Esper Chapter 10: Doubt

Part 1

“Five males…” The officer gagged. “Two killed with nails driven into their skulls, one wearing his own head backwards, one shot dead, and the other had his dome cracked open on the ground outside! Good God!”

“That’s enough Pedro, thank you. What do you think, Detective Bennet?” Tobias Bennet didn’t immediately answer the question posed by his partner, Raquel Childs. He was busy looking under the sheet placed over one of the many corpses left in the lone parking lot.

“Oof…don’t look under there, Childs. That’s…essh!” The graying man turned away, trying to maintain a joking tone, disgust still plaguing his face.

“I’ll be fine, Tobias. What do you think about all of this?”

“Well, we got the call early in the morning about gunshots, then the bodies were discovered. It doesn’t look gang related, specifically when you consider this horror show left for us. I feel like these guys aren’t 365, or those Beset kids, but not totally sure. Plus, not many gangs I know forgo guns entirely and turn the scene into a slasher flick.”

“Nothing of value was found so far either. No plates on the cars, identification will take a bit, and no affiliation to any local gangs has been made yet. Seriously, who the fuck did this and for what purpose?”

“Whole day has gone to shit, and I haven’t even gotten my coffee yet!” The two took a seat on the hood of their cruiser. Tobias flexed, his large shoulders popping, and old joints aching as he groaned. “I swear, just yesterday we were escorting Joffe, arresting those internet cats, and now we’ve got a multiple homicide. Wish Kevin hadn’t run off. We’re so short-staffed right now and he was always on the ball! Don’t miss Niles as much though, he was a piece of shit.”

“Really? You didn’t like Niles?”

“No! Bastard was racist. I just don’t speak up much, since I don’t like to rock the boat, is all.”

“You don’t say. Wherever the two of them went, good riddance to Niles, I guess. I do feel bad for Kevin’s family though. His wife is pregnant. You wouldn’t expect that he’d just disappear.”

“It’s a shame. Speaking of, how’s your family doing? I saw your dad’s practice ended up on the news after the ‘Newtonville incident’ details leaked.”

“Dad’s fine. My concern is how someone got a hold of the victims’ names, and the fact that they were treated at our practice.”

“Ol’ Daryl’s a tough one, but he’s like a duck, you know? Can’t ever tell what’s going on under the surface! Like father, like daughter…sort of.”

“…What’s that supposed to mean?”

“You know…” Tobias leaned in and cupped his hand over the young detective’s ear. “You dating that one guy from the incident.”

“What?! H-how…” Raquel recoiled, then quickly regained composure. “How do you know about that?”

“Oh, come on. I’m your partner! I pay attention to what’s going on with you. You haven’t been too shy about hiding it either. All the phone calls, coming in late, smiling so much…wearing the same clothes from yesterday.” An obvious tell, as Raquel had spent the night with Vernon. “Plus, I saw you two at the hotel.”

“It’s not interfering with my work. Work is always my priority.”

“I know, I know. Just…don’t let your youth go by without having some fun and finding what you want, Ms. Honor Roll.” He laughed as Raquel glared a hole through the man.

“Excuse me, Detectives Bennet and Childs…” The two were approached by another officer. “Uh…the chief informed me that this man here, Mister…”

“Pontz, Horatio Pontz, nice to meet you both.” An almost comically nondescript white man in a black trench coat loomed over the shoulder of the cringing officer. With an extended hand to Raquel, he grinned, showcasing unnaturally white teeth, as the detective simply looked on, confused.

“Who is this?” She asked, cautiously observing the ghoul.

“Chief said Mister Pontz is a part of a special investigation team that will be observing the Trenton Police Department.”

“For what purpose?”

“…It would appear that…” Horatio began, his hand still outstretched. Raquel noted the man’s clammy looking, pale hand, and reluctantly shook it. Far worse than she’d imagined, it was akin to holding a lobster fresh out of the ocean. Tobias followed, making a face like he’d stepped in animal excrement; noting also, that he couldn’t make out Pontz’s eyes behind the square frame sunglasses reflecting his own perplexed reaction. “Mr. Niles Letterman and Mr. Kevin Greene, both have been found dead.”

“Are you serious?!”

“Holy shit! We were just talking about them.” The other officer scurried off, not wanting to be involved in the investigation.

“Detective Bennet and Detective Childs, you both are highly respected and considered the Trenton Police Department’s best. I look forward to us working together.” Every word that left Pontz’s mouth made Raquel shutter. He leaned in further and further, and if not for adequate self-restraint, Raquel would’ve hip tossed the man! Again, he extended his hand; however, holding a business card. “Please, do reach out.”

“Right…” Both accepted the cards as Horatio slinked off, back to his all black sedan.

“Goddamnit. I swear, we just can’t relax for two seconds now, can we?” Tobias said as he stormed off, looking for somewhere to smoke. Meanwhile, Raquel inspected the card she was given. A hand lifting a head encircled by a halo, below, Horatio’s phone number and the slogan ‘bringing the future forward’, were printed on it. Needless to say, Raquel felt uneasy about the entire situation.

Part 2

Nicolaus Thompson frantically jotted down notes, trying in vain to keep up with everything said in the meeting. The grumpy old man with his handlebar mustache obscuring his mouth sat at the front of the table, rambling on incoherently, made that difficult. The young technician wasn’t used to large meetings, nor was he dressed for the occasion; wearing his blue jeans and black v-neck shirt. He fussed, as per usual, with his spiky black hair.

“…That should conclude the fiscal discussion. Vernon, you mentioned wanting to have our workers assist in establishing the new computer lab for the parks and recreation department?” Just when it seemed the assembly was ending, the grump pulled up another subject, to Nicolaus’s dismay.

Vernon Marino, who sat alongside Nicolaus stood up and began presenting. The others seated around the table listened as he rattled off multiple points. “We’ve covered a lot today, so I’ll try to keep this brief. First, it’s not the parks and recreation department that’s in need of a computer lab, it’s the low-income families in the area. The library there has been on the brink of closure for roughly three years now, and I’ve spoken with members of the community; many who live there still don’t have regular access to PCs, or even the internet. If the library is really bleeding that much funding, then why not move the staff, the machines, and the books to a smaller and more accessible location? After that, we can focus our efforts on upgrading their workstations and even, if we wanted, getting public programs started. I know, lots of work is going to pile on top of our already full plates with the president coming to town in a few weeks, but just something for us to think about.”

“W-well…I think we should pay attention to that, but the president coming to town is top priority!” He said in response, nervously ruffling his papers.

Finally, the meeting was called to a close. Nicolaus followed Vernon as both quickly retired to his office. “I swear, that old fart needs to hurry up and step down.” Vernon closed the door behind them and threw himself back into his chair behind the desk. “Sit down, Nick’o, may as well unwind.”

“…” Nicolaus kept awkwardly standing, looking at his superior with disdain. “I took the notes like you asked, so can I go? I’d rather be at my desk.”

“If you want. I appreciate you stepping up, since Amala isn’t in, again. I needed some back up there!”

“…You just dropped it onto my calendar at the last minute though.” The misanthrope muttered under his breath. Nicolaus handed the notes to Vernon and got ready to leave for his desk, but Vernon called out to him.

“Oh, before you go! I’m probably going to put you on the project I mentioned in the meeting.”

“What?!”

“Don’t ‘what’! You’re one of the better techs we have. I trust that you’ll be reliable, and that you’d make sense of the more technical aspects. Plus, it’ll look good to people upstairs, maybe get you a raise…?” Insinuation aside, Nicolaus fumed.

“Fine…” (As usual, this asshole just keeps dropping stuff on me. I don’t have any time to even breathe! I should start ditching training every once in a while, like the others. Maybe then, I’d have some free time.) A message came through on both Nicolaus and Vernon’s phones! Both looked at each other for an instant, thinking it was from the same person. Nicolaus’s came from the eccentric and suspicious sleuth, Aran, while Vernon’s was from the headstrong investigator, Raquel.

“Oh…uh…you can go. Oh, and don’t forget about training tomorrow!”

“Right.” Nicolaus left, stifling the urge to slam the door behind him. He walked out into the empty front hall, growing curious as the buzzing of his phone hadn't ceased for a second!

The messages from Aran read disjointed and frantic! [Can you make it?] [1515 northway] [This is huge] [Grandpa would be proud!] [Hurry!] [They might come!] [Are you here yet?!] [Hurry!] [Please!]

Nicolaus had zero idea what Aran was trying to convey, but took an early lunch and made for the location mentioned.

Meanwhile, Vernon read a message from his own secret associate. [Hey, sorry about running off this morning! Got a call for work. I’ll stop by tonight, if that’s cool.]

Vernon pondered for a moment. [Sure! I don’t mind. I’ve been wondering for a while actually, what exactly are we?] he began to type, but quickly erased the response, electing to send another. [Sure! I’ll be done around 9. Stop by anytime after that.] Vernon had planned to do training with the group beforehand, so having Raquel over afterwards was a bit of a reward for his hard work.

Part 3

After scouring the area for a safe landing point, Nicolaus floated down into a vacant parking lot, immediately messaging Aran. [Where are we meeting?] It only took a second for the message to be marked ‘read’, and another for the response to come through.

[I’m waiting outside the motel! Come to the address, quick!] The urgency gripped Nicolaus with concern, though he suspected Aran as the type to exaggerate. As casually as possible, Nicolaus strolled to the meeting spot.

On his way down the street a thought popped into his head. He’d not heard from Katie in sometime. Gleefully, Nicolaus pulled out his phone and began typing a message to the red headed waitress, then swiftly deleted it. (No, that one was too desperate sounding.) Then, he wrote another, and deleted it. (The way that sounds, it’s like I’m forcing her to answer!) He wrote up yet another message and deleted it! (No, no, no that’s too familiar!) For over ten minutes, Nicolaus walked in circles, trying to produce the perfect, most awe inspiring text message ever! Eventually, the infatuated man settled on a simple… [Yo!] and left it at that. Proud of himself, Nicolaus almost forgot about the reason for his trip.

“Thompson…” The wind carried a small voice whispered from a nearby shrub. It went almost unnoticed, but Nicolaus unintentionally casted his eyes downward, meeting gazes with the brush cloaked sleuth, Aran! The strange young man’s head peaked out from one of the many brambles in the neighborhood park, equipped with a grin on his face. “It took you quite some time to make your way here, so I took it upon myself to track you down! No need to thank me!” Though the smugness of Aran’s demeanor made Nicolaus consider walking away, never to deal with the animated brat again, he brushed off the urge.

“Well…what is it you wanted to see me about? What’s so important?”

“Before that! We should return to my base of operations. Talking out in public like this is dangerous!”

“…Ok…come on then, unless you’re still busy getting acquainted with that bush?”

“Indeed!” Nicolaus chuckled at his own joke and began walking up the street, until he noticed he was alone. Turning back, he spotted Aran’s pale face remained firmly wedged between the low lip of a park wall and the bush.

“Hey, what are you doing? Come on. If you’re going to BS then I can just go back to work, you know?”

“Oh…well…” Aran averted his baby blue eyes. “When I came looking for you, I needed to stay out of sight, remaining hidden as much as possible. My trench coat - which is necessary, regardless of what many may say; inflates my normally narrow and elusive frame, even if my mind doesn’t often register the differences.”

“…You got your jacket caught in the bush when you were running around trying to be sneaky.”

“What?! That’s absurd! What’d make you think that?!”

“The fact that you look like a puppy that has one of those cones put on their heads by the doctor, mostly. But hey, prove me wrong. If you’re able to stand, then let’s hurry up and go! Otherwise, you’re wasting my lunch hour.”

“…” Aran’s pale face turned bright red as the young man struggled, but barely made any headway in removing himself from the shrub.
“…*Sigh*…hang on, I’ve got you.” Nicolaus bent down and grabbed the obviously mortified sleuth by the shoulders. Gripping tight, he heaved, noting that Aran was in fact, tremendously stuck. He pushed, then pulled with all his might! “Push off the ground if you can!”

“O-Okay!”

When the two’s timing matched, Nicolaus dislodged the small man from his prison and nearly launched him into the street behind! “Finally! Wow…that was harder than it looked!” (If I could’ve hid it, using my telekinesis would’ve made that infinitely easier.) “Aran, you’re way lighter than I thought you’d be.”

“Ahaha…” Aran chuckled awkwardly as Nicolaus placed the young man back onto the ground. “W-Well!” He cleared his throat, attempting to appear poised in spite of the humiliating circumstance. “Let’s retire to my base! Shall we?”

“Ok.” Nicolaus snickered, casually picking leaves from the silky blonde hair atop Aran’s head, with the young man swatting at his hand in response!

Part 4

From wall to wall, discarded scraps of paper, documents in cardboard bins, old CDs, books, and hard drives littered Aran’s motel room! “Ehem! Welcome to my base of operations for the time being!” He said, brimming with enthusiasm!

“Time being? Where are you from exactly?” Suspicious as always, Nicolaus scanned the room. His eyes glanced over the single bed and bathroom of the dingy motel, not bothering him much. Peering out from behind the blinds, Nicolaus witnessed what was likely a drug deal in the parking lot, and a mangy dog chasing the men off; that did bother him! (This place…I’m flying out of here as soon as I get a chance!)

“Hahaha!” Aran pulled open his trench coat, flaring out the back as if a sudden gust of wind blasted him! “I’ve never known a place one would call ‘home’ aside from that excellently kept van you see outside!” There was in fact, a well detailed dark green van situated in the lot facing the motel room. “I was raised and taught by my grandfather in that exact vehicle since I was 5 years old!” He said, with a flourish and snap of his fingers!

(I swear, this kid’s so far up his own ass.) All of Aran’s theatrics irritated Nicolaus, but again he stifled any exasperated retorts. “So, what was the emergency, again?”

“Ah! My mistake! Come closer, I’ll show you.” On the side of bed, Aran fished out a laptop wedged between the frame and the wall. He discarded his coat and hat onto a nearby chair and began typing away. “Come on, come on!” Aran patted the bed beside him, like he was calling a dog.

“Fucks sake…” Nicolaus mumbled, begrudgingly sitting down next to the small man. “What are these?” Blurry photos with timestamps filled the screen.

“I’ve set up multiple cameras on my van. One points in this direction, right at the door! Over the course of the last two days, this guy, the one in the overcoat, has been walking by my front door over and over. I suspect him to have connections to the Delta Exceed testing group!”

“Hm…” Filled with skepticism, Nicolaus looked over the photos intently. “Well, it could just be someone else. You’re…not in the best neighborhood around here.”

“True enough, but no one would mess with me normally! I’m quite intimidating when I want to be!” Further skepticism, and greater doubt!

“…ok.” Aran then played a short video while Nicolaus zoned out, picturing someone trying to threaten the small sleuth only elicited a muted laugh. On video, the man with shiny black hair did seem to circle, trying to keep out of sight, but still remained near the door. “Well, let's say this is true, that this guy is with Delta Exceed; then that means you’ve been compromised, right?”

“Most likely…honestly, I’ve had that feeling for a while. Their reach is somehow both larger and harder to track in recent years, despite my expert skills! Oh, Thompson!” Aran suddenly closed the distance between himself and Nicolaus to an uncomfortable degree! “Have you experienced any changes since the incident?”

“What?! Huh?! Back up!” The thin dress shirt sitting atop Aran’s thin shoulders were driven into Nicolaus's pectorals as the sleuth leaned into him!

“Anything! Like muscle pains, loss of senses, gaining new senses, or…gaining new abilities, or something?!”

“No! No! Back off, dude!” Nicolaus crawled backwards across the bed from the eager young man. (This guy says he’s some kind of private investigator, but he can’t be any bigger than Amala!)

“I think they’re keeping an eye on you, on all the survivors from the incident!” Aran pursued, closing the gap between them, until Nicolaus’s back was pressed against the wall! “They have eyes everywhere! They’ll continue to watch you until you either develop some kind of ability or…” Baby blue eyes resolute, and noses nearly touching, Aran froze with Nicolaus totally cornered!

“O-o-or?” Stuttering, and face flush red with embarrassment, Nicolaus considered making a break for the door!

“...Succumb to the testing.” Aran spoke with a tone matching the gravity of the situation for once. “There have been cases of those who were experimented on…dying, even after the preliminary trials were conducted. My grandfather wrote extensive notes on all of his findings.”

Slinging the laptop back over to them, a myriad of pages discussing the testing methods filled the screen. Broken syringes, abandoned buildings, old and unmarked vehicles, as well as bodies, rotting, dissected, and mangled, some even clearly still alive; a mountain of gruesome images all on the laptop of the supposed sleuth. “Okay, that’s enough of that!” Nicolaus got up from the bed and rushed to the window, needing to see anything else!

“Sorry! It’s just you have to know how serious this is. I’m not sure when or where, but if they’re following you too, then you need to stay aware of your surroundings. They could be anywhere and I’m not sure if they’ve already infected the local government or not. They could just be walking the streets for all I know.” A rare moment of total sincerity from the often exaggerating Aran struck a chord with Nicolaus. As he recomposed himself, the technician checked his phone, noting only a few minutes of his lunch break remained.

“I have to get going. Aran…if anything happens, I’ll let you know right away!” Despite that, Nicolaus was still weary of the young man.

“Of course, partner!” Aran gave a thumbs up and wide toothy smile. Just before leaving the room, Nicolaus spied a string chart on a corkboard near the door. “Oh, that’s what I’m using to keep track of connections! It’s pretty elaborate, admittedly, but when you come back I’ll break it down for you.”

Nicolaus silently studied the board and quickly realized how ridiculous it was. There were things out of place, lines leading nowhere, and connections linking time stamps incorrectly, according to Aran himself. (…At this point, do I want Aran to even be right…?)

Part 5

“…Pick up…come on…” The line finally connected after ringing six times. “Matthew! I’ve been calling you fo-” Red-headed waitress, Katie Vang, was cut off by the answering machine. She waited, holding her tongue as venom boiled up in the back of her throat. “Matthew, call me. There are police here at the office and I have no idea what’s going on.” Indeed, the police were scouring the office of Katie’s lover, Matthew! “Hey, do you think you could explain what’s going on here?”

“This is police protocol, ma’am. Can’t.” One of the officers admitted, vexing Katie.

(Police protocol, my ass!) Her phone buzzed just then. A message from Nicolaus, which Katie, with near perfect accuracy, guessed the contents of before reading. [Hey Spike, sorry for being a ghost. :( Work has been crazy! I’ll tell you about it later tonight!] The thought of Nicolaus haphazardly attempting some stoic persona when interacting with Katie gave her delight. Normally, she would spend extra time teasing him, just to force an awkward response, however, said freedom wasn’t afforded in her predicament.

A phone call suddenly came in! Katie almost jumped to answer it, but quickly realized the display read ‘Mom’ and slinked away, leaving the police to continue their search. After taking a deep breath, she reluctantly answered. “Katie, are you there?”

“Yes. What is it, mother?”

“I’m just calling to make sure you’re doing alright. Can I not do that?”

“…I’m busy right now, mother. Can this wait until later?”

“Honestly, whenever I call you, you’re so hostile! I was calling to make sure that this whole venture hasn’t blown up in your face this time.”

“…Mother…” Unintentionally, Katie tightened her grip on the phone and her stage dress.

“If it has, you can always come home. I can pay for your ticket.”

“…” Another buzz from the device in her hand nearly shocked her into dropping the phone. To her surprise, several texts from Matthew flowed in with rapid succession!

[Katie] [My way!] [Documents] [In the closet behind my coats! Move them!] [Hide them!] The message wedged a slab of confliction in Katie’s throat. Her heart sank, knowing the documents that were hidden must’ve been so bad, the police couldn’t find them; though Matthew was the lifeline to her future career!

“Katie!” Her mother called from the phone. “Are you listening? Just come home. We can get you a job in Dad’s shop.” The thought stewed in her mind. She could just point out the documents to the police, gather her things, and move back home. Escaping every bizarre turn her life has taken and going to live a normal life was just an answer away.

Upon calming down, she saw how her grip had wrinkled the hem of her dress. That dress had been her partner for weeks, and a goal for months! She wanted the lead role in the play, worked her ass off, and finally achieved the first part of her dream. Losing that foothold was, tantamount in the aspiring actresses mind, to falling back down the mountain she’d scaled! “No, mother! I’m not coming back to that town. That town isn't even a one-horse town, it’s a half horse town and I’m not going to die a no one out in the middle of nowhere! You wait and see.” Katie ended the call and slid back into the office. “Excuse me, boys. I’ve actually been wondering…could I trouble you for a bit of your time?” The two men turned to each other and then looked back at Katie, intrigued.

“What’s the matter ma’am?” They halted their investigation, eager to chat with the attractive actress standing in the doorway. With only a minute to do so, Katie attempted to properly analyze the situation. There were two doors in the room, and she was blocking one, with the officers staring at her. She required her mannequins to discreetly retrieve the documents in the closet, and move them through the unoccupied door behind the officers into the empty storeroom across the hall!

“You see…” Katie focused as hard as possible, splitting her attention between her conversation with the men and her psychic mannequins working behind them! “I’ve been having some auditions lately, and in those I’m trying to nail the role of a police officer.” Plumes of pitch-black energy gathered on the ground, building into Katie’s mannequin. The figure started sifting through coats, searching for the documents. (I’ve never had those things do something this complex. One order is the limit, I think. Please, please, please! Don’t fuck up!) “Can you…guys give me some tips? Like, what do you guys normally do when questioning a suspect?” Both officers nearly jumped at the opportunity to explain their process, to which Katie paid no mind. In the background, the black doll emerged holding a cardboard box full of manila folders! Again, she focused on building another mannequin. (This one needs…to go to the room across…the hall…) A deep roaring noise resonated in the back of Katie’s head. Pounding, growing louder, cutting into her mind like a knife! Katie’s nose bled as she slumped against the doorframe!

“Oh shit! Are you alright, ma’am?” One of the officers helped lower Katie to the ground. She knelt there, eyes cutting to the mannequin, expecting to see one like before; she almost shrieked when a small, more childlike doll took the box from the taller one! “Should I call someone?” Before he could turn and see the bizarre sight, Katie grabbed the man by his arm!

“No, I’m sorry! Just a bit anemic.” The small creation bounded through the opposite door, nearly tripping, with the box held over its head, crashing into something in the next room over! Just then, the other mannequin shattered, disappearing into thin air; and at the same time, short and stubby Matthew walked in!

He spoke with the police who had plenty of questions for him, though Katie wasn’t able to hear them. She laid on a couch in the room adjacent, looking up at the ceiling with a towel pressed firmly against her nose. “Alright, they’re gone.” Matthew said, closing the door behind him and wiping beads of sweat from his growing forehead, and shrinking hairline. “Where are the…files?”

“Over here.” Katie sluggishly rolled onto her side, using her foot to pull the box out from behind the couch. The tension in her lover’s face melted, meanwhile Katie remained oblivious and annoyed. “What’s in there?”

“Oh…uh…nothing really.”

“I don’t believe you. You’re a liar by nature.”

“T-Takes one to know one.”

“I’m an actress, lying is what I do. Now tell me what’s in the box or I’ll call the police back!”

“You’d do that to your own boyfriend.”

“Boyfriend? Pfft! Depends on what kind of shit my ‘boyfriend’ was getting me and my career into that involves the cops. Now, spill!”

“…One of the guys who funds this theater house and some of the galleries around the state is being investigated. His name is on all the documents here, and there is some…noticeably sketchy activity. If that guy goes down, we could end up losing the whole business.”

“…Fuck. How bad?”

“…Rumor says it’s human trafficking and drug deals.”

Katie threw her bloody towel right into Matthew’s face! “You dumbfuck! Get a lawyer! Call someone, anyone who can separate us from this place as soon as possible!” Despite her head swirling still, Katie got up from her seat just to look down on Matthew as he rifled through the bin.

“I can’t.”

“What?! Why not?!”

“We’ve…hosted some of the drugs here, and…I’ve run some for him.”

“…” In the back of her mind, Katie considered divorcing herself from the entire affair, but remembered the choice she’d made less than twenty minutes beforehand. Her eyes went cold with her next statement. “You promised me these plays would take me to the top, to some of the biggest stages in the world. I’m doing all this because you were the one who scouted me, remember that! So, you better not fuck up, and you better find a way to fix this. ” Matthew sheepishly returned to going through the documents while Katie sat back down onto the couch, gazing up at the ceiling again. With blood running from her nose, she scoffed. “As if I’ll go back. Human trafficking and drugs, huh? Do I always have to struggle?”

Part 6

A mostly silent day at Landon high was only broken up by constant whispers. “…Warren Prince…” They said. “I heard he got shot in the throat!” Words echoed. “Yeah. He was killed! bet you anything that’s why Maggie’s out.” It was true, she wasn’t in. “I heard he was dealing drugs. He was a burnout, so not a surprise.” Rumors spread like wildfire. “I feel sorry for Maggie.” All those words, cycling around, shaking the already frayed conscience of one, Vergil Trask.

The boy sat covering his head, trembling, with his psyche being bombarded by endless flashbacks to that scene. He was unable to truly escape the acrid stench of murder permeating his hands. Though done unintentionally, he’d used his powers to strike through Warren’s neck, killing him.

“Verg…” Lefty, his friend, sat atop Vergil’s desk. She was accompanied by the fluffy-haired Pete, busy looking through social media on his phone. “You okay? Ya’ look- You don’t look well.” The young black girl shuttered, catching her southern accent just before it escaped her mouth.

“…I’m alright, L-Lefty.”

“…Okay.” She said halfheartedly. “Harper’s out today too. Did you hear from him?”

Vergil didn’t answer. “I messaged him just now. Looks like he saw it, but I don’t see him typing back.” Pete put away his phone while twirling his curly locks, bored. Lefty and Pete conversed, but Vergil drifted off, lost in thought.

Class started, but with his seat far enough to the back of the room, no one noticed Vergil sending off messages to Nicolaus, all remaining unread. The young man’s eyelids gradually grew heavy, lowering the sleep deprived teen into an unfortunate mire of nightmares…

Vergil’s feet dragged across dried, dead earth as he ambled through a lifeless forest. Frightened, unsteady hands caressed withered trees, snapping every branch with the slightest touch. The edge of the forest stretched on infinitely, no matter how hard he ran, it kept expanding outward! Alone, not a soul in sight, stalked by soft voices whispering his name, anxiety ravaged the young man. “Vergil…Vergil…Vergil…” The murmurs echoed. Branches piled up in front of him, obscuring the path, taking away the only hope for escape. Freedom seemed beyond his reach, and the voices grew louder as the decaying fauna fell atop his head! “Murderer…murderer…murderer…” They continued. His breaths short, he fell to his knees, watching the branches stack further up toward the sky, surrounding him, leaving the guilt stricken Vergil trapped! They rained down blows, pelting and pummeling the teen for simply looking up the deadwood wall erected before him! “Vergil…Murder…Vergil…” Louder and louder, the inescapable forest called his name, until all at once it stopped…and low gurgling began.

When Vergil peered up next, the tree bark was no longer gray and dried, but pasty and quivering, hairy and pinkish. As his eyes traced the trunks, agonized, gasping for air, Warren Prince glared down with bloodshot eyes! His face, warped into a tree, filled with rage, blood bubbled from the roots! “I’m…I’m…sorry…” Vergil wept, as the branches all twisted to point at the sobbing boy. The accusatory fingers of the withered fauna blamed him, saying he was at fault. “No…I…I didn’t mea-” A hand clamped over his mouth, holding him down as all the others struck him, punching, and slapping the boy as blood welled up around his head, drowning him in the dirt below! “No…no…No! Stop!”

Vergil screamed and shot up from the desk! Glassy energy around him exploded outward, blasting several nearby classmates back! “What on earth?!” The teacher hollered from the front of the room! Vergil quickly came to his senses and unmade the barrier! “What happened back there?!”

“I don’t know! Trask stood up and then we all got blown around!” One of the students said from the floor.

“Are you all okay? Vergil! What did you do?!” Vergil’s eyes bounced between the terrified students, picking themselves up off the ground, and the teacher closing in on him! Fight or flight kicked in, so the boy grabbed his bag and hightailed it! “Vergil, get back here, now!” Before he could be stopped by anyone, Vergil had already dashed out of class and ran for the hills!

Part 7

Nicolaus watched the hands of the clock tick by. He craved distraction! Playing video games, catching up on anime, loafing about his apartment, anything aside from being at work, and allowing his mind to play on the trepidation surrounding Aran, was ideal! However, he was just sitting at his desk, looking over tickets from users, listening to the monotonous ticking, slowly driving himself insane! He wanted to get up and…! A message popped up on the screen of his PC and to his astonishment it was from Amala Singh!

[I’m outside. In the back. Let’s chat.] Without so much as a goodbye, the surprise alone propelled Nicolaus to clock out early! He ran for the elevator, sparing only a second to fire off a message to Vernon, saying he was done for the day, making up an excuse about his sister’s pregnancy along the way.

Once outside, Nicolaus scanned the common area, trying to locate the lovely, petite, Indian woman. “Where is she…”

“Rah!” Only a joke, though it nearly caused the constantly on edge Nicolaus to burst into flight, launching out of his worn-out sneakers! “Hello, Nicolaus! Mighty jumpy, no?” Amala slipped in behind for a playful scare!

“Wh-what’s with you?!” While trying to catch his breath, Nicolaus staggered to a nearby bench for support. The sudden rush of adrenaline turned Nicolaus’s legs into a pair of wet noodles, barely able to support him. “Can you even be here? Shouldn’t you be home or something?”

“I’m fine. Thank you for worrying.” An uncharacteristically soft, toothy grin was flashed by the normally stoic and standoffish young woman. In fact, Amala’s whole demeanor was oddly easy going, despite her being dressed in those dingy purple sweats.

“Well…Vernon has been making me take your meetings, you know.”

Amala literally poked Nicolaus in the side with her fingers! “Are you pouting? Haha…you act like a little girl sometimes!” Teasing and whimsical giggling made the pessimistic young man glow bright red with embarrassment!

“Huh?! What’s with you? Since when have you been like this?!”

“For the first night in months…I got some sleep. Finally…things feel…it feels like I’m doing something right.” She smiled again. Her feelings of joy, despite having zero context, even made Nicolaus a bit happy. “I messaged Vernon anyway, so it’s fine for me to be off. It’s a mental health day.” With her eyes cast down, and a shy air, Amala presented an unexpected invitation. “Hey, how about going to the ballet…?”

“Ballet? I…” Before an answer could be given, Nicolaus’s phone blared! “Hang on. Hello?” On the other end of the line was incoherent stammering. Nicolaus knew immediately it was Vergil failing at forming a sentence. “Vergil…Vergil! Calm down! Hey, what’s up? Are you alright? What…calm down! What’s going on?”

“…Is he alright?”

“I think…he’s crying about something.”

“…Find out where he is…let’s go get him!”

“Yeah. Vergil, relax…I’m…going to come and get you.” Vergil managed to calm down, resigning to message Nicolaus the location instead. “Looks like he isn’t too far from his school. I’m thinking, we fly over, and just take him home.” Amala agreed so the two searched for a secluded place. They hid behind an unpopulated café and using their powers took off into the cloudy sky!

Part 8

Dusk rapidly approached as Nicolaus’s azure telekinesis cut through the fading orange sky. Amala trailed behind with her magenta haze, doing everything she could to keep up, but even so, Nicolaus was edging further away! “You’re really fast! Slow down!” She hollered over the roaring winds.

“Huh?! Oh…sorry.” He hadn’t even noticed, as Nicolaus wasn’t moving at full speed. It felt like the limitation of his power wasn’t even in sight! “That’s strange. It’s just…I feel I could go twice that speed. I didn’t feel this powerful before…”

“What are you doing, come on!” Unintentionally, Nicolaus had come to a full stop, but resumed once Amala zoomed by. The two landed out of sight from the football field in the woods. As soon as Nicolaus called Vergil, the phone connected.

“N-Nicolaus…I’m over…h-h-here.” Underneath the bleachers sat the ghastly visage of Vergil. The boy’s white hair and pale skin contrasted with the darkness surrounding him, looking like an apparition. Both adults remained vigilant to avoid being seen by any faculty. “A-Amala came t-too?”

“It was her idea, actually.” Amala turned away, to which Nicolaus could’ve sworn he saw a slight blush on her cheeks. “How about we get you home? No wait, what about your sister?”

“…She’s…home for the day…” He clutched his bag, thinking of how traumatized Wilhelmina must’ve been. “…I-I-I…”

“Relax, it’s okay. We’ll get you home and then you can sleep it off.”

“…” Vergil wanted to tell Nicolaus what’d happened, but when he looked over to Amala, he stopped.

“Nicolaus, you fly with him.” Amala began floating upward as Nicolaus wrapped Vergil in his blue haze, and joined suit.

All three flew through the sky, slower than before but held a solid pace. “…Vergil, does this have to do with yesterday?” Nicolaus’s question intrigued Amala.

“What happened yesterday…?” She asked, her own activities from the day prior seeping back in, but totally oblivious to what happened with Virgil.

“…K-K-…yes…maybe…” Vergil gripped tightly onto his bookbag. “…I…I just don’t know…w-what c-came over m-me…m-my powers…I don’t k-know…”

“Did your powers act up?” Amala slowed herself down to meet eye to eye with the boy.

Amala’s piercing purple eyes showed little relent with their powerful gaze, frightening the already shaken teen. “Let’s just drop the subject for now…look, isn’t that where you live?” Nicolaus interjected. The cul-de-sac was coming into view. Several smaller homes rounded the street, with a smattering of leafless trees in a gray forest outlining that. One large and well-kept home, with a car parking in the driveway, stood out amongst the other ordinary residences.

“N-No…that’s Harper’s house.”

“Oh…well, we should land somewhere that isn’t compromised.” Though Nicolaus was scouting for a deserted spot, he quickly took notice of Amala hurtling toward the car as the two passengers exited! “Amala! Where are you going?! Stop!” Nothing he screamed mattered, because Amala had seen something.

That long blonde hair, the unmistakably slender frame, and looks that hadn’t changed in years; the wind carrying his voice to her ears, brought a visceral flashback! Her blood ran cold; each and every vein in her body felt like they’d opened up to draw in frigid air! Lasting no more than a second, every thought was playing back at the speed of light, just hearing him speak, she was sure, without a doubt in mind! “Hurry now, Harper. Your mother is waiting for us inside.”

“Mister…no! Calvin Wolf!” He turned to see Amala Singh landing in the road behind him! Calvin Wolf looked at the small woman utterly baffled!

“I’m sorry…do you…know me?” He said as Harper came around from the side of the car.

“What’s going on Dad…?” The second he laid eyes on Amala, he scanned her mind and knew what she was about to say! (No! No! No! Stop it!) He attempted to intercept her, screaming words into her head! Everything from, leave, fear, run, flight, escape, incorrect, liar, false, mistaken, irrational, idiotic, and wrong, were being forced into the girl’s head!

“Agh!” The sensation of swelling caused Amala’s head to pound in agony! She squeezed her temples in pain while falling to one knee, trying to fight off growing discomfort! Harper believed it was working, but the pain shot back to him as well!

(Fuck…why does my head hurt? I…is she fighting back?!) Amala rose back up just as Vergil and Nicolaus ran! They had successfully landed in the woods, unseen, and rushed over just in time for a revelation to be dropped like a bomb in a sleepy suburban town.

“Calvin Wolf, it’s me. Amala Singh. If you want to keep pretending like you didn’t abuse me and my friends…then go right the fuck the ahead, but at least tell that lie right here, right now, in front of your son; to my face!”

End of Chapter 10