After securing accommodations and begging off on Allison’s offer for a tour around town, I finally found my way to the beach. The ocean air was splendid and the summer sun was warm on my skin. I found a place to leave my things and lay out my towel and then closed my eyes and just absorbed the sun for a while.

The tranquility of the beach didn’t last long, however. Word of my arrival had quickly spread to the few truly oblivious souls who didn’t see my ship come in for a landing. Allison’s warnings about the population ratios didn’t prepare me for the reality. Seemingly the entire town turned out for a day at the beach, with all the single young men and not a few of those already spoken for, showing off in a spectacularly hilarious game of beach volleyball.

Allison put her blanket beside mine and jumped right into the game, calling for me to join her. I smiled and ignored her invitation. A short while later, I was glad I did. The two teams put on a show. I was shocked by their athleticism. Nearly every serve looked perfect and each returned a beautiful spike. Despite that, scoring was rare. Each side played such a tight defense I wondered if they would be there until night fell. It was utterly insane and a total delight to watch.

“Kill it, Jason!” one of the girls shouted from nearby.

Just because there weren’t many girls, didn’t mean there were none. Jason jumped up as his teammate set the ball for him. His arm came down slamming it hard straight toward the ground. Allison was there, her forearm under it and the volley continued to the cheers of the other folks watching nearby.

“They are all really good,” I commented.

Liam looked over at me and nodded. “They play a lot.”

It didn’t sound overly convincing, but I saw very few modern entertainment options as I walked through the small town. It made some sense I guess. The weather was great and a swim after all that would be perfect. I shrugged off the whispers of doubt at his comment and went back to enjoying the game.

One of the men jumped up and did a flip, kicking the ball with his foot for a spike. He landed with a cocky grin and winked in my direction. I laughed as I shook my head. That wasn’t even the craziest thing I saw them doing. This is insane!

Allison swapped out with someone else she ran over laughing and drenched in sweat.

“Okay, what’s the gag,” I asked her. “How are you all so good?”

Her smile froze. “I, um…”

“Go take a dip, Ali,” Liam said.

She bobbed a quick nod and hurried off with a quick forced smile. I frowned as Liam sat down on her towel beside me. Okay, something weird is going on here…

“Ginny, what I’m about to tell you, I say in confidence. Can you keep a secret?”

“Sure I can, whether I will or not depends on what you have to say,” I replied with a smirk.

Liam scowled at that and then took a deep breath. “Penbrook is special. You know those monkeys we skirmished with this morning?”

I nodded.

“They aren’t the only dangerous beast around here. They are tough to kill and heal fast. Just a couple of days and those gunshot wounds will be gone.”

“You mentioned that. So?” I asked.

He eyed me carefully. “If what I’m about to tell you gets out, this place will be swarmed with thousands of people. All this…” He gestured around. “Our peaceful town will be swallowed up in the chaos.”

I was still frowning and waiting as patiently as I could. Liam had a far-off look in his eye and I tramped down on my impatience. He finally got to the point.

“Despite their regeneration, they can be killed. Consuming the meat of such monsters imparts a portion of their properties to us. The monkeys are just one type of monster in this part of the world. Benedict fishes for a saltwater pike that increases agility. Allison leads the hunts for a blue darting swallow to increase our reaction speed. There are monsters that when consumed increase nearly every part of our physiology. If word gets out, this virgin world will be ravaged by everyone. We’ve been out of contact with most of the planet since we settled here, but before that, all the elders agreed to restrict the knowledge of these things.”

I was speechless. No wonder they are impossibly good at volleyball! How long have they been consuming the meat? Do the benefits go away if they stop? I had so many questions I didn’t even know where to start. And this is a planet-wide phenomenon? Incredible!

“I’d hoped to get to know you better before I told you. I knew it was inevitable you’d find out.”

I swallowed. This was a closely guarded secret. “Did you discuss killing me?” I asked.

He gave me a flat look and then nodded. “It was suggested.”

“And?”

“Rejected. Only a few voted against you.”

I wondered when they had time for that, but given nearly the whole town showed up soon after I came to the beach, the answer seemed pretty obvious. “Um, better not tell me who,” I said.

He chuckled. “I wasn’t planning on it. They won’t give you any problems. If something happens to you, my list of suspects would be very small. They would lose more than their place among us if they attacked you.”

I snorted. “I wasn’t worried.” Okay, maybe a little, but I can handle myself. I wasn’t one hundred percent convinced though. O had no idea how my abilities would stack up against theirs.

His eyebrows rose. “That seems… odd.”

“I have secrets of my own,” I replied. “I tend not to show them off to strangers if I can help it though,” I said with a light smile and slight inclination of my head toward the players.

He sighed. “Yes. We haven’t found a monster that imparts intelligence that overrules hormones yet.”

I burst out laughing as a light smile pulled at Liam’s lips.

Jason and Martin ran over, both had switched out with others and were slick with sweat and had wide grins on their faces.

“Hey Ginny, want to go for a swim?” Martin asked.

I glanced at Liam and he nodded, indicating the conversation was over. I stood and smiled. “Sure!” The boys' smiles widened even further. “We’ll talk more later, Liam.”

“Don’t go too deep,” Liam warned as we ran for the water.

“We won’t, Mr. Cross!” the boys called back, but his warning was likely more for me than them.

“Nice suit!” Jason said.

“Thanks! Your game was fun to watch.”

“More fun to play,” Martin said. “You should jump in there later.”

I laughed. “No thanks. I like my face how it is. Unbruised and attached to my shoulders.”

Martin and Jason slowed as we reached the water. It was pleasant in the shallows but cooler as we waded deeper.

Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

“Hey Ginny,” Martin called.

“Yes? Ah!” I screamed as he kicked the water and splashed me right in the face.

“Ha!” Allison laughed from further out. “Are you going to let him get away with that?”

I stood there in shock for a moment as Martin smirked. Jason was grinning widely. I dove forward, cupping both my hands together, and as I fell forward into the water, my arms extended, sending a perfect sheet of water straight into Martin’s face.

“Ha!” I shouted.

He started coughing and sputtering. We all stopped as his coughing continued.

“You okay?” Jason asked, snickering at his friend’s dilemma.

Martin was trying to reassure us with a waved hand, but with his coughing, he wasn’t very convincing.

He finally managed to respond. “I’m okay,” he wheezed.

“You sure sound okay, bro.” Jason laughed.

I was a little more concerned but… “That will teach you to pick on me.”

Allison came over as he recovered. “Blast girl, I wasn’t sure at first, but you can handle yourself in a fight.”

“Water fight,” I reminded her. “Kinda different from a gunfight.”

“Maybe it's a good thing she didn’t play volleyball with us,” Martin added.

I snickered. “No way, you’d spike that ball into my face.” I’d seen him slam the ball right into one of his opponent's faces.

“That was Jackson, and I only did that because he’s a jerk.”

“Still looked painful.”

Jason nodded. “Good.”

I was clearly missing something.

“Come one, let's swim Ginny. Go find something else to do,” Allison told the boys.

“Hey,” Jason protested.

It finally grew deep enough that I had to swim. Allison was taller so we went a little deeper. The boys both followed a few minutes later.

“I thought I told you to find something else to do,” Allison said.

“We did,” Jason said. “We’re going to play monkey in the middle.”

“Don’t you need a third person for that?” I asked.

“Yup, you two get to be the monkeys!” Jason said cheerfully.

I snorted as Allison rolled her eyes. “Just ignore them.”

We chatted while they tossed a ball back and forth. Allison’s boyfriend came to join us after a while and stole most of her attention. Jason and Martin were happy to talk though.

“So do the effects from the meat wear off?” I asked.

“Um, I’m not sure if we’re supposed to talk about that,” Jason said.

“Liam told me,” I assured them. “I couldn’t help but notice how good you all were at volleyball.”

With a little coaxing and pleading eye, Martin finally caved. “It doesn’t work like that,” he said. “The changes are permanent. Liam says that it makes changes to the DNA and the more you eat the more powerful you can get. The scouting teams find the rarest animals too. Some even—”

“Martin!” Allison snapped.

He blushed and ducked his head.

“Let Liam explain. We discussed this.”

Things were just getting interesting too. I wondered what he’d been about to say. “Sounds like I should go talk to Liam then,” I said.

I swam toward the shore until I could walk. I loved how my suit shed the water once I was out and dried quickly in the air and sun. I jogged over to Liam and lay on the sand. My skin was still damp, but I didn’t mind. The warm sand felt great.

“Ginny, how is the water?” Liam asked.

“See for yourself!” I said with a grin.

He shook his head and chuckled. “You kids… I swear if I was twenty years younger…”

I laughed. “Only twenty?”

“Fine, forty.”

“I’m flattered, but I actually didn’t come over here to talk about me.”

He didn’t respond to that aside from chuckling.

“I was talking with some of the others about the beast meat but I’m a little confused. Maybe you could clarify some things?”

He rolled his eyes. “If you’re on a fishing expedition, you should talk to Benedict. He’s the fisherman around here.”

“Oh come on! …am I really that easy to read?” I asked.

“Not really, I’m just excellent at judging people.”

“Oh? Why haven’t you kicked me out of town then?” I asked with a challenging glint in my eye.

He stared at me for a long moment. I was starting to feel awkward under his gaze when he sighed and lowered his eyes. He spoke quietly. “Ginny, despite what you think, you’re not a bad person.” I opened my mouth to object, he clearly had no idea. “Not when compared to the rest of humanity I mean. Everyone has flaws, but I don’t need any special powers to see you’re not a malicious person.”

I frowned. The breeze played with strands of my drying hair. “Does that mean you have some ability to tell if someone is… malicious?” I asked.

He sighed and shook his head with a bemused look of exasperation. “We’re talking about you right now, Ginny.”

“I know I’m a hot topic around here, and sexy too, but I’m more interested in you.”

“I’m flattered,” he said, straightening and taking a deep breath. “Truly, I am, but you’re a bit young for me.”

I blushed. Hard. “T-that’s not what I meant and you know it!” I punched him lightly on the shoulder as I tried to compose myself.

He rocked slightly. He was surprisingly dense and muscular under his loose Hawaiian-style shirt.

Liam smirked with a mischievous glint in his eye.

“Don’t,” I warned. I didn’t need to hear a pun about hitting on him.

He laughed. “If you want to learn more of our secrets, I’ll need you to promise not to share our secrets with anyone else.”

I bit my lip as I considered his words. “How do you know I wouldn’t be lying?”

“There are few assurances in life, Ginny. I can either choose to trust you or accept that you’ll probably poke around and trick the information out of one of the young saps around here anyway. I’d rather hear you give your word.”

“Okay…” I swallowed. “I promise not to tell.” I meant it too.”

He smiled lightly. “Let’s go for a walk.”

“A walk?”

“Some things are easier to show than tell and we’ll have a bit more privacy. Not everything I’m going to tell you is known by everyone here.”

“Wait, what?” I paused. “Why would you tell me secrets even your own people don’t know?”

“It’s a matter of judgment, Ginny.”

I snorted. “Oh dear, you’re losing your marbles, old man. I have spectacularly poor judgment. It's like my thing.”

“Old man? Really?”

I shrugged. “You said it, not me.”

“When did I—” He snorted. “Poor judgment and impudence are both the prerogative of youth. Generally speaking. I see you’re heavily saddled with both. You at least recognized one of your ailments.”

“Which one is that?” I asked, giving him some cheek.

“Your mouth is going to get you into trouble someday, girl.”

“Oh, it has already. Keeps life interesting though. Trouble is literally my name though. I’m like a magnet for it.”

“That’s positively reassuring,” he said dryly.

“You were about to tell me some secrets?” I prompted.

“I’m having second thoughts.”

“Too late, you already got my hopes up!”

He sighed and shook his head. “Your parents must have had their hands full with you.”

Something on my face must have revealed something because he stopped. “Oh, Ginny, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean anything by it. …Did you lose them?”

I swallowed the sudden lump in my throat. It was only made worse by the obvious concern in his eyes. I gave a jerky nod. A building pressure seemed to force my mouth open. “They dumped me on the sidewalk in front of an orphanage with nothing but a scrap of paper with my name on it.” I had no idea why I was telling him this, I didn’t talk about it. Ever. Now that I’d started though, my mouth seemed to vomit up my story without restraint.

“They dumped me like trash on the sidewalk. Never met them at all. All I know about them is they were horrible weirdos. Who names their kid, Gypsy? That’s a horrible name. I grew up in the slums. Everyone picked on me. Even my friends used me. M-my best friend at the time used me to get close to the… it’s stupid.” I cursed. My fist clenched and I felt a wave of hot anger rise within me.

My first real crush, Jordan Davis, and my best friend Cindy—they had both used me. She used me to get close to him, knowing full well I liked him, and then tore me down with lies behind my back. When I confronted her, she just laughed and called me stupid. “It was agonizing pretending to like you. You’re so annoying,” she said.

He wasn’t much better. He got close to me to gain access to the building I was working in at the time. That was my first job. A real legitimate job. Then he stole my electronic key card to break in and rob the place leaving me to take the blame. A year of hell in juvenile detention had destroyed any chance of holding down a normal job. No one wanted to hire a convict. Even if my record was ‘clean’ once I came of age, word got around.

I’d met some unsavory people when I was locked up. One took me under their wing and helped refine my hacking skills. When I got out, I’d hoped to use them honestly but hunger quickly drove me to steal, and then, well, the rest as they say is history. I’d already seen the bottom and it wasn’t so scary anymore. The worst that could happen, had. So the thrill of the heist took me and I dove in head first. In a way, it was those two who’d set me on my path, but that didn’t prevent me from despising them.

When I surfaced from my thoughts, I realized my mouth had been venting nonstop and my eyes and face were wet with tears. I don’t know how long I sobbed. Liam for his part, held me, likely completely baffled by some weird girl with random bouts of hysteria. It was weird, but he put me at ease, and with his strong arms around me, I felt oddly safe. I wondered if that was what it felt like to have a father… For the life of me though, I couldn’t figure out what his angle was. Why the heck did he care about me? I was just some silly stranger.