“Yeah…”
A teleporter appeared in that instant, a dark-skinned man wearing makeup with pink eyeliner that stretched past the tops of his ears. Once his form solidified, a bubble of energy formed around the group, encapsulating them and spinning away.
“How… how did you know?” Roman asked, as soon as they appeared in the main room of Nadine’s safehouse. He could tell the place had been cleared out, all aside from Celia and Casper, whose lifeless bodies lay on the floor.
“We have our ways.” Nadine bent over, her hands on her knees as she took in some deep breaths. “I can’t believe I just fought Mister Fist’s team.”
“Fought and won.”
“That… shit…” Nadine swallowed hard. “What are the odds? Never mind, we can unpack this later. Get your dolls.”
Roman brought Celia to life. She sat up, the look of surprise painting across her face as she saw Roman carrying his dead wife in his arms. Roman wasn’t too beat up, but there was a big scrape on the left side of his face, his mask was torn, and his clothing was filthy.
“Roman?” Celia asked once she was on her feet. She saw Casper lying on the ground and bent forward, scooping the tiny doll up in her arms.
“You didn’t have to,” Roman finally told Nadine. “I was ready to face my consequences.”
But the way he said this last sentence was almost as an afterthought, the tone of someone who hadn’t really thought through what they had done.
“And have your powers taken from you?” Nadine shook her head. “You know that’s what they would do, right? They would put you in prison and slap a device on you that can prevent you from using your power. I don’t know how they’d take the power away exactly, but I’m guessing if they can give it, they can take it.”
“Kevin was there,” Roman said, his mind fumbling backwards, putting all the details together and trying to understand the three-dimensional puzzle.
“I see,” Nadine said, and something about the way she said this made Roman think she’d already known this fact.
Still, he continued speaking. “Kevin was there in my apartment, when we tried our first attack. With his cat girls. Kevin. Can you believe that? And then the building was completely toppled, and then…”
“Are you okay?” Nadine asked, Roman started to take in quick breaths now, as if he was having a panic attack.
“I think… I think I need to sit down.”
“No, we don’t know how much they know, and if they come here and find us, then my little rescue mission will have all been for nothing. They definitely know it was me. Ava had to know.”
“Okay, we’ll go then,” Roman said as Celia the doll approached him, her hand coming to his dead wife’s face.
“We have to bury her,” Coma said. The masked doll stood near the door, as if anticipating an attack.
“Yes,” said Roman, “but they may be watching her gravesite, so we’ll have to do it somewhere else.”
Nadine ran her hand through her hair, shaking out her ponytail. “I don’t know what it’s going to look like to show up with a dead body…”
“We really don’t have any other choice,” Roman said, his orange eyes pleading with her, and Nadine quickly gave in.
“Fine, you’re right. Let’s move.”
A flash of white signaled that another teleporter had come, the whiteness painting across the room and then immediately sucking into the form of a man with a small black beard. He nodded at Nadine, ignoring Roman and his dolls, as well as the corpse in his arms.
Everything started to pixelate and reform in a different location, their new space reminding Roman of a dingy basement.
Eli was there, as was Oscar, the well-dressed man sitting on a chair with his elbows on his knees and a worried look on his face. He waited for the teleporter to pixelate away before speaking.
“I see you brought company,” Oscar said, standing.
“Sorry for this…” Roman started to say.
“We will need to get your wife out of here as quickly as we can. It is bad luck in the East to share a home with a dead body. And I don’t know how ripe she is.”
“I…” Roman nodded, not about to argue with the man who had taken part in saving his future. He was still suspicious of Oscar, had been since they’d met, but it appeared as though Oscar was trying to help them, even if the man clearly had an ulterior motive.
“Who is it, mister?” Eli asked as he approached Roman.
The young blond-haired boy brought his hands to his mouth as he realized she was dead. He stepped away slowly, fear visibly shaking him.
“There’s nothing we can do for her,” Roman said, “unless you can heal the dead…”
“I wish I could,” Eli said, trying not to sob.
“It’s not your fault,” Roman told the boy as he looked for a place to set Celia’s body. There weren’t many places, and he didn’t want to just lay her on the floor.
“Roman?” Lisa Painstake asked, coming out of the room in the back. “Wait. Is that a dead lady?”
“My wife,” Roman said under his breath.
Lisa gasped, instantly bowing her head.
“Before we call it a night,” Oscar said, interrupting their little moment, “I think it’s important that we give your wife a proper burial.”
“You’re right,” Roman finally said. “And I know just where we can do it.”
“Good,” said Oscar. “And one other thing.”
“Yeah?”
“Take your mask off so Eli can heal the wound on your head. Put the body… um…” Oscar shuddered. “You know what? Coma, help him get his mask off, and Eli get on a chair there so he can heal him. We’ve got to get that body out of here—no offense, Roman. I’m too old not to have superstitions, so forgive me of this one.”
“None taken,” Roman said as Coma approached him.
Chapter Thirty-Eight: Burial Ultimatum
It was a small affair, just Roman, Oscar, Nadine and Coma.
Oscar had instructed Lisa to stay back, and Celia said she would help take care of Eli, who had become extremely quiet after seeing Roman’s dead wife. Casper was back at the safehouse as well, Roman still not in the mood to activate her.
Maybe he would once all this was over, whatever that entailed.
They were at Mystery Hill State Park, the same park Roman had visited earlier in the day with Ava, but in a different location than the place he had animated the towering rock forms.
Roman and his dead wife had gotten married in a spot not far from the camping grounds, a waterfall nearby, the smell of mint in the air. The scent came from a special plant that grew in the area, ironically known as widow’s mint, which Celia had taken a liking to after visiting the park.
It was funny in a way, how a memory could press so closely to the surface of the mind but never actually emerge on the other side. He was instantly familiar with the place, yet if someone had asked Roman just a day ago about the meadow he kept dreaming about, he would have sworn he had never been there before, even though he thought fondly of this memory.
It just hadn’t clicked.
Yet here he was, the stars bright above, Coma helping Roman place Celia on the ground, his dead wife’s head resting in a bed of light-blue flowers.
“A beautiful location,” Oscar said. “I’m sure she would have loved this place.”
“I’ve been having the same reoccurring dreams, and they all take place here. In fact, Abby visited me today in the same space.”
He looked to Nadine and she nodded. “I didn’t think that would help, but I at least wanted to put the word out there.”
“You weren’t wrong to be concerned, and your warning turned out to be true,” Roman said as he looked down at his wife’s body. “What I did today is going to fundamentally change the course of my life. I may have ruined my chances of ever doing good, and I could end up an enemy of the state.”
“Was it worth it?” Oscar asked softly.
“Celia was all I
had. An accident took her away from me, and then this woman defiled her corpse. The accident I can live with, but I can’t live with someone purposefully misusing my wife’s dead body.”
“Sounds reasonable enough to me,” Oscar said.
The four of them stood silently for a moment, a breeze whistling up, Roman ignoring the mental messages he had already received from Catherine and Ava, Emelia too. All people that were part of his life, women who cared for him in some way, one of whom he had completely betrayed.
But Roman would address that later. For now, he needed to make sure that Celia would rest peacefully for eternity.
Trees on the outer rim of the meadow began to creak, stray limbs falling to the ground and slithering over to Roman. He didn’t want his work to be noticeable, so he borrowed a few limbs from several different trees, and once he had a good stack of them, he focused his power on connecting all of the limbs until they formed a flat platform.
He then waved his hand toward a rock, quickly running it across the tops of the limbs and smoothing their surfaces. The ground lifted Celia up and placed her on the platform he’d created, more tree limbs stacking up along the perimeter to create a coffin.
“Remarkable,” Oscar whispered.
Nadine watched with her hands crossed over her chest, feeling Roman’s emotion in the moment, his focus. Coma was present too, but she still seemed alert, ready to move into action at a moment’s notice.
“Goodbye,” Roman told his wife as he looked into the coffin he had created, seeing her face one last time.
He sealed it with more wood and then focused on a spot of soil about seven feet away. Rather than pull up the grass, he used his power to cut deep into the soil, curling up the top layer so the grass and flowers wouldn’t be stripped away.
He moved the soil by waving his hand back and forth, not needing to use a gesture but doing so anyway, the act of movement increasing his focus as he dug a deeper hole.
Once the hole was adequate, stubby legs sprouted on the end of Celia’s coffin, carrying the coffin over to the hole and gradually walking it down a reclined surface that led to its bottom.
Celia now in place, Roman returned the topsoil and layered the grass and flowers back over, no sign whatsoever that a body had been buried in the twilight meadow.
“We can leave you here for a while,” Oscar said, “but we shouldn’t go too far.”
“No, I’m fine,” Roman said after a moment of silence. “I’m just glad to finally have this done.”
“I understand. We have much to discuss, but that can wait for the morning.”
“No, we can discuss it now, here,” Roman said, turning to him.
“Are you certain?” Oscar asked, exchanging glances with Nadine.
“Maybe it’s best if you get some rest,” Nadine said.
“I will get some rest, but let’s discuss whatever we need to discuss now, so I can think about it overnight.”
“And you want to do it here?” Oscar asked.
“Here is as good a place as any,” Roman said. Coma nodded, readily agreeing with him.
“In that case, we need to discuss what happens next,” Oscar said, his hands coming out of his pockets as he brought them together in front of his body. “You are now a wanted fugitive, and the Eastern Province government is willing to help you. We are willing to give you a new life, Mr. Martin, but you must understand that with that life comes service to our government, and you must swear loyalty to us.”
“I understand.”
“Your other option would be to turn yourself in. To see what Centralia decides to do with you. Now, there have been exemplars who have gone rogue before, and the ones in government service were stripped of their powers and imprisoned. It’s not often that they strip someone of their powers—it is more of a ceremonial thing—but they do have the capability of doing so. I should know; I was around when the East created the tech.”
“I see,” said Roman, looking to Nadine, who was no longer able to make eye contact with him.
“So I believe those are your two most viable options. Either join us, or turn yourself in. I suppose you could also run, and maybe you would survive for a while as a wanted fugitive, but they would eventually catch up to you. So I guess there are three options, then. If you want my advice, I would go with option one. We can help you disappear; we can give you the life that you want, still in Centralia; and we can also change enough about you and the way you look to make it incredibly difficult for Centralian forces to ever track you down. But that’s just my opinion.”
“Thanks,” Roman finally said, “I’ll think about it tonight.”
Chapter Thirty-Nine: Manifest Destiny
“Heal her,” Kevin Blackbook said, standing over the frail healer.
He didn’t know how long they had run from the fight, but at some point, Scarlett had regained consciousness and been able to teleport Kevin and his crew back to their hideout.
From there she had passed out, and Kevin had immediately brought her into the old woman’s room and asking her to heal Scarlett. About halfway through, he had recalled that Obsidian was also injured, so he quickly replaced Scarlett with her, the old woman groaning as she used more of her power.
Scarlett now sat on the floor, her knees curled to her chest, a sick look on her face. Turquoise was perched on the nightstand, her tail hooked as she intently watched the woman work.
“Please don’t die,” Kevin said to both Obsidian and the woman, not quite sure how much more the healer could take. “Please…”
The old woman looked even more sickly than she had the last time he had seen her, veins now visible on the side of her forehead.
Kevin just needed her for these two people, and then they would figure out whatever was next, the former administrator completely aware of the fact that he was outgunned. He had seen the creation Margo had pulled from the rubble, and even with an ability to negate power, he knew it would be useless to try to take her down.
Not with power like that.
Kevin had been foolish; he had let his ego get in the way, assuming he would be able to take down an exemplar of her caliber. Now James Tew was dead, and Obsidian was close to knocking on death’s door.
It was time to pivot, time to do as Turquoise had asked.
Time to leave.
“I need to heal more,” Scarlett said on the tail end of a long cough. She wiped her mouth, blood smeared across her arm.
“I know, you’ll get her again,” Kevin said hurriedly. “Once she’s done with Obsidian.”
Obsidian had suffered from some type of internal damage, her outside form hardly showing the damage she appeared to be suffering from. She hadn’t said much during their escape aside from whispering Kevin’s name once or twice.
Even now, lying on the bed before the woman, Obsidian looked incredibly small, limp, like she was wasting away.
Kevin knew not to panic.
Part of the woman’s healing power caused an immediate sickness in the subject, but he was still worried, to the point that he started to pace. Back and forth Kevin paced, no longer able to look at anyone in the room as he tried to focus.
Scarlett said his name again and he ignored her, Kevin’s thoughts jumping from what would happen next to what had just happened, remembering Roman appearing from the debris, a firmness in the way he’d talked that Kevin had never heard from the man before.
True conviction.
Roman had never really had it, but now, Kevin wasn’t so sure he felt that way about his former coworker. Had he really been hiding this power the entire time? Kevin would never know. In that moment he had promised himself one thing, and one thing only: escape.
After they were healed up, Kevin would escape.
Obsidian and Turquoise at his side, he would never look back. However bad the West was, at least he would be free there. He could start a new life, create a new identity, forget all about Centralia and the things he had done there, from killing his wife and his brother, s
trangling Paris, injuring the people at his office.
All of it.
“Kevin,” Scarlett said again. “I think I know someone who could help.”
“What do you mean?” Kevin asked, stopping and looking at her.
“I know this… scientist,” she said. “He’s able to reverse-engineer superpowers, turn them… into chemicals. We can reverse-engineer her power… maybe we’ll be able to heal without needing her help.”
“You think it will actually work?” Turquoise asked, still perched on the nightstand. She turned slowly to Scarlett, her tail fluttering in the air as she moved to her other heel.
“He has done…”
“What?” Kevin asked.
“The man I know has done things. Things that I have never—no, Centralia has never seen. The closest I can equate it to is some of the tech they have in the East… but he’s not using electronics and crystals to generate powers, no runes either. He’s using chemicals. He’s been through a rough patch over the last few days, but he’s back working in his lab now.”
Kevin settled his nerves with a deep breath. “How long do you think it will take?”
“Dr. Hamza Grumio works pretty quickly,” said Scarlett.
“I ask because we are heading West, as soon as Obsidian heals up.”
Kevin didn’t need to look over at Turquoise to know she was beaming a smile over at him, that she was happy to hear these words come out of his mouth. After all, he was doing this for her, and Kevin would be lying to himself if he said he wasn’t also interested to see what a new country had to offer.
“Dr. Hamza is fast, but it may take a day or three,” said Scarlett. “Can you wait that long?”
Kevin looked from the brunette teleporter to Turquoise, who nodded her approval.
“We’ll need to change locations again,” said the cat girl.
“Definitely,” said Kevin. “And for payment?”
“Dr. Hamza will probably just take the fact that we are bringing him a healer to experiment on as payment. But I’ll have to check.”
“Fair enough,” said Kevin. “As long as you and Obsidian get healed up.”
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