Part 2-Portugal (Sephora)
"Are you kidding me, Alex? Would it kill you to pick up after yourself?" Lila screamed, throwing Alex's clothes at him.
Alex dived to catch his clothes, almost falling in the process. He got off the floor and shot Lila a dirty look.
"Maybe I would remember to pick up my clothes if I wasn't tired all the time. Do you know why I'm tired, Lila? I'm tired because I was kept up all night by your stupid snoring," he shouted back.
"Hey! Don't talk to her like that!" Chris said, looking up from his game.
"He has a point though," Des piped up, idly filing her nails in the corner.
Lila whipped around to face her.
"Oh, like you're so innocent, little miss hair-in-the-drain," Lila spat.
"I can clean the hair out of the drain honey, but you will always snore like a dying elephant," Des replied, smiling sweetly.
"That's it!" Lila screamed as she lunged at Des.
Des skillfully rolled away from Lila's reach before turning around and hitting her across her back. Before long, a full-blown catfight was happening. Chris and Alex quickly went to break up the fight.
I looked at the scene before me, completely unaffected by it. A fight like this had been a long time coming. With five teenagers sharing one room, conflict was bound to happen. I was shocked it hadn't happened sooner.
I glanced at Luke, who was firmly stuck in a book. He hadn't raised his head once throughout the whole fight.
Des and Lila's fight was getting worse by the second. Their screams were so loud that I felt a headache coming on. I decided to leave the room to get some air.
I got to the deck a few minutes later and took a moment to breathe in the cool night air. It felt soothing. After all the stress of the past two days, I really needed this.
I was leaning against the railing, enjoying the gentle spray from the sea, when a voice behind me broke me from my reverie.
"What are you doing out here?" Caleb asked, walking over to stand beside me.
"Just taking a little break." I said, brushing some hairs off my face.
"They're fighting?" Caleb asked.
An angry scream came from the cabin, as if to answer his question. I nodded anyway.
Silence descended around us. It was peaceful for a while, but quickly became boring. Then I remembered the question I had earlier.
"Caleb, what was up with Timmy after the explosion? He seemed really upset," I asked.
Caleb got a sad look in his eyes. He rubbed his face slowly and began to speak.
"I have to go back a little to answer that. My father met Uncle Dan on a mission when he was eighteen. He was infiltrating a gang that had been terrorizing a nearby town. After he had captured the members, he found a ten year old Uncle Dan in a cage at the lower levels of the house. He later found out that Uncle Dan had been kept hostage by the gang all his life. When he looked for Uncle Dan's family, he found out that they were among those killed by the gang. That's when he decided to take Uncle Dan under his wing. Uncle Dan grew up as part of the family and was given the energy. A couple of years after, he met a woman named Sarah. Sarah eventually married Uncle Dan and gave birth to Timmy. Uncle Dan had told her about his powers upfront and it seemed like she was okay with it, until Timmy started developing his own powers. Apparently, she couldn't handle being part of a family of 'freaks', so she left. Sarah's departure devastated both Timmy and Uncle Dan. They couldn't function properly for a long time until one day Uncle Dan woke up and decided that she couldn't have the last word. He told Timmy that they couldn't let her control their happiness. I guess blowing up the house was their way of getting closure," Caleb said shrugging.
I was quiet for a while as I took in the story. I couldn't imagine the pain they went through. My mother was taken from me at a young age but she didn't want to go. To have your mother voluntarily choose to leave you must have really hurt.
I looked at my watch and saw it had become really late. I said goodnight to Caleb, his story weighing heavily on my mind.
*****
We docked at a port in Viana do Castelo early the next morning. The sun was just starting to rise and all of us were eager to get off the boat. Jerry had told us to wait while he cleared us with security.
It felt like we had been waiting forever when we heard a knock on our cabin door.
"You can come out now," Jerry said.
We all rushed out of the boat, no one wanting to stay there a second longer than necessary. Uncle Dan and Timmy were already waiting for us.
"Land. Steady and beautiful land," Chris said, kissing the ground.
Uncle Dan quickly jerked him off the ground, looking around to see if anyone noticed.
"We can't draw any attention to us. Our faces have been broadcasted over every news channel in the world. Everybody believes you guys are terrorists. Security is up almost everywhere. Jerry spent a long time convincing his friend, who manages this place, not to check the boat. So we can't afford to mess around," Uncle Dan said harshly, glaring at Chris.
Chris looked away grumbling something about no one having a sense of humour.
"So if we can't move around, how are we going to find Sephora's mother?" Alex asked.
My breath caught at the mention of my mother.
"I don't know. I hope she finds us instead," Uncle Dan said in a frustrated tone.
This caused my happiness to dwindle a little.
Suddenly I heard someone whistling in the distance. Usually, this wouldn't have stood out to me but there was something about the tune that seemed familiar.
I listened carefully for a while before it hit me.
It's my mother's lullaby.
I took off towards the sound without a second thought. I could hear the others calling me but all I could focus on was getting closer to that sound.
I turned around a corner and found myself in a narrow walkway. I rushed down the path and bumped into a young woman wearing a baseball cap and dressed in a cleaner's outfit.
"I am sorry ma'am," I said, rushing past her.
I continued down the path until I reached a large brick wall. I stared at the wall in confusion.
The whistling had stopped in this alley.
I heard the others come up behind me. I pushed past them and ran to the woman I bumped before.
"Excuse me, ma'am. I am sorry to bother you but were you whistling by any chance?" I asked desperately.
The woman looked at me from under her cap and winked.
"As always, Rebecca's timing is right on," she said in gravelly voice.
I felt a grin spread across my face at the mention of my mother's real name. I turned back to address the others.
"My mother sent her to get us," I said.
Uncle Dan's angry expression destroyed my happiness. He gestured for me to come next to him.
"Look, ma'am, I don't know who you are so unless you can verify your identity, none of us are going anywhere with you," he said.
I started to protest but was stopped my Uncle Dan's glare. We all turned back to the woman and waited for her response.
"Rebecca said you would be cautious. She said I should give you this. Please press the call button and press speaker," the woman said, handing Uncle Dan a small phone.
Uncle Dan suspiciously picked up the phone and did as she said.
The phone rang for a few seconds before a voice picked up.
"Hey Danny boy," said a tired phone.
Uncle Dan almost dropped the phone as tears sprung into his eyes. He turned to Caleb whose expression mirrored his own.
"D-dad?" Caleb asked tearfully.
"It's me, son. I hope you didn't think one bullet was enough to keep me down," High Trainer Globe said.
I looked at the others in shock. I couldn't believe it.
High Trainer Globe is alive!
"I-I didn't know what to believe," Caleb stuttered.
"I am sorry, son, I can't stay long but believe me when I say that I am far from dead. I'll see you soon." High Trainer Globe said. Then the call cut off.
"Can you trust me now?" the woman said.
Everyone nodded without hesitation.
"Good, please follow me," she said.
The woman walked to a door at the side of the alley and pushed it. The door swung open and the woman went in.
The room was bright and damp, with ugly green walls. It had a closet on one side of the room, and a rack of keys on the other.
The woman took off her hat and looked over her shoulder straight at me.
Right in front of our eyes, the woman's appearance began to change. She began to grow taller and her hips became curvier. Her short, black hair started to grow and become lighter until it was a pale blond peppered with grey strands. Her green eyes began to lighten until they were a deep blue. Before long, there was a completely different woman standing in front of us.
The new woman was still staring at me, waiting for my mind to catch up. I stood in shock, looking at the woman with tears streaming down my face.
"Mama."
A/N: Hey Everyone! I hope you enjoyed reading this chapter as much as I loved writing it. Please vote and comment if you did!
Quick question, Did anyone else wonder why Sephora's mother had the shape shifting ability?