“Can you not?” Nora asks me.

“Can you think?” I tell her.

She looks at me like she’s tempted to strangle me, but she knows better, and she knows I’m right. Seated in our living room with the rest of our sisters we all feel the tension in the air.

“Just because you're the oldest in our family doesn’t mean you know everything! It doesn’t mean you know better than the rest of us!” Nora screams.

I hear the sound of thunder booming outside, and we look over to our youngest sister Bree knowing it was her, her power of the season will activate at times due to her emotions. Ophelia, our middle sister walks over to her rubbing soothing circles on her back sending out her healing powers into Bree to calm her down. Our second eldest Tish glares at Nora.

"Calm down Nora, you know how Bree gets when we scream," Tish says, warning Nora.

"Make me," Nora says, gritting her teeth in annoyance, challenging her. 

Tish slams her foot on the table in-between us and Nora, taking her stance, as she releases her wings of fire, making them turn black with anger, accepting the challenge. Nora begins to stand as well, taking out her hair pin and pricking herself deeply with the oozing blood transforming into a blade. It begins to storm outside, and the entire house begins to shake, lights flickering, furniture rattling. Bree is getting anxious again. Ophelia puts her hand gently on Bree's head calming her once again, while grabbing her own head out of irritation. My left eye begins to twitch in annoyance. 

"SIT!!" I command.

Both of them automatically stop, retracting their powers, and begin to sit down as they were told. Nora grits her teeth again, hating when I use the power of the leading sister, even though it's not my only power, I can use it to stop any type of conflict between us if needed, and I don't just have this power because I'm the oldest. In order to have this power, you have to be the most responsible, trusting, level headed, and most of all not use the power for unnecessary reasons. Which would be considered a derogatory breach of power. That's why I have it. I reach over to Bree and run my hands through her thick, nappy, brown, hair. The whole room is quiet, with tension in the air.

"Nora…try to understand that this is more than just knowing everything because I'm the oldest. Even though I'm the oldest, I still learn something from all of you mostly everyday. The point is what you’re thinking about doing is complete madness, and could put the rest of us in trouble. We can’t make deals with the devil,” I tell her.

“He’s not a devil!” Nora exclaims.

“He has the essence of one,” I say back slowly losing my patients with this. 

“How do you-

“Because we all sensed it,” all my sisters say to a tantrum throwing Nora. 

“Come on Nora, you have the sharpest senses out of all of us,” Ophelia says.

“Exactly you have the power of a blood warrior, we all may be familiar with our senses enough to tell danger, but yours is of that of an experienced warrior,” Tish says.

“In other words we know you sensed it too, you’re just in denial,” I tell her.

“Shut up!” Nora pouts.

“How the heck did we even end up having this ridiculous conversation,” Tish says, rolling her eyes. 

“I'm really going to kill you Tish,” Nora says, grinding her teeth in irritation.

“You’ve said that plenty of times and yet you still- 

“Bro can y'all shut up, damn y'all are acting more childish than daycare children,” Ophelia says annoyed.

The room goes silent. 

“Damn,” I say, rubbing the back of my head feeling sorry for their emotional blow.

“Nora, have you ever thought that if you made a deal with that devil how mother and father would have felt because they feel like they've put you in pain when they couldn't help the situation?” Ophelia says. 

Tish whistles. 

Dang that might hit home.

Nora is silent. 

“I'm sorry,” Nora says.

“You always are, miss hotheaded,” I say walking off, ending the discussion.

“Ophelia, be honest with me,” I say walking up to my sister, who is in the kitchen washing dishes.

She looks up at me for a minute pausing her actions, and continues. She's our neat freak in the family that hates seeing anything dirty or out of order to the point she can become quite scary.

“What’s up?” she asks.

“Is La-

“Yes,” she says, interrupting me.

“I didn’t finish!”

“I know.”

“Then let me finish!”

“I know the question as well.”

“No, you don’t!”

“If you feel like having an argument over unnecessary crap, go find Tish, what are you 4?” She says getting irritated.

“I’m not!”

“Could have fooled me,” she says sarcastically. 

“But I seriously need you to hear me out.”

“Yes Nora! Latora is going to visit our parents grave!” Ophelia says getting annoyed with me.

“Wait…You did know what I was going to ask!” I say in shock.

“I’m about to hit you upside the head with this glass plate in hopes that it breaks and shove this nasty sponge down your throat,” she says with all seriousness causing me to step back two steps.

She continues to wash dishes as if she’s already dismissed me, the nerve.

“Ophelia.”

“Nora,” she replies back not looking up.

“Why did she not take us all with her?”

She pauses and looks at me for a second.

“I think mom dropped you on your head as a toddler,” she says putting the last dish in the dish rack and drying her hands.

“Funny,” I say sarcastically. 

“I wasn’t joking,” she says looking at me and neatly spreading out the drying towel across the sink.

“You didn’t answer my question.”

She heaves a sigh in irritation.

“My dear big sis, maybe you do not recall, but just yesterday we had a huge sisterly discussion about how our supposed to know better middle sister named Nora was about to make a deal with the devil.”

“He was-

“I’m not about to start this with you Nora, the point is: you were about to make a deal with a D-E-V-I-L Devil to bring our parents back to life.” She tells me.

I'm silent.

“Look Nora, it may be hard to believe, but we all miss mother and father, and one of us sisters miss them much more than you, we just don't express it, but to even bring our parents back to life will disappoint them, making them regret everything because they couldn't or didn't do enough for us to make it on our own in life,” she looks me dead in my eye. 

“I-

“You're being selfish Nora.”

She walks off leaving me there, and the sad part about this, is that she's right, and because I was about to make an extremely dangerous mistake that could have put us in trouble, Latora had to leave all the sisters at home to keep an eye on me to not do anything stupid preventing them from visiting our parents, and knowing Latora she would have let everyone else go and stay with me herself because that's just how she is. So that means it must have been an important reason why she went instead. I could have broken our family all because I was being selfish. Ophelia seemed more annoyed than usual. I now know why. Truly I may be grown, but I still have growing up to do. 

...****************...

“A beautiful girl doesn't deserve to be sad,” the handsome man says, playing with my hair. 

In the middle of the dance floor, close to each other as the surrounding people move their body with their other partners grinding against each other in rhythm of the music.  My warrior blood burns telling me this mysterious man has the devil's essence, it doesn’t mean that he’s fully one, but he’s been influenced by a devil, which slowly turns him into one. I usually stir clear, but tonight at this club, with the rest of my sisters all around having fun trying to forget, trying not to remember what today is. The day our parents took their last breath. Heaving a sigh, why not play with fire, it’s not like I’m stupid enough to be under his influence, I wouldn’t be alive right now if it was so easy. And with my ability I am the best candidate to stroke the flames without feeling any pain.

“Am I that obvious,” I asked looking up at him through my lashes.

“Maybe just a little,” he says with a smirk.

I roll my eyes playing along.

“But I may be able to cure your sadness if you are willing,” he says.

“And do tell how you can do that,” I say, enjoying our play.

“I can bring back the two most important people in your life.”

I pause, I look up at him as his eyes turn red seeking my greed and desires. My heart stops at the thought and possibilities. I laugh nervously.

“You can bring back the dead?” I say trying to play it off.

“Of course, as long as you give me both your body and soul in return,” he whispers in my ear, my warrior blood goes off alarming me to step away, but I can’t. 

I want his essence to take me, give me back what I desire, and I’ll be yours. I can see my parents, I’ll give him everything. My blood boils hotter than it’s ever done before, and I don’t know if it’s from the devil - e’s essence or from it trying to warn me, but at this point I don’t care.

“What do you say?” he asks, looking at me.

Barely able to stand on my feet now, I look up at him through droopy eyes. 

“I-

I’m interrupted by someone yanking me back, and find the person being Latora who is now holding me behind her protectively. Tish comes up behind the man and gives a light sparks from her hands causing the man's entire body to burn up in invisible flames, Ophelia, and Bree runs up as well, and the next thing I know we are in our home and I’m thrown into the recliner getting a death glare from our oldest sister, but the information was worth the risk, or so I thought. Truly I am selfish.

“Ope! Lala! Wake up, breakfast is ready!” I hear Bree scream from downstairs.

I roll over, pulling the cover over my head, trying to block the sound. 

I’m so not getting up.

“If y’all don’t come on Tish is going to eat y’all food!” Bree screams.

“Yeah, she’s already scarfing down Latora’s eggs,” Nora replies.

“I’ll make her throw it up later, now shut the hell up, I’m trying to sleep!” Latora screams at them from her room next to mine.

With a few more complaints from downstairs it’s silent once again, so I slowly drift back to sleep until, I’m jumped on by a drunk Tish.

“Ope, driiiiink with meeee!” Tish slurs.

I am currently being used as a pillow, and with my face being smothered into my own pillow I reply.

“Tish, get off,” I say calmly.

“Drink?”

“3.”

“Oh, that’s right you like your whiskey with ice.”

“2.”

“I should probably go get some, Iiiice.”

“1.”

I turn over and reach back, throwing Tish through the wall into Latora’s room and roll back over to sleep. A drunk Tish giggles.

“Latora, when did you get here?” I hear Tish asks.

“You’re fixing the wall and window,” Latora says.

“Huh...window?”

All I know is that I heard glass break, and a screaming Tish.

“They really aren’t morning people are they?” Bree says probably peeking into my room.

“Yeah, any thoughts I had of instigating have long vanished,” Nora says, and I soon go back to my deep slumber.

Damn peasants are going to give me wrinkles, because they can’t let me sleep.

...****************...

...Broken - Teaser (Draft)...

“I can’t, I can’t lose her. Not the only one that helped me keep my sanity.”

I run, fast, hard, not stopping even though my thighs burn, my lungs hurt. I run to her. 

“Don’t leave me please I can’t...”

I run inside the hospital pushing, shoving people out of the way to her room. 

“Why is all of this happening to me!” 

Tears come out of my eyes, my heart aches, my stomach turns, but I keep on running. 

“I have to move!”

I don’t wait for the elevator, I can’t wait. If I stay in one place until I get there without moving I’ll damn near lose my sanity. I run up the stairs, passing by people, getting surprised, irritated faces coming my way, but I don’t give a damn. 

“Don’t tell me this is the end.”

I’m on her floor, I race through the hallway, desperately trying to make it to her room. 

“Don’t leave me, mother, I can’t live without you!” 

I hear the pain of another’s person's voice in my mind. The voice makes me feel warm inside it somewhat soothes me. And for some weird reason, I’m connected to it. It’s the voice of a male, but my mind is set on one thing, and that is getting to her. The person that is most important to me. I fight the connection, I fight the warm, soothing feeling from the voice, and run. But as I run further away as I pass by the person, a glimpse of his hazel brown eyes captures mine, and the further I run a string holds onto me tightly. Like I’m pulled to him. I don’t even know him.

“Focus Melanin!” 

I keep on running, as I feel the tears fly across the wind I make as I run full speed to her....then I stop. I stop abruptly. I breathe hard, I sweat like crazy as I try to catch my breath. The tears only seem to flow down my already damp cheeks even harder.

They run down, pouring onto the floor like there's no tomorrow, and to be honest that’s what it feels like. “No tomorrow.” You would think my tears would run out, but they don’t. I’m here...I’m here where she’s supposed to be. I’m in front of the room where she is supposed to be lying in bed and trying her damn hardest to make an awesome recovery.

I stand here, as my heart only beats faster, because of what my eyes are witnessing...she’s not here. No sign of her, except for the blood on the ground, and the sight of a bed being rushed out of this room. My eyes trace and follow the signs to her. My breathing quickens. My heart feels like it might stop at any moment. I slowly follow the trail to her. To be more precise my body moves on its on.

My heart takes the lead because my brain can no longer function how to work properly without losing its mind. My ability kicks in as a tracer. I was always able to look around me and trace even the inconspicuous. I was always able to find her. I was always able, to get to her in time before it was too late. She told me I had the most unique gift, and my eyes will change different colors of beauty when my emotions kick in.

They change when I am desperately trying to save her. Why are they always after me? No, why is he always after me?....