“For a dullahan social club, the way we recruit others makes us sound like the X-Men.”

Jessica nodded at Erica’s comment in agreement. It really did feel like they were going to recruit a new mutant into the X-Men, if the X-Men operated like a book club instead of a superhero team.

The two had only found out about the Biggest Little City’s dullahan group a few weeks ago and were more than eager to join up. Sure, they were aware of some of the more high-profile dullahan groups in other cities like LA, but Jessica and Erica only just found out about the one in Reno.

It turns out that most of the dullahans in the county had pretty similar stories to their own. Most of the members were natural dullahans, gaining their abilities through some enchantment from the gods before birth or through genetic traits, and only began showing their abilities at around the age of thirteen, just like the mutants in X-Men.

Plenty of others had done the same things Erica and Jessica had, giving themselves the abilities with MagiTech’s Divider Knife. Since Jessica’s testing of the thing, it had become quite a popular product in the company.

The recruitment method truly was something straight out of Marvel Comics. The group tried to find new young natural dullahans early, while they had only just discovered their abilities. Maybe they hit their head on a low ceiling, and it fell off, or it just popped off once in the middle of the night. Jessica assumed the group’s leader was psychic, because nothing else could reasonably explain how she found out about a new dullahan, let alone that fast.

Over the years, new dullahans would come into more of their powers, and become capable of detaching more parts in more places. By age 18, they were as detachable as it got, and had fully come into their magical abilities.

Though at the moment, the young girl was probably scared out of her head of her new abilities. Literally. Jess couldn’t blame her. It must have been rough. Sure, when she used the Divider Knife on herself, she adapted to it just fine, but she was older and knew exactly what was going to happen when she made the cut. Same as Erica when Jess had given her the knife one night. This girl hadn’t expected any of this. She just sat up one day and her head wasn’t attached to her neck.

Jessica and Erica had been sent as emissaries. They were supposed to meet her at a local coffee shop. The two stopped across the street from it and turned to talk to each other.

“This is the place?” Erica asked.

Jessica reached into her pocket and pulled out a picture. It was an old polaroid photo, but it was clear as ever. An address was written on the back. She glanced between the address on the back of the photo and the one on the side of the building. They matched.

“Yeah, this is it,” Jessica replied.

She turned the polaroid over and on the front was the picture of the girl they were supposed to meet. She was roughly 5’6 and had brown hair, tied back in a ponytail. Her eyes were brown as well, and she wore a dark blue hoodie and gray shorts. Jessica leaned over and showed the picture to her girlfriend, before they both glanced at the coffee shop’s array of tables sitting out front.

Sure enough, there she was. Wearing the exact same clothes as in the picture. She was drumming her fingers on her coffee cup, and staring at it blankly, lost in her own thoughts, but occasionally glancing around, looking at everyone nearby. She was tense.

If the plan was already in motion, the girl knew they were coming to meet her, and considering the way she was looking around, she probably did.

“What do we do? Do we approach?”

Erica had asked the question both of them were thinking. Jessica shrugged back.

“Let’s go talk to her.”

Jessica led the way, approaching the table normally. The girl was still staring into the swirling brown abyss inside her cup when Jessica slowly rapped her knuckle on the table to get her attention.

The girl let out a quiet yelp and sat back in a jolt, but her expression calmed as she gazed as the arrivals. She put her hand to her heart and took several deep breaths before returning to a normal position, staring silently at the two.

“Mind if I sit with you?” Jessica asked.

The girl quietly nodded, and Jessica slid into the chair opposite of her, resting her arms on the table. It was a moment before the girl spoke up.

“Are you here about the… uhmmm…” She made implying gestures at her neck. “You know…”

Jessica let out a relieved sigh, happy that she found the right person and that she was willing to talk. “Yes, I am. My name is Jessica. I’m with the club.” She extended her hand out to the girl.

The girl’s posture relaxed as she grasped her cup with both hands, enjoying the warmth the liquid gave. “I’m Abby…” she said softly. She slowly reached out and shook Jessica’s hand. A wave of cold ran down Jessica’s spine. In the middle of summer, wearing warm clothes and grasping a hot coffee cup, Abby’s hand was freezing cold.

After Jessica let go, Abby’s hand quickly returned to the mug. Her eyes refused to meet Jessica’s. She wasn’t sure what to do next. What to say. Was she supposed to say anything?

A scraping of metal across stone drew both their attentions to Erica, who was dragging a chair to the table. “Can I join as well?” She asked. “I’m with her. My name’s Erica.” Neither one offered out their hands this time. Erica sat down and scooted in.

“I can’t imagine how this must feel for you.” Erica said, breaking the silence. Abby returned a look of brief confusion.

“How could you not? Aren’t you…” She did the gesture towards her neck again. Erica nodded in response.

“We experienced it a little differently, but yeah, we are. Both of us.” Jessica nodded, subtly waiving off the waitress who was approaching to ask for their coffee orders.

Jessica continued. “We’re here to help you through this. And there are more of us. We know it’s scary, but there are countless other people in this city alone who have gone through the same thing you’re going though now. There are systems in place to help you as you’re coming into your powers.”

Abby sagged in her seat as the words “coming into your powers” reached her ears, but she said nothing of it. “So are you guys, like, what, the X-Men or something?”

Both Erica and Jessica chuckled at the question. “Yeah, something like that.” Erica said.

Abby started to smile. It was faint, but it was something. As the two kept talking, her body behavior became more relaxed. Friendlier.

After the two finished explaining all of the details about the social club, Jessica finished up the conversation. “And you don’t have to be a full-time member or anything, but we think you should come to one meeting. We can help show you what it’s really like.”

“I’d love to. When’s the next meeting?”

Erica looked down at her watch. “uhmmm… thirty minutes from now.”

Jessica sat up straight. “Oh crap, I forgot. Can we make it in time?”

Erica nodded, slinging her purse over her shoulder. “We can if we take the bus.”

Jessica stood up and pushed her chair in, gathering her things. She looked down at Abby, still seated. “You want to come with us?”

Abby smiled and stood up. After pushing her chair in, she slowly reached up around her neck, grabbed around her head, and slowly and carefully, detached her head, lowering it carefully and tucking it under her right shoulder, her right hand supporting the stump beneath her head and her left hand clasped firmly on the top of her head to hold it in place.

Bits of hair fell in front of her face, and she brushed them away with her pinky finger. Her vision wobbled slightly as she tried to stabilize herself. The afternoon sunlight warmed her neck stump in the vacancy of her head.

“Let’s go.”