The Masks by Payton Balog

Author:Payton Balog [Payton Balog]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Payton Balog
Published: 2024-07-10T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter 13

Casey

Alice held her hand toward a glass vase filled with daisies, lightning flickering between her fingertips like a crackling white sparkler.

Casey loved how it looked, she could only imagine how it felt. She sat on one of Karen’s metal tables, legs crossed like a pretzel. “What’s supposed to happen?”

Karen was bent over the table, tapping a pen against a thick, spiral-bound binder filled with the detailed results from training sessions, blood tests, urine tests, and X-rays she had run on Alice. The scientist was thorough in her examinations. She ran complete physicals on Alice every week and kept track of how Alice’s powers reacted to her emotions. She also created a tight, silver bracelet that tracked the wearer’s pulse which Alice had secured around her wrist.

“Given recent results, I know that her powers work on an instinctive level which is not only different from Susan’s abilities but it also seems that when Alice transforms, she isn’t aware that she’s transforming her clothes too,” Karen spoke like a scientist, proper and overly invested. “I think it means she can temporarily transform something’s cells into pure energy like she does her own body but she needs to practice and learn to be aware of what she’s doing.”

“Could she transform anything?” Casey asked. “Like anything anything?”

“Did you have something in mind?”

“No... just... Anything means people too, right?”

“Theoretically,” Karen squinted, suspicious. “Why?”

The scientist didn’t trust Casey which made sense. Karen used to work with Glisin, a hero, and Casey was a criminal, a killer. She had to show Karen she wasn’t going to hurt Alice or Jess or anyone else unless they deserved it. She wasn’t sure she could prove that though, given who she worked for. She did care about Alice and Jess, even if Jess was really annoying.

“I think I’ve seen her do it, is all,” Casey said. “It was like the lightning ate this kid she saved and a second later, he was fine standing on the sidewalk.”

“That’s amazing!” Karen laughed and scribbled the new information in the binder. She was ambidextrous, Casey noticed. And by the way, Karen moved her right hand, it seemed she broke it at some point, possibly while helping Glisin. Casey would’ve asked but she didn’t want to give another reason for distrust. She kept her observations to herself.

Alice’s lightning hit the vase, making it flicker in and out of physical existence. While it sparked and faded, the daisies started to fall but at the last second, the pulse tracker beeped and the vase exploded. Charred daisy petals and shimmering glass shards went everywhere.

“It was a good try,” Karen said. She looked more disappointed than she sounded.

Alice sighed, shoulders slumped. “I got excited that it was working, and I messed it up,” she tucked a loose strand of purple hair - most of which was tied in a ponytail - behind her ear. “Why is this so hard?”

“Least you’re doing better with the other stuff. You can control the speed of a moving cup now,

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