by Lisa Beeson
“Then tell me,” he countered.
Just then, the waitress came up; all fake blonde hair and big smile. “Hi I’m Lacey. I’m going to be your server this evening. What can I get y’all to drink?”
Adam picked up the menu to look at the options.
“Water please,” Ari asked; not even looking at the menu.
Adam looked up, slightly disappointed, “Get what you want.”
“I am,” she shrugged.
“Fine…,” he said, putting down the menu. “I’ll have a sweat tea.”
“Sure thing, Hon. I’ll be right back with your drinks,” Lacey said, giving Adam a flirty smile. Then she turned and left.
“You’ve got a fan,” Ari teased.
“She’s just trying to get a big tip,” he said in a world weary tone. “Anyway, tell me what I’m looking for. Who’s after you?”
She picked up the menu trying to look busy so she wouldn’t have to answer.
“You either tell me or you tell the cops,” he warned.
She glanced up at him and could see that he wasn’t going to let this go. She couldn’t chance having the cops involved. “Well, as far as I know, it’s only three groups,” she said, while perusing the menu.
“Groups…” Adam asked, looking skeptical.
“Yeah, groups. Only one seems to be actively pursuing me. The other two I just have to keep an eye out for.” She could tell he wasn’t buying it. “I know you can tell I’m not lying.”
“Yes…but just because you’re not lying doesn’t mean you’re not crazy.”
Ari made a derisive noise. “If I’m crazy, then there are a lot of people out there enabling my delusions. Just keep an eye out for FBI types. I don’t know if they’re government or corporate, all I know is they’re hunting me.” She looked up over the back of the booth to check the entrance again, and to make sure no one was listening in. “I call them ‘Suits’, because that’s what they wear. And even if they’re not, then they look like they should be.” She sat back down. “The other two, I just need to stay away from.”
“Why?”
“Let’s just say I have abilities they would like to exploit.”
“What do you mean…‘abilities’?”
Ari was saved from answering, when Lacey came back with their drinks and a basket of steamy buttered rolls. Ari’s mouth watered as the delicious smell enveloped her.
“Here y’all go,” Lacey said, her eyes only on Adam. “Just be careful, the rolls are-” But before she could finish, Ari had already stuffed one into her mouth, practically whole. “…hot,” Lacey finished, while placing the basket on the table.
And it was hot, but it was totally worth the pain. It was so delicious. “Sorry…” Ari said behind her hand, and around the roll in her mouth. She swallowed. “They just smelled so good,” she said lamely, trying to explain.
“Uh…huh,” Lacey said, and then smiled one those fake smiles you use to placate crazy people.
Ari shoved another roll into her mouth, and then grabbed two more; closing her eyes in ecstasy. “Mmm…so good,” she mumbled with a full mouth.
Lacey turned back to Adam. “So, what can I get y’all to eat?”
Adam cleared his throat. “Uh, I’ll have the porter house, medium rare, with veggies on the side.”
“Excellent choice,” Lacey said with another flirty smile. Then she turned back to Ari. “And what would you like, Hon?”
Ari swallowed her third roll, and then drank about half a glass of her water.
“You okay there, champ?” Adam asked, biting back a laugh.
Ari gave him the OK sign with her fingers, while picking out what she wanted from the menu. “Let’s see, I’ll have the pulled pork sandwich, the barbeque ribs, a sweet potato, a loaded baked potato, corn on the cob, and…veggies on the side.” Ari looked up to see both Adam and Lacey looking at her like she had two heads. “Um… I have a high metabolism.” She shrugged then handed her menu to Lacey.
“Right… Well, I’ll go put in y’all’s order.” She spun on her heel then headed towards the kitchen.
Adam watched her leave, and then turned back to Ari, who was finishing up the last roll. She saw Adam staring at her. “Oh crap, did you want one? Sorry, I haven’t eaten since breakfast. Well, except for the bag of jerky I had after getting in the back of your truck.”
“Who else am I looking for?” he asked, trying to get back to the previous conversation.
Ari took a sip from her water. “Fine, keep an eye out for people that have a red ring around their irises, and look like a meth addict. You know, kinda gross and creepy.”
“Why would people like that be after you?” he asked, before taking a drink from his tea.
“Let’s just say, it has something to do with my past,” she evaded, and then took a sip of water. “Don’t worry about the other guys. You won’t be able to spot them anyway. They’d look like everyone else to you.”
“Ari, I can’t help you if you keep information from me. Who are these people and why are the after you? What are these ‘abilities’ they want to exploit? No more BS.”
Ari thought about how best to explain. “Okay, you know about the cones and rods in your eyes, right?”
He nodded.
“Okay, well, the rods help you see light and motion, and the cones let you see color.” She fished out a pen and scrap piece of paper from her bag. She drew a line, and then wrote humans on the far left of the line, with a number three underneath. “Humans have three types of color receptors. Letting them see green, blue, red, and the spectrum of colors that they can combine to make.” Next to that she wrote the word birds, and then next to that the word butterflies. “Birds have four color receptors, and butterflies have five.” Then, at the end of the line on the far right, she wrote Mantis Shrimp. “And the mantis shrimp has twelve. Once you hit four and five, you get into the ultra-violet and infrared range, and colors that we don’t even have names for.” She looked up to make sure Adam was following. He seemed to be, so she moved on. “And I fall right around here,” she said while drawing a star in the space in between the butterflies and the mantis shrimp. “I can’t be exactly sure what number of receptors I have, because I haven’t been officially tested. But according to the online tests I’ve taken, I definitely see more than I should.”
“How is that even possible?” he dismissed.
“I don’t know, but it is. I didn’t realize I saw differently until after I started school.”
“So you’re telling me you can see ultra-violet wavelengths, infrared, and colors I can’t even comprehend?”
Ari nodded. “And that’s not all. You know how sharks and amphibians use electrolocation to find prey, and stay away from predators?”
He sighed, and raked his fingers through his hair. “Yeah, I’ve heard of it.”
“They sense the bioelectric fields that other animals and living things emit, to locate and identify them.”
“And you’re telling me you can do this?”
“Kind of… I’m able to see and sense the bioelectric radiant energy that surrounds living things. Kind of like an aura around them that I can see and feel.”
Adam rubbed his hands over his face. “Human eyes aren’t capable of seeing infrared and ultraviolet wave lengths.”
“In rare cases they can. Have you ever heard of Aphakia? It’s when the lens is removed from the eye, due to cataracts or perforation; stuff like that. Anyway, people who’ve had their lenses removed reported being able to see ultraviolet wave lengths. So the human eye is capable of seeing them, maybe my lenses just formed differently or something.”
“What about infrared? Are you telling me that you can see in the dark?”
“Not in the way you’re thinking. I can only see the radiant light that comes from living things. So if I was in a pitch black concrete room by myself, I wouldn’t be able to see anything.”
“Not even your own radiant light?” he asked, leaning forward as if he caught her
in her own argument.
“No, that’s the thing. I don’t seem to emit radiant light like everyone else… but I can affect it though.”
“What do you mean?”
“If you think of the radiant light as an energy field, it swells when people or animals feel strong emotions. And different energies can affect each other, like the ‘Herd Mentality’. Like, when there’s an angry mob. Normally rational people become raging lunatics, because their own emotional energy is affected by the negative emotional energy of the people around them. But it can be positive too, like when people are gathered for religious services, or in other sacred places. Strong positive energies can make people feel happy or uplifted. I found that music is a powerful catalyst for emotional energy,” Ari said, and then finished her glass of water.
“Ok, so what does all that have to do with you?”
“I can amplify that energy…like, a lot. I have no control over it, and it’s usually connected to my own strong emotions. How I feel affects the Herd mentality,” she said keeping eye contact, trying to relay the truth of her words. “I can also read people’s intentions. I can’t read minds or anything like that. It’s sort of like how you’re trained to read body language to tell when people are lying. I get a sense of their energy and I just kind of pick up on their strong desires in that moment – what they really mean behind their words. If I look into their eyes I can get a more accurate reading. It’s hard to explain, but I’ve always been able to do it. I’ve always known I was different than everyone else, I just didn’t know exactly how different until recently.”
*****
Adam sat back and massaged his temples as he tried to wrap his mind around everything she had just said.
The way she spoke calmly and confidently, almost made the stuff coming out of her mouth seem plausible, but how could they be? He sat there contemplating her while she stared back, willing him to believe her. He closed his eyes, rallying himself to pry more information from her. “So do your parents have these…abilities?”
“My adoptive parents – definitely not. My biological parents – I have no clue. I can’t remember anything before I woke up from a coma when I was five.”
Before Adam could reply to that, Lacey came back to the table with another server. Both held trays holding their orders; well, mostly Ari’s order.
“Alright, a porter house steak and veggies for you...” Lacey gave Adam a smile and a wink, as she placed the plate in front of him. “And a pulled pork sandwich, barbeque ribs, sweet potato, loaded baked potato, corn on the cob, and a side of veggies for you.”She placed the plates on the table, and then filled Ari’s water glass from a pitcher. “Enjoy!”
“Thanks, we will,” Adam said politely.
Ari was too busy rapturously eyeing her food.
When Lacey left, Adam turned back to Ari. “So what’s this about you being in a coma?”
Ari shook her head. “Nuh uh… Eat first. Talk later.”
*****
Twenty minutes later, Ari was still finishing up when Adam announced he was going to go to the restroom. He made her promise not to leave, so she crossed her heart with one hand, while holding the corncob to her mouth with the other. Reluctantly he got up and made his way across the restaurant.
Ari finished the corn, and then took a last gulp of water. As she put her glass down on the table, she felt a pulse of static that lifted the hairs on her arms.
A Progeny.
She discreetly lifted her eyes to see a short college-age guy, with glasses and a mop of curly hair, making his way back towards the pool tables.
Ari could tell a Progeny apart from a normal person, because their radiant energy was stronger, and their light was brighter. Progeny weren’t inherently evil like Shades. They were just as good or evil as everyone else. The only difference was that they had supernatural abilities.
Ari’s scalp tingled in apprehension. What she hadn’t told Adam was that not only can she affect humans’ emotional energy, but she could amplify a Progeny’s ability as well, making them more powerful than they already were. She couldn’t control it at will, it just kind of happened.
What Ari was afraid of was that the power amp could be addicting. If a Progeny got addicted to that much power, they might not be partial to letting her go. She didn’t want to be anyone’s captive.
There were too many people around to get a good thread on what his intentions were. The only way to find out was to get closer, and there was no way that was going to happen. Ari discreetly watched him from where she sat in the booth. It looked like he was challenging some guys to a game of pool. One of them said no, but the other guy was buzzed enough from his beer to think he could take him on no problem.
The Progeny racked the balls and motioned for the guy to break.
He sauntered over to take aim. The guy had a good four inches and sixty pounds on the Progeny, and when he hit the cue ball, there was a loud *CRACK!*. Three balls, two stripes and a solid, immediately dropped into three separate pockets. He chose stripes, and was able to pocket one more ball before he accidentally scratched. Ari couldn’t hear what he said from where she was, but she could tell it was a curse word.
The Progeny got the cue ball from the pocket then walked around the table, carefully surveying the landscape of balls from every angle. He was looking at it so intensely, that the other people from the surrounding pool tables took notice. On his second time around, he placed the cue ball on the table, then squatted down and stood back up, as if to see the shot from different perspectives. A quiet, self-assured smile spread across his face. In quick succession, he sunk the solid balls. One by one, taking no more than a second or two to reset between shots, he masterfully sank each ball and applied the right amount of spin and speed to place the cue ball in perfect position for the next shot. Everyone around him was watching in open-mouthed astonishment. Even the guy he was playing against stood there leaning on his pool stick, totally entranced.
Just as he was pulling back the pool stick to take a shot on the last solid ball, a chick with more bust than brains chose that moment to jump and squeal to cheer him on. He was able to still make the shot, but she had distracted him enough that the cue ball wasn’t even close to where he wanted it to be for the eight ball. The final shot seemed impossible –even to the Progeny. The way the eight ball was flanked by all the stripes left on the table – surely he’d either scratch or miss all together.
His opponent saw the same thing. With a smirk, he pulled his wallet out of his back pocket. And with a buzzed bravado, he took out a twenty and placed it on the edge of table. It looked like he was betting the Progeny that he couldn’t make the shot. And to back up his buddy, the opponent’s friend doubled the stakes with another twenty.
The Progeny nodded, to show he accepted the challenge. Then he rubbed his chin thoughtfully, as he tried to figure out a way to do it. Despite her fear, Ari felt herself cheering the Progeny on. She always had a soft spot for the ‘little guy’.
When she was trying to concentrate on figuring out what his ability was, Adam came back from the restroom. He asked her what she was looking at, but she shushed him, barely aware that he was there. And that’s when she actually saw what the Progeny’s ability was with her own eyes. It was as if someone was shining lasers on the table, showing him the trajectory of the balls he focused on and the different angles to get them into different pockets. It was as though the image in his head was projected onto the table. The longer she looked at it, the more intricate and three dimensional the projected physics became.
The table was cluttered. It was littered with stripes all over the place, while the cue ball and the eight ball sat in front of the two corner pockets on the near side of the table. Two stripes blocked the shorter, more direct shot. The other three impaired the ability to send the cue ball down for a fairly easy bank shot. The Progeny seemed perplexed.
Then, the shot appeared.
He had to jump one ball to start the shot, then thread
ing between the five striped balls still on the table, the line travelled from the cue ball, which sat in front of the corner pocket nearest to Ari, diagonally across the table near the break-line adjacent from the cue ball, to the end rail furthest from the cue ball, to the rail on the same side as the cue ball... to the corner pocket just a couple feet away from the cue ball’s start point, and where the eight ball was waiting to be tapped into the pocket. The big picture on the table was actually quite beautiful, and it reminded Ari of a kite with two tails, or one of those Jesus fish you see on the back of people’s cars.
Ari couldn’t believe what she was seeing, and apparently the Progeny couldn’t believe it either. He took a step back, as if the intricacy of the physics he was seeing was blowing his mind.
Oh crap, I amped him!
She hadn’t noticed that his radiant energy had strengthened; she had been too busy concentrating on what was happening on the pool table. The Progeny looked around confused, and then locked eyes with Ari.
That’s not good.
He could feel the extra energy coming from her. He knew she was making this happen.
Stupid, stupid, stupid! I should have just left as soon as I felt him go by.
Ari grabbed her bag and started to scoot out of the booth, but Adam was standing there blocking her way.
“Ari, what are you doing, do you know that guy? Why is he looking at you like that?”
“I’ve got to get out of here, please move.” She was trying to keep her voice at an even level so she wouldn’t draw any more attention to herself.
“Why, what’s the matter?”
“Nothing. Just let me go.” She tried to shove him back so she could get out, but he wouldn’t budge.
“Tell me what’s wrong,” he demanded.
Just then Lacey came with the check, drawing Adam’s attention. The Progeny must have made the impossible shot, because a loud chorus of cheers and expletives exploded from around the pool tables.
Taking advantage of the distraction, Ari threw her legs over the back of the booth in one smooth movement, and quickly made her way to the entrance, dodging chairs and people as she went. She could hear Adam call out to her to wait.