Chapter 2: First Encounter
Catalina expected to wake up outside on the apartment steps, but instead she was safe and sound in her warm bed. She sat up and looked around for Paul, but he was gone. She glanced over at her night table and found a note. It read
"Left out early to go to the coffee shop. I'm looking for jobs so I'll be here for awhile . . . -P"
She started to wonder if that was the real reason he left out or if it was because he didn't want to be around Scarlett. She quickly put it out of her brain when she glanced at her alarm clock. She was five minutes away from being late to work. She quickly hopped out of bed and walked to her closet.
After she got dressed, Catalina decided to check on Scarlett. She stepped into the nursery and found Scarlett still asleep on the half-inflated air mattress. "I'm going to work now," Catalina half-shouted.
Scarlett flinched and sat up. She rubbed her eyes and stared at Catalina as if she had something on her face.
"But it's Saturday . . ."
"Oh . . . heh, I knew that . . ."
Scarlett stared at Catalina for a few seconds before she said something else.
"Can we do something today?" Scarlett asked.
"Like what?"
"I don't know . . . a movie?"
"Yeah! I have plenty of movies we can watch."
"No I mean like at a movie theatre,"
Catalina hesitated for a moment.
"Yeah sure . . . let's go to the movie theatre! But first, I have to change out of this," She pointed to the nurse uniform she was wearing.
As they walked down the stairs in the dark room, Catalina grabbed Scarlett's hand but quickly let go when Scarlett glanced up at her. She was a teenager after all. They found their seats and sat down. The movie hadn't started yet, so there was still time to talk. Catalina tried to come up with something to talk about, but it felt nearly impossible. The only thing she could think of was to ask Scarlett about her "abilities". Catalina's mind quickly drifted off to last night. The blue moon, the strong breeze, and how she passed out after the moon turned white. She knew her abilities were back--if that's what you would even call them. They were more like powers.
The following days after Catalina's encounter with the blue moon a few years back, things were quite strange. She made snow fall with her bare hands and froze a cup of water. Her powers got stronger and stronger as time went on and she decided to teach herself how to control them. Then evil came her way.
"The movie's starting," Scarlett nudged Catalina with her elbow.
Catalina shifted her focus to the screen above.
Scarlett opened her eyes and looked around. She had dozed off and so did Catalina. The movie was still going. How long was I asleep for? She thought to herself. She reached over to grab the box of pretzel bites Catalina had on her lap and saw something strange in the corner of her eye.
A big black cat-like figure with narrow white eyes and small pupils crawled on the wall near the emergency exit. A demon. Scarlett gasped and felt her heart beating as fast as lightning. Panicking, she managed to gather her thoughts and come up with options. I could wake up Cat and we'd get out of here and let these people die, or I could do something about it with my powers and save Cat, myself, and everyone else.
After going back and forth between the two, she decided to take matters into her own hands. She held out her hand and concentrated until a small ball of fire hovered over it. She waved her other hand over it until it got bigger. She then extended her arm, sending the ball of fire towards the demon on the wall. Everyone screamed and scrambled out of their seats. The demon roared in pain and detached itself from the wall. It spread its wings and flew over to Scarlett. She dodged its attack.
"Come on, come on! We have to go!" She shook Catalina until she finally woke up.
"Oh my god! Is that a demon?" Catalina shouted.
"Yes and we need to leave now!"
"That was a rhetorical question!"
Catalina stood up and the box of pretzel bites that rested on her lap fell to the floor.
"We can't run," She said.
"What why?"
"We have to fight it. This is the perfect time to give me that proof you know,"
"I'm the one to set it on fire. There's your proof."
The demon turned around and flew towards Scarlett once again.
"I didn't see you do it,"
Catalina put both her hands up and a flurry of ice and wind blasted out and hit the demon. Ice formed around the demon like quicksand and froze it in mid-air.
"Y-you have powers too?"
"Apparently so . . ."
"Since when?"
"Since last night and also 15 years ago," Catalina flashed a fake smile.
"C-can you elaborate?"
"Not now. We have to get everyone out of the building before this thing unfreezes."
"What happens when it unfreezes?"
Catalina stared at Scarlett in disbelief.
"Are you serious? We've got to get moving! Help me get the elders to the exit."
Catalina ran up the stairs to where an old couple was sitting and Scarlett followed. She raised her arm and closed her eyes and when she opened them, the old couple was no longer there. She'd teleported them to the parking lot.
"I don't know how to do that!" Scarlett exclaimed.
"Just do what I do! Raise your arm, close your eyes, and imagine the person in the place you want them to be."
Scarlett nodded and ran down the aisle to where a girl in a wheelchair was sitting. She did what Catalina told her to do and when she opened her eyes the girl was still there staring into space with her jaw hanging open.
"Why didn't it work?" Scarlett muttered under her breath.
The ice imprisionating the demon started to crack with each second that went by and both Scarlett and Catalina knew that they wouldn't be able to save everyone.
"Leave her, we don't have enough time!" Catalina called out.
The demon burst out of the ice angrier than it had ever been. Scarlett and Catalina ran as fast as their legs could carry them to the exit. Once they reached the hall, Scarlett could hear the screams of the few people left in the theatre. It was the most awful sound she'd ever heard in her life. She wanted to turn back around and kill the demon, but she knew she wasn't strong enough for that yet. She had to keep running.
Once they finally reached the parking lot, they stopped running.
"Aren't we gonna get in the car?" Scarlett said between breaths.
"No. We already let those innocent people die in the theatre. We have to save them. Which is why we are going to kill it. And by we, I mean you."
Scarlett turned to Catalina in fear. She knew she wasn't strong enough to kill a demon. All she could do was stun it, but that was it. She'd fought her aunt and uncle before, but never a demon.
"Why do you need proof so bad?" Scarlett shouted.
"Look, when you told me in the hospital that you were a witch, I didn't believe you and part of me doesn't want to believe you. I got my powers when I was thirteen and at first I thought it was cool, but then I started seeing demons everywhere and I had to fight every last one and it was scary and exhausting both physically and mentally and I got tired of it so I found a way to bind my powers and detach myself from that world. Then I moved to Miami to start over and things got better. And I guess having another witch around triggered my powers and I got them back so yes, I know how it feels to be hunted and constantly on the run. It's awful and I didn't want the fact that you dealing with it at a young age to be true."
"I guess that makes sense,"
Suddenly, the demon burst through the building entrance.
"Oh my god," Said Catalina.
"If I die, it's your fault." Said Scarlett.
She raised her arms as the demon soared towards her. A huge outburst of flames hit the demon in its face. It wailed in pain and flew backwards into the building. The building crumbled to pieces under its large body. A small crowd managed to escape the building just in time. Scarlett held her arms out and crossed them and a second later, what was left of the movie theatre and the demon on top of it exploded. Catalina ran up to Scarlett.
"You really are a witch!"
They could both hear police sirens in the distance. They got louder and louder as a dozen police cars pulled into the parking lot. Catalina raised both of her arms, closed her eyes, and when she opened them, she and Scarlett were standing outside the apartment. Just as she was about to compliment her on defeating the demon, Scarlett collapsed.
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone