A Whole New world

I don’t know how it came to this point. Every single building that surrounded me was on fire. You could hear the screams and the cries of children as the fire devoured them. The wind blew the ashes from the ground in a way that they spiraled around me, like Pocahontas and the colors of the wind. The sky was colored with blood. It was like a red blanket hovering the sky, bringing fear to all who laid eyes upon it.

The end of the world was nigh. Any dumb twit could see that. Everyone was going to die, it was inevitable. All the creatures and plants of nature were the first to be destroyed because there was not a single green thing in sight. I was not scared at all. Nope. I felt empowered, if anything really. People deserved to die.

People need to die, for all the things they do to each other, rape, murder, betrayal. Not a single human that I had encountered, was pure. We needed to be reborn, all of us. I understood that much, but what I don’t understand is why couldn’t I have discovered this sooner.

***

Saturday morning, 10th of August 2019. Great. This means that I’d have to spend my whole day doing some stupid family meeting. At least this year I could actually be involved in whatever bogus conversation that may occur, instead of sitting on my butt for five hours waiting to get out of there.

I was finally eighteen and for some reason being eighteen is a “big” deal in my family. It’s not like anyone throws a birthday bash or anything, they just start treating you like an adult and you can actually participate in family meetings, not that I want to. I am the youngest person in my family and for years, I would just sit on the wooden floor, playing with my dolls, waiting for my mother to finish whatever she was talking about.

I am not going to lie, even though I know it is just my family, I am excited to see what it’s about but I swear if they start talking about politics or the weather, I would leave.

I was already on my way. The family mansion was about thirty minutes from my apartment, so I just decided to walk. No one lives there, it’s just an old building that belonged to someone in my family a long time ago. I always asked my mom why we couldn’t live there, but she never gave me a solid answer. She would say,

“It’s too big”; “It’s far from your school”; “Because I said so.”

I didn’t care anymore. It was too old for my liking. As I walked down the sidewalk, I could see the building. It really did stand out. All the other houses were the same light, brick, yellow color, with gray roofs and flowers on the porch.

The one I was going to was this huge dark brown house, with trees on its side. It had about three windows on the top and four on the bottom. There was a glass balcony and if you squinted, you could see my grandfather, sitting on his rocking chair. It kind of looked like the haunted house you would see in a horror movie.

Why was I even excited?

I held the strap of my purse, which was on my right shoulder. I stopped walking, took a deep breath in, and continued. The house was the only one without flowers. Instead, there were just weeds. I looked around and not a single garden had weeds, this was embarrassing. Everyone else had the nostalgic picket white fence you would expect for a neighborhood so put together. Mine had a black gate with barbed wires and a sign that read BEWARE in red.

“I knew I should have worn my cap,” I whispered to myself, wanting to hide my face from the public eye.

I finally arrived in front of the gate, and without even touching it, it opened, making this creaking sound. My uncle had a flair for drama. He installed this stupid automatic gate thing and says it gives the house a more scary feeling. I strutted to the door and knocked. I knew that I could have just opened the door, but I did not want anyone to think that I actually have a personal connection to this place.

The world is a stupid place and as long as I don’t stand out, I won’t get noticed by the stupid people that live in it.

I was about to knock again, but as my hand was about to come in contact with the brown wooden door, my uncle opened it letting my hand fall, as if I was attempting to strike a punch.

“Welcome Mandy, pleased you could grace us with your presence today,” he said, nonchalantly, his voice in a baritone manner.

I did not respond. This is what he always did, mocking. I really do not know what his issue with me is. He was just spoilt, especially with being the richest in the family. I don’t know where he got his wealth from and to be honest, I don’t care, he just made sure everyone knew it.

You can never see my uncle short of at least ten gold chains. He always wore a diamond watch on his left wrist and a ring on each finger. Today, he wore a long brown coat and a white buttoned shirt that was tucked in his grey pants.

I entered the house, and I could feel the energy in the room. It was weird since most of the people here weren’t exactly spring chicks. Everyone was sitting down, whether on a couch or a chair. I guess I was late, since everyone was already here. It made me feel a bit humiliated.

“Now we can start,” my grandfather said, standing up.

My grandfather seemed like he was older than the house. He needed a cane to walk and his back was always hunched. You could see your reflection on his head, but what he lacked on his head, he surely made up for it with his beard. The long grey strands of hair, attached to his chin, touched the floor. My grandfather was an odd man. He had this thing against shirts, and always wore the same black trousers every single day.

My mother nodded and so did my aunt. All together we were ten. Me, my rich uncle Richard, my poor uncle Mick, my shirtless grandpa, my mom, my aunt, my twin cousins, Marcy and Marie, and lastly, my grandmother Michelle.

The only person I could tolerate was my mother and that was because I had to for seventeen years. My dad was already dead, so there was nowhere for me to go. I just had to manage her and her crazy family.

They are all so different from me. They love to scare people away, and to be alone. I like to be with people, good people, not the crappy kind.

“Mandy, you are the last member that we need. The End can commence,” my grandfather said.

I frowned, “What are you talking about?”

My mother stood and came up to me, her pink dress dragging dust across the wood floor.

“It’s time you know my child.”

“Know what?” I asked once again.

Grandfather looked at me, “Don’t you ever long for bloodshed? Don’t you ever watch the news and wish you could just erase everything happening? Don’t you want the world to become anew and to be reborn?”

“Doesn’t everyone want that?”

My mother smiled, “Give me your hand.”

I lifted my right hand and gave it to her.

She held it firmly and folded it into a fist.

“Close your eyes,” she whispered.

I didn't know what she was going to do but I listened.

“Now, think about the world, and all the things you hate about it. Think about the children who are murdered every day. Focus all of it into your fist and really put your energy into it,” my mom said.

I could hear a couple of oohs and ahs but all of it blurred out because there was this overwhelming heat sensation that overtook my hand.

“Open your eyes,” she said.

I opened my eyes, not expecting anything, but I was mistaken. The thing that I considered a hand turned into a big ball of fire. I could not even see my knuckles or my wrist. It was incredible.

“I always knew she was fire,” my cousin Marie muttered.

“This is marvelous, how is it possible?” I asked them.

Marcy jumped up, “Can I please tell her! I’ve never done it before, please!”

My uncle Richard rolled his eyes and responded, “Just make it quick.”

Marcy literally squealed, “You know how everyone has a family thing, like hereditary cancer or dwarfism?”

I frowned, “What are you talking about?”

Marcy brought out her hand and revealed instead of fingers and a hand, I saw moving water.

“We have powers,” She smiled.

I backed away. This was pretty freaky.

“Does everyone here have it?” I asked.

Every single person in the room nodded. I wanted to faint.

“How come I never knew?” I questioned, a bit frustrated.

My mom put her hand on my shoulder, “You had to be of age. You see, we are not human beings. Our family is from a planet called Jypo. We were sent here to Earth many years ago to reform the human race but we could not just then. In Jypo, to perform magic, you need ten Jypotons, with elemental powers. We had to wait and mate, and then wait for years until everyone was at the right age to commence the reformation. You are the last and final member of our team. The leaders of Jypo had created this house as a source of power, we were commanded to come here every year to re-energize.”

I was silent.

Completely and utterly frozen as I stared my mom in the eye.

Then I burst out into laughter, “Is this some kind of comical relief. Are we on a late night show or something? Is Ellen DeGeneres on some kind of earpiece?”

I continued laughing until I started to cry, but then I realized no one joined me. I wiped my tears and saw that everyone was dead serious.

“This isn’t a joke?” I asked, still a bit choked up.

My cousins shook their heads.

“This is the real deal Mandy and we have to start today, if not we will all die. The ten of us can’t fail at our mission, our leaders from Jypo will kill us,” my uncle Mick said, finally speaking.

I shook my head, “How are we going to even start? Are we going to be singing Kumbaya in front of television? What do you suppose we do to make the human race anew?”

My grandma stood up and uttered, “We end it.”

I gasped, “Are you out of your mind?

“It is what has to be done,” my grandma said, “You should know it. You are a Jypoton not a human being. Remember what happens when you act human? Remember your dead father!”

“So they will kill us if we don’t do this?” I asked.

“Yes, and you owe them nothing. All those nights that you came home from school crying because you were bullied, all those days you wanted to die because you weren’t up to the human standards are over. You can end it for everyone who has felt that way and end it so no one else will!” My mother declared.

Mom was right. They were right!

Human beings are just trash, I should be proud I’m not one of them. They need to die. No wonder I never felt like I had belonged. I was not supposed to be a part of their uncivilized colonies. I felt so relieved all of a sudden. The end of the world is something that had to be done, it needed to be done.

I looked at all my family members and smiled, “When do we start?”

***

The power that flowed through me felt so good. With all the four elements combined together like this, there could actually be hope for this world. I just have to finish this.

“Get ready to burn this place Mandy,” my mom said, winking at me.

I smiled feeling like I was finally in the right place, “Of course. To a whole new world.”

“To a whole new world,” my family echoed.