RED
Saving for Britton University was almost as painful as it was dull. This was the second year since her graduation from her academy that she had to work through the year. Working with animals made it a bit better, though her father had scoffed at her job. But the pet store felt warmer than her townhouse ever would. Soft lights lit the room. In massive aquariums various types of fish swam around- Tangs, Muskies, Loaches, Gregs, Clownfish, Wetlins and so many more. Watching them calmed her down- even when they nibbled on her fingers as she cleaned their tanks. Her father would never let her have even the smallest fish- or any animal for that matter. He never gave a reason. So she picked up a job at a pet store. She had all the pets she could ever want- and some she didn’t want. The fire breathing toad could be a handful.
She was feeding dung beetles to a horned water snake when a girl walked in. She had the dark skin, the rust colored eyes, the long braids and the hands of the girl in all those images. She was just missing the blue flames that would mark the Azu. Her eyes flitted around the shop nervously. Red stood up, a dung beetle wriggling in her hands.
“Hello, can I help you?”
“I was told Igi would be here.”
The girl’s voice was rich and smooth. Red caught herself staring and blushed.
“I’ll get him.”
She had to be a Talent. Igi, the owner of the store, provided the only safehouse for Talents in the district. 15 bir a night, no questions asked. Currently, two families stayed with them; a shaper and a gill. But if she was truly the girl from her mind, did that mean she was really a foreseer? Her mind jumped with excitement from the thought, and she bounded to Igi’s office.
“Someone’s here to see you.”
Igi was a big man, tan with tattoos lining his arms, as though they were there to distract from the ‘T’ on his neck. He was intimidating on the outside, but after a conversation with him, he was the biggest softie. Red couldn’t have been working for anyone better.
The girl had followed her up and Igi eyed her. He raised an eyebrow.
“Azu?” he asked. The girl glanced cautiously at Red. Red gave a slight encouraging smile.
“Yes.”
Igi could sniff out other Talents. It was one of the reasons Red worked for him. He still said she wasn’t a Talent though. Red nearly walked out the day he said that. He had called her back with a cup of cocoa.
“You see images with your mind?”
“Yes.”
“How does it work?”
After explaining, he looked fairly impressed.
“Maybe I just can’t sense it. Not always perfect.”
She agreed to the job right then and there.
Now he produced a key.
“Room 3.”
The girl left, in a rush. Red wanted to run after her and ask her why she saw her every time her hands twitched.
“That’s not good,” Igi said. He clasped his hands together on his desk and leaned forward.
“Why?”
“If they’re coming for Azu, the city might be cracking down on us.” It was true. Azu and other uncontrollable Talents were usually only captured when they did something- usually by accident, like burning a tree blue or turning invisible at a job interview. Both would get you sent to prison. But this didn’t seem to be like the situations before. There was fear in that girl’s eyes.
A boy came. Azu. Shaking, crying. He got a room alone. He was too young to not have a family. Igi and Red turned to each other. Their suspicions had been correct.
Next a family of four. Ghost whisperers with a strong bloodline. Ghost whisperers were usually harmless, though. There was no reason to go after mediums.
Next was more Azu. Five all at once. They were beginning to reach their room limit.
“My dad is gone. I don’t know where he went,” Red finally brought herself to say. She hadn’t feared the worst, but now she did. Her dad wasn’t a Talent. But he could have gotten caught in the crossfire.
“I’ll send a scout looking.”
“You can’t. It’s too dangerous if they’re spotted.”
Igi sighed, and put his face in his hands. They were all frustrated, scared, angry. It was the general mood of the safehouse.
Next was a teacher.
“Azu?” Igi asked.
She nodded, and Red could’ve sworn her heart dropped. If the Azu were being hunted like this, then what would they do to the others? There were the wings, the doubles, the gems. Some of them had even more difficulty controlling their power than an Azu. All would be in extreme danger.
Later that day, Red finished giving her advice to a customer with a blue toed guinea pig. It was the end of her shift. The customer thanked her and left. Red got ready to follow out the door.
The streets were bustling. The day of Ravsko was coming, and parades were marching down the streets of Chiri. People wore the blue rose symbol of their god; others held a bottle of vodka in one hand and a goodie bag of powder in the other. Their eyes were all tinted green- they must have gotten their blessings done. The blessings involved the placement of bright green leaves on the eyes, thought to help people see Ravsko, which would bring luck for the rest of the year.
Red ignored the fiasco, instead turning down a cobblestone road; the shopping district of Chiri. Here, vendors sold pottery, jewels, clothing with Chiri printed on them, and fortunes. Many times Red had saved her pennies when she was younger to get her fortune told. No matter what fortune teller she went to, she heard the same thing: you will have much misfortune in your life. It had made sense; her father’s debt, her lack of money for university and her lack of powers. She used to worry if it would be even worse. Now, she couldn’t afford to think that way.
Her eyes fell on one of her father’s only friends, Bruss. His long hair snaked down his shoulder in a ponytail, his snake-like eyes focused on one of his clients. Behind him were coals. In his hand was a pen covered in ink. The man he was doing work on had bitten hard on the rag in his mouth and his eyes were brimming with visible tears. The mark on his arm was the beginnings of a name; most likely a loved one.
Bruss met Red’s eyes and jerked his head, beckoning her next to him. Red hesitated, but only for a second. While Bruss wasn’t the most average person, he was trustworthy. He of all people should have an idea of where her father was. It was a matter of whether or not he would tell her.
“Go drink a glass of water and then I’ll finish it,” he told the client. The man hurriedly nodded and scurried off.
“Some men are weak,” Bruss snorted. “What’s up, kiddo?”
Red winced at the nickname. She had never liked it.
“Have you seen dad?”
“Why do you ask?” Bruss said, wiping the pen off with the rag the man had been holding in his mouth.
“He didn’t come home last night. It’s not like him.”
Bruss had the decency to raise an eyebrow.
“No it’s not. He leave a message?”
Red shook her head. Worry made her hands clammy, and she wiped them on her jeans. If her father hadn’t told Bruss he was gone, then something bad might have happened.
“Tell me where he usually goes,” Red ordered. Bruss only sighed and shook his head.
“Can’t do that, kiddo.”
Red never wanted to stomp her feet and throw a tantrum more than she had then. Bruss had constantly told her this same answer whenever she asked. But this was more than simple curiosity.
“He could be in trouble!”
Bruss frowned.
“That’s even more of a reason why a little kiddo like you shouldn’t go looking for him.”
In the name of Ravsko, Red thought. Anger flooded through her. An image appeared behind her eyelids; her father with his knees deep in wet pavement, croaking for help, his voice raspy from using it so much.
When her eyes opened, she was jogging away from Bruss, his shock and amazement worth every second of leaving him mid-conversation. Ravsko forbid her vision was accurate.
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