Chapter 1: A dud
"Four, five, six no that was Eight!" Fester muttered under his breath. "It will take another hour of surveillance before we can be certain".
Fester and I rise from our hiding spot in the hedges , we turn around and head back to the soup kitchen on 23 Street.
We enter through the back and put on our aprons, Fester went back to his station, washing the dishes,The clumsy brute was always meticulous with his cleaning, almost admirable the way he went about it, three small circles at the front and back then 2 zig zags, one plate , two plates, you'd forget that this Dark skinned , greasy haired man could kill you if he accidentally sneezed. I shook my head and went back to cutting the ingredients. Carrots, onions, anything we could throw in there with the mystery meat.
"I can't wait to finally hit it tonight and be done with this place" Cat whispered to me, I whirled around to meet emerald eyes and a Cheshire cat grin, I hated when she snuck up on me like that.I sigh audibly, "wish you'd stop doing that" "doing what?" she said, frowning her face like a hurt puppy, I really hate it when she does that, "you know what, just tap on the shoulder or something, better yet wear a bell so we'll know when you're around!" I barked at her.
She rolled her eyes and twirled her hair, the way she played with those red curls really.... wait, why am I getting irritated so eas... I look up and see her grinning at me again, "Damn it Martin!" I grab the closest pan next to me and hurl it over at sack of potatoes in the right corner of the kitchen , some of the potatoes in the burst with the sudden impact, the integrity of the structure shook and the rest came tumbling down.
"Not cool dude, now I have to clean that up" the fool finally spoke, "then you shouldn't have dodged it" I shot back, "how many times have I told you to keep your grubby hands off my emotions!" "I'm not actually touch-" "you know what I mean!" I cut him short.
He was smiling at me, no wait, its the light bouncing of his burn marks again, poor guy looks quite hurt, I'd pity him if he didn't do crap like this all the time, and it's always at me! Do they think pissing me off is so hilarious? As if reading my mind, Cat was holding back a laugh, her face was turning beet red, her lips trembling and her eyes watered, she looked like she was about to explode, it was starting to piss me off.
"Okay, okay" she said, finally regaining her composure, "woo!" she brought out a paper fan from her pocket, "that was something!" she began to fan herself, "Anyways, Barry how'd it go this time? how many were there tonight?" she asked.
I sighed, this was getting tiresome, we've been coming to this shithole of a soup kitchen for over a year, spending what little money we had from our collective jobs on supplies and food for these leaches on society, no one and I mean one is more excited for this job than me, a cool 8 million 5 ways, and I'd have more than enough to sponsor my book. "there were eight in the room tonight, it might decrease or increase in an hour or so" I finally spoke, Martin, still separating the damaged potatoes from the good ones looked up, "that's five more than last week! Gifted or not we can't take that many watchers at once! it's best we wait for a better chance!" "we've waited long enough!" Cat and I say in unison, I glanced at her and she nodded at me, a somber expression on her face, I smile for once "If we wait any longer that number might triple by next week, The number of raids on hidden warehouses for the GED has increased" I explained, " Thank our fellow gifted for that".
Thinking about it now honestly we should have raided this warehouse 3 months ago, back them we only needed to deal with two watchers, those accursed creatures always humbled me, their glowing yellow eyes, especially the ones on their necks, the way they glared at me always made my stomach groan, even now.... no, now I'm just hungry, I cross over to the otherside of the room, where the trash is, bend over and ravage through its contents, "Yes!" I exclaim as I stuff a tin can into my mouth, yes they were the best , the juices from left over food always added that extra Flavour! I glance over at Cat and Martin, Cat was cooking the soup while Martin was trying his best not to hurl. I wipe my mouth with my sleeve and get up.
"We have to do it tonight!" I said, "but we need more time to-" Martin was voicing his opinion before Cat cut him short "No, no more waiting, my dad can't wait any longer!" "Nor can my sister Cat but-" "Do you want to back out now?" Cat said, with a serious tone for once. "what?" Martin asked incredulously, "Did I stutter? no more waiting, no more delays, no more hoping! we do it TONIGHT! if you can't handle it, you leave now!" " but you need me!" he protested, "You can't do this without me!" Cat chuckles at first, but erupts into full blown laughter, it's so loud even the other Volunteers can hear her, the homeless are staring, and still she's laughing. "Oh boy", I see our supervisor coming over, this is gonna be good.
"What's going on here!?" Mr Peterson cried, "it's not bad enough you're late! You're also clowning around!". Cat stopped laughing and Martin sprung up immediately, I sighed as I prepared to listen to the earful he was about to give us. Despite his temper, Mr Peterson is an okay, no he's a hell of a guy, he looked after us when we needed help, everyone under had nothing but admiration for the man. He helped settle part of the medical bill For Cat's dad, he helped Martin's sister out when she was in debt, the man helped Fester out when his nephew got into a rough spot with the GED, he also listened to some of my rough drafts when he had free time, heck even Jamie had nothing bad to say about him, though they still don't get along. We listened to him in silence, when he had gotten out every word, he sighed " we're going to close early today, by 8:30" Mr Peterson said. "is there a reason?" Martin asked meekly, "It's our wedding anniversary" he said, he smiling, haven't met the Mrs but he has nothing but good words about her, must be nice having someone that makes you go crazy about them like that. "Okay we'll tell Jamie to pick us up early" Cat said, Mr Peterson frowned, "That child is nothing but trouble, you Four need to stay clear of her or one of these days you'll regret it" He said before going back to work.
The next 3 hours were uneventful and quiet, no fights , no quarrels, no nothing, peaceful and quiet, quiet and peaceful just the way I like it, moments like this make the shithole almost wholesome, I lookover at a trio of greasy old men wolfing down the soup we just served them, "Yeah, almost wholesome" I say out loud, Martin glances at me then quickly looks away, I feel bad for him, maybe I was too harsh earlier, yeah but so was Cat! even if she right, it was still too much, I move over to her and try and scold her but before I say anything she cuts me short, "he needed to hear that" she said , "The only one of us that's needed... is Jamie, its her plan and it's thanks to her we can we got to enhance our abilities in the first place".
She was right, each of us was special in our own right, Cat could Vanish from existence if you're not staring at her or thinking about her actively, I had an endless stomach that could contain anything as well as a jaw that could crush anything, Martin could mess with people's emotions and Fester could alter the frequency of anything within a 1 mile radius of him.... but Jamie was the real dangerous one, thanks to her powers, she could enhance the abilities of Gifted and Normie alike, making them push past their limits and unlock their true potential, she could also weaken them and strip them of their abilities, it was a boon for friends and bane for her enemies, and I'm glad I'm not her enemy! "It's almost time, just five more minutes" she said, "Yeah, I saw Jamie's truck at the back, I'll tell Mr Peterson when you're ready" I said.
"I hate this truck", I exclaim as my head bounces of the roof of it, Fester and Martin stay at the back since their too tall, while I'm sandwiched between the two girls, I glance over at Cat, she sticks her tongue out at me, She always does this! I'm taller than her, why can't I just stay at the window sit and poke my head out! then I glance at Jamie.
This tiny Korean woman with short hair, you wouldn't think she's the eldest or the leader of our gang but you wouldn't think a lot of things about her. I'm 26, Cat's 28, Fester is 27 and Martin is 23, Jamie is 33 years old, we all met over 2 years ago, it was at- "we're here" Jamie cuts my train of thought, we stop a few blocks away from a decrepit old building, it doesn't look like anyone's been here for years and I'd believe that if not Fester and I have been scouting this place out for months, if not for the watchers on the 6th floor.
I glance around and notice no one on the street, that's no surprise, coming to this place in the night is suicide, ever since a gang had the bright idea to attack the warehouse for the GED in broad light, the watchers were assigned to attack anything within 5 metres of the building, makes me think we're as crazy for doing the same thing. I glance over at Fester, his green and Grey eyes assure me, he raises his hand at the building next to the warehouse, a 6 storey construction site, I heard it was supposed to be a hotel for some cheapskate, something about better security next to a building full of watchers, too bad the gang ruined it for everyone. Fester squeezes his palm shut and the 6 storey building comes tumbling down at the warehouse.
"No use playing safe or quiet since the watchers will find us out regardless, we need to move now!" Jamie barks out orders as we run towards the wreckage, "Find the baby blue coins, they're worth 2 million a piece! it's in the giant safe with silvery colour!" no sonner she finishes her orders, we hear a hellish scream, the watchers were up and they were mad! "Cat! Fester!" Jamie cried, "Got it" they yell in unison, Cat dissapears from sight whilst Fester knocks back the first three watchers to appear, they're tiny things, smaller than a nine year child, but what they lack for in size, they make for in ferocity and toughness. With their eyes running throughout their body and long sharp Claws, they resemble more demons than Gifted.
As Jamie and I breeze past the action, I glance back and notice Martin confusing the other four that appeared with his powers, though some of them are slashing at thin air as their eyes are being destroyed, I wonder what's doing that, I think I might know but it's not coming to me, I wonder how the four of us are meant to handle this thing, "Stop getting distracted! Cat and the others can handling the watchers!" Jamie barks at me, "Cat...? oh Cat, Cat!" I keep forgetting how her powers work, have to keep thinking about her, else I forget she even exists. I pity the watchers now, even with their ability to see through objects and illusions, it seems Cat's abilities are too much even for them.
We finally reach the centre of the wreckage, we start to rummage through the debris looking for the safe, "Hurry up the GED agents are on their way! we can't waste anymore time!" she barks at me, I'm starting to get ticked off by her attitude, "Loo-" I'm about to tell her off when she cuts me short "There I see it, it's over there" I turn around to the direction she's pointing at. I see the silvery safe she's been talking about, it's so silvery it's almost comical. I race over to the safe and open my mouth wide, I take a large chunk of the safe, as I chew the metal in my mind, I start to wonder where the 8th watcher from earlier today must have gone, no sooner I thought this than the beast jumped out from inside the safe and slashed at my chest, "ngh", I groan as I hold my chest in pain.
It was about to go for a second one when it staggered and got to one knee, I glance back and see Jamie, her eyes glowing green, she's weakening it, "Hurry up and kill it!" I nod my head and climb to my feet, I lunge at the creature ready to chomp off it's head, but it dodges and slashes at my arm, I barely dodge it by the skin of my teeth. I lunge again and it dodges again but this time slashes my leg successfully. "Damn it!" I scream, now desperate I attack erratically and it dodges everytime, each time it gets more refined in its game of tag, I almost give up hope when a piece of stone hits one of it's eyes on it's neck , with the momentary distraction I quickly lunge forward and take a chunk of it's head, then arm, then leg, I don't stop until there's nothing left.
I breath heavy and slump over, Jamie... races past me and goes over to the safe, she inspects its contents, retrieving 4 pieces of of baby blue coins,she glances over at me apologetically before running off... I'm too astonished to even get angry and I'm too weak to even scream, as I lay down in a pool of my own blood ready to die , a strange noise snaps me back, I look around and see a strange object, glowing red sticks out fro a, a... "what the hell is that?" the object in question comes down vertically tearing a hole in space , out of the hole comes out two figures, one dressed lavishly Like an old school military officer, a general and another like a barbarian, The man, the general loomed over me frowning, "It's a dud, it's not this one either" , he said, the barbarian replied "are you sure?" she said, the voice sounded feminine, must be a lady, "Yes, this one is too young, when I learnt they had powers here, I had my doubts but now I'm certain, he's too young!" he said bitterly.
They turned around preparing to leave when I cried out "wait , please!" I use the last of my energy to plead, "save me" , The general pauses for a moment, he glances back at me regarding me with his baby blue eyes.... for a moment t, just a moment, I hoped... He turned back around and continued walking, thankfully the lady stopped him, she stared him straight in the eye, her eyes pleading, he sighed then shot me a look of disdain and ask begrudgingly "what gives your life meaning?" "what?", I'm blindsided by the seriousness of the question, he sighed and asked again "What gives your life meaning? what is your reason for wanting to live?" , I think about it carefully and respond "I want to be a storyteller!"
For a moment, there was silence, the atmosphere was so thick I could cut it with a knife , then there was laughter, the general was laughing but there was no malice in it, it was mirthful and kind, he walked over to me and picked me up , "well said Georgie Gearson" he said, "how do you know my real name?" I asked incredulous, "Once upon a time I used to be your biggest fan" "Who are you?" "My name is Castor Grimes Jnr but you can call me Cas junior for short!" And the then three of us walked into the veil.