Excerpt

Time for you to read my excerpt, Readers! I figured I may as well share it with you, since I'm just sitting around waiting for my geography teacher to show up. Please keep in mind that it is very, very rough. Otherwise, enjoy!

London, England

Heavy clouds hung over the city; a thick fog clung to the buildings, and drizzling rain fell steadily. Inside an old, handsome building, a young, well-dressed man sat behind a desk. Two men, older and gray-haired, sat across from him. They were deep in discussion.

“I don’t understand your proposal, Stephen. Please, explain it again.” One of the older men leaned forward expectantly.

Stephen, the young, blond man, tried his best to keep from sighing in frustration. His proposal was of a somewhat delicate nature. To explain it again was to waste precious time that could have been spent convincing others to follow his plan. He already had many of the high officials in America on his side. He needed the support of the English to get his plan rolling.

“Once again, for Mr. Griffin.” He spoke slowly. “You have heard, of course, about Novo flu.”

Both men nodded the affirmative.

“What you have not heard, perhaps, is that the sickness changes its victims. Makes them... different.”

“Yes, yes,” Griffin nodded, gesturing impatiently. “You’ve already given us a fine demonstration with your girl, there.” He indicated a young girl standing silently in the shadowy corner of the room. Only a few minutes ago Stephen had displayed her power; she could understand and translate foreign languages perfectly, even though she could not speak them. The black-haired girl stood as though frozen in her place, her hands clasped behind her back, and her eyes down-cast.

Stephen waited a moment, gathering his thoughts, and then went on. “It has come to my attention that these... people may be very useful to us. Some of them have powers that are quite extraordinary. My associate in America told me of a girl who could change anything into pure silver. Imagine what we could do with a power like that! We could make use of these Deviants; put them to work.”

“You mean, slavery.” The second man said bluntly.

“If you like to think of it that way,” Stephen replied in a careful tone. “Personally, I look at it as a kind of economic salvation. With these Deviants working for us, we can do things we’ve never thought of before. We can heal wounds with a touch; cure sick minds with no more effort than it takes to sit and concentrate on something.” He sat back, throwing his arms wide. “We could rebuild the world; we could bend the very weather to our wills!”

Stephen stared at the two older men. His wide, brown eyes took in their expressions; they looked at one another, and nodded. Stephen, smiled, pleased. His idea was taking off.