by Rose Shababy
Kasey pulled a key from his pocket and we followed as he opened the door to the warehouse and went inside. An enclosed staircase ran along the left side of the warehouse, leading to an upper level. Someone had installed a drop ceiling, although it still hung far above our heads. The bottom half of the warehouse had a dirt floor and several garage doors lined up on one side. Several cars and a van were parked just inside the doors. Another corner of the open space housed a shop of sorts, and I could see pegboard partitions with tools hanging from hooks. Shop lights hung from the ceiling. The rest of the space was wide and empty.
Kasey waved a hand toward the huge open space. “This is where we practice and hone our abilities.”
“What does that mean?” I asked.
“Some of us have abilities that touch the physical world,” Avery answered with a gruff tone. “We need space to practice.”
I stared for a moment, trying to imagine what that really meant.
“It is time for you to meet our friends,” Kasey said and indicated the staircase. “This way.”
“How many people live here?” I asked as we climbed the stairs.
“There are five of us so far.” Kasey smiled at me. “I’m hoping there will be six now.”
“Are you asking me to move in with you?” I couldn’t help teasing. I placed the back of a hand to my forehead. “This is so sudden. We only just met!”
Kasey laughed with what I was coming to realize was his usual abandon, but Avery was the one who answered.
“It’s better if we stick together,” he said, his voice laced with anger.
I ignored him and focused on Kasey. “Is this your place?”
He shrugged. “Technically. It was in terrible condition when I purchased it, and everyone has helped with repairs, so I feel that it belongs to all of us.”
I looked around at the worn siding and creaky stairs. Everything was so ramshackle I couldn’t imagine what that “terrible condition” had looked like.
We reached the top of the stairs to find another door, only Kasey didn’t need a key for this one. He opened it and turned to me. “Welcome to our home.”
The door opened into a huge main room. A half wall partition separated the living room from the kitchen, and across the room was a hallway with a number of doors on either side. Old furniture and a television sat in one half of the main room and they’d tried to dress it up with a few plants. The kitchen was spare but clean. Everything was as dingy as the downstairs had been. I looked at Kasey and smirked. “This is your Hall of Justice?”
He laughed again.
Avery glared at me. “What does your place look like?” he scowled. “Please tell me you live in the Taj Mahal before you open your smart mouth.”
“Who are you, my mother?” I snarled. “Or are you just the fun Nazi out to ruin a good time? Or is it just me that brings out the worst in you?” I put a hand on my hip. “Maybe this is this how you act around all girls? What’s next? Are you gonna pull my hair, or call me nasty names in front of the other boys?”
He made a noise that sounded suspiciously like a growl and started toward me.
“Avery,” Kasey said his name softly. Avery stopped in his tracks, turning to look at him. They stared at each other for a few moments before he sighed and changed direction, marching down the hallway.
“Please sit anywhere,” Kasey said and I picked the sagging couch. “Avery will be back in a moment with the others.”
“He has no sense of humor.”
“Actually,” Kasey grinned, “he usually does. I have never seen him react to anyone the way he reacts to you. You react to him as well.”
I felt me face heat up. “Yeah, cause he’s a dick.”
“Hmm.” Kasey looked at me knowingly and I felt like a windowpane.
“Okay, so he’s hot,” I conceded with an eye roll. “Any woman would notice.”
“Mm-hmm.” Kasey lifted an eyebrow and I felt the urge to connect to him again, to show him that any attraction I felt for Avery was surface at best. I reached out and took his hand, lacing my fingers with his, the spark jumping between us. I could feel my face flush and I felt like my world had been turned upside down. When had I ever acted this way with a man?
“He doesn’t have this,” I almost whispered, squeezing his hand in mine and hoping that he could feel the truth in my words.
His face softened and I knew that he did. He opened his mouth to say something, then looked toward the hallway and then back at me. He let go of my hand. “The others are coming.”
****
The room filled with people, or so it seemed, and I swallowed my nerves as I studied them and they studied me back.
There were two women, identical except for the clothes they wore and their hairstyles. They had dark ebony skin, high cheekbones and generous lips. One wore her hair in long braids that fell almost to her waist and men’s pajamas. Her sister wore her hair in wild curls that mushroomed out around her face and a silky, shockingly fuchsia nightgown and matching robe. They were both beautiful.
A man held the hand of the woman with wild curls. With his goatee and hemp necklace, he looked like any one of the stoner hippies that walked around Seattle. He had on a pair of cotton shorts and a tank top, and while he wasn’t unattractive, I could have walked by him on the street every day and never noticed him. That didn’t stop the wild-haired woman from glancing at him with something akin to adoration.
She rubbed her eyes and looked at Kasey. “This her?” she asked brusquely.
Nice to meet you too, I thought as I bristled at her rudeness. I looked at her with scorn. “No, really. The pleasure is all mine.” I looked at Kasey. “You know, I’m getting tired of all your friends acting like assholes. Don’t forget, you came looking for me.”
Wild-hair looked at her twin, her voice hardening as she spoke. “Did she just call me an asshole?”
“Shall we sit down?” Kasey asked, and even though his voice was light, the group obeyed immediately. It became suddenly apparent to me that he was in charge of this little group. I found that it didn’t surprise me.
Kasey sat next to me and smiled reassuringly. “Blue, let me introduce you properly to my friends.” He held out a hand, indicating the hippie dude. “This is Ashton Grey.”
Ashton smiled warmly at me, in sharp contrast to his girlfriend whose hand he still held. “It’s good to meet you, Blue. Call me Ash.”
“This is Valentina,” he indicated Wild-Hair with a hand, then her sister with the braids, “and Esme Love.”
The woman with the braids smiled at me. ”Don’t mind Val. She’s all bark and no bite.”
Val glared at Esme. “Thanks for having my back, oh, loving sister.”
Esme just rolled her eyes.
“Everyone,” Kasey addressed them all with a sweep of his eyes, “this is Blue Brennan.”
I was surprised that he knew my last name, and my eyes shot to his, but it was a momentary lapse. How silly of me. Of course he knows my name. He probably knows my bra size too.
Kasey gave me a toothy grin and I knew he’d heard my thoughts. I wanted to be mad at him, but found my resolve wavering. I still didn’t like him reading my thoughts all the time, but I found it hard to stay mad at him. He couldn’t help being what he was. Besides, being around him seemed to quell my anger at pretty much everything. Almost everything, I realized as I looked around the group and saw Avery watching us with a dark expression on his face. I ignored him.
“So, you guys are like the Superfriends?” I mocked.
“Yeah,” Val said through clenched teeth. “Me and Esme, we’re the goddamn Wonder Twins.” She cocked her head, challenging me with her gaze.
“Everyone here has abilities.” Kasey ignored our little exchange and looked at me. “Would you like a demonstration?”
Why not? I thought. “Sure,” I answered with a shrug. It was hard to take this all seriously. I didn’t doubt Kasey, and I didn’t really doubt Avery, but I couldn’t imagine what t
he others could do.
Ash stood up and crossed the room to a bushy ficus tree in a large pot filled with decorative rocks. He reached out and grasped a leaf in his fingers, closing his eyes and humming a bit.
I held back a snicker. “If you want them to grow, I think they prefer classical music. Or you might try actual singing.”
“Shh.” Kasey held a finger to his lips. I shushed.
The next thing I knew, the plant was growing. I mean, really growing. Several new, thin trunks shot up from the dirt, braiding themselves around the original. They all pushed toward the ceiling, growing several feet in a matter of seconds. Thin, whip-like branches shot outward and upward and every direction, fresh leaves uncurling all over, all growing until they were so long they trailed across the wooden slats of the floor. The ones nearest Ash twined around his arm and the fingers touching the leaf, finally coming to a rest with a slight shudder, and what I could swear was a sweet sigh. I stared. The plant was easily three times as big as when he first touched it.
Everyone in the small group grinned as they watched me and I could only imagine the look on my face.
Ash bent and whispered to the tree, and the thin branches unraveled from his arm with a mournful breath.
“Shit. That was amazing,” I said lamely, staring at him with new eyes. Amazing? That didn’t begin to describe what I had just witnessed. I shook my head with wonder. “I don’t know what to say. Can you do that with any plant?”
“Yes,” he answered. “But it’s not just plants. Here, let me show you.” He glanced at Avery and Kasey. “One of you have a pocket knife?”
Avery nodded and pulled one out of the pocket of his jeans.
“Let me, “Val said, and took the knife from him. Her eyes never left mine as she unfolded it and, without flinching, slashed it across her palm.
“What the hell!” I shot up off the couch as the wound quickly filled with blood. The rest of the group stood watching, and I stopped as Ash reached out and grasped her palm in his. When he removed his hand a few seconds later, the cut was gone and the only evidence she’d hurt herself at all was the fresh blood on both of their palms.
I sat back down, stunned. “That’s just … I don’t even know what to say,” I repeated lamely.
“It goes beyond that,” Ash told me, “but that’s the best demonstration I can give you indoors without causing damage to the building. Maybe tomorrow or the day after we can go out and I can show you more?”
“I think I’d like that,” I answered. I looked around the room, all my smart ass comments gone. My gaze settled on Val and Esme. “What about you two?”
Esme shrugged. “I don’t have any powers.”
“That’s bullshit,” Val retorted. “You’re like, a superbrain.”
“That’s not a power.”
“The hell it isn’t.”
Kasey held up a hand. “We have had this argument over and over, but now is not the time to have it again. Besides, Esme, you know I agree with Val. So does Avery. We have been looking into the minds of others for years, and yours is unlike any we have ever looked into.”
“What do you mean?” I glanced at him, my curiosity getting the better of me.
He turned to me. “Esme’s mind moves at speeds that I cannot follow. Even now, while she is watching us, talking to us, she is making a list of parts to build her new computer, reviewing the data from recent samples she took of our DNA, reciting Homer’s Odyssey to herself, and countless other tasks. I cannot follow all her thoughts because I do not have the capacity for thought that she has. She also has an eidetic memory.”
“What’s that?” I glanced at Esme who tried to look sheepish. And failed.
“She remembers everything,” Val answered, her voice tinged with pride.
“Everything?”
Kasey nodded. “Literally everything. Esme remembers being in the womb, and everything that has happened to her since. Every word in every book she has ever read. Every person she has ever met. And not only does she remember everything, but she is able to use that information and apply it to any given situation. In many ways, she is the most amazing person among us.”
I looked at Esme with new eyes as she blushed from Kasey’s praise. “So, you’re like the smartest person on the planet? A human computer?”
“I wouldn’t go that far, but yes, something like that,” she answered. “Would you like to see my lab?”
“You have a lab?” I stared down the hallway curiously, wondering what marvels were hidden behind its doors.
“That is a good idea, but perhaps a little later,” Kasey said. “I believe it is Val’s turn.”
“What about Blue?” Val lifted her chin and challenged me with her eyes.
He sighed a little, the first sign of impatience he’d shown since I met him. “Blue was right when she said we came to her. It is our job to prove ourselves first, not hers.”
“Fine.” She rolled her eyes and looked at Avery. “Will you help me?”
He grinned for the first time. “Sure. It’ll give me a chance to show some of what I can do too.”
Avery looked around the room until his eyes fell on the ficus tree Ash had touched. Suddenly, the top layer of decorative rocks flew out of the pot, zinging across the room toward Val.
Her hands flew out in front of her body and small spheres of energy shot out of her palms. As the energy burst from her hands, the lights in the room flickered and I felt a slight wave of fatigue. Each glowing orb hit the rocks flying toward her head, and the rocks exploded the second they made contact.
I ducked to the floor, covering my head to avoid being hit in the face by stone debris.
I heard Val laughing and looked up. The air was filled with a sparkling dust that floated gently to the floor. She had completely disintegrated the stones.
“That’s just the tip of the iceberg,” Val drawled as she looked down her nose at me.
I stared at her in amazement. “How the hell did you do that?”
“I draw energy from things around me. I draw from the electrical wires that run through the walls, from living things, anything with any kind of energy.”
“Is that why I feel so tired all of a sudden?” I climbed off the floor and sat down on the couch again.
Val nodded, a smug look on her face. “I could draw every ounce of energy from you just like that,” she told me with a snap of her fingers.
I took in her expression and not-so-veiled threat. It had become clear all too quickly that Val and I were very much alike, and I wondered if others found me as irritating as I found her. There can only be one queen bee, I thought and didn’t even try to bite back the snarky comment waiting on the tip of my tongue. “You must have a bitch of an electric bill every time you do that.”
A few snickers echoed around the room. Val glared at me and I knew if I wanted to be part of this group I was going to have to try to make nice. So the question was, did I want to be part of the group?
“You think this is a joke?” she sneered. “How about you? What the fuck can you do?”
I wanted to punch her in the throat. Fuck playing nice, I decided. Fuck being part of this group. Kasey was the only one I really wanted. I crossed my legs and sat back, arching my back so my ample chest thrust forward, and swept my hair out of my eyes with a delicate finger. I knew I looked good and I stifled a grin as I saw the eyes of all three men in the room widen. “I don’t claim to do anything,” I answered with a pout while I played with my hair. “Unless being hotter than shit is a superpower.” I shrugged as I peered up through my eyelashes. “Seems a lot more useful than having sparklers for fingers.” I waggled my fingers exaggeratedly.
“Bitch!” Val lunged for me and the lights in the room flickered wildly. I congratulated myself for not even flinching as Ash caught her in his arms and began whispering in her ear. She breathed heavily, but sat down in an easy chair, while he sat on the arm holding her hand.
Avery glared at me while Kasey looked on with an un
happy expression. I tried to imagine what he must think of me.
I’m sorry, Kasey, I thought, knowing he’d pick up on it. I didn’t like fighting but it was an automatic response. I’d been fighting my entire life and that wasn’t about to change just because I met a guy. The usual disappointment I felt at myself and my shitty behavior started to well up and I pushed it away.
Kasey nodded slightly and turned to look at the others. “We will accomplish nothing if we fight amongst ourselves. Shall we move on?”
The others nodded and mumbled acquiescence before he continued, acting as though the incident had never occurred.
“Blue is a timekeeper,” he offered, staring pointedly at Val.
“What does that mean exactly?” Ash asked.
“It means she can manipulate time, although to what extent, we do not know. Yet.”
“Can you show us?” Esme asked, looking at me with interest.
I shrugged again, this time for real. “I don’t know. I don’t even know if I can do it. Kasey says I can,” I looked at him and he smiled encouragingly, “but I don’t know.”
Kasey looked at each member of the group. “Blue is very new to her abilities. It will be up to us to help her harness them.”
“Why should we?” Val asked with an ugly tone.
“Because we need her.”
Val let out a humorless bark of laughter. “What do we need with a newbie who doesn’t even believe in herself?”
“Because I have had a vision,” Kasey answered, his voice hard and low. “It is a vision of great danger that only we can stop, and Blue is the key. Without her, we, all of us, will fall.”
OOPS, I DID IT AGAIN
A vision? I wondered if the vision he spoke of had anything to do with the images I’d seen in the club and the faceless man stalking the redhead who might or might not be me. I thought of asking, but sat back instead and kept my mouth shut as I watched the room erupt with voices.