Anomaly

Chapter 9

We arrived at my uncle's in St. Katherine and Wapping. They lived in one of the houses by the canal. Actually, it would be more accurate to say two of the houses by the canal. Since the real estate here was a bit narrow, they bought two adjoining flats and tore down the wall between them.

The result was pretty cool. The living room was spacious and had giant arched windows facing the canal walk around Spirit Quay. Even in the dark the view was lovely, with the streetlamps reflected softly in the calm waters, but Uncle Dave pulled the curtains closed.

Jack turned on all the lights. They had a lot of lights. It was one of Jacks' many little quirks. Or maybe it was a remnant from his days on brightly lit K-pop stages? He packed the living room with lamps, fairy lights, candles, and neon lights.

Uncle Dave turned on the coffee machine. The thick aroma was even more intoxicating than that hallucinogenic gas from earlier. I've tried a lot of substances both in my actual life, as well as my Vision, and trust me when I tell you that none of them were nearly as addictive or satisfying as coffee.

I found myself trouserless in a room full of people for the second time that evening, as Jack insisted on rebandaging my thigh. He suspected that the bandages we found in the pot heads' flat were not the most sterile, especially since they came from the weed drawer.

Amelie was watching me quietly. I found her big dark eyes unnerving. Perhaps it was the orange brief's fault, but I felt vulnerable under her gaze.

Uncle Dave handed us all cups of coffee and sat down at the dining table without even taking off his trench coat. I started to worry that this situation was a bit more serious than I first assumed. Sure, I know that most people would consider being almost murdered pretty serious, but that was a bi-monthly occurrence for me, so it was little things like Uncle Dave not changing into his joggers as soon as he walked into the house that were the real red flags.

I recounted the events of the evening as best as I could, and got slapped at the back of the head by Uncle Dave, when I told him how I almost jumped off a building.

"Ouch!" I cried petulantly. "I wasn't actually going to go through with it. Terra told me that you can catch a glimpse of the afterlife in your Vision, if you act like you mean it."

"The only thing you're gonna catch a glimpse of is the Vision of me whipping your ass."

Uncle Dave shook his extended palm at me. He had unnecessarily big palms. Jack patted me on the back sympathetically, but then he raised his eyebrows in a way that said he would help my uncle turn that threat into reality.

I sighed and continued the story. At the part where I lost my Vision Uncle Dave grew very quiet. That was strange. He wasn't crazy about being Elysian. Especially compared to most Elysians I knew, who walked around like they had invisible crowns on their heads and abused their powers all the time – myself included – Uncle Dave wasn't really bothered, and ever since he met Jack, he'd been using his Vision less and less. But now he looked at Amelie the same way I looked at her when I was high on Perfume and thought she was a monster of black fire.

"And why did you want to jump?" he asked her.

"Because of my Bad Luck," she answered, averting her gaze. "There are always very bad things happening around me. Houses burning down, car accidents, people with guns, and many other strange things."

"Right, well, that sounds like Exla's life. Except that he doesn't rely on Bad Luck for horrible things to happen. He orchestrates it all himself."

"Hey now!" I cried in indignation, though I'm not sure why. My uncle was 100% right.

"I made a friend recently," Amelie continued. "I was very happy. I haven't had any friends since I was little. Her name is Susana. She's very kind and she helped me a lot with my English this summer. So last week I invited her for a drink to say thank you. When we were walking together to Soho, a flowerpot fell on her head from a tall building. She's been in a comma ever since. It was my Bad Luck, it – "her voice broke in a sob.

"Ugh," Uncle Dave let out a loud grunt and put his face in his hands. "This doesn't make any sense. It doesn't sound like she's using any God Sense, so why is our Vision not working in her presence?"

"I know, right?" I nodded, trying to hold back from smiling.

Amelie blinked away her tears and looked at me questioningly.

"The only time Seers have trouble with their Vision is in the presence of other Elysians because the God Senses are not of this world, so it's hard for our Vision to predict how they will influence the future. For example, when I run into other Seers, I can see two or more possible outcomes, depending on how powerful they are."

"I'm not as powerful as Exla," my uncle chimed in, "so most of the time I only get glimpses of the future, but still. I've never before lost my Vision so completely, especially in a critical situation," he shook his head and stared at his palm, as if he was hoping to see the future at least there.

"You were also unaffected by the inhalant, correct?" Jack asked Amelie.

"You mean the purple gas?" she scratched her head. "It was a bit hard to breathe and my eyes hurt. Is that how it's supposed to affect you?"

The three of us just shook our heads. Then Jack got up and picked up a black light from one of the wall shelves, and turned off the bajillion other lights in the room. He always had more presence of mind than any of us.

"Don't worry, I won't touch you," he said to Amelie. "Just hold still for a bit."

Only her eyes moved as Jack shone the light over her face and then over her hands.

Nothing.

My head was about to explode.

"This makes no sense!" I exclaimed. "I thought she was some sort of Anomaly like Terra, and she didn't even know about it."

"Yes, I was rather hoping that was the case as well. At least it would explain what is happening." My uncle's shoulders slumped.

"What is going on?" Amelie asked. "Did you see something in the black light?"

"No" I almost yelled at her. "That's the problem!" I took the lamp from Jack and shone it over my right eye.

When Amelie gasped softly, I knew she could see the intricate shapes and glowing lines that covered the skin around my eye.

"Elysians are all born with Birth Marks. These appear around the body part that's associated with our God Sense: hands, mouth, nose, ears, or eyes. That's how we know which order our children belong to before they start manifesting their abilities."

Amelie checked her hands again with a frown of disappointment.

"I guess my Bad Luck, is just my Bad Luck then?" she asked in a half whisper.

"Okay kids," Uncle Dave said getting up. "I think this is enough for one night. My head is going to split open if I hear one more thing that doesn't make sense. We can continue this in the morning."

Amelie pointed at the couch – which by the way, was worlds cleaner and cosier than the worm alien in the bachelor pad – and looked questioningly at Uncle Dave.

"Oh, no. You can have Exla's room, and Exla can sleep in my office."

"I can sleep in the office," she offered.

"No, no. When I say Exla's room, I actually mean the guest room. It's just that this brat ends up sleeping in our guest room more often than his own flat." He gave me a pointed look.

"Uncle," I whined. "Stop giving away all our family secrets to a complete stranger."

My uncle waved at me dismissively, "Says the guy who told of the secrets of the God Senses to a complete stranger."

"We'll make the bed in the office," Jack offered, following my uncle out of the living room. "I'll let you know when it's ready."