TavesSoul - Issue 9: Life Interrupted

After the coffee portion of our night, Katelyn and I were off to the ‘walk’ portion of the evening. I personally have never quite understood woman’s fascination with walks, but on this occasion, I was all for it. Walking with a girl you liked was a hundred times better then just walking. As I drove there in my car, which Kate had boosted with hers, I turned over and over in my head whether I should tell Katelyn about my ability. I knew there was a risk to letting her know, as I didn’t know how she’d react to finding out that the guy that she’d be seeing could light up like a freaking star, but I also knew that the classic problems most comic characters had with their girlfriends came from not letting them know. Of course, this was real life, not a comic book.

As we pulled into the parking lot, and I parked the car in the barren lot, I made my choice. I had to tell her. Keeping a secret like this from someone you cared about, even if you thought it was best, just wasn’t right. She had a right to know what she was getting herself into by seeing me, and I couldn’t pretend that by keeping her out of the loop it would somehow protect her. That didn’t even make logical sense, no matter how much sense it made to me. She had to know, and had to understand the risks involved with seeing me. What happened after that, whether she thought I was insane, or thought that it was too much, well, I’d have to live with that. I got out the driver side door, as she got out of the passenger’s side. We both walked around the front of the car, starting to walk down the trail in front of us. Katelyn slipped her hand into mine as we walked, and hugged herself close to my arm.

“You were awfully quiet for you on the drive over, Mister. What’s going on in that oddly shaped head of yours?” she asked, smirking as she looked into my eyes.
“Oddly shaped? I can’t believe you think my beautiful head is oddly shaped,” I said, feigning offence. I started to pull away, but she held tight to my arm.
“Hey, don’t try that to get away from answering my question. What is going on in there?” she asked. She had stopped walking. I turned to her, and she stood there, outlined in the lamplight above her. The light caught her eyes, giving them that green shimmer, and her blond hair almost glowed. That lovely smile still light up her face, but I could read the concern in her eyes. God, she was beautiful. What the heck was she doing with a chap like me?
“Um, okay.. Listen, there’s something that I should tell you. You need to know it about me, before this goes any farther. It’s only right you know about it,” I said. The words just kind of rushed out. For the first time, I was truly nervous around her, and it showed.
“Jezz, Greg. Now you’ve got me all worried. Your not dying from some crazy disease like Ebola, and now you’ve infected me, so you just thought I should know that I was gonna die too?” she asked, her smile fading a bit, but still there. I walked over to the bench beside her, and sat down, looking at the ground with my hands pressed together, trying to gather the right words to say this. I could feel her sit down beside me, and she grabbed my hand in hers, and squeezed it. I looked up into her brown eyes, and they flashed green.
“Listen Greg, whatever it is, just tell me. I’m sure it’s not as bad as you think it is, and I promise that no matter what it is, I’m not going to run off.”

This was it, the moment I laid the cards on the table, but for some reason, the fear and anxiousness I’d been feeling fled me. I think it was the look in her eyes. Something in them told me that she was just as needing of me to trust her, as I was of needing to tell her.
“Listen, Kate. I know what I’m about to say will sound crazy, but if you just hear me out, I’ll prove it too you.” She nodded her head. “Okay… well, there’s no real amazing way to say this, so I guess I’ll just say it. I’ve got super..” I started to say, but suddenly I noticed that the noise I’d been hearing in the background was someone yelling, and it was coming closer. I looked up, and saw a man running towards us. He was barefoot, wearing pants, and what appeared to be a ladies jacket.

“Shit, why do I get all the crazy villians, “ I said, standing up. This was not the time. I couldn’t risk Katelyn getting hurt. I started to draw the light from the lamppost in, and then I finally recognized the face of the crazy man running at me.
“Ryan, what are you doing, man?” I asked, even as her still ran. By this time, Katelyn had stood up beside me, and I put my hand on her shoulder.
“Down now, hurry!” Ryan yelled. Instinctively, I pulled both me and Katelyn down, to the ground as Ryan ran by. I turned in time to see him hurdle the bench, and collide directly with a guy in a black trench coat, black pants, and army boots. Both of them went down in a heap on the other side of the bench, and I couldn’t tell what was happening. Shit, what kind of hero was I. I should have noticed that guy in my peripheral vision, but I was so focused on what I was saying. Thank goodness for Seguin. But why had he hit the guy, and not just toke him down with his telepathy. That was odd.

I stood up in time to see the guy stab at Seguin with his rather large and impressive looking knife, but I couldn’t react fast enough. I was still in some shock, when I saw the knife bend as it hit Ryan’s bare chest. “What the hell?” I muttered under my breath. Something new was clearly up with Ryan and his powers, I thought, although I’m not sure that explained why he was all Rambo’d up with no shirt and a woman’s coat.
“Greg, what’s going on? And who was that crazy man in the woman‘s jacket? I think I own that same coat.” I turned to see, Katelyn on the ground behind me, brushing the dirt off her skirt with one hand, as she held the other out to me. I rushed over and helped her up.
“Um, this is kind of what I was trying to tell you about,” I said. I held her, as I turned to see Ryan take a kick to the midsection. Clearly, the other guy had some training. Still, surprisingly, Ryan took the kick well, and hit him with a punch of his own. Still, I wasn’t sure this fight would end well. Heck, I wasn’t even sure what was up with Ryan. Time to end this. Time to try something new.

“This is what I was trying to tell you, Kate, but I guess I’ll just have to show you,” I whispered in her ear, as I let her go. I flashed into the army guy, and grabbed him. This was the fun part. I flew upward. I’d realized I could fly shortly after my escape from “the Agency”, or whatever they called themselves. I was both very flashy, and I hoped impressive. It was simple a matter of taking the idea of flashing from being a strictly horizontal idea, to a vertical one. The only problem was I wasn’t aware of how fast I was going. I let him go moments after take off, and flashed back down. The guy hit the ground quick, but I realized that I was higher then the 10 feet I thought I was. Luckily, the guy seemed to be like us, and he took the fall well, all things considered. He seemed to be unconscious, with maybe a few minor breaks. I guess I shouldn’t try that again till I can get my timing down on dropping guys.

“Show off,” Ryan smirked, as he turned to face me.
“Sorry, but it was taking too long,” I said, smirking back. “Man, how’d you take that knife? And where’s your shirt and shoes?” I paused, for comedic effect of course. “And is that a woman’s coat you’re wearing?”
Ryan chuckled, “It’s a really long story, for which we haven’t the time. It’s Swartz, he needs help, and fast.” Then he took off. It’s then that I saw Katelyn staring at me. There was a very confused look on her face, but at least she didn’t look mad. It was time to face the music, and explain to her what exactly was going on. Showing her was one thing, but without an explanation, it was useless. Just as I started to walk towards her, Ryan ran back in between us. He turned to me, “I know none of this make sense, but it will soon. Right now, we need you Taves. This assassin wasn’t the first, and he won’t be the last. We gotta go, so say your goodbyes. I’m sorry.” Great. So on top of explaining the powers and everything to her, I had to tell her I’d be gone for a bit, till we could sort this out. This clearly wasn’t my night.
“Give me a minute,” I said, talking to Ryan, but looking at Katelyn. She looked confused, and a little scared by what Ryan had said. Ryan turned to her then.
“By the way, I’m Alastor. Nice to meet you,” he said, doing a dramatic bow. He glanced back at me. “Nicely done, Taves. She’s hot.” He laughed. “I’m gonna go. Where’s your car Taves?” I pointed him to where I had parked. He took off there like a shot. Where was he getting all this energy from? Ryan wasn’t exactly a cross country runner. And what was up with that name? Alastor was it? These questions would have to wait for answers. Now was my time for answering someone else’s questions. I walked up to Katelyn, and hugged her. She hugged me back, tightly. We sat on the bench, and she grabbed my hand, holding it tight, and pulling it into her lap, where both our hands rested, intertwined. She placed her head on my shoulder.
“Seems you don’t have much time, honey, so why don’t you just give me the short version.” she said. Honey. She’d never given me such a sappy nickname before. Somehow, it felt like a bit of light in all of this. I recounted to her the discovery of my powers, my initial foray into crime fighting, and the fact that there were others out there like me, and people out to get us. I told her everything, from front to back. No short versions. When I was done, I turned to her, and she lifted her head, so we looked into each others eyes.

“So, I know it’s a lot, but what do you think?” I asked her, forcing a smile. I wasn’t to happy about the way all of this had gone down, but I couldn’t change that.
“I think you know what the right thing to do is. You need to help your friends, and you need to stop whoever it is that’s out to kill you guys,” she said. Tears were brimming her beautiful eyes, but she a smile crept onto her lips. “And, I think I like you more now that you’re a superhero. So go sort this out, okay?”
“Will do, sweetheart” I said. I pulled her close to me, and placed a kiss on her forehead.
“Just promise me two things, Mister,” she said. I could feel her tears falling onto my hand that was on her chin.
“Anything, Kate. Anything.”
“Good. First, come back safe. Don’t go acting all hero-y and get yourself shot up and such. I’m just getting to know you again, and I’d hate to be attending a funeral soon. I’m far too busy with school for that,” she said. We both laughed at that. “And secondly, promise you’ll take me on a fly when you get back. I think I’ve earned that much, for absorbing all this craziness in one night. Her eyes flashed, as I gazed at them.”
“That’s a promise, Kate. Although, I’ll have to work on the not dropping you thing, since clearly I wasn’t so good at that with the army guy.” I smiled, and she pulled me in for a hug, clenching my tightly.
“Okay, well then you better be going, Mister. Don’t worry about me. I’ve got free bus fare, so I’ll just bus back to Williams. Just make sure you call me once you’ve got this all sorted out, okay,” she said, standing up.
“You’ll be the first person I call,” I said. We hugged again, and said our goodbyes, and I walked towards my car.

I didn’t like the fact that things had gone the way they had, but I was pleasantly surprised with how it had brought us together. We were much closer now than we’d been, so maybe this was all part of some greater design. Of course, the fact I’d have to be gone till the guys and I could figure this all out wasn’t my favourite thing, but I couldn’t change what had to happen. Hopefully it wouldn’t last more then a week or two. I walked up to the car where Seguin waited, and we both got in. As we drove away, he explained to me what had happened.
“So, Ryan’s bleeding on your neighbour’s couch, needing a doctor?” I said, trying to grasp what all of this meant. Suddenly, a thought came to me. If they attacked Swartz at the mall, I wonder what happened to…
“What about Lyle?” I asked Ryan. He looked at me puzzled.
“Who?”