by Sarah Biglow
"What is he doing here?" I addressed the room.
"No fucking idea," Declan answered.
I cleared my throat. "He might be able to tell us if you weren't choking him."
"He doesn't need to talk," Declan argued.
"I can't read him," Spencer huffed.
Declan released his hold and Henry slumped forward, one hand pressed against his knee for support, the other massaging his sore throat. "You aren't supposed to be down here," he croaked.
“Says who?” Tina snapped and advanced on him. Electricity crackled in the air around her, threatening to wreak havoc on the electronics. “Because, I happen to have legitimate access. So, does Declan.”
His gaze shifted frantically between our group of four before finally settling on me. “If you’ve come to return it, just hand it over.”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” I said.
“The book.”
I couldn’t tell if he was stalling. The same sort of static I’d encountered when trying to read my ex returned when I extended my senses. “I’ll give it to you on one condition. You answer our questions.”
He sighed and nodded. “Fine.”
I retrieved the book from my bag and handed it over. Relief washed over his face and he set the book on the nearby desk.
“What do you want to know?”
“How are you blocking my powers?” Spencer interjected.
“And mine,” I added.
Henry shoved his hands into his pockets. It made me wonder how he avoided setting his clothes on fire. His mess of blond hair drooped over one side of his face, obscuring the amber color of his eyes. “I’m not sure I’m the right person to answer. Not because I don’t want to. It’s more Lena’s the expert. But from what I understand, she’s found a way to block mental abilities like yours.”
“I knew she was lying to me,” Tina seethed.
“You were safer if you didn’t know.”
“That’s not her decision to make. We’ve been out there risking our lives. Helping people. What have you done, Flame Boy?”
I wanted to point out Spencer and Declan had been the ones in danger but held my tongue. I also wanted to ask Tina how she hadn’t picked up on his powers from working at the library with him. From the smirk, it didn’t appear Henry minded her pet name and wasn’t fazed by her aggression. “We know what you’ve been up to. You didn’t honestly believe your uncle swept your antics under the rug?”
“Well, yes,” Tina answered softly.
Henry laughed. “Lena made sure things didn’t get too dicey for you. She wanted to see how you handled yourselves.”
“She planned this whole fucking thing? Where is she? I’m going to kill her,” Tina howled.
This time, sparks flew from nearby computers and keyboards. My phone grew uncomfortably warm in my pocket. My arm ached again in the same place she’d been burned. Someone should get her a first aid kit.
“Tina, calm down. Starting an electrical fire isn’t going to solve anything,” Spencer said, putting himself in her path. “Besides, I think Henry has more information to share and I don’t think it’s anything your mother is likely to admit.” I got the impression he was trying to tempt her with information about her father.
“Why didn’t she step in when my ex showed up?” I pressed.
“Not sure what you mean,” he said, and in that moment, I detested the fact I couldn’t read his emotions to see if he was sincere.
“Don’t be an ass. He’s been popping up all over town. He shot me, which you’d know if you were really paying attention,” Spencer replied.
“It’s not who you think it is. I swear I don’t know more than what I’m telling you.”
“How did you get your powers?” Declan interrupted.
Henry’s attention pivoted to Declan. He appraised our muscle with a discerning look. Now that Declan wasn’t trying to choke him to death, Henry looked intrigued and it made me wonder if Declan had been deflecting about being gay. “The same way you all did. Look, I’ll go find Lena. She’ll explain things.” He gave Tina a pleading look. “I promise.” Henry scooped up the book and tucked it under one arm.
“You knew I had that the whole time, didn’t you?” I blurted.
“I figured, you would hand it over when you were ready.”
“Did you know we were her experiments?” I pressed.
Henry stopped at the door, looked over his shoulder and laughed. “You thought this was nature spontaneously producing abilities?”
He darted out of the room before I could say anything else. The four of us stood in the room eyeing each other. With Henry’s ability to block my power, their emotions hit me like a tidal wave: Tina’s distrust of the situation, Spencer’s curiosity about what we had yet to learn, and Declan’s confusion over Henry.
“Well, we’re finally getting answers,” I said with the intent to break the awkward tension mounting in the room and distract from the influx of feeling.
“He’s an idiot,” Tina scoffed and pulled out one of the discs from her bag. “He’ll come after us once he realizes these aren’t in the book.” She marched to a nearby computer set up and popped the disc into the CD drive.
“You said you nearly fried the last one you tried to decrypt. What makes you think this time is different?” Declan settled against the edge of the desk beside her. This position meant he retained a good view of the door.
“She thinks that whatever program is supposed to run the discs is already on these computers. She won’t have to hack,” Spencer said. He immediately took a step out of Tina’s reach.
“Normally, I’d hate you right now, but I don’t have the energy to be mad at you, too,” she muttered.
With Declan keeping watch, I inspected the cabinets around us. Even if she said nothing, I knew her arm needed tending. I rummaged through the limited set of cabinets adorning the third wall until I found a small medical kit. Spencer appeared at my side.
“What are you looking for?”
I held up the First Aid kit. “Tina needs medical attention for that burn on her arm.”
“Not like she’d admit it,” he said with a snort.
“Ever since I showed up, you’ve all been in more danger.”
“This was bound to happen,” he argued, tapping his left bicep.
“You were doing the heroics for years and you were never shot. It was my ex, or whatever he is, who hurt you.”
He wrapped both of his hands around my shoulders and spun me around to face him. “I don’t blame you for any of this. You better not either, okay?”
“Lovebirds, you better come check this out,” Tina called, breaking the moment.
Spencer and I joined them at the computer. She’d opened a file folder with a listing of names and dates. I found my name near the bottom and I quickly deduced the dates were dates of birth. If I had to guess, there were maybe thirty names.
“There’s a lot more of us than we thought,” I commented.
Tina tried clicking on a random name and it requested a password. She tried something, but it blocked her access. “Damn it.”
“Try another file. Maybe one of our names,” Spencer suggested.
As she navigated to his name, I sat beside her and pulled up the sleeve on her injured arm. She hissed as I probed at it but didn’t tell me to stop. I lightly applied some anti-burn ointment and wrapped a gauze bandage around it. “You should get checked by an actual doctor.”
“It’s fine,” she answered through pursed lips.
Spencer’s file popped up with a password prompt and just like before, her attempt failed. She minimized the window and with lightning quick reflexes opened a blank executable window and furiously input lines of code. I had no idea if it worked. The fact she began searching elsewhere on the computer suggested it needed time to process.
Tina clicked from one place to another on the screen, finally stumbling upon video footage from outside the library. The time and date stamp indicat
ed the file originated on the night all this madness began. “I always thought it kind of weird the public library had surveillance cameras,” she said before anyone else could speak.
“I assumed they didn’t want people vandalizing it,” Declan muttered.
“Play it,” Spencer said.
She hit ‘Play’ and we watched as I appeared in frame. I moved to the pool of light cast by the street lamp. I turned and there he was, looking as menacing as I remembered.
“We know he’s a creeper. What’s this prove?” Declan asked.
Tina tapped a few keys and the video changed, turning my video self into an orange-red blob. I blinked, the transition creating black spots in my vision. The after effect cleared and I only saw one person-shaped blob. “Wait … what did you do?”
“The camera has heat sensors apparently.” She hit a key and the image returned to normal, showing Jason and me. Another keystroke and he vanished. “I hate to admit it, but Flame Boy was right. Unless your ex doesn’t give off heat, he wasn’t stalking you. Not in person anyway”
“But we all saw him at Town Hall. He held a gun and pulled the trigger,” I protested.
“He was a figment of your fears created by someone very powerful,” Tina’s mother said from the doorway behind us. “There are more people out there who pose a danger to you. They’re going to keep coming.”
Chapter Nineteen
Spencer
As dramatic entrances went, Mrs. Boudreau nailed the creep factor. I clamped a hand tight on Tina’s shoulder to keep her from flying across the room and electrocuting her mother. To my surprise, Tina didn’t make a move. She didn’t snap at me verbally or in my head. She calmly turned to face her mom.
“You had the answers I’ve been looking for. You’ve had them all along. Why didn’t you just tell me the truth?”
“The thrill of discovery isn’t the same if someone simply gives you the answers.”
“Fuck your discovery, you miserable wench.”
I’m glad Tina’s snarky response only came through in my head. I had little doubt it would have ended poorly otherwise. The heat sensor footage stalled out on the screen behind us, revealing the program Tina had initiated to unlock the disc’s contents.
“You don’t need to hack the information,” Henry said softly from behind Mrs. Boudreau.
All eyes were on him as he slunk past Tina’s mom and gestured to one of the cabinets Marisol and I hadn’t looked in on our search for medical supplies. With an exaggerated huff, Tina rolled across the room and yanked the door open. A neat filing system—Town Hall should get some tips—revealed a folder with each of our names. Tina pulled her own free and I tried to listen in on her thoughts as she processed the information.
“You knowingly experimented on your own kid,” Tina seethed.
“Christina, there is so much you don’t understand. Yes, we experimented but all your parents consented. They knew their children would be different.”
“You made them all sign non-disclosure agreements,” Marisol murmured.
“We did.”
“Are you the reason my dad and I moved here?”
“We placed certain stipulations on our participants, yes. Having you here at graduation was one of them. Your parents bucked the trend by leaving before you were born. I reached out to your father when the time came and offered him a position with generous benefits to ensure your return.”
“What’s so important that we be here for graduation?” I didn’t bother trying to read her for an answer. I didn’t need the headache.
“When your parents entered our trial, a schism developed within the organization. To protect you, we required you all be here upon graduation to ensure we could properly monitor your abilities in the right environment.”
“This sounds like a load of bullshit. Besides, you still didn’t tell me why you’d do this to your own kid,” Tina scoffed.
“We discovered how to manipulate the human genome to bring out extraordinary abilities. Who wouldn’t want that for their child?”
“Do our parents know what we’ve been doing?” Declan’s mind was a flurry of disconnected thoughts.
“Yeah, they do,” I answered before Henry or Mrs. Boudreau could respond. I glanced at Marisol and she nodded. “I heard my parents talking and they said they knew what they signed up for. But they didn’t think I would be put in harm’s way.”
“Spencer is correct in that they were aware you were working independently to help people. I want you to know that I believe in what you are doing. When I started this program, I wanted to create individuals with abilities to help people.”
“But there are people out there who want to hurt us,” Marisol said.
“Yes.” Mrs. Boudreau gestured to Henry. “Which is why we want to make you all an offer.”
Henry shuffled forward and pulled a stack of papers from the front of the open cabinet. He passed them out. “You really should consider it,” he said as he handed mine over.
I looked at the page and my vision swam with text. I wasn’t sure what I was reading until Tina burst out laughing hysterically.
“You aren’t serious. You want us to be lab rats.”
“No, she doesn’t. She wants to offer us positions,” Marisol argued.
I studied the paper in my hands again. She was right. Mrs. Boudreau, through the Boudreau Philanthropic Trust, was offering me a full-time, paid internship position for the summer. The description was purposely vague but reading between the lines, they wanted to let us use our powers and figure out our limits. They wanted to help us hone them to help people.
“I’ll take it,” Marisol said and held her hand out to Henry. “Give me a pen.”
Henry produced a handful of pens and held them out to her.
“I get the feeling we don’t really have a choice,” Declan said and plucked a pen from Henry’s fist, too.
The list of questions I now had continued to grow but if this could give us a chance to really make a difference and help me figure out my next steps, I’d take it, too. There was time to get the truth from my parents later. I wanted to know why they would risk me ending up with some insane power like dragon breath or claws just to have a child. I’m not ungrateful to be alive, but this was an aspect of my parents I’d never seen before. I grabbed a pen from Henry’s hand and scribbled my signature on the bottom of the form and passed it back to Mrs. Boudreau.
Tina remained the lone holdout. Her mother stood with her arms crossed over her chest. A look that screamed ‘You will do as I say,’ passed between them. Tina matched her mother’s determination and I feared we’d be stuck here, locked in a battle of wills for eternity.
“You’ll have access to all of the research,” Henry offered.
Tina blinked. “What?”
“You can see all of the files. Everything.”
Her mother nodded, still giving her daughter a stern look. I heard the conflict raging in Tina’s mind. She wanted that unfettered access. It would mean answering every question she’d ever had about our existence. But she didn’t want to give in to her mother. I stepped up to Tina and put one hand on each shoulder, much like I’d done with Marisol a short time ago.
“We need you with us, Tina. Declan and I would be a mess without you keeping an eye on us and having our backs. It wouldn’t be right to test our powers without you. We started this together and that’s the only way I’m going to finish.”
“Spencer’s right,” Declan added.
“Listen to your friends, Christina. Don’t let your anger cloud your judgement. This opportunity is everything you’ve wanted.”
Tina’s blue eyes sparkled with unshed tears of frustration. She balled her hands into fists, crumpling the internship contract in the process. With more force than necessary, she wrenched the last pen from Henry’s hand and scribbled her name at the bottom of the page. “You better not keep things from us anymore.”
Epilogue
Henry
Lena left me
to handle setting up IDs and showing our newest recruits the back entrance to the underground facility. Spencer and Marisol looked genuinely interested in what we were doing. Tina was surly as usual and Declan, he kept eyeing me like I was going to combust. At least he’d noticed me. I’d been trying to get his attention since before I’d graduated.
“You know, I know things were a little rocky there for a minute, but I think this is going to be a good partnership,” I said to him, leading them through the bowels of the building and out into the springtime air.
“I’ve already got one of those,” he said and hooked a thumb over his shoulder at Spencer.
“Things are going to be a little different going forward. Lena will want to see how you all do with different power combinations. I have a feeling we’ll be working together. Don’t worry, I don’t usually set stuff on fire by accident.”
“Just keep your flames to yourself.”
I shook my head and turned to face their quartet. “I’ve got to get your badges printed up and synced to the system. I’ll pass them off at your next shift at the library,” I said, looking at Tina.
“Whatever,” she muttered and took off.
The others soon followed, leaving me standing by the side entrance to the building. I pulled my phone from my back pocket and dialed a number I knew by heart but hadn’t put in the phone for good reason. It rang twice.
“Do you have news?” a gruff male voice asked on the other end.
“They’re in. All of them.”
“Keep an eye on them. Especially her. You know what’s at stake.”
“Don’t worry. They won’t know what’s going on. I know how to do my job.”
I ended the call and quickly erased it from my call history. It wasn’t a foolproof measure—especially with tech-savvy teenage girls lurking about—but it had kept me safe so far. Pieces of the puzzle were falling into place and our next big step would soon be upon us. For now, I needed to be patient a little longer.
To Be Continued…
