Opheliac

by J. F. Jenkins

  “And if things keep going this way, the fighting won’t be a secret for much longer,” JD said. He bounced in his seat, proud of himself for coming up with a logical conclusion that was more or less spot-on. Cadence isn’t the only smart one in the group! I can figure stuff out too. Keeping the war hidden from the everyday public was one of the group’s main missions.

  Making a soft “hmm” sound, Alan returned his gaze to the window.

  Orlando leaned forward in his seat. “What aren’t you telling us?”

  “We are getting a new team member,” Alan said. His face became stoic once more and his gaze never moved to look at anyone else in the room.

  JD would have pegged Angela or Orlando as the one to flip out. It was Cadence, however, who had the most dramatic of the reactions. “They can’t do that without talking to us! This isn’t fair!”

  “We’re just the minions, Slick, why would they ever be so considerate of our opinions when they won’t even consider Alan’s?” Orlando stated with a lot more calm than JD expected. The guy’s fists were clenched, however, making it clear he was reserving himself. He didn’t usually restrain himself so much. JD wasn’t sure what that meant.

  Taking in a slow breath through his nose, Alan exhaled slowly from his mouth. “I’m not pleased either, though the extra help is always handy. He’s a student at your place of education, Orlando. It will be good for you to have another ally to work with there. Our double agent is attending there as well, but you aren’t allowed to make contact with him for obvious reasons. You don’t need to befriend this boy either, but you can at least talk and pass messages along to one another with ease.”

  “Nia is kind of an ally,” Orlando pointed out.

  Angela laughed. “She tried to kill you. How is she on our side?”

  “Because I volunteered to give up my life so my best friend could live. Did we forget that part?” he snapped. “Speaking of, Dallas needs a place to stay. I was thinking maybe he could stay here in the Apartment. I haven’t mentioned it to him yet, because I wanted your permission first before making any major decisions.” He shot Alan a dark glare that made even JD bristle.

  “Is that safe? Given all that we do here…” Cadence said softly.

  Orlando shrugged. “He already knows. While he was dead he stalked me and found about all of the stuff happening with Altura. So long as he stays out of the way, I figure it’s not a big deal. He could help too. When he was resurrected, his powers unlocked. It’ll only be temporary until I can get him an actual apartment or condo or something. And I won’t let Nia come over.”

  Frowning, JD weighted the pros and cons to allowing Dallas to stay in their headquarters. There was certainly space for him to do so, and if he had powers that could prove useful, that was always a plus. The problem was, JD didn’t know Dallas. Sure, Orlando vouched for the guy, but he’d also gone so far as to successfully commit suicide. That didn’t make him seem all too stable. How did experiencing death change a person? JD had been close to death once, and he saw life in a whole new way. Did actually being dead have the same kind of impact on a person?

  Everyone was quiet. Orlando’s quiet tapping seemed much louder than before, and for that brief moment, JD felt as if everything were moving in slow motion. Unable to stand it, he spoke.

  “So how long is this going to be? I mean, if it’s just temporary.”

  “Two weeks to a month. Maybe a tiny bit longer. I need to wait until I gain control over my money,” Orlando said.

  “You don’t have it now?” JD was pretty sure the guy bought whatever he wanted, whenever he felt like buying it. Why wouldn’t he? He had seemingly unlimited amounts of money. JD was dying to know the actual number in Orlando’s bank account. The only reason he didn’t ask was because he knew how inappropriate it would be, as well as insulting. He didn’t want Orlando to think he was nothing more than a dollar sign to the group.

  Sighing, Orlando shook his head. “With my parents being home, everything is out of whack. What I would have done by now is ask about getting an investment property and schmoozed my way into buying one now, and the problem would be solved. There is no way my parents would ever give me permission to do something like that. They’ll probably see it as a waste of time. When they’re home, they check the bills constantly. I wouldn’t be surprised if I get in trouble for funding the remodeling of the Apartment back in the fall—again. Lyssa already almost grounded me over it.”

  “But on your birthday, you’ll be eighteen, so you’ll gain access to your own money,” Cadence said.

  He snapped his fingers and pointed at her. “You got it. While most parents wait until their rich brats are out of college to give them their trust funds, my parents are giving me mine as soon as I’m an adult. I think it’s their way of abandoning me completely without having a guilty conscience. They did the same thing with my sister. She’s got her own share tucked away in the bank that she uses for her personal treats, and then uses their money to take care of me and the house.”

  “I could deal with it, if it’s only for a few weeks to a month,” JD said. The mixed emotions were still present inside of him. In the end, the good outweighed the bad. It made a lot more sense in his mind to help Dallas than to tell him he was out of luck.

  Even though JD was declared the leader of the teens, he wasn’t the final say in the matter. Alan was. The alien scratched his chin. “He can stay, but I have to get approval from my superiors if he is going to join our team. I don’t think I need to stress how important it is for him to stay hidden while we meet. Regardless of how much he already knows, he is not one of us. In fact, I propose we meet elsewhere while he’s around.”

  “Yeah, fine,” Orlando said, rolling his eyes. “You’re being paranoid, but I get it. Where should we meet? There aren’t a lot of private areas.”

  “I’ve noticed Cadence’s mother isn’t around much, so her place is a possibility. However, I would like to refrain from any personal spaces until we get to know our new team member better,” Alan said.

  “You mean our rehabilitated friend we’re not sure we can trust?”

  Alan smirked. “Precisely, and your resurrected friend, Orlando, is now a perfect reason for us to have a temporary change in headquarters. Jaes has recommended a number of meeting places in one of the nearby cities. He uses one of the local businesses with his charges. We can make up an after-school club, reserve the space, and get together in a similar fashion in a conference room.”

  “Actually, I might have an idea,” JD said. “It’ll involve a little bit of shopping, but I know a quiet place that nobody goes where we can chat a few times a week.”

  “Oh?” Orlando raised an eyebrow.

  “Yeah, the comic shop near my house.”

  A laugh left Angela’s lips. “No way am I getting caught going in there where everyone from school can see me. Besides, why there?”

  “No one goes there, so you won’t get seen by all your popular friends,” JD stated.

  “Why there?” she repeated.

  He glared at his sister. “No one goes there. I said that already, right? They just relocated from the mall that got torn down, and no one uses the game space. I’ve checked the calendar a few times to see if there are any events scheduled. Nobody is going there yet. The only business they get is from the comic book geeks—”

  “Aka you.”

  “And I go to look at all the rare collectible stuff.” He ignored her and continued on. Picking and choosing his battles was getting a lot easier to do. “We can get a tabletop game or a card game or something, and pretend to play that when we’re actually talking strategy.”

  “I’ll get the miniatures,” Orlando said in his usual deadpan.

  Angela shook her head. “No, no, no!”

  “It’s plausible, so long as the store’s hours work for when we need the space,” Cadence said. The fact that she approved of his proposal had JD’s hopes soaring.

  Everyone had their gazes locked on Alan as he s
tarted to pace in front of the window. He exhaled slowly before looking at JD. “This place won’t be tapped by other tribes, will it?”

  “I’d be surprised if it was, but I guess anything is possible.”

  “Jaes previously examined all the locations he gave me to make sure they were secure. Only he and his charges know about them,” Alan explained.

  JD nibbled on his top lip for a moment, as he searched for the right words to say without insulting his boss and friend. “That’s cool, but I kind of want to work in a spot that’s just ours. Nothing against him or his people. It would just be better in the long run. We’re our own group, you know? Why make it easier for him to intermingle with us? We don’t know anyone under his command, and sometimes I get this weird vibe that he’s trying to force his way into our group.” Like he wants to take over for Alan, but I don’t think I can say that. I might have already said too much.

  “He enjoys working with you.” Alan glanced over at Cadence as he said it, and JD’s hair started to stand on end as jealousy filled him. Cadence was his, not Jaes’s.

  Folding his arms in front of him, JD decided to put his foot down on the issue. “He can enjoy it all he wants, but he still doesn’t get to be one of us. I’m cool with doing some cooperative stuff like we have for the past few months. That’s a lot different than trying to join in on our meetings and budging in where he doesn’t belong.”

  “It isn’t professional,” Alan said. “I wouldn’t be too harsh to judge him. There are concerns of my own, however, in regard to Jaes working with us so intimately. If you give me the location of this comic book shop, I can check it out and make sure that it’s secure for our needs while you’re being educated. I would like to have another meeting this weekend so we can meet our new team member and get to know one another.”

  Orlando let out a rather sarcastic sounding “yay.” Everyone else was silent, which was surprising because JD would have thought Angela had more to say. There was so much tension. He hated tension.

  After another short period of awkward quiet, Orlando huffed in his chair. “Do we get to know the name of our new team member at least? Especially since this person goes to my school. I’d like to be prepared for what to expect.”

  “Yes, of course.” Alan gave a weak smile. “His name is Gideon Schmidt.”

  “Gideon?” Orlando raised both of his eyebrows.

  “You know him?”

  “Yeah, I know him. He’s a grade under me, but he’s in some of my classes because he’s super smart. Kind of a nerd, actually. At the same time, he’s besties with a lot of the jocks. I wouldn’t call him popular, though, either. He’s…interesting.”

  Nodding, Alan stopped pacing and his gaze wandered over the rest of the group. “Do you think we can trust him?”

  Orlando shrugged. “He seems like a cool guy. I mean, he’s not obnoxious in class. The thing is, I trusted Tait and she’s one of the bad guys. It’s hard to say. Of all the guys you could have named, Gideon isn’t on my ‘no way’ list. I’d like to give him the benefit of the doubt, you know, if I was a more trusting sort of person.”

  “Works for me,” JD said. “I’ve still got my reservations, but we can at least hear him out and see what all was going through his head when he decided to join the other tribe. They might not have given him an option.”

  “True,” Cadence said.

  The only one of them who still had to voice her opinion on the issue was Angela. She was obviously fuming because when JD looked her way, her arms were folded in front of her and she wore a pout on her face. Not like he should have been surprised. As soon as things didn’t go her way, she threw the worst temper tantrums. Because if she wasn’t the center of the universe, something was wrong. Not for the first time, JD doubted her complete devotion to the group. Angela hardly ever committed to anything. She’s probably only sticking around so she can be close to Orlando.

  Slowly, his sister’s expression started to soften. “Fine, for the time being we can temporarily relocate at the comic shop.”

  “You’re still hung up on that?” JD asked.

  “It’s a big thing to think about. The shop is a local spot, so people we know can see us go in and out at any moment. If my friends see me do something out of character, they’re going to get curious. I think I can come up with a good excuse if we’re ever caught,” she said. “And I can handle new people. There are only so many things we can do between the four of us.”

  For the first time since arriving, Alan gave a genuine smile. “This went a lot better than I was expecting it to. I thought there would be a lot more arguing.” He made a pointed look at Orlando.

  “What?” Orlando threw up his hands. “I’m not always opinionated and argumentative and difficult.”

  JD scoffed. “Are you kidding me?”

  “I said not always.”

  “Okay, once in a blue moon you don’t put up a fight.”

  “More than that.”

  “You’re arguing with me now!”

  “Because you’re wrong.” Orlando glared at him, but there was a slight hint of a smile on his lips, so JD was pretty sure it was all in jest. JD wanted to pinch himself. They were actually getting along? Over the past few months they’d gained an understanding of one another, but weren’t quite friends. Things seemed to finally be falling into place.

  JD rolled his eyes, using a language Orlando knew all too well. “Denial.”

  “Don’t follow that up with a river-in-Egypt crack, or I’m going to leave.”

  He put his hands up defensively. “I wouldn’t dare.”

  “Good.” Orlando stretched some more. “If we’re done, how do you all feel about doing something? Movie, arcade, ice fishing.”

  Shaking his head, JD also stood. “Can’t, school night. Ice fishing, man, you are desperate to get out of the house. Can’t you just lock yourself in your bedroom?”

  “That’s too much work.”

  “More work than ice fishing?”

  Orlando shrugged. “Not the point.”

  “Okay then.” JD dropped the issue. “Another time, just say the word and we can make something happen. We don’t need to be meeting to hang out, right?”

  “Right.”

  Another small victory, and JD would take it. “Cool, Cadence, I’ll give you a ride home if you want.” They still had to have their talk. Hopefully, she hadn’t changed her mind. It was her idea, after all, and it needed to happen—badly.

  There was some apprehension in her gaze, but she nodded all the same. “Thank you.”

  “I can drive you back home, Angela,” Orlando said. His observation skills were much appreciated, because JD hadn’t been sure what to do about his sister.

  Alan watched all of them, his expression back to being stoic and difficult to read. “Saturday at noon. That will be our next meeting time. Thank you for your cooperation. If I can, I’ll try to stop in and talk to you individually before then.” Without so much as a goodbye, he teleported from the room.

  Chapter Seven

  Tait lay in bed, trying to focus on her homework. She had a mega-paper to write and a poster board to decorate. Soon, she would also be leaving for a meeting with Alona. All she had to do was wait for her brother. Being impatient made the time drag that much longer.

  Okay, let’s write this paper. Writing a report on the Industrial Revolution should not be this hard. I have all of the notes and highlights I want to include. Now all that’s left to do is transfer them onto the computer. Every time she looked down at her notes, her mind couldn’t lock onto one fact to add into her essay. Maybe I should call Orly. He always makes for a nice distraction. We could talk more about going on a date. Possibly even this weekend if my schedule allows for it. What she wouldn’t give to be able to have one normal weekend where the only thing she had to worry about was finding the perfect outfit. The world was changing. As exciting as those changes were, she did like her moments of being only a girl instead of a superhero.

  “I
shouldn’t push him,” she mumbled.

  “Push who?” Payton asked from her doorway.

  She jumped, not realizing she’d left the door open to begin with. Her reflexes were down if her brother could sneak up on her. Payton was a big, clunky mess, not to mention a bit clumsy with everything but a football. Anyone could hear him coming from a mile away. So why hadn’t she?

  Tait rubbed her forehead and moved away from the desk. “Orly, he hinted at wanting to get back together with me during lunch. Well, he said he wanted to hang out more and work on rebuilding our relationship. That’s the same thing, right? In guy code?”

  “More or less,” Payton said with a small chuckle. “Awesome, I was hoping it would happen. He’s good for you, makes you better.”

  “You say that like I’m a bad person.” She scowled, making sure to glare at her twin as she did so.

  All he did was laugh. “If he didn’t make you better, he wouldn’t be worthy of being with you. That’s how it’s supposed to work. He’s the first non-sleazy guy you’ve been interested in.”

  Groaning, Tait faced away from him.

  “It’s true,” Payton said.

  Tait shook her head. “I guess, but again, you’re making it sound like I have this awful track record.”

  “You do!”

  “Do not!”

  “Do too!”

  “Ugh,” she grunted. “Logan wasn’t bad.”

  Payton snorted. “You were twelve, dated for two weeks, and the only reason he asked you out is because you were cute and he needed a girlfriend.”

  “Yeah, but he wasn’t bad. He treated me well when we were together. It’s part of the ‘being young and stupid’ thing. First boy who wanted to date me, of course I’m going to say yet.” She hated the chastising from her brother—it made her feel dirty, tainted. “I seem to remember you having a girlfriend like that.”