by Anita Oh
Koko sighed. It was the fifth time she’d been asked. “Nothing,” she said. “Saying nothing is always better than saying something that works against the carefully constructed image the agency has created for me.”
The president shook her head. “That’s better than your last four answers, but it’s still not what I’m looking for.” She played the video again. “Audrey, what should you have said instead of pineapple?”
Audrey wasn’t doing well at this quiz. “Um,” she said. “I should’ve used it in a sentence?”
The president closed her eyes and rubbed her temples. “Did I make a mistake with you four? Should I have let Maddie & Matt debut instead?”
“Excuse me, President,” said Thorne. “I think that’s a little unfair. I didn’t mess up. I was perfect.”
The president’s head snapped up. “Oh, do you think so?” she said, her voice dangerously soft. “You don’t think that as the leader of this group, you had the responsibility to take the situation in hand? You don’t think you should’ve cut Sullivan Snell off when he was questioning Audrey and taken questions from someone else? Or when Koko answered for Pegasus, it should’ve been you speaking? You’re not just in the center of this group to look pretty. You’re there to pull the group together. Like a sun keeping their gravitational fields in place.” She snapped her fingers and pointed at him. “That was good. I should write that down.”
Audrey thought that was a bit harsh, and also not scientifically accurate.
“We’ll hold another press conference in a few days’ time to announce your first concert. We’re promoting it as a special event, and Marketing want to try a new idea with it. Tickets to the concert will be allocated by an online balloting system, and in order to get the code to enter the balloting system, you need to buy the single. It has the potential to make us a lot of money, but if you kids don’t get it together, there won’t be enough interest for us to get an accurate idea of whether this will be a viable system to use in the future. People need to get to know you and care enough about you that they’d do anything to go to this concert. We want people buying multiple copies of the single to get more chances at attending the concert, and they won’t do that if they’re not engaged with you. And this…”
She shook a finger at the screen, which she’d freeze-framed at a really unfortunate moment. Peg was blinking, Audrey’s mouth hung open and Koko looked angry. Even Thorne looked a fraction less perfect than usual, his golden hair falling across his face at a strange angle. “This is not engaging. This is a bunch of amateurs out of their depth and drowning. It reflects badly on the entire company. If I don’t see an entirely different Supernova at the next press conference, you’ll find your activities restricted, and I’ll start phasing you out.”
She shut off the video. “Now, go do your jobs.”
It was so much worse than being yelled at. The four of them left the president’s office with their heads hanging low.
“What do you guys have this afternoon?” Koko asked glumly as they waited for the lift.
Peg shrugged. “I haven’t even looked at my schedule,” he said.
“I have to go to some leadership seminar,” Thorne mumbled, staring at his shoes.
It was odd to see him lose confidence. He seemed far too vulnerable that way, like seeing him naked. Audrey looked away.
“I have to record the song,” Audrey said, pulling out her phone to check the news reports. “I’m good enough now, Suzie said.”
“That’s great, Audrey!” said Peg.
He kept talking, but Audrey didn’t hear what he said. A headline flashed up on her phone. SATANIC CULT STRIKES AGAIN.
The lift arrived, but Audrey didn’t get in.
“Audrey?” Koko said, putting an arm out to stop the doors from closing. “Are you coming?”
It wasn’t fair for her to be safe, not when innocent people kept getting attacked. It was wrong. She had to do something about it.
“Audrey?” said Thorne.
Audrey shook her head and turned back toward the president’s office.
The president’s assistant called out to stop her, but Audrey marched right past her desk. She’d expected the others to go on without her, but they were right behind her as she entered the president’s office. Even though Thorne looked grumpy about it, Audrey was happy they were with her. She didn’t want to face down the president alone, but even more than that, this was the first time she could remember that anyone had had her back.
The president looked up from her desk as the four of them stood opposite her. “I’ll call you back,” she said into her phone and hung up. “Don’t you four have work?”
“I need my memories,” Audrey told her.
“I told you, it might take some time,” the president said. “I’ll keep my word, but memories are tricky things. Even when you find them, they’re difficult to catch. Like clouds, or eels. You can’t simply grab hold of them. It takes a certain type of magic, and it can’t be rushed. You don’t want broken memories, do you?”
Audrey narrowed her eyes. “You’ve found them? Where were they?”
For a moment, Audrey thought the president wouldn’t answer her.
“I haven’t found them. I know I said it would take time, but there’s no trace of them. It might not be possible.”
Audrey tried not to think about what that might mean. She had an advantage and she needed to press it, not think about her missing memories. “But you promised. You keep your promises.”
“I’m sorry. If I can’t retrieve them, you’ll be duly compensated.”
Audrey wasn’t sure what could compensate her for the loss of everything those memories might contain. Her family, her identity. Her chance at defeating the alpha.
Not unless there was another way.
“What are you?” she asked the president. “Are you a demon?”
The president’s eyes glowed, but Audrey wasn’t afraid. This was more important.
“That’s a very rude question. No, I am not a demon. Dirty, irrational creatures. But I’m something just as old. Just as powerful.”
Audrey thought about that.
“You can stop the alpha,” she said.
“Probably.”
“You should stop the alpha.” Maybe if she rephrased it, the president would get it.
The president took a deep breath and stood up. She walked around her desk to face Audrey, folding her arms across her chest. “It’s not in my nature to do something without getting something in return.”
“If the world ends, there won’t be anything for you to get.”
The president laughed. “If the world ends, it won’t end for me. My kind aren’t destroyed so easily. There will always be some way for me to profit, some treasure for me to collect.”
“What are you?” Audrey asked. She needed to know, if she was going to convince the president to help. Needed to know what she wanted.
“You haven’t figured it out? Any of you? How about a riddle, then? What creature collects a mountain of precious gems, glittering jewels? Hoards them for no other reason than that she likes the way they sparkle? She sits on top of her mountain of treasure, guarding it jealously.”
Audrey was bad at riddles. Did the president mean literal gems, like the agency? Or was she being cryptic? Audrey hated that kind of thing.
“You’re a dragon?” said Thorne. “Really?”
“But dragons are extinct,” said Koko. “They died out a thousand years ago.”
“Only the stupid ones,” said the president. She took off her sunglasses, and where her eyes should have been were balls of fire. “Do you think I’m stupid?”
All four of them shook their heads.
“Good,” she said. “Now, I strongly advise you to get back to work.”
“No!” said Audrey. “I want you to help.”
The president sighed. “Remember when you didn’t talk? Good times. Maybe they should’ve taught you to listen instead. Didn’t I just tell y
ou that I have no intention of getting involved in this? It’s not my business.”
“But it is your business,” said Peg. “Literally. You’ve spent so long collecting your gems, surely you don’t want to see them destroyed.”
“I’d obviously be disappointed, but it wouldn’t be a complete loss.” The president gave them a sharp smile. “All four of you signed a contract. That contract is binding on every plane of existence. I own you. The devil himself could not find a loophole in your contract, so until I’m done with you, you’re mine.”
“What does that mean?” Audrey asked.
The president’s smile got wider, more deadly. “It means that you have to do anything I desire of you. If I want you to sing and dance, you sing and dance. If I want to turn you into my own private army, you will fight. Whatever I ask, you do. Otherwise…”
She snapped her fingers, and just for a moment, Audrey felt as if she were on fire. Her entire being burned, down to her very core. Even though it only lasted a moment, that was enough.
“Until you complete the terms of your contract,” the president said, snapping her fingers again.
Even with the echo of the dragonfire in her bones, Audrey wasn’t satisfied. No punishment from the president could be as bad as the end of the world. “Promise to help,” she said. “Help defeat the alpha.”
The president sighed. “I didn’t expect you to be so stubborn. Where is that mute amnesiac street kid I hired? You were supposed to be too broken by the world to talk back like this.”
Audrey folded her arms across her chest. “You want to compensate me for my memories. Compensate me by helping.”
For a moment, Audrey thought the president would burn her to a crisp, then and there. The president glared at her with those fiery eyes, but Audrey didn’t back down.
“Fine,” said the president. “Let’s make a deal, then. I won’t help you with this cult, but I will loan you the use of my dragonfire. On one condition. Your debut has to be the most successful debut ever. That is, the combined profit from your first single and your first concert has to be higher than any other the agency has had, inclusive of merchandising and other subsidiary sales.”
“What’s the highest?” asked Thorne.
Audrey had the feeling that he’d want to beat it regardless of what was at stake.
“Tempest,” said the president. “Their debut made me $184 million.” She smirked.
The figure meant nothing to Audrey, but she knew it was high. That didn’t bother her. What did concern her was that the president might weasel her way out of the deal like she had with Audrey’s memories.
“What does ‘use of dragonfire’ mean?” Audrey asked. “How long for? How would I use it? Will it stop the alpha?”
For a moment, the president didn’t react. Then she gave Audrey the hugest grin Audrey had ever seen.
Audrey wasn’t sure that was a good thing.
“Good girl!” the president said. “You’re asking the right questions. It makes me proud to see you start using your head. It will definitely stop the alpha, but only if he hasn’t found a way to raise his dark lord beforehand. I don’t know anything that would be a match for that type of power. You may borrow it until the alpha is defeated, provided the dark lord has not already risen. Once you possess it, you will know how to wield it.”
“When?” Audrey asked. “When will you give it?”
“As soon as we have the numbers from your debut, I will give you the power. But in the interests of fairness, I have to tell you that Tempest was so far ahead of you at this point that you’re setting yourself up for failure.”
“You think we can’t do it?” Thorne asked, sounding offended.
“Based on what I saw yesterday, I think all four of you have a long way to go to be anywhere near the group Tempest is.”
“We’ll do it,” said Thorne. “We’ll double it!”
Koko kicked him. “Ignore him.”
“We’ll do it,” said Audrey. “We’ll be the best ever.”
“And what do I get if you don’t?” said the president. “There’s not really anything in this agreement to benefit me.”
“It’s my compensation!” said Audrey.
The president shrugged. “You don’t want the dragonfire? You don’t want your memories?”
Audrey did. She wanted both of those things, badly. “What do you want?”
The president’s grin got wider, sharper. “Your souls.”
Audrey furrowed her eyebrows. “Souls?” She poked herself in the shoulder, trying to feel where a soul might be hiding. She’d never known she had one before, not for real. She’d never felt it. Surely, if she had one, she’d feel it sometimes. But if the president was asking for it, it must exist.
“All four of us?” That wasn’t something Audrey could agree to. She couldn’t ask the others to give up their souls.
“All four of you,” said the president.
“What would you do with them?” asked Koko.
The president shrugged. “Oh, souls are useful for many things. They’re very powerful, you know. The greatest power source in existence. You can never have too many souls. Plus, they’re quite decorative.”
It didn’t seem like an even trade to Audrey. Now that she knew she had a soul, she didn’t want to give it up lightly. “Forever?” she asked.
The president shook her head. “Just for the duration of your contracts. The soul will stay with you unless I have particular need of it, though obviously any action by you that requires use of your soul will be prohibited. If I do need it, extraction is relatively painless. You’ll barely even notice it’s gone. Once our business relationship is over, the soul and ownership of it will return to you.”
“I’m in,” Thorne said, not hesitating.
“Really, buddy?” asked Peg. “You don’t want to maybe take ten seconds to think about it?”
“If Thorne’s in, I’m in,” said Koko.
Peg sighed. “It’s our souls.”
“We can do it,” said Audrey. “We are the best group ever!”
“No offense, Audrey, but we’re the only group you know,” said Peg.
Audrey shrugged. That didn’t mean they weren’t the best.
“Okay,” said Peg. “But we all have to agree that between now and the concert, we’ll spend every minute working to improve and win this. All four of us, as a group.”
“Obviously,” said Thorne. “I’m not going to lose to Tempest.” He screwed up his face.
“All four of you are in agreement?” the president asked.
The four of them exchanged a look.
“You guys know you’re the worst, right?” said Peg. “We’re literally selling our souls here. There’s no way this ends well.”
“I believe in us,” said Audrey. “I believe in Supernova.”
Thorne held his hand out to the president. “We agree.”
The burning of dragonfire settled over Audrey’s skin as the agreement took hold.
Chapter Fifteen
Even though Audrey left the president’s office determined to be the best popstar ever, the reality wasn’t so easy.
On the millionth take of her part of “Super Explosion!” Suzie cut the music in Audrey’s headphones and pressed the little button inside the control booth to speak to her.
“It’s okay if you can’t get it, Audrey. There’s no shame in lip-syncing.”
Even Audrey knew that was a lie. “I can do it.”
“Maybe if you stop trying so hard. Just let go and feel the lyrics.”
Audrey nodded, taking a deep breath as she read over the lyric sheet. She could do that. She could feel the lyrics. That was way easier than trying to hit specific notes. The notes changed too fast, and she got confused.
“Ready?” Suzie asked.
Audrey wasn’t sure, but she nodded. The music in her earphones started to play.
The problem was, how could she sing about fighting for the future and shining in the darkness w
hen the cult was out there attacking people? It was weeks until the concert – they could’ve attacked half the city by then. Every person who was hurt, she felt responsible for. She’d led the cult here. She was the reason they hadn’t left. Even if what she was doing was for the greater good, there were a lot of smaller evils along the way that couldn’t be ignored. And she had no idea what to do about that.
Before she realized it, the song was half-over.
“Maybe we need a break,” Suzie’s voice said in her ear.
Audrey nodded. Suzie left the booth to go and get a coffee, so Audrey wandered in to talk to Joe.
“Sorry,” she said.
Joe shrugged. “No big,” he said, fiddling around with some colorful dials on the sound board.
There was so much equipment. If all that technology couldn’t make her sound good, there was a problem.
Knowing it wouldn’t help anything, but not able to resist, Audrey got out her phone and looked up the latest attack. She found the article from that morning and clicked on it. There was a photo of a man, slumped on the ground. He was covered in blood, a hole in the place where his heart should have been. The number 5 had been scratched into the man’s forehead, obviously by a claw. Audrey didn’t need to read the article to work out what had happened.
Another photo underneath looked like a dark blur, and it was titled, “Cult of Monsters?”
Audrey felt bad for the man. He’d obviously been heading to work, probably thinking of all the things he needed to do, what he’d have for dinner, then all of a sudden, his heart was ripped from his chest. It wasn’t fair.
She typed “how to stop evil cult” into the search bar, but all the results were either gaming guides or conspiracy theories. She sighed. If the internet had no answers, she wasn’t sure how she was supposed to find them. There was no other option than to hope nobody else was killed before she could borrow the president’s dragonfire. She just had to be patient.
To stop herself going crazy thinking about the cult and the poor man with no heart, she looked up “how to be the best popstar ever”. There was a wikiHow article, but it only said to work hard and be confident. As she scrolled through the other results, her own name caught her eye.
