Emergence by Various

and pickled beets. The two could’ve brought back eight pounds of solid gold and he would have been unhappy.
    Neither Vlad nor Lucy said a word. Vlad was still dizzy from removing one of his own memories. It left him feeling unsettled and sick to his stomach. To ground himself, he stared at a crack in the wood floor that gathered debris from the messy kitchen. An ant, still alive and mobile despite the frigid weather, crawled about the mess searching for food.
    “Show me your trip, boy.”
    The ant lifted a crumb and scurried away, leaving the crevice without life. Vlad was cold, his pants still wet from trudging through the snow to their shack of a house. He wanted to sleep.
    “Vlad! I said, show me your trip!”
    Vlad snapped out of his daze and obeyed. He held out his hand and Cheslav gripped it. His skin was damp and rough. Vlad let his powers flow to Cheslav. Normally he’d enter his mark’s world then see their memories like frames from a movie. Not with Cheslav. Instead, his vision went black. It was as though he were blind, his eyes open, but seeing nothing. He knew as his powers flowed to the old man, Cheslav saw Vlad’s memories.
    No matter how much Cheslav denied it, he was chimeric. His ability to reflect chimeric power was a power in itself. His ability to brand people and track them was, in Vlad’s mind, particularly dangerous for a man of Cheslav’s nature.
    Cheslav believed his abilities were an evolutionary skill meant to fight off chimerics. That amused Vlad to no end. When he pointed out that the branding wasn’t a defensive tactic, Cheslav slammed his head against the refrigerator until he passed out.
    The blackness dispersed and Vlad was again standing in the kitchen. He felt violated, his brain unclean. Cheslav’s presence lingered there like a poisonous fog.
    “You two are useless. I save you from death, give you a chance to use your ‘gifts’ and you repay me with cheap watches and petty change, then withhold from me!”” Cheslav snapped his fingers at Lucy. “Give me the fucking bracelet. Don’t think you can hide anything from me.”
    Lucy hauled her backpack onto the table and removed the gold bracelet. Cheslav tossed it in the rest of the pile. “Now, for the other problem. Escape. Why are you even thinking of it? This life? This is all you know.”
    Escape? Vlad recalled their brief conversation on the train. If he hadn’t removed that memory, what had he? He couldn’t ask Lucy, of course, because that would defeat the whole purpose of erasing whatever he had.
    “You’re cruel and stupid,” Lucy snapped. She raised her pale face and stood tall. “The world is changing, some day even here, old man. Soon chimerics won’t be persecuted. In America they train them to be heroes. They’re loved!”
    Vlad’s heart sank. “Lucy, stop—”
    “No!” She looked at Cheslav openly, her gaze defiant. “I’m sick of this life! We’re people. We’re chimerics. We’re powerful!”
    Cheslav’s hand was like lightning as he reached out and slapped Lucy. She stumbled sideward, almost fell, but caught herself on the edge of the sink. Cheslav walked around the table and grabbed her hair, knotting it in his meaty fist. She screamed while he dragged her out of the kitchen.
    What pained Vlad the most—even more than hearing Lucy’s screams—was that he couldn’t do anything. His thin, weak arms were no match against Cheslav. Emaciated from years of being underfed, neither had the strength needed to subdue the man.
    Vlad swallowed the lump in his throat and screwed his eyes shut. He could only hope Cheslav would be quick with her.
    “Vlad! You stupid shit, get in here!”
    He obeyed, left the kitchen, and entered the tiny room Cheslav kept his big chair and TV in. Lucy was on her knees, blonde hair still balled up in Cheslav’s fist. Her lip bled where he hit her. Cheslav yanked her upwards, drawing out a painful moan.
    “This is what you want, isn’t it?”
    Cheslav found a news