I was pissed. Scanning over the track one more time I still spotted no sign of the new kid. I look around to make sure I was alone, by now the small track group we have had finished their run. In the absence of a true coach we’d just been running on our own to keep in shape hoping that eventually we would have enough members to qualify as a team.

I reach under my shirt and bring out the pendant. It was a gold centered with a ruby, something I’m quite certain was pretty valuable. I’d found it this morning on the way to school, smeared with some thick green slime. My first thought had been to turn it into the police, but figured the school’s Lost and Found could get it to them. Imagine my surprise when around an hour later I felt it around my neck when I was running next to Arty.

I’d of course turned it back in again, though much more reluctantly. It wasn’t mine after all, as tempting and beautiful as it was. Just wearing it made me feel all tingly and bubbly... What? A tough gal can have her soft spots too you know! Not being an idiot, and knowing something was definitely going on I had kept the thing. Honestly, I don’t think I could bring myself to give it up again.

“Hey Angie! Need a ride home?” That would be Sarah, one of my best runner friends. She had short cropped brown hair and a lithe figure, only just a little taller than me and with excited green eyes.

“Nah, I got it today. To be honest I don’t think that run was enough for me today, I’ll just run home. If you could drop off my backpack at the edge of the inlet I’d appreciate it though.” I grab my bag and pass it off to her. “You haven’t seen that new kid around have you? The awkward one with the thick glasses and dark hair?”

“Actually might’ve, during first lunch today I think he had some sort of anxiety attack and ran off. Poor guy seemed like he outright pissed himself. He apparently spilled his lunch over one of the student body officers.”

I wince more and more as she details the scene. “That at least explains why he didn’t show up for practice today.” I sigh rubbing a hand through my hair. “Thanks for telling me. I’ll see you tomorrow then. We can do the canyon run tomorrow if you and the others are up for it.”

She nods and drives off while I kick and scuff the dirt a little. Darn guy was as shaky as a leaf. Maybe inviting him wasn’t the best of ideas. I eye the amulet again, feeling it’s warm metal against my skin. I wonder if he had his own oddly teleporting amulet too. He didn’t seem like the type to want to be noticed very much.

I shrug it off and begin the jog home one step after another. Nothing can clear stress like a steady jog, let me tell yeah. I just felt so energetic today! I took off, entering into my PR (personal record) pace and held it steady for the next 200 yards. I yelp as I feel a zap of electricity as I look down and see my body arching with electricity. My eyes widen as I realize my legs are moving in a bit of a blur and that I’ve just passed my best friend… in her truck… going 40 miles per hour down the road.

Then within a blink time seems to go back to normal, unfortunately I still kept my forward velocity and stumbled forward into a roll. The static clinging dissipates immediately, years of experience allowing me to catch myself by rolling down the ravine on the side of the road. My friend passes down the road seemingly oblivious to me having passed her. As I catch my breath a wave of fatigue and nausea creeps up on me and I vomit into the ditch suddenly feeling sick all over.

My whole body itches and tingles, the amulet burns like a hot coal on my chest. A green flame even flickers from it sporadically. I claw at the cursed thing and move to pull it off once more when it just stops. It’s so sudden that were I still not aching and feeling so sick I would’ve thought I’d hallucinated the whole thing.

I slowly get to my feet, brushing off a bit of the mud and grime. Starting my way home, at a walk this time, I move down the block. Once more I stare at the strange gem, despite feeling like crap I had just outran a car. This jewel had teleported itself, not once, but twice to me. I could feel my heart race at the possibilities. I grab it tight and tuck it into my bra hiding it from sight. One thing was for sure,

I was never letting this amulet out of my sight again.

School drags on slowly as it usually does, its my last class of the day and as much as I’m trying to pay attention the teachers drawling tone makes it hard to focus properly. A large bit of ADHD can do that. Wait, where is that tapping coming fr--

“Mr. Arnesto?” The teacher calls, and it takes me a moment to realize he’s calling my name and I realize the tapping has stopped.

“Thank you.”

I blink confused, then am made aware of a tingling in my fingers as I feel them grind against the hardwood desk. A not-unpleasant buzzing sensation informing me that I had been the one tapping on my desk. I let out a large sigh, why are all of our classes so theoretical? Just let us do something already! I glance at the clock seeing just how much time is left, then huff then lean forward and lay my head on my arms and try to sleep away the rest of class. Even then I can feel the urge to tap my fingers growing, my leg hitting just the right spot and starts bouncing.

The ticking of the clock is just the icing on the cake and I pull out my phone, desperate for anything to keep myself occupied. Peer leaders was always a noisy group, but a few scrolls has an onslaught about some kid that apparently had a panic attack and fled the building. Hearing Ethan had gotten splattered made me cringe. The gentle giant was probably the most worried about the kid of all of us. I join the conversation glancing up just often enough to make it look like I’m still paying attention, delighted to have something less mind-numbing to focus on the remaining time passes quickly.

I finish grabbing my supplies from my locker and head for the bus. I squint at the oppressive sun as I exit the school doors. It hadn’t even been all that dark inside, but I wince all the same. I scratch at my arm a little, that shock from earlier still hadn’t faded.

The bus ride home goes by without an issue, being the last stop though definitely got old fast. How the hell did we end up being both the first ones on and the last ones off? The old bus cranks to a stop shuddering with what is every indication of a death rattle. I get out and look at our small duplex, as run down as the rest of the place but it wasn’t what it looked like that made it perfect.

I hurry inside setting my pack down, Dad always loved to cook the craziest meals that drove my mother nuts. She’s working her way through medical school and currently works at the hospital as a registered nurse. Apparently he’s cooking some german dish called rouladen, I don’t really care, but it smells good.

“Survive school?” He asks with a smile.

“As well as any other day, Ethan got dunked on by some kid with a panic attack.” I grab a pear from the counter while I slide onto our old couch.

“You keeping up your practicing?” He steps to the side showing off the prosthetic strapped on his arm. Even the scar across his cheek couldn’t hide his charismatic smile.

“Enough, I guess.” He had always been a martial arts fan, apparently it’d been a big family tradition. My two arms and legs still weren’t a match for him despite the endless lessons and competitions I’d been in. I’d done decent enough I suppose but never anything particularly special.

“Antoine is out with his buds, and Tim is on minecraft in his bedroom, Mum is working a late shift tonight so she’ll be home late.”

I nod in affirmation and head off to my room, I only had one class with homework but that could wait. My little brother Tim might be 12, but he still carried around the same innocence and adorableness of a kid half his age.I ruffle his hair as I walk by smiling as he scrunches up his face in a pout with that perpetual baby face he still has.

“Michael!” He whines patting back down his some-what longer black hair, his freckles standing out on his tan skin. He leaps at me in a tackle and we both go down in a wrestle, he’s definitely not a slacker with his moves but I’ve got size and muscle on my side and soon have him in a leg lock and giving him a noogie.

“Fine, fine! You win...again!” He grumbles as I let him go but not before giving him a quick hug to make sure it is kept friendly. We both get up and I let him get back to his game while turning my own old laptop on and setting it next to his, both of our blood pulsing from our good tumble -- honestly nothing’s a better stress reliever than a good tussle. Not to mention how cute he always looked when he lost.

“Nether again?” I ask turning on the game and he nods in reply. The rest of our evening passes by quickly interrupted only by dinner which is delicious as ever. I can’t help but look at the clock several times though, Antoine had always been so busy with his new job lately and mom with her new position on the hospital staff made the house feel so depressingly quiet.

I start on the dishes, what with it being my night and all. The sun having just passed the horizon, the barest hint of stars showing in the sky. The crisp air flowing through the house mixing delightfully with the homey smell of my dad’s cooking. I see him exit the back door and head onto the back porch just to head for his nightly walk.

I just finish up with the dishes, then freeze. The moon has just crested the horizon. My arm starts itching like crazy and I blink shaking my head to clear the after-images of the moon on my vision. I scratch at my arm until its red but there is no indication of why it would be so itchy in the first place. Not only that but it seems to be spreading up and over my back.

I rush to the bathroom quickly stripping as I turn on the shower. I groan as my eyes start to burn but I clench them tightly shut and start scrubbing. I sigh with relief as the sensation fades and I’m left panting and feeling rubbed raw by the scrub brush but at least the itching is gone. With that all over I wash myself up, get changed, and head off to bed. Must’ve been poison ivy or other I reckon.

If only I’d paid a bit more attention I might have noticed the pair of golden eyes reflecting back at me in the mirror...

Getting home was fairly easy once I got myself oriented.I’d barely put any actual thought into what I was going to say once I actually arrived though. I manage to stumble through the door, still favoring what I hoped was just a twisted ankle and immediately got swept up in my little sister’s embrace. My aunt though, was less than happy.

“Where the hell have you been?! First we hear about you running away from school then you disappear off the face of the earth?” She dials into her phone giving me a look that could kill if I wasn’t withering already. “Yes officer, we found him, yep, I understand he will get a talking to, you have a good night.”

The panic attack, my thoughts grasping at that lifeline. Clearly they’d believe that over everything else I’d been through. Coming from a deeply religious upbringing if I told her what really happened I’d likely end up having an exorcism of all things. So instead I say the actual logical thing.

“I uh..need to see a doctor.”

Her withering gaze disappears almost immediately into a look of concern. “Are you hurt? Your leg just seems twisted bu—“

“I really need to see a doctor.”

“I-okay, give me one second to grab my keys. Can you tell me wh--”

“I...I just really need to speak to a doctor.”

She nods, her face looking as if she’d seen a ghost. We quickly get in the car and drive to the local ER, I know she’s just bursting with questions, but what honestly could I tell her? I needed to know if there was a reason for why I had such a vivid experience.

It’s a bit of a wait, especially with having no apparent physical injuries being busy I’m passed off to a nurse for an intake visit. Not typical procedure for sure as they inform me.

“So...can you tell me where your hurt?”

I sit across from her, occasionally shivering a little in memory of what happened. She definitely seems nice, just being around all these professionals just makes me feel more and more ridiculous with all the others they have to treat with real problems.

“I uh…I might’ve...had a concussion? Or...m-maybe been drugged.”

She looks a little concerned, but maintains her gentle demeanor. She appears to be a shorter latino gal. Having curly dark hair and vivid brown eyes on her healthy form, looking like a gal who wouldn’t be out of place in the gym.

“We are not legally required to report drug related illnesses if that’s what has got you so shaken.” She states sitting down across from me in what seems like a too obvious attempt to appear non-threatening. “We aren’t the police, we just want to make sure that you are going to be okay.”

I resist the urge to roll my eyes, if only out of respect for her professionalism. “I uh..had a panic attack, I...ran into the forested area a ways in front of the school. I was having a d-delusion. Hallucinations, things that shouldn’t have been, but were.”

Her face is impassive, but she nods looking only more concerned. “Will you consent to us drawing blood and having a urine test? We can have more to go on after that, if you...” She thinks for a moment. “You got affected by something and feel better now it might’ve worked its way out of your system.”

I consent to her testing, preliminary results all come back normal she re-assures me. She notes that my blood sugar is low and all that saying I must have exhausted myself. No drugs, no toxins, hell, even the MRI comes back clean.

It’s well beyond midnight at this point. With nothing further to go on we drive back home. Lindsay obsesses over everything, despite at least being informed of the tests. I’m ravenous with my appetite and devour pretty much anything we have left in the fridge, my aunt thoroughly pissed at my lack of a clear answer. I told her everything that I could be sure of, the last thing I needed was a psych trying to mess with my head even more. With that I flick off my light and fall into blissful, dreamless sleep.

The next morning comes too quickly, I sluggishly get ready for school. Could I call in sick? No, I’d just gotten a clean bill of health from a doctor and everything just last night. Ideally given a period of just over a week could certainly take back some of the awkwardness of me outright splattering my lunch tray all over an S.B.O of all people, whatever his name was.

The house is empty this early in the morning, little sister and aunt already having driven off to school. My father of course is still at the military base doing who knows what. I grab a granola bar and think it through. I’m nearly running late by the time I decide that embarrassment would be worth it, if only to apologize to the nice guy who’d gone out of his way for me previously. Better known as a nervous spazz than a nervous spazz and an ass.

Watching the sidewalk carefully I make my way to school in good time. I nearly jump out of my skin as I feel the cool touch of metal that I know for a fact wasn’t around my neck a second ago. The necklace my hand shivers as it brushes over it’s jeweled surface. It might’ve been my imagination but it makes my fingers tingle oddly in a sensation resembling a shiver. I tuck it into my shirt and enter the building. Head down, red hoodie flipped up. Maybe I could make it to first period with--

“Hey Artemis?”

I feel my body stiffen at his voice, my throat suddenly seeming to have forgotten how to swallow. I clench my jaw feeling a pressure behind my eyes and nose, yet like so many other times not a teardrop falls. For the best at least this time. Eye contact, nervous smile. Just apologize and get it over with you idiot!

“H-hey….”

I trail off awkwardly realizing I had forgotten his name already. My face flushing with heat and I find myself sweating despite the slightly chilly hallway. I glance right and left, his other buddy, the other SBOs and several students have halted their path. They know. Every last one of them.

“Are you okay?”

I feel my insides heave, a shaky rattle traveling up my back. Of all the things to say why’d he have to make me feel even MORE guilty! I clear my throat, but because of the lingering tightness I nod once, then a few more times. “I-I’m the one th-that should be asking that question.” The bell rings and a few of the students start to shuffle off to class, the big guy and his little buddy ...Mike? I think it was.

He chuckles at that giving me a firm slap on the back. “Kid you got me out of football practice on leg day. Just like you I’m probably just as sick of everyone asking me if I’m okay as you no doubt are already.”

I give a small chuckle at that. Kid wasn’t in his position for nothing after all, unlike too many of my other schools this guy seems to have more character and charm then wealth could buy the others.

“Not to mention you’re shaking like a leaf and my old man works on the force and heard you were missing. You’ve already been through shit already, so let’s move on, and I’ll be seeing you on the track team.” He hits my shoulder good naturedly and turns off to class, Mike right behind him.

I let out a breath that feels like it’d solidified in my chest. My head spinning with a euphoric dizziness, I grab my pack and head off to class arriving just before the bell and taking my seat. Sometimes all it really takes is one really awesome person to fix a really crappy problem. I can’t help but smile slightly as role it taken and the class begins.

By the time lunch rolls around life seems as if it might be returning to a sense of normality. There are certainly less stares than I had expected with all the chaos of the previous day. I sit down to eat before I become the one with the staring problem. Across the cafeteria is the kid that had quite literally kidnapped me the previous day. He certainly doesn’t seem in any particular mood. Concrete evidence of my delusion is enough to send my head spinning again. I have to know for sure, grabbing my tray I head over.

“This seat taken?” I ask.

He looks around, likely noting that their are open tables and his expression narrows with a look of confusion. “Suuuure…” He drags out clearly making his hesitancy clear as I sit down across from him. His stare doesn’t linger and goes back to his phone and meal.

“I uh...saw you yesterday. You catch any game in the forest?” I try to ask casually, but know that it sounds intrusive, yet I need to know and steel my nerves. My gaze matches his curious gaze.

“Yeah, we caught something alright. You live by the forest?” He asks now seeming a bit more wary.

“Not exactly. I uh...well, I was in the forest. I thought I saw you pick a critter up with your dad. Did you…” It’s now or never. “Find a unicorn?” I blush a little at the ridiculousness of the question but his expression turns guarded.

“I…” He hesitates, but the look in his eyes is all the confirmation that I need. “I honestly don’t know what the hell it was, but it was able to melt solid steel, if you had any sense you wouldn’t go looking for it. More likely though it was some sort of sniper with some hi-tech area 51 BS rifle. Either way its trouble.” His expression narrows, “You were the jerk that tortured the poor thing in the first place! That’s how you knew about it!”

I wince at the mention of the truck. The events of the previous night seemed a bit fuzzy from the adrenaline, I’d been more preoccupied with escap--What the hell am I thinking? I really turned into a buck--fucking horse! What do I say to that without sounding more crazy?

“I--”

“There you are!”

I wheel around and see the sports gal from earlier heading towards me. My memory very kindly reminding me that I had stood her up yesterday. She looks so excited which immediately puts up all the red flags. She eyes the guy across from me for a moment before nearly yanking me off of my seat.

“We need to talk.” Her expression, though stern conveys not anger but a barely withheld excitement. I wince feeling a shock through her hand that makes my arm feel a little numb. She flinches away a split second later having seemed to have the same reaction.

I glance at… “What was your name again? I’m Artemis, you have no reason to believe me but I swear I didn’t...” I pause for a moment trying to think of how to phrase it without lying. “I didn’t hurt or abuse any animal. I can’t really explain something I don’t understand myself, but can you meet us after school to talk?” I nod at Angela to emphasize my point.

He rolls his eyes but eventually nods. “I’m Aaron, you choose after school, I choose the track.” He looks over my shoulder. “Funny...that’s the same backpack we saw around the unicorn.”

I try to open my mouth to try to explain, but Angela beats me to it. “Your amulet changed you into a unicorn?!” Her eyes seeming to have doubled in size, she reaches out towards my chest before seeming to remember what happened last time she touched it.

Aaron’s expression is unreadable. I look between the both of them, giving Angela an almost imperceptible nod my throat suddenly feeling tight. I start to hyperventilate as I feel the familiar tingle I had last time, I can almost feel my fingers cramping as a headache starts to form. I close my eyes and try to focus on my breathing. Already on the fringes of my mind I can feel what seems like another mind brushing against my own, one terrified and hurt.

Something wet trickles down my forehead and just as quickly the disturbing sensation is gone. I reach a hand to my head, traveling up the slick trail until I feel an uncomfortable twinge as I feel a bony protrusion that shrinks away to nothing. My hand comes away covered in blood as I stare up at Aaron and Angela. Aaron is just staring blackly at me, speechless, but Angela passes over a napkin that I gratefully take to clean myself up.

“Was that a…?” Aaron starts to ask before I cut him off.

“Stop, just stop. I don’t want it to happen again! You have no idea what it was like!”

“You’ve got to be shi--”

BEEEEEEEEEP!

Angela takes over, eagerly butting in. “After school, Track.” She grabs her stuff and takes off with more speed than I’m sure was necessary. Aaron doesn’t make any move as I grab my bags, I’ve barely even touched my lunch. I wolf down what I can as I put pre-packaged food in my bags and the rest in the trash.

“You weren’t seriously that thing were you?” Aaron asks, barely more than a whisper.

“I have to go.” I don’t reply further than that and head off. I give my face a quick wash in the restroom, the cold water helping more than anything else as I dry off and go to class. It was real repeating over and over in my head. Something impossible, the scientific part of my mind amazed at the possibilities. Yet, more pressing was the thought of being trapped as a small creature that couldn’t speak, not even mentioning the raw agony of the change in the first place. That, now that terrified me. Some small part of me though, couldn’t deny that it wanted to do it again and that scared me even more.

School passes quickly after that. My mood swings from a quivering terror, to that of begrudging excitement. The extraordinary happened, and I am confused. The only way this could be solved is with research. That’s not to say I’d going to be an idiot and jump right in.

The bell rings and I head off at a slow walk. Watching as the crowd disperses, a day passed by without any more embarrassment. Angela and Aaron are already waiting, the old track empty of any individuals. Angela probably had something to do with that.

“Let me get one thing straight. I’m not going to try changing into that...thing again. Even if I did know it happened I’m not ready for that again.”

“If that was really you I might have to make you pay for damages.” Aaron smirks while crossing his arms in a huff.

“Only if I get to charge you with kidnapping.” I joke in return. “I think being forcefully stripped of my clothes and shoved in a cage makes us even. Some may even consider that rape...”

Aaron’s face goes as flushed as a tomato at that one. “Considering you were a mare at the time. How was that anyways? I’m sure Angie wants to know about that as much as I do.”

I nod setting my pack down and leaning against a nearby tree. “It started in class I think. I seemed to forget who I was and started running from something, some kind of insect I think. After that I started having what was kind of a painful seizure, I don’t know how long it took but it felt like a long time. After that you showed up and dragged me off with your dad.”

Aaron nods and continues where I left off for Angela’s benefit detailing the rest of the story. At the end I fill him in about my escape detailing the beam that had come from my ‘horn’ apparently the damage wasn’t that bad to the car, not even an inch, but left a fairly ugly melt in their bed.

“Alright, you’ve told your story now it’s time for mine.” Angela smile and gets to her feet stretching her legs. “Watch closely because I’m not sure I’ll be able to do it again.” With that she lines up next to the 100 meter dash line. She gets in position curving into the sprinter’s stance. Then with a crackle of electricity her form blurs with her speed as in just over a second she’s at the finish line. Leaves are blown away by her aftershock all around and she crumbles dry heaving.

“Did she just...?”

“Yeah” I reply. As we both run to catch up to her as she starts to stand back up, coughing a little. Her clothes are dripping a little bit of vapor and she seems to be sweating despite the chilly fall air. “That was incredible!” I examine the track but it doesn’t show any sign of damage, nor does she appear to have damaged anything she had been wearing.

“I’m alright, just really hungry and nauseous at the same time. Something something energy conservation or whatever. Can you do anything like that?” She looks at me expectantly as she leans against a tree to catch her breath.

“I...don’t think so, but I guess trying certainly wouldn’t hurt.” I try the run as she has, but quickly seem to be making a fool of myself even with Angela trying to give pointers as I run back and forth without change. Once I’m feeling a little winded I stop and head back over pulling out my amulet. “I think we have different amulets, obviously what is happening is from them.”

I hold mine out for her to take and she reaches for it only for it to fly out of my hand onto the ground as she does so. I pick it up, grasping it a bit more firmly as I hold it out to her. As she reaches closer it pulls in the opposite direction, like a magnet facing the same polarization. “That’s a no on sharing, least with you.”

I turn and face Aaron offering it to him. He shakily extends his grip, but he seems to be able to touch it, unlike with Angela it doesn’t resist.

“It feels kind of funny.” He comments before slipping it onto his neck, then quickly taking it off swaying a little and looking a little green. “Nope, that’s a nope for me.” He passes it back. “It doesn’t make you sick?”

“Besides the occasional crippling seizure and a bad hair day? Not really.” I start scribbling down notes, Angela rolls her eyes as I do so. “Hey! We gotta keep track of this somehow. I grumble at their stares feeling no small bit self conscious, but I keep writing. “So yours lets you run really fast, while mine turns me into a horse that can shoot a laser. Surely not the worst superpowers in existence.” I look over my amulet, it seems like a rather simple thing. Thin golden chain and a set jewel, fingering over it. It tingles at the touch, like static electricity on a trampoline.

It’s tempting, it’s so tempting with how it seems to be asking to be used, but I can’t. “This is mind blowing and all, but after uh…yesterday I really need to head home to avoid another incident with my family. We all agree to the typical super power secrecy thing?”

“Cliche, but telling others would just cause social drama. I’ve no idea what the government or such would do, I mean we aren’t at war right now.” Aaron shakes his head looking at the both of us with a bit of jealousy. “Not like I have anything to show anyways. Next time let’s meet in the forest, this is an objectively horrible place and about as secret as a Starbucks.”

“That’s putting it lightly,” I chuckle. “I definitely agree with Aaron on that one. Tomorrow alright?” The others nod and I grab my bags and head home. Just leaving the two of them feels like a burden has been lifted from my shoulders , the subtle feeling of my chest relaxing as the social anxiety bleeds away.

Author's Notes:

As always please leave your comments and I'll try to answer the occasional question or two. Hoping to update at least monthly.