Alice didn’t know why, but her fingertips had been gaining weight all day, and it had to stop. It was at the point where she could barely lift her hands. She glanced at the dashboard. 11:53. Groaning in frustration, she leaned her foot farther on the gas pedal. As if on cue, a shrill ring came from the passenger seat. She begrudgingly raised the phone to her ear, and her mom’s voice erupted from the other end.
“Where the hell have you been?!” She shouted. “It’s almost an hour past curfew. You’d better be on your way.” She waited expectantly for whatever wimpy excuse Alice could scrounge up, so that she could yell some more. Just as Alice had it on the tip of her tongue, her mother’s voice came low, and furious from the other end.
“Have you been drinking?” A pause. “Drugs?” she whispered, tone desperate. It wasn’t that far-fetched, considering that this was the third time this week that she’d been late for curfew.
Alice knew that once her mom went down that path, it would take weeks of perfect behavior to get off it. “Mom. No. I’m not on drugs – look, I’m home kay? Just give me a sec.”
Alice hopped up the steps to the house, and shoved the door open with her shoulder, her hands too sore to do much of anything at the moment. As soon as she set one foot inside, her mom marched over, and grabbed her by the ear, pulling her in the direction of the dining room.
“Your grandma’s here and she has something for you, but she’s been waiting awhile, so apologize, okay? We’ll discuss you curfew later.” She added with a sneer. Before they turned the corner, her mom let go of Alice, and they walked into the dining room.
Alice found her grandma sitting, her eyes lighting up at the sight of her. In front of her though, were the most beautiful gloves. Light shimmered, and danced off the delicate silver chain links that they were made of, rainbows bouncing off its surface. Alice slowly drew closer, the gloves mesmerizing. She reached forward to touch them, and just as she did the clock in the kitchen chimed - it was midnight. The chain was soft under her fingers, and suddenly she felt all their weight drain away, feather light. She closed her eyes to the bliss, and when she opened them, the chain was glowing, and strangest of all, it was gold. She knew she was hallucinating, she must have been. She must have been, but the gold didn’t go away. Ever.
***
Alice was about to take the gloves off for the second time in a year. The first time, she had hoped that whatever had happened, wouldn’t happen again. She had been oh so wrong. The ally in which she stood now was all shadow, and that’s exactly why she chose it. Her family was about to lose the house, she had come to the last resort. She wasn’t sure what she was going to tell everyone. The only person who had witnessed her ‘gift’ was her grandma, and she promised that she wouldn’t say anything. So she was stuck. She had to lie. She reached to pull off her gloves, but she couldn’t. It was ingrained in her body to never take them off. Everything in her screamed that she couldn’t take them off. She began to back away from the ally, she almost ran home, but she knew that she couldn’t. She would be living off the streets, begging for money, and graciously accepting pennies. Her older sisters, and her mother would too, because she may not care, but she had nowhere else to go. Dad would probably just move on to the next women who fell for him. She thought bitterly. No, she couldn’t let that happen, she wouldn’t. She took a deep, shaky breath, and turned back around. She pulled plastic pearls from her pocket, and laid them on a dumpster, then she pulled each finger of her gloves off, one by one. Tucking them in her pocket, she let her hands rest at her sides, the weight of her fingers dragging her down. Closing her eyes, she imagined that she was anywhere but here.
The chime of the bell tower brought her back to reality. Midnight. She brought her fingers to the necklace, and watched, mesmerized, as veins of gold ran from her fingertips, racing through the pearls, glowing, and shimmering in the darkness. The veins of gold grew thicker, and thicker, until there was no plastic left. It was pure gold, all the way through. She carefully lifted the pearls, when out of the corner of her eye, she saw something. Shoving the necklace in her pocket, she whipped her head around, and saw a dark silhouette, racing toward her. Heart in her throat, head panicked, she took off in the opposite direction. Pumping her arms and legs as hard as they could go, Alice cast a glance back, the figure was high on her heels, and gaining speed. She pushed harder, running solely on adrenaline, refusing to look back. She rounded the next block, her house coming in view, she was so close she could already feel the relief –
Suddenly, she was yanked back, giving a cry of pain at the tearing in her left shoulder, and then –
Nothing.
***
The first thing she became aware of was the rope tied tight around her midsection. Then, flashes of searing heat in her shoulder. Her eyes fluttered, but she decided to keep them closed. Then she heard something.
Voices.
She kept as still as possible, except for her deep, even breathing.
“That’s impossible.” A girl’s voice; musical, and high pitched… It almost sound like….
“I saw it. With my own eyes.” A pause in the man’s voice, and he lowered it “Look, you said it yourself. Somethings up with her. Well, now we know what.”
“I don’t know… I mean, maybe she found it there? Besides, we don’t even know if it’s real.” The voice sounded doubtful though, and almost exactly like the first girls, but Alice thought she detected something different in her voice….
“I swear, okay – ow! What was that for?”
Suddenly everyone was silent, and Alice figured that they knew that she was listening. Time to wake up, then. She struggled her arms in the rope, and then repeatedly blinked against the bright light shining in her eyes. As soon as she found who was staring at her, her jaw dropped open, and her pretense of just awaking up wiped away.
Two females, each equally curvy, with flaming red hair, coral lips, and high cheekbones, with bright, evergreen eyes staring at her in amazement. The Twins. At her astonished face, the Twins’ faces stretched into devilish smiles, and they placed their hands on their hips in unison.
“Well, rise and shine, sis.” Kenna taunted.
Alice’s blood was rushing through her ears. What was happening? Had they betrayed her? No. Of course not. Of course not. Had they come to save her somehow? Maybe this was an act, to gain the enemies trust….Yes. Yes that’s what this was. Now all they had to do was get him out. Alice could help, she could play along. Yes that’s all…. Although doubt somehow slithered into her mind, trying to whisper lies. No. Her sisters had come to save her. That was that.
“We knew about you.” Kenna started. “We didn’t know what it was, but now we do, thanks to our Gabe here.” She looked at the man, Gabe, with amusement deep in her eyes, and then back at Alice. “We’ve been watching, you see. We’ve been watching for a very long time. When you were about five, a man came to the house. He said you were special, he said you had a gift.”
What was she talking about? Surely it was a show, all a show for the real enemy. Surely….
“We didn’t believe him at first, your sister and I.” Saddie continued for her. “But then, last year, you acted quite odd. You were distant. You never took off those gloves,” she said glancing at Alice’s now bare hands. “Well, we kept watching you. We watched you coming home from school, we watched you doing homework, we watched you brush your teeth, comb your hair, get ready for school, we snuck glances in your classrooms, we watched you sleep. That’s where things got weird. You wore your gloves in your sleep. Chain gloves. Must have been uncomfortable, right? Well, we kept watching, and it was quite odd, sometimes, when there was a faint glow shining from your hands. I thought I was imagining it… then again, maybe not. One night, Kenna followed you to the forest, you were very anxious, and she just couldn’t resist.”
No. No. This couldn’t be happening. They didn’t know about that, they trusted her, they loved her. These were the Twins for God’s sake! They had been their when their dad was drinking, they had taught her how to read, they had taught her kindness, and compassion, they picked her up whenever she fell down, they had stood up for her in fifth grade, they were the only solid, true thing in her life. Or, they had been. Alice choked on her tears, but they came, hot and fat, streaming down her cheeks. Her life had been a lie. Her father, her mother, the Twins.
“Aww, don’t cry.” Saddie pouted.
Alice’s vision swarmed, she couldn’t comprehend what was happening. It felt like she was being torn apart, piece by small piece. She should have seen this coming. She should have known, right? They had been after her for eight years, she should have detected something, she should have gotten suspicious about something, she should have noticed!
“You went very far, and I became very frustrated as I followed deeper and deeper into the forest, but I knew I would find something important, so I continued. Finally, you stopped. You took off your glove, and that’s when the bell tower went off in town. You looked back toward the house, but, deciding to stay, you took your other glove off. You eagerly crept along, and then lunged for something in front of you, and the next thing I knew, you were running for your life. I couldn’t figure out what happened, but after that you were never seen without your gloves.”
Alice couldn’t breathe, her lungs were gone, and she gasped, and gasped, but there was nowhere for the oxygen to go. Was there any oxygen at all?
“That’s when we knew that the man was right,” Saddie finished for her. “You’re special. So, we kept watching. Finally, tonight you decided to sneak off. We followed a few blocks behind, and Kenna called Gabe. We stayed a few blocks from the house. When you took off, Gabe called, and we were ready for you.” She chuckled to herself. “From what Gabe tells us, you put on quite a show in the alley. Shimmering lights, glowing pearls... speaking of.” She glanced at Kenna, and she came reaching for Alice’s pockets.
Alice chased away her denial and tried to focus on what was happening. She had to escape.
“Aha.” Kenna held the gold pearls up to the light, meanwhile Alice had shimmied a knife out of her back pocket, and had finally wrapped her hand around its handle. She always kept the knife with her, her father had given it to her before he started drinking, and she couldn’t bring herself to get rid of it. Cold sweat trickled down her spine, her heart was racing, adrenaline pumping. Alice forced the knife along the rope, back and forth as fast as she could. The rope wasn’t super thick, she might have hope….
“Let’s weigh it.” Gabe suggested.
Back and forth.
“Let me see it.” Kenna commanded.
Back.
“Definitely real.”
Forth.
“You never know.” Gabe insisted.
Back.
“Yes, I do.”
Forth.
“Oh just give it to me” Saddie chimed in.
Snap!
  The rope fell lose around her waist, and Alice bolted out of the seat, knees bent, shifting weight from foot to foot, the knife held out in front of her.
They all whirled around, eyes wide. Alice felt her whole body pounding in time to her heart, blood was rushing through her ears. She felt cold, in exception to the burning in her shoulder, a numb buzzing spread through her veins. This was it. Her only chance to escape. She would take it.
They all shared a look, as if they all knew exactly what each other were thinking.
The twins darted into action, crowding Alice, dodging her knife with graceful side steps, and hops, suddenly movement exploded in the corner of her eye, Gabe had snuck around her while the twins served as a distraction. He lunged from behind, fast as a lightning strike, reaching for the knife. Alice swiftly dropped to the ground, her body taking her by surprise at its cat-like reflexes.
She felt a surge of power, as she crouched, knife still held tightly in her hand. She was electric, she could feel something held just beneath her surface, something struggling to break free. Her fingertips began to rapidly gain weight, like never before. It had always been gradual, growing through the day, disappearing at midnight. Now it was different. Now it was something more, something powerful; something strong.
Veins of gold licked up the knife, glowing and growing, the power surging, she was abruptly calm. She felt whole for the first time, she hadn’t known it before, but now she knew that she had been missing something before, something important, a piece of her restored. She felt right. A shimmering gold hue slid over her vision, everything glowing and changing. Everything alive were bright flames against the soft shadows of the rest of the world. Saddie was pulsing brightly, along with Kenna, as they stared at her in amazement. Alice glanced back at Gabe, who had begun backing away when, out of nowhere, her back erupted in pain. She cowered over in agony, but then it was bliss.
They had broken free. She could feel them, they were a part of her, she felt how they moved, she felt their unimaginable strength, and the way they beat the air around her.
She had wings.
Folding them in front of her, she was surprised at how they looked. They were thin, heavenly soft, and an utterly surreal gold. They had no pattern, but they didn’t need one, they were undoubtedly the most beautiful things that Alice had ever had the hope of laying her eyes on.
The whole night had become a dream, a soft edge took away the reality, and it was just her.
Until it wasn’t.
Hands grabbed her from behind, and tugged her down, she caught the slightest glimpse of a telephone coming down on her, and she sprang into action before her mind had time to catch up. Her wings spread-eagled around her, knocking the twins off their feet, but Gabe dashed out of the way before they got him, his moves almost as fast as hers. Almost.
Suddenly, she was on her feet, she didn’t even feel as if she had moved – she was one place and then she was at the next. She lunged for Gabe, but again he slipped away, millimeters from her hands. Her body was buzzing with heat, excitement bounced around inside her, adrenaline seemed to be what she was made of, and the power; there was so much power. She was overwhelmed by it, but at the same time Alice couldn’t seem to get enough. She hungered for it, she searched every last atom of her body for more, more, more. A whisper sliced through her head. They’ve seen you… you can’t let them leave…. She followed the orders eagerly, the gold, the power clouding her head.
Her body took the liberty of making her next move, her wings spread out behind her and beat the air. It had been soft before, but now they beat with purpose, the wind blew strong to the ground, her hair fluttered, and she felt her weight lift. Looking down, she made the startling realization that her feet had left the ground. She was…
Flying.
She was full of sensation, amazing, unknown feelings shooting from head to toe. It was a whole new level of euphoria, it pulsed in every fiber of skin, and bone. It pumped hard, and fast, and strong through her veins.
Then she was soaring through the air, a bullet, no, a missile, claiming its target. Her hands wrapped around something warm, and soft.
Gabe.
Suddenly the warmth began to fade, a soft cold surface was under her hands, she opened her eyes, finally realizing that they were closed, and she saw gold climbing up his neck, choking him. She felt a familiar sensation of his life, his energy exploding into her through her fingertips, growing, and tumbling forward through her veins, it was invigorating, it was breathtaking. Suddenly, instead of taking her hands away, she held him tighter, urging his life into her hers, she didn’t just want it, she needed it. 
Blood-curdling screams erupted all around her, the twins footsteps pounded in her ears, nothing but a background noise against the blood rushing in her ears. Gabe’s entire body seemed to fade, draining away into nothing but gold shadow, the bright life was gone. It was gone. No. no it wasn’t –
She gasped at the sudden explosion in her chest, the power was suddenly painful but she still needed it, it was addicting, she hated it, but she loved it. The gold hue of her sight became a deep black, but she could read it better than any sight she had ever had. Ever part of her pulsed with black power. Her wings grew thick, and glowed black, it was blindingly harsh to look at for anyone, but her power took it on, engulfed it.
***
She was thrilled with the decision she had made. It was simple, and it would work. She was sure of it. Whatever craziness had happened the day she got her gloves was gone. Never even happened actually, it was all just a prank, a joke, a lie. She would sneak off into the forest, and she would prove it. Because she was right, she was sure of it. She was only even going to the forest because she wanted to prove it to the world. She was right. She was always right. She knew that. Everyone else needed to know.
After school she walked home and tried her homework, but she was too anxious, so after a couple hours she settled for reading. Then she cleaned her room, organized the bookshelf, first alphabetically, then by year, then she tried to do it by favor, but it was impossible. She kept going, though, because it took up time. Finally it was 10:52. She watched the clock, and after what seemed like forever, it was 11.
She grabbed her bag, and dashed out the backdoor. Closing it quietly behind her, she hurried through the forest, she kept going until her watch said 11:55, then she searched for a space, somewhere to begin. Her nerves were buzzing, she couldn’t wait to feel a life in her hands. She couldn’t wait to know that she would be able to touch someone without killing them, that she could be normal, a part of everyone else.
She found a large flat rock that she set her bag on, and decided that she wouldn’t touch something cold and metal, she would feel something alive, and she starved to touch another living thing.  She slid her gloves off, just as the distant bell tower chimed twelve. Looking back toward the town, indecision struck her, but she decided to stay. She found a frog hopping along the edge of a stream, and she crept slowly toward it, then she sprung at it, darting out her hands, carefully closing them around him. She could feel his warm body, and the fragile beating of his heart. So very fragile. A tear leaked from her eye, a tear of joy, but just then the beating slowed, his heart became too fragile. Then it stopped, and that’s when she noticed the cool metal of his skin, his body. It was pure gold.
She swallowed down a shriek, and tossed him into the river, a steady stream of tears running down her face, but at the same time she was filled with power, so much power. She felt something strain against her back, but she was too horrified not to clamp down on the power. She sobbed, and sobbed, while she sprinted home.
***
She engulfed everything, everyone. She made the startling realization then of just how alone she was.