The Blood Team

It’s been about three years since Tessa died, and I guess everyone is doing fine but I don’t talk to my team that much including about that night. We now have a new member of the team, FlowerChild but she is getting more and more hard to trust each day I see her but Superteen and Talia seems to trust her, so I`ll see. It’s a Tuesday morning here at the house and I`m the second one up and ready for breakfast. After everyone eats I go over to the couch to watch some TV but today was different, today FlowerChild came over and sat next to me. We sat there staring at the TV for sometime until she asked me to reach for the remote. I was just about to rap my fingers around the TV remote when I felt a sting like a bumblebee just landed on me then my vision started to blur and I felt my head hit the floor before completely passing out.

I woke up with my feet tied to the feet of a chair and my hands handcuffed to the back of the chair. That wasn’t the worst of it, I had no idea where I was and the only thing in the room was a silver dagger with a cloth next to it both on the floor. As I started looking for an exit to try and get out, a door opened and in the bright light there stood FlowerChild with one syringe in her hand. She smiled as she came closer to me, then once she reached me she said, ¨Hi Buzz, how do you feel?¨ with a sort of nonchalant tone. All I did was look up at her to see how she changed from the innocent girl who made our group whole again to a girl with anger and vengeance in her eyes. ¨Well, are you going to say hi back or will I have to beat that out of you?¨ ¨Geez, I didn’t know you cared so much.¨ I said with a smile on my face that went away after she slapped me across my cheek which was so hard it stung.

I slowly turn back to her gritting my teeth, ¨What, is the baby about to cry?¨ She said, which just infuriated me more. ¨No, you piece of doublebaged son of a bAHHHHH!¨ She hit me again before I could finish the sentence. ¨That’s what you get for such vulgar language, you impudent piece of trash.¨ Then she continues but each word is like knives with me just sitting here unable to do anything. Until she breathes is when I can get a word in to say, ¨So what exactly do you want with me, to play with me like a cat and a mouse.¨ ¨No, I kidnapped you because you suspected me from the moment we meant. You were the only one to get a clue and I knew you were smart enough to figure out who I really was.¨ ¨So now what, you`ll torture me till I break than you’ll kill me.¨I say to her as she stands over me. ¨No, I just want to show you something before I have to leave you.¨ She says with a smirk. ¨What do you want to show me so dear important.¨ Than she turns presses a button and a door opens but I never expected for the person to come out is be other than, ¨Mother.¨

¨You’re probably wondering how your beloved mother is still alive. Well that’s not your mother, she is a clone here to torture you. See I could torture you physically but not mentally, that’s when I decided the only way to do that would bring in your greatest failure.¨ As I`m still in shock from my mom being here, I hear a small voice coming from a separate room but I can’t make it out. ¨Ohh, my Buzzy, Why didn’t you save me?¨ as my mom walks closer to me and I begin to cry. ¨I tried mom but I was only six, I didn’t understand what was happening.¨ ¨You stood their Buzz and watched them shoot me then slaughter me and all you did was stand there and watch.¨ as my mom walks over and grabs the dagger off the floor and at that moment I knew what really happened that night….

Nine years ago….

¨Come on Buzz, we have to run, we have to move!¨ my mom shouts down to me as I run for dear life. ¨Mom, why are we running?¨ ¨People are after me, bad people who I stole some very important information from.¨ She says as we turn a corner on the docks of old ships and then we stopped. There sitting in front of us were cars with their headlights pinned on us. My mother turned to me and pushed me into a safe hiding place under a couple boxes near one of the boats. ¨Honey, I want you to stay here and whatever you do don’t come out, understand.¨ I shake my head, yes and that’s when she gives me a kiss and hugs me. She then leaves and all I heard next was five gunshots that echoed through the docks and footsteps walking away. That’s when I remember when she hugged me she put something in my coat pocket that I`ve always kept, a locket that would never open.

In the present day….

As I feel the locket around my neck that’s tucked into my shirt, I feel my mom punch my mouth, hard enough to make me spit blood. I try with all my might to make her stop but she keeps swinging and near the end I just wanted her to finish me. I felt blood rush down my face with bloody teeth I spit up and cut in my lip. The final blow to my face that she threw on me was the one to knock me out and make everything blurred and go dark. I vaguely remember though being carried into a small space and a rush of wind. Then I hear Talia shouting, ¨Superteen, hurry! We need to go to the hospital!¨ Than another rush of wind in my face which knocked me out again. That’s all I can remember from that horrid day and what had happened.

I wake up in a hospital bed with Talia sleeping in the chair next to me and IV bags hanging beside me. I tap Talia on the head to wake her up and that’s when her eyes ignited with so much excitement. She got up immediately and shouted for Superteen and the doctors. ¨Talia, what happened?¨ But just as fast as I said that, she turned to me and kissed me then whispered, ¨We`ll talk about that at home.¨ She backed away for the doctors to look at me and see how I was doing and he said something that I will never forget, ¨putting those IV needles in your arm was hard, your skin kept bending the metal.¨ I just smiled and looked at Talia who was also smiling. The doctor then turned for the door but bringing Talia along with him to talk about my condition. I look at superteen who was smiling for the first time ever. ¨Hey, dude I see you two couldn’t live without me.¨ I say to him. ¨Indeed¨ As he sits and waits for the doctor.

Talia came back into the room and said, ¨Buzz, you`ll have to stay here overnight so the doctors can make sure you’re alright.¨ As soon as she said that the doctor came in and came near my arm and stuck a needle in my arm that went, in and out. After he did that I was beginning to feel tired than he said to my friends, ¨You two need to leave, he needs his rest.¨ and pushed them out the door while I was closing my eyes.

I woke up a little later but I had no idea what time it was, so I kept pressing the button that should let one of the nurses know I needed them but no one came. So I took the IV needles out of my arm and got out of the bed to walk out of the room. I went through the doorway and noticed everyone was standing still like frozen statues and never moved even when I called for them. I moved in closer and saw that everyone of them was dead with their eyes wide open like they were screaming for help. Then I hear a clash of metal against metal and I turned to see who did this but I already knew who it was. ¨Hello Buzz, remember me.¨ She said as she stood there with my cloned mother. As I looked at FlowerChild and my mother, I knew this wasn’t going to be easy to get away from them. I opened my mouth like I was going to say something back to her but I closed than turned and ran.

I knew this was a low point for me, running from a fight but with myself wounded and beaten like this, there was no way in hell that I was going to win this fight. I looked at all the doors I was passing but each time I tried to open them, they were locked. I turned around to see if they were following me and no one was behind me, so I stopped and I started to look around. I didn’t see anything or hear anything just utter deathly silence then I saw the lights turn on in one hallway and knew they were trying to trap me. I stayed focused and since I already knew I wasn’t going to keep running I decided to give myself up. As I started walking down the hall, FlowerChild began mocking me and saying, ¨You`ll never make it.¨ and ¨You never could trust anyone else except yourself.¨ I just kept walking and getting ready to prepare to fight them. Then I hear that same faint scream again, that I heard earlier but before I could take one last step, the clone grabbed me from behind and hugged me so tight that it waited until I was weak enough to carry.

They carried me to one of the hospital rooms and strapped me onto the bed with straps, I could easily get out of, if I wasn’t half conscious. All I saw was half blurred faces of the clone and Flower and chunks of conversation they were having while trying to put a needle through my skin. All I heard was, ¨You got him sudatated yet?!¨ Flower screamed at the clone. As I was reaching up to them, the needle went through and I was completely passed out and felt my arm hit the table with a loud thud.

I wake back up and too my surprise I’m back at home, my old home with my actual mom. I wasn’t in my costume anymore and it was morning and I was sitting at the kitchen table while my mom served me breakfast. ¨Honey, aren’t ya gonna eat or just stare at it?¨ ¨What? Oh yeah, I will.¨ I said to her with a big grin. I cut the pancakes in half then shoved them into my mouth with syrup splattering everywhere. She says to me that it’s time for school and that I need to get ready. So I go upstairs put on a shirt and grab my backpack and with a whoosh, run as quickly downstairs as fast as I could. As I turned the corner out the door, I saw myself and my mom and with one loud gun shot I woke back up in a sweat. It was all a dream and I was still strapped to the bed like before.

As I lay there not knowing how to get out, I heard clunking and banging from a room beside me, then the door flew open with anger. I looked up to see Flower angrily step closer and closer to me until she stopped and picked up another needle with a blue, thick liquid in it. She put that into the morphine that was keeping me from moving and about a minute later I started to hear screaming and it got louder and louder as each passing second ticked by. Then the realization hit me like a huge gust of wind and my body became numb. My mom died because of me, my friends got hurt because of me and everyone was being taken down because of me. As I screamed out for Flower to please make it stop, she did nothing but stand there over me and smile. I can’t move, I can barely speak and there’s no way of contacting my friends.

I woke up in my bed and in my room, questioning how I got there, I stood up and felt like I just got hit with a semi. I walked out and into the kitchen where I find Superteen and Talia making lunch since it was 12:30 when I eventually woke up. ¨Mornin` sunshine.¨ Talia says to me as she turns and smiles. Wowie, that smile though, I`ve missed her smile. ¨Are you feeling adequate, for a human?¨ Superteen questions. ¨I`m not dead, so I guess so. How did you guys find me?¨ ¨Since Superteen has super-hearing, he could hear you and after he focused his hearing on you, it was just a matter of following noise.¨ Talia says. ¨How long was I out?¨ I asked ¨Approximately, 48 hours by standard time.¨ Superteen says while looking at the burrito he had prepared himself. ¨You must be hungry, here I made you a burrito.¨ Talia says with a slight grin. ¨Actually no, I`m not hungry, I`m just very very….¨ Then as my words trailed I felt the floor come closer and closer to me, till I felt my body hit the floor. All I heard was, ¨Superteen! Help me get him into his bed!.¨

I wake up in my bed but so weak I could barely open my eyes let alone say a sentence. Talia and Superteen were sitting in my room waiting for me to wake up and they see me move and wake up. Superteen checks my pulse and says ¨That it is becoming slower and weaker and is afraid that I am dying.¨ ¨No it can’t be, I can’t lose two people, no way in hell that I`m going to just stand here! We have to do something!¨ She screams at Superteen as tears come falling down her face. I grabbed her wrist and said, ¨everything is going to be alright, I will be fine.¨ She grabbed my hand and put it up to her face and I could feel her tears and just as I was closing my eyes I told her ¨I love you.¨ Then darkness came over me and I was dead.

I look around to see Tessa’s room and I saw her sitting on the bed staring out the window. ¨Tessa!¨ She turned with a slight creepiness vibe and then stared at me. ¨Tessa it’s me, Buzz your friend.¨ She gets up, turns and walks towards me. ¨Oh, Buzz¨ Then she held up her hand and pressed it on my face. Her hand was cold but still it was her and her love rushed through. ¨Tessa, am I dead?¨ ¨Yes, Buzz but you shouldn’t be dead, you shouldn’t be here, not for a very long time.¨ Then she takes her hand and places it onto my chest and felt a hard zap from her hand.¨AHH! What are you doing Tessa?¨ ¨You need to leave, you deserve to live and live your life.¨ I felt the same zap again but this time Tessa was slowly fading away. ¨Goodbye Buzz, We will be seeing each other very soon.¨ The zap hit me again and I let out one of the biggest breathes I had ever exhaled. I sat up in my bed and saw Superteen standing there with paddles and said, ¨He is breathing regularly again.¨ Then Talia rushed over and gave me a big hug, then slapped me which really didn’t hurt that much. ¨What was that for?¨ ¨You scared me have to death.¨ She said ¨You? I was the one who was dead. But I could go for that burrito now.¨ She smiled and hugged me again.

I was in the kitchen eating some sort of food, at this time I really didn’t care what I was eating because I was starving. Then I saw Talia and Superteen come into the kitchen and the look they gave was unforgettable they gave me a look of despair yet disgust. ¨What?¨ I ask. ¨We took a sample of your blood to see what made you die.¨ Talia says. ¨And what were the results?¨ ¨It seems to be a mix of many different deadly drugs but the most potent was curarè.¨ Superteen explains. ¨So they drugged me till I died but they wanted to slowly torture me first, is that what your saying?¨ I said to Superteen. ¨Well not really, the mix of the other chemicals did that, but what the curare did what relax you and tense your muscles so they can torture you and question you at an excelled rate.¨ Superteen explained. ¨but I’m all better now, right?¨ ¨Yes, but it’s not time for you to just go running off, you did just die.¨ Talia says looking at me with a stern look.

As night falls upon our house, I was laying in bed thinking about what had happened to me and the sight of Tessa. At that moment I knew I had to do something but in my state I will not beat Flower or my clone mother also I don’t even know where to look. So I jumped out of bed and went into Talia`s room to wake her up but she was fast asleep which meant the only way to wake her was to hit her across the face or to splash water onto her face and since the water one would be the funniest... ¨WHAT THE HELL!¨ Talia screams at me while she`s dripping wet. ¨What, I had to wake you up. We need to go find Flower and take her down.¨ I say ¨Well ya didn’t need to splash water on me.¨ as she sighs ¨Fine, let me get dress and I’ll wake up Superteen.¨

We all meant in the living room and luckily the last time I was captured and saved by Superteen and Talia, they put a tracker on my clone mom. So we all hopped into the car while the GPS tracker lead the way.

As we were heading closer to hideout of Flower, I kept getting a sharp pain in the front of my head and a ringing in my ear. By the time we pulled into the driveway of this place my head was pounding and I could barely hear Talia talking. ¨AHHHH¨ I scream. We were parked by this time and Superteen got out a portable x-ray that scanned my head for anything strange. ¨It looks like they put some sort of microchip your inner ear to cause great pain when ever you got closer to this place.¨ Superteen says. ¨Come...on.nnn we have...ahh to go.¨ ¨No way, you’re staying right here and to make sure of this.¨ Talia says as she starts to get handcuffs out and handcuff one of my hands to the car handle. ¨NO! You can’t fight them alone.¨ ¨I have Superteen, we`ll be fine.¨ Talia says as they each get out of the car and starts to walk into an old airplane hangar.

I struggle with the headache and trying to get the cuffs off but as I stop for a second I heard screaming and then nothing. ¨No No NO!¨ As I try to pry the handcuffs off,I suddenly realize that I had a butterfly knife in my pocket so I get that out with one hand and open it and soon realize the only way to get out of here is taking this chip out of my ear. I grab the knife wipe the blade on my pants for sterilization and use my hand that is free and dig through my ear to find this chip. After a few painful seconds which felt like an eternity, I heard metal hit metal and knew I had it so I slowly dug this chip out of ear and with each passing that chip made it felt like a red hot knife searing through my head and the sharpest pain going through my ears. I eventually got the chip out and blood dripping out my ear and upon the knife. Then I took the knife to break out of the handcuffs and I was free from the embedded torture and my great escape to run into this building.

I twist the knob and when I pushed the door open, a breeze of death rushed onto my face and the smell was indescribable. As I walked in deeper into the building, I could feel the dripping of blood from my ear, the smell of death accumulated and with each step it felt like my shoes were going to get stuck to the floor. I finally hit another door with scratch marks and bloodstains on the outside of the door. I opened the door incredibly slow afraid of what I might see, when the door did open, what I saw was inconceivable. There was my friends laying on two large tables with blood everywhere but that wasn’t the disgusting part, it was the questionable person laying on another table with their entrails on the outside of their body, that was the time when I knew I was never going to unsee that. I knew I had to get my friends out, I just didn’t know how until I saw Superteen beginning to wake up. I ran over to him and he was still alive, ¨Will you be able to walk?¨ I asked him. ¨Friend Buzz, I will be able to walk, just slower than my usual walking pace.¨ I helped him up, then went over to Talia to see if she was still alive, she was and I picked her up from the table. We both made our way out of the room and making our way to the door to leave, when I here the taunting voice. ¨Oh, Buzz, where do you think your going?¨ ¨ Flower! Superteen if your well enough, take Talia and I`ll meet ya at the car.¨ I say ¨As you command.¨ Superteen exclaims then takes Talia and they head for the door.

I continue to walk down this hallway of which the smell becomes more putrid till eventually I’ve walked till I hit a dead end. When I turned around to head back, I saw Flower and my cloned mom standing at the end of the hall than they began to walk. I stood there waiting for them to become a fair distance away to talk to them but when they were in a fair amount of light I saw someone else with them that they were dragging by their hair. The person they were dragging made this slight scream but too faint to really hear, until it came to me that this the person that I heard screaming from the distance or from around me. Flower and the clone were now right in front of me, looking at me with this ominous stare. ¨You look like you`ve been through hell, Buzz.¨ Flower says moving her eyes up and down. ¨Well, you did put me through it.¨ I say to her with a stare that could kill. ¨Would you like to know who I am holding here?¨ She asks. Then she lifts the head of the half conscious person who she was holding by the hair. Once her hair moved out of her face I was in awe, the person, she was my mother. ¨MOM!¨ I shout as I bend down to see if she was alright. I brushed her hair from her face and put my hand up to her face as to stroke it but all I got instead was a palm full of blood.

I stood up from my mom and looked Flower straight in the eyes, ¨You Son of a Bitch, you can go straight to Hell for all I care.!¨ I shout. ¨Well if that’s how you feel then I’ll just take your mom with me.¨ ¨No, you can’t do that… How bout I take my mom, beat you and the clone and leave with a huge smile on my face, that sounds about right.¨ I say to her while reaching for my mom’s hand. ¨I don’t think that’s a good idea since you weren’t able to beat the last times you’ve tried.¨ As she says these words the clone grabs for my hand, but I think they forgot I had super strength. I grabbed the clone`s hand and crushed it then did the same thing to it`s arm, after crushing it`s arm, I grabbed it and threw it to the other side of the building. ¨Now, it’s just you and me, Flower.¨ I say looking at Flower who stood there in shock. She let go of my mom and what happened next was so fast I couldn’t process what had just happened. She had run up to me and threw me against the wall and her forearm was up against my throat, so she was strangling me. Until I saw a piece of glass come out of Flower with blood all over it. She loosened her grip and looks down to see the glass. As she slowly collapses under her own weight, I see my mom standing there with a look of forgiveness on her face. ¨Mom are you okay?¨ I ask. ¨I`m fine, let’s just get out of here and call the cops.¨ I help my mom towards the door and push it open to see Superteen and Talia in the car sleeping. We leave but not before I leave a gift behind for Flower and the clone, a grenade. In this piece all you really have to picture is us walking away from a blown up building, which was pretty sick in my book.

Epilogue…

As I sit on the couch at home, blood torn and broken, I think to myself how amazing my friends are and how my mom is alive. I go in into my mom’s room where she is sleeping, and all I want is to hug her. I feel a hand touch my shoulder and turn to see who it is. ¨Hi Talia, I see your feeling better.¨ ¨I know you have missed her Buzz and I know how much you love your mother but you can’t let her into this life, you know that.¨ she says to me as she turns me around and looks into my eyes. ¨Yeah, but what should I do?¨ I ask. ¨Well, I have an apartment that I don’t use anymore, she’s welcome to stay there for the time being.¨ She says to me, while she wipes the tears from my face. She then hugs me as she says these words that will always stay with me, ¨Success is not final, failure is not fatal; it is the courage to continue that counts.¨

-Winston Churchill