by Tricia Barr
“I bet you’re amazing in bed,” Sebastian said dazedly. Then his eyes widened and his smile fell. He said, “Did I just say that out loud?”
The other three all laughed. Skylar joined in, albeit begrudgingly.
“So, Sebastian…” Phoenyx began, purposefully not addressing his comment and trying like hell to keep thoughts of her dream out of her mind where Skylar could see them, “Skylar said you both have secrets too. What’s your special talent?”
“You mean aside from making a fool of himself?” Skylar teased.
Sebastian playfully glanced sideways at Skylar, then said, “I am a master of illusion.”
“What does that mean?” she asked.
“I can make anyone see whatever I want them to see,” he replied. “For instance…”
Suddenly, barking came from the other side of the bars and, to their amazement, Phoenyx and Lily turned to see an adorable yellow Labrador puppy sitting in front of the door, barking and wagging his tail. Phoenyx, mouth agape, stepped closer, staring at the very real dog in front of her. Then right before her eyes, the puppy disappeared like an image reflected on water whose surface had been disturbed.
“Wow!” Lily gasped. “That was amazing!”
“Thank you,” Sebastian said and gave an overly dramatic bow.
“So, this is why the two of you do what you do,” Phoenyx said. “You make your money by using your powers and no one is the wiser.”
“Exactly,” Sebastian said. “It all works out quite brilliantly. Except for in the case when my illusion doesn’t reach the cameras in casinos and the owners start wondering why I’m making money off a losing hand. That’s the only time we ever get in trouble. I haven’t quite figured out how to make more than two or three people see the illusion. Of course, cameras don’t pick them up, either.”
“That’s really very cool,” Phoenyx praised. “I think I’d probably be doing the same thing if I had a gift like that.”
He smiled and nodded.
“Now then,” he said, “that leaves Lily. What can you do?”
Lily froze up when everyone looked at her.
“Why don’t you demonstrate on me,” Skylar said to Lily. “I have a small Swiss army knife.” He pulled it out of his jacket pocket and extended his arm through the bars.
Why would she need a pocket knife? What kind of ability would call for such a tool?
“Really?” Lily asked hesitantly.
“Absolutely,” Skylar said confidently. “In fact, I’ll make it easy for you.” With his other hand, in one swift motion, he opened the pocket knife and sliced a three inch long gash on the inside of his arm. Blood streamed from the wound and dripped onto the cement floor.
“Skylar,” Sebastian exclaimed.
“Come on, Lily, there’s no going back now,” Skylar invited, the epitome of calm.
Lily rushed to the bars and put both of her hands over the bleeding wound. As they all watched with horrified eyes, the separated flesh pulled itself back together and sealed seamlessly. All that remained as evidence of the incident was the blood on Skylar’s arm and the few drops on the floor. Otherwise, his arm was unblemished.
“Holy shit,” Sebastian exclaimed. “While I have to admit that was a brilliant parlor trick, don’t you ever do anything like that again. You scared the bloody hell out of me!”
“Lily, that was incredible!” Phoenyx said, awe-struck. “You can heal people. I think you’ve got the most amazing gift out of all of us.”
“Thanks,” Lily said bashfully.
“Thanks for not letting me bleed to death.” Skylar winked at her.
She laughed nervously. She really was adorable.
He smiled at her. Then he sat down with his legs crossed, all business again. “All right, now that we have all the cards on the table, let’s have a real talk.”
They all sat in a little circle divided by the bars.
“Now, we know for absolute certain that we were all brought here for a reason,” Skylar began. “All four of us have unique gifts. I am a telepath and telekinetic, Sebastian can cause hallucinations, Phoenyx can manipulate will, and Lily can heal wounds. There is absolutely no way this arrangement could have happened by chance. Even so, what could our abilities have to do with us being abducted? What possible motive could there be?”
“Maybe someone wants us to rob banks,” Sebastian said. “I wouldn’t be against that.”
“If something like that were the case, they wouldn’t have us locked up in here for days without any communication,” Skylar said.
“All right, then maybe this is some kind of X-Men test,” Sebastian said.
“X-Men?” Phoenyx asked, one brow raised.
“Yeah, you know, some group like the X-Men could be out there hunting down people with powers and they test them first to see if they are worthy enough to join or something like that,” Sebastian explained.
“I think you’ve read a little too many comic books, my brother,” Skylar said dismissively.
“Whatever. Bank robbing, supernatural crime fighting group, I’ll take it either way,” Sebastian mumbled to himself.
The four of them sat in silent deliberation for a moment. Phoenyx was still reeling over the fact that she wasn’t the only freak in this freak show. They all had amazing powers. They were all like super heroes. Although she felt her little trick was far less impressive than any of the others. How did whoever kidnapped them and brought them here even find out about their powers?
“Now that is a really good question,” Skylar said to her, making Phoenyx frown at her lack of mental privacy. “There isn’t a soul alive who knows about me aside from Sebastian, and vice versa. It’s not like either of our talents are obvious in any way. No one can tell if I’m reading their mind and I never use my telekinesis in public. No one can tell that an illusion Sebastian creates is fake. What about you girls? Does anyone know about your gifts?”
“Nope,” Lily said. “I’ve never told or shown anyone.”
“No one knows about me either,” Phoenyx said. Well, she suspected her father had known but he was dead. “The guy I’m pretty sure is the one who brought me here knew something about it. He could tell I did something strange to the bartender to make her serve me without ID. It was almost like he was looking for it, now that I think about it. How could he have known?”
Skylar rubbed his chin with his index finger and thumb.
“Well, I don’t know about you guys but I don’t want to stick around here to find out,” Sebastian said. “Let’s use our powers to get out of here.”
Skylar turned and looked at Sebastian, dumbfounded. “Since when do you have good ideas?” Then they both laughed and Skylar clapped his hands with a newfound eagerness.
“You said someone comes in here once a day to bring food, correct?” he asked Phoenyx.
“Yeah, once a day at random times,” she answered.
“So we know that guy will come back tomorrow,” he continued. “We will be ready for him. We can use our abilities to make him let us out.”
“How are we going to do that?” Lily asked.
“Is your mind strong enough to bend the bars?” Phoenyx asked, half-joking.
“Ha ha, although I’ve never tried, I sincerely doubt it,” he said. “It was actually your ability I was thinking of.”
She cocked her head in silent question.
“You can get a hold of the guy and make him unlock the door,” he explained.
“He never walks in past the doorframe. He just stops right there at the door and throws food inside.”
“Then we’ll make it so he has to come close. Sebastian, you can make him see something that will lure him close enough to the cell door so Phoenyx can grab his arm.”
“What should I make him see?” Sebastian asked. “What illusion would make him come to the cells rather than running off to alert someone? I could give him the illusion of the cells being empty but that would just send him running off in search of us.”
“I have an idea,” Lily said. “As Phoenyx pointed out to me a few days ago, it’s pretty clear they want us alive, for whatever reason. If you made the guy think we were all dead, he would most likely come close to investigate.”
“That’s brilliant,,” Phoenyx said. “It would have to look like we were really clearly dead, not mistakable with being passed out.”
“Oh, trust me, I can make us all look very dead,” Sebastian said with a wicked smile. “Just imagine a scene from a slasher movie. Blood and guts, that sort of thing.”
“Awesome, but what do we do after getting out of this room?” Phoenyx asked. “We have no idea what’s beyond that door. They could have guns. I can only control people when I’m touching them, basically one at a time, and there could be a whole army of assholes out there guarding this room. Sebastian, how many people can you make see your illusions at once?”
“I don’t actually know,” he replied. “I’ve never tried with more than three people at a time.”
“Skylar, how strong is your telekinesis? Can you move people, too? I mean, if someone comes after us, can you push them away with your mind?”
“I’ve only had to do that once,” he said, “when Sebastian and I were on the run from some muggers. That was only one guy I moved. I never had to find out if I could defend myself against more than one person with my mind.”
“Look, there may be more dangers waiting out there but we have to try,” Sebastian said. “Whatever’s out there waiting for us, we can cross those bridges when we come to them.”
“Sebastian’s right,” Skylar said. “We have to get out of here.”
“Yeah, I don’t want to be here long enough to find out what they want with us,” Lily agreed.
Phoenyx nodded.
“Besides, the sooner we get out of here, the sooner I get to see you in that bikini, ” Sebastian said to Phoenyx with a wink and a smile.
Skylar frowned and said, “I’m sure I don’t want to know what that’s about.”
“Don’t worry your pretty little head about it,” Sebastian said. “We’re getting out of here tomorrow. Now we just have a whole twenty-four hours to get through in the meantime.”
“Well, I know how I’m gonna start,” Phoenyx said. She sat back, took the apple out of the paper bag and bit slowly into it, savoring the juices. The burger hadn’t even begun to satisfy her hunger, so she figured she had better take her time with the apple, give her body at least the illusion it was getting more food.
“Why don’t we play some cards,” Sebastian suggested. He took a small, tattered old cardboard box from his jacket pocket. “Here, it’s much more entertaining to watch you deal.” He tossed the box at Skylar.
“That’s a great idea, you’re two for two today.” Skylar laughed, emptying the cards into his hands.
“Yeah, I have those every once in a while,” Sebastian said.
Phoenyx watched Skylar eagerly, guessing that Sebastian’s comment about how Skylar deals meant he wasn’t going to be using his hands much.
Without saying anything, Skylar gave her a knowing sideways glance, a silent message that he heard her thought and that she was not wrong.
The cards lifted out of Skylar’s hands, above his head, spreading out as they did so, and dancing playfully around one another like a swarm of dalliant butterflies. Round and round in circles they flew, forming various shapes in the air. It was such a beautiful thing to see. To have telepathy was one thing all by itself, but to use it with such artistry, such a spark of the imagination, it was simply awe inspiring. Beside her, Phoenyx heard Lily softly sigh at the spectacle.
Then the cards gracefully and softly fluttered like falling feathers into a neat pile in Skylar’s right palm.
“So, what are we playing?” Skylar asked, his voice snapping both Phoenyx and Lily out of their stupor.
“Strip poker,” Sebastian said, jackass smile in full blaze.
The three of them frowned at him.
“Kidding!” He laughed. “Any game requiring guessing or bluffing is out because Skylar will always win, so I say we play blackjack. That way it won’t matter that Skylar knows what cards we all have.”
Just like that, the cards lifted out of Skylar’s palm and dealt themselves, two to each person.
As the cards went on their merry way, Skylar turned to Sebastian and asked, “Has it ever occurred to you that I don’t always like being able to hear everyone’s thoughts constantly? If I could block you all out and play a regular game like everyone else, I would do so happily.”
When he turned back to the cards, Sebastian looked at the girls and shook his head with a frown that said Skylar was just blowing smoke.
Phoenyx smiled. It was nice to see the way they behaved—the bickering, the joking, and laughing. It was like the comic relief to the horror movie of their situation. Sebastian made it all seem like they were just casually hanging out, like their lives weren’t in imminent danger.
Everyone picked up their cards. She had a six of diamonds and a four of spades.
“Phoenyx, you’re up first,” Skylar said. “What’ll it be?”
“Hit me,” she said.
A card slid from the top of the deck and glided face down right to her.
She took hold of it and said to Sebastian, “Does this ever get old?”
“Nope,” he said and they laughed.
She looked at the card. Eight of hearts. That makes eighteen so far. Three away from twenty-one.
“Are you sure you want to do that?” Skylar asked, before she could say it.
“Eh, I’m a risk taker.” She shrugged. “Hit me.”
Another card glided through the bars and into her hands. Two of diamonds.
“Stay,” she said, without a change in her facial expression.
Skylar merely nodded and turned his gaze to Lily.
“Hit me,” she said.
She took one look at her card and said, “Aww, bust,” then put her cards on the floor.
Skylar smiled indulgently at her and then turned to Sebastian.
“Stay,” Sebastian said, his face stoic.
Skylar raised a scrutinizing eyebrow at him for a moment, then turned to his own cards. On their own, the two cards on the floor before him flipped over face up for all to see: a Queen of clubs and a seven of spades.
“Dealer stays at seventeen,” he said. “Show your hands.”
Phoenyx laid hers face up. “I have twenty.”
“Twenty-one,” Sebastian said, laying his cards face up to reveal a King of hearts and an Ace of diamonds.
“Sebastian,” Skylar chided.
“What?” Sebastian asked in forced innocence.
“What do you really have?” Skylar pressed.
“Just what you see, a King of hearts and an Ace of diamonds,” Sebastian replied.
Skylar narrowed his eyes at him.
“Ugh, fine,” Sebastian scoffed. Suddenly, the faces of the cards washed away in ripples and became a two of clubs and a ten of spades. “How did you know? I concealed my thoughts.”
“I’ve known you for twelve years, I don’t need to read your mind to know when you’re lying.” Skylar laughed. “This round goes to Phoenyx.”
She smiled.
“Trying to rob me of my win,” Phoenyx said, shaking her head. “That’s no fair using your powers like that.”
“Well, you know what they say,” he said. “All is fair in love and war.”
“We’re not at war and no one here is in love,” she retorted.
“Not yet, darling.” He winked.
Even as she rolled her eyes, she couldn’t help but swoon inwardly at the way he said “darling” with that perfect British accent of his.
“Did you say that you concealed your thoughts from Skylar?” Lily asked him.
“Yes,” he answered.
“How did you do that?” she asked.
“Lots of practi
ce,” he answered. “It takes too much focus to keep it that way all the time. It’s all about visualization really. Visualize that you are wrapped inside a soundproof bubble. Feel it wrap around you. When you can feel it like it’s almost tangible, then your mind is your own—a closed book.”
She nodded. “I’ll have to try that.” She looked at Skylar and blushed. “No offense to you. I just enjoy my privacy.”
“Of course,” he said. “I will try to ignore as much as I can.”
“Thank you,” she said.
“When did you first know about your powers?” Phoenyx asked him.
He cocked his head to one side and looked off at nothing. “I think I’ve always known. As far back as I can remember, I heard the thoughts of everyone around me. It’s always been a burden to me, but on the bright side, it did make it easy to learn to speak.”
“What about your telekinesis?” Lily asked.
“I don’t remember when I became aware of it but it was pretty early too. Although I didn’t really start using it until Sebastian and I went into business for ourselves.”
“What about you?” Lily turned to Sebastian as Skylar dealt another hand. “Have you always known about your power, too?”
“Oh no,” Sebastian said, looking at his cards. “No, I’ll never forget the day I discovered my power. It was a cold winter afternoon, not long after my parents died and I was living at that godforsaken foster home. I was walking home from school and some of the bigger, older kids, the bullies, saw me and chased me. I was pretty torn up right about that time. I was alone for the first time in my life and terrified being in a strange town, I had no one to protect me and really thought that getting caught and beaten up by those kids would be the end of my world.
“Well, they chased me into an empty alley, which, as it always does in those situations, led to a dead end. I was completely cornered with no way out. So, as a means of protecting at least my mind, I imagined a giant black dragon standing behind me, putting its wings around me—I was obsessed with dragons back then. I squeezed my eyes shut, ready for a beating, and wished for that dragon with all my might.