Unexplored Territory

When Christian opened his eyes, he didn’t recognize where he was. He was lying on a soft couch in a living room that had a large, four-paneled bay window that stared over a large yard. Frowning as he rose, Christian moved over to the window, ignoring the large-screen television as he went to stare out at the lawn that seemed to stretch on for quite a distance.

He could tell that he was no longer within city limits. The lawn ended at a wooded area, and staring out into the distance, Christian could see the edge of the city. Frowning, but not particularly alarmed, Christian turned away from the window, his curiosity roused. The living room was mostly barren, with only the couch, television, and two large bookshelves that took up most of the back wall. There was an end table on either side of the couch, one with a plain brass lamp, and the other with a well-loved book lying there.

Moving forward, Christian went to get a look at the book’s title when a sound from behind him startled him. Whirling around, he stared at Yuki, who was staring at him impassively. Christian wondered how long he’d been standing there, watching him wander around the room.

“This is your place?” he asked, although the answer was pretty obvious. Yuki just graced him with a look of disgust and mild contempt, and Christian sighed. He might not like his current partner, but antagonizing each other was not going to make matters worse. He had felt just how violent and insane this Talent was, and he did not want to die, nor did he want to be responsible for Yuki’s death. The murderer would not hesitate to kill them both, and if they couldn’t work together and figure out how to stay alive, then they should drop the case now.

“Okay, I’m sorry. That was a stupid question,” he admitted, and then blushed as he realized just why, exactly, he was in Yuki’s home, sleeping on his couch. “I didn’t give you my address before passing out. Although you could have called the precinct and gotten the information,” he pointed out bluntly.

When Yuki just shrugged, Christian stared at him, then sighed out a laugh, running his hand back through his hair. It didn’t really surprise him that Yuki hadn’t bothered to call in the incident and request his address. Besides, he would have had to wake Christian up to get them into the apartment. Speaking of…

“How did you get me up here?” he wondered. “I mean, nothing personal, but you’re not exactly large enough to carry me, and I don’t remember walking here under my own power.” Yuki frowned at him, and the moved forward, stopping in front of Christian, who stared down at him uncertainly.

“You weren’t that heavy, Chris,” he replied, and to prove it, he reached out and swept Christian up into his arms, startling the man. He held him bridal style, and Christian flushed, surprised and mortified. Apparently, Yuki was a lot stronger than he appeared.

“All right, all right, already,” he muttered, flushing. “You can put me down now.” He put his hand on Yuki’s chest to push, and his fingers touched the flesh by his collarbone. Tingles flooded through his hand, and he gasped, surprised. Jerking, he threw Yuki off-balance, and the other man stumbled, dropping him.

Yuki scowled at him, his eyes cold again, but Christian was too surprised to care. Yuki had a Talent! But why hadn’t he felt it before? Surely, when he had been clutching the other man earlier, he should have felt it. Then again, he had been far more interested in escaping the madness than in analyzing Yuki’s own strange abilities.

Looking up at Yuki, Christian noted that the other man didn’t seem to think anything was amiss, and he realized that Yuki might be oblivious to the fact that he was a Talent, too. After all, he was in denial that people like Talents even existed. Christian sighed; he wasn’t going to tell the man otherwise – his Talent didn’t appear to be obvious or harmful, so he saw no reason to worry about it.

“I would have believed you,” he scowled back at the other man, covering his hesitation with annoyance. “There was really no need to actually go and pick me up to prove it.” Yuki just raised an eyebrow at him, then shrugged and turned away, gesturing over his shoulder.

“The front door is down that hallway,” he said. “Your car is in the driveway, and the keys are on the table by the door. I trust you can find your own way home from here.” With that, he disappeared back into whatever room he had come from in the first place, leaving a speechless Christian behind him.

Growling, Christian clenched his teeth before turning and heading for the front door, swiping the book off the table on his way past. He’d bring it back later, maybe. Grabbing his keys, Christian left, leaving the door open behind him. Maybe that would annoy Yuki, too, he thought darkly.

Climbing into his car, Yuki turned on the radio and backed out of the driveway, making a left and heading back towards the city. As he drove, he pushed his new knowledge about his partner to the back of his head, and instead allowed himself to recall the sensations that had run through him when he had touched the girl’s corpse, earlier. Such a dark aura must be able to provide more clues than just the culprit’s gender.

The violence wasn’t the most worrisome factor; the insanity that lay beneath it was. This murderer was insane, but he was smart, and he knew how to use his Talent to temporarily wipe out the existence of a person. Or, perhaps, he just wiped out periods of time, since the families of the victims didn’t actually forget they existed – they just didn’t notice that they had gone missing.

At the very least, Christian was certain that this person couldn’t place a “dummy” victim in people’s minds, because school and work records always showed a period of absence, which meant that the Talent’s ability didn’t stretch that far.

Christian wasn’t entirely certain what to make of an insane serial killer. Most people had a motive, or a preferred type of person that they hunted, but this man appeared to choose his victims at random. Was it just whoever happened to be where he was when he felt like killing? There was no single place that all of the victims frequented, or even had set foot in once. Well, at least not that he knew of. They didn’t come from the same school, or even the same city. Only the fact that they all lived in this city now linked them together, and that didn’t tell the cops anything, except that he didn’t roam outside of his city.

Muttering under his breath, Christian worked out his frustration, just talking to himself. As his mind jumped from one possibility to the next, he spoke them out loud. Sooner or later, a piece of information would catch, and something would fall into place. It was like trying to build a jigsaw puzzle; you had to put the outside framework together first, and then work your way inward. Well, he only had a few pieces, and none of them were corner pieces.

If Christian could just be sure about the man’s actual Talent, he’d have something to go on. Right now, his only hope was that he’d accidentally get close enough to the killer to feel him. Now he understood why the police had all but given up on this case, even though he was still killing; they had no defense against a Talent of this magnitude, and so they called in the only person they knew who just might have a chance. Although that didn’t explain Yuki’s presence. Perhaps they had just thought he needed a partner? Of course, this was supposed to be Yuki’s case in the first place, so perhaps they had just figured they’d let him see it through to the end.

Sighing, Christian turned down his street and pulled into the parking lot for his apartment. He wasn’t going to figure out anything more tonight, so he might as well go in and get dinner. He’d watch some television, see if the news could offer any insight into this case, and then head for bed. He had to be back at the office at seven the next morning, so he’d better turn in early tonight.

Stepping out of the car, Christian stumbled, his head whipping around in alarm as he felt that turbulent Talent that had invaded the corpse earlier that afternoon. He hadn’t bothered to put any shields up, not believing that he’d get anywhere close to the murderer without taking deliberate action. He was regretting it now, as the insanity and bloodlust battered at his mind, leaving him with a pounding headache.

As suddenly as it had come, the feeling was gone, leaving Christian gasping on the sidewalk. The man had left, or had closed down his own Talent. Swallowing hard, Christian released the catch on his gun and turned down the road, moving quickly but cautiously, his feet practically dancing over the sidewalk.

Turning down a corner, his gun held pointed at the ground and hidden at his side, Christian looked around, sending his Talent tentatively out, trying to catch that sensation once again. People milled about, heading to and from their houses, some coming in from work, others heading out for a movie or sports.

There were quite a few single men walking around, and Christian stared at them, but none of them struck him as the killer. Perhaps the man had already left? Another burst of power flowed over him, and Christian realized that he had relaxed too soon. The killer knew who he was, and what he could do, and was baiting him. Damnit!

The wash of darkness disappeared once more, and the air became easier to breathe in. The killer had left the area, whoever he was, and Christian had never caught sight of him. Christian closed his eyes, and then turned around, heading for his car. He would be staying in a hotel room tonight. Because if the serial killer knew where he lived, then no doubt he was privy to other information.

Picking up his cell phone, Christian called Yuki’s home. He had been given the phone number in the packet that Lily had given him that morning, and he used it now. When Yuki picked up with a gruff, “Yuki here,” he found himself relieved.

“Good, you’re okay,” he muttered, and he could practically feel the ice emanating from the phone pressed to his ear. “The killer knows who I am, at least. I wanted to make sure that he hadn’t come for you yet. I’m going to be staying in a hotel room tonight. I suggest you do the same.”

There was a long silence on the other end of the phone, and Christian waited impatiently for his partner to respond. “Why must I stay in a hotel, if he doesn’t know where I am?” he asked, his voice almost menacing.

Christian just rolled his eyes. “Look, if he knows who I am and where I live, then he just might have access to police employee records. Which means that he knows who you are, too. And you can’t feel other Talents,” he pointed out. “The only reason I knew he was watching me was because I felt that same horrible pressure. If you can’t feel him, then he could be watching you, too, and you wouldn’t even know. So just humor me, all right?” By this point, he was nearly yelling at the other man, too impatient and worried to bother even pretending to have a modicum of patience.

Another pause, this time weighted, and Christian kept quiet, knowing that Yuki was debating whether or not to disregard his warning. Finally, the other man responded. “Very well, then. What hotel are you staying at?”

Christian frowned. “I was thinking something just outside the city limits, like the Hilton. I don’t want to be too close to my home, or to other people. If he’s watching me, he’ll probably know where I’m going, but since he seems to stick to city limits, I’m hoping that he won’t follow me outside of them. It’s too soon for him to take another victim, unless he’s going to start overlapping his kills again.”

“Then I’ll meet you at the hotel,” Yuki replied immediately, and Christian frowned. Why would he want to be in close proximity? “Think, Chris,” Yuki said, his exasperated tone letting Christian know that he had guessed what the other man was thinking. “If he knows who you are, and he knows who I am, then it doesn’t matter if we’re together? And if we’re in different hotels, I still can’t tell when he’s nearby, in which case I might as well stay home.”

Christian sighed; it made sense, and he couldn’t believe he hadn’t thought of that before. “All right. It’ll take me another thirty-five minutes or so to get there, so I’ll just meet you there after you arrive.” Yuki replied with an affirmation, and they hung up.

Christian turned his eyes to the road, keeping his shields wrapped firmly around him. If this guy was following him, he really didn’t want to know. All he cared about now was reaching the hotel and figuring out where to go from there. He needed sleep, Yuki needed sleep, and this bastard needed to be put down.

If he had his way, Christian would see to it that the killer never set foot in a courtroom or jail cell, because he’d be buried six feet under instead. Christian was in no mood to play this guy’s game, and the unlucky culprit was about to find out just why he shouldn’t have messed with him.