Grey

By: CestLindor

folder Original - Misc › -Slash - Male/Male

Rating: Adult +

Chapters: 15

Views: 10,823

Reviews: 73

Recommended: 0

Currently Reading: 4

Category: Original - Misc › -Slash - Male/Male

Rating: Adult +

Chapters: 15

Views: 10,823

Reviews: 73

Recommended: 0

Currently Reading: 4

Disclaimer: This is a work of fiction. Any resemblance of characters to actual persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental. The Author holds exclusive rights to this work. Unauthorized duplication is prohibited.

Razzia

Grey

Chapter Five: Razzia

Heart pounding, eyes still widening from the scary possibility that we might all get caught by the government tonight, we ran after the maid back to the staircase down to the basement. Vivian lead us past the reception room with the divans and down a barely lit hallway that ended in a dead end though with a small door probably leading to a storeroom on one side.

Vivian looked in the opposite direction from the little door and began moving her hands along the wall. From upstairs we could hear someone knocking on the front doors, slamming with the same authority like a judge’s hammer to conclude their judgment.

,,Where is it…” Vivian murmured to herself, her fingers getting more and more frantic as she searched for something. She let out a hysterical whine and began pounding on the wall with the flat of her palm. ,,Oh, my God, oh, my God, oh, my God… Not now-”

The front doors were opened by the other maid in the house, and though we couldn’t hear which words were uttered up there, we could hear more than one voice yelling through the doorway.

,,Is it mechanical?” I asked Vivian and put my palm against the wood. Even before Vivian nodded I knew that it was. I felt it immediately – a small tug of something with an electrical pulse. When I made contact with it and closed my eyes I went almost speechless. In all my years at a topnotch research facility with access to all the files and databases – though that had only happened recently for me – I was impressed. The mechanics of this lock was much more intricate than just a hideout.

I gently pulled and pressed on the sensitive things. Even I – with my Talent, that is – had to be careful or I would make it lock itself up. If that happened I would never be able to get it open.

After what felt like minutes, but most have been merely seconds, I found out that the only way of opening it up and not risking it shutting down was to press at a little point in the wood. Immediately my hand shut out, I pressed the hidden button, and when I opened my eyes, a little square of the wall had turned outward. There was a room in there.

Vivian sighed in relief and rubbed her forehead. ,,Go in there. Now. There are lights but you shouldn’t turn them on in case it is seem from out here in the darkness. Be completely still – it is not soundproof. Understood?”

We all nodded and scurried into the hidden room. When Norewood was last in, Vivian closed the door and I could feel her pressing on the hidden button to make sure it was locked. Then the only thing heard in the darkness was her retreating footsteps and the shallow, frantic breaths from our little room.

It was a small room, and I gathered that there weren’t any windows in there. I could hear the creaking of someone sitting down on a bed in one of the corners of the room. Seemed like this room was also made for persons having to hide in an extended period of time.

In the dark I felt arms suddenly encircling my waist. Startled, but with a suspicion that I already knew who it was, I turned around to find a pair of shining, yellow slitted eyes staring at me. ,,Jeff…” I tried to wrench myself free but he didn’t budge for one second. He just made a shh-sound and buried his nose in the crook of my neck, inhaling slowly.

Although I would never admit it to anyone in this room, his arms around me felt kind of… reassuring. As soon as the thought occurred to me I shrugged it off and finally got myself out of his arms. I turned around so I stood facing the glowing feral eyes. ,,Why do you do that, Jeff?” I hissed, not caring that the others in the room could hear me. Right now, in the darkness, it truly felt like we were completely alone.

Although the only thing I could see was Jeff’s eyes, I knew he was frowning. ,,Grey…” Oh, he sounded evasive.

,,Tell me why you do that. If it has anything to do with that you saw me and Shawn break up, I’ll have you know that I am not-”

,,Shh!” Mary hissed suddenly. ,,Have your lovers’ quarrel some other time! They’re coming down the stairs so be quiet!”

Just then I could hear feet shuffling down the stairs to the basement and my eyes shot toward the hidden entrance. My muscles tensed, my breath hitched and although I knew the police couldn’t see us, I stood completely still.

When Jeff’s arms reached around me again I tried to get out of them – for a short while. Jeff simply tightened his hold until I gave up. With his front against my back he could easily delve into my neck and sniff.

,,You just smell so good,” Jeff finally answered in a whispered voice so low that only I would be able to hear him. ,,The para scent is much more dominant in you, but the human smell is not entirely gone either. Both are good scents, but together… It’s almost addicting.” He finished his whispering sentence with another deep intake of my smell. ,,It makes me want be able to smell you all the time.”

I fought the urge to break free and tell him that that was probably what he told all the paras he rescued, but considering the fact that there was a police razzia going on behind the hidden door, I stayed silent and stayed put. For now.

As we could hear the police come nearer we could also decipher what they said.

,,There’s a door at the end here, sir,” one man said on the other side, probably pointing towards the little door opposite the hidden one.

,,Go search it,” another man said sounding like he was used to giving orders.

,,That is just a storage room, Mr. Thayer,” Proctor suddenly cut in, his voice a little more distant, probably standing by the reception room.

I could hear the others in our room take in a deep breath, and Jeff tightened his arms around me. ,,A hunter,” Jeff whispered in my ear and then fell quiet once again.

Thayer didn’t seem to acknowledge Proctor at all as he repeated his order in a gruff voice. ,,Go. Search. The. Room.”

More steps getting closer had Jeff slowly backing us both away from the door.

,,Mr. Thayer,” Proctor spoke up again. ,,I’m afraid you still haven’t answered my question about why are you here having a surprise inspection at my home. You interrupted a dinner with my family-”

The hunter interrupted him with a snarl, and I could imagine the man turning toward the diplomat with a dangerous expression that matched the emotions displayed in his voice. ,,I’m sure you did, Proctor, but I heard something suspicious was going down here. With all the fucking freak paras walking in and out of this place, you can’t know whether some of them are uncontrolled.”

,,Mr. Thayer, I hope you know I will speak to chief inspector Gannon about your discriminate behavior! I greet all souls coming here with the same welcome. But I am not willing to let a man in when he is insulting me and mine – without a search warrant. I am afraid you and your colleagues will have to go, Thayer.”

For a moment everyone held their breath. I found myself actually squeezing Jeff’s arm as the tension blew from the hallway and into the hideout. If this Mr. Thayer was a hunter couldn’t he just attack Proctor and then tell the public that Proctor attacked him – or something? Or was Proctor already too powerful for the hunter to do that?

A large collective outlet of breath seemed to go through the hideout as Thayer spoke to his men in some kind of comm. He was calling them back, and we could hear him, his man, and Proctor going back to the stair and up again.

Soon after we heard the shuffling of feet from upstairs indicating that the police was on their way out of the diplomat’s house. When everything grew quiet around us again I dared to wrench free of Jeff’s embrace – though I had to admit to myself that his arms had been soothing for a short, very short amount of seconds during the razzia.

,,Do you think-” Before Norewood could carry out his sentence they heard hurrying feet going down the stairs, and though everyone in our little hideout was sure that it was Vivian and Proctor, we still held our breaths until the door opened to reveal the smiling face of Proctor gesturing for us to come outside again.

,,Well, now my plan of showing you my part of the city is ruined,” Proctor said with a bitter joy in his voice. ,,With a hunter roaming around and watching, it is best if you stay inside and avoid windows.”

We walked up the stairs and continued into the entrée where Vivian was just coming down from the stairs to the upper story. She gave us all a relieved smile, nodded at Proctor and then moved to the dining room and the kitchen.

,,If no one is against it, I will lead you to our guest rooms so you can get some sleep.” Proctor gestured toward the stairs and led the way. The stairs mouthed out to a platform giving access to two hallways, each with doors on both sides and a huge floor-to-ceiling window at the end of the hallway, giving an almost panorama view of the big city at night beyond.

We were each given a room of our own down one of the halls while Proctor said that the other hall contained his family’s bedrooms.

Jeff took the room beside mine and I could feel his eyes boring into my back when I went into my room and closed the door behind me.

Silence embraced me when I was finally alone. I leaned up against the door and closed my eyes, took a deep relaxing breath. This was the first, truly quiet moment of these last couple of days. I was finally alone, with no one watching me over my shoulder, telling me what to do, and no one was seemingly chasing me, though I knew that was not completely true.

Slowly, I moved into the room and looked at it. It was furnished with only the most important that you needed; a single bed, a bed table with a lamp, and a small dresser. All was built from light tree and the upholstery and bed linen was white. There was a small window above the dresser, but the curtains had been drawn – probably by Vivian just before we were led up here.

I sighed in relief and fell onto the bed, not bothering with changing out of my clothes or getting in between the sheets. The temperature was just right, and I was too tired to bother changing anyway. It took merely seconds before my body gave in to exhaustion and I was embraced by sleep.

A dark room… There wasn’t any light… The walls were of wood, the light that was sometimes there was a candle. I could do nothing… I lay in a bed most of the time. Where was I? Who was here other than me? The uniformed persons weren’t here – I knew it. But who was here with me?

A single light was lit and a single man stood by a window, looking at me with what seemed like hope in his eyes. But they were sad, too. He shook his head when he saw me stare at him. There was something different about him… He was familiar. He was like me in a way, but still, he was different…

It was cold out. Probably in the middle of December. Throughout the entire city Christmas décor had been set up, and you could already see people looking at the Christmas sales for the proper presents to buy. But that was when you looked during the daytime. Now it was night. It was colder, and not many were still outside.

We sat up on the fire escape of an apartment building, looking through the mirrors of another building. Our target tonight. It was one of the taller blocks, with windows for walls, elaborate, elegant; rich.

,,C’mon, Jackson!” the boy beside me said with a hungry glint in his eyes, smiling at me with the two missing front teeth visible. ,,Do your magic so Fred and Vin can get in.” He clasped his hands together and nudged them under his armpits to better stand the cold.

I looked toward the building again. Down at the entrance I could see two other boys waiting for the electronic doors to open for them. Smiling proudly I reached out my hand, palm turned toward the glass building. Without much concentration I got into the mechanical waves of the buildings. I unlocked all doors and saw the two boys run in.

Ben – the boy beside me was named Ben – whooped in triumph and shook my shoulder with a broad smile. ,,That’s it, Jackson! You genius! We’re gonna get rich! We’re gonna get rich! We’re- Jackson, RUN!”

By his terrified expression, I turned around and my blood turned to ice – not because of the cold, but because of what I saw.

There they were! The persons who still made me turn around in a fit when I slept. They didn’t wear the uniforms now, but by the way they looked at me with their condescending crooked smiles, I knew they had seen me. They had seen me use my power! Shit!

I turned and followed Ben down the fire escape stairs and onto the streets. But even as I began running, I knew it was too late. I was going to get caught! Again…

I was free. Almost. As free as any para could ever be in this world. I had a job, but I was required to take pills.

I was alone. I knew that if I looked for my family, then the uniformed persons would find me as well. I had to forget about them… My mother… dark hair and blue eyes… The older man and woman always smiling at me… I had to forget them, too.

So I took the pills. Everything was better than the uniformed persons and their white plastic cells. So I forgot.

The room was white and barely furnished. Everything was made of plastic and the lights were battery-driven. I had no control of anything in the room. That was how they held me. That was how they made sure I didn’t run off.

The uniformed persons would come in any minute. They would put a needle through my skin, and I would begin to feel tired, and then they would probe and touch and examine! How I hated it here! I had to get away. I simply had to…

I was a child again. Playing in my room. The electric train drove by itself without the help of the batteries. My mother was so proud. She sat beside me, playing with my hair so alike her own, smiling.

It was evening, and I was soon going to bed, but I just wanted to play a little longer. Just a little bit. When my mother gathered me up, I resisted, but only for a few seconds, then I nudged closer to her and breathed in her soothing scent and I relaxed, buried my small fingers in her hair.

She carried me to bed, kissed my forehead and waited beside me until I was asleep…

I woke up with tears running down my cheeks. My head hurt as if it had been pounded on for hours by a horse’s back hooves, and I realized that I was weeping. I tried to hold back the sounds of sorrow passing through my lips, but I found it impossible. My cheeks were soon soaked in saltwater tears and I buried my face in the pillow to stifle the sounds at least a little bit.

My head was hurting. It felt as if it was about to explode. The pictures and knowledge from the dreams was like a file too large for the selected computer to load. I tried uselessly to push the Delete button but it was impossible. The dreams pressed on, harder and harder, until I just surrendered and turned around. I lay on the bed with open eyes and stared at nothing.

Was that my lost memories coming back to me via my dreams? Most of them were awful. They made me shiver with fear and I wished I could forget them again. But then there was my childhood memory. My mother. Not one time in the dream had I actually studied her features but I remembered her presence, her black long hair and her dark blue eyes. I realized I had got them both from her. Though I was still crying, I smiled.

I wondered if I would get all my memories back now? One by one in a jumbled order and without a proper context?

I shivered and thought back to the uniformed people. What had they wanted? Were they the reason why I wasn’t with my family? My mother? I felt so confused. Would this happen every time I fell asleep from now on? I would be thrown through the awakened memories no matter how much those memories would hurt me?

I shivered and suddenly feared the night and the prospect of sleep. But wasn’t the feeling of a nightmare a small prize to pay in exchange for getting back my memories? Perhaps I could find my family! My former friends! I would find out how I ended up at Ayers’ company, too. Though I had an idea that I had seen it as a last resort for freedom. But why would I want to forget about my family?

I was so confused! I stayed up for hours pondering through it when there was finally a knock on the door and the maid Vivian looked in. She gave me a small smile and said that breakfast was ready, and that the others were waiting for me.

Taking a deep breath to stabilize my mind I stood up, and immediately the headache hit me again. I winced and closed my eyes, trying to battle the pain with my mind. It was in vain to completely be rid of it all, but at least I could think again after a few minutes.

Walking slowly – as if any sudden movement might trigger the headache into attacking with all its power again – I went down the stairs and into the dining room where the others sat.

Jeff, Norewood and Zeke seemed to zone out a little – as if this was way too early in the morning for them to be up and about – while Mary was once again engaged in conversation with Leonora. Proctor sat by the head of the table with Sam who seemed to be ready for school. From his posture beside his father I guessed he was already done eating and about to say goodbye to his father.

Just before the boy left he waved to the other paras and turned towards me – only noticing me in the doorway now. His entire face lit up with joy and before I could do anything, he actually hugged me close and his smile broadened when I hugged him back briefly.

,,Good morning, Grey!” he beamed at me and took a step back. ,,I hope you’ll come back here sometime, so we can see an aircraft show together!” Then he turned and waved one more time before he went out into the entrée. ,,Goodbye, Grey!”

A little bit baffled by the boy’s adoration for me shown so openly, I took the rest few steps into the dining room and took the offered seat beside Proctor.

,,Seems like your knowledge of air planes has captured my son thoroughly, Grey,” Proctor said, smiling broadly. ,,Indeed you must come and visit Samuel again sometime.”

I tried to smile but knew it had turned out like a grimace instead. I nodded slowly and turned my attention toward the food on the table. ,,I’d be glad to.” Although I had no appetite what so ever, I reached out and filled my plate, picking at the food afterward.

My mind went back to my dreams. I had once been with my mother, my family. After that I must have been caught by the uniformed persons. Then I had lived on the streets, using my Talent, with Ben, Fred and Vin – and I had gone by the name Jackson. Then I had been caught again. And then I had started working for Ayers. Although I thought that was the right chronology, I could never be completely sure, and I had no idea when the wooden hut and the sad man had happened in my life. Everything was so jumbled that I would rather leave it be at the moment and not think it through, but I knew that I would never get my curiosity sated if I didn’t get to the bottom of this.

For the first time looking up from my still half full plate I caught the eyes of Leonora looking at me with intense eyes. When she saw me look up, she gave me a small reassuring smile, as if she knew that I was troubled by something. Then she moved her hand a gesture that just said, ‘Everything will turn out fine.’ And then she looked back at Mary and answered her in their conversation.

For the first time since meeting Proctor’s wife, I wondered about her Talent. Was she an empath like Proctor? Was that how she had noticed my state of mind? Suddenly realizing that Proctor must also have noticed it, I cast a glance at him through my eyelashes.

Although Proctor was talking to Zeke and Norewood about something, I could feel him also glancing toward me from the edge of his vision. I ignored him and simply looked down at my foot again. From my other side I could feel Jeff observing me, too, with an intense gleam in his deep, dark eyes.

Could he read my expression, my mind, too, as if I was an open book?

,,Grey?” Jeff said and leant over the table toward me, reaching out one of his hands. ,,Are you okay, Grey?” he asked, concern marred on his face.

I withdrew my hand in time for him not to touch it. It felt as if he would be able to read my mind if he touched me. I looked up briefly and caught his eyes before I looked down again and busied myself with my food. I shrugged my shoulders without looking up again. ,,I’m fine. Just… couldn’t sleep.”

I looked up once, though, through my lashes and saw him give me a knowing look, and for a moment I was afraid he had heard me this morning, crying, weeping. One more look of concern from his dark eyes told me he had. I kept my head down and ate the rest without uttering another word. At least he hadn’t told anything to the others.

When breakfast was over, Proctor said we could borrow his bathrooms and get a shower. He also promised us some clean clothes that we could take with us to Portobello Road.

,,We have more than enough here,” Proctor smiled and asked Vivian and the other maid, Erika, to get everything ready.

Just before I headed out, following Proctor and the rest, Leonora stepped up beside me. She placed her hand on my shoulder and then looked at me as if I was the puzzle with the 5.000+ pieces she had set out to put together.

,,You’re confused now,” she said, and only the little voice in the back of my head telling me to be polite to her kept me from saying, No shit, Sherlock. She smiled knowingly as if I had really said it, and then withdrew her hand. ,,I am sure it will all make sense to you one day. Just give it time.” Then she nodded and moved to leave the dining room.

Moving fast, I grabbed her arm before she had the chance of disappearing again. ,,How do you know that?” I asked, wide-eyed. ,,Are you empathic, like your husband?”

She looked down at my hand apprehending her from going with a frown, and I released her. Then she gave me a tight smile. ,,No, and yes. I can read… emotions – but only when I touch a person. If a person is feeling a certain… emotion very strongly, then I can read it without physical contact. But now I must go, Grey.”

She disappeared, and I ran after the others upstairs and took a much-needed shower. When I got into the adjoining bedroom afterward I found new clothes spread out for me, and there was no sign of my prior clothes – the clothes from Ayers’ company consisting of a black pair of pants and a black long-sleeved shirt, both a couple of sizes too big for me.

What I found on the bed was just my size; a pair of black denim pants and a dark red T-shirt with a black smiley print on the front. I moved in front of the mirror, and for the first time since that evening I had stopped taking Pheriodoxin did I look at myself and search for the effects.

Immediately I saw how much healthier my skin looked – no longer that sick pale pallor, but more like a light color with a lively blush from the hot shower on my cheeks. And my cheeks were no longer sunk in, my eyes shone more brightly though they were a dark blue. For the first time in my life – that I remembered, for now – did I appreciate what I saw.

I was on the taller side of average height, and though I had no bulging muscles, mine were long and lean. My hair reached just beyond my shoulders, and they were no longer merely straws with no life. It looked as if my hair had gained some volume and framed my face just right. The cheekbones were high, I had a straight nose and plumb lips – compared to earlier, at least – and a small chin, but a straight jawline.

Now in a much better mood, I got out of the room and went down to the entrée where I found Jeff waiting for me. Apparently I was the last one done.

Jeff hadn’t really changed much with the shower; his hair was wet, but it still curled above his shoulders, and he wore a white T-shirt and a pair of dark blue denim pants. When he saw me, he grabbed my arm, and before I could do anything about it, he drew me flush against his chest and took a deep breath of my scent.

,,Jeff,” I said harshly, a warning in my voice.

Jeff merely smiled his droopy smile before he let me go. Then he pointed toward the hallway where I knew the staircase was to the basement. ,,Shall we? The others are waiting, and I think Raven is already here.”

Raven? I asked myself, but then I remembered. She was another para – she was the one supposed to take us to Portobello Road!

Now, it was finally it, I thought and almost ran down the stairs behind Jeff, who moved with equal excitement. We were finally going to Portobello Road.

When we got there I could hear a loud voice. A young woman’s voice.

Inside the reception room Proctor and Zeke sat across from each other in two of the divans while Mary and Norewood stood with the woman who were speaking. They all had big smiles with clear recognition. The woman was tall with long legs. Her skin was a very dark tan and she had black small curls, and I realized she was mulatto. She wore a black short tight skirt and a white button-up a little bit too big. Her afro-hair was like a microphone head around her head – making her look like she came right out of a magazine form the 80’s.

As soon as she saw us her smile brightened and she gestured wildly with her hands before setting them at her hips. She tapped one of her feet impatiently. ,,If everyone is ready… Who wants a ride?”

The only thing I could think of was whether every teleporter para spoke like that at a first meeting.

Hi, everyone! I hope you enjoyed the chapter :D Please R&R - I wanna hear what you think! ^^

Thx for the rates and reviews - they really made my day xD

smint45; Thx for your review! I'm so glad you think Proctor's Talent got right! I thought about that one for hours before I found out he should be an empath ;D If you remember the first chapter, Blake told Grey over the internet that he was a changer ^^ I try to update as often as I can, but it'll be at least three-four days between each update... I hope you have a good vacation! See you around ;o)

Moshee; thx for your review! I'm glad you're liking this story so far! :o) And thanx for notifying me on the grammar error! If there is one thing I am lousy at, it is were/was! Hope you like this chap as well ^^

FortunateM; Thanx for your review! It's really fun reading about your thoughts on the story :o) I hope you got a little more clearance in this chapter but not so much that I have revealed all the mysteries xD

twilightserius; Haha! Thx for your review! You'll just have to wait and see what happens next xD Hope you like this chapter as well ^^

Andrea; Well, I strive to make most of the characters a little more complex than what meets the eye - I am glad you are doubtful about what to think of Proctor, hehe xD And, well, Leonora is a para, too :3 And now Grey's past is catching up to him - at least a little by the time ;D Hope you like this chapter, too ^^

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