Grey
Chapter Thirteen: Flight
Looking over Sam, who sat beside me outside the garage, I narrowed my eyes. He hadn’t spoken one word since he had woken up about lunchtime, and I could see his thoughts circling around in a chaotic spin in his mind. His hair had fallen down in front of his eyes, his face was pale, his eyes half closed and distant. He had drawn up his legs to his chest with his arms around them. I was about to reach out a hand to lie on his shoulder when he suddenly opened his mouth and spoke. ,,When will they be back?” he asked in a whispered tone, his eyes glazing over with tears, which he didn’t shed. I thought about the team consisting of Raven, Mary, Gregory and Norewood who had been chosen by Blake to find out all they could about Fallon and Leonora Proctor. I couldn’t help but sneer when I remembered how we had reached the Office only to find out the team had already taken off. With the last teleporter para Alice being at one of the other locations at the moment, there was really no way of us leaving. This was the first time I really felt trapped here in this little peaceful valley of Portobello Road. I patted Sam’s shoulder reassuringly, managing to get his eyes to shift over to mine. ,,I’m sure it won’t be long, Sam,” I said. ,,And when they get back, they’ll contact us and tell us what they have found out.” Sam nodded slowly and turned his head downward to face his drawn-up knees. A short moment later, I heard him muttering something, which I couldn’t decipher. I leaned in closer with furrowed brow. ,,Sorry, what did you say?” Sam popped his head up to rest on his arms, a pouting expression mixed with that of irritation erasing the depressed one. ,,I don’t like that guy Blake.” Taken quite aback by his statement, I just nodded, pondering what I should say to that. When the boy looked up into my eyes I just gestured for him to continue. He sighed before turning his head toward the many apartments and other buildings in Portobello Road. His eyes narrowed and his lips thinned as he bit them from the inside of his mouth. ,,He’s so secretive, and he almost seemed like he didn’t really care about my parents or all the others working in the Union.” His tone grew more and more angry as he spoke, but oddly enough he didn’t raise his voice. I reached out and patted his shoulder, trying to calm him down a little. It almost seemed like he was about to run off and do who knew what. ,,If Blake truly didn’t care he wouldn’t have sent anyone out to investigate.” I spoke in low tunes so as not to upset him, though it seemed to be of no avail as Sam just shook his head and began gesturing wildly with his hands. ,,Maybe he’s just doing it to not lose face,” the boy hissed. ,,He knows that everyone here – all the tenants of Portobello Road and the other locations as well – they wouldn’t see him as a good leader if he didn’t get people to investigate! What if they aren’t even looking properly? What if they’re just sitting on their fucking ass – doing nothing?” My eyes widened. Never had I imagined Samuel Proctor to start cursing and yelling the way he did now, but then again, I could easily understand why he felt the compulsion to do so. I squeezed his shoulder with my hand until he looked me in the eyes once again, his arms falling down. ,,Sam, I know Mary and Norewood.” In response I just got a pair of sky rolling eyes, reminding me of the stereotypical teenager. ,,They respect your parents and the Union. They’ll find out-” Sam brushed my hand off and stood up abruptly. ,,Bullshit! You don’t understand!” he screeched and I could hear the tears in his voice. ,,Nobody does – and nobody cares either!” I stood up as well and tried to reach him again, but Sam just shook his head and turned his back on me, walking away with hurried strides. ,,Just leave me alone!” he yelled over his shoulder and began running. Sighing, I stayed where I was and closed my eyes, rubbing the bridge of my nose with my forefinger and my thumb. I leaned back against the wall of the garage and let my head fall back and rest against the wood. Through it, I could feel the humming vibrations of all the machinery inside, and for a moment I let myself be emerged in it, finding peace before I could deal with a rebellious teenager. ,,Don’t worry so much,” a voice suddenly said from beside me, and I cracked my eyes open to find Carl standing by the entrance to the garage a few meters away from me. He sent me an encouraging smile with a cigarette between his lips. He moved his hand up casually and waved it in front of the head of the cig, and before my eyes it caught on fire and he inhaled deeply with satisfaction evident in his face. Carl nodded toward the boy running away. ,,He’s just a kid dealing with way more than he should at his age. He’ll calm down.” I smiled a bitter smile and let my eyes trail Sam until he disappeared into the entertainment center. Then I sighed and turned back to the engineer. ,,Yeah,” I agreed. ,,Eventually.” My smile got a lot more genuine when I heard Carl’s billowing laugh. He moved closer and leaned up against the wall beside me, taking another inhale of his cigarette. ,,So, I hear your mama is Liana? Must be pretty awkward between you and Blake, then.” My eyes narrowed, my lips thinning. Blake’s reaction earlier, the slight air of disinterest he showed about saving Proctor and his wife… Although I didn’t know all the facts I couldn’t help but consider what Sam had said. ,,I haven’t talked with him about it.” Carl nodded beside me, pulling his cigarette a little away from his mouth. He exhaled the smoke and made a perfect grey circle in the air. ,,What did she say about you and Jeff?” I stiffened and had to clear my throat before I could face the other man. ,,You-you know? Did Dalia and Red tell you?” I wouldn’t put it past them to have let some hints and insinuations out of their mouths. Carl chuckled. ,,You would think that Red and Dalia are the perfect tattle tellers, but, surprisingly, Denny is as gossipy as an old lady in a likeminded knitting club. I wouldn’t be surprised if Liana already knows.” He winked. My stomach clenched and I stared down at my hands, studying them. If what Carl said was true, then it was only a matter of time before my mother found out by others than Jeff and me – if she indeed didn’t already know. I had to tell her. I stepped off the wall. ,,I’ll just- Uhm… See you around, Carl.” I waved and hurried off. I managed to get all the way down to the closest apartment building, rounding the corner, before I bumped into the tall form of Jeff. ,,Grey? What are you doing here?” Jeff asked with a grunt and took hold of my shoulders. ,,Ever since Sam ran off from the apartment, I couldn’t find…” Jeff’s eyes began to drift away from my face and I knew he had spotted Carl when a scowl ran over his features and his fingers clenched on my shoulders. ,,…you.” The last word he said in a snarl and shifted his attention back to me. ,,Listen, Jeff,” I said before he could get to speak. ,,I caught up with Sam and I wanted to calm him down a little. He likes planes and machinery so I thought I would show him the garage. Then he got angry and ran off, and-” Jeff seemed to relax but there was still a sneer to his lips when he cast one last glance at Carl behind me. Then he slung me into his chest and he held me close as he began walking away from there. ,,Jeff?” I asked but shot up when he growled and continued leading me away from the garage. ,,Seriously, Jeff!” I hissed and wrenched myself free, turning toward him and catching his eyes. They were still narrowed, and his mouth was tight, his body posture stiff. I took in a deep breath. ,,Jeff, if you don’t trust me, then this,” I said gesturing a hand back and forth between us to indicate our relationship or whatever we had going on, ,,isn’t going to work.” Jeff’s features softened and his shoulders lost some of their stiffness. ,,Grey…” ,,Look, I like you, but I don’t want you to act like I’m looking to- to cheat every time you’re not around.” I gave him a stern look, but the way he was gazing at me had my knees ready to melt underneath me, and somehow I couldn’t stay mad at him. He grabbed my arms carefully – as if afraid I would try to fight him off if he grabbed me too suddenly – and pulled me to his chest again. He dropped his head into my hair, and I could feel how his chest rose and fell with a deep inhale. ,,I like you, too, Grey,” he whispered into my hair. ,,But I’m not worried about you doing anything with someone else – I’m afraid what they would do to you.” I sighed and moved to get out of his arms again, but he held on tight. ,,If this is about my friendship with Carl-” Jeff laughed, but somehow it didn’t sound like how a laugh should sound. There was no joy in it. At all. It almost sounded like a worried laugh – if something like that even existed. ,,It’s not just about Carl. It’s about every one out to get you. The hunters and The Blood. I’m just… worried, that’s all.” Sighing for the umpteenth time that day I drew a little back so that I could look into his droopy eyes. ,,You don’t have to worry so much, Jeff. I can take care of myself just fine.” I kept the fact that I had, sometime, in my life been held captured for a long period of time, to myself. There was no need to worry Jeff or anyone else about that – especially when I didn’t even have all the information myself. Nodding, Jeff pulled me into his embrace and took a deep sniff of my hair before he turned his head to kiss my temple and all the way down to my cheek and over my lips in a chaste kiss. ,,I know,” he said and kissed me again, deeper this time. It was weird, I thought while his tongue plunged into my mouth and I wrapped my arms around his shoulders and neck. It was weird and almost unbelievable that I could feel for him so strongly after knowing him for such a short period of time. Which reminded of what I had left Carl’s garage to do. ,,Jeff, I have to tell-” When the explosion sounded and everything went suddenly blindingly bright around us, my next words were muted, and when the light had dimmed and my ears were popping and singing with tinnitus, I could make out the sounds of panic around me. The blast from whatever had gone of had blown me off my feet, and I was lying down next to Jeff on the ground. I got up on my elbows and glanced around. The other paras who had been outdoors when the explosion happened were also lying on the ground, but most of them were getting a grip of themselves and started getting up. Those from inside the buildings were milling out, looking for the source of the bright light and the thunderous cacophony of sudden thunder. But even as I looked around myself, I could not see any sign of anything that had been blown to pieces. I heard Carl shout my name from his garage seconds before he joined me and almost tumbled over my form still on the ground beside an unmoving Jeff. I felt my palms get wet with my worry’s sweat as I started shaking the changer para’s shoulder to wake him up. ,,Jeff? Jeff!” As I started shaking rougher while I shouted into his face, he still didn’t respond. He just laid there, a gone expression in his face. ,,Damn it, Jeff! Wake up!” He must have hit his head or something. Carl grabbed my shoulder. ,,Grey, we have to move him,” he said in a low tone, voicing his concern of the situation. ,,We’ll be seen here way too easily.” I turned around to look at him, a frown crossing my features. ,,Seen by whom?” I asked, but as I glanced around, watching what open space I could from this vantage point, I stiffened and I felt cold skeleton fingers dancing down my spine. ,,Shit…” I mouthed with no sound, but to my side I could see Carl nodding his assent. Standing in front of the Office there were a total of ten men and women with their hands behind their backs. Even though I couldn’t make out their faces, I just knew they were smirking as they looked over the panic they had indisputably caused. There were two of the persons – a man and a woman – I especially cringed at seeing again. Just as Blake and Liana moved out onto the porch followed by the twins, Verona Kelly and Michael Quincy stepped forward, both groups nodding to each other. ,,The Blood,” I whispered as I travelled down my memory lane and saw the flame woman and the beast that was Kelly and Quincy, in my mind’s eye. I turned toward Carl again. ,,What are they doing here?” I asked him, as if he would have any more idea than me. ,,I don’t know, Grey,” he answered me, then grabbed Jeff’s arm and began pulling him up. ,,Come on. Let’s get the monkey-boy somewhere safe, eh?” Although the engineer had asked for my help to move Jeff, it didn’t seem like he needed it at all. He carried Jeff over his shoulder just fine and let me find a secure way over to our apartment without being seen by The Blood. When we got there, I opened the unlocked door and closed it securely after Carl and Jeff were inside. I turned to see Carl lay Jeff down on the couch and checked on his pulse. ,,Have The Blood ever been here before? Uninvited and all?” I asked and couldn’t help but sneak a peek out of the window beside the front door to make sure no one had followed us, Blood or tenant. Carl just shrugged his shoulders and went over to the door, opening it again. ,,Come on,” he said over his shoulder. ,,We’ll have to find out.” As he opened the door wide, I stood still. I looked from Jeff to Carl and back again. On one side I wanted to find out what was happening, but on the other I didn’t want to leave Jeff as he was; vulnerable, an easy target. ,,What about Jeff?” Carl looked over at the changer para and bit his bottom lip. Then he glanced outside again. ,,It’s safe here. The Blood doesn’t know where to look – though I doubt they even would. Why would they be after Jeff anyway, eh?” He locked eyes with me, giving me a reassuring – though tight – smile. ,,Besides, we have to find out what is going on. If we don’t have any idea of what is going, we’ll be at a great disadvantage.” I hesitated for a few more minutes but then I nodded. ,,Just a sec.” I went over to the couch and leaned over Jeff’s still and silent form. I rested our foreheads together and closed my eyes. I knew Jeff would be pissed if he woke up alone, not knowing where I was. I tried one final time to wake him up – even trying to kiss him to revival – but when it turned out that it wasn’t helping anything, I sighed and followed Carl out of the apartment, remembering to lock the door behind me. We moved quickly through the apartments and as we neared the Office we saw the rest of the tenants standing in a half circle around the paras from The Blood. Everyone stood stock still, and I could see the Blood-members turning their heads in this and that direction – as if they were looking for someone. We moved into the crowd of paras and moved past them to the second row. Blake had just moved down from the porch – his stance showing strength, confidence and last but certainly not least, anger. Even though I was standing quite far away from the wolf-para, I could see the lightening in his eyes and the thunderous temper showing in his features. ,,Leave here immediately!” Blake billowed and gestured with his hands as if wanted to strike at Quincy. ,,I won’t negotiate with you – I thought I had made that clear years ago, Quincy, Kelly.” The two leaders of The Blood merely smiled and stood their ground. Kelly, tall, cold and ash blond with ice in her eyes and flame as her Talent moved slightly forward, her steps slow and sure, as if she was facing a wild animal that could lunge at any moment – but oddly enough without seeming scared. Her voice drifted through the wind as a knife carving through the thick silence, cold and foreboding. ,,As I have already told you, Blake, we did not come here to negotiate with you.” She cast a glance over her shoulder and for a moment I feared she had known where to look to find me, but she was looking at Blake a second later. ,,We came here to negotiate with him.” And this time she turned her full body towards me, pointing her long, elegant finger. As Moses spread the waters, so did her finger spread the crowd, and I stood facing The Blood, suddenly feeling very small and vulnerable. I felt myself pale – probably visibly – as she crooked one finger for me to come closer. Knowing that I couldn’t run and hide form them now that they knew I was here, I did as she wanted. But I walked around them until I stood beside Blake. At least I trusted this man – to some extent. I could hear Liana moving down the steps of the porch and standing beside me with a hand squeezing my shoulder seconds later. Kelly narrowed her eyes at seeing Liana’s actions, and a small, calculative smile reached her lips. She looked from Liana to me, and back again. Her voice sounded full of admiration as she gazed at my mother. ,,You’re the woman who had a child with one of the Mechanicians?” she asked, awe evident in her voice. I saw Liana straighten beside me, lifting her chin and narrowing her eyes. On my other side, I saw Blake flinch when Kelly spoke, and behind his back, Blake fisted his hands while his facial expression betrayed nothing. ,,What do you want with my son?” Liana asked instead, her voice cold and icy; a tone I most certainly didn’t want directed at me ever. Kelly’s smile grew, the threat in my mother’s voice lost on her. She turned her eyes to me, and I saw them widen as she took in my appearance. After a quick glance at Liana, she looked almost disappointed. ,,Your appearance is too based on your maternal genes to give any sign as to what your paternal line looks like.” She took one step closer to me, and immediately I felt my mother’s hand squeeze my shoulder harder, almost pulling me away from the other woman. Kelly laughed and cast a glance at Quincy. ,,Our half-breed is quite protected, Michael,” she said with a smirk. The big beast of a man just grunted, his eyes boring into mine. He was mid-transformation. There was a lot of fur down his neck and around his throat, and although he had his hands hidden inside his jacket pocket, I could still make out his claws against the material. Getting more and more nervous by the second spent this close to The Blood, I took half a step forward, gaining their focus, and cleared my throat. ,,What do you want?” I croaked out and hoped they wouldn’t notice the nervous tilt at the end of the sentence. What I got was a grin and that only made me more nervous. I shifted my stance from my right foot to my left. ,,Well, we want you, of course,” Kelly answered as if that was the most logical thing in the world. ,,We’ve found something quite interesting.” Her voice dropped about an octave, and her eyes glazed over as she thought of whatever it was on her mind. ,,But we don’t know how to… activate it and control it. We need you, Jackson Hutton, Cole Greyson, Grey, to help us.” A feeling of dread made my spine tingle and I straightened my back, crossing my arms over my chest. ,,And why would I want to help you?” I asked, lifting one eyebrow. I was feeling immensely proud that my knees weren’t shaking under me. If my guess was correct about what they had found, then I would never agree to help them. I didn’t want to risk losing myself in the giant computer. ,,Don’t you want to safe your kin?” Kelly asked with a teasing frown, almost looking childish as she encircled one finger with her long tresses before letting it go and then doing it again. ,,The Mechanician left the machine for a purpose. They created us. Made us a minority in this world – but a minority with strength! The machine must have information for us. They can’t have left us without guidelines. With the machine, we can be rid of the hunters-” ,,And the humans?” I asked, raising my other brow, shaking my head no. ,,I don’t want to be a part of slaughtering innocents.” Shaking her head in resignation, Kelly snapped her fingers before looking in my eyes with a wicked glint. ,,We thought you would say something like that.” Just as I was about to step away from this ‘negotiation’ a bright light alerted me of a warning before I suddenly saw Zeke standing some meters behind Kelly and Quincy – with a still unconscious Jeff in his arms. The teleporter para pushed Jeff to the ground and one of the other paras form The Blood stepped forward and turned her palms toward Jeff. They soon showed purple and blue sparks, alike Norewood’s Talent. Only difference was, this woman looked like she knew how to handle hers. I instinctually stepped forward, a scream on my lips. ,,Jeff!” As he lay there, totally helpless and out of my reach, hatred bloomed up in me, and I turned to Kelly once again. Already I was seeking for electric pulses around me to manipulate. I could feel small signals but nothing I could use to my advantage. Kelly crossed her arms over her chest, a triumphant gleam in her cold eyes, a crooked smirk tugging at her lips. ,,Instead, let us make an agreement. You help us, and your friend won’t be hurt. What do you say?” Before I could speak, Blake stepped forward, a growl coming form deep within his chest. ,,What do you think you’re doing, you bitch! Get away from here before I tear out your throat!” he roared and from his hands grew long, razor sharp claws. His fangs elongated, making his speech a little slurred. I could see grey fur sprouting from his arms and legs. If his eyes had looked scary before, they were beyond terrifying now. Kelly didn’t seem fazed at all as she turned to the man, chuckling. ,,Blake, always the one to command, aren’t you? I think your wolf instincts have grown a little to your head… alpha.” Her mocking tone did nothing to cease Blake’s growling, and she chuckled once more. She turned back to me, dismissing the wolf-para with a shrug of her shoulders, ignoring the resulting growl. I looked at Jeff, my heart stopping to beat for a second before it started again in a stumble. I felt like screaming and crying but I knew that I really shouldn’t do that. Not now. Not while The Blood could see it. What wouldn’t they do if they found out that I loved the unconscious son of a bitch? But I couldn’t leave Jeff to his death. As I raised my watery eyes, I knew what I had to answer. Kelly looked into my gaze and saw it. Her eyes gleamed with victory and she reached out a hand as if to end a business transaction. ,,Deal?” she asked. I lifted my hand and reached toward Kelly’s, ignoring Liana who tried to grab my arm. ,,I have to do it,” I whispered under my breath, our hands inches from touching. And that was when I saw something move incredibly fast in the corner of my eye. I looked away and widened my eyes in shock. I didn’t notice our hands clasping until Kelly’s hand lit on fire and burned my palm. I screeched in pain and dropped to my knees. Kelly’s other hand grabbed my chin and lifted up my face. ,,You’re mine now.” I knew that I visibly paled, but just when Kelly pulled me away from my mother, I heard the entire crowd around us gasp. I glanced behind Kelly and saw that Zeke was now standing alone with the Blood-member. No Jeff was in sight. I noticed all the other tenants looking up in the air and I followed suit, dropping my jaw on the ground in the process. Up in the air I saw Sam carrying Jeff in his arms, a victorious grin on the boy’s face. Sam had apparently discovered his Talent. Sam could fly.
Hi, there :D I hope you liked the chappy, and that the story was updated so fast, haha xD Please continue R&R'ing - I really like to read your thoughts about the story ^^ (if you want to, of course! No forcing anybody here - not on my watch!)
FortunateM; Thx for your review! ^^ I'm glad you're liking the story, hæhæ :D Sadly, not that much action between Jeff and Grey in this chappy, but a lot of other stuff happened! Now that Sam has finally developed his Talent he will definitely want to be part of any rescue mission, but first they have to get rid of The Blood xD I hope you liked this chapter as well ^^ See ya! Smint45; I'm glad you like the smexy smex smex :3 - I know I enjoyed writing it, haha xD Although there wasn't much of that in this chapter, I still hope you enjoyed it C: Well, Grey did use a little of his Talent in this chapter - but more of that will come in the next, I promise you! ;) And, no Proctor in this chapter, though that had originally been my plan... but while writing my head was spinning with ideas and I simply couldn't let down this opportunity of revealing Sam's Talent :3 See ya, hæhæ ^^ asdf; Damn it! I had hoped no one would see that little awesome fact... Well, all I can say is that you'll just have to wait and see, hæhæ :P eroburn; Oh, God, I disobeyed orders!!! No smexy scenes in this chapter... I hope you'll bear with me and wait a little while for the smut ;3 IT WILL COME, don't you worry ^^ Argh, I'm feeling with you!!! I've practically been on a diet myself (because of some person, *cough, cough*) - but hey, us vegans have to stay together! Are you with me?! xD P.S. I'll send a really cool Viking ship with tons of carrots and nuts for you ^^ P.P.S. Yes, you can keep the Viking ship if you want ;)
