Rebecca suggested that we go back to the bar for new information, but I didn’t know what more information there was. What could there possibly be that Abigail hadn’t already gotten for herself? Even though we were told this was an exercise—an important one, granted—I wanted to come away with something useful. Phoning it all in just because it wasn’t “real” seemed like a good way to piss off someone who was effectively unkillable. More than that, I wanted to help her out after everything she’d been through and for the opportunities she gave my family. I had to be there when my parents were buried, and that was hard enough. I couldn’t imagine the agony of having to bury your own child. She’d done enough for my family that doing my best on her exercises was the least I could do.
“You two okay there?” Katie was still the only one manning the bar. I glanced around for the guy who tried to start trouble with us, letting out a sigh of relief when I saw he wasn’t anywhere to be found. “Don’t worry about that guy. I had security escort him out. How’d you stop his power like that? Blockers are pretty rare and even rarer at gatherings with other Anomalies. They’re something of outcasts in this community of rejects.”
I glanced at Rebecca, who shifted uncomfortably in place. When people knew about her power to completely remove an Anomaly, they often avoided touching her at all costs. They didn’t even want to get within an arm’s length of her if they could avoid it. If they shook her hand and then found out, they wouldn’t shake her hand again. I knew that it bothered her, even without her telling me, and when she was bothered, I was bothered. Everyone with an Anomaly was scary to some extent. Rebecca shouldn’t have been ostracized because of hers. She didn’t have to be treated like she carried a plague that spread by touch.
“If I touch someone, I can take away their powers,” she finally said with a sigh. She held up her hand to let Katie see the mark that covered her palm like a tattoo. “This appears on them when I do.”
“Huh, sounds like some kind of seal. I wonder if it can be broken, you know, like in a book or a game.” Katie wiped her hands on her hips and placed the palm of her hand up against Rebecca’s. When the surprise faded after a couple of seconds, Rebecca pulled her hand back. Katie looked at her hand and frowned. A bunch of bubbles flew out from her fingertips, some making it to the ceiling before popping into nothing. “You have control over it! Awesome, I’ve never seen something like that at one of these parties. Last year, we had a guy who had a sphere around him that dampened powers and made people feel sick. He hadn’t figured out how to turn it off, so he was escorted off within an hour.”
“Back up a second.” I sat down at the bar and rested my chin in one hand. “Give me your finest clear soda. On the rocks. Yep, it’s been one of those days.”
“Oh boy, I’m going to puke if you keep talking like that.” When Katie handed my requested drink over, she launched a few harmless bubbles at my face. Strangely, they carried a scent that reminded me of the cheap shampoo that Shelly would regularly buy, an overpowering mixture of berries and vanilla. I had a few questions I wanted to ask about the bubbles. If Lori had been next to me, she would have been asking if Katie could control the scent of the bubbles, how big she could make them, if they had any other special properties, and anything else she could think of. Only remembering we were supposed to gather some information kept my brain on track.
“What would you have done if I accidentally took your powers away?” Rebecca slowly sat down, still having trouble grasping why anyone would just touch her hand like that. She placed her palms down on the sleek, dark bar.
“Not shoot bubbles out of my hands, I guess.” Katie handed her a small glass of ice water, shrugging after Rebecca took a huge sip. “I’m a bartender for plenty of reasons. Tricks that go over well at my little cousin’s birthday party aren’t some of those reasons.”
“So, you’re not here because of your powers?” My throat had been dryer than I thought. The soda Katie gave me felt like I was drinking lava with a lemon-lime aftertaste. “Speaking of powers, how did you know that guy was going to use them? How’d you even know he had them?”
“I’m here because of my powers, but I get on this fancy little boat twice a year because I’m good at bartending. People like having superpowered staff here. Makes it easier to keep everything running smoothly. No one has to know my Anomaly is just making little bubbles appear.” Katie winked at both of us. After taking a quick look to make sure no one needed her attention, she pulled out a stool and sat across from Rebecca, placing her elbows down on the bar and resting her head in her hands. “Working this shindig a few times gave me an eye for when someone is bluffing about having powers and when someone is bluffing about using them. Guys like that are everywhere, Anomaly or not, so I’ve had to wise up to when one of those losers is a real danger.”
“Wow, that’s scary.” Rebecca’s eyes widened and she shook her head. “When I got my invitation, I thought this would be like...what are they called? Frat parties? I thought it would be like that.”
“In a lot of ways it is. Direct invites are rare.” Katie’s eyebrows furrowed while she examined Rebecca’s unchanging expression. “Who invited you?”
“Some theater dude I share a class with. Have to do monthly meetups and do some group work.” Rebecca rolled her eyes at the nerve of her fake college course and classmates. “He loves his drama, so he told everyone that there’d be a party for the ‘real special’ people. He was so unsubtle that I’m surprised the idiot didn’t start showing off his powers in the middle of class.”
That answer seemed to satisfy Katie enough and stopped her from digging further, not that she seemed interested in prying the truth out of my girlfriend. “There’s always some chatterbox or motormouth who just gives up the entire thing. The party’s vagueness and the security keep it under wraps, but damn if those people don’t try to make it the biggest party of the year for all their little college buddies. Sorry, two biggest parties of the year.”
“Why is it so vague? Curiosity finally won out against me. A little begging finally won out against this guy to be my plus-one.” Rebecca leaned against my shoulder to sell it some. “Most of my class didn’t care about it or thought the guy was too weird. The more he started talking about it, the more I just had to know what it was about. Who puts this whole thing together? Must be a nightmare to pay for all this.”
Finally, Katie showed a little hesitation. It wasn’t until Rebecca asked about who ran the whole thing that our nice bartender clammed up. Up until then, she was more than happy to chat. We already knew going in that these Sentinel people were secretive, so we were still hoping to get any info we could. Anything would have been better than nothing. It looked like Katie was trying to figure out how to navigate the verbal minefield she was standing right in front of.
“I don’t really know who puts it all together,” she finally said. She freed up her hands and started twirling her thumbs. I couldn’t tell if she was lying or not. Maybe not lying, though I was certain we weren’t going to get the whole truth out of her. “Despite their size and flair, the parties are kept so secret because, allegedly, people are recruited here.”
“Recruited?” I tried so hard to sound just the right amount of surprised from the revelation. I wanted to sound a little naive too. “Recruited for what? Are they being looked at for, like, a job or school?”
“I don’t know.” She was definitely telling the truth on that one, or she was a hell of a liar. Either way, I was convinced that Katie didn’t know anything worthwhile about the Sentinels. “I’ve only heard whispers from regular partygoers. People who’ve been going to these things or working them for years. Whoever’s looking for people with powers wants strong ones, so people like me aren’t worth anything to them.”
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“Hey, if you shot off enough bubbles in one go right in someone’s face, you could seriously disorient them.” I was trying to play off what she was saying, mostly because I didn’t want to appear uninterested. I still didn’t feel like I was getting anywhere or learning anything new.
“Yeah, sure, I’ll keep that in mind.” Katie pointed directly at Rebecca. “But this one is one that I’d worry about.”
That got my attention and sent a shiver down my spine. Rebecca’s face didn’t betray much. This kind of thing was hardly uncharted territory for her. She was taken away from her daughter to be kept in stasis because of her power and we rescued her for the same reason, even though we didn’t think she was a person before we made our way inside the Tomb. Her ability to completely take away someone’s Anomaly meant she’d always have a huge target on her back if her power got out.
“Look, I’ve never heard of someone being kidnapped at one of these things. Trying to take someone who can shoot lasers out of their eyes or something can be a risky move, so as far as I know, everything is genuine recruitment. People can decline or accept, but again, these are all just whispers.” Katie gave the warmest, most reassuring smile she could, still coming out just a little forced. “Since you used your power, I’d keep an eye out, just to be safe. If the wrong kind of people knew what you could do, there would be a manhunt for you.”
“Trust me, I’ve been down that road before,” Rebecca said sadly, staring behind Katie’s head at nothing in particular.
We spent the next little while socializing with and chatting with Katie when she was between other patrons. She seemed to gravitate back to us whenever she got the chance. Hearing the drunk yelling, near fights, and catcalling she had to handle made it clear why. Rebecca and I weren’t going to give her a hard time, and it seemed like she genuinely enjoyed some real conversation with people who weren’t wasted out of their minds. I think the three of us all helped each other with making the party a little more bearable.
Sadly, we had to say our goodbyes. We needed to regroup with Lori and the others, so we just told Katie we were interested in exploring other parts of the boat and party. She scoffed and wondered how much we were going to enjoy the party since we were sticks in the mud at her bar. Rebecca said something about trying to get into the spirit of the party after loosening up a bit. We waved and left Katie with all the drunks for her to handle, watching the nice lady go into her no-nonsense mode.
“So, anyone get anything?” Lori asked, adjusting her hat so one of her eyes was visible. “Just an update on the party is fine. I'm hoping all of you have had a better time than I have.”
After about half an hour of trying to navigate the yacht and avoid bumping into partiers, we had managed to meet up with our friends without anything going wrong or blowing up in our faces. We all sat around a metal table near the guard railing of the boat on its deck, trying to enjoy the fresh air it provided. It was away from the loud activity, so it ended up being quite the beautiful place to relax and enjoy the night. Being surrounded by all those people had me on edge a lot more than I thought, so being near people I trusted helped my shoulders relax some.
“We learned that the Sentinels may try to ‘recruit’ me,” Rebecca said. She hadn’t looked happy since Katie put that idea in her head. “Whatever that means.”
“She did really well working through a conversation, given she’s been in this time for just a few months.” I tried to brighten the mood, yet everyone looked a little exasperated and tired.
“Technically, she’s been here for as long as any of us here,” Rosie, the only one who wasn’t brought down by something that happened at the party, added.
“I’m pretty sure someone grabbed my ass. And Alex’s ass. At the same time.” Lori huffed and rested her head on her hand. “Everyone was pretty hush-hush when we started asking about the nature of the event. Either they didn’t want to tell us, or we were just killing the party vibes for everyone. The loser stoners sure as shit weren’t the best people to ask, in hindsight.”
Lizzy was absolutely the grumpiest, and it wasn't even close with her usual peppy mood nowhere to be found. She was sitting with her arms crossed, huffing constantly. “No one even looked at me when I asked about the party. Sure, they were more than happy to chat when I was leaning close and giving compliments, making sure they got to see my cleavage, but when I needed real info? It was like they never talked to a lady before. How about you two?” She tossed a glance at Julio and Braden.
They both responded with the same shrugs, but Braden wasn’t hiding his frustration. “Julio was trying to flirt with girls that were...maybe a little out of his league.”
“At least I tried to talk to people. You just hid in the corner, hoping no one would even look your way.”
“There’s a lot you can find out by just observing.” The shadow under the table stretched out a little longer than was natural in the dim lighting around our table. “Then again, the only things you would observe wore bikini tops or miniskirts.”
“Boys, you’re both handsome and cool and charming, okay?” Lizzy wasn’t having any of it. Not having information was bad enough for the leaders. Having those two bicker about it was where she drew the line. “Anything from you, Val?”
“No. I think that I might have scared some people off.” Val blushed a little and twirled her braid. “I tried to look friendly and smile. I’m not sure what went wrong...”
“Give me your best smile,” Lizzy said, already wincing.
The result was something out of a slasher movie. I’d seen exaggerated, horrible smiles in cartoons before, and I always thought it was just something from a cartoon. I never thought something a living human being could do would come so close. If she had her real sword on her, no doubt Val would have been escorted off the ship. Or battled off the ship, more likely.
“That’ll do it,” I mumbled.
“I’m glad we’re all having fun here, but what do we do if we’re approached by these Sentinel guys?” Rebecca asked, making sure to lower her voice for the last part.
“Yes, what about those Sentinel guys?” The high-pitched voice came from my left and almost made me jump. Thank God I was getting better about being surprised. Instead of panicking, my first instinct was to put up a shield between our table and where I heard the voice. “Fast reaction there!”
The figure already had a hand on my barrier by the time I stood up and tried to take a more defensive position. Everyone at the table followed suit, readying themselves for a fight as best they could. The figure, wearing a billowing white cloak, slowly lifted their head. A menacing skull mask looked right at me—or maybe through me—with pitch-black spaces where eyes should have been. The boat seemed eerily quiet. No one walked in our area, and while I could see the lights of the party continue, the sound seemed distanced and muffled as if the whole thing was happening on land.
A shimmering, metal cable burst free from under their cloak, snaking its way around my barrier. With the cable aiming for my head, I got a smaller barrier up just in the nick of time, blocking the impact. The whole thing happened faster than I thought possible, because it wasn’t until the cable was receding back under the figure’s cloak did anyone else dare to move. When Alex started to move, the figure threw its hands up defensively and took a few steps back.
“Fantastic reaction there!”
“Thanks, I play a lot of goalie.” Just because they backed away a few feet didn’t mean I was going to take down my barrier.
“The hell you do,” Alex muttered, taking care to not leave any of the cloaked being in one of his blind spots.
“Easy, friends.” Slowly, they pulled off their skull mask to reveal a handsome and almost annoyingly unassuming man with shaggy black hair. He was sort of what I imagined Braden to look like when he hit his mid-thirties. Some lines making their first appearance across his face betrayed that he wasn’t quite as young as us.
“Friends don’t attack friends with metal cables,” I told him. The way he snuck up on all of us unsettled me. Even looking directly at him and speaking with him, I wasn't even convinced I was talking to a human being. Maybe a robot or something. It felt like he was drifting off in my peripheral vision, trying to hover around the edges of my mind, despite the fact I never let him out of my sight. Something felt off about this guy, so I had no doubt that he had a lot more up his sleeve than a quick cable jab he could throw.
The world paused for a moment, everything around us coming to a complete halt. The party was going on, becoming nothing but background noise and lighting, like a TV playing on mute. No one came over to us to check on what was happening. It was like our own little bubble had popped around us and this guy. If it wasn’t for the fact that I could hear the water lapping against the boat beneath us, I would have thought we were in some kind of stasis bubble like we were in at the Tomb.
“Right you are, I’m so very sorry.” He bowed dramatically in apology, making the world spin again. He lifted his head and winked at me. “I’m Cordell, pleased to make your acquaintance.”
I fought off the unsettled shiver that threatened to ride up my spine. “People who are pleased to meet others don’t throw metal cables their way, and they don't do that to their acquaintances either. Who are you? What do you want?”
His smile was wide, his teeth a little too white and straight. “Yes, yes, right you are! Let’s discuss that, shall we?”