Chapter 23 - Trust
A teardrop slid down my left cheek and I hurriedly wiped it away. I inhaled shakily, staring at Aquarius with a determined look.
Sacrificing myself for three lives?
It's a no-brainer.
I opened my mouth to agree to her deal when she suddenly chortled, a gleeful look in her eyes.
"It doesn't matter what you do, once you are caught in my water, there's no way out." She said arrogantly, a satisfied smirk on her face as she observed Kim.
Kim was moving about crazily, punching and trying whatever possible method to escape from Aquarius' clutches. Nathan was also punching at the blob of water with all his strength, but it was futile as his fist just pierced through the water. I saw him hovering in the air for a few seconds, before he collapsed on the ground, unable to stay afloat in the air to fly away. Seeing this scene, my heart tightened and I didn't hesitate for a second, exclaiming with a panicked voice.
"I'll do it! I'll do it! I'll go with you! Let them go!"
"Hey, Blink. It's your time to shine." The burning man nudged at Blink, the flames in his hand were still burning brightly as he watched me with wary eyes.
I didn't move from my spot, I wasn't even planning to resist at all. If I do, she might do something worse to the three of them. Blink grabbed at my arm and I noticed that Aquarius still hasn't released them from her torturous clutches, making me struggle in his hold.
"Aquarius, let them go! If you don't, I won't agree to go with you!"
"Oh, sweetie. I don't think you have a say in this anymore." Aquarius answered in a saccharine tone and I gritted my teeth, trying to extricate myself from his grip.
God! I'm so dumb!
What am I doing?!
"No! Let them go!"
"Stay still." Blink growled in annoyance and a weird sensation accompanied after his words. This familiar feeling was definitely him beginning his teleportation, the urgency to break free overwhelmed me and my struggles grew intense.
"Ugh!"
I lit up, my elbow successfully connecting with his abdomen and I broke free, wanting to bolt away when I heard an exploding sound followed by the floor in front of me getting scorched by heat. I screamed, clumsily avoiding the flames, falling flat on the ground, the pain shooting up my body.
"Aren't you taking us too lightly? Jean Saunders." He growled menacingly, narrowing his eyes at me and it scared me. I gasped, scurrying backwards in fright as I stared at him, my eyes wide in terror.
"Agh!" I heard a feminine voice shrieking in pain, and I saw Aquarius being hurled through the air, no longer floating on her block of water. She landed roughly on the ground with another cry of pain, her hand was grasping at her abdomen, a vicious look on her face. Coughing and hacking was heard in the background, and I could see half of Aquarius' abdomen turning into ice, preventing her from moving a single inch.
"Shit!" The burning man cursed, dashing towards them in an instant.
"You think...I'm gonna...let you catch me...again?" Thomas said in between his coughs and I could see the ice particles fluttering around his hand. I could see his breath as he spoke and I couldn't resist smiling, relief flooding through me until someone gripped at my wrist.
"Say bye-bye."
Crap! I forgot about him!
"I don't think so!" Kim barked, before roaring with rage and the next thing I knew, Blink was tackled to floor by Kim, his grip loosening enough for me to escape the chaos. Kim was swift in her movements, instantaneously restricting his arms and legs, using her arm to block his eyesight to stop him from blinking away.
"Omni! Get us out of here, now!" Kim demanded and I quickly rushed towards the bags, barely grabbing them before I felt myself being lifted off my feet.
"Woooah!"
"Tho—no, Frost! What about Frost!" Kim almost called out to Thomas, which was a mistake I did for Nathan once. Hopefully, Aquarius didn't hear me calling out to his name that time.
"There! With the burning guy!" I pointed towards an area of the rooftop, seeing Thomas dodging a pillar of flame shooting out of the man's hand as Thomas shot a pillar of his down back at him. The pillar of ice managed to cause a small nick on his arm, making the man grimace in pain.
"Hey! Grab my hand!" Nathan exclaimed, stretching his arm out and Thomas glanced up, grasping at Nathan's hand.
"See ya, burning man."
"It's Hellfire!"
Almost immediately, Nathan soared into the air and I could hear incoherent screeching and yelling from below us. A loud laughter escaped Thomas' lips, his shoulders shaking with mirth and he seemed awfully proud.
I was on Nathan's back, my arms wrapped around his shoulders and neck while Nathan only held the other two by their arm.
"Did you see what I just did? Huh? I saved all your lives, including myself—ow!" Thomas stated in a conceited manner, only to be interrupted when he earned a light kick from Kim.
"Good job, dude."
"Ouch, Kim! You didn't have to kick me!" Thomas winced, unfortunately, due to the position he was in, he couldn't afford to rub at his back. He eventually recovered from the rough smacking and went back to previous state of excitement.
"Oh man! Their faces when we broke out from the water prison was priceless! Did you see-"
Bam!
Bam! Bam! Bam!
Oh no...those sounds.
Quickly glancing behind us, I was not surprised to see the burning man, or Hellfire like he said, trailing behind us. The murderous look in his dark eyes made me cower back involuntarily and he shot out his hands, aiming it at us. His flames protruding out from his feet was also allowing him to fly, like his hands.
"Towards the left!" Three voices shouted at once, including mine as he shot out two balls of fire from his palms, the recoil causing him to move backwards a little. Nathan swerved to the right, causing a cry of surprise from me and Thomas. Meanwhile, Kim remained composed as usual, nothing ever really seems to shock her.
Thomas just shot out an icicle without a word and this distraction worked, causing Hellfire to move back further to dodge it. He started to chase after us again but he halted abruptly, giving us one last glance before he flew back to the direction of the same rooftop we were at.
"What's happening?" I questioned, confounded at his actions and I heard Kim let out a short, victorious chuckle.
"It's probably his time limit. It requires a lot of power to make himself fly like that."
"Which means..." Thomas grinned happily, giving Kim a knowing look as he shoved his palm to Kim.
"It's our victory." Kim stated and gave him a high-five that left him gratified.
"And it's all thanks to me. Where's the 'thank you' for saving all your lives."
I rolled my eyes at Thomas' words. "Thank you."
"Thanks, Thomas."
"Thank you, but weren't you the one in charge of stopping her?" Nathan thanked him gratefully, only to ask him a question that made him flinch.
"...I got careless." Thomas answered after a while, earning a glare from Kim.
"We almost died because of that, idiot...and speaking of which."
"AH!" I cried out in pain when Kim smacked me on my leg, since her arm could only reach my leg. I'm baffled at how she can calmly swing towards me and smack me, without a hint of panic on her face.
"Why did you smack me?!"
"You idiot, are you stupid sacrificing yourself like that?"
"Wait, what? You can hear what we were talking about?"
"Yes, kinda. Now, answer my question, what the hell do you think you were doing?"
"What was I supposed to do then? Watch you guys drown to your deaths?"
"You need to trust us, Jean." Nathan joined the conversation and I suddenly recalled the time I told him I didn't trust him, a small smile tugging at my lips. I went silent at his words, unable to come back with any retort or witty remark.
Yeah...
I guess...I should have done that.
I should have trusted them.
"That's right, I'm not that weak to need your help when I have my powers." Thomas nodded along with Nathan, for the first time, they agreed on something.
"You underestimate us, genie."
My smile disappeared instantly. "There isn't a need to call me that now!"
"I just felt like it."
I grimaced, swinging my leg towards Kim and of course, she avoided it smoothly. She gave me a cheeky smirk, and I narrowed my eyes at her.
"I'm sorry, but try not to move around too much. At this rate, we might-"
Ignoring Nathan's words, I aimed my leg at her again however, she dodged it again. All of a sudden, we tilted sideways and everyone let out horrified screams, it felt like an eternity before Nathan regained his balance, all of us sighing in relief.
"Sorry, sorry! Like I said, at this rate we might fall, so please, stop fighting."
"We are not fighting!" Both of us retorted back and Nathan sighed heavily, nodding along with us while Thomas snorted in amusement.
"Alright, alright. Not fighting, okay."
********************
Back in the games room, the pool table was scattered with documents as Kim held a document in her hand, all of us huddled together for a discussion. The document in Kim's hand was about the woman, Faviana Sanchez, and Alexander Talbot was really meticulous in his research for everything in this document.
"Okay, so-"
"Before we start, a question." I interrupted Kim, raising my hand.
"What now?"
"What's he doing here?" I pointed to my left and Thomas seemed offended by my question, which made me a little guilty.
"He has his reasons, and we need more help. Happy?"
"Reasons?" It was Nathan's turn to ask the question this time.
At this moment, the mood around Kim became sombre and an air of melancholy surrounded Thomas. I turned to look at Nathan, and it looks like he read the atmosphere too.
"...I'll tell you about it next time. Give us a minute." Kim's voice was soft as she approached Thomas, pulling him away to a corner.
It must a sensitive topic.
I glanced away from them, wanting to give them their privacy. "We should give them some privacy."
"Of course." Nathan concurred and he proceeded to wrap his hand around my wrist without a word, startling me.
"Wh-what is it?" I asked, blinking rapidly at Nathan, taken aback by his intimate action. He bent down slightly, patting my head gently and I glanced shyly at him, my heart skipping a beat.
"You are too reckless. What if we couldn't get to you in time?"
"I'm sorry, I was just so scared, Nathan. Your lives were slowly being drained away in front of me, I only did what I thought was right." I bit on my lower lip, feeling vulnerable as I remembered their look of suffering, how they were desperately trying to claw their way out.
"Don't worry, we won't die that easily."
"But you guys were! You were dying, right in front of me! If you were in my position, you'll know how terrifying it was—knowing that three lives were going to die, because of my decision, because of me. Nathan, can you imagine that?" My voice grew softer and softer, tears prickling at my eyes and I sniffed, my lips trembling.
Nathan took a few steps forward, pulling me into a hug, his arms wrapped around me tightly. My eyes grew wide as a teardrop rolled down my cheek, staining Nathan's shirt. I slowly lifted my head up, looking right into his beautiful, mismatched eyes that were gazing at me softly.
"I'm sorry, Jean, I'm sorry. I didn't think of how you felt, I'm really sorry. So please, don't cry."
My heart fluttered at his words, the concern in his eyes making me melt. I chuckled, rubbing at my eyes, shaking my head at him.
"No, it's fine, don't need to apologize. Geez, I'm crying too easily these days, how embarrassing."
I directed my eyes back at Nathan, my smile faltering when I noticed the conflicted expression on his face.
"Nathan? What's wrong?"
"Jean, at that moment, when you said you would go with them...I-I was...I was just...just..."
"Just...?"
Nathan started to lean in closer, one of his hand sliding up my back before he slowly withdrew it, he then cupped my cheek with the same hand, caressing it gently. My breath hitched as he did so, my heart racing wildly and I hurriedly looked away, unable to maintain eye contact.
"Yo, lovebirds, I'm sorry but this isn't the time to be lovey-dovey. We have a city to save, did you forget?" Kim interrupted and I remembered how to breathe again. One of her eyebrows were raised, her arms across her chest.
Mm?
Seems like the atmosphere around the both of them is less tense now.
"Well, if you can't bear it, you can just stay like this while we discuss. Whatever you prefer."
I finally realised the compromising position we were in, with Nathan's hand still cupping my cheek and his face was so close, I could almost feel his breath on me. I gasped, trying to step back but Nathan didn't move, seemingly frustrated at something before he finally decided to break apart.
"Alright, let's continue the discussion." Kim cleared her throat and all of us gathered at the bar counter, starting to formulate a plan.
"So, the one thing we need to do first. Give a copy of the evidence to the police, which, I assume it has already been delivered?"
"Yep." Thomas nodded his head and I frowned, giving Thomas a suspicious look.
"What? Why are you looking at me like that?"
"How did you deliver it to the police without being arrested? You know, with the whole train fiasco thing you pulled off, without wearing a disguise, I'm pretty sure a lot of people got a good look at your face."
"Well, I wore-"
"I still hate you for that by the way, I almost died because of you, along with many others. I almost got slapped in the face by a laptop!"
"He disguised himself and delivered it, also, I already taught him a lesson for doing that dumb shit. Trust me, I'm as mad as you are, Jean. But still, I've known him for eleven years, he's a good guy, really." Kim explained and I glanced between the two of them.
"Eleven years?" I asked incredulously.
"I don't think any lesson can make up for what he did that day." Nathan commented, narrowing his eyes at Thomas.
"Damn it, after all this whole thing, you better explain it them yourself." Kim growled in annoyance, glaring at Thomas. I could tell he is still somewhat upset from just now as he nodded silently, not wanting to speak.
"Now, no more distractions, okay?"
Everyone hummed in agreement at Kim's words and she huffed, satisfied.
"Now, the second thing is about saving your friend, Jessie Talbot."
I bit on my lip at Kim mentioning about Jessie. It took me a while to compose myself as I shook my head. "No, it seems like Jessie is safer in his private residence, even if she is being confined there. What we are doing right now, it'll only endanger her life if we include her in. So, I'll put saving her on hold until we completely stop her grandfather, hopefully the police will help us find her."
"Huh, wise choice. I underestimated you."
"Is that supposed to be compliment or insult?"
"Both." Kim responded with a smirk and I rolled my eyes at her.
"So, we are going to pay Faviana Sanchez a visit now?" Thomas questioned, resting his chin on his palm.
"It may seem so, it's our only choice since she knows more about Alexander and the cube." Nathan answered and I recalled the conversation I had with my father before we went off on the mission to steal the documents.
Honestly, despite watching the video, I still couldn't despise my father for not reporting it to the police. He was afraid what would happen to us if he gives the police the evidence, he was afraid for his job, his career. If he lost his job, or lost one of us for doing this, I'm sure my dad would regret this decision in his entire life.
"I asked my dad about her. Apparently, he went to find her and he succeeded in it, he even mentioned her name to me on one occasion by accident."
"Where did he find her?" Nathan asked and this question of his made me reluctant to give him an answer.
"...it's at a mental hospital."
"Serenity mental hospital." Kim added and I shot my head up, staring at her in amazement at how she knew the hospital name., until I realised she was pointing at something on the document.
Oh.
...It's written there, isn't it?
"Barging into the mental hospital like that, isn't it quite rude?" Nathan questioned, a hesitant look in his eyes.
"Well, for now, this is our only lead for catching and stopping that crazy bastard. So like it or not, we have to do this." Kim said, taking the document and stuffing it into her haversack.
I guess...we have no other choice other than this.
We began to prepare to set off for the mental hospital, an apprehensive feeling rising up in me.
Faviana Sanchez.
Serenity mental hospital...I have feeling that we are going to discover something more sinister if we finally see her.
My book hit 9k reads! Unbelievable, thank you to everyone who gave this book a chance and hopefully, you are still enjoying it so far.
I'll upload another chapter on Friday, being featured and having comments in my story really made me inspired to write more :D
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deadpool_4 (thank you for your lovely votes)
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