The creature was dead. Or at least, Kenji hoped it was.
The thing lay crumpled against the concrete wall where Kenji had shoved it. The smell of ozone and burnt hair filled the small room, overpowering the smell of dust.
Kenji stared at his hands. They were shaking uncontrollably. His fingers felt numb, like he had slept on his arm all night. He flexed them, but the sensation didn't return.
Did I do that? he thought. I just... moved. I didn't run. I was just there. And the force... it felt like I was moving at a hundred miles an hour when I hit it.
"Kenji," Aris whispered. The boy was still on the floor near the melted console, his face pale. He pushed his glasses up his nose with a trembling finger. "How did you do that?"
"I don't know," Kenji said, his voice cracking. He looked at Sarah. She was pressed against the crates, her eyes wide, staring at him like he was a stranger.
"You turned into light," Sarah said. Her voice was barely a whisper. "You were over by the console, and then you were just... in front of me. Like a glitch in a video game."
"We need to go," Marco said urgently. The big guy scrambled to his feet, grabbing a heavy metal pipe from the debris of the exploded desk. "That thing might have friends. And my skin... guys, look at my arm."
They all looked. Marco held out his left forearm. Where he had scraped it against the floor during the explosion, the skin wasn't bleeding. Instead, it looked like gray, cracked stone. He tapped it with his fingernail.
Clink. Clink.
It sounded like a rock hitting a sidewalk.
"Freaky," Aris muttered, though he looked more fascinated than scared now. "The radiation from the explosion. It must have mutated us. Changed our molecular structure."
"We are leaving," Kenji said, finding his voice. He felt a sudden surge of responsibility. He was the one who brought them here. He was the one who said it would be cool. "Grab the flashlights. We go down the fire escape. Everyone stays close."
They rushed out of the control room and into the dark hallway of the station. The emergency red lights spun silently, casting long, creepy shadows against the peeling paint. The building groaned, the metal settling after the energy surge.
As they ran, Kenji felt a sharp, stabbing pain in his head.
For a split second, his vision doubled.
He saw the dark hallway, but superimposed over it, he saw fire. He saw the walls melting and heard Sarah screaming his name, her voice filled with absolute terror. He saw himself, but older, standing at the end of the hall with blood on his face.
Kenji stumbled, grabbing the wall to keep from falling.
"Kenji?" Maya asked, grabbing his shoulder. "Are you okay?"
The vision vanished. The hallway was dark and quiet again. The fire was gone.
"Yeah," Kenji lied, rubbing his temple. He looked at his digital watch. The screen was flashing 12:00 AM over and over again, even though it was barely past nine. "Just a headache. Keep moving."
They reached the heavy steel door that led to the stairwell. It was locked. A heavy electronic keypad blocked the way, the light on it glowing angry red.
"Damn it," Sarah kicked the door. "We're trapped."
"Move," Aris said. He stepped forward, his eyes focused on the keypad. "I can hear the lock."
"You can hear it?" Marco asked, tightening his grip on the metal pipe.
"Yeah. It's buzzing. It's annoying," Aris whispered. He placed his hand on the metal keypad. He closed his eyes, tilting his head as if listening to music. "It's like a song with a missing note. I just need to... fix the tune."
Aris frowned, concentrating hard. A high-pitched whine emitted from the keypad, painful to hear. The boys covered their ears.
Then, the light on the lock turned from red to green.
Click.
The heavy door swung open.
"Okay," Sarah said, looking at Aris with newfound respect. "That is actually useful."
"Don't get used to it," Aris panted, wiping sweat from his forehead. "That gave me a migraine."
They burst out onto the metal fire escape. The cool night air of Ravenwood Creek hit their faces. Below them, the town lights twinkled peacefully, completely unaware that monsters were real and walking above them.
But they weren't safe yet.
As they climbed down the rattling metal stairs, a howl echoed from the woods surrounding the station. It wasn't a wolf. It was the same distorted, metallic screech the creature upstairs had made.
And then another howl answered it. And another.
"There's more of them," Marco said.
They reached the bottom of the stairs, their shoes hitting the gravel. They ran toward the chain-link fence where they had hidden their bicycles.
"My bike!" Sarah yelled. "No!"
Her bike was twisted metal. So was Kenji's. The tires were slashed, and the frames were bent as if something massive had chewed on them.
"They don't want us to leave," Maya whispered, backing up.
Suddenly, the bushes to their left rustled. Two yellow eyes appeared in the darkness. Then two more. Then two more.
Three of the creatures stepped out of the shadows. They were smaller than the one upstairs, more like hairless dogs with too many teeth and skin that shifted like static on a TV screen. They circled the group, low to the ground.
"Back-to-back!" Kenji yelled. "Circle formation!"
The five kids huddled together in a tight circle on the gravel.
"Kenji, do something!" Marco shouted. "Teleport us out!"
"I can't!" Kenji admitted, panic rising in his chest. He tried to summon the blue light again, to feel that pull in his gut, but nothing happened. He was completely empty. "I feel drained. Like I just ran a marathon. It's not working!"
"Great," Sarah hissed. "So we're dead."
"I got this," Marco stepped forward.
The first dog-monster lunged at him, jaws snapping. Marco didn't dodge. He raised his left arm—the one that had turned to stone—and shoved it into the monster's mouth.
Crunch.
The monster's teeth snapped against his rock skin. Marco roared and shoved the creature back. It tumbled onto the gravel, whining.
"My turn," Sarah said. She sounded angry. She held up her pocket knife, but then looked at it in frustration. "This stupid thing is too small!"
She squeezed the handle tight, wishing for something bigger, something sharper.
Suddenly, a flash of white light erupted from her hand. The small pocket knife extended. The light solidified, forming a glowing, translucent blade over the steel, extending it into a two-foot-long short sword.
"Whoa," Sarah breathed, swinging the light-sword. It hummed through the air.
She swung at the second monster jumping at her. The blade of light sliced through the monster's shoulder like hot butter. The monster yelped and scrambled back into the bushes.
But the third one was smart. It ignored the fighters and lunged through the gap, aiming straight for Maya in the center.
"Maya!" Kenji yelled.
Maya screamed, holding her hands up in self-defense.
A faint, pink ribbon of light shot out of her chest. It didn't hit the monster hard; instead, it connected to it like a leash. The monster froze in mid-air, landing clumsily. It shook its head, looking suddenly sluggish and tired. Its eyelids drooped.
"I... I think I'm making it sleepy?" Maya stammered. Her face was pale, and she looked like she was about to pass out. "It's heavy. I can feel its weight."
"Hold it there, Maya!" Kenji shouted.
He saw his opening. He couldn't teleport. He couldn't shoot lasers. He was just a thirteen-year-old kid with no stamina left. But he couldn't let it touch Maya.
He looked down and grabbed a fist-sized rock from the gravel.
He sprinted forward.
"Get away from her!" Kenji screamed.
He swung his arm with everything he had. It wasn't a superpower. It was just a desperate, clumsy haymaker.
Thud.
The rock smashed into the sluggish monster's snout.
Kenji felt the impact vibrate up his arm, hurting his wrist. He yelped in pain, dropping the rock. But the hit worked. The creature, already weakened by Maya's power, went limp and collapsed onto the dirt, unconscious.
The other two monsters, seeing their packmate down and facing Marco's stone arm and Sarah's glowing sword, chattered to each other and retreated back into the dark woods.
The kids stood there in the silence, panting. The only light came from the fading glow of Sarah's sword, which flickered and vanished, leaving her holding just a pocket knife again.
"Okay," Kenji said, clutching his aching hand. He looked at his friends—dirty, scared, but alive. "We definitely need to have a team meeting."