Sam Alfero Chapter 1

“I’ll take the job.” Sam plainly said, “Half now and half when the job is finished. Otherwise I’m out.” She uncrossed her legs and her eyes glowed an orange-red hue. She scanned the burly man across the dimly lit table between them. She reached into her red jacket and took out her silver rectangle Credit Stick from her pocket. She pressed her thumb against the biometric sensor on the right side of the device. The black screen presented her credit balance of 2,000 Credits in white circular font.

She navigated to the Transfer Credits screen with a few swipes of her index finger, tapping on the text to start the transfer. After the screen showed three bars with the tallest bar in the middle, she leaned forward to place it at the center of the table. A veil of shadow masked the top of her face to her nose, her glowing eyes being the only light in the shadows.

"Aye, if you’re so sure about it, Alfero. The P.I.Ts could get ya and tag ya. And there is no tellin’ what they are gunna do wit ya given yer setta skills.” The Irishman cautiously advised as he took out his Credit Stick from his pocket. He swiped his thumb across the biometric sensor and navigated to the Transfer Credit screen. He entered 10,000 Credits and waved it over Sam’s Credit Stick, causing the devices to beep.

Sam took her device from the table and confirmed her new balance of 12,000 Credits before nodding briefly. “Thank you,” She slid the device back into her pocket and stood up from the chair. “I’m aware of the risks, Finney. But I won’t get caught.” She seethed through her teeth before she turned on her feet, quickly leaving the room without haste.

The dark brunette stuffed her Credit Stick into her red leather jacket pocket while she slipped in and out of the crowd of other Powered people who took refuge in the Underground from the upper city. She closed her eyes and when she opened them; they returned to their original chestnut brown hue. She came to a stop when she reached a one story home deep in the Underground.

Sam placed her hand on the biometric scanner by the door and took it off once the small rectangular strip above the scanner read green. The lock on the door clicked open, and she walked inside, closing the door behind her. She walked away only when she heard the lock engage.

’Sam! You’re home!’ A delicate voice resonated inside of her head, like a thought, but the voice wasn’t her own. A little girl who appeared to be eight years old came rushing towards Sam, wrapping her arms around her in a hug.

A motherly smile curled on her lips as she returned the hug to the little girl. “Yes, I am. I missed you, girly.” She pulled away from the hug and placed a hand on her head, ruffling her straight blonde hair.

The little girl ducked away from her hand and straightened out her hair. ‘Blaine and I made you something for your next job to the surface.’

The curiosity peaked in Sam, raising her eyebrow. “You two did? You didn’t have to…” She trailed off as a young boy about the same age as the girl next to her walked into the entry area. “Blaine, Layla said that you two made me something.”

"We did.” The blond-haired boy walked up to Sam while holding up the grey circular metal bracelet in his right hand. “We changed one of the P.I.T's bracelets. The GPS doesn’t work and it won’t jam your powers, but the P.I.Ts won’t know that. We loaded a fake ID on it.” He handed the bracelet to Sam, and she slid it onto her right wrist.

"Thank you. You are still the same little genius that I met. This will help a lot on my next job." She complimented, giving him an approving smile. Sam sighed heavily. “Speaking of… I have to go again. As soon as possible for a job to retrieve some under the radar Powered guy who owes Finney money.”

’But you just got back from a job. Please stay for dinner before you go.’ Layla pleaded after making the connection between their three minds to speak to both Blaine and Sam.

"Please stay, Sam. We haven’t seen you in a week. We were getting worried.” He added, taking her other hand. Worry and concern glimmered in his brown eyes, something that didn’t show often if at all.

Her heart softened, and she sighed softly in defeat. “I’ll stay. Just to eat then I have to go. I shouldn’t keep Finney waiting on this job. 20,000 Credits are on the line with this new job.”

"Right.” Blaine said with a small nod. He took his hand back and made his way into the kitchen and dining room. Sam let go of Layla’s hand the moment they reached the dining room.

She walked into the kitchen while the children took their seats next to one another at the floor level table. She took a pot from the cupboards along with some angel hair pasta. She grabbed the small container of hand-churned butter and the half-full gallon of water from the fridge and placed it on the counter next to the stove. Next, she picked some parsley from the portable garden and put it next to the container of butter.

Sam uncapped the gallon of water and poured enough water into the pot to rehydrate and heat the noodles. She turned on the stove and took three chipped bowls from the drying rack next to the sink. She set the table with the bowls, forks, and napkins. “I hope that water is okay to drink for now. It looks like I’ll have to go for a grocery run when I get back.”

Blaine rested his elbow on the table and placed his cheek in his open palm. “Or we can go ourselves, Sam.” He said dryly, his eyes wandering to the bowl in front of him. He glanced up to Sam while she filled the cups with water.

Sam mulled over the number of scenarios that could take place if the two went out to the grocery shop by themselves while she was working. She put the jug back into the fridge and emptied the contents of the noodles into the boiling pot. She pursed her lips together, placing a hand on her hip, and stirred the softening noodles after a few minutes.

She sighed in defeat, reaching deep into her jacket pocket, and fished out her Credit Stick. She held out with an open palm, “Take it, but only get what we need… I… don’t know how long this job will take me.”

’Thank you, Sam. I’ll keep it safe, I promise.’ Layla reached out her hand and focused her mind on the silver rectangular device. She willed it with her mind to come to her hand and the Credit Stick flew straight into her hand, hitting her palm with a thunk.

"I trust that both of you will. That is all the money we have for the rent, bills, and groceries. There are 12,000 Credits on there. 6,000 for rent, 2,000 for the bills, and only use 1,000 for groceries.” Sam drained the pot of water and finished preparing their dinner. She made her way over to the table with the pasta and a pair of tongs. She set them down in the center between all of them as she sat across from Blaine and Layla.

"I’ll be getting 10,000 Credits when I finish the job.” She ran her fingers through her dark brown hair and sighed softly. “After this one, I should be home for a while.” Her brown eyes wandered over to the pile of clothes, the leaky pipe, then the several broken lights. “I’ll do the laundry when I get home, fix the pipe, and the lights. I shouldn’t be too long.” Sam only took a few smaller scoops of pasta and placed it on her plate, allowing the children to take as much as they’d like without leaving them hungry.

Her stomach growled loudly, and she cleared her throat to hide it from them. “Eat. Both of you. Take as much as you like. I’m good.” She watched them fill up their plates and weakly smiled.

Blaine swallowed the food in his mouth and looked over to his guardian. “What is the job this time?” He asked, stabbing the center of his pasta with his fork.

Sam glanced towards the boy and laid her fork against the plate. She crossed her arms in front of her chest, leaning forward against the table. “It’s a retrieval mission. Finney is sending me out to get some Powered guy who owes him money. Roland Haynes. He has apparently been hiding under the radar from the P.I.Ts. I’m not entirely sure how he has done that, but I intend to find out when I’m up there.”

Layla ate in silence while the gears in her mind turned. She worried about Sam going into the upper city for another job. The brunette was their only way that they could make money. If the Underground had any rules, it was their age restriction on taking jobs. The girl didn’t want Sam to get hurt. She briefly glanced up to the older female and concentrated on her mind. She made quick work of the mental barrier as discreetly as she could muster. She searched her mind for the most recent memory of her visit with Finney.

Images of the burly and hairy Irishman flashed in her mind. She sat in the seat across from him in place of Sam. A tablet sat between them with a picture of Roland Haynes accompanied with the details he possessed about this Powered male.

Roland appeared to be the same age as Sam with caramel brown skin, emerald green eyes, coarse black dreadlock hair tied up in a ponytail with a couple of strands in the front hanging at the sides of his face. In the picture, he wore a white wife-beater with a black zip-up sweatshirt. He held himself straight like an average joe with a modest medium muscular build. A distinct white scar ran from the base of his neck and disappeared beyond the photo's borders.

A loud smack hit the table, knocking Layla out of her trance, and suddenly she returned to her own body. “Layla! What did I tell you about searching my head? If there was some part of the job that I needed you to know, I would’ve told you!” Sam scolded without remorse, an intense and stern glare in the blonde’s direction. She closed her fist tightly and stood up, storming out of the room.

 She walked to her room just down a small hall where the other bedrooms were. She grabbed her bag from the floor beside her bed and unzipped it, tossing it on her bed. She gathered a few necessary things that she might need when she was stalking Roland Haynes for making her move to take him back to the Underground to return him to Finney. She threw off her red leather jacket onto the bed and slipped on a plain hoodie over her white t-shirt. She zipped it up nearly all the way and shrugged on her leather jacket over it.

She sighed softly and ran her fingers through her wavy brunette hair, parting it to the side. Sam looked over her bag on the bed and grabbed it, turning around on her heels to sit on the edge of the bed and set the bag in her lap. She rustled through the contents to take a mental inventory of what was there. She threw it off to the side with no regard. She laid down on her back and closed her eyes for a few moments.

Instead of seeing black behind her eyes, she saw the world in negative space. Light streamed into the room and that light appeared to be black while the shadows were white. If she were in the dark, her sight would have an opposite effect of black and white. Her breath lulled in her chest as she faded softly into a light rest.

Soft footsteps crept into the room. Layla rested the side of her head against the doorframe, looking in. ‘I’m sorry… I know I shouldn’t have searched your mind like I did. But I just… I have a bad feeling about this job, Sam.’

The girl’s voice resonated in Sam’s mind and she sat up, patting the bed beside her. “I know.” Once Layla took a seat next to her, she wrapped her arm around her and pulled her close. “Just… only do that when it is necessary, okay? And I’ll be okay. I’ve got this. After all, I’ve got you two to come back to. So I don’t intend on getting caught by the P.I.Ts.” She reassured her. She pressed a gentle kiss on the top of her head.

Blaine wandered into Sam’s bedroom, staying at the door for a moment or two before he walked inside. He hopped onto the bed and wrapped his arms around Sam and Layla. “We just worry about you. I know you are doing this to provide for us so we have a place to stay and food in our stomachs.”

A small smile curled on the brunette’s lips as she wrapped her arms around her small self-made family. Her heart felt full, and she felt happy that she had this little family of hers to fall back on. Otherwise, she would have ended up in a far different place; mentally, physically, and emotionally.

They stayed like this for several minutes, but it felt far longer. Sam pulled away gently and kissed their foreheads. “I love you guys.”

’We love you too, Sam.’

Tears wet the corners of Sam’s eyes, and she blinked them away, clearing her throat. She glanced at the time and she sighed. “I have to go. But I should just be a few days. Maybe a week at most.” She paused before smiling softly at Blaine and Layla. “Walk me to the door?” She offered, raising her brow in slight interest.

The pair both responded with a resounding yes and jumped off the bed, rushing to the bedroom door and waited eagerly for Sam to join them.

Sam let out a small chuckle, taking her bag and slinging it over her shoulder after zipping it up. She pushed herself off the bed and joined the kids. The trio walked down the hallway and to the front door. “I’ll be back soon, alright? Don’t get into too much trouble without me.” She knelt down to their height to hug each of them.

"Of course. Bye, Sam.” Blaine embraced her for a quick hug before stepping out of the way for Layla. He placed his hands behind her back and his mouth took the shape of a flat line. He took a slow intake of breath in and an even slower one out.

Layla wrapped her arms around Sam’s form tightly, squeezing as hard as she could, though not enough to hurt her. ‘Bye, Sam! Return home safe, okay?’ She didn’t let go until Sam responded.

"I’ll return home safe. I promise.” She let the little girl go and stood up to her full height. “Bye you two.” She gave them a quick wink before she walked out the front door. She made sure that door locked behind her before she closed her eyes.

Her eyes glowed a bright red-orange hue behind her eyelids. Her world changed to black and white, and she disappeared into the shadows. Sam ran at her top speed in this black and white world of hers deep into the Underground city. She sped past several silhouettes of other Powered people walking through the city. None of them seemed to know that she was there.

She ran and didn’t stop until she was on the opposite end of the Underground. She opened her eyes and finished the last bit of the trek to the tunnel and ladder leading up to the upper city. The ladder was made of metal and bolted into the cement tunnel wall. Her eyes remained their red-orange hue as she placed her hand in the shadow beside the ladder. The shadow engulfed her hand completely in darkness and appeared to be becoming just like the shadow she was touching. Soon her hand became indistinguishable from the shadow. She jumped into the air and the shadows surrounded her in a dark bubble before snapping tightly to her body.

Within seconds, Sam was at the top of the tunnel and she slipped through the small gap between the utility hole cover and the streets of the upper city. She slid into the nearby alley before she stepped out of the slim shadow of a windowsill that cast into the middle of the alley. She looked left and right to make sure that no one saw her, which no one had. She casually sauntered out of the alley into the streets, disappearing into the crowd of people filling the sidewalk.