by K. T. Hanna
I opened the closet to grab my coat. It was chillier today. Besides, I also didn’t know how big that bag would be. Whatever I wore had to potentially hide it. The material hung loosely in folds of different lengths cut into odd triangles. Black and charcoal blended together well. If I pulled the hood up, no one would ever be able to describe me.
Considering my previous tasks, I couldn’t be too careful.
“You going somewhere?” Jacob frowned. He knew I loved these nights, and Orion was in the kitchen trying to make room in our old fridge for anything the others brought with them.
“Just have to duck out quickly. Realized I didn’t eat my lunch this afternoon and I’m just too hungry to wait.”
I didn’t eat my lunch that afternoon. I ate it just after eleven. So, I wasn’t technically lying.
“Don’t be too long. I have to go to work soon.” He smiled at me, but it seemed a bit forced. It wasn’t like me to go out and buy food. I’m miserly as fuck, constantly squirreling away money. I couldn’t blame him for being suspicious.
Before I could change my mind, I called out to Orion. “Be back in a few!”
And I dashed out the door. I was quite certain he probably yelled something out to me as I left, but the whole purpose of acting fast was so I didn’t have to hear it.
My body thrummed with anticipation. Flashes of blue tinged white flickered under my skin, like it was waiting for me to let it loose.
The streets tonight were bustling, as they usually were on a Friday night. I’d been to Digsby’s before, so it wasn’t difficult for me to get there. Even if I couldn’t help the feeling of trepidation that mixed with the excitement I couldn’t shake. I’d never been there alone before.
I shoved my hands into my pockets and kept my head down. Making eye contact with the wrong people around here could lead to trouble. Not that it usually occurred until later in the night when one or more people were drunk, but it was always better to be on top of it.
The back of my mind taunted me, letting me know that no one could mess with me now. It was true, but at what cost? Shaking my head, I skirted around groups I came across. Even so I could feel the eyes on me, watching me until I was far enough down the street that I posed no threat. Little did they know. I’m skinny, wiry at best. Damn, I could run fast though. It had always been my one strength. But now, well now I could electrocute a person at twenty paces.
The human body had electricity running through it, didn’t it? So if I had to, couldn’t I fling my power at someone if my life was in danger?
Only in self defense.
I scowled inwardly. If you’re going to answer random thoughts in my head, try to get all of them. That’s precisely what I said.
I concurred.
It sounded almost pouty.
A thought occurred to me. Does it just not work if it’s not self-defence then?
SC did that silence thing again, like it was mulling over what I said before it answered. Powers should only be used for missions, or in self-defense.
I see. I did see. That should spoke volumes.
The diner was dimly lit, nothing like the bakery or laboratory front I robbed at the start of the week. Had it really only been five days? There was grime caught in the corners of the large windows that looked out onto the street, and the glass didn’t look like it had been cleaned in the last several years. But it had always looked like this, at least since we moved into our building. The smell that drifted out to the footpath was delicious, though.
As long as I turned a blind eye to the state of the actual shop, I could sit and smell that aroma for hours. Small plastic chairs and tables were scattered around the sidewalk. Far too many people hovered around, some smoking cigarettes, others swigging from a can of beer, and none of them caring that it wasn’t quite five in the evening yet.
The store itself was crowded but not Heavenly Dough crowded. Taking a breath, I calmed myself and clutched my ten dollar note in my hand inside the pocket of my jacket. It wasn’t the sort of place one wanted to pay with a card. The reader in here likely had a skimmer attached, and I would jealously guard the new cash flow I had.
Finally, it was my turn to order, and I tried to ignore the looks I received. It was quite obvious I didn’t fit in here. I was too young to be drinking alcohol, and it wasn’t like I could be mistaken for a regular. Act. I told myself to act. If I just acted like I belonged, I could pull this off. The sparks chased each other under the skin on my left hand, and I shoved it back into my pocket, thankful of the reminder.
Even if my heart was trying to pound out of my chest so hard it hurt. I breathed in the scent of homemade hamburgers with relish and tomatoes. I could almost taste the pineapple even though I couldn’t stand it warm. Something about the inside of this place gave it a magical quality, but I couldn’t quite put my finger on it. Magical in a suck-out-my-soul sort of way, anyhow.
I stepped up to the counter and cleared my throat when the words seemed to try hiding in my windpipe.
“One Pineapple Wake Me Up Burger, thanks.” I couldn’t believe my voice didn’t shake. Nerves assailed me, that weird mixture of angst and expectation. It felt like everyone was watching me, waiting.
“That’s four fifty,” the woman behind the counter said without looking up as she handed me my ticket. Her dark hair was streaked with grey, and in this light I couldn’t tell if it was originally dark brown or black. Her skin shone, not with sweat, but with the almost tangible oil that hung in the air like a miasma. “Be about ten minutes.”
I nodded and was jostled out of the way before I could move of my own accord. I barely clamped down on the power that welled beneath my skin, trying to escape, to torch the offending person. The touch almost froze me, and it was difficult to move myself off to the side. I don’t like being touched. I’m even wary about my friends. But strangers...
Right now they were lucky I had some modicum of control over this electricity.
I shook my head and moved farther away from the counter, shoving myself into a corner where I could see all avenues of approach. People in here stood in small groups, like they’d known each other forever. I couldn’t tell if they were really watching me, or if it was just in my head. The need to blow off steam, to release the power I felt inside, rose.
Calming breaths didn’t work too well in this environment, and closing my eyes to center myself was probably the worst idea I could have. I tried to look nonchalant. Like I came here all the time. They focused on me like I was the biggest bullshitter the world had ever seen. The power within me begged to call them all liars.
“Don’t remember seeing you around here.” A voice spoke from the right of me, raspy like they hadn’t had water in days. I swallowed slowly before turning my head. Facing them in a hurry might be misconstrued, not facing them at all would mean I was ignoring them.
“Wanted a burger for dinner.” I smiled as non-threateningly as I could. After all, it was sort of true. I’d like a burger; I just wouldn’t order one with pineapple on it. Ever. In a million years. Even if pineapple became a meat substitute or was made of pure gold.
The old man who spoke up with his crackly voice eyed me out of bright grey eyes. They matched his pale hair. He leaned against one of the walls, his long, dark eyelashes a stark juxtaposition to the rest of him. An image of Beethoven with his hearing intact was the comparison that came to mind. “Make sure you enjoy that burger. That’s a special one.”
He turned back to the two people standing with him and melded into the conversation as if he’d never spoken to me. Did he know what that this burger was? If so, could I talk to him about Second Chance.
This man is not a member of our organization. You may not divulge any information to him. Do not violate the Terms and Conditions.
My vision cleared again, and I gulped down the lump that was suddenly in my throat. I swallowed my irritation and counted
to three. Infuriated was how the system made me feel. Or was that my ability?
“Order two-three-eight,” a kid about my age called out.
He waved me over and shoved a bag in my face. Inside I could see the paper bag containing the burger. And something else. I didn’t even receive a second glance once I handed over my ticket to claim it. He was onto the next customer, and I knew it was up to me to just walk out of there like I needed to get home with my food.
So I did, despite the fact that I still felt like people were watching me, studying me. People were everywhere here, and it closed in on me, suffocating in its intensity. I wanted to reach out and let loose with the power that hadn’t stopped building in me since I’d entered.
It was all I could do not to run down the steps and sprint all the way back home faster than humanly possible. But that would draw attention and make me stand out, and I got the feeling that for this particular task, that was a very bad thing.
The burger weighed heavily in the bag, but I didn’t reach down for it. Not even when the sickly-sweet aroma wafted up to me. Pineapple mingled with meat, made me hungry and ill in the same breath. But the package was heavier than that, and with each step I took it seemed to weigh more.
Two blocks had never seemed so far to me before. How I wanted to run and have the space melt away beneath my feet. Sparks ignited at the end of my finger tips like it agreed. I hadn’t known how much restraint I possessed until then.
Shadows moved like liquid oil taking shape in an art project. Eerily similar to those I’d seen in the lab, and yet somehow totally different. I wanted to reach out and touch them, to feel what they were like. And yet even the lightning in my skin seemed to recoil at their presence. They shifted with me as I walked, following me like the faceless ghosts from childhood nightmares.
I took the final turn, positive that someone was watching me, scared to I’d out the buildup of electricity practically overflowing from my fingertips. I raised my left hand to my face and noticed sparks travel along my pointer finger. It’d been too long, or else I didn’t release enough during the day. Perhaps nervous energy helped fuel it.
Stress and anxiety help to build your energy reserves up. You simply need to discharge the power. As you progress, you’ll learn more ways to deal with your abilities.
When? I couldn’t help it, I felt vulnerable, and impatient. Apart from what would end up being a sloppy hamburger, I had no idea what was in this bag and a strong sense that maybe I shouldn’t know. When will I learn all this? You keep saying in the future, in the future, but now is technically the future from my accident. So spill it. When?
I paused, taking a breath while the system thought about my words, about what it was I was asking. Hell, I needed to think about it myself. Most of what I could already do, I’d just winged. Frankly, it almost felt like the element was pushing me in the directions I needed to go, powering me up.
Just up the block a ways, and I’d be home. I’d always hated how dark this corner was with the streetlamp smashed out. It made the plays of dark and light turn into ghouls and monsters. The little kid in me worshipped superpowers, and grappled with the adult I wanted to become, determined to convince me those things were real.
But the answer didn’t come from the system, because somebody or something grabbed at my right hand, gripping my fingers tightly where I carried the bag. I lashed out with my left fist and encountered nothing but air. I wasn’t about to let that damned hand get the bag.
No matter how I twisted, I couldn’t focus on whatever it was attached to me. Flashes of light flickered through the shadow, like a storm standing beside me in incorporeal thunder cloud form.
I couldn’t seem to focus on anything other than the hand grabbing at my assignment target, but even that was blurring in my vision. Kicking out with my right foot, I thought of everything Davin ever tried to teach my stubborn head about Karate and manage to make a connection with what I thought was a knee.
What I didn’t expect was the second culprit. An elbow looped around my throat from behind. There was no way it could be the same attacker, not without being an octopus monster, and I just wasn’t letting my mind go there.
Power prickled beneath my skin, multiplying, pounding against my skull. I could feel my control slipping. It might sound funny, but I didn’t think my attackers were human.
I was medium height, but lithe and fast, so my strength wasn’t necessarily in my muscles. Usually agile and light on my feet, I was trapped. That damned bag was working its way out of my fingers with every heartbeat, somehow being tugged at by that stormy disembodied hand. There was nothing beyond that, despite what my foot tried to convince me of.
The air in my lungs begin to get heavy. It became difficult to breathe because that elbow was working at my trachea like no one’s business. Electricity bubbled beneath the surface of my skin, jumping at my fingertips, leaking out in every breath I took.
Self defense.
It flashed across my vision, and I didn’t need another hint. I reached up with my spare hand and latched onto the person, zombie, puppet master or whatever was controlling this attacker. I focused briefly on what I could see of the translucent arm and released some of my pent-up power.
Only, I’d apparently generated a lot more than I realized. It crackled as it sped along my veins like it was a hungry wolf just waiting for me to set it on my enemy. It burst through my fingers in a jolt of pain that reverberated through my body lighting all of my nerves on fire.
But it simmered down to an ache, dulled by my actions. I only had a moment to wonder why it wasn’t burning me, before my would-be captor’s husk began to blister and curl back as wisps of shadowed tendrils began to drift into the air. Holes of black appeared through what had seemed clear, and a foul stench began to fill the air.
The scream that echoed through my ears as they jerked their body away set my teeth on edge, and the grip on my bag with the burger lessened. It was like the second whatever was worried they might be a target next. I grinned, unable to stop myself.
Power echoed through my brain, and I focused on the original attacker. Two of their fingers, as obscure as they appeared, lingered against the bag’s handles tugging more feebly now. I couldn’t help but wonder what amazing type of plastic bag this was to last through so much of a kerfuffle. I didn’t know how to deal with that one, and since I had no idea how many volts I shot into the other attacker, I wasn’t sure how much juice I had left.
Electricity prickled along the back of my neck, making the hairs on my skin stand on end. It felt like it was telling me I still had plenty of power left. I focused all of my concentration into the right pinky finger. A sudden giggle threatened to overwhelm me. I was tired but on edge, and excited but terrified. I focused on the pale blur I could see holding onto my bag with me, and gently touched it with my pinky.
At first, I thought nothing would happen. Maybe I’d already expended all of the electricity within me after all. But then the spark hit, and a sizzle sounded through the air, followed by the stench of burning hair. A split second later, a shock of electricity that jolted my body back a few feet ripped into whatever it was that had been fighting me.
I didn’t wait this time, stumbling back slightly as the bag finally came free in my hand. Without a moment to lose I sprinted toward my house, boosting each step without regard for who the hell saw me. By the time I reached the top of the stairs my breath came in gasps and my chest constricted painfully. Shorter sprints weren’t my thing. I fumbled for my key, eyeing the path I just came from. I never liked to go that way, specifically because of how dark it is, because of that missing light. But now… I had a built-in bodyguard.
Finally, I jammed the key into the lock and began to throw the door to the apartments open. But then I caught sight of my face in the glass reflection. It stopped me dead.
I raised a hand to my pale cheeks and marveled at the static
way my hair billowed out from my head. Like I’d just got dressed for Halloween, complete with white ghost make up and all. If I didn’t know that was me, I would never have recognized it.
The face looking back at me was wild, untamed, and high on power.
And damn did it look good on me.
I shoved the bag inside our mailbox, not caring that the hamburger was still in it. The squelch as I closed the box sounded sickening, but I already felt nauseous from the smell, so it wasn’t like it made it worse. Besides, for the scary shit I’d just encountered, they deserved all the rank drippy burger it’d be by the time someone came to collect it. Blood pumped through my veins like it was boiling and sweat beaded my brow despite the chill in the air. Taking the steps two at a time I ran up to our apartment.
It was still quiet inside. No one else was here yet. Maybe I could make it to my room and say I was sick. Not that I was. But the shaking wouldn’t stop. Whether it was a result of fear, or the sheer amount of electricity I’d channeled, it wasn’t dissipating as quickly as I’d like.
Your heart rate is elevated. Can you sit down?
Even Second Chance sounded concerned. It should be, shouldn’t it? That much energy, all inside me. There was more of it still there, just beneath the surface, intent on breaking out. My head spun, and I barely made it into my room. The bed felt harder than I remembered, and this time the room spun too. Or maybe it was still my head, but either way, there was lots of spinning involved.
A laugh bubbled in the back of my throat and I gave into it. Burning shadows, translucent skin. Those hands hadn’t been cloaked robotic appendages. Whatever it was had really wanted that awful burger.
The knock at the door brought me out of my minor hysteria. It echoed through my skull like a pounding hammer took residence inside. I ignored it. But the next knock was louder.
