Open Your Eyes
presents
Con Girls
by
H.J. Rethuan
“Con Girls”
Copyright © 2015 Herman Rethuan
All rights are reserved to the author. No part of this work may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles or reviews.
This is a work of fiction. Names, character, places and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events or locales is entirely coincidental.
Cover design by Herman Rethuan.
Cover image © Vonora/Dreamstime.com.
Dedication
Again, to my folks.
Contents
The War At Home
Broad Trip
Con Girls
About The Author
The War At Home
Only a few short weeks have passed since the incident that had befallen Port City. A superpowered terrorist known as Jahannam had come to tear the town apart before he was stopped in his tracks by a trio of hooded heroes, who took him down with the combined might of all their powers.
With much of the central business district in ruins, many have chosen to leave the city, perhaps forever. However, many others have stayed, and they have begun to rebuild.
Still, the anxiety runs deep as those who remain begin to question what went on that day. Who were they, those heroes who saved the city? Where did they come from, where did they get their powers? Was it them who brought that thing to their home town in the first place, whose actions could have very well lead to Port City’s near destruction?
Only a few know what really happened that day. Like everyone else, they’re just trying to move on.
“Dude, what are you doing?”
Lily swallows the mass of bread and cheese in her mouth before answering.
“Eating a sandwich.”
“You’re eating my cheese.” Emma says to her.
“So? It was in the fridge.”
“I bought it for a party. It’s good camembert. It’s like twenty bucks a wheel.”
“That’s a lot of money to be spending on cheese.”
“So says the person without a job.”
“You don’t have a job either.”
“I work freelance. There’s difference.”
“Not from what I can see.”
Emma throws up her hands. Grumbling, she leaves Lily in the kitchen. Yet another petty domestic argument with her new housemate.
It’s been a few weeks since Seth let her stay with them; it bothered Emma then and it still bothers her now. Sure, she helped out a lot in their battle against Jahannam, using her powers to strip away his flesh so Seth can deal the final blow, but her seemingly slacker-like behaviour is just insufferable. Insufferable!
She liked it better when it was just her and Seth. Just the two of them: the ultimate team.
“Seth!”
Emma pushes open his bedroom door.
“Seth!”
Her brother groans as he stirs awake.
“How long is she going to be staying here?” she asks of him.
“Morning Emma.” he replies. “What she do now?”
“She ate my cheese.”
“I ate some of your cheese.”
“We’re family, I expect you to eat my cheese. She just took it, like she takes everything without asking!”
“If she asked you would you have said yes?”
“Pfft, no.”
“If it pisses you off so much you should say something to her.”
“But she doesn’t care Seth! She’s a lousy housemate.”
“Just give her a chance Em.”
“Look, I know how much she means to you Seth, but she’s not pulling her weight. She doesn’t work, she rarely helps around the house. I think she’s taking advantage of our hospitality.”
“Trust me, she’s not. She’s...”
He can’t complete that sentence.
“Every day and there’s a new thing.” Emma tells her brother. “It’s like she doesn’t care.”
“You want me to ask her to go back and live on the street?”
“No.” She sighs. “No. Just talk to her, tell her there’s more than one person living in this house.”
Seth nods.
“Okay, I’ll have a chat with her.”
“Good.”
Emma leaves, shutting the door behind her.
“Jesus fucking Christ.” Seth mutters to himself.
Seth finds his housemate relaxing on the couch in the living room, an iPad in her clutches. Lily lets out a giggle; she’s watching cat videos on YouTube.
“Lily?”
Lily pulls off her headphones.
“Oh, hey Seth. I’m just watching cat videos. What’s up?”
He sits down.
“So I had a chat with Emma this morning...”
“Ok.” she nods.
Lily pauses the video. She puts the tablet aside.
“What she say?” she asks him.
“Well...” Seth begins. “I know that she’s not the biggest fan of you moving in, but I told her things would be fine. It’s just that, you’ve been here for a few weeks now and we... I haven’t really seen you doing anything to help out. You know, stuff like that.”
“So what do you want me to do?”
“I don’t know. Maybe consider getting a job?”
“I’ve been looking for work Seth. There isn’t a lot of work out there. The entire CBD’s trashed, people are leaving town, taking their business with them. It’s hard out there, especially for someone like me.”
“Things have been hard for all of us Lily.”
She sighs.
“I just want to go out and do what I do best.”
“You know you can’t do that, especially now.”
“It sucks.”
“Yeah.”
“I’ll apologise to Emma. I’ll look for more work. I’m grateful that you’re letting me stay here Seth, I really am. I don’t want to let you down.”
“Good. I appreciate it.”
He reaches over for the iPad.
“Anyway there’s this fucking hilarious video I need to show you.”
Lily finds Seth’s sister’s door slightly ajar. With a bit of trepidation she peeks in, finding Emma working at her computer. For a little while she watches her work, putting together the finishing touches on a flyer she’s designing.
Finally she raps on the door.
“Emma?”
“What do you want?” she answers without looking at her.
“I want to apologise. I’m sorry for being such an asshole to you, in general. I’ve just been...”
She hesitates.
“No. No excuses. I know you didn’t want me here, and I pushed your buttons. I’m sorry.”
“Did Seth put you up to this?”
“He talked to me. He made me feel really bad.”
Emma sighs. She finally turns to face Lily.
“Okay. Apology accepted.”
“Thanks.”
Lily takes a closer look at Emma’s screen.
“What are you working on?”
“Just a flier. It’s for this co-op market downtown. They want to reopen but you know the place is a wreck so they’re holding a fundraiser in a few weeks. Its pro bono work, just wanted to help them out.”
“Cool.”
Emma turns her attention back to her computer, saving the document before closing it. She switches to a web browser, and a news article about someth
ing called PopCon.
“PopCon?” Lily asks.
“Yeah, it’s like this massive pop culture convention halfway across the country. It’s on this weekend.”
“No, I know what PopCon is. I mean, are you excited for it?”
“Well, doi. Hell yeah I’m excited for it! Doctor Vampire is holding its first panel there!”
“You like Doctor Vampire?”
“Yeah? It’s a fucking awesome show. Do you?”
“I fucking love Doctor Vampire.”
“I thought you were homeless.”
“So?”
“So where did you watch it?”
“Here. Netflix.”
Emma nods. “Right.”
She sighs.
“Man, I wish I could go. I’d be pretty cool.”
“Well, why don’t you?”
“Go to PopCon? Like this week?”
“Yeah?”
“Well, tickets are sold out; they’ve been sold out for months. And as stated before it’s halfway across the country, and I have no transport. If it’s so easy, why don’t you go then?”
“I would, if only I knew someone with the power to instantly teleport from one place to another.”
Emma opens her mouth to say something.
“You fucking genius!”
Seth stands outside the front door of his house, fishing his keys from out of his bag. Tired, his body ached. His new job was a hard one, a physical one. Yet, it was fulfilling. Unable to be The Blink for now, he could still help the city recover this way instead.
Turning the key, he finds the sight of two overly excited young women, pacing around the living room and engaged in a lively discourse in front of him.
“Dude.” Emma says to Lily with conviction. “Cosplay contest.”
“Cosplay as what?”
“Us.”
“Us?”
“Me, you, in hoods. The saviours of Port City, as seen on TV.”
Lily grins.
“That’s insane. But I like it.”
“What’s going on?” Seth asks the two.
“PopCon.” Emma replies to him.
“Yeah, so?”
“Us three, PopCon this weekend!”
Seth shakes his head.
“I don’t know...”
“Come on, it’ll be fun Seth! We can hang out, have fun, gatecrash some panels. All three of us!”
“You know I have things to do here.”
“Don’t you want to come Seth?” Lily asks him.
“I do Lily. It’s just, well, I’d love to go someday but... how about just you two go? I mean, it’s a great opportunity for you to get to know each other, patch up your differences...”
The two women look to each other. A whole weekend, together?
“Okay.” Lily nods.
“I guess that could work.” Emma replies.
“Great. I’m sure you’ll have a fun weekend.”
Seth moves off to his room, lusting for the softness of his bed. Before he can though, Emma interrupts him once more.
“Hey Seth, do you think you can give us a ride? Like really quick, in the blink of an eye?”
Seth sighs.
“Hire a car. Do the great American road trip. It’ll be fun.”
Seth stumbles into his room, locking the door behind him.
“What’s up his butt?” Lily asks her.
“I have no idea.” Emma replies.
“So... cosplay contest?”
Broad Trip
The two women decided to go with a reputable car hire company for their transport. Of course there was always the option that Emma could just conjure up a car to use but in the end she didn’t want to risk it. After all her powers were maintained via concentration; she didn’t want to drift asleep and have their vehicle fade away from right under their butts, did they?
Despite the events downtown, the highways were safe from the destruction. The ride out of the city and the suburbs that surrounded Port City soon gave way to farm country and desert. It was going to be a long drive, and ultimately, an unforgettable one.
Leaning forward in the passenger seat, Emma continued to fiddle with the radio, tapping the next button as the tuner drifted from station to unsatisfactory station.
Needless to say, it began to annoy Lily.
“Just pick a station please.”
Emma stops on a station playing old timey country music.
“We should’ve gotten a car with Bluetooth. Or at least an AUX in. I got some kickin’ rad tunes on my phone.”
“Thanks, but no thanks.”
Emma turns off the radio.
“This is going to be awesome.” she says to Lily. “Two broads on a road trip. A broad trip.”
“Lame.”
“Shut up.”
“No you shut up.”
“Shut up.”
She laughs. Lily can’t help but laugh too.
They drive on.
‘World’s Biggest Truck Stop’ screams the obnoxious billboard on the side of the road. A steakhouse! A supermarket! Spa and hotel! Only a hundred miles away!
“We should stop there for lunch.” Emma suggests to Lily.
“Sure. We’ll check it out.” she replies.
“Don’t you find it a bit odd that Seth doesn’t want to come with us?”
“Maybe he doesn’t like going to cons?”
“No, he’s been to cons. He’s a huge nerd, he wouldn’t want to miss this.”
“Well, he’s been acting a bit weird since the battle.”
“Yeah. He’s afraid of going out as The Blink you know?”
“I know! Did he tell you not to go out too?”
“Yeah! Said that people wouldn’t like us, being superheroes. I don’t understand...”
“The city’s a wreck. It needs us.”
“I agree. Well, at least he’s keeping himself busy with his new job.”
“Maybe he’s having trouble with his girlfriend, whatshername?”
“Hannah? I don’t think so, they seem fine. They seem happy.”
Lily frowns.
“Yeah. I guess...”
The highway stretches on into canyon country. Still at the wheel, Lily has relented to the crappy radio being turned on. There’s only so much new friends can talk, and even less in which they can drive in silence.
The shadow crosses high in the sky above them, briefly blotting out the sun.
“Huh, big bird.” Emma quips. She peers outside the window, up to the sky above.
It is no bird. It is a man with wings.
“What is that?”
“What’s what?”
“There’s like a guy with wings flying outside!”
“Are you serious?”
“Take a look yourself.”
Lily peeks through the window. She too spies the winged figure, flying through the air, seemingly following them.
“What is that?”
“It looks like... a harpy?”
The figure suddenly sweeps low, coming down in front of them. It lands about a hundred meters up the deserted road. It is not a harpy, it is a woman.
A woman with wings made out of Lego bricks.
Salt flexes her plastic brick wings wide, controlling the entire construction with her mind. Her time in the machine had given her powers – small object telekinesis. Those bricks she always played with just so happened to be the ideal medium for her to manipulate.
She smirked as she spread them out wide, completely blocking the road with them as the car with the two women inside still drives on towards her.
“She’s not getting out of the way.” Lily mutters to Emma.
“Run her over!” she replies. “Drive drive drive!”
“Or we can just stop the car and go out and toss the bitch aside?”
Emma nods.
“Yes. Lets.”
Lily slows down, bringing the car to a halt about ten meters away from the roadblock. Confidently, they step out and slowly appro
ach as Salt withdraws her wings into a smaller, less obnoxious display behind her back.
“Are those... Legos?” Lily asks her.
“Lego. No ‘s’.” she replies bluntly.
“Who are you?” Emma asks her.
“Agent Salt. I work with an organisation called The Toy Box. We’re looking for people like you, Emma. Lily.”
“You know us?”
“I’ve met your brother Seth, he did some work for us. Then I saw him on the news, taking down that terrorist in Port City. But it wasn’t just him, these two others were there. It didn’t take long for us to work out who they were.”
“I remember you.” Emma says to her. “He told me about you. You fucking kidnapped him!”
Lily ignites her hands, charging a plasma blast in both.
“What do you want?” she says to the agent through gritted teeth.
“I want to offer both of you ladies jobs.”
“What jobs?”
“Protect the world of course!” she grins.
She begins to step forward as Emma and Lily hold their ground.
“The reason Seth ultimately left my employ was that he wanted to return home, to protect his city. Your city. And it was a good thing he did, considering what happened. But I’ve seen your powers; they go beyond his, far beyond. Don’t you want to use them, to stop every single bad thing from happening not only in Port City, but on this entire planet? No more terror, no more war. No more Scimitars destroying innocent lives...”
“That sounds very Team America: World Police to me.” Emma tells her.
“I didn’t like that movie.” Lily quips.
Salt smirks.
“Something’s coming ladies. I’d really like you on my side.”
“Your side?” Lily scoffs.
“Yeah. Join me. It’ll be fun.”
“And what if we say no?” Emma asks her.
“I don’t think you’ll want to say no.”
The two road trippers look to each other.
“Thanks...” Emma begins.
“But no thanks.” shouts Lily as she throws her hands forward, thrusting a double plasma blast at Salt. Immediately the agent throws up a wall of bricks to shield herself as the two women get back in their rental car and peel off, turning back the way they came.
Open Your Eyes (Book 3): Con Girls Page 1
