No. 15: Help the Outcast

No.15: Help the Outcast

Stryder let out a sigh and rubbed away the on coming headache.
The letter was weighing him down like an anvil in his pocket.
He shook his head and tried to force his mind to concentrate on the triplets, who were eating at McDonalds in the mall.
He had ordered himself a chocolate milkshake and tried to busy himself with a comic book so he didn't seem obvious.
Kaleigh acted normal enough around her brothers he thought. He knew she had tried to tell her brothers what the idiot told her. But he also knew they didn't believe her.
When he had seen her face at that moment, something stirred up in him. It had scared him at first because it was a foregn feeling. But he found that it wasn't at all connected with what he was. It was a human feeling, he had seen it plenty of times in their eyes. He just hoped he was able to hide it better than everyone else.

Kaleigh and her brothers walked out of Mickey D's and strolled through the mall for a little while. Stryder always kept back like usual, observing them from a distance.
Cliff seemed quiet and seccluded, where as Venn was loud and roudy. he seemed to take it upon himself to keep everyone happy and their minds off depressing stuff.
That's got to be a pain in the butt. Stryder grumbled to himself.

But it didn't matter how hard he tried, he couldn't keep his eyes from wandering back to Kaleigh.
Her senses were heightening, it wasn't hard to tell. She kept glancing around when ever he got to close, but she was new, she didn't know how to use her power.
Not like he could talk.
She was very energetic and full of life. She still clutched her vintage camera to her chest as if it was her life line, but it hardly ever left her eye.
Her laughter stood out to him over the dull hum of everyone else in the mall as she listened to her brother retell her his adventure hunting for an old car.
Silver necklaces shone when her neck moved -
"Get your head out of the clouds Stryder!" He barked at himself.
"Hey guys I'll be right back," Kaleigh said. "I'll meet you at the arcade."
The boys nodded a little hesitantly, but when she urged them to go on, they finally left.
Stryder blended into a wave of teenagers, ducking his head and kept his eyes off her as she passed.
But he couldn't ignore the hard hand gripping his arm, pulling him along away from the teenage crowd and into an exit hall.
"What the heck?!"
He found himself pinned up against the wall with a girl smaller than him keeping him there.
Kaleigh's blue and silver eyes shone bright and fierce, showing what kind of soul she had.
One that probably wouldn't appreciate being stalked. He thought grimly.
"You. Again." She said through gritted teeth. "What is with you and why are you following me?"
"What makes you think I'm following you?"
She cocked a perfectly arched eyebrow, keeping her arm pinned across his chest, her fingers touched the silver necklaces on her throat.
"Think these are just for decorations? I saw you looking at them. Though I'm not entirly sure it was just them you were looking at but I'm not even going to go there." She growled. "So, unless you actually want to know what these are, I suggest you start talking."
For the first time since he had known her, he saw that she wasn't just the pretty, dainty girl she looked like. That was just a shell, and it was proven with the strength she was using to keep him pinned. Stryder had spent most of his life body building, ever since he was twelve. And here comes this girl, who probably hasn't been at it long, pinning him against a wall using nothing else but her own body!
He couldn't wrap his mind around it.
Kale got impatient and used her free hand to punch his stomach. Feeling slightly guilty when she did, but quickly reminded herself that he had been stalking her. He was probably some kind of pervert and deserved it.
But then again, he did know what Brandon was going to tell her so maybe there was more to him than met the eye.
"You're not talking." She said.
"Okay, geez. You didn't have to punch me fore it." He said, trying to breath.
"Payback."
He met her gaze and nodded.
"Fare enough. Now would you mind easing up a little?" It wasn't that he wouldn't be able to push her off, he was stronger, but he thought being polite might go a father distance.
She did ease up, but not too much.
"Why are you following me?" She asked.
"It's my job."
"You're job? What kind of sick, sadistic person would follow a sixteen year old girl around a mall?!"
"Okay first off, I'm not a sadistic person, I'm only seventeen!"
"That does not mean you're not a pervert. Most seventeen year old guys are."
"And yet you're the one pinning me to the wall." He pointed out, holding her gaze steady. His words did exactly what he wanted them to do. She glared at him but moved away.
Kaleigh didn't like the fact that he could get away, so she unwound her necklaces and held the silver whip in her hand nimbly, knowing exactly what to hit and how to move her body to get the right angle if he were to run.
"Now, first off I can't actually tell you who hired me. Need to know basis and you don't need to know." Stryder went on to explain, running his hand through his black curls. There was something unnerving about his eyes. They were just black holes. She couldn't see the difference from the dark brown they must be and the pupil, she began to wonder if he even had pupils.
"But all I know is that I was hired to watch out for you." He finished.
"Watch out for me? As in be my guardian angle sort of thing? Or just simply take creepy pictures and put them up on a wall like a stalker?"
Stryder hesitated for a moment, trying to come up with the best words.
"Uh...something in the middle? I'm not a stalker, or your guardian angle, that's what that idiot's for, but I just keep an eye on you."
Her chest was rising and falling fast, adrenaline still pumping through her veins.
"Why?" Asked Kaleigh after she studied him a moment. Trying to decide what to believe.
"Because it's my job...?" He sound a little hesitant, as if she should have already known that.
"Are you asking me or telling me?" She reminded herself of a foster parent she once had who said that all the time.
Amazing who rubs off on you! She thought moodily.
Stryder shot her a look that almost pulled a smile out if she hadn't clamped down on it quick enough. Despite his black holes for eyes, she was strangely attracted to him. Something about him was bait to her, something she couldn't get enough of.
He's a bad idea. A passing thought stated. She shook her head, trying to clear it.
"Well obviously your little stalker thing isn't going to work anymore, since I know you're there. So what do you plan on doing now?" Kale asked.
Stryder replied gravely. "You're not the only one I'm keeping an eye on."
She didn't know what to do with that.
"Uh-huh. That's comforting. If I see you around me again, I swear I will use this, and it wont be comfortable." She threatened, before turning on her heal and marching away.
Stryder watched her in a daze. Trying to figure out what that was all about.

Kaleigh's emotions were boiling up, threating to explode.
"Oh no..." She whispered as her hands began to tingle.
She knew what was going to happen next, the Professor had warned her. Scrambling to find the closest exit, she fumbled for her phone.
She needed someone. Someone who understood. Her brothers would do anything for her she knew that. But they couldn't fix what they didn't know.

Outside, she leaned against the building and forced her shaking fingers to hit speed dial.
She tried to remember how to breathe right. To slow her heart beat down, but with her new encounter with Stryder it was impossible.
"Hello?" The familiar voice brought her back to the present.
"I need you." Even her voice shook. "Now. Before teh whole block suddenly has a black out."
"Okay, where are you?"
"At the mall, on 14th and Irving street."
"I'm just a few blocks away. Be there in a sec."
She hung up and felt her body go into spasms. Kale slid down the wall 'til she was crouched, with her arms wrapped around her legs and her head braced on her knees.

So many things were confusing her.
Who had hired Stryder to watch her, and why? Was it the bad people he had warned her about?
No of course not, don't be silly. If he was a bad guy he wouldn't have warned me. She thought rationally.
But then her mind came up with a thousand different arguments for that, like he could really be working for the bad guys, but was good at heart and didn't want her to get hurt. Or, he could just be plain evil trying to win her over so he could stab her in the back.
The list could have gone on, but then she heard the motorcycle, and her thoughts were drawn to Brandon.
Over the past couple of weeks, he had asked about the Bonding only once. When she had answered that she wasn't sure about it, and there was a lot of other things going on, he understood and let it be.
That was what she liked about him, he wasn't pushy.

"Kaleigh." A firm hand gripped hers, the other touching her hair. She lifted her head to see Brandon kneeling in front of her. His stormy eyes deep with worry.
He immediately noticed, besides the shaking, that something was scaring her. But he had to deal with one thing at a time.
"Deep breaths Kaleigh. Just take deep breaths." His tone was firm but not harsh.
Kaleigh's gaze didn't waver as she forced herself to inhale deeply, and exhale slowly.
"There you go." Brandon was good with praise. He gave it when it was deserved, and was always encouraging.
"Okay, now focus on that alien feeling," He went on. "and everything that it does to you, and force it to become small. Don't let it cross the boundaries. You're the one in control."
Kaleigh did as instructed, closing her eyes and searching for the alien feeling.
Finding it, and all that made it up, she imagined herself taking it, and locking it away in a chest in her mind.
The spasms stopped, and the tingling left her fingers. Relief spread through her, allowing her to open her eyes.
"I'll do it." She said suddenly. Brandon looked at her confused. Not remembering what he had asked her to do.
"I'll perform the Bonding." She clarified, rendering Brandon speechless.
"Uh...Are you sure? You seemed really adamant about it. What happened in there?"
"I..." She hesitated, so many things added up to that why, she wasn't sure she could explain it all.
"There's someone who keeps following me around."
Brandon's eyebrows pinched together.
"I-I only know his first name. And I don't even know if it's his real name." The tears surprised them both. She didn't know how scared she had been until she was safe.
"What did he do to you?" Brandon asked. She noticed the protective brother instinct taking over him.
"Nothing." She admitted. "Except give me a warning. I was the one who jumped him actually." She said a little dazed. Brandon's eyebrows joined his hairline.
"Well...I guess I should be reasured that your training has started to kick in."
Kaleigh laughed with him despite herself, but thankful for the stress reliever.
"Where are your brothers?"
"Oh! THey're at the arcade. I promised to meet them there. They're probably freaking out right now."
Brandon helped her to her feet and led her through the mall door again.
"Well I don't think they'd appreciate it if they found out you ditched them for me. They still don't like me much."
"Give them some time. They'll come round." She encouraged, as she wrapped her whip back around her neck. It still freaked him out every time she did that, he was scared she'd strangle herself.
"They'll have to if we're going to go through with the Bonding."
"Of course we are." Kale had gotten over the emotions, and had found her courage again. The emotions weren't gone, but being around Brandon had a calming affect on her.
"I just had to work through things," She went on. "and clear my head."
   They joined the flow of people, keeping close to each other. Kaleigh tried using her senses to see if Stryder was still following her. It was possible, forcing her senses to expand, but it took up a lot of concentration.
"No one's taking a second glance at us." Brandon whispered, catching on to what she was going.
"So your....encounter, was the deciding factor to form the Bond?" He asked a bit louder.
Kale gnawed on her lip. "Well a lot of things added up to the deciding factor. The encounter was just the last straw."
They walked onto an escalator, and Brandon turned to her.
"If this is just because that encounter scared you and you need someone there that understand, you don't have to go through the with the Bonding. We're not exactly sure what the Bonding does exactly, and if you just want someone to watch your back, your brothers and I can do that just fine. No need to give up privacy or whatever with the Bonding."
That just made her feel bad. Part of her had said she'd do it just because she was scared and wanted someone there that understood what was going on with her. But the other part knew there was something much bigger coming. Something that would require the Bond and she would regret not performing it for the rest of her life.
She shook her head, setting her jaw.
"No. I want to do it. I can't explain it, but we're going to need it, and not just to help the Savior." She said as she stepped off teh escalator, and led the way to the arcade.
"So you got that feeling too huh?"
She stopped shock still and gapped up at him. She thought that the gut feeling of dread was just her being an overemotional female.
Brandon adjusted his baseball cap and stopped in front of her. Just from the look on her face he knew he was right.
"Guess we're more connected than we thought huh?" He asked, putting on a grin to make the statment less awkward.
Kaleigh nodded numbly and turned to start walking again.
"We still have to come up with the emblem though." He said, easily falling instep with her.
"Yeah. About that."
Uh-oh. He thought.
"I want it to be nice enough I can still wear a tank top."
Brandon threw his head back and laughed.
It startled Kaleigh, but it wasn't unwelcome.
"Out of all the things you could have said, you said that?" He asked through laughter that coated every word.
Kaleigh let a small smile hit her lips, but just than she walked into the dark arcade lit only by blacklights, so he didn't see it.
"I didn't mean that as a bad thing." He quickly added, worried that he had hurt her. "I just meant that it was kind of funny how girls are always worried about their looks and all - "
"Whoa! Don't you start comparing me to other girls." She stopped and looked at him. Her feelings from her other life welded up in her, all of the judgment, being different, and hating it. And she thought Brandon was different!
"I've spent my entire life, fake or not, living inside a shell. I was never anybody, I was never anything. I was just the orphan that kept to herself and didn't talk to people. That's who I was, that's what I was use to. Then to come here, and find out I can - I can do things that shouldn't be possible! I just - I'm always going to be that girl no one pays attention to, that girl no one wants to see, or talk to. I'm always going to be judged and alone. I should have known you were no different."
Kaleigh turned to walk away. She had forgotten her brothers, her promise to meet them.
Brandon knew more was going on in her, but couldn't help but let her words affect him.
He grabbed her arm as she walked by, knowing what he was going to have to do to prove that he wasn't like the rest of them, he walked her through the arcade, not letting go of her arm as he pushed Kaleigh ahead of him. He opened the exit door and they found themselves standing on an emergency exit ramp, with stairs on the left that led to the lower floor.
"Don't think you know me. We've known each other for what? Two weeks?" He asked, Kaleigh pulled away from him and shifted uncomfortably, refusing to meet his eyes.
"Yeah but at least you had a family that loves you. That's something I never had until a month ago!" She shot back. "Even now, at school, I feel like I have to live a lie because everyone else would think I'm a freak! And you know what? You might claim to be an Elemental, or whatever, but you're still human! And It's in your nature to judge."
"Kaleigh." He walked over to her and grasped his shoulders. "Just shut up."

Kale wont deny it. She thought he was going to kiss her. And because of that thought, her heart pounded like she had just ran a marathon. But her surprised her when he bent down and picked her up. Her arm instinctively going around his neck.
"Brandon what are you doing?" She asked.
He shot her an impatient look, before a strong wind whipped around them. He channeled it by years of practice, but starred into Kaleigh's bright blue eyes the whole time.
Kaleigh gasped as she suddenly realized they weren't touching the ground anymore.
"Oh gosh!" Her grip on Brandon's neck tightened. It wasn't that she was scared of heights or anything, but she was just shocked.
"Do you trust me?" He asked.
"Like I have a choice?!" She shot back.
He just laughed and flew off.