Trace

Seven

It was eerily silent for a total of two minutes, as Trace stared at Glint. Her mind had only registered one thing and it was rolling back and forth through her mind like a broken tape. You're going to be murdered....murdered...Trace. You're going to be murdered. Finally, she seemed to snap from a daze and went from staring to yelling at the girl sitting opposite her.

"What the heck do you mean? Glint, what do you mean by 'murdered'? By who? When? Why?" A stream of babbled yells and screams left her mouth and she did nothing to stop them. She needed to do something to release her confusion and terror.

"Shut it!" Glint hissed, glancing nervously at the window, the late-night wind billowing into their translucent fabrics like sails on an old shipping boat. "You'll wake someone up!"

"I don't really care at the moment." Trace hissed back, sitting on the edge of her bed and clutching at the mattress. She was on edge and jerked at any sound that sounded faintly like a gunshot, a bomb or a tick. "I honestly do not care. You just told me I'm about to be murdered and I really couldn't care if I woke every resident in this house."

Glint cursed under her breath and sprinted the few paces over to the door. She placed one ear to it and froze, turning her head curtly to Trace. "You will care if they come in here and drag your butt out into a stadium again to hang you. Now shut up for a moment!"

Trace slammed her mouth shut against her own will, crossing her arms and shrinking as far back as possible. Her eyes were trained on the door, frozen in a glare as time ticked by. Seconds passed painfully slowly, turning to even longer minutes. Her heartbeat sounded too loud, pounding in her head like a hammer but she didn't dare shift to break up the silence. She barely breathed and noticed Glint doing the same. It was silent and still and the shafted moonlight bathed everything in a frosty grey-white, sending the spookiness level off the scale.

Then Glint jerked back and exploded into life.

"Their coming!"

In an instant, Trace was alive, grabbing the sheets from the window and nearly swearing when the fabric tore on the fragmented glass left in the frame. She flung one sheet onto Glint's bed; the other onto her own. She could hear the voices and footsteps, gradually getting closer. She hurriedly closed the bathroom door. Glint unlocked the main door with a click. Both girls looked at each other frantically and came to a silent conclusion: we need to pretend we're asleep.

The footsteps stopped and the voices suddenly grew loud, able to be heard through the door. The pair dove onto their beds, slamming their heads onto the pillow and pulling the ripped sheets up to their chins with as little noise as they could make. Trace prayed whoever was out there- whether it was M or Allivan or Yang or some other unknown person- would go away and not enter the room. She closed her eyes, trying to make her breathing slow and drowsy but something was stopping that. Trace opened her eyes again and felt them widen.

"Glint," she said as slowly and as quietly as she could. The girl looked at her. "You're still glowing."

Eyes widening almost as quickly as Trace's did, Glint slowly dimmed her glow. It felt too slow to Trace but it was soon pitch black in the room, save for the silver shafts of the moon.

"-tomorrow morning." A voice cut through the air and Trace held her breath. It was Yang. "Make sure of it."

"I will." The other set of footsteps belonged to Allivan, obviously. "I swear."

Trace heard Yang chuckle and heard the clap of meaty hands on fabric. She guessed he had clapped Allivan on the shoulder. "Good, good. I want all three at my station by tomorrow night. Make sure that happens." Yang's voice turned low and sounded deadly. "I don't want any little 'mishaps' like the last lot."

Allivan swallowed thickly. "It won't happen again."

"Good." Yang returned to his cheerful persona almost as fast as he turned to his dangerous one, Trace noted. "Now, if she decides to go- well, I'm sure you'll know what to do if she does." Trace heard a set of footsteps set off. "Just make sure they get there. By tomorrow!" The footsteps and their owner Yang were far away now, so far Trace could barely hear the words. "It's been a...pleasure dealing with you again!"

It fell silent after that. Either Yang was too far away for Trace to hear or he had simply stopped talking all together. She heard a sigh outside and then another set of footsteps heading in the other direction as Allivan walked away. Finally, it was silent again.

"I think their gone." Glint said and Trace nodded.

Slowly, she sat up. "Why didn't they come in?"

Glint shrugged as she sat up. "Yang's a telepath- so I guess he didn't need to. But Allivan- I don't know."

"What were they talking about anyway?" Trace asked, looking at the door.

"I don't know." Glint said, throwing her hands in the air and flopping back on her bed. "And, quite frankly, I'm too tired to find out. It's nearly midnight, if my watch is correct. We should be asleep."

"But what it they were talking-"

"Go. To. Sleep." Glint growled and rolled over so her back was facing Trace.

But what if they were talking about us? Trace had wanted to ask again but sighed in frustration. She lay down as well, closing her eyes and feeling exhaustion wash over her. For an hour, she tossed and turned but her mind was working overtime and keeping her awake. Sighing, she sat up and pulled her knees to her chest, hugging them not to keep warm, but to offer some comfort. Trace looked over at Glint, snoring slightly but asleep. The glow she'd emitted earlier had felt warm and reminded her of a hug, comforting her.

She felt tears form in her eyes. Comfort was something she hadn't had in a long time and, even if it felt like it, Glint's glow couldn't provide her with it. Trace buried her head in her knees as the tears threatened to spill. She felt at war with herself- one half of her felt safe here. Because of M and Glint, she thought. Because they actually feel like friends. The other half of her fought for control. The half of her that was scared; the half of her that wanted life to go back to the way things were before the meteors five years ago. The half of her that wanted to give up. The half of her that she had always pushed aside, that she'd always fought against. Now, though, as she sat in the middle of the night, feeling more alone than ever before, she considered letting that half of her win.

She turned her head to the moon, seeming massive in the sky. How could something so far away make someone so close feel so small? Trace felt a tear trickle down her cheek as she moved to look fully out the window. A dim memory crossed her mind- a night alone with her father. They were sitting outside on the veranda, waiting for her mum and brother to come home. It was a full moon that night and her father had just finished telling her of the werewolves who roamed the forests once a month.

"And he was never seen again. Some say he too became a werewolf; others say he was dinner." She buried her head in his chest, her tiny body trembling. Her father looked down with his kind, blue eyes. "Are you scared, little star?"

She nodded, looking up when he used her nickname.Her father chuckled and looked at the moon. "There's nothing to be scared about. As the moon fades, so does their power and soon, they're just a harmless man again. You see, little star, nothing can have power unless you let it. "

Trace frowned as she remembered his words. The Destiny-Child Thor had said something similar, back in that room. Did it mean she shouldn't let doubt win over her soul or something more? She shook her head, dispelling the clouds that had begun to form again. Whatever they meant, she had a decision to make before she would be able to sleep properly.

Trace looked back at the moon, so big against the tiny stars that dotted the sky around it. She smiled and wiped the tears from her eyes. She was sure of what she should do. She wasn't going to let doubt get her spirits down, no matter how scared she was, no matter how much insomnia plagued her. Now was the time to keep her hope up. She wasn't going to give up. No matter what.

She closed her eyes, a smile on her face as she pulled the sheet over her body and lay down. No matter what. Finally, her breaths became heavy and even and Trace slipped into sleep.