Flurries of snow get blown around hundreds of teenagers in emerald green uniforms scattering out of an old brick school building. Fifteen year old Gail with black dyed hair leisurely wanders in the opposite direction from rest of the students heading to the parking lot to catch their ride, and sneaks past the side gateway mostly used by the faculty. A bus stop is stationed a block away and she hurriedly catches the bus and climbs on before it departs for next stop several blocks away. She heads for the last seat in the back and puts on headphones to give other passengers a strong signal not to disturb her. The walkman is hidden in a pocket of Gail's sweatshirt and she presses play. Her head slowly begins to sway along with the beat of Corin Tucker's voice, Carrie Brownstein's riffing, and Janet Weiss' drumming.

Bunch of stores and row houses flies past and the burden of familial expectations floats away from Gail's mind. Earlier this morning, her mother nagged on her about going through a daily checklist to see if she can figure out what her ability is. It's been over two years since her puberty began, and she still has no idea what her power is. Steve already figured out his not long after his balls dropped. Admittedly, his mental ability to extract emotion based memories out of people's head by touching their neck is not that hard to discover. He has Gail to thanks for "helping" him figure it out. She still refuses to forgive him for using her like that.

Being labeled the family embarrassment is bad enough and now she is confused about her own sexuality. Most teenagers in her school are straight, and she knows there is a LGBT club, but she is not into student clubs. She hates being around other students, because they all see her purely by her family's name. Pecks is a noble family and part of the prestigious Riordian clan. Only the Riordian kids would approach her and that's only if they are expecting something from her. Other students would avoid her at all costs out of fear of insulting her, and the Riordians by affiliation. That makes it difficult for Gail to even contemplate dating or just experimenting with someone. She trusts nobody in the school, and she maintains her reputation purely just to avoid her mother's wrath. Elaine Peck would not condone any negativity or oddness being attached to her family.

"Grace Street. Next stop is Euclid Ave."

That's her stop. Gail gets up quickly, climbs off the bus, and hurriedly jogs a block to a hole in the wall bar squeezed between an Italian restaurant and a small convenience mart. There's a worn out sign barely hanging off a bracket above the door.

Collins' Bar and Motel

Gail presses a doorbell by the door with a taped index card written in black marker: 'Don't press the doorbell unless you want a gun pointing at your face.'

The not polished wooden door slowly opens and a gun pokes out through the crack. Gail rolls her eyes and glares past the gun barrel.

"Really? You gonna point that at me?" asks Gail.

The door open wider and a brown buzz cut head pops out.

"Oh hey Gail, sorry about that. Just being careful." Nick says as he allows Gail to walk through.

The bar is bare with a long wooden counter by the wall with taps and glasses. Few of the wall shelves have liquor bottles that are mostly empty and the brands are of low quality. The room has a table and chairs here and there in the middle and a worn dartboard hanging off a wall opposite of the counter. Nick's parents bought the place before he was born and his brother, Finn, took over after their parents died in a car accident. Unfortunately, Finn is not doing a great job with the place and they are barely surviving on little profits they have leftover after Finn's "fixes".

Nick and Gail walk wordlessly to the door next to kitchen on the other side. Nick opens the door and gives a hand gesture to tell Gail to go upstairs first. Before they arrive on the second floor, Nick grabs Gail's arm.

"Gail, Alejan- I mean Alex is here. He's in my room playing Resident Evil…"

Gail sighs and corrects Nick. "They. Nick. Alex want us to use they."

Nick shakes his head. "Right. Their face is bruised. I think their dad did that to them. I just want you to know so you don't get too surprised."

"We got to do something. This isn't right."

"What can we do? Alex told us not to do anything. They doesn't want the school or police to find out about their parents being illegal here."

Gail is not willing to give up. "We still should do something."

Nick nods. "We will figure it out. For now, let's keep them company."

As they resume climbing up the stairs to the second floor where Nick and Finn live on plus the motel rooms, Gail contemplates Alex's situation. When she first met Alex, their original name was Alejandro and they was raised as a boy. Their family is strongly Catholic and came from Mexico. Their father strongly believes in machismo culture and often beat Alex because of their physical appearance or behavior. Alex always liked to have longer hair and makes great effort taking care of it. One of their favorite hobbies is dancing, and not the kind their father would approve. Last year, Alex found a website on a school computer talking about transgender and nonbinary identities and they really feel that they is non binary. Not long after that, they came out to Gail first and Gail helped them come out to Nick last week. They have not really come out to their family yet, but their father seems to suspect them changing and not liking it a bit.

Nick leads Gail all the way back past the motel rooms to a small apartment where Nick and occasionally Finn, when he shows up, live. The apartment was a large storage room converted to a living space with kitchenette in a corner and two twin beds in opposite corner. Alex is sitting on a stained tan couch and playing on a Playstation hooked up to a 14 inch television on a coffee table against the wall next to the beds. Gail slumps next to Alex and watch them trying to accomplish a mission in the game.

Gail asks, "Hey, weren't we supposed to play that save together?"

Alex shrugs. "I got bored of waiting for you to show up, so I went ahead. It's not like it's our first time beating this game anyway."

"True."

Gail knows Alex is using the game to escape from whatever happened at home. The bruise near their left eye makes it clear.

Nick grabs some Sunny D's and three plastic cups before settling on the floor next to Alex. He pours in the cups and silently pass each to Alex and Gai, then sips slowly while staring into nothing. The air remains calm as none of them say anything and Alex continues to shooting at zombies on the television. This is why Gail really enjoys hanging out with Alex and Nick. She can just be herself and they are not aware of her burden to her family. No Feyian politics. No Peck expectations. She doesn't have to worry about figuring out what is her so called inner blessing as her mother likes to call it. She likes just being as normal as she could be in this world. Feyians may be powerful but they must be invisible within the human societies.

"Goddamnit!"

The controller flies over and falls down just right by the television.
Gail looks over at Alex, "Hey! Watch where you throw that. I'm not going to replace that for the third time."

"Fucking Licker pissed me off."

Alex brushes away the hair out of their face and takes a big gulp of Sunny D before slamming the cup back down on the coffee table. Nick refills Alex's cup without a word.

Gail gets up and grabs the controller, "My turn now! Watch me blow that whip like tongue out of the eyeless asshole."

"…And that's how you beat Tyrant and get the best ending."

Gail pretends to shoot with the controller and put on a smug face as her friends chuckle with not even an ounce of surprise.

Alex shrugs, "Of course you kick ass, Gail. You always do."

"Maybe you should become a cop like Jill Valentine?" Nick teases.

Gail's face turns sour and scowls, "No way. I will never become a cop."

She really doesn't want to follow in her family's path and become one of countless pawns for her mother to control in her political games. She is not going to follow her brother's path. Steve may be satisfied with his golden boy image and riding on their family's fame, but Gail refuses to submit. Not as if she's being useful to the Pecks at this point anyway since she has no clue what will be her talent. Maybe being a pro at video games is her talent. Gail giggles as she thinks about what would be her mother's reaction.

"What's funny?"
Gail looks at Alex and mutters, "Nothing. Just thinking about how I easily destroyed the Licker you hated so much."

Alex scoffs, "Yeah yeah. I don't think you will be a cop. More like a professional gamer. I read in a magazine some pro gamers make thousands in tournaments."

Gail nods, "Yep, that's what I'm gonna do."

"I'll be running this joint and cheering for you while serving booze to drunkards," Nick says.

Alex remains quiet, so Gail asks, "What about you, Alex?"

Alex has a far away look on and mutters, "I'm not sure. I just want to explore myself and be free to just be me. I don't really care what I do for living."

Nick looks like he gets an opportunity to jump in and mentions, "Well, why don't you work here? Maybe even move in one of the rooms?"

Alex looks shocked, "You serious?"

Nick nods, "Yeah. I need help with running this place. As you both probably noticed, Finn is not really around much lately and those assholes have been giving me shit about money he stole from them."

"Well, I don't need pity though, so no thanks."

"It's not pity. I just need somebody to be behind the bar, so I can take care of there stuff. Plus, I've been sorta thinking about open some of the rooms for rent for the other kids who live in the alleys around Church Street… They won't trust me, but they will trust you, Alex."

"Because I'm one of them?"

Nick nods, "Yeah. At least the empty rooms would be used… not as if those rooms are making me any money anyway."

Gail stares at Nick and notices faint blush on his cheeks. Now, she understands why he's offering Alex a place and kind of a job too. Yes, he is being a good friend, but there's definitely something brewing in the air between Alex and him.

"Hmm…. Fine, but you better change the bar's name. Collins sounds totally Irish and the only Irish thing about this place is the amount of whiskey bottles on the shelf."

Nick chuckles and asks, "Fine so what should it be called?"

Gail giggles and offers a solution. "Alex's."

Alex drums the coffee table while Nick groans.

"Fine, but after I die. For now it stays as Collins."

Alex complains, "But that will be in like fifty years. I'll be just an old broad."

And not single, Gail thinks to herself.

Gail walks out of the front door and turns around to face Nick. Nick leans against the door and sighs.

"I really hope Alex will actually accept my offer."

"They will. I have no doubt."

"You really think so?"

Gail punches Nick's arm and Nick flinches.

"You're an idiot, Nick. Ask them out for Pete's sake. Just don't awkwardly kiss them without asking for permission. That didn't work out when you tried with me."

"Well, what does that make me then? Gay?"

"It doesn't make you anything, Nick. You're still the same idiot as before. You just like someone else now. Do I really have to give you step by step instructions?"

Nick smirks and shakes his head. Gail rolls her eyes and gives Nick another punch in the arm.

"You really got to quit punching my arms. Ain't your punching bags."

Gail walks away and shrugs in defiance. Nick watches her walk away and is glad they remain friends even after his admittedly idiotic attempt at wooing her. Maybe he will have a better luck with Alex this time and not worry too much about what that means for him.

A stream of moonlight shines through holes in the curtain and bounces off Gail's face as she lies down on a tiny bed. She feels annoyed by the light and turns over to the darker side. She almost falls deeper in Neverland, but noises from downstairs somewhere disrupt her trip, so she opens her eyes and slowly gets up.

"Finn?" Gail hears herself whispers and looks over at the other empty bed with a sheet hanging off the edge.

Gail gets up and walks over to look around in the kitchen and living area but there is no sign of Finn's presence. She is about to turn back to bed, but heard some thumping noises from downstairs. A shattering noise startles Gail as she approaches the door to the bar downstairs.

"So where is it? Don't make me go upstairs and look."

Gail quietly nudges the door to the bar area open and sees Finn lying against the wall with bloody face. A young man with slicked hair and suit is leaning against a table nearby and a large skinhead stands right in front of Finn and rubbing his hands.

"Look, I'm sorry Mr. Landers. I just need one more week. I can get you the money I owe you," Finn begs.

Gail spots the gun lying on a shelf on the bartender side of the bar counter. She crouch down and slowly crawls toward the shelf. As soon as she reaches for the gun, a gunshots stings her ears. She grabs the gun and stood up quickly to see the skinhead pointing the gun at Finn's slumping head.

Gail screams, "Nooo!" and shoots at the skinhead and he drops down on the floor without realizing what happened. Mr. Landers looks shocked for a moment before taking out his own gun and points at Gail.

Both shoots at each other at the same time and Mr. Launders looks down at his chest and watches a crimson waterfall pouring out of a hole. He looks up at Gail and strains, "You….fuck.."

Gail freezes and thinks Mr. Launders must've missed, but slowly a burning sensation lit up right below her chest area. She looks down and spots blood spreading along the white tank she is currently wearing. She sharply inhales air and collapses on the floor. This must be one of the most painful feeling she ever experiences. She wants to stay on the floor and not move, but her body has another idea. She begins to crawls around the counter with a trail of blood behind her.

After what feels like eternity, Gail finally reaches Finn, and tries to get in sitting position, but ends up leaning against Finn and picks up his hand. She looks at a mirror across the room and sees Nick next to Finn instead of her. Coldness begins to trickles from the gunshot wound to her limbs. Her breathing becomes shallow and her eyes shut as blue and red flashing lights come through the windows in the bar room…

Ice blue eyes pop open as Gail rises up and crawls back against the headboard, knocking her head hard as she tries to take a proper breath. Her hands tremble because she cannot feel any warmth.

Steven barges in the room, sits next to Gail but not touching her. He knows she will never trust him not to take advantage of his ability and he regrets his action.

"Gail? What's wrong?"

Gail presses her chest with her hands hard. "My chest hurts so much…"

She starts to gag and Steven quickly brings a trashcan from next to the nightstand and luckily has it in front for Gail to puke in time. After a few minutes of dry heaving, Gail finally calm down enough to breathe properly.

"You okay?"

"Just a really awful dream. It felt so real, Steve…"

Gail looks down at her hands and stretch her fingers in and out. "My hands still feel so cold."

"Cold? You probably had your hands lying outside of the blanket. It's bit chilly tonight."

Gail shakes her head. "No, I died in my dream and I practically felt the warmth leaving my body. It was so weird."

Steve sighs, "Don't worry. Just a dream. Probably from playing too much Resident Evil huh?"

Gail scoffs, "I'm not a kid anymore. Zombies don't scare me."

Steve laughs and Gail sneaks in a smirk. She begins to feel a little better since it is just a dream. Steve gets up and picks up the trashcan to put somewhere else so it doesn't stink up the room. Before he gets a chance to leave the room, the phone on Gail's nightstand rings. Gail gets startled a little and picks up the phone.

"Who's this? It's middle of the night. What's the hell?"

All Gail could hear is teary muffling and gasping. Something becomes heavy and tight in Gail's stomach. Something is seriously wrong and she starts to have a bad feeling she knows why.

"Hello?"

"Hey… this is Alex.."

"What's wrong Alex? Do you need me to come and get you from your home?"

"No, I'm not home.. I'm at Collins."

Gail could hear sirens in the background.

"It's… God… I found them… lying there with blood everywhere.."

Gail's heart beats rapidly and her room expands, making her dizzy.

Alex sniffs, "Nick's dead… Finn's dead… and there's two dudes dead too. I'm not sure what happened but look like they killed each other."
Gail has to ask, "Fuck… are.. Were Nick and Finn holding hands?"

"Yes… how the hell did you know?"

Gail squeezes her eyes and begins to rock back and forth. She feels Steve's arm around her shoulders.

"I..uh.. Just had to ask cuz you know… brothers.."

Fucking lame excuse, Gail thinks to herself.

"I gotta go… the cop wants to talk to me. I"m not supposed to be on phone but I had to tell you… Please can I see you tomorrow?"

"Of course, go and I'll talk to you tomorrow."

Gail hangs up and puts her head in her hands. Steve rubs her in the back and that soothes Gail a little before she realizes what that means. She gets up quickly and shouts, "Don't touch me!"

Steve raises his hands, "Whoa. Calm down."

"No. No. I'm not going to calm down. I saw my friend died in my dream. What the hell is that? Is it my fault?"

"I heard. Who are they? Nick and Finn?"

Gail leans against her dresser. "Nick was my friend… we met couple years ago in a game store with Alex, who was on the phone."

"Why haven't I heard of them till now?"

Gail shrugs, "Because I liked how normal I felt when I'm around them."

"So, they're not like us?"

Gail nods, "And Finn is Nick's older brother. He was a douchebag. Always on something and grabbing whatever money they have to support his habit. God, that fucking bastard."

"And you saw in your dream… how they die?"

"Yes… more like I was being Nick?"

Steve's eyes widens a little, "Sounds a lot like Gramma Sullivan… remember how Mom used to tell us all about how amazing she was and how her ability practically helped our people rise to where we are now?"

"Shit… that means I'm fucked."

Waves of symphonic music pour through the ballroom full of Feyians all dressed up in tuxedos and colorful gowns. They are all divided up in smaller groups and taking the rare opportunity to network and creating their own alliances within the clan. This is the first formal gathering hosted by the Pecks in ten years.

Gail is hiding herself in a corner far away from everyone and sneaks in a drink she steals from the bar. She feels a tap on her shoulder and turns around to see her mother standing in front of her with a stern face.

"What are you doing hiding over here. You need to be up on the stage with me in ten minutes. Come on."

Gail groans and asks, "Our deal is still on right? I'll be your 'dutiful' daughter and you will make sure the bar goes to Alex right?"

"Of course, that's a very simple task. It will be done tomorrow. Just remember to uphold your side and we will be absolutely fine."

Gail nods and follows her mother to the stage. Somehow this feels like she just signs her soul to the devil.