve bending speed without precious Donna seeing. He was forced to walk like a normal person behind her as she dashed down the stairs. “Don’t worry,” she whispered low, knowing only Ryan would be able to hear her with his abilities. “I’ll be on my best behavior.”
A half a second later, she found Mr. Applegate and Donna’s pathetic, once good looking and now very tired father greeting each other. When these two were in the same room, the same old time jokes and stories of the past started flying. Adults were so predictable this way ... didn’t they know we are in a totally different future?
Before Ryan could stop her, she reached Donna, stunning her as she embraced her in a hug. Donna’s entire body froze as Lynn hugged her extra tight. “Donna,” she said loud enough for all the adults to hear. “What a pleasure to always see you here.” Donna said nothing as Lynn slowly pulled away from her and whispered, “Still wearing trailer trash ensembles on Christmas Eve I see, how you. Thanks for giving us all a good laugh at the tournament by the way.”
Donna’s eyes pulsed with her typical loser emotion. The kind of emotion Lynn was too strong to ever show. The girls continued to stare at each other, as Donna switched her face from hurt looking to pure numbness. Almost as if for once, she was choosing not to care. As if the loser could have bigger problems than Lynn always making sure she remained a nothing.
Ryan was behind the two girls, his face trying to fight his animalistic anger. Of course, with his abilities he had heard everything. This only made Lynn’s sneer heighten. Good, let him be angry. What was he really going to do about it?
“It’s good you two got to see each other for a minute,” Ryan announced loudly, “since this year, Lynn, you have to go and miss our dinner and all.” Lynn and Ryan’s faces met in shaded anger. She was stunned; he wasn’t really proposing she leave, was he? She looked for help from his father, but he hardly was paying attention or cared. As long as Lynn was progressing as a Biomax team member to help Ryan, Mr. Applegate never seemed bothered with whether Lynn was truly happy. That stung. She looked to Ryan, about to cut him off, but he was faster and crueler.
“What are you—”
“Don’t you remember your mom just phoned here,” he lied. “She wanted you to go home to your own family’s dinner. They miss you.”
As if Lynn’s adoptive parents gave a damn where she was. When she was in her true form, they acted extra racist toward her.
“I’ll see you later, Lynn,” Ryan said in a way that made her not being a part of tonight final. With that, the maid was at her side, grabbing Lynn’s coat and whisking her away with a smile. Lynn’s heart broke a little bit as Ryan finally put his foot down on her antics. At least that is what he would say he had been doing later, when in reality the blanketed truth was he would always choose his precious, childhood friend, Donna’s feelings over Lynn’s any day.
The minute she was outside in the cold, shivering herself into a frenzy, her heart throbbing with such anger and hurt, she couldn’t think to hold her shape. She let out a small scream as her skin snapped back, her bones shifted and stretched, and the agony of changing back into her true form began.
* * *
Ryan
Ryan’s father sat at the head of table with Mr. Young right next to him while Ryan was next to Randy’s empty chair, across from Donna. This Christmas Eve pretty much blowed. He should be happy not having his annoying brother here causing trouble, but it wasn’t the same, and then when he’d heard what Lynn had said to Donna … It was pretty awful to have to kick your own girlfriend and team member out of a gathering on Christmas Eve, but her BS had to stop. As much as he tried not to, he cared too much about Donna to let her be put down one more time in the house they used to play in as children.
Donna wasn’t looking at him, she was sitting closer to her father than she’d ever sat before, and he could hear her heart racing. He had always pushed himself to ignore with her what his Biomax, animal engineered genetics, allowed him to pick up. Like an accelerated heartbeat. But with her refusing to make eye contact with him, without even thinking about it he was focusing on everything that was her. God, I’m losing it.
But something was wrong with his old playmate, and it was more than the death of Paul Cohen. He wished he could know what … he wished so many things he shouldn’t. He knew every second in shop class when he had built that beam for Donna he was getting himself into trouble, and yet he’d felt like he had to. Like he owed her so much more than that after what he’d put her through, things she couldn’t even fathom as she sat across from him now, completely disconnected.
He found his father’s eyes on him; apparently his staring at Donna was too obvious. His father nodded in a way that Ryan could almost hear the words coming out of his mouth over the holiday music and the smells of hot food. “Keep out of Donna Young’s business. It’s the only way you can let her go, and she can be safe. Don’t let her talk to you.”
And yet the image of her across the table refusing to make any eye contact, looking so out of it and lost, was in his mind like a cancer. He continued to listen to her heartbeat as it ate away at him. I have to find out if something really is wrong, then I can move on. At least, that’s what he told himself.
* * *
Donna
Donna looked at her watch; time was clicking away so slowly. Every moment was a strain as her nerves pounded. Randy was a no show, which made things a fraction easier. Donna sat close to her father as she stared at Randy’s empty chair. It was so easy to recall last year, and every Christmas Eve before this. Randy would sip spiked eggnog as he’d mouth off, and Ryan would strain to keep his brother under wraps. The few glances Ryan had always given her back then, as their favorite childhood Christmas songs played, had made her face turn bright red with the best kind of nervousness. He had always given her this extra high, this great euphoria, but now … everything was sick and broken and twisted in the most devastating sort of way; and she was on edge having to sit and breathe here.
Mr. Applegate turned to look at her, and then his eyes fell on her neck. “Dear God, is that—”
Donna’s fist clenched, and she sat strait up, her body turning partially electric on the inside. Any second she’d go transparent, her vision would change, and she’d see all the electric molecules in the wall that she could already feel slithering toward her. She’d have to use them to get her father out of here, and then …
“Is that your mother’s necklace?” Mr. Applegate asked her, his words immediately relaxing Donna, though not too much. Her mind was about to explode from fighting such sudden adrenaline. She felt dizzy.
“No, I wish I could have found that thing. This is one I bought for Donna on the way home,” her dad explained.
Donna couldn’t form words to speak. She was doing such a horrible job of this, pretending to act normal, because she could never be normal anymore.
“It looks just like the one Violet used to wear,” Mr. Applegate went on, lost now in his own memories of Donna’s mother. Violet was her dad’s, and apparently Mr. Applegate’s, pet name for her mother; because her eyes were such a deep blue, some people mistook them for violet.
“I um,” Donna stood up, reacting to her dizziness as her body pushed to turn right in front of them all, to run through the walls and get far away from this moment. “I’m gonna go get some air for a minute.” She walked out of the room quickly, trying to force her feet not to move at a full on run.
Moving through the rest of the house was a blur. She made a quick stop at the humongous Christmas tree, and then was out one of the back
doors she and Ryan used to sneak in and out of as kids; remembering that made her shudder.
It felt so good the moment she was able to take a deep breath outside. The air was chilled, freezing her as she went to lean against one of the giant trees. Her hair tie had fallen out at some point during her quick dash out, not that she hardly noticed right now as her long hair fell past her shoulders. The moon was full tonight and the stars in the sky were everywhere. She watched her own breath as she inhaled and exhaled, making steam.
It wasn’t until he was super close, coughing to let her know he was there, that she realized Ryan had followed her. She jumped in fear and she refused to turn around for a moment. The nails in her hand dug deeply into her flesh. Hopefully the pain would stop her from turning fully right now, but no doubt if he tried to touch her skin she’d shock him. Thank God he hadn’t tried to touch her in years.
“Hey.” She heard the awkwardness in his voice when she still refused to face him. In her mind, all she could see was the Ryan that had attacked her at the power plant. Whose body was throbbing, moving at a speed that was just as fast as her electric one, only he had moved like a wild animal. An animal whose face had been searing with death and strong victory for all who challenged it.
Finally, she turned around and saw … someone who looked like her old and perfect Ryan, her high school crush, and ex-best friend. His features seemed even more rich in the moonlight, but this was all a mask she realized now, and she was wearing a mask also.
“Hi,” she said back to him.
They looked at each other.
“I just wanted to feel the outside air, it’s so nice and cold,” she told him, even though by now the inside of her electric flesh had warmed her like wine passing through a vein.
“Yeah, if you like the cold it’s really nice out,” he agreed. She wished he’d go inside. Right as she made that wish, he took a step forward and she took a step back.
“Donna, is something wrong?” he asked her, but she couldn’t meet his eyes.