by Lucas Flint
“Yes, such superhumans are extremely rare,” said Eli, nodding. He rested his hands on the table. “Nonetheless, it is true. I have used it on several Unwanted before and many can testify to the effectiveness of my powers. Right, Sarah?”
“Yes,” said Sarah, nodding eagerly. “When you allow Eli to lay his hands upon you, it is like being touched by the hand of God himself.”
“I wouldn’t go so far as to say that, but the point is that my powers work,” said Eli. “And they can help you, Shell, become stronger.”
Shell’s shoulders slumped. “I don’t see how that’s supposed to help me get stronger. I bet that your power would just give me, like, a bigger shell or make my shell even harder, which really wouldn’t be all that helpful in a fight.”
“Ah, but Shell, you are still young,” Eli pointed out. “You are thirteen, which is a rather young age for a superhuman to start developing his powers. I think it is highly likely that you have other powers that have yet to develop or manifest themselves. After all, it is well-known in the superhuman community that teenagers like yourself don’t stop developing new powers until you are adults.” Eli put his hands together. “You have potential, in other words.”
“Yeah, you’re right,” said Shell. He looked down at his hands. “Everyone keeps telling me that, but I’ve never really believed it.”
“You should,” said Eli. “Now, I can’t guarantee what kind of powers you might eventually develop, but don’t you want to find out? I mean, they will naturally develop on their own as you grow older, but I can tell that you don’t want to wait until you’re sixteen or seventeen or eighteen or whatever to see what they are.”
“You mean you’re willing to use your powers on me?” said Shell in surprise. “Even though I’m not an Unwanted?”
“Not an Unwanted yet,” Eli said. “But even if you never become an Unwanted, that is fine. I see myself as a humble servant to the superhuman community, particularly to those of us who are considered undesirable. I see helping you as helping a fellow superhuman, especially if you go on to use your new powers to help other unfortunate superhumans in worse situations than yourself.”
“I don’t know—”
“What do you have to lose?” said Eli. “You don’t even have to show your powers to your friends if you don’t feel like explaining where you got them from. Just let me help you. I know you want me to do it.”
Shell bit his lower lip. Everything Eli said was so tempting that he really wanted to agree with it. Yet Shell was worried that Eli might just be saying it to get him all hyped up only to let him down. Shell hated being let down. It was one of the reasons he rarely had high expectations anymore; he had been burned too often in the past by his own high expectations, so he often held no or very low expectations for other people.
Come on, Shell, you know that’s loser talk, said a voice in his head that sounded very much like Father’s voice. You’re going to turn down the opportunity of a lifetime because you’re afraid of being let down? Man, you really are a coward, huh?
“I am not a coward,” Shell muttered under his breath.
“Excuse me?” said Eli. “What was that?”
Shell sat up straight and looked Eli straight in the eye. “I mean, I want to become powerful. I want you to use your powers on me to make strong so I don’t ever have to be weak again.”
Eli nodded solemnly. “Very well, then. Let’s stand; it’s easier that way.”
Shell stood up and walked around the table, as did Eli and Sarah, until Shell stood face to face with Eli. Eli seemed taller than ever up close, even though he was maybe a head or two taller than Shell.
“Are you ready?” said Eli. “The process isn’t painful, but it can be uncomfortable.”
“Just do it,” said Shell. “Let’s not waste anymore time. I want to see if you are the real deal.”
“Very well,” said Eli. “Let’s begin.”
Eli rested his hands on Shell’s shoulders. At first, they merely felt like normal hands, if a bit heavier than normal, which surprised Shell, because Eli did not look like a very heavy man. Perhaps all of that lean muscle made him heavier than he looked.
But then Eli’s hands began to glow a soft golden color, which was quickly followed by what felt like some kind of liquid being pumped from Eli’s hands, through Shell’s shoulders, and into his body. Or maybe it was some kind of gas; in any case, Shell suddenly felt awake and alert. It was kind of like how he felt whenever he drank a large cup of coffee in the morning, only doubly so, as if Eli was pumping his body full of caffeine.
But the sensation was far deeper than mere caffeine. It seeped into his very brain; it felt like a hand was rummaging through his brain, changing the neural pathways and altering the very structure of the brain itself. It was an uncomfortable feeling, but not painful, although Shell did find it rather distracting.
Just as the sensation started to get too much for Shell, Eli removed his hands from Shell’s shoulders. Shell thought he was going to collapse at first due to the abrupt cut off from Eli’s energy; however, he soon got over that feeling of exhaustion rather quickly. Now he felt strong and powerful, so energetic that he felt like he could run 100 laps around the room and still have enough energy for 50 more.
Shell looked down at his hands. They looked more or less normal, but somehow they felt stronger, as if he had just finished a brutal workout session. He immediately started feeling his shell, but to his disappointment, it felt no thicker or bigger than it normally did.
“How do you feel?” said Eli. “Do you notice any difference?”
“I feel stronger, like I have more energy,” said Shell, lowering his hands from his back. “But I don’t feel like I have any new—”
All of a sudden, Shell felt a jolt in his brain like someone had stuck a live wire in his head. His body shuddered involuntarily and Shell gasped. He had no idea what was going on, but he sensed something rumbling deep inside his body, trying desperately to get out.
The next instant, a transparent red energy barrier expanded from Shell’s body, covering his whole body and a few feet around him in every direction. Both Eli and Sarah had to step backwards to avoid getting in the way of the barrier, although the barrier ceased expanding only a couple of feet away from Shell’s body.
Shell looked around the barrier that had appeared around his body, staring at it uncomprehendingly. “What … what the hell is this?”
“Your new power,” said Eli with a smile. “It appears to be some sort of barrier, although I imagine you will need to do a lot of testing in order to find out its limits.”
Shell reached out and touched the barrier. It felt as firm as stone, but it was also a little warm; not burningly so, but enough that it would probably keep him warm in cold climate. That meant it wouldn’t exactly be useful in Phoenix.
“Whoa,” said Shell. “This is amazing. I wonder what else it can do.”
“There’s no telling until you practice,” said Eli. He put his hands together. “Now, Shell, do you still wish to join the Unwanted or not?”
Shell hesitated. “I—”
All of a sudden, the door to the room opened and Chip entered. He was panting hard, like he’d just run a mile.
“Eli! The guest is here!” Chip said. “Uh, I mean, the other guest, not Shell.”
“You mean the buyer?” said Eli in surprise. “He’s here so soon?”
“Yes,” said Chip, nodding. “He’s out in the hall waiting to come in. Said he came early because he needs to leave Phoenix early in the morning and doesn’t want to waste time.”
Eli looked taken aback by this sudden change in schedule, but eventually he nodded and said, “All right. Bring him in. We can sit down and start the negotiations right away.”
Chip nodded and left the room quickly, while Shell said, “Negotiations? Buyer? What are you talking about?”
“Remember the other engagements I told you about?” said Eli. “This is what I was talking about. I have s
omething I want to sell to someone. I was hoping that we would be able to finish up our meeting here before he came, but I guess it is too late.”
“Maybe I should leave,” said Shell. He squinted his eyes and the barrier retracted back into his body. “This really isn’t any of my business and you don’t need me around. I would probably just get in the way.”
“No, it’s too late now, so you might as well stay,” said Eli. “Just take a seat at the table. You don’t even need to do anything except sit down and watch.”
“You mean you aren’t afraid of me learning about your deals?” said Shell. “Despite the fact that I am not one of the Unwanted?”
“Don’t worry, I know you won’t tell anyone about what you see here,” said Eli. “Because then you would need to explain to your friends why you sneaked out of the house without telling them, right?”
Shell bit his lower lip. Eli, once again, was right, but that didn’t stop Shell from trying to come up with a counterargument, because he was starting to get worried that if he was here for too long, his teammates would eventually discover his disappearance and the gig would be up.
Unfortunately, Shell did not get a chance to come up with a convincing counterargument, because at that moment, the door opened again and a figure stepped into the room. The figure was a man wearing a funny hat with a red feather sticking out of it, as well as a strange clown-like suit that looked too hot for Phoenix even at night. The upper half of his face was obscured by a strange mask with a long, hooked, elephantine nose, though his blue eyes flashed behind it with a strange humor, as if the man had just thought of a brilliant joke.
“Ah, there you are,” said Eli. “Apologies for the rather simple set up. You came earlier than I expected, so you caught me off-guard.”
The masked man chuckled. “Oh, it’s fine, Eli, really. Besides, simple is sometimes the best, and anyway, you don’t need an elaborate set up to do business negotiations, yes?”
“Of course,” said Eli. “Now, why don’t we sit down and get started on the negotiations? I think we both want this done and over with quickly.”
“Indeed we do,” said the masked man. His eyes shifted to Sarah—who looked very afraid for some reason—and then to Shell. “I know the girl, but who is the young man? Is he one of us?”
“He’s trustworthy,” said Eli. “His name is Lawrence. You don’t have to worry about him telling anyone what we’re doing.”
“Lawrence,” said the masked figure. “Interesting name.”
“Uh, yeah,” said Shell somewhat awkwardly. “I notice you haven’t told me your name yet.”
“Oh, excuse me,” said the masked figure, waving his hand in embarrassment. “You can call me Zanni. I’m not an Unwanted like you; however, I do belong to my own group of people. Have you heard of them?”
Shell suddenly realized who Zanni likely worked for, but he didn’t say it aloud because he didn’t want to look foolish. “Um—”
“Let me tell you anyway,” said Zanni. “I am one of the Venetians and I am here to do business under the orders of my employer, whose name I am not at liberty to disclose. Now, with the introductions out of the way, let’s sit down and get started. My employer doesn’t want me wasting a lot of time here.”
CHAPTER SEVEN
Getting out of the house without being noticed was easy enough for Blizzard. Despite having been away from home for nearly a year, Blizzard remembered the layout of the house well enough that she managed to sneak out without waking up anyone. Even with her costume on, Blizzard barely made a sound as she went down the stairs, through the kitchen, and out the back door.
Stepping into the backyard, Blizzard looked around, just to make sure that it was empty. She saw no one in the darkness of the backyard, which was to be expected; with everyone asleep and Ralph, the family butler, gone back to his home for the night, the backyard was eerily dark and quiet. Blizzard did glance up at the windows on the back of the house, however, just to make sure that no one was looking through them; thankfully, none of the lights in the windows were on, which meant that Blizzard was going to be able to get out of here easily.
And hopefully get back just as easily, Blizzard thought, smiling to herself. At least we’re doing this at night; it’s still too hot, but not nearly as hot as the daytime.
Blizzard made her way across the backyard over to the shed where she had agreed to meet Shade. She had chosen this place to meet Shade because it was close by and was large enough to hide both her and Shade behind its exterior. That way, if on the off chance that someone did wake up and look out one of the windows, they would not see her or Shade standing in the backyard under the moonlight.
Blizzard still felt bad about leaving without telling Bolt or the others about where she was going; however, she knew that they would understand once she got back. If Shade was telling the truth about what this Eli Corey guy was doing, then Blizzard had to help her. She told herself it was for the greater good and that she would tell Bolt and the others about it later, after she helped Shade retrieve whatever object they were looking for.
Stopping by the side of the tool shed, Blizzard leaned around it and whispered, “Shade? Are you there?”
At first, Blizzard did not see anything except for shadows and grass, but then something shifted in the darkness and Shade stepped out of the shadows like someone stepping out of a swimming pool. Shade looked exactly the same as she had earlier that day; she didn’t even look tired, which made Blizzard jealous, because getting up so late was very unusual for her and the only reason she wasn’t stumbling around half-asleep was because she had drunk a cup of coffee before leaving the house. Maybe Shade was just a night person or her powers made her more energetic at night; regardless, Blizzard couldn’t help but feel a bit jealous.
“Where were you?” said Blizzard in annoyance, keeping her voice low despite the fact that no one was around to hear her or Shade. “You were almost late.”
“Nice to see you, too,” said Shade. “No need to be so snappy.”
“I just want to get this over with,” said Blizzard, rubbing her forehead in exasperation. “I’m worried that someone is going to wake up and find I’m missing.”
“All right, all right,” said Shade. “I don’t want to waste any time, either. Grab my hand and—”
Shade abruptly stopped speaking. She went very still, like a cat that had just spotted another cat that had entered its territory. Blizzard, however, didn’t know why Shade had gone so silent. She looked around the area, but she did not see anyone other than herself and Shade.
“Shade, what’s the problem?” said Blizzard, looking at Shade again. “Why did you—”
“Shhh,” Shade said, holding up a finger to her lips. “One moment.”
All of a sudden, Blizzard heard a small, familiar yelp. A second later, another girl came rolling out from the shadows behind the shed and landed flat on his back between Blizzard and Shade. Blizzard jumped backwards, while Shade just looked down at the girl with an annoyed frown on her face. But Blizzard was not paying attention to Shade; instead, she was looking at the girl who had just popped out of the shadows.
It was her sister, Rebecca. Her blonde hair was messy, like she had just woken up, and she still wore her pink pajamas, although she also wore a bathrobe around them. She did not have Tom with her, but Blizzard heard a meow above and looked up at the top of the shed to see Tom’s small head peering over the side down at them, his large yellow eyes wide and reflecting the light from the moon.
“Rebecca, what are you doing here?” Blizzard said in a furious whisper. “I thought you were asleep.”
“You know this girl?” said Shade. “Does that mean I can’t kill her?”
“Kill her?” Blizzard repeated, staring at Shade in shock. “For God’s sake, she’s my sister! Why would you even think about killing her?”
“Because that’s usually what the government does whenever it finds a spy,” Shade said with a shrug. “But killing your sister wou
ld probably just do more harm than good, so I’ll spare her for now.”
Blizzard was starting to rethink her agreement with Shade. She looked down at Rebecca again and said, “Rebecca, what are you doing here?”
Rebecca was shaking very hard like it was about fifty degrees colder outside than it was; however, to her credit, she was not screaming. “I-I was on my phone in my room and I heard you get up and leave the house. I followed you out because I wanted to know where you were going and why you were trying to leave without being seen.”
Blizzard sighed in exasperation. “It’s none of your business where I’m going. You should have just stayed in your room.”
“Why?” said Rebecca, looking up at Blizzard in defiance. “So I don’t tell Mom and Dad that their little heroine was sneaking out of the house behind their backs to meet with crazy women who can control shadows? Maybe you’re worried that Mom and Dad might not think you’re so perfect after all.”
Blizzard was tempted to rethink telling Shade not to kill Rebecca, but aloud she said, “That’s not the problem. This was supposed to be a secret. You shouldn’t have come at all.”
Rebecca got to her feet and smirked at Blizzard. “Or maybe you’re worried I might tell your boyfriend. I wonder what he would say if he learned that you were sneaking out of the house behind his back. Would be fun to find out.”
Blizzard balled her hands into fists. Rebecca always knew how to get under her skin in ways that no one else did. Blizzard had always known that Rebecca was jealous of her powers, but that didn’t stop her from wanting to strangle her and dump her body in a ditch somewhere for police to find. But Blizzard didn’t want to do anything hasty, not when she was in such a bad position.
“Look, Becca, this is not the time for your petty jealousy or whatever,” said Blizzard. “Just go back to your room and get some sleep. You don’t need to know where I’m going or what I’m about to do.”
