Paranormal Twins: The New Beginning

Marina rubbed her ankle and I bit my lip. “I’m sorry. I probably should have tried melting the chain instead of the shackle.”

She smiled and waved it off, grabbing her glass of water from dinner and pouring it on her ankle. Her ankle burn went backward from red to pink until it was her normal skin color again. “It’s fine. Nothing a little water couldn’t fix.” She stood up and motioned me over. We slowly moved to the stairs. I motioned that I could go first in case anyone was guarding the doors.

“Nobody’s here,” I whispered, and waited for Marina to come up after me.

“Let’s go this way,” Marina said, pointing to her left. I let her take the lead and we made our way through the hallways and rooms.

We opened the door and I smelled an odd mess of chemicals wafting in. I heard Marina sigh happily and we slowly walked in. I slipped on water slightly, but Marina caught me.

“Whoa, Jakki. Be careful. There are water puddles everywhere. This is the indoor pool.” She said as she righted me up.

“An indoor pool? That means we’ve got to be close to the outside, right?” I asked. Marina sighed.

“I don’t know my way around this place. I didn’t even know we were walking into the pool room until I sensed the water. Hunter usually takes me the long way so I can’t find my way around.” I nodded and we took a few steps. When I felt like we were almost in the clear I lost my footing and went tumbling sideways. Instead of hitting the ground like I was expecting I gasped and fell right into the water.

I breathed in water the second I hit it. I tried to cough but more water flooded my lungs. I flailed my limbs, doing anything to get me to the surface, but I couldn’t see or hear anything. Everything was black. I tried with very little energy to push myself any way I could, but I couldn’t find any way out of the water.

I felt two arms wrap around me just before my eyes closed and nothing mattered anymore.

I sat up and coughed hard, water coming out through my mouth and nose. I coughed until my throat became scratchy and I could breathe again. I looked around and tried to make a flame appear, but no light came.

“You’re soaked to the bone. Not even your fire can light like that.” I heard Marina say. I felt a towel being put on my lap and I tried to dry off the best I could in these circumstances. My clothes and my hair were soaking wet and I was shivering. “You can’t swim?” Marina asked.

I blushed, thankful that it was too dark to see anything. “I never learned. I mean, I can swim a little, but… Not much.” I cleared my throat and dried myself off. Marina got the hint and didn’t ask any more questions. I tried again to light a fire and a little flame came off the tip of my fingers, enough to see at a few feet in front of me.

Marina was sitting down, leaning on her hip. On closer inspection, I realized that she was wet, too. Her hair was dripping and I noticed she had a light pink top on, her stomach showing.

“Did you have enough time to take off your shirt before deciding to jump in and save me?” I asked.

Marina shook her head and looked down at her legs.

Or what would have been her legs. I moved the light and realized that she had a light pink and blue tail where her legs would be. I bit my lip and muttered “oh” quietly before looking back up at her.

Marina nodded. “I changed.”

I nodded. “I can see that. Where… Where do your clothes go…?”

Marina shrugged. “They just kind of… Disappear. Instead of clothes, I’m left with this top and the tail.”

“Is the top…? Well, obviously it’s the same color as your tail, but is it like… Attached?” I asked.

Marina nodded. “It’s a part of my body, like the tail is. It’s hard to explain. I still have… The normal parts underneath, but it’s… Like I said, it’s hard and... A bit awkward to explain. Now hand me a towel.”

I grabbed the towel I was using off the floor and threw it at her. She started drying herself off. I used the heat from the flame in my hand and started drying my clothes a bit. After a while, my flame started getting stronger and hotter and I was able to dry my clothes off almost completely. I stood up and turned to Marina, who was in her half-human form, scales and all, but fully clothed, and walking over to the other side of the room where the opposite door was.

I carefully ran over to her, not losing my footing or slipping, and she turned to me. She nodded and I stopped the flame. “When we get out, I’m teaching you how to swim.” With that, she opened the door and we went back to find a way out of this mansion.

After trying to find our way around and getting terribly lost, we decided to see where one doorway led. It was pitch black and after a few steps, Marina tripped over something. She bent down and picked it up. I decided, against what we originally planned, to make a small flame to illuminate the space around us.

In her hand was a quiver filled with arrows of different colors. On the ground next to her feet was a bow. I looked around and saw different weapons scattered across the floor.

“It’s an armory,” Marina whispered.

“How is this an armory?” I muttered back. I lifted my hand and let the flame float up and illuminate the rest of the room. “It’s just a bunch of weapons scattered over the floor.”

“They’re Rogues in an empty, abandoned mansion.” She replied. “They don’t really have an orderly system of weapon categorizing.” She picked something else off the ground and handed it over to me. “See if the weight works for you. If it’s not, there are plenty of swords scattered around.”

I took it from her and bit my lip. “I’ve never used a sword before.”

Marina scoffed at me. “If you ever pretended to be a pirate or a Jedi as a kid, you know how to use a sword. Just stab and slash.”

I looked at the sword and turned away from Marina. I took a couple test jabs and swings before turning back to her. She smiled. “You’ll do just fine.” She pointed at the door on the other side of the room and we walked over. I let the flame go out before we reached the door.

Marina turned the knob to open the door and I gripped her wrist. She looked at me and I held my finger to my lips. I put my ear to the door and I heard the mutterings of people talking. These were the first people we’ve heard or seen since we escaped our room.

I looked at Marina and she nodded slowly. She opened the crack a smidge and looked in. I looked in after her and saw the woman who gave me the perfume with her back turned to me, talking to a man with short black hair. I assumed he was King by his professional look and clothes.

We slowly opened the door and made our way inside, planning on finding a closet or a door to leave this room. I felt Marina touch my arm before it was jerked away quickly. I turned quickly and saw Hunter dragging Marina away. I looked back and saw that we got the attention of King and Aerina. I pulled my sword up and took a swing towards Hunter, and at the same time, a gunshot rang out.