Month: August 2017

Chapter 42 – Maybe Everything’s Fine

Published by Liz Effe on August 28, 2017

Liz, Six Months Before Impact Day

After several hours, Aidan and I started to get worried. Neither of us could get a hold of Charlie, and it wasn’t like her to just disappear on us.

“Maybe she’s with Rachel?” Aidan offered, without hope.

“Does she still have Rachel’s tracking chip in her?” I asked.

“She should,” he said, “but that seems kind of invasive, don’t you think?”

“She said she was just going out for a walk. What if she got attacked or something?”

“It is better to be safe than sorry,” he said. “Alright, fine.”

He opened his laptop, and a few rapid keystrokes later, we had Charlie’s tracking data on screen. It wasn’t good.

“How did she just disappear?” I asked, staring at the screen.

“Some kind of signal blocker?” Aidan suggested. “Seems like the sort of thing Vengeance might think of.”

The thought sent a shudder down both our spines. The idea of what they might do to her, what they probably would do to her…

“What do we do?” he asked, not even trying to hide the desperation in his voice.

“I don’t know,” I said.

What could we do? My mind was already whirling, trying to figure out what came next. We had to find out where she was, then figure out how to get her out. If whoever took her knew to block the tracker, how much more did they know?

“I’ll try to find out where they’re keeping her, but I have no idea how long that will take,” he said. “I know you’ve wanted to avoid this, but do you think your parents—”

“No,” I said sharply.

“Okay. I’ll see what I can do. You…”

“I’m going to look for her,” I said.

“Dude, you can barely walk.”

“I have to do something.”

“What if they take you, too?” he asked.

“Maybe everything’s fine,” I said, not really believing it. “Maybe the tracker ran out of battery, or she went into a tunnel, or…”

“Liz.”

Frustrated, I slammed my fist into the table. I knew something like this was going to happen! I tried to warn her, but she wouldn’t listen to me, would she?

Why did it have to be this? Why did she have to be so obsessed with being a comic book hero? Why did she have to go after the people who paid for my house, my school, my wardrobe? Why did I have to feel guilty about that?

Why didn’t she trust me with any of it? Why does she have to put herself in danger? Why doesn’t any of it make sense?

Why did she have to choose Rachel?

I shook my head, trying to throw out the negative thoughts. I needed to be focussed, needed to think about how to help. Charlie needed me.

I looked at Aidan, already desperately tapping away on his laptop, no doubt organising deals and messaging people and doing whatever else it was he did. It didn’t feel right that he was helping and all I was doing was feeling sorry for myself.

I massaged my leg, wishing I hadn’t been so clumsy. It was sloppy, and I should have been better. Now I needed it, and I was handicapped. It was so unfair.

All I ever wanted was a normal life. I wanted to forget about all my training, all the blood on my family’s hands, all the dark secrets I knew. I wanted to go to university, get a degree, get a normal job. I wanted to live my life without ever having to think about any of this again.

Charlie was always going to drag me back in, though. I knew from the moment I met her that she was going to shatter the fragile peace I was trying to build for myself. I just didn’t care.

She had this incredible gravity to her, this inescapable energy that nobody understood, but everyone felt. You couldn’t feel neutrally about Charlie, you either loved her or you hated her. Sometimes both.

And if you were lucky enough to get noticed by Charlie, you couldn’t help but feel like you were special, too. Like she was going to elevate you into greatness, or drag you into chaos, and whatever it was, you were happy to be taken along for that ride, because whatever happened, it just seemed right.

Or maybe that was just me.

I felt a buzzing in my pocket, and pulled out my phone. A message from Rachel. Already? Seemed suspicious.

Meet me downstairs, it said.

Okay, I replied.

“I’m just going downstairs,” I told Aidan. “Apparently Rachel is there.”

“That’s weird,” he said.

“She’s probably been obsessively watching Charlie’s tracker, like a weirdo,” I said.

“Maybe she can help.”

“Ugh,” I said.

“Liz.”

“Fine, fine, you’re right,” I said. “I’ll see what she wants. For Charlie.”

“Be careful,” he said.

“What’s the worst she could do?” I asked.

Next Week: Useless

Chapter 41 – You Really Do Think You’re The Centre Of The World

Published by Charlie Farrow on August 21, 2017

Part 5 – The Disappearance Of Charlotte Farrow

One Week Before Impact Day

He raised an eyebrow, hands still folded in front of him. Something told me his patience had officially reached an end.

“I don’t even know where to start,” he sighed. “Aidan Scott, a seventeen-year-old boy and your adoptive brother, is the leader of the Stars?”

“Yep.”

“That stupid device we found was a trick designed by your girlfriend?”

“Two for two,” I said.

“We’ve been on the hunt for two teenagers out of their depth, because you took six fucking months to get to the point where we captured you?” His rage was almost palpable.

“Like I said, I wasn’t expecting to be here this long,” I told him.

“You still think they’re going to save you?” he asked, condescending and cruel.

“In a manner of speaking,” I said. “I already told you enough that you should be figure out my plan. No amount of torture is going to get more out of me.”

“You—”

He raised his hand, like he was going to hit me, but restrained himself. How odd. I watched, tense, as he took a deep breath.

“Tell me again about the cracks,” he said. “Tell me about your obsession with narrative, and dramatic irony. Did you just make those parts up for my sake?”

“What kind of a hack storyteller do you think I am?”

“I wasn’t aware you considered yourself any kind of storyteller,” he said.

“I grew up with stories,” I told him. “Books, movies, comics, anything. For a long time, it was all I had, the only way I could escape from all the negative thoughts in my head. It’s how I learned to understand the world.”

“You’re trying my patience,” he warned.

“Look, there are two ways you could look at this. Either my obsession with stories has coloured the way I perceive my own life, or…”

“Or?”

“Or you start listening to me, and realise just how fucking stupid this whole goddamned story is,” I said.

“Are you telling me you made it up?”

“No,” I snapped. “That’s my point. It’s all real, and that’s the weirdest fucking part, alright?”

“You’re not making any sense,” he said.

“Ugh, do I have to spell it out for you?”

“Watch your tone,” he threatened.

“Oh my god, I am so over your threats,” I said. “I’m obsessed with stories. I’m obsessed with heroes. I was before I ever knew I was immortal. Now I’m a fucking vigilante with an assassin and an information broker for friends? A fucking supernatural genius for a girlfriend?”

He shook his head.

“Your ego is astonishing,” he said. “Though I suppose, under the circumstances, that’s not entirely beyond understanding.”

“Do you know how many cities have a larger population than Melbourne?” I asked him.

“I have no idea.”

“Somewhere around seventy,” I said. “It’s less than two hundred years old. In the grand scheme of the world, it’s a nothing city.”

“Is this going somewhere?”

“Why Melbourne?” I asked. “Why would all of this be happening here, and not somewhere else? Why not Tokyo, or Beijing, or New York?”

“I’m assuming you have an answer for that,” he said.

“Because of me,” I said. “How do you not see that?”

“You really do think you’re the centre of the world, don’t you?”

“Why not?” I asked. “I’m tired of pretending to be something I’m not.”

“And what about Wendy?” he asked. “What is she, and why is she relevant to your story?”

“Eventually, Rachel’s gonna convince her to bust in here and rescue me,” I said, though every day I felt less confident.

“I think it’s about time you give up on that, don’t you?” he said coldly. “Besides, I already told you, even if everything you’ve said about her is true, she won’t be able to save you. She won’t even be able to find you.”

“We’ll see,” I said. “I’m not ready to give up yet.”

“I’ll break you eventually,” he said. “That’s a promise.”

Next Week: Maybe Everything’s Fine

Interlude #4 – Aberrations Like You

Published by Snow on August 14, 2017

One Month Before Impact Day

“There’s no threat, Gabriel,” Haylie said, as soon as the others were out of earshot.

“I know,” he said, which surprised her.

“Then why did you pull me away?”

“Because I need to ask you something, and I can’t ask you in front of anyone else,” he said.

She trusted his instincts and his intellect more than she trusted anything else in the world, even her own sensory data. Even still, she was cautious, not sure what to say to him.

“Okay…”

“Has this ever happened before?” he asked, and immediately, dozens of flagged processes began to feed into her awareness.

“Yes,” she said, the realisation only just dawning on her. “I didn’t…”

“Has it ever happened before we found Exxo?”

“I don’t… Yes,” she said. “It’s not Exxo. It can’t be.”

“Okay,” he said. “I trust you.”

“It is very concerning, though,” she said.

“Exxo might not be the cause, but they are related,” Gabriel said carefully. “We still don’t know what they are, or even the full extent of their power.”

“I trust them,” she said, with a trace of defiance.

“Ami and Kaito described two strange presences,” he said. “Something came here, something powerful enough to disrupt your sensors—”

“Not my sensors,” she corrected. “My memory. Like it was erased.”

“So you saw it happen? You heard it?”

“I believe I did,” she said. “But I have no record of it now. It would be different if the sensors had been disrupted or blocked.”

“Even more unlikely,” he mused. “That goes beyond something even Mason could create, or a creature like Damien could manage.”

“Ami and Kaito described the sensation as nostalgic,” she reminded him. “It may not be relevant, but I believe I can identity similar incidents in my history even before Mason’s birth.”

Gabriel laughed darkly.

“It’s easy to forget he isn’t the source of everything evil in this world,” he said. “I wish I understood half of what he did, or why.”

“I wish I still had access to that data,” she agreed.

“Could Exxo be a sleeper agent?” he asked. “The persistent amnesia, the inexplicable power…”

“Without even realising it?” she asked. “It would break their heart to even consider it.”

“There’s so much we still don’t understand,” he said, frustrated.

“Would you like to?” a third voice said, surprising both of them. It shouldn’t have been possible to sneak up on either one of them, and yet…

They both turned to see the young girl, a girl who bore a striking resemblance to Alice, sitting on some invisible surface, floating above the ground. Haylie couldn’t believe who she was seeing.

“You’re dead,” she said, struggling to process it.

“I sure am,” the girl said. “Did you miss me?”

“You’re the original,” Gabriel said. “Mason’s real daughter. The reason he created Alice.”

“Ugh, don’t get me started on that,” the girl said, rolling her eyes. “That man is not my father. Not after everything he’s done.”

“How are you here?” Haylie asked.

“You know, as much as I’d love to answer that, there really isn’t a point,” the girl said. “You can’t remember any of this. It would ruin everything.”

“Why even have this conversation, then?” Gabriel asked, as Haylie desperately tried to replicate and back up her memory files.

“Because you’ll remember. Eventually, anyway.”

“What are you?” he demanded.

“A Guardian,” she said. “Think of me like an Angel, only better. Actual Angels are… well, that’s not important right now.”

Haylie just kept created more backup redundancies, determined to save this conversation, in spite of the impossible girl’s claims.

“What do you guard?” Gabriel asked.

“Everything,” the girl replied. “Reality, mortals, even aberrations like you.”

“Against?”

“Everything else.”

“Fine, be cryptic,” Gabriel said. “What do you want with us?”

“You have a very important role to play,” she said. “Even more than the others.”

“I’m listening.”

“You’re going to help Charlie,” she said.

“Who’s Charlie?”

“You’ll know when you need to know. She’ll be making an antidote for Mason’s affliction. You’ll contribute.”

“Why?” he asked, through Haylie knew Gabriel would give anything for an antidote.

“So that in another seventy years or so, all of the pieces I need are in place,” she said. “Look, I know you like to think of yourself as very clever, but you just don’t have the field of vision that I do. Don’t even bother trying to wrap your head around it.”

Layers upon layers of encryption, files on servers disconnected from everything else, copies fragmented and split apart. Haylie would not lose this conversation.

“You’re prescient,” Gabriel said.

“Kind of,” she said. “Though it’s easier to say I just don’t see time the way you do. Like I said, field of vision. Anyway, you’ve got your instructions. You can forget this conversation now.”

With that, she disappeared.

Haylie and Gabriel looked at each other, uncertain of what had just happened.

“Did it happen again?” he asked her.

She checked. She checked again. She scoured every possible place she knew of to hide files, every location she might stash a memory, or even a part of one.

“Yes,” she said. “It’s all gone.”

Next Week: You Really Do Think You’re The Centre Of The World

Chapter 40 – Fate Can Suck My Dick

Published by Charlie Farrow on August 7, 2017

Six Months Before Impact Day

Aidan was livid, fussing about Liz’s wounded leg like a flustered nurse. For her part, she just kept trying to bat him away.

“It’s fine,” she kept saying.

“Do you not see the bullet hole in your leg?” he demanded, before shooting a withering glare my way. “This is your fault, you know.”

“I knew the risks,” Liz said.

“Let’s not lose focus,” I added. “We need you monitoring the warehouse. They’ll take that bait sooner or later.”

Aidan sighed, giving Liz a moment of peace as he went back over to his laptop.

“They haven’t done anything yet,” he said. “You did give them enough information, didn’t you?”

“Yes,” I replied irritably.

“And you didn’t make it too obvious?”

“Do you have any faith in me?” I asked.

“She did fine,” Liz said, backing me up. “I’m sure they’re just being cautious.”

Rachel’s fake doomsday device was sitting there, guarded by a token amount of ex-security guards paid anonymously by Aidan. So long as Vengeance tried to raid the place, they’d find it without any problems.

“Liz, you’ll be out of action for weeks like this,” Aidan complained.

“You’re underestimating me,” she said. “Besides, you did a great job of cleaning the wound. How do you even know how to do that?”

“I just do,” he said defensively.

“She’s got time to recover, anyway,” I reminded him. “We won’t need to move on Vengeance for a little while yet.”

“Assuming nothing goes wrong,” he said petulantly.

“What could possibly go wrong?” I asked, knowing full well just how easily things could fall apart.

“You can’t be serious.”

“There’s nothing wrong with optimism,” Liz said. “You’re too cynical, Aidan.”

“One of us has to be,” he muttered. “Besides, you should know better than to tempt fate, Charlie.”

“Man, fate can suck my dick,” I said.

“Charming,” he said dryly. “Just… be on the lookout for dramatic irony.”

“You spend too much time with Mark,” I said. “You’re starting to think like a writer. Actually, speaking of Mark, have you heard from him lately?”

“I have, yeah. He’s all kinds of suspicious, but there isn’t a lot he can do.”

“What did you tell him?” I asked.

“The three of us ran away to start a band,” he said.

“That’s the best you could come up with?”

“I don’t see you talking to him,” he snapped.

“What would I even say to him?”

“I don’t know, that you’re sorry? He raised you for ten years and you care more about playing hero than making sure he knows you’re alright?”

“Aidan!” Liz said, shocked.

“Sorry,” he mumbled. “That was uncalled for. I’m just stressed out. I wasn’t built for all of this, you know?”

“I don’t think anyone ever is,” I said. “Anyway, I think I need some fresh air.”

“Charlie, I’m sorry,” Aidan said. “Really.”

“It’s fine,” I lied. “I just want to stretch my legs, that’s all.”

“Just let her go,” Liz said.

I left the two of them alone, my head in the clouds as I took the elevator down to the ground floor.

All I wanted was to talk to Rachel, to hold her hand, to curl up next to her. She grounded me like nobody else did, and she supported me without question or hesitation. It wasn’t like I didn’t appreciate Liz and Aidan’s contributions, but it was getting a little tiring, feeling like I had to justify myself to them constantly.

Who’d have thought the superhero life would be so full of petty drama?

I didn’t even notice the five armed men until they were already surrounding me. I felt the cold barrel of a gun pressed against the back of my skull, and a pretty man with silky black hair smiled at me.

“Hello, Charlotte,” he said.

How did they find me? How do they know my name?

“Can I help you?” I asked, trying to sound less terrified than I was. I had no way of fighting my way out of this situation.

Security footage. They tracked me from that. Which means they probably also saw me get shot, and recover.

“We’re taking you with us,” he said, with a wicked grin.

“I’ll scream,” I bluffed.

“We’ll shoot you first,” he said, unfazed. “Something tells me you’ll be easier to move that way anyway.”

This is too on the nose, even for me, I thought bitterly. Is god working against me? Am I just cursed? Am I really just this unlucky?

…did Aidan plan this?

“Let’s get it over with, then,” I said, moments before the world went dark.

Next Week: Aberrations Like You