No. 11: Phantoms in the Night

No. 11: Phantoms in the Night

Too many things were going on in her head for her to actually be able to know where she was, or where she was going.
Tears stung her eyes, fogging up her vision.
She angrily brushed them out, and stopped running. Knowing she had run long enough that Brandon wouldn't have followed her.
Kaleigh let out a shaky breath and tried to get her heart beat back down to normal.
She looked around and tried to figure out her surroundings. The sun had fallen, and all the street lights were lighting up the sidewalk that laid out in front of her from where she stood in an alley.
Taking shaky steps, she moved forward to get a better idea of where she was.
When she saw the Capitol Building, a feeling of both relief and slight anxiety filled her chest.
"Did I really run that far?" She whispered to herself, setting off down the street.
The streets were never truly empty, but they seemed less full then they had just a few hours ago. But any sane person would be relaxing at home at this hour.

Her breath came out in little puffs of clouds in front of her as she hiked up the hill to the center of the city. She needed to get to the outskirts, and she didn't have any money to take a bus.
Her hands came in contact with something cool and she stopped abruptly in middle of the sidewalk. People cursed as they ran into her, telling her to keep moving, but she didn't listen.
Kale pulled out the iPhone and sighed. She had forgotten all about it, and that meant she'd have to see Brandon again in order to return it.
She shoved it into her back pocket and pulled out her own phone.
The call with Venn hadn't gone well, but he eventually said he'd come pick her up at the bus stop on South Avenue.
Once she knew where she was suppose to go, she nodded and ran across the street quickly before the sign changed.
"Now just to get there." She mumbled.

Being a sixteen year old girl, walking around downtown DC wasn't the best idea, but she couldn't do anything about that except pull the hood of her sweatshirt and hunch her shoulders, hoping no one would notice her. It didn't matter in the end, they saw her anyways.

.:+++:.

Stryder watched from the shadows, trying to shake off the feeling that something bad was going to happen.
Everything had gone the way he had expected, except her running off into the dark. He had cursed her rash ways but followed her, leaving the idiot to stand there gaping after her.

The hair on the back of his neck had been standing on end for the past two blocks, and he knew she felt it too by the way she kept glancing over her shoulder and avoiding people as much as possible.
He too, had been keeping an eye on the people flowing around them but didn't notice anyone that gave her a second glance.

She was stopped at the mouth of an alley. She glanced around nervously, but no one was paying her any attention. Except him of course, but she never saw him. He made sure of that.
She took in a deep breath and plunged into the darkness with the brave heart of a lioness.
He followed quietly, dreading the fact that she had decided to go down a dark alley.
You'd think all those horror films would be running through her head right now. What kind of idiot would go down an alley at night?! He argued with himself.
But he didn't know that he was right.

Things happened just like they would in one of those horror films.
Stryder didn't notice them until it was almost too late.
Two dark figures walked calmly out of the shadows, seeming to melt off the dark walls.
Kaleigh paused in her steady step when she saw them. When they made their way towards her she turned on her heel and started walking towards him, and the end of the alley she had just come through.
Stryder's mind was spinning.
Yeah, his contract said he wasn't to make contact, but he had already broken that rule. However, he highly doubted that his employers would mind stepping in before something really bad happened.
Too late.

The men called to her, making her jump, but she didn't hesitate to run.
The men chased after her, surprising both Kaleigh and Stryder by how fast they were. It didn't take them long to catch her, Kaleigh thrashed and tried screaming.
Stryder saw the hankie come out of one of them men's pocket and knew he had to do something now.
He ran to the man and kicked the hankie out of his hand while grabbing his arm and twisting it behind his back.
With a low crack, he dislocated the man's arm and shoved him into the wall.
He didn't have time to think before the other man was on him.
His right cross stung Stryder's jaw. The man was strong, and the blow sent Stryder spinning into the wall.
The instincts that started to boil to the surface scared him. He hated those instincts. The instincts to use something alien, to harness it and bend it to his will.
No! He shouted, shaking his head and trying his best to push the instinct back. He couldn't use that. There was no telling what would happen if he did....last time he had used that...things hadn't turned out well.

The man advanced on him, and Stryder pushed away from the wall, trying to get back into position. But his vision was starting to black out and his head was still ringing.
Kaleigh screamed, breaking his concentration. The man took the opportunity and dished out several punches.
Kale didn't know what to do, but that alien feeling was back. She didn't want it there but she also knew she didn't want Stryder to get beaten up, so she let her instincts take over.
She jumped in between the two men and braced herself for the punch she knew would come since the man was in mid swing and it was too late to stop the blow.
What she didn't expect was the instinct to take over her body.
The feeling of electricity ran through her like she was made of water, the currents coursing through everything and coming out angry.
A bubble began to form around her, growing bigger faster then she could see. She watched as the man's arm went through it, but the volts were bit back at him, sending electric currents through his arm.

Stryder saw it all happen, but he also saw another figure jump down from the roof, only the sign of the orange baseball cap kept him from jumping him too.
Once he saw it was the idiot again, he took this as his queue to leave. He didn't want Kaleigh asking question.

The man howled in pain and jumped away. Kaleigh's chest was rising and falling fast, the force field gone as soon as it wasn't needed anymore. Leaving her exhausted and tired.
She didn't notice Stryder slip away, but she did notice the bright orange cap that showed when the man suddenly collapsed in front of her.
To be completely honest to herself, she was never more happier to see someone before.
"Do you believe me now?" Brandon asked.
She nodded and tried to hide the tears that were falling.
"Come on. Your brothers are probably going to kill me." He muttered, offering his hand.
She was so weary, she knew she couldn't walk with out help. So she took it gratefully, barely even noticing the spark that pricked her skin when she met his.
As soon as the feeling of safety washed over her, her guard dropped and so did all the anxiety and tension.
"Whoa!" Brandon caught her as she collapsed against him, suddenly feeling so tired her legs couldn't hold her up.
"I'm sorry..." She whispered, barely keeping her eyes open. "...I don't know what came over me."
Brandon nodded and held her weight.
"You probably shouldn't have done something so drastic for your first time." He answered. Scooping her up, and ignoring her weakly protests.
"But I will say that force field was pretty darn impressive." He glanced down at her face, her head laying against his shoulder. She smiled though her eyes were closed.
"Yay, I can be Violet now....if only I could turn invisible."

.:+++:.

Brandon was right when he said her brothers would kill him.
When he drove into the drive way he only met Cliff, who blew a gasket when he saw what looked like an unconscious sister.
Brandon tried to pick her up again, but Cliff stopped him, doing it himself.
"Don't touch her." He growled, the glow in his eye deadly.
Kale was in that place where she felt like she was asleep, but was still conscious of everything going on around her. She knew Cliff was carrying her, she also knew that Brandon was following them into the house even though Cliff kept telling him to leave.
She knew she'd have to be the peace maker or it could get ugly.
She forced to wake up completely, to get out of the fog and actually open her eyes.
When she glanced around she saw that she was now lying on her bed. Trying to ignore the sleepiness in her she rolled out of the bed and stumbled to the door.
She could hear three boys arguing quiet loudly. Groaning she sent up a prayer of peace and opened the door.

Cliff and Venn, who had come home as soon as Cliff had called that she was back, were ganging up on Brandon who was desperately trying to explain things, though it was obvious negotiations weren't going well.
"Would you all just shut up?" She asked. Her voice so quiet and insignificant that it was sad.
The boys heard her, however, just like they always have.
"Kaleigh." Venn's eyes were full of concern as he ran over to keep her from falling. She held up a hand telling him to back off.
Finding her strength she stood up strait and walked over to the two other boys.
"Now all of you go sit down." She ordered.
The boys looked at her like she was insane. But she was in no mood to play.
"Now." Her tone told them to obey or they'd be in huge trouble.
Cliff sat on the couch, Venn took the arm chair, and Brandon took a bar stool.
Kaleigh took a deep breath and moved so she could see all of them with out turning.
"Brandon had nothing to do with what happened tonight." She started, but was immediately cut off.
"What happened tonight?!" Cliff asked angrily. Kale glared at him.
"Well if you'd shut up long enough I'd tell you." She snapped. Brandon eyed her a moment and she saw the look.
"Are you sure....that's such a good idea?" He asked.
Her small shoulders shrugged. "They'd find out sooner or later right? You said they were one of us didn't you?"
Brandon nodded and gestured for her to go on.

And she did. Telling them everything Brandon had told her and everything that had happened after.
She could tell by the looks her brothers gave her that they didn't believe her. Brandon tried to back her up but they declared that it was all stupid and ordered Brandon out.
Kaleigh sighed and knew it was a lost cause.
"Sorry it didn't work." Brandon apologized when she walked him to the door. She shrugged.
"I didn't believe it 'til it happened to me. So that means they probably wont either."
Brandon nodded and stepped outside.
"I'll see you tomorrow." He said.
"Tomorrow?"
He grinned. "Yeah. Now that you know about us, you've got to learn who we are, and what to do, before you go and electrocute someone so bad their heart stops beating."
Kaleigh glared at him and his playful smile.
"That is not funny." Her hands moved to her sweatshirt pocket and she felt something metal.
"Oh hey!" She cried, running out the door after him. "You forgot this." She handed him his phone back.
"Thanks. See you later." He got on his bike and started it up.
"Yup. Bye." Kale waved before heading back into the house.