Discovery (25 page)

She thought of the butterfly's brilliant colors as she looked down at the simple black dress Petra had chosen for her for the evening's festivities. It was short, fun, and nothing like what she would normally wear. She tugged at the top of the dress, trying to close up the deep V-neck bodice that barely covered her full beasts. It was the kind of dress Ben would have teased her about if he had seen her in it, but given that she had not seen Ben since the ball game that afternoon, and that Dave and Petra were just as clueless regarding his whereabouts, Grace had been unable to get his opinion of her attire before she left Dave's cabin for the evening.

“You look beautiful, Your Highness,” Petra said, exiting the cabin's screen door. She wrapped her arm around Grace's waist and the two ladies stood together on the front porch waiting for Dave who, as usual, was running late, unable to find his belt for the party. Twilight was pushing aside the day and the forest surrounding the cabin would soon be darkening. Petra left Grace's side and lit a lantern to guide them through the woods.

“Thanks,” Grace smiled. “But are you sure this dress isn't a little too tight?” She looked down at the little black dress that was discreet by normal standards. However, in Grace's self-conscious mind, all she could see were the tops of her breasts trying to hide below the low–cut neckline.

Petra patted Grace's hand. “Your Majesty, that dress was practically made for you. I've already seen that you will be the most beautiful girl there tonight.”

Dave burst out the cabin door, still putting his belt on. “Come on, ladies. If we don't go now, we'll miss dinner and I'm starving.” He grabbed the lantern out of Petra's hand and then pulled her down the cabin steps in a rush.

Grace followed the couple down the almost dark path through the woods but before they reached the main road, they turned onto a new path that veered to the right and up another hill. At the top of the small hill sat the largest cabin in the Misfit community. It had a wraparound porch and steep roofline, and the sign stretching across the front entrance indicated it was the community center. Strings of white lights outlined the roof, porch banisters and stairs, and the smell of barbeque filling the outside air combined with the tiny, twinkling lights to make it feel like Christmas in July. People overflowed from the porch and stairs and Dave had to fight his way through the crowd to get to the building's entrance.

“I thought you said this was just a little get together,” Grace whispered in Petra's ear as they climbed the front steps. Everyone they passed stared at Grace as if she were a rarely seen masterpiece painting from some traveling art exhibit.

“Well, that's what this was supposed to be, a little barbeque after the game, but I guess Your Majesty's presence has brought out the gawkers too,” Petra whispered back, holding onto Grace's hand a little tighter as they reached the top step.

The trio entered the community center whose interior looked like King Arthur's banquet hall had mated with a seventies discotheque. The expansive room was beautifully decorated with ancient tapestries and oil paintings covering the log walls. Large rustic, round, wooden tables with heavy matching chairs scattered the room's edges, but it was the center of the room that caught Grace's immediate attention. The tables bordered an open dance floor in the middle of the room and the largest disco ball she had ever seen twirled from the wood-beamed cathedral ceiling above, catching and reflecting the glittering lights of the candles on the tables below. The smell of vanilla filled the room and, despite the hall's enormous size, an air of comfortableness fell over Grace, as she stood in between Dave and Petra in the massive doorway.

“Pretty cool room, isn't it?” Dave leaned over and nudged Grace. “But try not to spill anything on the tapestries or touch the paintings. Originals are hard to replace, you know,” he whispered matter-of-factly in her ear.

The painting hanging nearest to Grace beside the door looked familiar to her and she tried to recall what little she remembered from her high school art history class. “Wait … is that what I think it is?” she asked, squinting her eyes to take a closer look at the picture.

“Yes,” Petra replied. “Vermeer's
Milkmaid
. The original. The Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam thinks it has the original, but it's just a really, really, really good copy.”

“Was he a Power?”

“How else do you think we would have the original?” Dave laughed. “Of course he was a Power. He was one of the lucky ones who got to practice his powers out in the open. Before all that Salem murder mess. But forget those stupid old paintings.” Dave pulled Grace away from the doorway, toward the center of the room and pointed to the ceiling. “Check out the disco ball. Isn't that a beaut?”

Grace had to admit the ball was better than any disco ball she had seen, but she was now really more interested in the various paintings hung haphazardly and unprotected around the room.

“Came from Studio 54 where Petra and I met,” Dave continued, still looking up at the large spinning ball.

“Oh, Dave,” Petra said. “Can't you see Grace is not as enamored with that blasted ball as you are? Go get yourself some food and leave Her Majesty in peace for a moment.”

Dave pulled Petra to him and kissed her cheek. “Sorry. I just get so excited thinking about you in all that silver,” he laughed before heading back out the door.

Looking around the room, Grace spotted a few of the Misfits she had met the other night. But no Ben.

“Ben's not here yet. But I saw that he will be very soon,” Petra smiled knowingly. “Come on. I see Rebecca over there.”

Petra took Grace's hand and guided her to one of the large round tables near the dance floor. The table was full of women but Rebecca was the only face familiar to Grace. The shape shifter was just as beautiful as Grace had remembered and she actually stood and curtsied when Grace approached.

“Welcome, Your Majesty,” Rebecca said. “Would you like to join us?”

Grace sat down next to Rebecca and was quickly introduced around the table. On the other side of Rebecca was her younger sister, Sarah, who was empowered with the ability to imitate other people's voices. She, too, had short spiky hair but she had dyed hers brilliant neon blue, as if she was trying to become more parrot-like in her appearance in order to match her power. Directly across from Grace and beside Sarah sat a short, fat older woman named Birch who, despite her looks, could stretch, twist, and turn her arms, legs, and torso to inhuman lengths.

“Such a great pleasure to meet you, Your Highness,” Birch smiled as she reached her elastic arm out and over the table's four foot diameter to shake Grace's hand.

“You too,” Grace smiled. She hesitantly took Birch's hand, which, despite the rubbery look of her extended arm, revealed quite a firm handshake.

“So what do you think of our little community?” Sarah asked.

“It's lovely,” Grace replied.

“Oh, tell us the truth, honey,” Birch laughed. “I know you are freaking out over all our little eccentricities, as I like to call them. Shoot, we're a bunch of weirdoes even in the Powers world!”

“Birch has lived here longer than almost anyone else here,” Petra leaned over to Grace. “She was one of the founders of the Misfit community.”

“Oh, Petra,” Birch smirked and rolled her eyes. She looked over at Grace. “What she's really saying is that I'm as old as the hills. Or in our case, our mountain itself. But I still get a kick out of meeting first-time visitors here and seeing their reactions. So, tell us. What do you really think about this place, Your Highness?”

Grace thought for a moment. “Honestly, it is a little overwhelming. I mean, just last week, I was some silly waitress trying to figure out what to do with my life — ”

“And now,” Birch interrupted, “now you are smack dab in the middle of some stupid battle for control between the Powers and Anti-Powers. But don't you worry, honey. You're safe here with us. The Council may not see us fit to be Guardians in the outside world but surely with all of us here we can protect one little human. Statistically, the odds are in our favor.”

“Great.” Grace half-smiled. Fantastic. Now she was a statistic.

“Rebecca, is DJ coming?” Petra asked, steering the subject away from Grace's pending doom.

“Already here.” Rebecca pointed to the far back right corner of the room.

There, behind an elaborate sound system, DJ was preparing to live up to his name. As if he heard the ladies talking, the tall, slender man with a ponytail looked up and winked at Rebecca just as the lights softened and an old Bee Gees ballad flowed from his surround sound. The disco ball twirled slower to the ballad's beat and the room was instantly transformed into an imitation Studio 54.

“That's their song,” Sarah turned to Grace and pointed to Rebecca. “DJ always plays it first. That's how we know when the party is
really
getting started.”

Rebecca's blush was so deep that, even in the room's soft light, she could not hide her flushed cheeks.

“Oh, to be young and in love,” Birch sighed to Rebecca. “I remember those days.”

“Yeah, me too,” Sarah spitted sarcastically.

“What are you talking about? You're still young!” Birch laughed.

“She's just not in love.” Petra then looked over at Grace. “At least not now. Sarah and her boyfriend just broke up so she is a little jaded right now.”

“She caught her boyfriend Elton cheating on her with Star,” Rebecca said, placing her arm around her sister's shoulders and giving her a squeeze. “But there are other fish in the sea, sis. We'll find you someone else!”

“Well you better hurry and find that someone before I lose my mind and try to kill Star. She is such a slut!” Sarah half-joked through gritted teeth.

“Star kind of … gets around,” Petra informed Grace.

“And speak of the devil,” said Birch, pointing to the far left corner directly opposite DJ's sound system.

Grace turned around but all she could see in that dark corner was a soft yellow glow. She squinted a little and in the middle of the glow she could now see a young woman's back with long blonde hair cascading down like silk. If she had not known better, Grace thought she could have been looking at Annie.

“Star always gets who she wants,” Sarah scoffed. “If she sets her eye on someone, consider them off the market.”

Yep
, thought Grace.
Sounds exactly like Annie
.

“Who's she talking to?” Petra asked, straining to see through the glow.

“Whoever it is, she has them absolutely cornered,” Birch said, stretching her elastic neck in an attempt to see around the glow.

“I feel sorry for whoever it is,” Rebecca shook her head and laughed. “They don't stand a chance now.”

The five women spent the next few minutes trying to unsuccessfully determine Star's victim for the evening without being too obvious. Grace really didn't care about Star or her sexual conquests but it seemed important to her table partners, so she feigned interest until Star shifted her stance slightly to the left. At that point, Grace murmured, “Oh” and quickly turned around to face the table again.

Because in the instant that Star shifted, Grace's heart sank.

Standing in the corner, shrouded by Star's glow, was Ben. He was laughing and animated and talking to Star as if she was the center of the universe. Grace had seen him like this before. Ben was in flirt mode.

The other ladies at the table were silent until Petra spoke up, “Now, Your Highness, I'm sure it's nothing. You know Ben. He's probably just being polite.”

“Of course, dear. He's just being a gentleman,” Birch chimed in.

“Besides, he's your Guardian. He can't do anything with her while he's on duty,” Sarah said.

Grace's eyes widened at Sarah's bold, blunt statement and then darted to Petra.

“It's near the front door, to the left,” Petra replied to Grace's unspoken question.

“How did you — ” Grace started before she realized that Petra had foreseen her in the bathroom. Grace stood up without another word and tried to discreetly make her way to the ladies room before her waterworks started again.

“I'm confused,” Rebecca said. “I thought Tom was the Chosen One. Am I missing something?”

“Oh good gosh, sister!” Sarah knowingly smiled. “Love truly has made you blind. Tom may be the Chosen One, but he's not the one that Grace would have chosen!”

While Sarah and Birch tried to get Rebecca up to speed, Petra searched the room for Dave. She found him at the front near the food table, of course.

“Did you see?” she asked him.

“I saw,” he replied still going through the food line. “Did you see anything?”

“No. I tried but their future is still too hazy.” Petra paused expectantly. “Well? What are you going to do about it?”

“About what?”

Petra punched Dave's arm and almost caused him to drop his full plate of food. “About Star and Ben, you idiot!”

“Oww! Watch it! What do you want me to do?” Dave replied, rubbing his arm. His wife still had a mean punch in her when she wanted to.

“Go talk to Ben and fix it now. That boy has enough on him as Grace's Guardian without Star trying to get into his head.”

“Or his pants,” laughed Dave.

“Not funny. Go fix it now!” Petra fumed before she turned and stormed back to her table.

“Oh for Pete's sake,” Dave said to himself, shaking his head and scanning the room for Ben. He spotted Star's unmistakable glow in the dark corner and assumed the dark wavy hair towering over the glow belonged to Ben. He headed to the corner, placing his plate on a nearby table.

“Good evening, Star,” he said as he approached her from behind. “Do you mind if I borrow Ben for a moment?”