La Sombra [Ben Hargreeves]

A New Life

The sudden sensation of free falling enveloped my senses. My hair billowed wildly with the wind slapping my face every now and then. The world was a blur as I fell. By the time I was able to see my surroundings, it was too late. My body hit the ground with a painful thud.

I let out a groan as the air was knocked out of me. My head was pounding, causing me to squeeze my eyes shut from the pain. Looking around, I noticed I was in an alleyway. None of my siblings were with me. Coughing out some of my pain, I turned onto my back to see the all too familiar blue anomaly. The anomaly started to shrink. Dread filled my stomach. I quickly shot up to my feet, stumbling to get my bearings.

"What the hell? Wait-wait! Guys!" I looked up at the sky in worry. No one else had fallen out. "Five! Klaus! Ben! Guys!"

The anomaly ceased to exist. Panic grew in my chest as I took another look in the alleyway. There was still no sight of them.

"No, no, no." I muttered to myself, backing towards the sidewalk. "This cannot be happening."

I jogged towards the street and froze in my steps. An old fashioned silver Buick drove by, the older Caucasian male sending me a scowl. Blinking in confusion, I started to walk down the side walk. The street seemed to come straight out of 60's movie.

Most of the people in the street were Caucasian. Not a single person of color roamed the street. One of the buildings I passed by was a store. A mirror was displayed in the front of the window next to a mannequin in a pale pink dress. I stopped and stared at my reflection. I had turned back to my actual age. I was no longer thirteen year old me.

Taking a deep breath, I continued to walk the sidewalk. Maybe my family was here somewhere and we got separated. I walked passed a group of teenagers. They looked at me in disgust. The two girls closest to me quickly stepped away from me.

"Beaner." One of the scoffed with a southern accent.

The nickname struck a chord in me. Anger swelled in my chest. I hadn't been called that since I was little.

"Excuse me? What did you just say?" I turned to face them with a raised brow.

"Go back to Mexico." Another added.

"I'm from Puerto Rico, idiots." I rolled my eyes in disbelief. "Just because I'm Latina doesn't mean I'm automatically from México."

"Someone go get the police." I heard one of the girls murmur.

Someone from the back of the group started to walk away. People from across the street were staring at us. There were loud whispers echoing in the street as people watched the scene unfold before them.

"Look, wetback," a blonde male that appeared to be the oldest of the group took a step towards me, "I don't care if you were even born here. Go back to your native land."