Superhumans

The smell of burning wood permeated the cool air. A billow of smoke drifted from the firepit through the space between where Jack and Tara sat. Malina lay sprawled on the grass, gazing at the dark, star-flecked abyss above. The three friends were gathered around the campfire that they had built, reminiscing the good old days of when they were able to come together like this often.

"Malina, fire's going out," Jack warned once their main source of light dimmed for the first time during the night.

Malina continued her anecdote as she sat up and made a subtle upward motion with her hand over the dwindling heat, concentrating her energy in just her palm. The small fire burst into a furious blaze within the pit. The flames reached desperately for her outstretched hand as if it was a source of life. The group felt the heavy heated pressure against their faces. Jack looked on, unfazed, while Tara watched in awe, her dark hair flowing. After a few seconds, Malina finally pulled her hand away, allowing the fire to calm.

"I'm impressed. Last we met we were in high school and you didn't have the control you have now," Tara said.

"Just say it. I burned some people back in those days... literally."

"Almost burned down my home too," Jack muttered. "Twice."

"But I didn't. And it was an accident! If there was a book that could teach me how to control fire, I would've read it instead of going the self-taught route," Malina said. "You know, if you somehow harmed someone with your skin hardening abilities, I wouldn't hold it against you."

"I mean, it's not like I can throw around my rock-hard arms by accident, but thanks," Jack said as he pulled up the sleeves of his gray wool sweater to make a show of his own talent. In a matter of seconds, the skin on his forearms stretched and thickened over taut muscles, making them look almost bionic.

"I'm sure if I were you, I'd find a way," Malina countered.

"Of course you would," Jack said, studying the movement of his muscles as he clenched and unclenched his fists, as if thinking of the possibilities that might have crossed her mind.

"Well, the important thing is that you've got everything under control now," Tara said. "I haven't heard any stories of your antics in so long. That's a clear good sign."

"Come on, give me some credit. I'm not a kid anymore."

"Barely," Tara said through a laugh as she gave Malina's shoulders a squeeze. "Twenty-two is only a step up from being a teenager."

"Yeah, yeah. Anyway, let's eat," Malina said as she got up to grab her rucksack of snacks when suddenly the fire went out.

The group fell silent, found themselves in complete darkness in the clearing among the thickets of towering ponderosa pines. The trill of insects seemed to grow louder. The wildlife that had been so calming earlier turned sinister in the absence of light.

"Really, Malina? I was only joking," Tara said.

Malina ignored her. Her eyes still hadn't adjusted to the darkness but she didn't need her sight to know that someone else was here with them. It was that feeling of being watched. A sixth sense. Superhumans received signals to the brain when another being was in close proximity. She just couldn't quite pinpoint where exactly they were. As her vision adjusted, she spun around, taking in her surroundings, and listened for even the slightest rustling of leaves. After circling once, she stopped and faced the edge of the clearing, away from her friends, tried to look past the section of thick tree trunks and the foliage above. But it was too dark. She started for the edge.

"Malina, seriously. I'm getting cold," Tara said, wrapping her arms around herself, though she was the one with the thickest jacket.

"It wasn't her," Jack said in a near whisper as he got up. His mind and senses wandered before he came to a resolve and pulled Tara up by the arm. "We need to get you home. Now."

The urgency in his tone sent Tara into a panic. "What? Why? Malina, what's going on?" She demanded.

"No time to explain. Just leave with Jack or-"

Malina couldn't even finish her sentence when out of nowhere there was a rush of movement right behind her. Adrenaline immediately drummed through her and her hands blazed, casting a faint light over the clearing as she whirled around to see who, or what, had passed. She was prepared to attack. In fact, she found herself aching to test the extent of her powers. But the presence, let alone the figure itself, had already vanished. She only met the worried expressions of her friends.

Malina just stared at them, eyes wide with a mixture of disbelief, frustration. All she could think of was that her friends could have been hurt, or killed. And she couldn't do anything about it. For the first time in her life, she felt helpless. No one had ever bested her in combat yet here she was, completely unprepared for this opponent. How could she possibly beat someone she couldn't even detect? She didn't dare to think of the outcome of such a fight.

"Hey, Malina. It's ok. We're safe. For now," Jack said.

Malina blinked and pulled herself out of her thoughts. She let out a breath that she didn't realize she was holding and then extinguished the small flames in her hands, allowing them to appear back in the firepit in a burst. The shadows of the flames were like many hands reaching across the clearing in all directions. Caution crept back into her mind at the sight. She couldn't tell if it was her sixth sense or paranoia at this point, but she decided to let it go until the danger returned. Worrying wouldn't help.

"Everyone okay?" Malina asked. Her eyes roamed around, calculating, as she moved closer to her friends.

"Yeah," Jack said. "Whoever that was didn't even lay a finger on us. And clearly they could have if they wanted to. What was the point of that anyway?" He asked no one in particular.

"Who the hell are you guys talking about? I didn't see anyone," Tara said.

"Someone was right in front of us, T," Jack said. "I swear I saw a silhouette for a split second. Maybe I imagined it but someone was there. I felt their presence... It's hard to explain. When you're like us... you just know. They were fast. Too fast for us to process their movements. I've never experienced anything like it. Glad we didn't have to go up against that."

"Yet," Malina added, her tone devoid of energy as she remembered how she felt when the figure had bypassed her so easily. "Let's just get out of here before they get another chance to actually do some damage.

"Good that," Jack said.

"As the only powerless person here, you don't need to tell me twice," Tara said.

"Race you guys to the village!" Jack said as he abruptly bolted out of the clearing and into the darkness of the forest.

"Oh yeah, because outracing a slow, normal human makes you such a champ!" Tara shouted as she took off after him, eager to get out of here.

While the others got their head start, Malina rushed to pick up her rucksack which she had placed against a nearby tree. She pulled the drawstrings over her shoulders as she started to follow the others when she felt herself kick something by the firepit that wasn't there earlier. She looked down to find that a package the size of a thick novel, wrapped in brown paper and tied with a single thread of twine, had taken her seat on the grass. She crouched down to inspect the suspicious package. Her name was scrawled across the middle in black ink.

Malina squinted warily. This couldn't have been from Jack or Tara. She was sure they had come here empty-handed. She was the only one carrying a bag. She looked back up to call after them but her friends were already too far up ahead.

No way... she thought as it dawned upon her. Perhaps their uninvited guest just wanted to make a delivery and really didn't mean any harm. Malina ripped off the packaging without hesitation and pulled the lid off the box. Inside was a thin stack of documents. She sifted through them and found that they were mostly letters, none of which were dated. Malina scanned the first letter. It was from Tara to someone named Demetri. It read:

Demetri, when you mentioned that it was possible to extract the powers of a superhuman and implant them in a human, I thought you were out of your mind. But after you and your team showed me your gene editing technology, I'm now convinced enough to give it a shot, though I know the procedure is highly risky. So, about your proposal... I accept, only on one condition. You must leave Malina out of your experiments.

Malina's face twisted in confusion. Who was Demetri and how did Tara come into contact with him? Was he after Malina's power?

Malina proceeded to flip through the rest of the stack. There was a map detailing the layout and security of the royal palace. The princess's daily schedule for this month. Tara worked directly for the royal family as their head of public relations, which was how she would have access to that information. Then there was another letter in which Tara made her own request to Demetri. I want to be the vessel for this one, she wrote. Malina blanched, heart dropped. She hoped she'd misunderstood that.

It seemed that Demetri's plan was to take away powers from superhumans for some reason. The kingdom's princess had the ability to manipulate ice. If Demetri was after both Malina and the princess, then he must want to possess only the most destructive powers. And Tara tried to protect Malina but sold out the princess instead. No matter how she looked at it, she couldn't accept what her friend was doing.

And who delivered this box to Malina anyway? Were they on her side? The letters were all addressed to Demetri so it must have been someone who personally knows him and had access to his personal belongings. Or perhaps they were a vigilante who somehow knew about Demetri's plans and stole these documents. Why didn't they just hand over this evidence to the authorities? Maybe they didn't want to get involved? Maybe they didn't have faith in the authorities? But why trust me with this? Malina wondered. Maybe Demetri was the delivery guy...

Ok, probably not.

Malina suddenly shook her head as if to shake off all the questions from her mind. She shoved the documents back into the box and then into her rucksack. She didn't want to read any more of this nonsense until she could wrap her head around what she'd seen so far.

The more she thought about one of her closest friends, who was so full of heart, so hardworking and loyal to the kingdom, sacrificing someone else's life for power, the more ridiculous it sounded. None of this could be real... Could it? For all she knew, these could have been forged, and this whole thing just a stupid prank.

Still... whether it was or wasn't, as a member of this kingdom, it was Malina's duty to help protect the homeland. The lives of others could be in danger and there were possible traitors amongst them. She had to act soon.

She didn't know who she was up against but she would do whatever it took to put an end to them, even if it meant hurting the one she trusted most.