Extraordinary Individuals : Josiah Rising

Chapter 11

"You've lost your damn mind, Josiah," Layla deadpanned.
I groaned in annoyance, pinching the bridge of my nose as I tried to maintain my patience. It was Monday afternoon and Layla and I were seated at a table together in the school library studying for the science portion of the ACT (which was less than a week away). I had approached Layla about something she had brought up awhile ago when I first mentioned getting stronger: underground ability matches. Underground ability matches were illegal fights in which you'd be pitted against someone in one on one fight but you had no knowledge of their ability or how strong they were. It was the perfect spot for to gain real time experience fighting against other ability users except Layla didn't seem to think so.
"Why not, Stink?" I asked, using the personal nickname that I had given her.
Layla glared at me. "Don't try to butter me up using my nickname, Josiah. The answer is no."
I gritted my teeth. Layla was a stubborn girl and wasn't the type to back down either but I needed her help with this. She was the only person who had information on the location of ability matches in our city. I reached across the table and grabbed her hand, looking at her with imploring eyes.
"Please, Lay," I said quietly. "It's important."
Layla sighed, her expression a mix of exasperation and resignation. She pulled out her phone and began typing out something before proceeding to send it. A few seconds later my phone dinged with a message notification from Layla. I opened the message and saw that she had sent me a list of addresses where possible matches could be, with one being a location that I was familiar with.
"You have to promise me that you'll be careful," Layla pleaded. "The people in those matches won't hesitate to kill you if they get the chance to, Jo."
I'd heard stories of how gruesome these matches could get. Plenty of people had died in underground fights but that's a risk I was willing to take. I had been keeping Layla up to date on the development of my powers and she kept track of it in all in a special notebook for me so that I could mark my progress as I got stronger. According to the authorities, everyone's powers had a peak that would come at a certain age. A peak was just a technical way of saying when our powers would reach their strongest level and stay that way for the rest of our lives but some people's powers peaked later than others did. Layla's powers peaked during our sophomore year but I had yet to reach my peak so she was helping keep track of my powers until I reached my peak.
"You've been spending quite a bit of time with my captain," Layla remarked, glancing at me sideways. "Something going on between you two?"
Feeling my face heat up, I directed my attention to one of my worksheets to avoid looking Layla in the eyes. Layla cleared her throat expectantly, causing me to groan quietly in embarrassment.
"We're exclusive so we're only seeing each other," I responded. "We're just letting things flow."
"You guys are cute together," Layla said offhandedly. "In a typical high school romance way."
I chuckled. Yasmine and I did have a typical high school romance now that I thought about it. She was the popular pretty girl of the school who every guy wanted a chance with but she had fallen for me, the outsider of the school who kept to himself and had a secret only a few knew of. But there were sides of ourselves that we only ever showed each other. Outside of school, Yasmine was goofy and bubbly. She enjoyed anime, loved J-Pop music and could put away more food than a food eating contest participant. She was also kind and loving when it came to her siblings.
"Does she know?" Layla asked in a low voice, breaking my reverie.
I sighed. "No. No, she doesn't know but her mom does."
Layla frowned. "How-?"
"Her ability lets her know another person's power by touching them and making eye contact," I said dismissively.
Layla rolled her eyes. "Out of all the abilities to have."
"Tell me about it," I grumbled. "She also made me promise to protect Yasmine but I don't know what the hell I'm supposed to be protecting her from."
Layla frowned at my statement and seemed to be carefully choosing what to say to me. She glanced around to make sure that no one could hear us then leaned forward conspiratorially. When she spoke, her tone was low but I was still able to hear what she was saying.
"Yasmine told you that her dad works for the military right?"
I nodded, not quite sure what she was hinting at but intrigued nonetheless.
"That's the cover story she gives people so that they don't pry into her life. Her dad actually works for the authorities. He's part of the Sentinels," Layla said, locking eyes with me.
I felt a shiver go down my spine. The Sentinels were the elite enforcers of the authorities, meant to take on rampaging omegas who used their powers for the wrong reasons. Little was actually known about the group except that they always succeeded in their tasks and they operated with full freedom from the authorities to get the job done. The group was supposedly made up of some powerful alphas and were led by an omega. To hear that Yasmine's dad was part of the Sentinels was disturbing to say the least but it also made me realize something.
"That's why her mom asked me to protect her," I murmured. "Her dad probably has a ton of enemies from his work as a Sentinel who might see Yasmine as a potential target."
Layla nodded. "A lot of people have the misconception that the Sentinels simply apprehend rowdy omegas and keep the lower levels in line but that's not true. The Sentinels exist to ensure that the authorities are never usurped."
"Usurped?" I asked. "By who?"
"Omegas," Layla stated, glancing around. "Each of you is like a one man army. You yourself could probably go toe to toe with a Sentinel even at just eight percent of your full power."
"That's a big assumption to make," I chuckled nervously. "At eight percent, I can keep up with people like Kato and Braxton in a fight but it requires an immense amount of energy control and mental focus."
Layla waved her hand dismissively. "Josiah, I'm telling you. The Sentinels were formed to primarily combat rampaging Omegas. They have a one hundred percent success rate but there was one incident that has marred their record that most people don't know about."
"And just what're you two murmuring about?" a suspicious voice inquired.
Layla and I jumped and looked up into the face of none other than Yasmine who had her eyes narrowed at Layla.
"I was telling your boyfriend about underground ability matches so that he could gain more experience fighting against other people," Layla said with a smile.
That was the half truth but Yasmine seemed to buy it because she sat down next to me, planting a kiss on my cheek.
"Public displays of affection?" I asked, a joking tone to my voice. "I'm shocked."
Yasmine rolled her eyes and smacked my arm playfully. "Why would you wanna participate in underground fights when you can just use the resources you have?"
I raised my eyebrow curiously. "What resources?"
"Me and your friends," Yasmine said. "We can be your training partners to help you get better learn how to defend yourself."
"Would that be okay?" I asked. "I mean I've been training my body to be able to fight against beta and alpha levels but still."
Yasmine squeezed my arm. "I did notice that you've gotten bigger and your muscles are getting my defined. Your biceps are even starting to fill out your shirt sleeves."
"We'll be fine," Layla chimed in. "I can heal anyone who gets too badly injured. We can start today after school."
"In the meantime, though," Yasmine said. "Let's review some of these chemistry equations because we all know you're terrible at them."