Story 6/1001

• possession
• respectable
• wave

Everyone turned their heads to the sounds of footsteps. The doors slowly opened, and a young girl stood before them. She was gripping her bag, like it was her lifeline.

“We have a newbie?” A boy closest to her exclaimed, and extended his hand. “Matthew Floyd, at your service. But, you can call me Matt.”

“All that is not going to get you a girlfriend, Matt.” Another boy said, mockingly. “Adam.”

“I’m Maya.” She said, still standing at the door and gripping her bag.

“Leave those boys be, Maya. I’m so happy we finally got a girl! I’m Lena.” She hugged Maya and took her hand. “Come, sit next to me. You have no idea how exhausting it was with three boys here.”

“Three?” Maya said, looking around the room.

“The boss is in the other room. Talking to his boss.” Said Adam. “What’s your poison?”

“Poison?”

Lena stood up and walked to the vase on a small table in the middle of the room. She took out a flower, touched it with her index finger – and it melted, leaving a foul smell in the room.

“Mine is acid. Don’t worry, I have perfect control, so I won’t hurt you.”

“She may look sweet, but she’s deadly, alright.” Said Matt.

“That is really amazing.” Said Maya, smiling. “But mine is – I don’t like mine.”

“Oh, come on. You have abilities – what’s not to like. At least it’s not a lame one, like his.” Matt pointed at Adam.

“Says a guy with no real surname. It’s just two names, you know?” Adam scoffed.

“Now, now, boys. Be respectable towards each other.” Lena looked at Maya and pointed to Matt. “His gift is anything with electronics. he can wipe the surveillance camera just like that! Or copy a hard drive. It’s really helpful, especially with the big companies.” Matt smiled. Lena turned towards Adam.

“Adam has heightened senses. And when I say heightened, I mean really heightened. He hears everything, for miles. He can taste things without even trying them. I think it’s pretty amazing.”

“Wow. How do you do that?” Maya asked, relaxing the grip on her bag.

Adam turned to her and smiled.

“It comes like a wave of some sort – almost like the smell and the taste become one, and I can tell what it tastes like in a second.”

“It’s really not that cool, girls.” Matt said. “So, what’s your poison, Maya?”

“I – I call it possession. My soul can enter people, and I can control them, and see everything they saw and – “

“Now, that’s a cool one, Adam!” Matt smiled. “Can you do that with me?”

“No. If I do it on the living-” She stopped. Lena held her hand. “They lose their minds.”

“So, we have a necromancer on our team!” Matt exclaimed.

“It’s not like that-“

“And I thought our boss had a nice one.”

“Matt, sit down. You’re making her uncomfortable. It must have been hard on you, Maya.” Lena said, reassuringly, and Maya smiled.

“It’s okay. Thank you. So, what does our boss do?”

“Leon can control your mind. Put illusions, wipe memories, things like that. It helps when there are witnesses around.” Adam explained.

Maya looked at Lena, confused. The big, two sided doors on their left opened, and a tall figure appeared.

“Boss! Are we ready?” Asked Matt.

“Don’t call me that – we’re the same age.” Leon answered, confusing Maya even more. They were both young, but the air around them was completely different. Like one was a trickster, and the other was a king.

“We’re heading out.” Said Leon and everyone stood up. Maya followed.

“Hi, I’m Maya. What exactly are we doing? Saving people?”

Adam, Matt and Lena looked at each other. Leon’s eyes were fixed on Maya.

“We’re not heroes, Maya. We’re cleaners.”