The Seven: Origins

{Kalo}
The grocery store was eerie. People looked way too tense and still. One woman was shaking. I stopped. I was in aisle four, looking for canned goods, but my hunger had been forgotten as the chills ran up and down my shoulder blades.

I turned around and frowned. No one seemed to be moving, even at the registers. They looked too scared. I walked slowly and casually towards the produce section only to see a familiar face.

It was Hannah, from New York. Her hair was shorter but it was most definitely her. I recognized the fear in her eyes. Beside her, Savannah clung to her hand. She was about 8 years old now, it seemed. They were looking right through me.

"Get on the ground now." A man spoke directly in my ear. I sighed. I ignored him. I whirled and grabbed the gun before he fired. It was knocked out of my hand by a second man. Backup, no doubt.

I took down the first one with ease and Savannah slid the gun back across the floor and I picked it up quickly. The second man had ran into one of the aisles and I could no longer see him.

"Where'd he go?" I whispered to Hannah. She pointed to aisle eight.

"How many?" I asked.

"Four....three now." Hannah whispered back.

Before I could do anything, someone opened fire. The customers hit the floor and I covered Hannah and Savannah and felt a bullet hit me. It bounced off, my inhuman skin deflecting it like a shield. I sat up and fired back, hitting one of the criminals in the head. One of his buddies resumed firing and heads of lettuce exploded around me. I ducked and shot lower. I hit his kneecaps and he fell, screaming in pain.

"Better eat your vegetables instead of shooting them, Savannah." I smiled.

Despite her situation, the child looked at me and grinned.

I threw the gun aside. I'd taken out two. But the first was up and at me again with the last guy. I had moved Hannah and Savannah further back behind the produce so they were hidden better. I ran, crouched down, into aisle one. I ran to the end and listened. I could hear two pounding hearts, about four aisles down. I ran two aisles and waited.

Suddenly I heard the two men scream. They were being killed. I frowned. Then a pain shot through my abdomen. I hissed and collapsed, but my instinct got me on my feet again and I raced back to Hannah and Savannah in two seconds. Savannah was crying. I looked down. Hannah was shot. She looked up at me.

"Take Savannah....please." She gasped before she choked on her own blood and died.

I roared in outrage, still unconcerned about how I'd gotten shot. But before I could do anything, I was shot again. I fell and passed out.

When I opened my eyes again, the first person I saw was Savannah. She was holding my hand and strangely calm despite losing her mother. I looked around and stared at the person operating on me.

Wait, operating? How in the--

"Lie still, these bullets are trickier than human's bullets." The male voice said.

"Wha....what kind...are..?" I breathed.

"These bullets were made in Hell, by demons. The metal is toxic for you so I have to get it out now. Stop talking and I'll explain later." He replied.

I stayed awake as the stranger dug in my abdomen, cringing occasionally. I was getting irritated.

"You could explain now while I wait for you to stop digging in my stomach for whatever that is." I snapped.

He sighed and hesitated. I couldn't see his face very well but his voice and his smell was so familiar.

"My name is Ezra. My wife, Isabella, and I are good friends of your deceased parents. I have been looking for you for years. And now, I plan on taking you to the manor where you belong so you can take your place as the ruler of our kind. We're angels of God sent to Earth to prepare for the apocalypse." He explained.

"I was right....but, how'd my parents die? Didn't they have skin like ours?" I questioned.

"Our skin is as penetrable or impenetrable as we wish it....unless someone of our kind uses their hands or teeth against us. Your parents had their hearts removed, stolen. The only way they could have been killed."

"Their bodies...where are they?" I murmured.

"No one truly knows. But I suspect, your mother's sister Schizo Desoto, has them hidden somewhere." Ezra answered.

"Where does...Aunt Schizo live?" I asked quietly, trying to be cautious.

"Last I heard, she was somewhere in Russia....Moscow, I believe. But who knows with Schizo?" He sighed and let me up.

I stood and looked at him. I looked at Savannah who stared at the ground.

"Take Savannah somewhere safe. Give her a good life until I return." I told him and took off running, before he could object.

{Cadance}

"I can't believe this shit. Schizo saw this happening but she couldn't predict someone beating us here?" Kennie cursed.

"It does seem peculiar...it's as if she's left some details out of the narrative." Zylia stared down at the strange red blood that had a rainbow tint to it.

"I don't trust her." Arika murmured.

"I agree. She's hiding something." Kenzi added.

We all stared at our missing sister's blood, wondering how the wound happened. If someone could make our sister bleed, the oldest and supposedly the strongest of us, we were all in trouble.

{Schizo}

I sighed and continued staring at my bookshelf until it blurred into an airport.

I was having a vision of Kalo boarding a plane to Moscow, Russia. I smiled. She was hunting me now.

I picked up my phone and arranged for a flight to Moscow. She wouldn't be disappointed.

{Kalo}

Fortunately, I taught myself a few languages in my spare time. I could speak French, Italian, Spanish, Greek, and Russian.

I asked around in bars about Schizo Desoto. Several times when I asked, the person would either run away with fear in their eyes or deny knowing her even when I saw they were lying about it. I started to get frustrated when I went into the hottest bar in the city and asked about her.

"Who is asking about Schizo Desoto?" A large man asked in Russian, surrounded by bigger men in suits.

A Russian mobster, how cute. I stepped forward and smiled bitterly.

"Her niece." I answered, in Russian.

"Does this niece have a name?" He smirked.

"Kalo." I replied.

"Well, I can tell you this, Kalo. She is not welcome here and neither are you." He spoke in English.

He snapped his fingers and several men approached me. They smiled as if they were about to have a blast.

"Trust me, boys. You don't wanna touch me." I told them.

The first one seized my wrist and I used my other to grab his and flipped him forward onto his back on the floor. A second guy approached and I lifted my leg straight out and kicked him in the chest, sending him flying backwards.

I whirled around to dodge a punch and landed one in the third guy's stomach before bringing my foot around the back of his knee and kicking so he collapsed and I brought my elbow down hard where his shoulder met his neck, knocking him unconscious.

I spun and planted a fist against the next guy's jaw and before anyone could do anything else, a female voice yelled at us.

"Enough."

We paused and looked. A woman with pale white skin, black hair that had red and purple tints in it, and huge shades that hid her eyes and half her face, was standing less than ten feet from is. She wore a small smirk.

"I forbid you to return here, you American bitch!" The mobster snapped.

Schizo smiled bitterly and wide enough to reveal perfect teeth and two fangs protruding from them. She stepped forward and then she and I were surrounded.

"And I told you, Sergei, that I don't respond well to being ordered around." She murmured.

Then, before even I saw it coming, she was attacked. The cane in her hand swung up and around, smacking the man across the face. She brought it down and struck the backs of his legs.

About six men charged at her and five came at me. I managed to catch glances of her kicking their asses with her cane as I finished up my attackers with only my hands.

I was finished first and I stared as she used the thick cane as if it were a sword. When all six men were on the ground, she turned to me.

"We have much to discuss, Kalo. Let's go." She turned and walked calmly and smoothly out of the bar.

I followed, listening in on her thoughts. It was complete silence in her mind. That was probably a bad sign.

We walked down the snowy empty street and I leapt in front of her and put a knife to her throat. She stood still and did not seem surprised.

"Who are you to my real parents?" I snapped.

"Your mother's younger sister, Skylar. Schizo is just a nickname in reference to my disorder. I use your father's last name for identity purposes but my real last name is Taylor, as is your mother's." She explained bluntly.

"Where are they buried?" I demanded.

Schizo's head tilted eerily and I felt her trying to get into my head. I knew she couldn't by the peculiar face she made.

"They are not buried....why do you ask?" She murmured.

"None of your business. Where are the bodies?" I snapped.

I was getting annoyed with her creepy face and behavior. I pressed the knife harder into her throat and that was when she headbutted the holy hell out of me. I hit the snowy street hard but I got back up and brought my knee to her chest. She gasped as the air left her lungs but she was quick to seize my throat and lift me off the ground.

I used the position to my advantage and brought both feet up and kicked her in the face, hard. As she let go, I threw myself backward landing on my hands and sending myself to my feet.

Despite being kicked in the lungs and face, she was laughing. Her shades were broken and I caught a glimpse of purple and red eyes. She laughed in short gasps and pulled out another pair of identical sunglasses.

"You kick...like a horse." She panted, her laughter almost suffocating her.

"You carry extra shades in your pocket? Get your ass beat alot, do you?" I snorted.

"Only in Moscow." She admitted.

Our eyes met and we both burst into laughter. It wasn't forced for either of us. We were laughing like we were high as kites and had just witnessed the funniest movie ever.

"You remind me of her. You have the same sense of humor. And you're the only other person to bring true humor to my face. Both of you are gifted at getting through to people." Schizo smiled as she stood, dusting off her pea coat and skinny jeans.

"I have the bodies. I keep them in my basement. I plan to find their hearts and bring them back." Schizo confessed.

"You can do that?" I asked.

She nodded and sighed as she put on the shades and gripped her cane. She stood ten feet from me and I could feel her eyes on me.

"It's almost time for you to come home." Schizo smiled, the humor gone.

"Almost?" I sighed.

"You can't just yet. You have things to do. People to threaten, people to kill, people to save, people to make your allies, and people to fuck with. You're destined to lead our kind. You have to build up the anticipation and make yourself known before you return."

I knew in some way she was right. I did have things to do. I nodded slowly and she turned to walk away.

"Where are you going?" I called after her.

"I have business to attend to in Greece. My home is in Virginia, at the Midnight Manor. You'll know when it's time for you to come home, that's where you must go." Schizo murmured.

"I was told I'm from Louisiana." I frowned.

"You are. That is where your parents' vacation home is. You were born there and lived there for most of your life. Midnight Manor was just where they did business pretty much. You should visit it. Maybe you'll remember more. Til we meet again, niece."

And then she was gone. I stood alone as snow began to fall again. I stared at where she'd been standing seconds ago. There was no trace that anyone had been there now.