Synesthesia - Chapter Four
Jan. 5th, 2011 07:55 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
dracoqueen22a/n: And almost two months later we have an update. Huzzah! Go here to start at the beginning.
Title: Synesthesia
Rating: T (for mild violence and language)
Description: Ethan has lived with his gift -- hearing emotions as music -- his entire life. And he's learned to cope with it. But when a serial killer makes a home in his town, and he's contacted by different groups all wanting to make use of his ability, he finds himself dragged into the thick of things. And all he wants to do is be left alone.
An hour after Dray's initial phone call, Ethan found his way back to his apartment safely, despite the storm. The rain had lessened, but that didn't make him feel any less damp. He glanced across the road and was surprised to find that Jaiden was missing. Not that he particularly cared. Perhaps the aerokinetic had finally decided to go home.
Shrugging, Ethan locked up his car and hurried to the door, anxious to be inside. His stomach growled loudly, craving the dinner he'd had to put off twice already. He pulled out his keys, the metal jangling loudly in the silent corridor, and unlocked the door.
Dark and quiet met him, a sense of stillness to the air. Ethan paused in the doorway, something crawling up the back of his neck. He'd left the TV on. And the lights. He was sure of it. His skin prickled, senses curdling in his gut. He pulled out his keys, leaving the door half-cracked.
He had the thought that he was just paranoid. Even if there was someone in his apartment, it was probably just Jaiden and his stalkerly behavior. No one was there to kill him or anything. He'd sense the bastard long before that. He was overreacting or something. And maybe he had turned all that stuff off before he left.
It was possible.
Ethan lifted a hand, placing it against the knob with every intention of entering his apartment. He wasn't a coward.
Fingers fell on his arm, restraining his movement. “Don't.”
To his credit, Ethan kept his surprise to a more dignified jump than a startled, girly yelp, and whirled on the intruder. He recognized the voice immediately. “You--”
Jaiden's eyes seemed impossibly dark in the light of the hallway, his gaze shifting past Ethan and to the apartment beyond. “Quiet,” he said in a low voice, thick with tension. “Something's not right.”
Ethan yanked his arm free from the other man's hold, disliking Jaiden's proximity. He was too damn tall. “Yeah, I know,” he muttered irritably, feeling his heart pound in his chest. “You're stalking me.”
The aerokinetic didn't immediately answer. Instead, his dark gaze remained focused on Ethan's apartment as he slipped in front of Ethan and entered ahead of him.
He wanted to protest, but the unnatural silence of his apartment loomed before him. There was a buzz of the emotions of the other residents on the edge of his hearing, but nothing else. He shivered, rain seeping through the confines of his clothing, and perhaps due to hesitation as well. He followed after Jaiden, caution in his step.
The other man was a mere shadow creeping into Ethan's apartment, undisturbed by the dark, Ethan reached for the lamp just inside his door, flicking it on. The main room was flooded in incandescence, finding no intruders poised to attack. Nevertheless, Ethan couldn't shake the odd feeling.
Jaiden headed to the right, toward the other rooms in the apartment. Ethan let him do as he wished, only because he knew the uneasiness didn't stem from Jaiden's presence. No, it had to do with something else. There was an aura of wrongness in the air.
Ethan stepped into his kitchen, the light blinking on his phone's base. Streetlight poured in from the window above the sink, setting spotty shadows on the floor thanks to the rain. No one lingered in the dark. At least, as far as Ethan could tell.
He headed to the fridge, pulling out his dinner and putting it back into the microwave. Ethan could only hope that he hadn't ruined the taste. As the unit hummed and the turntable plate rattled noisily, Ethan tugged off his jacket and tossed it over the kitchen chair. The silence of his apartment remained unnerving, and he was determined to fix that, idly wondering what Jaiden had found.
Venturing back into the living room, Ethan swept his gaze over his furniture, only to come to a complete stop. His eyes widened, breath stuttering as a man he had never seen before stood in front of his open doorway, a smirk painting his thin lips.
Ethan opened his mouth to say something, anything, but the menace in the stranger's gaze spoke for itself. This was no idle visitor. Ethan's heart dropped into his stomach, and his knees locked in place, the same absence of sound coming from this man. Somehow, it was more unsettling from the stranger.
The intruder lifted a hand, popping a cigarette between his lips and bringing a lighter up to kiss the tip of it. He smirked at Ethan over his hands, black trenchcoat stretched across broad shoulders. There was a snick as the lighter flared to life.
And then there was heat. Explosive, sweltering heat as a massive ball of fire exploded outward from the intruder, bright orange and flaring blue at the tip of each flame. It swirled, heading straight for Ethan with dogged determination.
“Holy shit,” Ethan swore, finally able to move as he startled backward, tripping over his own feet in his haste to move.
The heat blasted him in the face, like the first rush of air after opening the end of a dryer cycle. Sucking the moisture out of his eyeballs and making him choke. He thought that it was the end. There was no way for him to escape the blaze.
A blast of wind whipped down the hallway, smacking against Ethan's side. He stumbled to the right, his clothes and hair flattening as air swirled around him, a tornado torrent. It stole his breath and he peered with watering eyes to see the fire slamming full force into the gale. It abruptly careened away, splattering against Ethan's wall. A fresh blaze sprung to life, catching Ethan's couch and carpet with rising urgency.
Ethan gaped as Jaiden appeared out of the hallway, hand lifted and fingers twitching. His usually placid expression had morphed into something fierce and angry, though his gaze was saved for the intruder, barely visible through the wall of wind and fire.
“Ektos,” the intruder hissed angrily, distaste etched into his tone. His hands had dropped back to his side, cigarette bouncing on his lips.
“Ethan's under our protection now,” Jaiden retorted, smoothly moving partially in front of Ethan. His hands had also fallen to his sides, seemingly harmless were it not for the elemental divide.
Smoke filled the small apartment, and with a startled sputter, the sprinklers surged to life, splattering the room in water. Steam rose as the fire spat and crackled, fighting in vain to keep burning Ethan's belongings.
“Well, lucky for him,” the stranger snarled. He sneered, quickly becoming obscured by the thickening smoke and wind.
Ethan coughed as he sucked in a lungful, despite being in the protective bubble of air. He held up his hand to his mouth as the alarm system in the old building finally connected circuits. A siren blared, rattling loudly through the corridors, screaming for all the residents to evacuate.
Around Ethan, the other occupants woke with fear pounding their hearts and the urge to flee racing through their veins. He winced, buckling beneath the deluge of noise. Anger and fear and worry joined in a frightening crescendo, attacking Ethan's weakened senses. His barriers were no match to the emotions of the populace and he flinched, head throbbing.
He could not begin to describe the sound that flooded in the wake of their fright. A confusing screech of untuned guitar and disjointed piano, keys struck harshly to convey a sense of gloom. His skull pulsed alarmingly and Ethan gasped, nausea crawling into his gut. He couldn't--
Someone grabbed his arm. Ethan lashed out blindly, fist striking against an unknown foe. The blind attack was easily blocked and gasping, Ethan peeled open his eyes. Jaiden stood there, looking at him dispassionately as he held Ethan's wrist easily in one hand.
“We have to leave!” Jaiden bellowed above the noise of the alarms and the rushing wind, swirling and settling about him like a weird, elemental cloak.
Ethan could barely hear him for the emotions of the others, thrumming through him and heightening his own sense to flee. Water sprayed down on them, lukewarm and harsh as it combated against the sputtering flames.
Incapable of coherent speech, Ethan merely nodded in agreement and followed Jaiden blindly. The stranger that had attacked him was gone, the place where he once stood nothing more than a burnt imprint of feet in Ethan's carpet. And a cigarette, smoke curling from the damp tip.
“Where is he?” Ethan mumbled, stumbling along after Jaiden as they joined the mob of people fleeing from this half of the apartment complex.
“Gone,” Jaiden answered succinctly, his mouth set in a grim line.
Swallowing thickly, Ethan coughed to ease the sharp pull the smoke had on his lungs. “Did you kill him?”
“What?” Jaiden came to an abrupt halt, causing someone behind him to mutter something in annoyance and skirt around them. His eyes searched Ethan's worriedly. “No. The coward ran.”
“Oh.” He would have liked to say something more coherent, but his mind took to spinning again and the concrete looked inviting.
Outside, the sound of approaching sirens pierced the emotional fog that clouded his brain. Without the sight of billowing smoke and shooting flames around the building, the residents calmed, changing instead to irritation. No doubt they thought some punk had pulled the alarm, or that it was just another of the landlord's paranoid drills.
The only evidence of a fire was the smoke that seeped lightly from the broken windows of Ethan's apartment, curling up towards the dark sky and unhampered by the rain. The storm had moved on, leaving only a light fall in its wake.
Ethan lifted a hand to his head, rubbing furiously at the pulsing behind his temple. He couldn't seem to make it stop spinning.
“Ethan!”
At the sound of his name being hollered over the noise of chattering residents, rain hitting the pavement, and sirens approaching, Ethan looked up. Only to see his landlord approaching, her face as pale as the white stucco on the side of the taco stand down the street and twisted with concern. Her gnarled fingers reached for him, and he subtly avoided the touch, not needing the strengthening of any more emotions.
“You're not hurt, are you?” Ms. Lazer demanded, her blue eyes flicking over his body as if searching for immediate injuries or obvious signs of his distress. She must have realized that the “blaze” had come from his apartment.
“No, ma'am,” Ethan assured her, Ms. Lazer's concern bull-rushing his senses at her proximity. He avoided another reach of her hand, the abrupt motion making him sway a little on his feet. His mental walls felt as brittle as tissue paper, punched through several times with no end to the assault.
She seemed to notice his evasion, and twisted her hands together nervously in front of him, eyes darting around from building to milling residents in a disconnected pattern. “What happened?”
And for that, Ethan had no suitable lie. He couldn't exactly tell her that a pyrokinetic and an aerokinetic had no qualms about fighting each other in the middle of his apartment for a reason he didn't quite fully understand. Except that apparently being able to hear emotions was really valuable to a bunch of strangers.
“Err...”
“TV blew,” Jaiden supplied gruffly, making his presence known from where he hovered just behind Ethan, entire body tense and ready for an action that had already passed.
It sounded utterly ridiculous. Ethan had never heard of a television going on the fritz and setting fire to an entire apartment. Not to say it hadn't happened before, but it wasn't exactly common either. Ms. Lazer didn't seem to realize the improbability of the answer. Or think to question Jaiden's presence.
“Is that all?” she replied with a visible sigh of relief. Her hand fluttered to her chest, resting over her heart. “I told Trevor those sensors were too sensitive.” She shook her head, thinking none-too-fondly of the resident Mr. Fix-It, who had a hard time fixing much of anything, but was too stubborn to admit he didn't know how.
“Ms. Lazer!”
The woman's head swiveled in the direction of her name, another one of the residents calling to her. “I'll be right there,” she hollered back, and without so much as a goodbye, tottered away, taking her overbearing concern with her.
The fire engines finally arrived, bringing swirling blue and red lights, flickering brightly over the surrounding buildings. They had turned off the sirens, much to Ethan's relief, and yellow-suited men and woman dropped from the side, preparing to enter the building. It all seemed so surreal, like something he should have seen on CBS and not happening in his own life.
His headache eased enough that he could think clearly again. He no longer had to grit his teeth against the pain, and Ethan sucked in a low, steadying breath. Ash and smoke still burned in his lungs, but they were only minor annoyances.
What the hell was that!
Wait. He should be asking Jaiden that. Ethan whirled towards the aerokinetic, annoyance glinting in his eyes.
“What the hell was that?” he demanded furiously, waving a vague hand towards the ruin that was his apartment, and likely, most of his belongings. If they hadn't been fire and smoke-damaged, than the water from the sprinklers was certain to ruin the rest. Worse, that meant he had nowhere else to go tonight but home. With his mother.
Jaiden did not even flinch at the glare directed at his person. “I told you there was a danger,” he responded flatly.
“A danger?” Ethan repeated sharply, and by no means did his voice approach anything like a shriek of disbelief. Not at all. “He threw a ball of flame at my head! What the hell is he?”
“Pyrokinetic. And one of the best.”
“Great. Just great.” Ethan groaned, feeling an unusual urge to hit something violently.
Furious, with nowhere to direct his anger, Ethan plopped down on the edge of the sidewalk. It didn't really matter if his clothes ended up damp or dirty, they were already stained with ash. His head throbbed in his skull and he lifted his hands, rubbing them over his forehead.
Behind him, someone whistled. “Wow. Looks like I missed the excitement.”
Jaiden whirled, hand raised in defense as Ethan internally groaned, recognizing the voice and wishing he didn't.
Hands lifted to the air in surrender. “Whoa there. I come in peace,” Mel insisted, one of her hands holding her bright blue lollipop away from her face.
“Wonderful,” Ethan snipped, glancing over his shoulder at the annoying woman. “More crazies.”
“Hey!” Mel insisted, rain drizzling atop her coif and making her black hair flatten on top of her head. “I'm not crazy. I'm Kinetic.”
“What are you doing here?” Jaiden demanded, ignoring their exchange for the moment. He hadn't dropped his hand yet, and his fingers twitched, as though the very air itself eagerly anticipated some kind of confrontation.
Mel shrugged, rolling her eyes to the side. “Recruiting Ethan, same as you.” She shifted position, one skater sneaking slapping against the wet pavement with a wet smack.
“And I seem to remember telling you both no so just fuck off,” Ethan inserted, his head throbbing in time to the beat of his annoyance.
Somehow, the silence coming off the two Kinetics was worse than the pulsing-press of loud emotion from the crowd of residents. The fear and worry had softened now that the authorities had arrived, but in their place, irritation crested in fits and bursts. The pulse seeped under his skin, rattling along his nerves, like the sound of a car's bass thumping loudly from the street.
“Are you kidding?” Mel demanded, looking at him wide, incredulous eyes. “After Kryptos tried to off you? That's like a death wish!”
“I can take care of myself,” Ethan bit out, offended that he would need anyone's protection, much less hers. She probably weighed one-hundred pounds soaking wet with rocks in her pockets. And even she admitted to only having telepathic abilities. Those would help him how?
Mel snorted, her eyes rolling again. “So it was you who drove off Taylor then?” she drawled, a smirk curling at her lips.
Ethan stared, refusing to admit to her insinuation.
The telepath practically radiated smugness, as though she had read his response directly from his mind. “That's what I thought.” She lowered her hands, moving to return her lollipop to her mouth. “Without Jaiden here, you'd be a crispy piece of toast. Bacon burnt, my friend.”
Blinking, Ethan wasn't sure how to respond to that except that he was pretty certain Mel was out of her mind, completely loopy. Were all telepaths that way? “Are you on drugs?”
As Mel's mouth dropped in shock, Jaiden smirked, the first true sign of his amusement Ethan had ever seen. She spluttered, surprised by the accusation and lacking the proper words to defend herself. Or maybe she couldn't because it was actually true. Somehow, Ethan wouldn't be surprised if it were.
“I'll take that as a yes,” he muttered dryly, and hauled himself to his feet, cold, wet, and hungry.
The rain had at least dropped back to a drizzle and Ethan peered at his apartment complex, smoke still slipping from his broken windows. The firemen didn't look worried, however, so he wasn't too concerned. He hoped they would let him into his apartment for a few minutes. He couldn't go anywhere without his wallet and keys.
Raking a hand over his hair, Ethan stepped into the crowded street.
“Where are you going?” Melanie called after him, having gotten over her offense. The sound of her sneakers against the pavement quickly followed.
“Home,” Ethan answered succinctly, shivering as the wind kicked up, pushing the scent of smoke and rain against him.
Jaiden fell into line behind him. “Your apartment is trashed.”
“Yeah, I know.”
“That's not exactly smart,” Melanie added, her voice too cheerful of a clip as she trotted up to his side, lips smacking noisily around her sucker. “What if Taylor comes back?”
Ethan smirked, tossing her an amused glance. “I'll avoid frying pans.”
On his other side, Jaiden allowed a smile to creep onto his face, looking quite snug in his thick hooded jacket. “I'll come with you.”
Ethan paused on the other sidewalk, within range of one of the firemen, their emotions buzzing with annoyed energies, like a N'Sync song gone bad. It made Ethan shudder.
He passed a glance at Jaiden. “You don't have anywhere to stay, do you?” he asked, suspecting that not only did Jaiden not live in Valda, but he probably didn't reside in the state of Washington either.
“Like I said, I'm your--”
“--bodyguard, I know.” Ethan lifted a hand, rubbing it over his face as he considered, the politeness his mother had ingrained in him trying to prove its superiority. “Fine. I owe you one. But don't blame me if you regret it.”
He stepped out of the crowd of milling residents and tried to catch one of the firefighter's eyes, managing to snag one of the older men. Behind him, Jaiden's brow furrowed in confusion at his rather inexplicable statement.
“Is there any possible way I can get into my apartment?” Ethan asked as the fireman drew near and he remained hovered on the other side of the yellow-tape. “Otherwise, I can't get home.”
The man lifted his mask, frowning intently. “Which one?”
“12-C.”
“The source,” he stated flatly, giving Ethan a searching look. Probably wondering what odd games the college student had been playing to cause the so-called blaze, though Jaiden had put most of it out.
“Yes, the source,” Ethan agreed testily, biting back on a sharper retort. If he pissed the guy off now, he probably wouldn't be amenable to Ethan's request. “Is it safe enough to get my stuff?”
“Hmm. Robert!” Without answering, the man shifted away from Ethan, gesturing one of his fellow firefighter's over. “Are we allowing anyone inside?”
Annoyed, Ethan waited with some impatience, not looking forward to having to return home. He loved his family, he honestly did, but that didn't mean he wanted to live with them anymore. Jeanine would mother him, his step-father would try to make nice, and his youngest sister would pester him for stories. One was never enough.
Behind him, he hadn't lost either of his two Kinetic companions, both as tenacious as they were annoying. He endured Jaiden because he'd helped save Ethan from a toasty death, but Melanie was a vexation he didn't care to handle.
“You're going to leave me behind?” Mel asked incredulously, her voice raising in pitch.
Ethan inclined his head, watching as the two yellow-clad firemen conversed in low tones, debating his request. The other residents were anxious as well, though some had already been cleared to return to their apartments. In reality, Ethan and perhaps a few of those immediately surrounding him, were the only ones affected by Taylor's attack.
“That was the plan, yeah.”
Mel pouted, her lips a faint berry-blue from the recently finished lollipop. “But I don't have anywhere to go either,” she countered around a mouthful of chewy gum.
Ethan felt his lips twitch. “That's a real shame.” He hadn't realized he could be so cruel until these two forced their way into his life.
A surge of satisfaction fluttered inside of him as Melanie's jaw dropped in shock. “I can warn you better than he can, Ethan. Ektos doesn't have our resources.
Ethan waved her off, just as the firefighter returned, pulling off his helmet as he did so. “I'm not too worried,” he returned, and moved to greet the man, Jaiden over-protectively hovering just behind him.
“Lieutenant Markus says you can get some stuff, but you can't stay,” the man explained, a streak of soot crossing the bridge of his nose.
Ethan ducked under the tape, Jaiden following. “I expected as much. I just need a few minutes.”
The fireman inclined his head and gestured Ethan ahead of him. “I'll escort you. The structural damage isn't too bad. It's mostly cosmetic.”
A small relief. Ms. Lazer wouldn't be too put out by the repairs then. He wished he knew something more of Taylor so he could bill the bastard for complicating things. Ethan's life used to be simple. And quiet except for the occasional loud emotion.
They crossed the pavement and headed for the stairs, Ethan treated to the sight of a few clusters of firemen discussing something. Likely the cause of the fire. He doubted anyone believed Jaiden's TV theory.
“Melanie is harmless,” Jaiden commented in a low tone, his silence a perfect counterbalance to the firefighter's rockish-dirge of Queen's Under Pressure, David Bowie collaboration and all.
Ethan twitched. “And Baskania?” It was a miracle he'd finally managed to get the name right. Who came up with the name's for those organization anyways? Did they have to be that dramatic?
There was a moment's pause as Jaiden considered, his arms slack at his sides, but his eyes constantly darting around, seeking any sign of trouble. Ethan wondered if Taylor still lurked in the shadows, if he would dare attack again so soon and in front of so many witnesses.
“They wouldn't hurt you,” Jaiden finally answered, and color him surprised, but Ethan wasn't much relieved by the answer. “That's not their intention.”
Ethan rolled his eyes. “Small favors,” he muttered, his socks squishing noisily in his sneakers. “What do they want?”
“That you should ask Melanie.”
“And you?” Ethan peered at the light-skinned man, his twists unhampered by the rain. “What do your people want? What's going on?”
At his question, their escort shot both men a strange look. He reached up, scratching a finger over his chin as he tried to interpret their conversation.
Ethan felt his cheeks tint and he shook his head. “No, nevermind. We'll talk later.”
Pausing outside Ethan's apartment, where the door was wide open and the scent of ash and smoke lingered, the fireman tipped his head. “Make this quick, boys. We have an investigation to complete.”
“I'll wait outside,” Jaiden said, and with a quick glance around as if Taylor really were just hanging around the next bend, he headed for the stairs.
Ethan lifted a brow, but continued into his apartment anyways. “I'll be quick,” he promised the firefighter, who remained outside the door, peering at some of the scorchmarks on the wall of the corridor.
His shoes squished in his carpet, leaving obvious prints behind. Ethan frowned deeply, and turned his head to see more evidence of a rough fire. The wall clock had fallen to the floor, a mass of twisted metal and plastic, leaving a black mark behind. His couch was soaked, as was everything in the living room. Including his jacket, which he'd left draped over the couch.
Ethan rooted around in his pockets for his keys and wallet, cursing under his breath as the folded leather proved to be damp as well. Not that it mattered considering he was just as drenched.
His answering machine blinked and Ethan smacked the button to play the message as he passed, heading towards the bedroom. The volume at max, he could clearly hear the speaker as he rooted around for some kind of pack and his school bag. The sprinkler had covered everything in here, too, making his bed squelch when he made the mistake of sitting on it. He couldn't even attempt to rough it out. Damn.
His mother's voice echoed through the house. Just her nightly check-up on him, he supposed. It didn't sound like she had anything dire to tell him. In any case, as he was heading over there next, he wouldn't bother to call her back.
Her voice cut off and the machine followed, leaving the apartment in a steady silence, except for the occasional noise of something dripping. Ethan's stomach chose to make a very annoyed grumble, and he thought longingly of his waterlogged hamburger surprise. Maybe Jeanine had cooked something tonight and he could nab a piece. One thing to look forward to, at least.
Ethan grabbed a few changes of clothes, his school bag with its unfinished homework and paper, and started flicking off lights. No need to run up the bill while he was gone. The FD could flick them on if they needed.
He looked at the shattered remains of his kitchen windows, and the destruction caused by the clash between pyrokinetic and aerokinetic. It didn't look like he would be returning here anytime soon. Damn.
Ethan sighed, hitched his bag over his shoulder, and squelched his way out of his apartment. Jaiden waited, and he had the fifteen-minute drive to his step-father's house to look forward to.
Yay.
a/n: So that's another chapter of my second murder-mystery with a supernatural twist. I'm writing this one at a slower pace than everything else I'm working on so the updates may be a bit slower. But I hope you like it anyway!
Feedback is welcome and appreciated.
Previous Chapter II Next Chapter.
Title: Synesthesia
Rating: T (for mild violence and language)
Description: Ethan has lived with his gift -- hearing emotions as music -- his entire life. And he's learned to cope with it. But when a serial killer makes a home in his town, and he's contacted by different groups all wanting to make use of his ability, he finds himself dragged into the thick of things. And all he wants to do is be left alone.
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Chapter Four
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Chapter Four
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An hour after Dray's initial phone call, Ethan found his way back to his apartment safely, despite the storm. The rain had lessened, but that didn't make him feel any less damp. He glanced across the road and was surprised to find that Jaiden was missing. Not that he particularly cared. Perhaps the aerokinetic had finally decided to go home.
Shrugging, Ethan locked up his car and hurried to the door, anxious to be inside. His stomach growled loudly, craving the dinner he'd had to put off twice already. He pulled out his keys, the metal jangling loudly in the silent corridor, and unlocked the door.
Dark and quiet met him, a sense of stillness to the air. Ethan paused in the doorway, something crawling up the back of his neck. He'd left the TV on. And the lights. He was sure of it. His skin prickled, senses curdling in his gut. He pulled out his keys, leaving the door half-cracked.
He had the thought that he was just paranoid. Even if there was someone in his apartment, it was probably just Jaiden and his stalkerly behavior. No one was there to kill him or anything. He'd sense the bastard long before that. He was overreacting or something. And maybe he had turned all that stuff off before he left.
It was possible.
Ethan lifted a hand, placing it against the knob with every intention of entering his apartment. He wasn't a coward.
Fingers fell on his arm, restraining his movement. “Don't.”
To his credit, Ethan kept his surprise to a more dignified jump than a startled, girly yelp, and whirled on the intruder. He recognized the voice immediately. “You--”
Jaiden's eyes seemed impossibly dark in the light of the hallway, his gaze shifting past Ethan and to the apartment beyond. “Quiet,” he said in a low voice, thick with tension. “Something's not right.”
Ethan yanked his arm free from the other man's hold, disliking Jaiden's proximity. He was too damn tall. “Yeah, I know,” he muttered irritably, feeling his heart pound in his chest. “You're stalking me.”
The aerokinetic didn't immediately answer. Instead, his dark gaze remained focused on Ethan's apartment as he slipped in front of Ethan and entered ahead of him.
He wanted to protest, but the unnatural silence of his apartment loomed before him. There was a buzz of the emotions of the other residents on the edge of his hearing, but nothing else. He shivered, rain seeping through the confines of his clothing, and perhaps due to hesitation as well. He followed after Jaiden, caution in his step.
The other man was a mere shadow creeping into Ethan's apartment, undisturbed by the dark, Ethan reached for the lamp just inside his door, flicking it on. The main room was flooded in incandescence, finding no intruders poised to attack. Nevertheless, Ethan couldn't shake the odd feeling.
Jaiden headed to the right, toward the other rooms in the apartment. Ethan let him do as he wished, only because he knew the uneasiness didn't stem from Jaiden's presence. No, it had to do with something else. There was an aura of wrongness in the air.
Ethan stepped into his kitchen, the light blinking on his phone's base. Streetlight poured in from the window above the sink, setting spotty shadows on the floor thanks to the rain. No one lingered in the dark. At least, as far as Ethan could tell.
He headed to the fridge, pulling out his dinner and putting it back into the microwave. Ethan could only hope that he hadn't ruined the taste. As the unit hummed and the turntable plate rattled noisily, Ethan tugged off his jacket and tossed it over the kitchen chair. The silence of his apartment remained unnerving, and he was determined to fix that, idly wondering what Jaiden had found.
Venturing back into the living room, Ethan swept his gaze over his furniture, only to come to a complete stop. His eyes widened, breath stuttering as a man he had never seen before stood in front of his open doorway, a smirk painting his thin lips.
Ethan opened his mouth to say something, anything, but the menace in the stranger's gaze spoke for itself. This was no idle visitor. Ethan's heart dropped into his stomach, and his knees locked in place, the same absence of sound coming from this man. Somehow, it was more unsettling from the stranger.
The intruder lifted a hand, popping a cigarette between his lips and bringing a lighter up to kiss the tip of it. He smirked at Ethan over his hands, black trenchcoat stretched across broad shoulders. There was a snick as the lighter flared to life.
And then there was heat. Explosive, sweltering heat as a massive ball of fire exploded outward from the intruder, bright orange and flaring blue at the tip of each flame. It swirled, heading straight for Ethan with dogged determination.
“Holy shit,” Ethan swore, finally able to move as he startled backward, tripping over his own feet in his haste to move.
The heat blasted him in the face, like the first rush of air after opening the end of a dryer cycle. Sucking the moisture out of his eyeballs and making him choke. He thought that it was the end. There was no way for him to escape the blaze.
A blast of wind whipped down the hallway, smacking against Ethan's side. He stumbled to the right, his clothes and hair flattening as air swirled around him, a tornado torrent. It stole his breath and he peered with watering eyes to see the fire slamming full force into the gale. It abruptly careened away, splattering against Ethan's wall. A fresh blaze sprung to life, catching Ethan's couch and carpet with rising urgency.
Ethan gaped as Jaiden appeared out of the hallway, hand lifted and fingers twitching. His usually placid expression had morphed into something fierce and angry, though his gaze was saved for the intruder, barely visible through the wall of wind and fire.
“Ektos,” the intruder hissed angrily, distaste etched into his tone. His hands had dropped back to his side, cigarette bouncing on his lips.
“Ethan's under our protection now,” Jaiden retorted, smoothly moving partially in front of Ethan. His hands had also fallen to his sides, seemingly harmless were it not for the elemental divide.
Smoke filled the small apartment, and with a startled sputter, the sprinklers surged to life, splattering the room in water. Steam rose as the fire spat and crackled, fighting in vain to keep burning Ethan's belongings.
“Well, lucky for him,” the stranger snarled. He sneered, quickly becoming obscured by the thickening smoke and wind.
Ethan coughed as he sucked in a lungful, despite being in the protective bubble of air. He held up his hand to his mouth as the alarm system in the old building finally connected circuits. A siren blared, rattling loudly through the corridors, screaming for all the residents to evacuate.
Around Ethan, the other occupants woke with fear pounding their hearts and the urge to flee racing through their veins. He winced, buckling beneath the deluge of noise. Anger and fear and worry joined in a frightening crescendo, attacking Ethan's weakened senses. His barriers were no match to the emotions of the populace and he flinched, head throbbing.
He could not begin to describe the sound that flooded in the wake of their fright. A confusing screech of untuned guitar and disjointed piano, keys struck harshly to convey a sense of gloom. His skull pulsed alarmingly and Ethan gasped, nausea crawling into his gut. He couldn't--
Someone grabbed his arm. Ethan lashed out blindly, fist striking against an unknown foe. The blind attack was easily blocked and gasping, Ethan peeled open his eyes. Jaiden stood there, looking at him dispassionately as he held Ethan's wrist easily in one hand.
“We have to leave!” Jaiden bellowed above the noise of the alarms and the rushing wind, swirling and settling about him like a weird, elemental cloak.
Ethan could barely hear him for the emotions of the others, thrumming through him and heightening his own sense to flee. Water sprayed down on them, lukewarm and harsh as it combated against the sputtering flames.
Incapable of coherent speech, Ethan merely nodded in agreement and followed Jaiden blindly. The stranger that had attacked him was gone, the place where he once stood nothing more than a burnt imprint of feet in Ethan's carpet. And a cigarette, smoke curling from the damp tip.
“Where is he?” Ethan mumbled, stumbling along after Jaiden as they joined the mob of people fleeing from this half of the apartment complex.
“Gone,” Jaiden answered succinctly, his mouth set in a grim line.
Swallowing thickly, Ethan coughed to ease the sharp pull the smoke had on his lungs. “Did you kill him?”
“What?” Jaiden came to an abrupt halt, causing someone behind him to mutter something in annoyance and skirt around them. His eyes searched Ethan's worriedly. “No. The coward ran.”
“Oh.” He would have liked to say something more coherent, but his mind took to spinning again and the concrete looked inviting.
Outside, the sound of approaching sirens pierced the emotional fog that clouded his brain. Without the sight of billowing smoke and shooting flames around the building, the residents calmed, changing instead to irritation. No doubt they thought some punk had pulled the alarm, or that it was just another of the landlord's paranoid drills.
The only evidence of a fire was the smoke that seeped lightly from the broken windows of Ethan's apartment, curling up towards the dark sky and unhampered by the rain. The storm had moved on, leaving only a light fall in its wake.
Ethan lifted a hand to his head, rubbing furiously at the pulsing behind his temple. He couldn't seem to make it stop spinning.
“Ethan!”
At the sound of his name being hollered over the noise of chattering residents, rain hitting the pavement, and sirens approaching, Ethan looked up. Only to see his landlord approaching, her face as pale as the white stucco on the side of the taco stand down the street and twisted with concern. Her gnarled fingers reached for him, and he subtly avoided the touch, not needing the strengthening of any more emotions.
“You're not hurt, are you?” Ms. Lazer demanded, her blue eyes flicking over his body as if searching for immediate injuries or obvious signs of his distress. She must have realized that the “blaze” had come from his apartment.
“No, ma'am,” Ethan assured her, Ms. Lazer's concern bull-rushing his senses at her proximity. He avoided another reach of her hand, the abrupt motion making him sway a little on his feet. His mental walls felt as brittle as tissue paper, punched through several times with no end to the assault.
She seemed to notice his evasion, and twisted her hands together nervously in front of him, eyes darting around from building to milling residents in a disconnected pattern. “What happened?”
And for that, Ethan had no suitable lie. He couldn't exactly tell her that a pyrokinetic and an aerokinetic had no qualms about fighting each other in the middle of his apartment for a reason he didn't quite fully understand. Except that apparently being able to hear emotions was really valuable to a bunch of strangers.
“Err...”
“TV blew,” Jaiden supplied gruffly, making his presence known from where he hovered just behind Ethan, entire body tense and ready for an action that had already passed.
It sounded utterly ridiculous. Ethan had never heard of a television going on the fritz and setting fire to an entire apartment. Not to say it hadn't happened before, but it wasn't exactly common either. Ms. Lazer didn't seem to realize the improbability of the answer. Or think to question Jaiden's presence.
“Is that all?” she replied with a visible sigh of relief. Her hand fluttered to her chest, resting over her heart. “I told Trevor those sensors were too sensitive.” She shook her head, thinking none-too-fondly of the resident Mr. Fix-It, who had a hard time fixing much of anything, but was too stubborn to admit he didn't know how.
“Ms. Lazer!”
The woman's head swiveled in the direction of her name, another one of the residents calling to her. “I'll be right there,” she hollered back, and without so much as a goodbye, tottered away, taking her overbearing concern with her.
The fire engines finally arrived, bringing swirling blue and red lights, flickering brightly over the surrounding buildings. They had turned off the sirens, much to Ethan's relief, and yellow-suited men and woman dropped from the side, preparing to enter the building. It all seemed so surreal, like something he should have seen on CBS and not happening in his own life.
His headache eased enough that he could think clearly again. He no longer had to grit his teeth against the pain, and Ethan sucked in a low, steadying breath. Ash and smoke still burned in his lungs, but they were only minor annoyances.
What the hell was that!
Wait. He should be asking Jaiden that. Ethan whirled towards the aerokinetic, annoyance glinting in his eyes.
“What the hell was that?” he demanded furiously, waving a vague hand towards the ruin that was his apartment, and likely, most of his belongings. If they hadn't been fire and smoke-damaged, than the water from the sprinklers was certain to ruin the rest. Worse, that meant he had nowhere else to go tonight but home. With his mother.
Jaiden did not even flinch at the glare directed at his person. “I told you there was a danger,” he responded flatly.
“A danger?” Ethan repeated sharply, and by no means did his voice approach anything like a shriek of disbelief. Not at all. “He threw a ball of flame at my head! What the hell is he?”
“Pyrokinetic. And one of the best.”
“Great. Just great.” Ethan groaned, feeling an unusual urge to hit something violently.
Furious, with nowhere to direct his anger, Ethan plopped down on the edge of the sidewalk. It didn't really matter if his clothes ended up damp or dirty, they were already stained with ash. His head throbbed in his skull and he lifted his hands, rubbing them over his forehead.
Behind him, someone whistled. “Wow. Looks like I missed the excitement.”
Jaiden whirled, hand raised in defense as Ethan internally groaned, recognizing the voice and wishing he didn't.
Hands lifted to the air in surrender. “Whoa there. I come in peace,” Mel insisted, one of her hands holding her bright blue lollipop away from her face.
“Wonderful,” Ethan snipped, glancing over his shoulder at the annoying woman. “More crazies.”
“Hey!” Mel insisted, rain drizzling atop her coif and making her black hair flatten on top of her head. “I'm not crazy. I'm Kinetic.”
“What are you doing here?” Jaiden demanded, ignoring their exchange for the moment. He hadn't dropped his hand yet, and his fingers twitched, as though the very air itself eagerly anticipated some kind of confrontation.
Mel shrugged, rolling her eyes to the side. “Recruiting Ethan, same as you.” She shifted position, one skater sneaking slapping against the wet pavement with a wet smack.
“And I seem to remember telling you both no so just fuck off,” Ethan inserted, his head throbbing in time to the beat of his annoyance.
Somehow, the silence coming off the two Kinetics was worse than the pulsing-press of loud emotion from the crowd of residents. The fear and worry had softened now that the authorities had arrived, but in their place, irritation crested in fits and bursts. The pulse seeped under his skin, rattling along his nerves, like the sound of a car's bass thumping loudly from the street.
“Are you kidding?” Mel demanded, looking at him wide, incredulous eyes. “After Kryptos tried to off you? That's like a death wish!”
“I can take care of myself,” Ethan bit out, offended that he would need anyone's protection, much less hers. She probably weighed one-hundred pounds soaking wet with rocks in her pockets. And even she admitted to only having telepathic abilities. Those would help him how?
Mel snorted, her eyes rolling again. “So it was you who drove off Taylor then?” she drawled, a smirk curling at her lips.
Ethan stared, refusing to admit to her insinuation.
The telepath practically radiated smugness, as though she had read his response directly from his mind. “That's what I thought.” She lowered her hands, moving to return her lollipop to her mouth. “Without Jaiden here, you'd be a crispy piece of toast. Bacon burnt, my friend.”
Blinking, Ethan wasn't sure how to respond to that except that he was pretty certain Mel was out of her mind, completely loopy. Were all telepaths that way? “Are you on drugs?”
As Mel's mouth dropped in shock, Jaiden smirked, the first true sign of his amusement Ethan had ever seen. She spluttered, surprised by the accusation and lacking the proper words to defend herself. Or maybe she couldn't because it was actually true. Somehow, Ethan wouldn't be surprised if it were.
“I'll take that as a yes,” he muttered dryly, and hauled himself to his feet, cold, wet, and hungry.
The rain had at least dropped back to a drizzle and Ethan peered at his apartment complex, smoke still slipping from his broken windows. The firemen didn't look worried, however, so he wasn't too concerned. He hoped they would let him into his apartment for a few minutes. He couldn't go anywhere without his wallet and keys.
Raking a hand over his hair, Ethan stepped into the crowded street.
“Where are you going?” Melanie called after him, having gotten over her offense. The sound of her sneakers against the pavement quickly followed.
“Home,” Ethan answered succinctly, shivering as the wind kicked up, pushing the scent of smoke and rain against him.
Jaiden fell into line behind him. “Your apartment is trashed.”
“Yeah, I know.”
“That's not exactly smart,” Melanie added, her voice too cheerful of a clip as she trotted up to his side, lips smacking noisily around her sucker. “What if Taylor comes back?”
Ethan smirked, tossing her an amused glance. “I'll avoid frying pans.”
On his other side, Jaiden allowed a smile to creep onto his face, looking quite snug in his thick hooded jacket. “I'll come with you.”
Ethan paused on the other sidewalk, within range of one of the firemen, their emotions buzzing with annoyed energies, like a N'Sync song gone bad. It made Ethan shudder.
He passed a glance at Jaiden. “You don't have anywhere to stay, do you?” he asked, suspecting that not only did Jaiden not live in Valda, but he probably didn't reside in the state of Washington either.
“Like I said, I'm your--”
“--bodyguard, I know.” Ethan lifted a hand, rubbing it over his face as he considered, the politeness his mother had ingrained in him trying to prove its superiority. “Fine. I owe you one. But don't blame me if you regret it.”
He stepped out of the crowd of milling residents and tried to catch one of the firefighter's eyes, managing to snag one of the older men. Behind him, Jaiden's brow furrowed in confusion at his rather inexplicable statement.
“Is there any possible way I can get into my apartment?” Ethan asked as the fireman drew near and he remained hovered on the other side of the yellow-tape. “Otherwise, I can't get home.”
The man lifted his mask, frowning intently. “Which one?”
“12-C.”
“The source,” he stated flatly, giving Ethan a searching look. Probably wondering what odd games the college student had been playing to cause the so-called blaze, though Jaiden had put most of it out.
“Yes, the source,” Ethan agreed testily, biting back on a sharper retort. If he pissed the guy off now, he probably wouldn't be amenable to Ethan's request. “Is it safe enough to get my stuff?”
“Hmm. Robert!” Without answering, the man shifted away from Ethan, gesturing one of his fellow firefighter's over. “Are we allowing anyone inside?”
Annoyed, Ethan waited with some impatience, not looking forward to having to return home. He loved his family, he honestly did, but that didn't mean he wanted to live with them anymore. Jeanine would mother him, his step-father would try to make nice, and his youngest sister would pester him for stories. One was never enough.
Behind him, he hadn't lost either of his two Kinetic companions, both as tenacious as they were annoying. He endured Jaiden because he'd helped save Ethan from a toasty death, but Melanie was a vexation he didn't care to handle.
“You're going to leave me behind?” Mel asked incredulously, her voice raising in pitch.
Ethan inclined his head, watching as the two yellow-clad firemen conversed in low tones, debating his request. The other residents were anxious as well, though some had already been cleared to return to their apartments. In reality, Ethan and perhaps a few of those immediately surrounding him, were the only ones affected by Taylor's attack.
“That was the plan, yeah.”
Mel pouted, her lips a faint berry-blue from the recently finished lollipop. “But I don't have anywhere to go either,” she countered around a mouthful of chewy gum.
Ethan felt his lips twitch. “That's a real shame.” He hadn't realized he could be so cruel until these two forced their way into his life.
A surge of satisfaction fluttered inside of him as Melanie's jaw dropped in shock. “I can warn you better than he can, Ethan. Ektos doesn't have our resources.
Ethan waved her off, just as the firefighter returned, pulling off his helmet as he did so. “I'm not too worried,” he returned, and moved to greet the man, Jaiden over-protectively hovering just behind him.
“Lieutenant Markus says you can get some stuff, but you can't stay,” the man explained, a streak of soot crossing the bridge of his nose.
Ethan ducked under the tape, Jaiden following. “I expected as much. I just need a few minutes.”
The fireman inclined his head and gestured Ethan ahead of him. “I'll escort you. The structural damage isn't too bad. It's mostly cosmetic.”
A small relief. Ms. Lazer wouldn't be too put out by the repairs then. He wished he knew something more of Taylor so he could bill the bastard for complicating things. Ethan's life used to be simple. And quiet except for the occasional loud emotion.
They crossed the pavement and headed for the stairs, Ethan treated to the sight of a few clusters of firemen discussing something. Likely the cause of the fire. He doubted anyone believed Jaiden's TV theory.
“Melanie is harmless,” Jaiden commented in a low tone, his silence a perfect counterbalance to the firefighter's rockish-dirge of Queen's Under Pressure, David Bowie collaboration and all.
Ethan twitched. “And Baskania?” It was a miracle he'd finally managed to get the name right. Who came up with the name's for those organization anyways? Did they have to be that dramatic?
There was a moment's pause as Jaiden considered, his arms slack at his sides, but his eyes constantly darting around, seeking any sign of trouble. Ethan wondered if Taylor still lurked in the shadows, if he would dare attack again so soon and in front of so many witnesses.
“They wouldn't hurt you,” Jaiden finally answered, and color him surprised, but Ethan wasn't much relieved by the answer. “That's not their intention.”
Ethan rolled his eyes. “Small favors,” he muttered, his socks squishing noisily in his sneakers. “What do they want?”
“That you should ask Melanie.”
“And you?” Ethan peered at the light-skinned man, his twists unhampered by the rain. “What do your people want? What's going on?”
At his question, their escort shot both men a strange look. He reached up, scratching a finger over his chin as he tried to interpret their conversation.
Ethan felt his cheeks tint and he shook his head. “No, nevermind. We'll talk later.”
Pausing outside Ethan's apartment, where the door was wide open and the scent of ash and smoke lingered, the fireman tipped his head. “Make this quick, boys. We have an investigation to complete.”
“I'll wait outside,” Jaiden said, and with a quick glance around as if Taylor really were just hanging around the next bend, he headed for the stairs.
Ethan lifted a brow, but continued into his apartment anyways. “I'll be quick,” he promised the firefighter, who remained outside the door, peering at some of the scorchmarks on the wall of the corridor.
His shoes squished in his carpet, leaving obvious prints behind. Ethan frowned deeply, and turned his head to see more evidence of a rough fire. The wall clock had fallen to the floor, a mass of twisted metal and plastic, leaving a black mark behind. His couch was soaked, as was everything in the living room. Including his jacket, which he'd left draped over the couch.
Ethan rooted around in his pockets for his keys and wallet, cursing under his breath as the folded leather proved to be damp as well. Not that it mattered considering he was just as drenched.
His answering machine blinked and Ethan smacked the button to play the message as he passed, heading towards the bedroom. The volume at max, he could clearly hear the speaker as he rooted around for some kind of pack and his school bag. The sprinkler had covered everything in here, too, making his bed squelch when he made the mistake of sitting on it. He couldn't even attempt to rough it out. Damn.
His mother's voice echoed through the house. Just her nightly check-up on him, he supposed. It didn't sound like she had anything dire to tell him. In any case, as he was heading over there next, he wouldn't bother to call her back.
Her voice cut off and the machine followed, leaving the apartment in a steady silence, except for the occasional noise of something dripping. Ethan's stomach chose to make a very annoyed grumble, and he thought longingly of his waterlogged hamburger surprise. Maybe Jeanine had cooked something tonight and he could nab a piece. One thing to look forward to, at least.
Ethan grabbed a few changes of clothes, his school bag with its unfinished homework and paper, and started flicking off lights. No need to run up the bill while he was gone. The FD could flick them on if they needed.
He looked at the shattered remains of his kitchen windows, and the destruction caused by the clash between pyrokinetic and aerokinetic. It didn't look like he would be returning here anytime soon. Damn.
Ethan sighed, hitched his bag over his shoulder, and squelched his way out of his apartment. Jaiden waited, and he had the fifteen-minute drive to his step-father's house to look forward to.
Yay.
***
a/n: So that's another chapter of my second murder-mystery with a supernatural twist. I'm writing this one at a slower pace than everything else I'm working on so the updates may be a bit slower. But I hope you like it anyway!
Feedback is welcome and appreciated.
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