Ascendance

3

An alien among aliens. He always considered himself to be a cephalopod like the others. But he knew he was different. It wasn't his iridescent black skin. It wasn't his neon blue eyes. It wasn't that. He stared at his hands. He noticed the others had different hands. Less detailed, less boney. His hands had lines running down them, delicate ridges and swirls on the ends of his fingers.

He stared at his body. It reminded him of a human male's body. He could be. Except his eyes were pure neon blue. His face was wrinkled and resembled that of a bulldog's. His teeth were sharp, pearly whites, and pointy. He had textured skin. There were spikes down his back. His fingertips were rounded rather than pointy. His nails were a gray color. His knees bent at an angle and a spiky tail. His chest, arms and legs were covered in strange markings.

"Leader! The mission has almost been completed." one of his men said, sounding like he was out of breath.

"That's excellent. Did you recover the targets?" The Leader asked, his arms crossed.

"All but one." He said, looking at the Leader's office.

"What happened to the one you didn't capture?" The Leader asked, raising his brows.

"She escaped and killed one of our best men." The man said, color melting from his face.

"She did what?" He snapped. A tentacle emerged from his back and he squeezed the man's throat.

"She killed two of our men while escaping and ran off with a field agent." The man repeated, in between breaths as he was trying to pry himself away from him.

"Who was she?" The Leader squeezed harder, grinding his teeth. .

"The middle child, Erika Jimenez." The man was turning white. "One of the men thought she might have been one of Diaz's descendants."

The Leader dropped him. He gasped for air, crawling away from him on all fours. A Diaz. He remembered Alberto Diaz and how he had almost killed him twice. He thought he had gotten all of them.

"Where is she?" the Leader yelled at the lackey.

"She ran off with a field agent. I didn't catch a good glimpse of him but he had dark hair." He was trembling. What an idiot, that could be anyone.

"I want you to find that girl and bring her to me!" The Leader snapped, showing his teeth. "I will handle her." If she was a Diaz, maybe the rest of the family was.

The man nodded, getting up to run away. The Leader punched the mirror. It shattered all over the floor. He watched as his fist bled black. He hated failure and someone would pay for it. He had vowed to end the Diaz bloodline- and he would.

He headed off to where the family was being held hostage. The Leader slammed the door shut as the older couple looked up at him and the girls side eyed him.

"That girl. She's Diaz, isn't she?" The woman and man looked at each other, confused.

"She's a Diaz, isn't she?" He shouted. The woman spoke, narrowing her eyes at him. "We adopted Erika when she was a child. We don't know much about her birth mother besides that she was a teenager."

The Leader wanted signs that they were lying but he couldn't help but to feel like they were telling the truth. He had a mission for his spies then. They needed to know if Erika was truly one or not.

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I was bored out of my mind. My phone had been blocked off by the Agency and I wasn't allowed to leave the room without Brendan or Kyra. The bed was comfy but I missed my room. I missed hearing the crickets outside, the frogs that would stick to my window or the sound of the A/C trying to turn on. I missed hearing the TV in Jodi's room when she thought no one could hear her playing games or Lydia's rain sound machine.

I wanted to go back to my normal life but that was not happening anytime soon. Brendan exited the shower, trying to dry off the back of his neck.

"You okay, Erika?" Brendan asked me. I know he's trying to be nice but that's a really stupid question.

"Not really. I wish I could do something about my family..." I sighed. I didn't have any kind of skill to save them. But I was willing to try."

"I'm sorry. I know this is really, really rough for you." He spoke. "We'll get them back. Somehow."

I sighed. "I hope so." My voice was trembling. I felt his shoulder on mine. I gently placed my hand on his. I wanted to be strong but I was finding it extremely hard. Kyra got in the shower. Brendan's phone started to go off again.

"Is it that lady again?" I blurted. God, shut up Erika. Impulsive ass.

"No, it's my mom. She's worried about me." Brendan sighed, give me a second. He went to the doorway to take the call. I stared at a magazine that was on the desk. I think it was Southern Living or something. I hope my family is okay.

Brendan returned after a few minutes. At this point, I was flipping through the pages, bored out of my mind.

"Sorry about that." He smiled. "So we're supposed to meet Karenina at the Macaroon Kitchen in a few minutes. If you wanted anything, I could pay for it."

Honestly, I could use a lot of sugary desserts right now. And a lot of alcohol. But I need to stay sober and alert so I can get my family back.

"I guess we shouldn't make her wait too long." I was wearing one of Kyra's cardigans, leggings and a tank top.

"You're right." Brendan said. We left the room and I couldn't help but to take a deep breath. I noticed that there were people outside in the pool. I wish I could relax like that right now.