by A. B. Bloom
“Good, good,” I replied. I’d never tell her that I was bored beyond the limit of the universe daily and spent my time watching a multitude of variable futures play out in my head, rather than listen to the lecturer drone on and on.
We gathered our food on trays: baked hard biscuits, and a stew of root vegetables, and turned to look for space at a Meta table. Finding three spaces along from a group of pixies, we perched down. Frankie was still pissed, his turquoise eyes shifting to an angry deep blue with the turn of his mood. I nudged my knee against Adrianna’s and nodded my head in his direction. “Listen,” she stated, “It’s not that we don’t want to come to a party, that would be great.” I narrowed my eyes, personally I could think of nothing worse. “It’s just remember what happened last time.” She cracked her biscuit against her tray sending crumbs flying across the table top. Of course, she was referencing the time when there had been a ‘cross species’ party planned but it had merely been a trick and the Metas had arrived to a darkened apex of the Complex dome where they’d been trapped for the night while a band of humans laughed and filmed.
Frankie raised his gaze, the darkened navy lightening to a sea blue. “That was ages ago. Those humans have been dealt with by now and they will be toeing the line if they want to collect in their payment.”
I couldn’t maintain my groan. If you survived your two and a half years on the Complex, not only did you get paid handsomely for taking part in the experiment and cohabiting, but you also became an Ambassador and were sent across the planets to teach others the benefits of cross-species living. The irony was considerable. Of course, this was only the adults. Us, minors, as we still were, just got to leave—hopefully intact. “Wicked.”
Frankie frowned and shushed me. “You of all Metas shouldn’t be talking like that.”
I stuck my tongue out at him and he snickered, his eyes finally becoming their true colour once again, the storm of his temper passing like a long-forgotten cloud. “I tell you what, how’s this? I’ll try to pick up some pictures of the party plans during this afternoon’s lessons and if it looks like it’s legit, we can go.”
I wasn’t sure how I planned to sneak past Mom if we did end up going, but I’d cross that bridge when I came to it.
The overhead lights pulsed once, warning the diners that there were only five minutes left of respite. The three of us put our heads down and started spooning the crunchy vegetables into our mouths, silence spreading among the tables as everyone tried to swallow the unpalatable food. When the lights pulsed three times in a row it was time to make our way back to the lecture hall.
That afternoon, instead of listening to a non-objective lecture on the fall of the first human planet, I sat and sifted through the layers of futures that mingled in the atmosphere around me. I knew what I was doing was wrong, it was evasive on all levels—I mean after all that’s why the humans were implanted with a chip that prevented Metas from entering their neural reflexes. But then I wasn’t a normal Meta. I was something unknown, or if not unknown, then forgotten.
The end of the last prophet was a whispered legend, a horror story from the first wave of war, where humans and Metas had banded together to destroy the one who could determine their fate from just one glimpse. It was safer to be without a prophet than to have one on one side of the war or the other. The prophet herself had been destroyed, put to flame.
A shiver ran along my spine with a spider crawl and I tried to thrust the ominous thought from my mind. Those times were past, but to be safe I didn’t plan on anyone knowing my true identity.
The problem with living in the Complex was that all resident’s immediate futures were often similar to the person next to thems. Sure, there were clubs and bars, but for us still not of age there were only limited options available to us . . . until a party loomed on the horizon. There were Meta parties and there were human parties, but the two were never mixed. Yet still, as I floundered through the immediate futures of those in the lecture hall, I couldn’t see anything that struck me as odd. There was human dancing that . . .well the least said about that the better. A fairy and an elf were concocting a drink that bubbled red and caused the drinker to have outburst of gas, which sparkled red.
To my surprise, in the future of at least ten Metas and humans I could see their futures intermingled. The same music played through the visions and the loud chatter filling my mind was of the same pitch.
Could it be possible for there to be a party both would attend?
I was zoning out of the mind of those around me, satisfied that I could give Frankie the go ahead when the glimpse of a dark corner dragged my attention back in.
A boy was bent double, his hands clutching his stomach as crimson liquid oozed between his fingers, like the juice of the rare fruit I knew they grew on the farms here but I hadn’t seen in person.
A gasp rushed out of my mouth and I clamped my fingers to my face, trying to hold the sound inside. I was too late and more eyes than I would have wished turned to look at me and I shifted down in my seat. The vision had created a nauseating wave to roll through my stomach but I couldn’t switch it off. Over and over it played as I watched the brown-haired human boy collapse into a pool of his own blood.
I dashed from the hall, my mind reeling as the image imprinted itself onto my brain cells. My fingers shook as I balanced myself against the cool wall.
Being a prophet had meant I’d seen some things I’d rather I hadn’t. Because my true skill hadn’t diverged itself before we entered the complex, I’d been excused from the horrors on the outside, but even here in the Complex things still happened. But, they were petty misdemeanours, small crimes that the Intra—the law enforcement—could crack down on with the help of their prized Seer’s. This was different. This was so different to that, it made me think the stewed vegetables from lunch were going to reappear all over the floor. I stumbled to a darkened corner and stood under the low, pulsing, green light illuminating the entry to a store facility. Under the gloomy, green glow, I caught my breath and waited for the other student to leave, but all I could see was the boy bent over double, his face a painted mask of surprise as he stared at the red splurge between his fingers and the way he glanced at…at… like a lightning bolt it struck me. I’d seen the scenario play out from the knife wielding attacker’s point of view—which must mean that person was in the room.
Oh, for the gods, my knees began to quake.
The door to the lecture hall opened with a bang and files of students emptied out. The humans leading the way, followed by the Metas. My eyes roved over the humans, desperately searching for the boy with the wound, because if I could find him I should tell him, right? Tell him he’s going to get attacked and well, he had looked dead to me. That would be the right thing to do, surely?
Adrianna grabbed my elbow. “What’s going on? You freaked the hell out of me in there.”
I trembled as I clasped my hands onto her arms and tried to balance myself, or absorb some calm from my friend. It didn’t work because my heart was thrumming inside my chest like a caged bird attempting to break free of a gilded cage. “I saw something awful, Adie, it was just awful.”
She shook her head, her eyes clouding. “When you were searching for the party?”
The Party! I’d forgotten that in my horror. I shook my head. “No, not the party, something else.”
At that moment Frankie loomed behind us, catching the urgent vibes running between Adrianna and myself. “Delly, what’s going on? You look like you’ve seen an apparition.”
Shaking my head, I motioned them away from the crowds of students waiting for the Zippers to arrive and take them home. I went to step away but my legs stumbled beneath me and I pitched for the floor until Frankie swept me up into his firm arms. “You know, if you want to be pressed against my chest, all you have to do is ask.” I smacked at his chest but the motion was weak and he strode with me, moving away from the surprised glances of the Metas around us. “What’s going on, Delphine?�
�� he smoothed a hand through my hair as he stood me in a darkened classroom.
A sob built up my throat, clawing its way to the surface and I smothered my face in my hands. “I saw something so terrible.”
Adrianna frowned. “You are going to get in trouble if you keep doing this.” I knew she had my best interests at heart but her words made me straighten my back a little and brush at the tears leaking from the corners of my eyes.
“I was just looking for the party, to make sure it was safe, I thought that’s what you guys wanted?”
Frankie’s face dropped. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean for you to see something that would disturb you.”
“It wasn’t the party,” I snapped. “It was a guy, a human boy, he was stabbed.”
Frankie and Adrianna both gasped, reeling back from me. Violence was unheard of within the Complex. The threat of it simmered under the surface, oozing between the cracks of the two species that lived under the same roof, but nothing had ever happened. It was always quelled before it happened.
But, I knew a boy was going to lose his life, alone and discarded somewhere in a darkened corner of this vast complex.
“Who was it? Did you recognise him?” Adie grabbed my arm and squeezed until it hurt.
“No.” I pressed the image again, it was still vivid within my mind. “I’ve never seen him before.”
“What are we going to do?” Adrianna glanced around like she expected the event to unfold around us.
“I’m going to have to tell the Intra. They have to try to stop it. Maybe their Seers can uncover it if I give them the clues I have.”
Frankie placed his large hands on my shoulder and gave me a rough shake. “No, don’t talk such nonsense. You can’t tell them what you can do. If they knew you were sitting here rifling through people thoughts day in and day out . . .” He hesitated but I knew what he wanted to say before the words fell from his mouth. “It would be the end of you, Delly, the new alliance doesn’t have room for a prophet.”
I backed away from his hold, my chest still aching with the memory of the blood oozing and the startled gaze of the stranger. “You’d rather I let someone die to protect myself.”
Adrianna and Frankie both nodded and said, “Yes,” in unison.
Reeling away, I stared at them with wild eyes. “You think I should let someone die…?” I trailed off, my ears telling me that I hadn’t heard them right.
That boy. He was all I could see.
“What should I do?” I asked, upturning my hands like the answer could just fall in my palms.
Frankie stared off, his eyes focused on a spot within his mind. “A human you say?”
I nodded, the image flashing back at me again and stealing my words.
Adrianna straightened her cotton tunic. “There can’t be that many places a human boy could go. Would you recognise him again?”
Would I recognise him? His face was seared into my mind.
“But you know we don’t go near the humans,” I muttered.
Frankie cocked his head to one side. “Not normally no, but tonight we can.”
I opened my mouth to tell him he was being ridiculous, that the idea was preposterous— this was someone’s life, not an excuse for a party—but the words died before they made it up to my throat.
Because, he could be there.
I could find him and warn him.
My mind made up in a flash, I stared long and hard at my friends. “We are only going to find him, right?”
“Right.” They both nodded. A flash of unease spread across Adrianna’s face as we turned away to find our way back to the Zippers, but out of the corner of my eye I saw Frankie give a little fist bump before he clasped a heavy arm around my shoulder.
Sitting on the edge of my narrow bed I pulled at the rough cotton scrubs. I’d never been given to vanity, but I longed to wear something other than shapeless rough yarn. I’d spent my life in the vestiges of war. All I’d ever known was a dark destruction that sucked the light from the world around me. My parents had tried to settle on Creda, the smallest of the planets, hoping to stay out of sight for the benefit of their two girls, one of which could have been a prophet, but even there we weren’t safe from the thieving fingers of war.
The dad had been taken.
Mother had signed up our interest in the Complex before my true potential had manifested.
And now here I sat, wondering just what I would risk to save someone else’s life. A human life.
I couldn’t stop thinking about him. It was eating away at my insides and I leant over to clutch my tummy tight in the fold of my arms when my communication device notified me of an incoming call and Adrianna’s voice filled my head. “What are you wearing?” she asked. The hologram accompanying her call via the communication device didn’t flash up in front of me and I knew she was trying to keep our conversation under the parental radar.
I groaned. “You know what I’m wearing.”
She chuckled but then sobered the sound when I didn’t respond. “You okay?”
My palms slicked and I wiped them along my legs. “Yes. I’ll be glad when this party is over.”
“I know. Listen, Delly, I’m sure we can find a way to make this work, to help the boy and keep your identity safe.”
“How?” I demanded. “We are just a bunch of kids.”
She made a snorting sound. “A bunch of highly determined kids.” I rolled my eyes. “Are you going to meet us as arranged?”
I nodded but then remembered she couldn’t see me. “Yes, by the— “
“Shh,” she cut me off, “I’ll see you there.”
Her call disconnected and my head was free of her voice. I sighed and blew out a lungful of air, running my fingers through my hair which I tied into a low bun. Okay. It was time to break all the rules.
I could do that . . .if it meant saving another person’s life.
We walked to field eight. Adrianna held my hand tightly grasped in hers as we walked through the crowded recreational areas. Loud shouts of laughter boomed through the doorway of one bar followed by the sound of smashing glass and furniture falling. We sped up and moved ourselves closer to Frankie’s bulking form.
The field was dark, but the sound of music and chatter—it’s tone familiar to me from the futures I’d rifled through during my afternoon lecture—guided us. My heart stuttered wildly. We’d never done anything like this. My legs wobbled and stumbled as I’d snuck passed my mother and father’s closed door on my way out.
We edged around a bend in the crops and found the gathering, a hundred or so forms moved: talking, dancing, mixing.
“Wow.” Adrianna’s eyes were shining wide in the dark.
I pulled on her hand as I felt her lurch forward. “Stick together, Adie, remember?”
She cooled her heels at my side but I could sense the excitement coursing through her—you didn’t need to be a prophet to feel it. Frankie bounced on his heels, but I clamped my hand on his wide arm. “Wait,” I said. I knew I wouldn’t be able to hold him back, this was everything he’d been waiting for. Two years had been a long time without a party for Frankie. I filtered through the images that swirled deep within the recesses of my mind. Like flipping index cards, I could rifle through the futures of all those around me. My head tilted as I concentrated and then my face creased into a frown as I realised that this was just as it looked. A party. A party for Metas and humans together. I shook my head and smiled. “Go on, go.” He gave a yelp of excitement and launched himself towards the crowd and I knew that he would be knee deep and making friends in no time. This was the problem, Metas and humans lived such a separate existence within the confines of the dome no one knew anyone on the ‘other side’. I recognised a couple of Metas from the dining zone and a couple more from lectures. We got waves from some passing water sprites, but I think the greetings were more directed at Adrianna who could make white scrubs look hot, than at me.
Adrianna twitched at my side and after ten minutes
of having her restlessly watch Frankie launch himself into the thick of the party I groaned and told her to go join him.
She hesitated. “Are you sure? What are you going to do?” she asked.
“Keep searching.” Because this was all I had been doing, I’d scanned every face trying to find the boy from my vision. After she’d walked away and I’d watched her sidle up to Frankie’s side and slip into the conversation he was embroiled in, I turned ready to begin my search again. I smacked into a firm wall, and backed away, rubbing my forehead where it had connected against a solid surface.
Expecting an ogre at the least I stepped back, my eyes searching upwards where they landed on the face of a human. The human. I didn’t have to find him, because somehow he’d found me, and he was all in one piece with no blood across his T-shirt and standing upright.
I nearly hugged him but then remembered that just because I knew him from my vision didn’t mean he knew me and we were two entirely different species. Species who didn’t get along.
“Sorry,” I mumbled, my eyes trying very hard not to stare intently, or absorb too closely, just how attractive this male of the human species was. And believe me he was. Tall, as tall as Frankie had been before his most recent growth spurt, with nut-brown hair that fell in waves around his face.
“I’m sorry,” he said. His deep voice had a strange effect on the marrow in my bones, causing it to squish and ooze.
I needed to shake this off, he was a human for goodness sake. I just had to tell him he was going to get stabbed, and then convince him that he didn’t need to tell anyone about my special gift and then walk away.