The Halfling (Aria Fae #1) Read online

  I swallowed before answering. It seemed I could do nothing right as of late. I’d been at this school all of half a day and already I was drawing too much attention.

  “I took… uh, karate when I was a kid,” I said, and yes, it came out sounding super lame.

  Sam sat down across from me and began examining the broken laptop. “You must’ve had an awesome teacher.”

  “The best,” I mumbled

  “Where’re you from?”

  “I moved here from Blue Hook.”

  “Oh, I love Blue Hook,” she smiled. “It’s one of my favorite Jersey shore towns. I used to go there during the summers when I was younger. Why’d you move here?”

  I shrugged. “My mom got a new job,” I lied. It sounded better than, My mother was killed by a crazy Fae Queen and the people I devoted my entire life to refused to do anything about it, and then banished me when I decided to take matters into my own hands.

  Yeah, definitely couldn’t say that.

  Sam seemed to pick up on my low mood, and she busied herself with disassembling the computer. Without looking up, she said, “Andrea can’t get us in here, but I’m sorry for getting you in trouble with her. She can be really mean, and it’s hard being on her hit list.”

  I waved a hand at this. “I’m not worried about Andrea,” I said. “I’m just a little… homesick.” I stood from the table, suddenly uncomfortable. “I better go. I’ve got class and the teacher will be looking for me if I don’t show.”

  Sam nodded, her shoulders sinking just a touch. “Okay,” she said. “Unless you want me to hack into the school computer system and message your teachers that there was a schedule mess up and not to be looking for you.” She rambled quickly, then gave a little laugh and snort.

  I paused. “You can do that?”

  A look came over her face that suggested the question was somehow insulting. “Yes,” she said. “I can do that. Computers are my homies.”

  I couldn’t help a return laugh at that, and found myself sitting back down. “Okay, Bill Gates,” I said. “Let’s see it.”

  “Really?” she asked. “You’re not worried your parents might find out?”

  I raised my eyebrows. “You just offered to hack into the school computer system and you’re asking me if I’m worried about my parents finding out?”

  Sam considered this. “Right,” she said. “Okay.” She stood and went over to one of the desktops and sat down, her fingers flying over the keys.

  I went and sat beside her, the screens flipping too fast for me to even keep up. Her aura lit up as well, and I could tell that sitting before a computer was where Samantha Shy felt most at home. Seemed her name was an apt fit.

  After a moment, she turned toward me, a grin on her face. “Done,” she said.

  “How do I know it’s done?” I asked.

  Her fingers flew over the keys again, and like magic, screenshots popped up on the monitor. I leaned in close to look at them, and saw that they were messages sent to my teachers from what appeared to be the school’s guidance counselor. I watched in utter amazement as the teachers confirmed receipt of the messages right before my eyes.

  “You’re a friggin’ genius,” I said.

  Sam flushed, pushing her black-rimmed glasses up on her small nose. “Not really,” she said. “It’s just like I said, computers are my homies.”

  My curiosity in this new friend of mine went up exponentially. Computers and technology were the equivalent to magic in the human world.

  “So you can, like, hack into shit?” I asked.

  This made her laugh. “Yes,” she said. “I can ‘hack into shit’… among other things. I write code, basically. It’s just a language that makes sense to me. Not as cool as being a karate master.”

  Now it was my turn to laugh. “Trust me, Sam. When you say it like that, it doesn’t sound cool at all.” I realized my mood was slightly better, and was more than surprised by the feeling. “So what am I gonna do now that none of my teachers are looking for me?”

  Sam had turned back to the computer and was working her magic again. “Let me just make sure none of mine are looking for me… There.” She looked at me over her glasses, and her bright blue eyes narrowed conspiratorially. “Wanna go on a field trip?”

  I found myself nodding, grinning. “I’d have to grab my board from my locker but… What’d you have in mind?”

  ***

  As it turned out, Grant City was having a technological expo at the Red Garden Convention Center. It was a sunny Friday, and when we got there it was clear many people had taken the day off for the event.

  “How are we gonna get in?” I asked, pausing as I saw that there were ticket checkers at the main entrance. There were also police officers, and I was worried we were going to be questioned about why we weren’t in school.

  Sam dug around in her canvas bag and produced two lanyards with VIP I.D. badges. “With these,” she said, grinning again in that conspiratorial way of hers.

  I took the badges, careful to act natural. “Where’d you get these?” I asked. “They must’ve cost a fortune.”

  Sam took one and slid it over her head, then slipped mine over my head. She glanced around before answering. “I made them,” she said, her voice lowering. “Remember how I can hack into shit? Well, I hacked into the ticket selling database and scored these.”

  “Why’d you get two? Who were you planning to bring?”

  Pushing her glasses up on her nose, Sam took my hand and began pulling me toward the entrance, as excited as a puppy with a new toy.

  “My dad, probably,” she mumbled. “Or else Matt, I guess, but I’m glad it’s you instead. If things go south here you can just karate the guards so we can escape.”

  I came to an abrupt stop. “Wait, what?”

  Sam laughed. “I’m totally just kidding, Aria. Don’t worry. The badges will work perfectly.”

  “Oh. Good. Because I didn’t bring any weapons except my slingshot.”

  Sam’s eyebrows went up. “You’re carrying a slingshot?”

  I smirked. “Maybe. So what?”

  She shook her head, holding up her hands and smiling. “Right. I mean, who doesn’t carry a slingshot nowadays?”

  Our joking halted as we approached the building. Despite me having witnessed Sam’s mad computer skills, my pulse still picked up in pace when we entered the enormous convention center, and for the first time in over a month, I felt something other than the grief and depression that had been choke-holding me. Even if it was just adrenaline from doing something wrong, something no doubt illegal, it was a change I was thankful for.

  I still wonder to this day how things might have been different if I hadn’t gone to the expo that day, but in my defense, what teenager in my position would’ve done differently?

  The main entrance of the Red Garden Convention Center was breathtaking. It was made entirely of glass, and the ceiling was tall enough to fit a dinosaur or three. Huge banners hung everywhere, displaying logos of tech companies and advertisements for the newest products. The day’s golden sunlight filtered through the glass, reflecting off the countless shiny surfaces. Large circular flowerpots bloomed with vibrant red flowers at tasteful intervals.

  Hundreds of people were already filling the space, and I instinctively reached for my wooden staff, only to remember I didn’t have it with me, as I hadn’t brought it to school. I forced myself to relax, and told myself that I was just having a little PTSD from the recent events in my life. I didn’t need my staff right now. This wasn’t a Peace Broker mission.

  I won’t need it ever again, I thought glumly.

  “You okay?” Sam asked, pulling me out of my head.

  “Yeah, why?”

  “Because you’re squeezing my hand hard enough to crush my bones.”

  I looked down at our hands and released my hold. “Sorry,” I said. “Crowds make me a little nervous.”

  Sam gave a sympathetic smile. “They usually make me nervous too, but
these are my people, dude, so relax. It’s all good. I promise.”

  I tried to absorb some of her light mood as we made our way through the crowd to where the event people were checking tickets.

  “Just be cool,” Sam said, and I suppressed a laugh. This girl was too much.

  But I found myself following the funny directive as we approached the ticket-taking guy. Despite all the training I’d had with the Peace Brokers, I’d never snuck into an expo before with I. D. badges obtained by a high school-aged computer hacker.

  I held my breath as the guy scanned the barcode on my badge, and smiled when the little light on his scanner went green. He waved me in.

  Sam was scanned through next, a smug grin on her face. “Told you not to worry,” she said once we were inside.

  “Who said I was worried?”

  She arched an eyebrow at me.

  “Okay,” I admitted. “I was mildly worried.”

  Sam probably didn’t even hear this because she was too busy nearly jumping out of her boots, and I couldn’t really say I blamed her. If the entrance had been impressive, the inside was downright awe-inspiring.

  Gadgets whizzed through the air, and demonstrations of all sorts were being held in every direction. There was an actual human-like automaton that was currently sweeping up a mess his controller had made apparently just to show the robot could sweep it up. Drones of all shapes and sizes seemed to be a popular product, as I’d spotted three already, and everything from coffeemakers to self-propelling skateboards took up the enormous room. Geeks and nerds of all sorts buzzed around with obvious elation written on their faces.

  I’d never seen anything like it, and found that again, for the first time in what felt like forever, my mind was on something other than death and darkness.

  “This is amazing,” I said, almost to myself.

  “I know, right?” Sam asked. “Oh! Come check this out.”

  She took my hand again and began dragging me toward a booth where a long line wrapped all the way around the corner. I was about to suggest we try a less busy booth first, but before I could Sam pulled me to the front of the line and flashed her VIP badge. It worked like a charm.

  I gave her a small nudge when I saw the other people in line become disgruntled. Sam leaned in close and whispered, “Don’t worry about it. These VIP badges cost three times the amount as theirs. They know the deal.”

  It must have been true, because no one said anything as we were ushered inside the booth ahead of them, and I felt only mildly guilty about the fact that we hadn’t actually paid for our passes.

  The dose of guilt was forgotten, however, as soon as we stepped through the curtain that concealed the inside of the booth. Sam and I stood watching as another teenager slipped a virtual reality helmet over his head that was connected by wires to two small rectangles. As soon as he put it on, the lights in the booth went out, and we were cast into darkness.

  I found myself taking up a defensive stance out of habit, but then the space lit up as screens were projected on all four white curtains, the entire space turning into a virtual world. My jaw dropped as I saw the teenager with the helmet appear on the screen straight ahead.

  “No way,” I said. “It’s a video game.”

  Sam’s smile was stretching up to her ears, her eyes alight with excitement. “That’s right,” she whispered. “This one’s a first person shooter. I prefer the adventure games myself.” She shrugged. “But it’s still super cool. It scans you at a million frames per second and projects you into the game. You choose a weapon and it modifies itself to your choices. Instead of pushing buttons, you control the character with your movements… and your mind.”

  I watched as the teen with the helmet moved through a virtual battlefield, and laughed as I blinked when an enemy player threw a Flashbang grenade. He died three times in gory virtual glory before taking the helmet off and handing it to me.

  I looked over at Sam. “You’re kidding me, right?”

  She looked confused. “You don’t want to try?”

  “Hell yeah I want to try!”

  She laughed at this, pushing her glasses up on her nose, which I was beginning to recognize as a habit of hers. Taking the helmet from my hands, she slid it over my head. “You should try zombie mode,” she said, her voice muffled now.

  I jumped a bit when an array of weapons popped up as if floating in the air before me. I ran my hands over them, wondering at the way the virtual hand was identical to my real one. Choosing a Samurai sword, the weight of which I could actually feel in my hand, I adopted a fighter’s stance and realized that I was grinning like the biggest dork in the universe. And I couldn’t care less.

  “What now?” I asked, but was answered when the world around me transformed into a dystopian setting. With amazement, I gathered that it was a post-apocalyptic version of Grant City, complete with dilapidated buildings, abandoned vehicles… and a terrifying hoard of virtual zombies.

  I raised the sword over my head and let out the stupidest of rebel yells, charging into the fray with blade blazing. The small space in the booth made for tight fighting quarters, which was no problem with my better reflexes and agility.

  Without going into too much morbid detail, I basically kicked ass. My training and natural ability came in more than handy, and there were several times I heard Sam gasp, no doubt due to my awesomeness. A small part of me whispered that I was being foolish, exhibiting my abilities in such a way, but I was having too much fun to care.

  And I couldn’t remember the last time I’d had fun.

  Besides, what harm was there? When humans saw things that were out of the ordinary they just explained them away…

  Right?

  CHAPTER 4

  When I was done ridding the world of flesh eaters like a friggin’ boss, I was slightly damp and exhilarated. Wielding the Samurai sword had been a workout, and I was a little ashamed to admit that since being banished from the Brokers, I’d let myself get a bit lazy.

  I rolled my neck as I took off the helmet, and saw that Sam’s jaw was hanging open, her eyebrows touching the ceiling. “Dude,” she said, “who the hell taught you that, Mr. Miagi?”

  “What?” I said. “That? That was nothing.” I wiped a hand over my head and made a stupidly pompous face that made Sam laugh. Finally, I thought, someone who got my humor. There was fewer of the sort than I was sure there should be.

  “Seriously,” she said, “we should just be best friends.”

  I grinned, holding the helmet and controls out to her. “Wanna try?”

  “After watching you Karate Kid your way through those zombies?” She shook her head. “I’ll look like Seth Rogan standing shirtless next to Zac Efron’s abs in that movie. I’ll pass.”

  I nodded, raising my eyebrows like a smug jackass, and we both exited the booth laughing.

  The giggles dried up instantly in my throat when I saw all the people in line outside the booth staring at me, slightly awed looks on their faces. When they erupted into claps and cheers, my stomach twisted.

  “Look,” Sam said, pointing at a big screen to our left. “They project the gameplay. Sweet ass sweet!”

  I cringed internally as a virtual me expertly slayed zombies on the screen. The computer had made a montage of my best moves, and I chastised myself for not listening to that little voice in my head that had known displaying my abilities was a bad idea.

  Nodding and thanking my newfound nerd admirers, I took Sam’s arm and began pulling her away, anxious to get out of there. “Is there any food around here?” I asked, changing the subject. “I’m starved.”

  “Sure,” Sam said. “And, even better, these badges entitle us to free food.”

  I couldn’t help a smile at that. I had strong morals in the sense of not harming others, but as a 17-year-old cast out into the world on my own, I had few qualms about taking the things I needed to survive.

  “You’re a goddess, Sam Shy,” I said, my stomach grumbling. Due to my financial s
ituation, my meals had been sporadic over the past month.

  Sam’s cheeks flushed again. “That’s the nicest thing anyone’s ever said to me, Aria Fae.”

  The good vibes coming off her lightened my mood again, and we found an area where food was being served. There were tables and chairs in the middle of the small food court and people were eating and chatting, no doubt discussing all the amazements already witnessed today.

  Sam spotted a couple leaving a table and rushed over to it, taking a seat. Looking up at me, she said, “Want to go get the food while I save the spot?” she asked. “Or I could go and you can wait.”

  I shrugged. “I can grab it. What do you want?”

  Sam told me her order.

  “And all I do is show them the badge and it’s free?” I asked.

  She smiled, nodded.

  Blown away by this, and wondering not for the first time just how much the VIP badge was worth, I got in line at a place making fresh sandwiches, my stomach growling again at the sight of all the food. I felt like a raccoon that’d found its way into a well-stocked refrigerator.

  There were three people in front of me, and I looked around at the convention center, deciding all in all, I was pleased with the day’s events.

  Then again, the day had really only just begun.

  As I stood in line, I heard a slight buzzing, my greater senses alerting me just before a metal ball the size of a walnut came whizzing by me at a pace great enough to knock someone’s teeth out.

  As it turned out, I’m pretty sure it would have done just that had I not acted.

  I didn’t have time to consider the action. Without thinking, my hand shot out and caught the metal ball out of the air, the thing smacking into my palm hard enough to sting. The woman whose grill I’d just saved from total destruction stood wide-eyed, her hand clutched at her throat.

  My hand, still holding the metal ball, hung in the air two inches from her face. I realized people were looking and dropped it fast, looking down at the thing I was holding.