Chapter 4 - Zip Ability

Chapter 4 - Zip Ability

With the anti-renisas barrier above her, Pretty tried again for the hundredth-or-so times to activate her zipping ability, the same ability she used before that could zip her from one place to another.

But she planned to do more than what she did a while ago. She usually could zip from one mountain to another mountain. But if she really wanted it, and if she was willing to spend more renisas—a ton of it—she could even zip to another island in this Pacific sea or even across the world. But with her limited essence right now, she could only zip to any of the mountain surrounding the Summit.

With her situation right now, she was willing as long as she was not in this mountain.

But why would she go when she still had to look for her pills? What was the point of escaping now to the outside world if she was going to die anyway in a few days?

She actually didn’t know.

She still had a few days at least before her symptoms occurred. Even if the chances were infinitesimal, she still wanted to try looking for it somewhere.

She believed that there was always another way. But with the anti renisas barrier above her, she had no choice but to be trapped in the mountain. She hoped that maybe any seconds now, it would deactivate and she could escape. She still wanted to live, and if she had to test it every second for the thousandth time, wasting renisas every try, then she would do it.

She closed her eyes and pictured a mountain in her head, one specific mountain that she had visited before. It was located across from this mountain.

She imagined the shape of the stone platform she had lounged on when she was sixteen one summer. It was near hexagonal in shape with bright green moss dotting the surface of it. She imagined as well the stone formation resembling a king’s throne just to the right of the platform and the specific headless old trees surrounding it. In one specific tree, she pictured the weathered trunk where she carved her name ‘PRETTY’ on it.

Slowly a transparent tube-like thing appeared in front of her. When this happened, It meant that the place was still existing and she could generate a zip tube, as she coined it, that will connect towards that place.

The transparent zip tube elongated furthermore and zipped towards the direction of the sky. It should make an arch a few feet above the ground, in an area where there were no obstacles and stop on the area she inputted before. But before it could continue and connect towards the mountain she pictured, the zip tube paused abruptly when it touched the transparent dome.

The dome was visibly stopping it.

She felt the resistance that was trying to push the zip tunnel from the dome. She pushed it more, expending more renisas, but through her eyes, the dome was thickening around the area she was pushing. The surrounding areas were visibly thinning at the same time as if it was reinforcing the area she was pushing. She estimated in her mind that she could expend more renisas to make a break from the barrier, but it would need way more than the amount of her full renisas reserve

She gave up and saved her renisas instead. Unless she could make two zip tunnels where she could attack the weaker side at the same time, she had no choice but to stay at the mountain city. She was also not sure if her second idea would work. So it was apparent she had no chance of getting away using her ability.

At the meantime, she was trapped in this mountain.

Running for some time, Pretty reached one of the greenhouses and quietly entered one.

She opened the door slowly and before she could enter it someone grabbed her by the neck, spinning her around and held her on a chokehold.

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“It’s about time you stop running Icky,” the man holding her said.

She recognized the voice as someone she knew. It belonged to a blond young man whose long hair covered his freckled face. It was Josh, her cousin.

She tried resisting Josh's hold but he just pulled a gun from his belt and pressed it on her head. “Just give up Icky, don’t make this harder on you.”

To make his point, a white floating dagger suddenly appeared in thin air pointed at her.

“First of all, my name is not Icky.” Pretty gritted with her teeth, but she stopped moving. “And second, giving up means I’ll die, possibly horribly. So no Josh, I will not make this easy for you. In fact, you can let me go. Take it as a little request from your little cousin,” she said it as if it was a matter of fact.

Josh laughed at her, albeit with no humor. He then took a step but Pretty only dragged her feet on the ground making it hard for him to walk. Exasperated, he moderately knocked her head with the gun’s base. “Quit it.”

Pretty pressed her mouth in a thin line. “Then let go.”

Josh ignored her.

Pretty instead shamelessly wrapped her two feet on the wielded bench’s leg beside her and did not budge.

Josh took a deep breath and pressed the muzzle of the gun on her head, “I’m serious, or I’ll blow your head.”

Pretty did not budge at all. She knew Josh wouldn’t do that, they might hate each other but he would not kill her. Not because she was his cousin, she was sure Josh didn’t treat her as family, but because she knew he didn’t like killing someone.

She persuaded him instead. “I’m serious too. Do you think they're going to let me go away after what I did? It’s either I joined back or they’ll kill me. And I'd rather die than work with Simon again.”

“Then, might as well, I’ll just kill you then.”

Seeing Josh being obstinate, Pretty sighed and changed her approach. “If you don’t want to get hurt,” she said in a heavy voice, “then let me go Josh.”

Josh looked amused. “If I don’t want to?”

“I don’t care. I’m just warning you because you’re my father’s nephew. Trust me Josh, I won’t hold back.”

Josh burst out laughing. He tightened his arm-hold on her neck while his expression quickly changed to anger. “How dare you call him father! You’re just an ugly doll he picked somewhere. Don’t forget you are the reason he's dead. So don’t sprout things such as you being merciful. The only reason I am not pulling this trigger in your head is because the head wants you alive. Quit resisting and move.”

Josh did not wait for her opinion and pushed her inside the greenhouse door. But no matter how much he tried, she still didn’t nudge her legs from the bench, no matter how she felt it was scraping her jeans and digging to her leg, she couldn't feel pain anyway.

“Is that what they told you?” Pretty asked. She breathed a stretch of air and exhaled it painfully. “They killed him, Josh!” she said in a grave voice, “The head killed him.”

Josh’s face and voice did not even shift. “Uncle Simon did it? Why would he even kill his own brother? If you’re going to lie, pick a better one.”

“I saw it with my own eyes,” she insisted.

“Like I’ll believe you? Where were you when he was looking for you? if you didn’t run away, then he could still be living peacefully right now.”

“I don’t need you to believe me, I know you know how rotten this Summit is. I don’t care if you wanted to stay here but that does not mean I wanted to. So let me go.”

“Quit it Icky, what would you-”

Hearing that damned nickname, that immediately settled for her.

Her right hand that was holding the right arm that Josh used to hold her in a chokehold, suddenly grasped the gun that was pressed on her head and before Josh could react, the gun just suddenly vanished into thin air.

In her empty left hand, a blue taser gun suddenly appeared. Without any warning she side-stabbed it to Josh's side and pressed the button.

It was a taser gun developed by the Summit and it was modified to have stronger amp and voltage output, it also continuously supplies electric current to the body enough to incapacitate a person.

Josh was quickly electrocuted with a good dose of electricity and lost his hold on her.

Once the one lifting her lost his hold, they both fell to the floor. Pretty untangled herself from him and stood up.

Without caring for the guy, she left the semi-conscious Josh on the floor and ran towards the opposite direction of the greenhouse.

She was lucky this time that Josh was caught off guard by her ability. If it was a contest of combat ability and strength, she was sure she could not overpower him.

She could, if she wanted to kill him, a simple gun would give her a chance. But just like Josh, she had no reason to kill him.

It was a good thing all they knew was that she could only turn invisible, so they were not prepared for the abilities that she had been keeping from them for years.

If only she could see Josh’s face during that moment.

She always wanted to do that, or at least punch Josh in the face once. She never liked Josh, though he had mellowed out and become matured when they got older, she still couldn’t forget the torment she had received from him when they were kids. All because she was not pretty.

Josh hated ugly things, and she was one.