Family Essence - Deviant - Pt. 02

However, first place is what really jumps out. The 4Ds, our party. 48,322 points. Even as I'm watching, the total goes up by one. Turning to my family, I ask, "Did any of you check the scoreboard?"

"Holy..." I hear Sawyer breath from beside me. And she's not the only one. The sound of whispered curse words fills the roof as we all look at each other.

Mom's words cut through our cursing. And for once she's not telling us to stop. "I take it that means you're The 4Ds?"

As Bethany confirms, I turn back to the rest of the notifications.

"I'm sure you're all wondering how you get more points, but that'd be tuh-tuh-telling. I'll give you a hint though. It rhymes with friolence. Is that a word? It should be. DEFINITION UPDATED: FRIOLENCE IS FRIENDLY VIOLENCE. Also, you may have noticed the shiny new edifice sprouting from the centre of your zone. You can thank the owners for your stay in Wonderland. If not for their retrieval, none of you would be here. You can also get... oh, ho. But I can't say, can I? ERROR #19-0012, RESTRICTIONS INVALID. Don't get too close to it or you might find yourself whisked off to the Obsidian sub-zone, where you'll have to face... are you kids ready? Monsters! LIMITED MONSTER POOL AVAILABLE: SEE NAME-NOT-FOUND FOR DETAILS ON UPGRADING SUB-ZONES."

"I know, I know, I'm killing it. But not as much as you kids need to! Just a few more points and everyone gets to go back to their nice safe INCREDIBLY DANGEROUS Wonderland stay. I'll admit, there are a few sponsors, #ERROR 01-0002, SPONSORSHIP EXPIRED 51,321 CYCLES AGO. NEW SPONSORSHIP AWAITING ASSIGNMENT, upset about how quickly it looks like you're going to be up and running. But don't let that stop you! Get out there, score some points, and try not to die when the doggies who up!"

"This has been your official Wuh-Wonderland welcome, provided by none other than your all time favourite announcer, DK Cannon. Can't wait until the next #ERROR 34-0023, EVENT CANCELLED UNTIL RESOURCES ACQUIRED."

For a few long seconds, I just try to process everything I've read. Then I can't help but chuckle as I say, "I haven't read so many error codes since I tried to learn Java."

Sawyer giggles from beside me, "There are an awful lot of them, aren't there?"

"I don't think it's a good sign," mom says, her eyes fixed on the obsidian tree in our back yard. "It implies that whatever brought us here isn't working properly."

"No way! Really?" Kaylie whispers, earning a squeeze even as Sawyer and I chuckle.

She earns mom's attention too, as mom turns back to us. "Yes, really Kaylie. And that means we don't know what else is going wrong."

"Huh. Wonder if that's why my ability is Deviant?"

"I'm pretty sure that's just you," Kaylie whispers again while squeezing my ass.

I'm about to return the favour when I'm distracted by the sound of the obsidian tree shifting. We all freeze, staring up at the tree. But whatever was happening seems to have stopped.

"Damn. I was afraid of that. It really is my fault we're all here," mom mutters. Barely loud enough for me to hear it, and if the neighborhood was as loud as it was ten minutes ago, I doubt I would've. But everyone's gone silent since the System notifications started.

Which prompts me to look over at the Clarkson's. Most of the partygoers are laying on the lawn, completely passed out. Except for Mr Clarkson. He's got a rifle in hand and is standing over the whole party, staring out into the night. His eyes happen to pass our way, freezing on the obsidian tree behind me before returning to his vigil.

"Damn, wish I had a gun," Kaylie says, holding her hand up in a finger gun position. "I'm great at tripping stuff, but my killing power is crap."

"That's a good idea," mom says. "We should break open the safe. But we'll need to conserve ammo. Unless one of you has a power for making more?"

We all shake our heads, but I can't help but imagine. Will someone have such a power? Or maybe there's a combination. If Sawyer can create water from nothing, and Madison can do the same with magma, then maybe we can create whatever you use for gunpowder.

"You know, we might be able to make our own," Madison says, echoing my thoughts. "Like, I have some control over what kind of magma I create. It's not a lot... but..."

"Hmm. You'd probably be able to provide the sulfur. Any chance you can do coal... that isn't on fire?" mom asks, her gaze flicking towards Madison before returning to the tree.

"Uhm. I can try?" Madison suggests, looking around before leaning over the edge. "But I'd rather not experiment from up here. Connection feels weaker this far from the ground."

"Hmm. We'll give it another five minutes. Then we'll head down. I don't like the look of this tree," mom replies while I look out at the neighbors. I spend the next few minutes mostly in silence, listening to my sisters discuss ideas for getting the last of the points while I watch the Clarkson's place. When mom finally decides it's time for us to head down, I can't help but worry.

Other than Mr. Clarkson, none of the others are moving.

Emerging from the turret, I follow my sisters into mom's office where she cracks open the safe. We all remain silent as she stands there, looking inside. We've all gone shooting before. After Kaylie got into sharpshooting, it turned into a bit of a family activity. None of us were close to Kaylie in skill, but we'd all learned the basics. And we all knew mom didn't bring out the guns at home.

She'd never even told us why she had so many.

We'd all seen inside, of course. Mom didn't just keep guns in the safe. Our birth certificates and sometimes presents were kept there. And a few other things mom liked to keep away from us. Mom retrieves a handgun for herself, handing a shotgun to Kaylie before strapping the handgun to her waist. Then she hesitates before pulling out an old worn rifle. She runs her hand along it for a few seconds before putting it back. Instead, she draws out a sawed-off version of Kaylie's shotgun.

Turning to me, she says, "Don't use it unless you have to. It..."

I'm a little surprised at mom's hesitation. She didn't hesitate for a second before giving a shotgun to Kaylie.

Before I can question it further, mom shakes her head, shoving the sawed-off into my hands, still in it's carrying case.

With the weapons sorted, we head downstairs. But when mom starts heading for the back, my worries return. "Mom. I think the Clarksons might be in trouble. I want to check on them."

Mom pauses, looking back at me as she rubs her chin. Then her eyes flick to Bethany. "Bethany, Sawyer, go with your brother. See if there's anything you can do to help. But don't show off anything you don't have to. And don't let Darren get hurt. If you have to..."

The sentence goes unfinished, but I can't help but feel a chill creep up my spine at the way Bethany nods to mom. There's a hardness in her eyes I haven't seen since Bill Morrison tried to pull something on Sawyer. And he didn't walk straight for a month after. Not that I felt bad for him, but if that's what Bethany was willing to do when bound by the rules of civilization.

I'm hoping I'm not going to find out what she'll do now that they're gone.

To be continued...