StV: Awake Again, part three

Julie had devoured a plate of scrambled eggs, sausage, and toast, and was wondering if she should ask for another when another woman entered the otherwise-empty cafeteria. Beside her, Ms. Brigham said quietly, "This is Ms. Salvatore. She's the auxiliary headmistress here."

"Um," said Julie. "Okay. Where is here?"

"The Saint Vincent School for Exceptional Youth," said the new arrival, who was tall and slender and moved in a way that projected absolute authority. "Some of our students refer to it as Anomaly Academy, though we do not encourage such liberties." 

Uh oh, Julie thought. Ms. Salvatore reminded her strongly of old Mrs. Hathaway, who had been the strictest and most demanding of her childhood tutors -- and also the most rewarding. She swallowed. "What happened?" she asked. "I mean, I was being chased, and I saw some kids who were like me, but... Somebody shot me with a tranquilizer? Like, for a wild animal? Did I make it to their car?"

"You did not," Ms. Salvatore informed her. "The young man we call Harbinger retrieved you while his sister protected you both."

"Oh," Julie said quietly. It made sense; they thought they were protecting someone like them. Somehow she hadn't expected it, though.

"I'd like to read your mind, if I may," Ms. Salvatore continued. "It will help me better understand what happened to you."

"What? No!" Julie was suddenly panicked; if anybody read her mind, they'd know exactly who she was and why she was here. It had never even occurred to her that that might be a danger, and apparently it hadn't occurred to Mr. Maddox or His Holiness The Prophet either. 

Ms. Salvatore didn't flinch; she just nodded. "As you wish. To be clear, we do not read other people's minds without permission here."

"Uh--" Julie still hadn't recovered from the shock. "Thank you?"

Ms. Brigham glanced at Ms. Salvatore. "Before we ask you about how you wound up being hunted by the CIA's Hounds, is there anybody you'd like to get in touch with? Parents? Friends? People who would want to know you're safe?"

Oh. "Oh," Julie said. She'd prepared for this part, she'd just forgotten about it. Would they be suspicious? "Um. Yeah. Can I call my parents?"

Ms. Brigham reached into her pocket and then slid Julie's cellphone across to her. It was a fake, of course -- bought under a fake name, filled with carefully-prepared numbers that connected to members of the  Age of Rebirth who would recognize her number and knew how to respond. They'd even practiced with it enough to full up the Recent Calls. 

Her real phone was still back at the house; Julie wished she had it instead. This is what His Holiness wants from me, she reminded herself. I am Blessed now. She tapped in her code, then flipped to the phone app and punched the contact for her mother. The phone rang, and eventually went to voicemail; she cut it off without leaving a message and tried her father instead. "They're not... they aren't picking up," she said, distraught. 

They weren't supposed to, she remembered; those were prepared numbers. But right now, she wanted her parents and she couldn't contact them; the distress in her voice was genuine. She tried "Aunt Janice" next, her father's younger sister, and this time the designated Blessed picked up. 

The conversation that followed was awkward and clumsy, and Julie hoped that she came out sounding like a young woman who was genuinely worried about her parents. Her "aunt" promised to get in touch with them, and asked again if she was okay. 

Julie told her she was.

StV: Awake Again, part two

Julie drank some water after she finished crying, and then drifted back off to sleep.

She woke up hungry and still scared, but the nausea had faded and she felt strong again. That should have made the whole situation easier to take, but it didn't. Had she really agreed to come here? Even for the sake of helping the Prophet? Did she even recognize herself anymore?

A red-haired woman was scrolling through a news site on a computer screen, sitting in a comfortable-looking chair with her back to Julie. 

Julie shifted her weight, trying to get a feel for how well she could move, then drew back. Not well, she thought. However much better she felt, she was still sleep-stupid and slow. The back of her right shoulder throbbed with a dull, steady ache.

The woman heard the movements and turned around, meeting her eyes with a friendly smile. "Awake again?" she asked.

Julie hesitated, then nodded. "Who are you?" She coughed and cleared her throat, but the woman answered anyway. 

"Ms. Brigham," she said. "Glimmer stayed with you as long as she could, but we all have to sleep sometime. She said you'd be thirsty when you woke up, and you'd probably want a restroom."

"Um," said Julie. Both those things were true. "Yes, I could use..." 

The woman rose, turned, and approached, settling herself beside the bed. "Do you think you can sit up?"

"Maybe," said Julie, and the woman held out her hand. 

Julie took it and pulled herself upright. The room kind of lurched around her, but it didn't start spinning and once she was upright her head felt clearer.  

"Which first?" asked the red-haired woman. "Water, or bathroom?"

Sitting up had very definitely settled that question. "Bathroom," Julie told her.

Challenge: Characters to Avoid

(This post is part of the Wednesday Weekly Blogging Challenge. You can find links to other writers' answers over at Long and Short Reviews. I kind of fell off last year, so we'll see how I do with it this year.)

Prompt: Characters I never want to meet...

I mean, let's just start with Hannibal Lecter. I don't think I'd be a likely victim of his -- don't fit the profile -- but who really wants to find that out? I like my liver right where it is. 

I'll just follow that one up with the Witch-king of Angmar. I'm both mortal and man, so I have exactly zero chance of killing him, and unless maybe we've negotiated a nice, fawning interview for Middle Earth News Network there's a pretty decent chance that he kills me very thoroughly, probably without even really noticing. 

Freddy Krueger might find me to be surprisingly difficult prey; I've always had interestingly narrative dreams, and frequently with pretty decent control over the direction of events. But, again, why would I want to risk it? Pass. 

Brooke Augustine is one of the most viciously cruel villains ever written; as a non-super-powered civilian, I wouldn't ever want to come to her attention, let alone meet her in person. Keep her and the D.U.P. far, far away from me.

StV: Awake Again, part one

Julie snapped awake again, unsure of where she was or what had just happened. This was becoming a little too much of a habit. She was... lying on a bed? Still dressed, but with her shoes off; still in the form of a deviant; more than a little nauseated. 

She rolled over on her side, and did her best to settle her breathing. She really didn't want to throw up.

"How are you feeling?" asked a gentle voice from behind her. 

"Bad," she said. 

The unseen voice chuckled. It was a woman's voice, Julie thought, soft and calming. "You got hit with a pretty big dose of tranquilizers. Whoever was after you wasn't being very careful. Do you know who they were?"

"No. No, I--" She cut off then, as fear shivered through her. Several fears, and she couldn't separate them. The people hunting her were supposed to be faking it, but her body had lost track of the distinction even before one of them shot her. Now she was presumably in a school full of the Deviant and Damned -- and since the woman hadn't commented on her appearance, she probably was -- which was terrifying in its own way. What if they realized she wasn't really one of them? What if they already knew?

"Hey. Hey, it's okay. You're safe now." The woman came around into her field of view and squatted down in front of her. Her skin and eyes alike were very dark brown, and she had a variety of colorful beads woven into the tight black braids of her hair. Slowly, carefully, the woman reached out and put a hand on Julie's shoulder. 

Julie started to sob. It would been perfect if she'd been acting -- her mother would be have been so proud -- but no, she was lying on the bed, half-sick and ugly-crying helplessly. Oh God, I'm so bad at this... 

The thought only made her cry harder.

Music: Another Level

Oh The Larceny: 

Quick reminder: don't believe anything you hear tomorrow.

StV: View from a Theater Roof

Mongrel crouched on the corner of the rooftop, watching as his hounds chased the girl across the parking lot. They were doing a good job: the girl zeroing in on the targets, the hounds very convincing in their pursuit... 

The whole situation was infuriating, but he held himself back. Command has been clear about his orders, and his orders were to have his team pursue the girl but let her escape with the other Anomalies. There were several ways that could go, but right now the girl was staying well ahead of the hounds and--

Shit. Anya had just run into something, a faintly-glowing wall that appeared in front of her, and looked to have knocked herself cold. Mongrel tensed, but made himself stay still. Of the targets, two had gone for the car and the other two were covering them; one of those two must have done something. 

"Capture them if you can," he said into his microphone. At least one of the Anomalies was competent, which meant his hounds were now in danger. They'd need to keep the targets busy, and that meant making a full effort--

One of the Anomalies was looking at him -- the boy, the primary target. "Huntsman, I've been spotted."

"Sloppy," his handler remarked. "These kids are better than they have any right to be, but still: sloppy."

Mongrel growled and stayed put. At least he didn't have his human face on; they wouldn't be able to identify him. The second Anomaly was the one who interested him, though. She hadn't noticed him, but she was the one who was shielding the girl, and likely the one who had taken down Anya as well. She'd make for an interesting hunt. 

Then her companion took a tranquilizer to the shoulder and shrugged it off, and suddenly it was hard to say which one Mongrel would have enjoyed hunting more. The second anomaly gestured, and Jerome -- who had fired the shot -- staggered back and collapsed as if somebody had hit him in the face with a baseball bat. Jesus. He considered intervening, but...

The girl stumbled and went down with a dart in her shoulder, and the primary target lunged forward, threw himself down beside her, and then scooped her up and carried her effortlessly back to the car. 

"I want them both," Mongrel growled, and Huntsman laughed. 

"You'll get them," the old huntsman told him. "But first, we're going to let them lead us to a whole lot more."

Villain: Pebbles

Name: Julia "Julie" Kensington Hendrix
Alias: Pebbles
Age: 22, but looks closer to 17
Appearance: As an Anomaly, 5'8" with a broad-shouldered, square-muscled build, pebbly gray skin, and glowing red eyes. As an Angel of the Age of Rebirth, 5'4" with sharp blue eyes. In either form her hair is a soft brown, just below shoulder length.
Job: Spy for the Age of Rebirth

"Julie Kensington" presents herself as an anomaly trying to escape from the Hounds of the CIA's DAAT program. Her pebbly gray skin provides her with a degree of armor (light when she's relaxed, heavier when she feels threatened) and she's strong enough to lift and throw a small car if she can get a decent grip on one. Her glowing red eyes allow her to pick out Anomalies and see in the dark, and if she wills it she can command others to obey her (fundamentally a psychic influence). 

She also has an alternate appearance, this one completely human, a more youthful version of her original appearance that makes her seem to still be in her teens. In this identity she is Julia (or Julie) Kensington Hendrix, daughter of Janet Hendrix, Speaker for the Rebirth. She retains much of her strength and all all of her ability to influence others, but is somewhat less well-armored and cannot spot Anomalies (which the Age of Rebirth refers to as Deviants) without having her eyes flare glowing red. 

Julie is a follower of the Age of Rebirth, a secretive cult currently focused on recruiting the wealthy and connected in exchanged for extended lifespan and renewed youth, which has recently come into conflict with the students of Saint Vincent's.