CHAPTER 1: INCARNADINE
On the inside, Bangor is a perfectly respectable city. Its citizens pay their taxes on time, are pleased with their fairly elected government and the only crime they tend to commit is that of serial politeness. But an unseen line separates Bangor from its outer districts. This area is known as the Ward.
The outskirts of Bangor are an undignified sprawl. Dilapidated apartment buildings lean dangerously over the corners, threatening to fall on pedestrians with every creak and groan. The streets are filthy, tarmac hidden under layers of refuse, garbage and broken glass.
You could have called it suburb—by definition it was one, but to do so would make a mockery of the word. The houses here were not lined up in rows, and though all the buildings looked more or less the same, it was because they were all so derelict that they had long ago stopped looking like houses and started looking like wooden skeletons.
Mutants populate the Ward. Most are young—it is a rare mutant that manages to go through a midlife crisis—and all are brought up vicious and unforgiving. They form gangs, alliances, start wars and wreak havoc, eking out an existence in a worn-down suburban paradise.
And just a few kilometres outside Bangor, our story starts with a little thrill, an invisible girl and a broken ankle.
♦ ♦ ♦
I was hardly a stranger to violence, so when a scream shattered the silence, I barely flinched. My body simply faded ever so slightly, skin going transparent until the roof tiles were visible behind me. I guessed that the noise had come from a couple dozen metres to the southwest, to my left. I shaded my eyes against the sun, leaning over the edge of the roof just in time to see some figures streak past. A slight figure in white. A long ash-blonde queue of hair streamed out behind her. There was another yell, but this time the source was one of the three people behind the victim. One of them was waving a black weapon in his hand. It went off with a thunderous bang. Involuntarily, I jumped. I stuck my head out further and saw the bullet hit a drainage pipe with a pinging noise. A sudden barrage of gunshots. Bang, bang, bang. The figure in white ignored the shots and kept running. It looked like a typical Chase—an unprotected mutant stuck out on her own was easy pickings. And if she hadn’t fought back yet, she probably wouldn’t anytime soon.
Another shot lit up the air.
Sigh.
The only course of action was to ignore the scene, which I did without much encouragement. It was a live and let live kind of world, or if you were the other kind of person, live and let die. I swung my legs over the side of the roof, feet bumping against the edge. Hard to be afraid of being seen when you’re able to turn invisible, right? I watched the chase head down the street. It would be a while until they were out of sight—this was one of the main roads and went on forever.
Perhaps you’re thinking, “Hey, isn’t it like, horribly cruel to just let her die or whatever? Can’t you stop them?” But what do you expect me to say? I had a crew of my own, a crew I had to feed and protect. I refused to call them a gang, but that was close enough to the truth. We kept to ourselves, defended our territory and tried not to antagonize any of the top dogs in the area. The Chasers were familiar enough, all fancied up in black uniforms. It meant the Fishermen gang, led by Catfish Dixon, who had a bad sense of humour but was depraved enough to make up for it.
Eyes still on the scene, I noticed the girl in white take a sharp turn to the left. There were shouts and then a loud crash, the sound of something heavy falling over. Seconds later a small blonde head popped up, followed by an equally tiny body. The now determined girl heaved herself over the edge of the roof and seemed to gather herself for a moment. There was another yell and she was off like a shot, heading…heading straight toward me. Aw heck.
I disappeared completely, the translucence spreading out from my centre of gravity, sliding over my arms, legs, and head. It was just a moment before I was completely invisible, the only signs that I was there my beating heart and expanding lungs.
The lead she had on those men was extraordinary. She bounded over the rooftops with little effort, taking jumps I would never have dared. I wondered if that was her mutation, being one with the antelope or something like that.
I was painfully, utterly wrong.
She tripped on the last jump, her ankle bending strangely as she pushed off the edge of the roof. There was a noise halfway between a cry and a shriek when she landed just a few feet from where I was sitting. I froze. She couldn’t see me, not with my invisibility wholly turned on, but I felt almost like a deer caught in the headlights. She can’t see me, she can’t see me, she can’t see me, I repeated in my head. It was a tired mantra.
“Hey, canna get some 'elp o'er 'ere?” The voice was eerily calm. I glanced around and saw no one but her and myself. Which meant…
“Excuse me, Ah said—”
“I’m not ‘ere,” I whispered, a tad shaken. So she could see me. Could see me, was talking to me and clearly demanding help. I looked up, heard the frenetic thudding of boots on asphalt that signalled the arrival of the girl’s Chasers.
“Clearly y'are,” she hissed back. “I can bloody well see y'.Wat dom.” I looked down at her prone body. She was moving now, trying to prop herself up on thin arms.
“Well, I shouldn’t be ‘ere. I mean, y’ shouldn’t be able to—” I paused, eyes trailing down her body to pause at her ankle. It looked broken, all bruised and bumpy where bumps ought not to be. I winced. “I can help y’ to your feet, but I won’t do anythin’ else. This is no business of mine.”
More bellows from down below. The girl looked behind her and frowned. "Whoeva they are, their leada is a fool for sendin' out Chasers tha’ can't free-run. Wot they gonna to do? Shout us down fro’ the rooftops?"
Unlike her casual reaction, I flinched at the noise, disliking how close her Chasers were. Nonetheless, my decision was quick, though it went against every rule that was ingrained into my very being. I had learnt the hard way not to care for those who weren’t a part of my family. And this girl was certainly no relative of mine. But I leaned over and grabbed her wrist, feeling my invisibility slide down my arm and sink into her body. I rationed that there was no point in getting spotted before I could sort the situation out.
"Naw, they'll likely get reinforcements. They're goin’a to leave soon, but they'll be back."
Still, the strain was a lead weight as I fought to keep the both of us covered. I was frayed at the edges, quite literally, and keeping our two bodies closer to ‘mostly invisible’ rather than ‘vaguely invisible’ was starting to tax my mind. So what came next was utterly unexpected.
The girl got up, shook out her leg and squeezed her ankle once or twice with her free hand, face impassive. Her eyes met mine and she smiled, though it didn't quite reach her eyes. “I really ‘ate pain,” she said in way of explanation.
I just stared.
“Is it such a surprise tha’ I can heal mah-self? 'onestly? I know yev got the gift as well, InvisaGirl.”
I didn’t know what to say, so I opted for staying silent. She just laughed, the throaty sound antipodal to her naive appearance.
Twirling a lock of hair around her finger, she spoke again. “Lis'en, y' could use me, and leavin' mah pride for a mo', I could use y', too. I can’t fight, and I’m guessin' y' can’t eitha. Least, not capably. So Ah've decided, we’re gonna stick togetha. Yore gonna get us t' safety and Ah’ll offa y' mah healing and whateva else y' need for as long as y' want it.”
All this talk made me nervous and though I was tempted by her offer, it made my stomach twist. It could be some sort of plot—Catfish and I never did see eye-to-eye. And I had more than just a crew to protect, I had a family. Iris and Dren and all of the younger children, too. I couldn't allow her to penetrate that protective bubble I'd conjured for my family. And hell, she unnerved me.
To buy time, I leaned back over the edge of the roof, narrowing my eyes against the sunlight and looking around. No one was nearby as far as I could see and the air was quiet. My muscles relaxed. Safe.
And there was my answer. I cleared my throat, tugging on her wrist. “Listen up; I’m not taking you anywhere, kid. Your Chasers are elsewhere now and there’s no way in hell I’m jeopardizing myself for your sake. Look, the streets are quiet now."
I let go of her wrist, pushing it away from me. I let go of my powers then, too, leaving both of us visible. “Leave. This is my land and yev—you’ve no business here anymore.”
“Leave?” You could see her cornflower blue eyes widen at this, mouth dropping. “Y' know nuthin' if tha's yore decision.” She spat on the roof tiles. "Leavin' ain't likely, not by a long shot. Ah need 'elp, protection, an' Ah'm offerin' an arm an' a leg fo' it. Y' know nuthin', livin' all cushy-like wi' yore family an' all."
I was about to respond snappily, let her know that she was getting out of line and that it was a long way to the ground from up here, but I never got the chance. Her fist lashed out and caught me in the temple. It was a weak punch, thrown from the shoulder, but it caught me squarely. I staggered back. I wheezed, looked back up at her. My eyes narrowed.
I moved. A blow to her shoulder, the force of my weight put behind it. She lurched backward. Taking advantage, I closed in. My hand arced up in a swift rabbit punch to the face, hips swinging. It caught her squarely in the nose. She crumpled, clearly unused to the whole ordeal of being knocked in the face.
I should have left then; just turned around and run off while she was still recovering. Of course, things didn't work that way. I hesitated, kneeling down to check if her dress had pockets, and if that were the case, if they had anything in them. Nada. Definitely pockets, but nothing of worth. A length of string that looked too weak to hold any sort of weight, some bottle caps and a dried up bread heel. The latter looked like it could break a tooth.
Brittle fingers grabbed my wrist, closing around them like a snare. I almost jumped right out of my skin. Blue eyes narrowed on mine, the look on her face nearing bestial. "Yore takin' me with y'," she hissed. I shook myself free and backed off, watching her with wary eyes. I wondered if she had noticed the blood dripping from her nose.
"What kind of crazy are y’? I trust you as far as…as you could throw me." My hand closed around the knife I kept in my belt, comforted by the feel of its smooth wooden grasp.
"Don' touch tha’," she said, voice hard. She wasn't even looking at my hand. Her cornflower eyes were fixed unerringly on mine. She swiped a hand over her face, leaving streaks of blood against her cheek. "An' like Ah said, yore takin' me with y'. Ah'm worth it."
I fought the urge to punch her again, but nonetheless I released my grip on the knife. Grudgingly. "No, I don’t think so. Your worth was compromised the moment you attacked me."
She took a step toward me, folding one hand over her heart and grinning at me mockingly. "Ah jus' reacted," she said. Her voice was airy. "'Sides, Ah was angry. Ah asked for safety an' nuthin' more. Y' turned me away without e'en thinkin' 'bout it.”
“My territory, my rules. You want to call the shots? You have to prove you're my better, and so far you’ve just showed me you’re better at losing.”
“Betta at healin', too. An’ runnin', jumpin', gettin' 'round. Ah'm not useless, y'know.” There was a pleading note in her voice, but also something else. Steel.
My mouth twitched. I was still angry at her (hard not to be after she took a swing at my face) but her obstinance was refreshing. People tended to come in two sorts out in the Ward: the mighty and the meek. Not too many considered being both.
Yet I could understand the desperation that drove her to this—this point of grovelling. She needed protection in numbers and I had that. I could keep away the Chasers and perhaps even make her disappear, let whatever problems she'd caused wash over and vanish.
So there was a strange duality to this girl that made me pause. She was blindingly adorable with her cherubic face and flaxen hair and huge Maya blue eyes that could have put a doe to shame. It didn't take a person long to realise this about her. But, then there was her other side. Hard, acerbic and bitingly mean. A temper on a hair trigger. This was the sinew and muscle that held her together. Hate was her fuel.
I made my decision that moment. I held out my hand and she took it, albeit warily.
“You come with me, you learn to follow orders. But I think I can find a use for you in my crew.”
She smiled and tucked her brittle fingers into mine, squeezing lightly. “Ah think Ah can keep mah mou' shut fo' a while,” she responded and a faint smile touched her lips, as if she knew something I didn’t.
Message has been edited to remove curse words - Staff
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