Arc 1: Shuffle 1

Jadewood City wasn't as bad during the day as it was at night, but it was a minute difference; the city became kinder, but the people meaner. Limelight University was a perfect example of that, if I say so myself.

"Can you like, get out? Please?" Some top-heavy lackey with cornrows said to me, syrupy sweet with her words.

I glanced around the table I was sitting at during lunch and vaguely realized that quite a few distinguished teens had decided to encroach on my personal space; it could only mean one of many things...

"Hey there friend, how're you doing?" The owner of the arm draped across the back of my chair asked.

"Hi Samuel, just leaving, I guess." I replied, ignoring the look of victory in bimbo #26's eyes as I packed up what remained of my lunch and fled the table.

Some of the voices getting angry, probably about me not standing up for myself, but I ignored them as keeping my secrets and thus myself safe was a higher priority. I didn't want to stand out, get noticed and pressured into joining some group. I sure as all hell wouldn't, but me fighting back would inevitably reveal what I could do, and that was a no-go.

As I passed the frankly huge Law Library on my way to my hiding spot, I remembered my promise to Eric to meet up after lunch. Eric was a member of the Jade Needles, but thankfully he was my friend first and foremost. This didn't mean that he didn't pitch joining up to me on the daily, but it meant that I had some alibi, no matter how flimsy, to help me escape the attention of the bigger groups. 

I decided to call him in after I reached my hideaway, so after a quick glance up and down the path, I immediately ducked into the sparse scattering of trees there.

#Cloaked Entrance# was removed, revealing a cavernous hole underneath one of the Jade trees in the area, and I dropped down into the space, closing it back up as I did so.

Sometimes I wondered if whoever actually made this place was some sort of vigilante like me, or someone that wanted to hide, like me. It wasn't too spacious, was damp at the corners and had to have me put in a bunch of lights when it became too dark as well as a whole lot of #Dry Weave# on the ground but it was mine.

The voices all crowed with agreement to that statement and I chuckled a bit as that overflowed over to me; they and I loved having things and something like this, that was made mine really helped scratch that itch of constantly needing to take. 

Looking at the time, I decided that whatever meeting that the Jade Needles were having that needed me out of the cafeteria was probably done, and I called Eric.

"Little H, my man! How you doin'?" A happy, deep and gravely voice said, making me sigh.

"Eric, I take you to see my house and crazy uncle one time, and now I'm Little H? What happened to Big H?" I asked, sitting on one of the foldable chairs I 'borrowed' from one of the business centres. I wanted to be very alert right now, so I didn't use my good stuff.

"Ah, well, your uncle's buff as all hell, right? His name is Hank and he's bigger than you in all the ways that matter, so... Big H."

"Just get your black butt over here; I'm in my spot." I deadpanned.

"You mean the Mancave?"

"No, we are not calling it the Mancave. You know where it is, this convo is over." I said, hanging up before I could be dragged into that argument again.

A few minutes of me thinking of whether or not my combining #Lunch Leftovers# with itself would give me a full meal, I got a flash call from Eric and I popped the #Cloaked Entrance# off again.

Erik was a tall, broad shouldered blonde; an Aryan's wet dream to be honest. As far as he knew, he got all the good genes from his mom, because he's never met his dad; popped a bun in the oven and took off.

We fist-bumped before Erik collapsed on the loveseat opposite me; a dark but soft pink that nearly swallowed him as he sank into it with a throaty sigh. The #Cozy Loveseat of Resting# is pretty much one of my best work and it obviously showed.

"Oh God... This. This right here, is why I'm still your friend, man." He whispered, closing his eyes and this not seeing mine twitching in irritation.

"Only my seat? Not the person who owns it, you ungrateful ass?"

He raised his arm with some effort and gave me a shooing motion, but his grin defused my frown as I rolled my eyes and crossed my arms.

"So, what did you want to talk about? I mean, you were pretty adamant that I promised to meet up today."

He immediately sat up and adopted a serious expression before reaching into his duffel bag to toss me a handful of pictures and documents. With my raised eyebrow he motioned for me to read and so I did.

Well, god damn. Here we go again.

The Forsaken Tribe was on the move again; several other Jade Needles in other universities had apparently sent info like this weeks before that they were victim to kidnappings and rituals. Even post-grad members in the police had been able to send some information about busting several ritual sacrifices to the group of cultists' god. 

Now, I'm not part of the gang, but it would be absolutely dumb not to help as much as possible because I or anyone I cared about could be next. Sure, with my abilities I'm pretty sure I could get away from any situation, especially #Exit Stage#, but then that information would get out and then I would be screwed. The only person that truly knows about me is my crazy uncle and God save anyone who tries to kidnap him. The man knows how to use hysterical strength without bursting like a balloon, and thus is uber dangerous.

And now one of the gang's girls is missing; Phoebe Bonner. French-English, looks like a doll, swears like a sailor, has a kick like a horse. The fact that someone was able to take her could mean a lot of things, but any other gang would have at least boasted or made a sign in some way. Besides, nobody openly disturbs the truthfully unsteady truce when one of the cults is on the move, not unless you want to end up expelled, suspended, dead or worse.

Eric knows that I know all this, and he's smart; even though I can't tell him all that I can do, he's figured out that most of what I have or can do can't really be explained normally. He wants me to help him and the gang, but he doesn't want me to feel like I was pressured to do so, thus this info.

"What do you want me to do, man?" This is no time for jokes.

"Phoebe is my friend, man. Jade or no Jade, I'm heading into the woods across the Breach tonight. I'm going to fight for her, but I know I'm just one dude. I need my best friend to help me save my other friend. Please, Hugh." He emphatically stated, eyes going misty just for a few moments. 

All the hesitation in me died, all the voices shut up and it was between me and my best bro. I remember Phoebe; as a Bonner, the 80% of the women born in the family had blue eyes, while the remaining 20 had green. It was a documented thing, just one of the many little things that proved that our city wasn't entirely 'normal'. Apparently, only the family had the real explanation, and nobody had been able to get that leaked.

Except Phoebe.

The girl was a rebel, to be honest; she had been excited to learn about her family history from her elders and even more excited to utterly throw away the rules of silence given to her. Word of mouth from what Eric heard from her is that their blood is special; like, very good blood. Well, I'm neither a doctor nor a vampire, so that didn't really matter to me, but to cultists? Sure, she ain't no virgin but I think that blood would matter a lot more to them.

I sighed and rested my head on my knees, mulling this over, while my bestie gave me a patient look.

"I... Am not not going to help her..." I finally ground out, earning me a bear hug that had me seeing pretty lights.

"Thank you man, thank you."

"Yeah, yeah. Put me down, ya brute,"

Just for dramatic effect, I swept my arm to the side while my random eye pallet decided to settle on a green just as bright as the Bonner girl's.

"Let's go save some cultists from our Damsel of Distress, alright?"