The Sound of Wind

by Raegan Millhollin

  **

  Hugo gasped awake. He jerked into a sitting position and then immediately fell back down. His head was killing him. He squeezed his eyes shut, but they snapped open again when he remembered the last thing he’d done. He rolled over to stare at his alarm clock. It was 3:27am. Had he imagined the conversation with Maggie? He glanced at his watch, pushing the little button to light it up. No, no it was Friday, he’d just slept for 21 hours. Crap. He stumbled out of bed heading near-blindly into the bathroom. The lights stung, so he quickly flipped them back off and rummaged around in his cabinet for aspirin in the dark. He swallowed them dry and then went into the kitchen for a glass of water, pinching the bridge of his nose.

  He was starving but all he had was vodka, ketchup, soy sauce and a box of stale crackers. He opted for the crackers. He brought them to bed with him. His shoes were still on. He pulled them off and in the process realized his shirt smelled gross, so he took that off as well. His pants didn’t smell much better. He needed a shower, but crackers first.

  After devouring half the box Hugo headed back into the bathroom, shedding what was left of his clothing. He turned the shower on as hot as he could reasonably get it before stepping in. The water stung, turning his appendages red; it felt really good. He just stood there, letting the water pour over his head, matting his hair to his forehead. He brushed at a few strands that were getting in his eyes but otherwise didn’t move much. He was a murderer. He shuddered. But that wasn’t the only problem. He had to help Maggie. He should call her back, but it was still really early and he at least knew it wouldn’t happen till late evening. But what could he do about it? He didn’t know who the man was, or why he was blurry when he saw him. Maybe CJ could help, if she’d want to speak to him anymore; it was his fault Adam was dead. His entire body tensed up. He needed to calm down. He had to help Maggie, he didn’t have time for this, whatever this was. No one was going to yell at him, or take him to jail, or they would have done it already. Mr. Hansen had said it was ok. It shouldn’t be, but it was. The kid would have killed people, he’d just done what he thought was right. He murdered him to prevent him from murdering people. Hugo laughed, but it sounded crazy, so he stopped.

  A half hour later it was still too early to call Maggie, but he needed something to do to completely occupy his brain, it kept almost breaking down and he’d have to fight the urge to crawl under his bed and never come back out. So he went down to the studio the band was renting and played the piano.

  At 6:30 Hugo decided it was late enough to call Maggie. “Maggie?”

  “Hello? Hugo?” She returned drowsily.

  Hugo chewed on his lip, “Yeah. I’m sorry, did I wake you?”

  “No, no, I didn’t exactly get a lot of sleep last night.” There was a small tint of wry humor in the statement.

  “I’m sorry, that’s my fault isn’t it?”

  There was a small laugh on the other end of the line, “Perhaps, yes. So, do you want to tell me what happened?”

  Hugo chewed on his lip, “Uh…”

  “I see. You should speak to a friend of mine, her name is Madeline Jasper. Ask Mr. Hansen about her.” There was still a fleck of amusement in her voice.

  “O-oh ok. I will.”

  “Now, about my problem. I think I know who it is.”

  Hugo blinked. “What? Really?”

  “Yes. I did some research after I…spoke…with you. There’s a man named Archer Thomas, he has a talent for not being noticed. It’s like he dampens the senses around him, including sound. I believe his ability also works with cameras. And, delightfully enough, he’s a psychopath as well,” Maggie finished dryly.

  “Oh…oh.”

  “I’ve been tracking him and he’s heading west through Idaho.” Maggie sounded incredibly calm and casual about it, but each sentence took a brief pause of preparation. It was an act. He wanted to tell her it would be ok.

  “Let me and CJ come out to see you.”

  “I would be delighted to have you.” There was real relief in her voice this time and Hugo hoped her faith wasn’t misplaced.

  At the very worst they might be able to scare the guy off just by having more people at her place than was expected. But that would only be a temporary solution. They had to stop him from ever going after Maggie again. “Alright, I’ll give you a call when we’re on our way.”

  “I’ll see you later, Hugo. Bye.”

  Hugo stared at the phone for a moment. Now he just needed to convince CJ to come with him.

  Once he was out of the apartment, Hugo watched the world streak by through the bus window, marveling at all those blurry people with their problems that seemed so big and important. But they weren’t. There were unimaginably worse things that could happen to you. Hugo had to squeeze his eyes shut and take several deep breaths before he managed to make it into Gideon Enterprises.

  Eva’s smile faded slightly as he pushed through the double doors. “Good morning,” She said, her voice a little soft, almost apologetic, her gaze drifting away from his face.

  “Good morning,” Hugo returned, his voice even softer.

  Eva nodded slightly and then buzzed him in.

  He walked the quiet hallways to CJ’s apartment. The knock wasn’t answered for several long, agonizing seconds. Hugo had almost turned away from the door when it cracked open and CJ peered through it, and then she opened it up, leaning against the doorframe. “What’s up?”

  Hugo shoved his hands in his pockets, “I…saw Maggie get…attacked by a man while I was…sleeping. He stabbed her with a knife, killed her…I-”

  CJ straightened, “We have to go save her!”

  Hugo let out a breath, “I was hoping you’d say that. But if you don’t want to come with me…I-”

  CJ stepped out of her apartment, shutting and locking the door behind her. “Ok, let’s go. You’ll definitely need my help against a knife-wielding maniac.”

  Hugo blushed slightly, but nodded, “Yeah.”

  They were on the road by 10:00 am.

  They didn’t talk much on the ride there, but CJ fidgeted and watched the world blur by. Maybe he was going a little fast, but they made good time and where at Maggie’s place by the early afternoon.

  They stashed the car in the barn at CJ’s suggestion and Maggie, full of nervous energy, made grilled cheese sandwiches and tomato soup for lunch. She was wearing a pale yellow, long sleeved shirt with small daisies all over it. The blurry guy would show up today. Hugo didn’t mention it.

  The real challenge was going to be noticing the guy come inside. Hugo walked around, chewing on his lip. “You said he dampens everything around him, does that include sound?”

  “From the report I got, that’s the case.”

  “Do you mind if I turn on the TV?”

  Maggie looked perplexed for a moment, and then smiled, “Go ahead.”

  “Great. Do you have any flour?”

  Maggie nodded and pulled it out of the cupboard, setting it on the kitchen counter between them. CJ and Hugo then walked through the house, closing the few windows that were still open and sprinkling a thin layer of flour beneath each one. Hugo apologized for the mess they were making. Maggie just waved it off.

  Then they gathered in the living room with the TV on. Hugo made sure he had a good view of the kitchen across from the foyer and carefully memorized the position of the shadows and estimated where those shadows would be later. He kept the sack of flour beside him.

  Maggie flipped to the Cartoon Network, which quickly enraptured CJ. Maggie kept shifting on the couch, glancing around her. He didn’t like seeing her nervous, but he couldn’t think of anything reassuring to say. He really should be nervous too, he couldn’t exactly defend himself against a guy he couldn’t see. In fact, he could be sneaking up on them right now without their knowledge, but the thought stirred nothing. It wasn’t a big deal, just as long as Maggie was alright.

  “So, who is Madeline?”

  There was a long pause as Maggie gat
hered her thoughts from the scrambled mess of fear. “A friend. She also was one of the founding members of Gideon Enterprises. “

  Hugo blinked, straightening, “Really? There’s no record of her in the database.”

  “She was the only member who was kicked out. Mr. Gideon claimed she was a fraud, but just because she saw something unpopular. No one agreed with Mr. Gideon’s decision, but he had the final say.”

  “She saw things?” CJ inquired, pulling her attention away from the TV for a moment, “like the future?”

  Maggie nodded. “Yes. She’s never been wrong.”

  For a brief moment CJ transferred her attention to Hugo and smiled brightly, “That’s pretty neat, being able to see the future. Maybe she’ll see me being awesome. We’re going to go see her, right?”

  Hugo nodded, “I really would like to meet her.”

  One of the shadows in the kitchen was too long. Hugo stood and everyone else followed suit. And then Hugo did something incredibly stupid; he walked to the frame of the kitchen so that he was blocking the entrance to the rest of the house. The shadow had moved and the rest of the shadows looked about right. Had he already missed the guy? There were a couple of white footprints on the ground by the back door. The TV hadn’t changed volume, so Archer must still be in the kitchen.

  Hugo opened the bag of flour all the way, then concentrated. A strong breeze rattled the kitchen cabinets. He poured the flour into the swirling air currents and shaped it into a spiral. Soon the kitchen was snowing. The white dust fell over utensils, counters, chairs, and the rounded back of their intruder, who was hunched beside the kitchen island.

  “Shit,” Archer grumbled, straightening.

  “Gotcha!” CJ exclaimed and Hugo stepped aside as the girl sparked up and charged. Archer took out a knife, but the lightning monster was plowing into him. The knife skittered across the wood floor. CJ bounced off the guy and brightened, partially sinking into the floor as he took a swing at her. He was dumb. Archer shuddered as he electrocuted himself, his fist passing through the lightning body. CJ pointed at him and more lightning arched into his chest. He shook, flailing, filling the air with the stench of burning hair, and then collapsed on the ground. Hugo slowly walked into the kitchen, placing his hand over Archer’s nose and mouth. He was still breathing. Hugo very carefully picked up the wicked looking knife and gently placed it on the dusted counter.

  He looked around the kitchen; spices had blown off the counter, a few dishes in the sink were broken and everything was white. “Sorry, I made a mess of your kitchen.”

  Maggie laughed, “You two saved my life, I think I’ll let it go, this time.”

  CJ turned back to girl form, full of energy. “We did it again! That was awesome! Did you guys see what I did to that guy? He was so dumb trying to hit me.”

  “You did an amazing job, CJ.” Hugo smiled.

  His eyes passed over the man who had tried to kill Maggie. Why was he here in the first place? He had traveled too far for it to be on a whim. And what were they going to do with him now? “Uh…”

  “Call Christian. Have him come pick this guy up. I’ll let him inside my home just this once,” Maggie answered before the question could be asked, warmth in her voice.

  He dialed Christian’s number.

  “Hugo?” Christian sounded confused.

  “Uh, Christian. Yeah. Um. A guy, Archer Thomas, have you heard of him?”

  “Yes I have. Why do you ask?”

  “He tried to kill Maggie. But CJ stopped him. She knocked him out, but we don’t know what to do with him now.” There was a long, awkward pause. “Christian?” Hugo picked at his belt loop.

  “You’re at Maggie’s place?” Christian returned, clearly baffled.

  “Yes, and she ok’ed you coming over to pick up Archer,” Hugo replied, getting a little flustered. Had he done something wrong?

  Christian paused again. “Alright. I’ll be there in a half hour.”

  The helicopter showed up right on time. CJ kept watch over the blurry man, but she never needed to zap him again. Christian and Sol frisked Archer, finding several more knives, which they added to the pile on Maggie’s slightly cleaner kitchen counter; Hugo had spent the half hour helping Maggie clean around the electrocuted man on her floor. Sol hauled Archer into the helicopter while Christian stared at the three of them with a perplexed and frustrated expression on his face.

  “It’s too bad you weren’t here Christian. I was awesome. The guy didn’t hurt me at all.”

  Christian nodded distractedly, “How did you know he was going to be here?”

  There was a long pause. Maggie coughed, “I spoke with Madeline recently and these two offered to help me.”

  Christian looked surprised, but nodded, “How is she?”

  “As well as someone with her talents can be.”

  Christian nodded again, “Well…I’m glad everything went well. Do you two need a lift back?”

  “I don’t, I drove a company car here. CJ?”

  CJ looked a little nervous for a second, fidgeted, then looked at Hugo, smiling. “I’m still on duty!” She saluted Christian, and despite his best efforts he smiled at her.

  “Ok. You can file a report on Monday.”

  Hugo nodded.