Teri closed her eyes and leaned against the cabinet. Even under normal circumstances seeing herself through the eyes of the people she cared about was exhausting, but now ...

  Xeke and Ruddy had been her family, the first real family she’d had since her sister died. But she’d done something to change that—something so bad she had blocked it from her own memory. They’d thought such awful things about her. They hated her.

  I must have killed someone. Part of her wanted to know who, but she couldn’t bring herself to look into their minds and find out. So she walled herself off from them—from everything. It was quiet now. Drawn into herself, she was nothing but an insignificant, broken, crippled, ugly person.

  She didn’t deserve her powers. She didn’t deserve to exist. If she wasn’t such a coward she would let Ruddy and Xeke see her, just so they could punish her.

  Teri pictured Xeke choking her, the way he’d imagined it in the truck. She shivered. I deserve it. All of it.

  She was so accustomed to seeing everything around her from every angle that when a jar smashed onto the floor next to her, she screamed.

  Everyone stared at her.

  “Teri!” Ruddy said.

  “What the hell?” Adrian said.

  She vanished and altered the memories of everyone in the room. It had never happened.

  “Sorry! Sorry,” the doctor said, bending over the broken glass a few feet away from her. Teri tried to wipe the liquid off her coat with her hands. They stained dark brown.

  “Iodine,” she muttered. She held her hands out in front of her. “Perfect.”

  After everyone left his office, Dr. Zimmer collapsed into his chair. A door in the back opened and his wife Mary came in from the adjoining house.

  Neither of them saw the invisible girl slip past her into their home.

  “Was that the new arrivals?” Mary said.

  “Three new afflicted. Looks like their ranks are about to swell.”

  Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.

  “Did you get a chance to ask Adrian about the insulin?”

  “No.” Zimmer looked up at his wife with red-rimmed eyes. “I’ve only got a month’s worth left. If I could get my hands on the equipment I could manufacture it myself—enough for her at least. God, Mary, it’s so frustrating. Diabetes. It’s the 21st century. A doctor’s child shouldn’t die for lack of insulin.”

  “We still have a month. Maybe we can escape, get her to civilization by then.”

  “No. You know what happens to anyone who tries to leave.”

  “Surely he’ll change his mind … she’s just a child! How could he let a little girl die? Not even Adrian could be that kind of monster.”

  “He’s worse than a monster. We’re not people to him. We’re pets. The only way Emma is going to survive is if I become his favorite dog.” He slammed his fist down on the table. “How did it come to this? Why did we have to move here? I had my pick of hospitals. I could have gone anywhere in the world, but I wanted Emma to grow up someplace beautiful.”

  “You couldn’t have known that the Event would happen, or that someone like Adrian would show up with all these awful afflicted.” Mary hugged him. “We’ll get through this, Jimmy. You’re the smartest man I’ve ever known. You’ll think of something.”

  The door slammed open as Richard burst into the office. His head came almost to the top of the frame. His size made the shotgun he carried on his back almost redundant.

  Richard lifted an empty Coors can to his lips and spit tobacco juice into it. “Evening, Doc. Just need to have a look around.”

  Zimmer glanced at Mary. She was frozen in fear. There was no telling what Richard was looking for, but there was nothing Zimmer could do about it. He made a sweeping gesture toward the door to his home. “Be my guest.”

  Richard sneered at him. “Don’t need your permission.”

  Zimmer’s heart almost stopped when Richard pulled a bottle of ether out of his pocket, thumbed the lid open, and poured some of the contents onto a rag.

  Emma, Zimmer thought. Please, God, no. He choked back a sob.

  Richard laughed at the expression on Zimmer’s face. “I’m not here for your girl, doc, so don’t try anything heroic. Just wait here. I’d fix some coffee, if I were you. Adrian’s gonna need you tonight.”

  As he approached the kitchen, Richard could hear cabinets opening and closing. Anyone else would have heard nothing.

  Sweat poured off his forehead and his hands shook, but he kept his face calm. The closer he got, the more her power crashed against his. He wasn’t sure he’d be able to overcome it.

  Act natural, he thought. She can’t read your mind—but if she figures out you can see her, you’re dead.

  The girl looked up at him through swollen red eyes. He kept her in the corner of his vision and headed for the sink a few feet away from her. Just washing my hands, he thought. Just keep doing what you’re doing, girl …

  She was looking right at him. He kept his breathing steady.

  He turned on the water and grabbed the soap dispenser. She watched him for a few more seconds, then turned back to rummaging through the cabinet.

  Yes, he thought. Gotcha.

  Richard lurched forward, slamming against her and sandwiching her between himself and the countertop. She squealed and shoved at him, but she was so frail he barely noticed. He pulled her head around and held the ether-soaked rag over her face.

  Her mind clawed at him, but his powers protected him from most of it. Jesus, if I’d tried to take her from across the room ... he shuddered.

  The barrage on his mind ceased. She went limp in his arms.