The street was still and quiet. It was late, well after midnight, and the only movement was the soft flickering of the flames in the gas streetlamps. The rest of the city had electric lighting by now, but the gas was kept in this neighborhood to maintain the historical integrity of the area. History was very important in Savannah, Georgia.
The pounding of feet interrupted the quiet as a man ran down East Oglethorpe Avenue. The street had been named for the founder of Georgia, and it went right through the heart of historic Savannah. The pounding stopped as the man reached the next street corner. Diagonally across from that corner was Colonial Park Cemetery; a cemetery dating back to the eighteenth century, and a cemetery that had housed Sherman’s Union troops after they burned Atlanta and marched to the sea.
The man attached to those feet didn’t stop to admire the history that he was standing less than a hundred feet from. Instead he took a left and ran toward the river. Two blocks in he ran into Oglethorpe Square, one of the many squares that had been planned into the creation of Savannah. During the day you could see families playing in those squares, weddings, dogs walking, or people just reading a book and enjoying nature’s company.
Once the man hit the square he went around it to the right and down the first road to lead off the square. There sat a row of old houses built with Savannah brick. All these houses were dark except for one, and from that house he heard a muffled scream.
The man scrambled for the door. He might be surrounded by history, but the future was happening inside that lonely lit window. It was the future of a history that dated back to the beginning of Savannah itself, and it was a history that nobody knew about.
The man practically barreled through the door only to come face to face with people with secrets.
“Where is she?” he asked the anxious faces all around him. They parted to let him pass into the sitting room.
There in the chair sat Ava.
He had never seen Ava like this. His daughter-in-law took special care to look respectable when anyone, even family, was over. Now, she was covered in sweat, most of her budging stomach was sticking out of her shirt, her hair was stuck to the side of her face, and her breathing was rapid and pained.
Still, she looked beautiful.
<The beauty of childbirth.> The man who was about to be a grandfather thought. <Only those who really understand can see beneath the surface to what is really important.>
“Edgar!” Ava screamed as her hand tightened around the arm of the chair.
Edgar hurried to Ava’s side and grasped her hand. Her fingernails dug into his skin like miniature knives, but nothing broke the skin. In fact, most of Ava’s nails cracked as they met Edgar’s unyielding flesh.
Edgar had a secret, a secret few knew. He’d lived through the Great War without a scratch when other men came home without limbs. The men in his company called him the “luckiest son of a bitch alive”, but there was no luck involved. Edgar was different. Ever since he was a teenager nothing had been able to pierce his skin. He’d taken that gift to war, fought for his country, and come home to raise his family.
Now his son was off doing the same, but with a different gift; a gift that left him more vulnerable.
It had been a long time since Edgar had felt vulnerable.
Ava screamed again and clawed at him.
Normally, Edgar wouldn’t allow anyone else to see how her strikes failed to hurt him, but here he was safe. Only other gifted were welcome in this house tonight.
“Her contractions are lasting over a minute, and they’re four minutes apart.” A woman stepped next to Edgar.
Edgar and the woman, Agnes, were acquaintances; which meant that they knew each other and had never really gotten along. They weren’t friends. Edgar’s gift made him a natural leader. The man who couldn’t be hurt was the person you wanted in charge if anything bad happened. Agnes’ gift was the opposite. The people she touched were cured of any disease; so although their personal philosophies might differ, she was the person Edgar wanted close by if anything went wrong. That, and she worked as a nurse at the local hospital and new the doctors there.
“I’ve called Doctor Goldstein and he’s on his way.” She placed a hand on Edgar’s shoulder in a rare moment of solidarity.
“Is there anything you can do?” Another contraction wracked Ava’s body, and her scream stabbed at his heart.
“I shouldn’t interfere with the labor unless something goes wrong,” Agnes said calmly, but with conviction. “None of us should use our gifts unless absolutely necessary.”
On that point they both agreed, although people like Edgar didn’t have the choice to turn their gifts on and off. Where their opinions diverged was what to do if they were ever revealed. Edgar had lived his entire life in Georgia, except when he went off the France to fight, and he knew the people here. They were deeply superstitious, and people suddenly appearing with special gifts would only lead to two outcomes. They’d be heralded as angels, or servants of the devil. Edgar believed it would be the latter; especially since a number of the gifted were not white, male, landowners.
Edgar wanted his people to be ready for a fight if necessary. Agnes, the ying to his yang, thought the opposite. She was willing to sacrifice herself and their people to the natural order if it came to that. That was something Edgar couldn’t accept or contemplate. Not when another life was being born into their small community.
“What? Is something wrong?” Ava’s terrified face showed she’d heard the tail-end of their conversation.
“Nothing is wrong.” Edgar patted her hand paternally. “We’re just planning for anything that can happen.” Ava looked like she wanted to say something else but then a knock echoed through the crowded house.
“Move! Let the doctor in.” Agnes stormed towards the door, as people scrambled to get out of her way. She might be willing to bet their survival on the fallible nature of people, but she had a temper that was well known by everyone.
“Edgar…Edgar,” Ava grabbed at his shirt as he started to move away. “What if he’s…” she lowered her voice, “…gifted like you.”
Edgar gave her a reassuring smile. “Don’t worry, Ava. Antonio will take care of things if there are obvious signs of a gift. You concentrate on having a healthy baby. That is what is important.”
He nodded towards another one of the gifted present. The man, who stood alertly in the doorway, could make people forget anything he wanted them too.
“Excuse me, are you the father?” The doctor was here now, and gently shoving Edgar out of the way.
“No the grandfather.” His chest swelled with pride as he said the words. “The father is off fighting in North Africa.”
“Very well. I’m going to need you to step out of the room please.” The doctor didn’t waste any time in checking Ava’s status.
“No, Edgar, please stay!” Edgar looked at the doctor for confirmation, and returned to Ava’s side when he got a curt nod.
“She’s already dilated ten centimeters and through transition.” The doctor sounded annoyed at the fact. “Why didn’t you take her to a hospital?”
“I only just got here a few minutes ago, and Edgar shortly after me. With the father gone it took too long for the neighbors to figure out what was going on and call me,” Agnes explained.
“It’s too late for that now. Fetch my bag, quickly!” Agnes moved with a spryness no one would expect for someone her age; a side effect of her gift.
“What’s her name?” The doctor whispered in Edgar’s ear as Ava body tightened with another contraction.
“Ava,” he replied, hoping the doctor didn’t look too closely at his hand.
“Ok, Ava.” The doctor’s voice was both forceful and calming. “You’re going to have to push soon, do you understand?”
Ava bobbed her head up and down, and then quickly shook it back and forth. “It hurts…can’t do it…”
The doctor looked at Edgar, giving him silent commands. Edgar’s son had been born under similar circumstances, all the gifted were. There was too much of a risk to do it in a hospital. A single baby could expose them all, and that meant that sometimes sacrifices needed to be made. Thankfully, Edagr knew what to do.
“You can do this, Ava.” His voice matched the comforting but stern tone of the doctor. “Push when he says to push and everything will be ok. All you have to endure is a few minutes of pain for a lifetime of happiness.” His pep talk seemed to get through to her because she nodded her head up and down.
Agnes returned with a big black medical bag just when the doctor started to tell her to push.
Edgar was overwhelmed with pride as he watched Ava struggle to birth his grandchild. The pain and suffering a mother had to endure for their children didn’t end after childbirth, but that was a testament to the women of the world; especially the women of his family. Edgar’s only regret was that his son couldn’t be here to watch the birth of his own son.
“He’s crowning,” the doctor announced. “A few more pushes, Ava.”
Her hand gripped Edgar’s so tight that he thought her fingers were going to break under the strain. Ava pushed and screamed until finally it stopped and there was silence.
“Scissors quickly.” The doctor motioned to the bag as an eerie silence stretched throughout the house.
Ava was so exhausted she almost missed it, but her motherly instinct kicked in and she bolted upright. “Why isn’t my baby crying!” she screamed.
“The umbilical cord is wrapped around its throat,” the doctor replied calmly as he grabbed the scissors to cut the cord and unraveled it. “I need oxygen.”
Agnes reappeared quickly with a small oxygen mask with a small plastic bag on the top. The doctor placed it over the babies face and began to squeeze. Edgar peeked over and fear gripped his body. The small baby was a distinct shade of blue. He wasn’t a doctor, but that couldn’t be good; and the doctor’s expression wasn’t helping.
While the doctor pressed and released the bag, Edgar looked up and made sure Agnes met his eyes. There was no misreading the expression on the man who was going to lose his grandchild.
<If that baby does not live than neither do you.> Agnes stiffened as the message came through loud and clear. She gave Edgar a hard stare, but then gently caressed the baby’s shoulder.
A cry sprang out from the baby that caught the doctor by surprise. “There we go.” He might have been surprised, but he was convinced it was his resuscitation technique and not Agnes’ gift that saved the baby.
The crying didn’t stop as the baby made his existence known to the world.
“Ava.” The doctor cradled the crying baby and brought it over to its mother. “I’d like you to meet your daughter.”
Ava only looked confused for a moment. They’d been told it would be a boy, but it seemed the doctors had been wrong. But as she laid eyes on her little girl her whole face lit up. Ava didn’t have a gift like Edgar or Agnes, but Edgar swore she was glowing in that moment.
“She’s going to need to stop by the hospital soon.” The doctor stepped away from Edgar and Ava, dragging Agnes with her. “We need to do the standard tests and get the birth certificate filled out.”
“Yes, doctor. Thank you for coming so quickly.” Doctor Goldstein nodded before leaving.
Once he was gone, Agnes hurried to examine the baby.
“I don’t see any typical side effects,” Agnes spoke to Edgar and Ava. “Blond hair, blue eyes, no deformities or anything out of the ordinary. That could change,” she cautioned. “Some take time to grow into their gifts, but she could also be normal.”
Edgar scoffed at the possibility. As far back as he could remember the people of his family had been gifted.
“What are you thinking of naming her?” Agnes asked, her clinical tone changing to that of a fellow woman who’d been through what Ava had just endured.
“Well,” Ava gave a weak chuckle. “We were going to name him Lee after my father, but that was back when we were sure he was going to be a boy. But now…” she trained off her eyes being pulled across the room.
In the corner of the room, on an end table, was the last gift Ava had received from her husband. He’d spent the ridiculous sums it took to ship her gifts from Europe, but he didn’t know what else to do since she was alone and pregnant. The last gift had been a packet of seeds. She’d planted them in a pot by the window and watched them grow as her own belly did.
The pot of white and yellow daisies was one of her most favorite things in the house.
“Daisy,” Ava nodded as she said the name. “Her name is Daisy, Daisy Lee Meyers.”
***
There was noise all around him. No matter where he turned it was there stalking him like some sort of apex predator. The low BOOM of artillery being fired miles away, closely followed by the whistle of it descending on your head. The steady chatter of small arms fire from both sides of the river, and of course who couldn’t forget the sound of aircraft flying overhead. Every time you heard that distinctive roar of an engine you prayed to whatever you believed in that it was friendly; because if it wasn’t it was going to fill you full of lead and there was nothing you could do about it.
Well, there was nothing most normal men could do about it.
Andrew Meyers wasn’t an ordinary man. He didn’t come from an ordinary family, and his family’s gifts allowed them to do incredible things; but there was a difference between incredible feats and miracles. Not even Andrew, who could steal the energy right out of moving objects, could protect himself and his men from everything. That was what haunted his dreams every night; seeing the men he fought beside cut down by the enemy and then the blinding flash of light that sent him home.
“Andy…Andy…” Andrew shook his head and looked up at his wife.
Ava was absolutely gorgeous. The mother of his child was practically glowing in a red party dress that she’d put on for the special occasion. It was conservative enough to not draw too much attention, but for a man who’d spent years off at war the sight of a shapely woman was something that took awhile to get used to again.
“It’s time,” she smiled, but the joy didn’t reach her eyes.
She was concerned about him, everyone was. Old Agnes had been over when he first got home to help. The bomb that had been dropped on his platoon had done nasty damage, even to him. Physically, he was fine, but Agnes’ gift wasn’t able to heal the mind and all the horrors he’d seen.
<Today is not about you.> He kicked himself for his negative attitude.
“Ok,” Andrew plastered his best smile on his face and grabbed the bottom of the cake platter.
“Happy birthday to you. Happy birthday to you. Happy Birthday dearest Daisy! Happy Birthday to you…” As the song progressed everyone in the backyard joined in.
The recipient of the song, the angel of Andrew’s world, squealed with delight at the attention and the sight of the cake. She ran forward as they finished singing and blew all the candles out with a single blow.
“That’s my girl!” Andrew pulled Daisy into a bear hug, which she allowed for a few seconds before trying to squirm out from beneath his arms.
<They get old so quick.>
He would never forgive himself for not being there for Ava when Daisy was born, and he’d been a steadfast and devoted father for five years before being called back to active duty. Three more years away from his little girl, and he was coming back to a young woman. She was turning twelve, she was almost a teenager; and Andrew longed for the little girl he’d spent so much time with between wars.
“You can put it down now.” Ava placed a hand on top of his, and guided the cake onto the table.
“Yeah…um…sorry.” He didn’t even notice that his eyes were getting moist. Ava did and she rubbed his back gently for a few seconds before starting to cut the cake.
A line of mildly aggressive pre-teens was forming to devour the double chocolate monstrosity that Ava had baked. <Chocolate makes everything better.> It was a universal truth. Andrew took his own piece after all the kids were served.
He sat down and watched his daughter wolf down her cake and run back to play. Daisy was taller than the other girls by several inches, and she was built like an athlete. She’d always been more interested in playing in the mud, or playing catch with him than the more traditional girl activities. She absolutely hated dolls, and he’d yet to meet a person that could get her into a dress unless she wanted to be in one; which was basically never. She kept her blond hair long though, and currently had it tied back in a ponytail; and her crystal blue eyes were shining with happiness.
Twelve years and she hadn’t shown any signs of a gift. Twelve years of waiting for the moment when they needed to segregate her from her friends, pull her out of school, and teach her to control whatever she received. Hopefully she could control it; those who couldn’t were banished to live in the backwoods where they faded into memory and sometimes myth.
Andrew committed that moment to memory. His daughter playing, happy, without a care in the world, and chocolate smeared on her face. When the nightmares came that was what he was going to hold onto.
“You’ve got a guest.” Antonio looked up from where he was having a beer with another neighbor.
The next second the doorbell rang.
They weren’t expecting anyone, and Andrew couldn’t stop the senses honed by more than half a decade at war from snapping everything into focus. He readied himself, activating his gift so if something exploded he would be able to put himself between it, his family, and community.
He peaked out of the front window, and his shoulders relaxed. The man at the door was a friend.
“DeSoto.” Andrew opened the door with a smile.
“Meyers.” The two men stood facing each other for half a second before embracing.
“I’m glad you are feeling better my friend.” Graham DeSoto clapped him on the shoulder.
“We have a woman gifted with healing in our community.” Andrew pointed through the house at the noise coming from the backyard. “Most are here if you would like to meet them.”
“No thank you,” DeSoto waved off the gesture. “This is your special day and I only want to take a moment of your time.”
“Well please have a seat then.” Andrew gestured to their sitting room. “Can I get you anything?”
“No, I just want you to listen to my proposal with an open mind.” Apprehension overrode the happiness at their brief reunion, but Andrew would give Graham the chance he deserved.
“Ok.” They sat and Andrew waiting from his friend to collect his thoughts.
“The bottom line up front is that we are looking at going public.” Graham gestured at himself, Andrew, and the people in the backyard.
“Are you…” Graham held up his hands defensively at Andrew’s outburst.
“I’m not joking, but please just listen.” Andrew lowered himself back into his seat, but the apprehension outweighed everything now.
“We were able to do so much good in the wars,” Graham continued. “We made a difference. You were worth a hundred, no, a thousand infantrymen. I could cut down enemy fighters from the sky by the squadrons. We were able to turn the tides of battle.”
“Yes.” Andrew completely agreed. “But that was war, DeSoto. This is my home. I don’t want war at my home. That is what I was fighting to prevent.”
“I’m not saying we act like soldiers. I’m proposing that we act like policemen,” he quickly continued before Andrew could cut in. “You’re the second person I’ve talked to about this. Do you remember Kevin, the officer from Army intelligence? He’s one of us, and he’s on board. I’ve also got a long list of people to visit after you, all leaders in their communities; and all people I know want to make a difference.”
“But this isn’t about you, me, or even the two dozen other soldiers that I know of who were gifted,” Andrew countered. “This is about them.” He pointed to his backyard. “For every one of us in uniform there were ten who weren’t. What are they supposed to do? I know a lot of them don’t want to go public. They don’t want to be ostracized because of what they can do.”
“I don’t think…”
“You’re naïve if you think we won’t be labeled as different by some, and dangerous by most.” Andrew cut him off. “History says otherwise. They’ll want to be deeply involved in all of our lives at the least, and they’ll want to train us all for war at worst.” Andrew’s voice grew dangerously serious. “I will not have my daughter off in some foreign land killing for a country that won’t accept her for what she really is.”
“Daisy has manifested her gift?” Graham changed the subject.
“Thank God no, but she’s still going to be labeled by association. A lot of people will.”
“I still think we can do a lot of good, Andrew. We can prevent crime that regular police can’t. We can control how this goes public. We’ll go straight to the president with the news. We’ll make a deal with the government. They’ve fought two wars in the last decade; they’ll be willing to compromise and set up a workable system.”
“You’re proving my point for me,” Andrew replied. “You’re talking about war and forcing compromise. One way or another force is going to be applied and I don’t want my family or friends involved with it; including you Graham.”
They’d come to an impasse, both men realized that and they didn’t know how to proceed. They sat silently in the room for several minutes until finally Daisy ran into the room.
“Daddy!” She yelled right before she jumped at him. Like usual she was covered with dirt.
“Hey there.” His bad mood evaporated like morning fog in the sunlight.
“Whose he?” Andrew laughed at the authoritarian manner a twelve year old girl could pull off.
“This is a friend of mine. Daisy, meet Mr. DeSoto. Mr. DeSoto and I were overseas together.”
“So he’s a soldier too?” Daisy scrutinized Graham.
“Well, more specifically I was a pilot.” Despite their disagreement, Graham was nothing but smiles around Daisy. “But your father and I worked together many times. And I’d like to work with him again.”
<Low blow,> Andrew thought, shaking his head at his old war buddy.
“Neat. Nice to meet you, Mr. DeSoto.” And just like that Daisy was racing back out of the room to play with her friends again.
“She’s going to be a handful. My kids are a little older, and believe me I don’t envy the next few years of your life.” Graham smiled, and Andrew chuckled as he watched his daughter go.
“I’ll compromise with you, Graham.” Andrew believed he owed the man that much. “I’ll talk to my community here. I don’t have as much sway as my dad, but I can deliver your point of view and allow them to decide for themselves.”
“Thank you, Andrew.”
“Don’t thank me. This is America, we’re a democracy. I can’t go making decisions for people like that or we’d be no better than the Nazi’s.”
Graham nodded, and Andrew walked him to the door. “I hope you’ll reconsider.” The man who would eventually become Captain Starlight turned around to face Andrew.
“I won’t.” Andrew smiled back. “But feel free to visit anytime.”
“Goodbye, Andrew.” And just like that a man Andrew had fought and bled beside was gone.
Andrew closed the door behind him and took a deep breath. <As if I don’t have enough problems.>
As if on cue screams erupted from the backyard.
Fatherly instinct and battlefield training had Andrew sprinting through the room before his brain registered that it was Daisy’s scream.
“Andr…” Andrew was already sprinting past his wife, his gift allowing him to move faster than humanly possible.
Daisy was on the ground in the backyard. There was blood pouring from her knee, but that wasn’t anything new. The girl hurt herself all the time playing. What was new was the subtle light flickering across her hands, and those hands were covering her eyes.
“Daisy…honey, are you ok?” All he got was more screams.
He tried to touch her and instantly got zapped. He stumbled back his whole body vibrating with extra current.
“Dad!” Andrew called.
Whatever gift Daisy was manifesting in the middle of her twelfth birthday party, if was dangerous enough that they needed the man who couldn’t be hurt.
Edgar Meyers’ head snapped up from the group of people watching the screaming girl. He motioned with his hand, and Andrew saw Antonio move to block the doors and old Agnes started to calm everyone down. There were people outside the gifted community present, and if things got worse Antonio would have to deal with them.
“What’s wrong with her?” Ava ran forward ahead of Edgar.
“It’s her gift.” Andrew held his wife back.
Edgar finally reached them. He dropped his cane and knelt beside his granddaughter. “Daisy, its Grandpappy. Tell me what is wrong.”
The screams had turned to sobs, and they could barely hear her response. “…hurts…” The blue current that danced across her hands leapt onto Edgar, but the old man didn’t even budge as it travelled across his body and into the ground.
“Her gift involves electricity.” Edgar informed, motioning for everyone to back away. “Have Antonio erase everyone’s memory of today except for community members. No one can know. Daisy needs to be pulled from school immediately, and we need to train her.”
All of Andrew’s worst fears were coming true on what was supposed to be a special day.
“I’ll make some calls to nearby communities to see if they have anyone with electrical gifts that can help.” Edgar continued to talk, but Andrew was barely listening.
“Daisy, Grandpappy needs to see your eyes. Show me your eyes, Daisy.”
She resisted at first, but slowly Edgar was able to move her hands away. She kept them shut tight, but more coaxing got her to open her eyes and look at them.
Her brilliant blue eyes were gone. In their place were eyes as red as the blood Andrew had spilled for his country. Blood he knew that Graham’s proposal would have his people spilling at home instead of abroad.
***
“Happy birthday to you. Happy birthday to you. Happy birthday dear…”
“…Daisy…”
“…you awesome slut…”
“…muthafuckin’ ass kicker extraordinaire…”
“Happy Birthday to you,” Daisy laughed as the group of people in the dimly lit backroom celebrated her special day.
“Make a wish and blow.” The athletically fit college freshman next to her wiggled his eyes provocatively.
“Fuck you, Dave.” Daisy gave her on-again off-again boyfriend a flirty shove. “It’s my birthday.”
“And the birthday girl always gets what she wants. But seriously blow out the candles before the wax drips all over the cake.” Dave pointed at the eighteen multicolored candles that were about to do just that.
Daisy looked at the clock, <12:01 am,> and blew.
Drunken cheers greeted her as she completed the traditional birthday celebration, because now it was time to move on to a whole other tradition.
“Ladies and gentleman of the Lander hmm hmm hmm,” Dave coughed out the three letters of the special program they were in. “Freshman year is almost over!” That got more cheers than Daisy’s birthday celebration. “Our numbers have dwindled, but we’ve taken everything those god damned sadists could throw at us and asked for seconds.”
Daisy watched in awe as Dave addressed the crowd. The boy just had a charisma about him. <No, not a boy, a man.> It seemed they were on-again at least for tonight.
“But no one… no one has kicked ass more than this special lady standing next to me.” Hoots and hollers were directed in Daisy’s direction, but she waved them off with a blush. “So let’s make tonight a night to remember. A night that we can look back on and say ‘damn, I don’t remember shit’,” everyone laughed, and people raised their glasses in support of Dave’s idea.
Daisy didn’t have a glass, not yet. She’d been waiting for midnight; and she had to wait a couple more minutes to say the line she’d always wanted to say. “Hey, Dave,” she caught up to the class’ de-facto leader. “Want to buy me a drink?”
Dave grinned like he’d won the lottery, and practically sprinted out of the room and to the bar.
“Oooooooo,” Miriam appeared out of nowhere, like she had a tendency to do. “Someone’s going to get laid tonight.”
“Shut up.” Daisy hissed back, but several of the nearby Heroes in training had definitely heard her slightly drunk roommate. “It’s my birthday; let me do what I want. I’m a consenting adult now.”
“No judgment here.” Miriam winked and disappeared into the crowd just as Dave reappeared.
“Here you go birthday girl.” He handed her a big glass of amber liquid. “It’s light beer. I know this is your first drink, so this shouldn’t be too much of a shock to the system.”
“Thanks,” Daisy accepted the glass and took her first sip of alcohol.
“That’s…that’s…disgusting,” Daisy’s face pinched in dislike. “And you have to drink a lot of this to get drunk?”
“A virgin drinker like you, only a few of these should do the trick,” Dave clinked his refilled glass to hers and took a big gulp.
Daisy followed his lead, but it didn’t taste any better. For a girl who grew up on sweet tea this was torture.
“Don’t worry, it gets better,” he promised.
He was right.
Two drinks later and the bitter liquid was going down as easy as water. The world seemed to be rotating, Daisy found stuff funny she usually didn’t, and she had the need to hug everybody she saw. Specifically, she found the need to touch Dave every time she saw him.
“Hey…hey…” Daisy interrupted a group of five guys, including Dave, who were doing numerous shots. “I’m the biiirthday giiirl. I neeeed to be ableee to have fun with himmm laaaater.” She practically fell into the group, sloshing amber liquid all over the table.
“Ok, easy there,” Dave laughed. Despite drink much more than Daisy he didn’t seem to be suffering as bad. “I think it’s time for the birthday girl to call in a night.”
More hoots and hollers followed Dave as he exited the bar. Together with a slightly less drunk Miriam the two Supers carried Daisy back to campus.
Daisy woke up the next morning fully clothed and with a trashcan next to her. She immediately barfed what felt like everything she’d ever eaten or drank into it. Miriam didn’t fare much better, but she did remember enough to say that Dave had been a perfect gentleman and left after they got her into bed.
Daisy’s head hurt so badly, and she was missing most of her memories from the previous night.
“Was it worth it Little Ms. Perfect?” Their combat instructor screamed at her later in the day when she wasn’t able to function during training.
“No!” Daisy yelled back. All the instructors liked it when you yelled everything. “I’m never drinking again!”
Everyone in ear shot, including the instructors laughed at her. They’d all been there and said that before, and it never stopped them.
It wouldn’t stop her either.
Also check out my own web serial, Two Worlds here. Check out the just posted Chapter 16 here.