Chapter ten:
"Did you remember to bring the extra passport?" A whispered voice asks another as they are sitting in their seats.
"Yes. When we get there we find him and get back as soon as possible. I think we should take a boat or something back. Catch a ride you know? Especially if we want to take the tracker with us which we do so it won't fall into the wrong hands." The other being spoken to responds.
"How about a bus?" The first offers as an idea.
"Too long of a ride." The other gives a shake of the head.
"Point taken. We'll go by boat then. Pay some random person and hurry away once we arrive." The first nods at the plan. "Yeah that'll work."
"Okay. That's a good plan." The other also nods. "Once we get the chance we check on the tracker."
"Right."
….
Near groans as he begins to awaken and blinks his eyes open to halfway when he notices something from the corner of his eye.
"It looks like we've found ourselves a pretty looking being." The voice makes Near tense and he looks to the three with eyes fully open instead of half way.
"Hey boss. Seems this person is awake." One says pointing to Near.
"Hm. No matter." The person that is the leader moves forward and Near jumps to his feet. "I'm sure that we can still make this work."
The other two chuckle then follow the leader as they begin to advance towards Near as if trying to keep him backed into a corner without a way to escape.
Near manages to keep his feelings of fear and panic from sight and he knows that he'll be grabbed if he tries to run past… But it might be his only option even if there is a slim chance of it working. He shuts his eyes. "No!" He says in protest then waits but the footsteps stop and he hesitantly cracks an eye open only to blink both eyes open at what he sees.
The three are frozen on the spot with evil looks on their faces and just finishing another step forward.
Near glances to the street and sees a car that is by the alley has also stopped but t seems that the driver hasn't even noticed what was going on; And by the way the rims look he can safely bet that the car was moving before being frozen. "I did this?" He questions in shock then as he notices a squirrel run past the other side of the car he finds that it confirms that he has stopped time in a small area around himself. He slips past his frozen attacks then he runs off trying to get as far away as possible before time resumes for them but a part of him hopes that it doesn't happen. He turns a corner and slips into a crowd knowing that right now he needs to take the risk of being recognized and all if it means getting away from the attackers. He keeps going and turns onto another area with pretty much no one around. He finally slows down there panting from the running and making his way through the crowd in a way that he remains as invisible as possible. "That was… too close." He pants to himself. "But I'm glad… my powers… came through… When I needed… Them to… Ha." He stops and hunches over to catch his breath before standing again once that is done. "Okay. I still got the tracker?" He checks and he can feel the tracking device giving him a little bit of comfort in knowing that he has it. "Good. Then I should try to stay in whatever city this is and wait for them to come and get me… But I might have to try to teleport there if they don't come…" He shakes his head closing his eyes as he does so. "No. I must believe that they'll help me." He opens his eyes after he stops shaking his head and now looks on with determination in his eyes. "I can hold on until then. Plus if I just teleport again I might get attacked again. I used my powers while still recovering from the last time. I can feel that my energy is low so I'll need to take breaks while I keep moving." He whispers to himself then when done he begins walking heaving in a direction away from the direction that the attempted attack happened.
…
The three males and the car slowly come back to normal time at first seeming to be in slow motion then building up speed until they are at the speed that they should be at. The three stop mid step and glance around finding that Near has vanished.
"What!?" The one that had first spotted him questions in confusion. "Where'd that pretty thing go?" He looks around yet finds no trace of the one he's looking for in sight.
The leader clenches his hands into fists. "Shit that brat must be a fucking freak!"
"What?" The male that was usually quiet questions looking to the leader in shock. "No way you mean we actually found one?"
The leaders lips curl into an even more devious smile. "Oh this just got good. Imagine how handsomely the government will pay to get their hands on another freak." He turns to try to glance at the other two but has to flicker his eyes between them. "We'll be damn rich once we capture that freak and contact the government."
The other two share a look with each other obviously rather liking this idea.
The leader throws his arm around the quiet one grinning from ear to ear exposing yellowing teeth. "Alright boys. We got some hunting to do so it's show time."
"Alright!" The one that had spotted Near first cheers slightly and the quiet one with the leaders arm around him nods also smiling.
…..
Near glances back feeling worried that the three might be coming after him and maybe they'd get lucky, but unlucky for Near, and find him easily. He feels the pressure of not being caught or harmed and the heavy weight of the stress of the responsibility of his powers he can't fully control yet is weighing heavily on his heart. He wasn't watching where he was going so he ends up smacking into someone which causes him to jump back then turn in surprise. "Ah sorry. I wasn't looking where I was going." He apologizes and he finds himself looking at a young couple that look rather good together.
The one he's sure that he ran into has light brown hair, rather dark green eyes and a suit without the blazer or tie and the top two buttons undone. His pants are black and his shirt is a slightly dark blue color yet light enough to not be considered truly dark.
The other is a dark haired blonde with gentle hazel eyes. He has on a dark purple shirt with a light purple moon that is behind the black silhouette of a cat sitting on a hill and he also has on a pair of light colored jeans.
Both of them are wearing sneakers with the one with the cat shirt having black and white ones while the other has plain black. They look rather cute holding hands as their linked hands rest between them leaving one free hand each but also making sure that outsiders know that they are together.
"That's okay." The brunette says with a rather kind smile.
"Say where exactly am I? I think I got a little turned around?" Near asks glancing around a little as if he is just trying to find his way around the city like a tourist. He however turns back when the brunette speaks.
"Oh you're on fifty seventh street deep within San Francisco."
Near smiles to be polite. "Ah. Fifty seventh street. Thanks. That helped."
"Do you need help finding anything?" The brunette asks tilting his head slightly.
"No no I'm okay." Near turns away when suddenly the brunette slightly reaches out towards him.
"Wait!"
Near glances back at the pair.
"Are you sure you're okay? Tourists usually have a plan. Did something happen? Were you kidnapped?" The brunette asks slowly lowering his hand as he asks those questions.
"I won't be staying for too much longer. Maybe one more night here really." Near says casually even as he can see that the two are worried. "Just thought I'd wander around a little and lost track of where I was."
"Oh. Well if you're sure then just ask someone for directions if you need them. Just please remember to not defend anyone who hurts you." The brunette tells him not seeming to be fully convinced but he seems to be wondering if maybe he is wrong about this.
"You are the sweetest thing you know that?" The blonde finally speaks smiling.
"Oh. Thanks." Near responds and sees the two relax. "I don't get that a lot."
"Well I'm glad that I got to make you feel special." The blonde smiles.
"You're kind." Near's eyes then flicker to the brunette. "You've chosen well."
"Why thank you." The brunette says. "I believe I have chosen well as well. He's just a perfect master piece."
At this the blonde blushes and the other two smile a little more.
"Oh by the way is there any bad neighborhoods I should avoid?" Near asks them.
"Well there's a place down that way with three boys who like to cause a bit of trouble." The blonde points in the direction Near is sure that he came from.
"Oh yeah I'm sure that I met them. I got away before anything happened but that was scary." Near admits and he knows that as long as he makes sure that they won't go to the police it should be okay. "But I'm okay. Nothing happened."
"I'm glad to hear that you weren't hurt." The brunette admits.
"Yeah." Near nods softly. "But since nothing happened there isn't anything to do but brush it off."
"Just be careful. And don't worry the cops are working on capturing those three for their trouble making. So if you see them run to a populated area or to where a police man or woman might see you." The blonde reminds him.
"Right. I will don't worry." Near gives the best assuring smile that he can as he knows that running to the police won't help him with him probably being hunted possibly even here; So he'd just end up captured and sent away to the government if he tried to run to where police are. "Thank you."
"No problem." The brunette says seeming more satisfied with Near's answers.
"Bye bye." The blonde waves with a rather happy look then he kisses his boyfriends cheek as they move on to wherever they were going.
Near turns and heads off still going away from where he encountered the three. "They were nice." He says a little quietly to himself.
