Hello. I am Felicia Rivers. I may appear to be a normal 16 year old girl, but I'm really not. I'm actually Starika, a teen heroine. I don't have any super powers or stuff like that, which really bites cause powers would be cool.
Whenever the Smokers gang strikes, I slip into my costume and mask to go stop them. My guyfriend Marco Perez helps me out with weapons. My best bud Rose Williams arranged my costume and gives moral support and advice.
It's not like I'm famous or anything, but Starika is popular with the kids in my school. I'm still not very experienced. Not everyone even believes I exsist. At least, not yet.
"Felicia! Mom said to get up! You gotta go to school!"
Angela called.
I mumbled some gibberish and curled up in my blankets. There was a knock at the door. "Oh go away, I'm getting up,"I moaned.
I heard Angela open the door.
"Oh hey Angela. Where's Felicia?" Marco asked.
"We've been waiting for her. What's been keeping her?" Rose asked.
I opened my eyes and saw the clock. It read 7:45 am. I finally realized I was late.
"Ahh! Oh no! I'm late!" I shrieked. I jumped out of bed, and got tangled up in the sheets in the process. I crashed onto the floor. "Ow!" I cried.
"Well at least she's up," I heard Rose say.
I quickly put on a dress, my favorite one with a split up the side that went to my knee. I quickly slipped on some dress shoes and brushed my hair as I came out of my room.
"Hurry Felice! We have that trip today!" Rose cried.
"I know! I'm hurrying!" I cried.
I grabbed my bookbag and snatched my lunch from Angela. "Come on! Let's go!" I cried.
"We're going to have to run to school now," Marco said.
"I can't help it! I was tired!" I said.
"Nevermind that! Just run for it!" Rose said.
And so, we ran. Luckily, we made it there before the buses arrived for the trip.
"At least we didn't miss the bus," Rose said as she and the rest of our trip group got on the bus.
Our group was me, Marco, Rose, Eliza, K.J. Stanton, Chis Shultz, and Kenny Klein.
K.J. is Marco's best bud Matt Davids' girlfriend. She has red hair that she often wears in two buns on her head. When she wears it down, it goes to the same level as her breasts. Her eyes are violet and she's about 5 inches taller than me, so she's pretty tall. Her skin is pale, like mine. She's into gothic stuff.
Chris is Marco's friend. He has wild dark blue hair and brown eyes. His hair is actually white-blond, but he dyed it when he was 10 and kept it that way ever since. It goes to his shoulders.
Kenny is another friend of Marco's and mine too. He has light brown hair that's shaved on the left side of his head, but on the right it's long and goes to the same level as his chin. His left eyebrow is pierced. He has sky blue eyes and is a banger, as well as Chris. They don't boast about it though. (They don't want the Smokers after them.)
"So...what's up K.J.?" I asked.
"Not much. Matt's coming out of the hospital next week. He's doing pretty good now," K.J. said.
"Yeah. I just saw him yesterday," Marco said.
"Well, that's great news. Tell him I said hi," I said to K.J. .
"Sure," K.J. said, smiling. I really liked the purple lipstick she wore.
"He wouldn't even be there in the first place, if it weren't for the Smokers!" Chris said angrily.
"Really! They piss me off. How about you, K.J.?" Kenny said.
K.J.'s eyes darkened and she looked very angry. "I hate them! I hate all of them! I wish they were dead, and soon they'll hear from me, I gaurantee it!" K.J. said.
"Chill out guys! My mom's getting on the bus!" Eliza said. Mrs. Powell was our chaperone. We sat down in groups of two once Mrs. Powell was on the bus. Eliza sat with her mom, Rose and K.J. sat across from me, Chris and Kenny sat behind me, and Marco and I sat next to each other.
Soon they did roll call. After awhile they started calling our names.
"Eliza..."
"Here!"
"Marco..."
"Think I'm here, I don't know!"
"Don't be fresh!"
"Sorry!"
"Chris..."
"Present!"
"Rose..."
"Present!"
"Kenny..."
"Here."
"Felicia..."
"Here!"
"Kaitlin..."
"It's K.J., you moron!"
The teacher flushed, apologized, then sat down. K.J. really hates to be called by her full name. She thinks it's dumb.
So we began to ride off. Our trip was to the city's museam. Marco took out his portable CD player and, after making sure no one was watching, a Korn CD.
"When the teachers catch you with that, you're dead," I said.
"Who cares," Marco said, putting the headphones on his head.
Okay. Confession time- Marco is a banger. Ever since Will was killed though, he's been trying to hide it at school. He doesn't wear his band shirts, doesn't have his pictures of his favorite bands posted in his locker, and doesn't write his favorite bands on his folders like most bangers do. He even wears Nike and Fila brand stuff to convince people! The one thing he won't do is stop wearing Jnco brand stuff. He just won't do it.
"Hey, do you really have your Starika outfit and stuff with you?" Marco whispered.
"Yep. All except the leather jacket. I even managed to fit the sword in my bag," I whispered. I just hoped I wouldn't have to use it.
We arrived at the museam. The front parlor was huge and there was a small fountain there. My friends and I gathered around the fountain and talked. I sat quietly, saying something every once in awhile.
"Hey, I heard a really valuable jewel is here!" Rose said.
"Really? What?" K.J. said.
"The flower opal. It's really beautiful," Rose said, smiling.
"Flower opal?" I asked, intrested.
"A tribe of supposed witches had it. They claimed the stone had the power to ressurect the dead, so it's been dubbed the jewel of life," Rose said.
"There's one big gem that's worth billions and five small sister gems are a million each," Eliza said.
"Woah! That's a lot of cash!" Kenny said.
"I'd be set for life if I had that much!" K.J. said.
"I could buy a resort! Plus you know how those girls are about millionares. I'd have more women than I'd know what to do with!"
Marco said. Chris and Kenny cheered in agreement.
I rolled my eyes.
"C'mon gang! I have our tickets, let's go!" Mrs. Powell said, ushering us along.
The main reason why we were here was because we're studying the earth in science. It's minerals, climates, etc.
We looked at all the displays but the one of the flower opal was most impressive. The stone shone in several colors of the spectrum. As we looked at the display I noticed Vanessa, one of the Smokers, looking at it with great interest. Why, I would soon find out.
Later, we were eating lunch outside. We had put a blanket down on a patch of grass and it almost seemed like a picnic.
K.J. stroked her pentagram necklace. She looked sad.
"K.J.?" I asked.
She turned to me. "Yes? What is it?"
"Why do you always wear that pentagram? Do you worship the devil or something?" I asked.
K.J. laughed. "Of course not! I wouldn't have this, if I did," She said, taking out a cross pendant she had hidden under her t-shirt.
"Well...why do you wear that pentagram?" I asked.
"Matt gave it to me. It was the first gift he ever gave to me. Besides..." She said, checking to see no one was listening,"I practice the craft."
"Witchcraft?"
"Wicca is the modern name. It's the serious stuff. It really works. And if you mess with it, there's serious consequences. You have to be careful," K.J. said.
"Woah. I don't practice it, but it sounds intresting," I said.
Suddenly a piercing alarm rang out.
"Ahh!" Eliza shrieked.
"What's that? We're not in the museam!" Kenny said.
A bunch of gaurds ran out, guns ready.
"Excuse me sir, what's going on?" Eliza asked.
"A gang of teenagers stole the flower opals," The gaurd said.
We gasped.
"All of them?" I asked.
"It was a big group, obviously a gang too. We can't let anyone leave until we are done searching the perimeter!" The gaurd said.
"I guess that's the end of our peaceful trip," Mrs. Powell said.
"It's been 30 minutes! 20 gaurds and 30 police men searched a 5 mile area which this building is the center of. Where could they have ran to so fast carrying those stones? It's definately the Smokers, but there's no getaway car! It doesn't make sense!" Rose said.
We were in the bathroom alone, discussing this. Suddenly, I had a thought.
"Who says they left the building?" I asked. Rose gave me a look.
"What are you saying?" Rose asked.
"It's perfect! Don't you see? Get all the guards to think you're on the run with the prize, while you're actually still in the building!" I said.
"Oh my god! You're right!" Rose said.
"I know!" I said, slipping into a bathroom stall. I started to change into my Starika costume.
"Where could they be in the building exactly though is what I need to figure out!" I said.
"Let me think..........Wait! Wasn't there a door by the display with a keep out sign on it?!" Rose asked.
"Yeah! It leads to their new wing!" I said, stuffing my clothes into my bookbag.
"It's under construction, but the workers are off during museam hours so...."
I came out of the stall and put my sword in the sheath around my waist. "Ding ding ding! We have a winner," I said, attatching the fan shield to a hook on my sheath. I put the switch blade in my boot.
"Cover for me!" I said to Rose.
"You know I will. Kick some ass, Felicia!" Rose said.
After making sure the coast was clear, I ran into the area with the gemstones. I found the door leading to the new wing. I opened it and slipped inside.
Most of the area had plastic on the floor and there was scaffolding everywhere. I had to be careful walking on the plastic. If someone moved quickly, it would make enough noise to get somebody's attention, definately. No question about that.
I saw the Smokers, but they didn't see me. They were across the room. I counted 7, including Mike, Kali, and Vanessa. Maybe, just maybe, I could sneak up on them. I took small steps, creeping closer and closer to where they sat. Unfortunately, someone had left a beer can on the floor, and the next step I took caused it to sail through the air and land with a loud 'clang' noise.
All the Smokers turned and saw me. So much for a surprise attack.
"I, Starika, am the bringer of hopes and dreams to good hearts everywhere! But to evil hearts I bring punishment! For justice's sake, I am here to stop you!" I said, doing a fighting pose.
"How pathetic," Kali mused.
"Back for more, eh? You never give up, do you Starika?" Mike asked, challenging me.
"Give back the flower opals now! I won't let you steal them!" I said.
"Take care of her," Mike said to the other four Smokers I didn't know.
They came at me, one holding a gun, the other three had knives.
"Don't move," The one holding the gun said.
That's when I had a flashback. Will on the ground.... All that blood.... He was so cold when I found him. Colder than the pavement. Cold as death.....
I wouldn't end up like my brother! My mom and Angela already suffered one death. There would be no second.
With lightning speed, I snatched the gun from his hands and hit the guy in the face with the barrel. He fell over, moaning in pain. Another guy came at me and tried to slice at me with his knife. I shot at him. The bullet grazed his hand, causing him to drop the knife.
I pointed the gun in the air and fired five warning shots, to get the attention of anyone in the building. I used up the last of the bullets by doing this.
"What an idiot! Who uses up all the bullets on shooting at the ceiling when they have 7 people around waiting to kill that person?" Vanessa asked.
I threw the gun under the scaffolding. The two other guys with knives came at me. I punched one in the face, then took out my sword and sliced at the other guy. I got him right in the chest! Blood seeped out of the cut across his chest.
The guy I'd punched got up and came at me again. I spun around and karate-kicked him in the head in the process. It stunned him, allowing me to be able to grab him by his arm and throw him into the other Smoker that I'd cut.
The two crashed onto the floor, defeated. I guess that's why Kali and Vanessa decided to jump in. Kali tried to hit me, and I dodged. I took out my fan shield and smacked her across the face with it. She let out a yelp and fell. Vanessa grabbed a nail gun.
"Oh shit!" I cried, and ran up the scaffolding. She started shooting. Amazingly, I managed to dodge the nails as I went up higher and higher. She kept shooting and laughing, even though I wasn't very easy to target. Besides, I was pretty high up.
"Take this, Starika!" She cried. I had to get the gun out of her hands before one of those nails hit me! Then I had an idea.
I pulled out my switch blade and, once the timing was right,
threw it at Vanessa's arm. Success! It stabbed her in the arm, then fell to the floor. She screamed and dropped the nail gun. I found a heavy bucket on the scaffolding and threw that down at her head. It hit her in the back of the haed and knocked her out.
Mike took out his sword and started to come up the scaffolding. I searched for a way down, but the only way up or down was the way I came, and that's where Mike was. I had to face him.
"This is it Starika! I'll pay you back for this!" Mike said, pointing to the star-shaped scab on his left cheek.
"I won't let you get away with the flower opals! Never!" I said.
Mike thrust his sword at me, but I swung mine out, blocking it. He jumped back. I leapt forward, slicing at him. He dodged it. I swung my sword at him wildly, out of anger. He just blocked and dodged my attempts.
"You're losing your technique," He smirked. He swung his sword at me, I didn't dodge quick enough, and he had managed to graze my middle with the tip of his sword.
I cried out. The wound burned. I put a hand on the cut, checking to see how much blood was coming. While I was distracted, Mike hit my sword with his, hard. It sailed out of my hand and to the ground below, landing with a loud 'clang'.
Mike pointed his sword at my chest. "Seems you can't always win, Starika," He said.
I pulled out my fan shield as a last resort, but Mike smacked it out of my hand before I could unfold it. It slid to the end of the scaffolding.
Mike tripped me. I crashed onto the scaffolding. He got on top of me, pinning me to the floor of the scaffolding.
"It's all over. But before I kill you, I'll take off this mask and see just who you are," He said. I gasped. He reached for my mask.
Suddenly someone punched Mike in the back of his head, knocking him out. I looked up.
"Marco?!"
"Damn it Felicia! I thought that bastard would kill you!" Marco said. He looked angry,but the kind of angry a person gets from being worried.
I got up and grabbed my fan shield. I turned to Marco. Marco threw his arms around me. "Never jump into something without telling me first, okay?" He said.
"Sure...Marco, you saved my life......Thank you," I said.
"Anytime, now let's get you out of here. The cops are coming and you need to get out of that costume," Marco said. After getting my sword and switch blade, we left and I changed back into my other clothes.
By the time the cops got there,all but one of the Smokers had gotten away. They arrested the one and got the flower opals back. I just couldn't help but wonder why Marco was acting so protective of me. Maybe I'd find out why one day.