Chapter 3

Silence.

Silence was everything that was filling the tavern's room after Alex had told the present persons what Leena Clark had told her under four eyes.

Yes, Typhon wouldn't leave Haven Springs. At least not without taking it down with it, and it was quite obvious that most of them.

"I think," said Ryan eventually, after a few moments of thinking it over, "it's pretty obvious that Typhon's planning somethin'."

"But we also shouldn't jump to any rushed conclusions," added Charlotte. "We all know how dangerous those motherfuckers are. They won't hesitate to kill this entire town just to get what they want."

"Then we should play it smart," concurred Ryan with a nod, getting mumbled agreements from the others as well, except from Steph, who obviously had doubts.

"But how?" she exclaimed. "Last time we thought we had 'em, they just slithered away from jurisdiction like the Slimy Worm of R'agul. This fuckin' woman was responsible for the second explosion that killed Gabe, and is now still walking free as a freakin' bird, because we thought we were smart."

"Well," replied Ryan, gazing with a grin at Alex, "Typhon just delivered us the possibility to infiltrate a spy into their midst."

Suddenly, a strong red aura appeared around Steph as she furiously blurted at her friend.

"No. Fucking. Way! You remember what happened to her the last time?"

"I remember very well!" Ryan yelled back, a red aura shining around him as well. "I remember that my father tried to kill her. Thanks for the recall!"

"Then you should scratch this stupid plan!"

Eventually, it was Duckie who interrupted the fight between the two young grown-ups by clearing his throat.

"Well, I'd say that we all should call it for today and take a big nap...and maybe a fine drink over it."

"I think, Duckie's right," agreed Eleanor joyfully as it was her nature. "We all need to think about those new developments and before any decision can be made, a new council has to be elected anyways."

Concurring with what the older woman had just announced, one by another left the tavern, whereas Charlotte was one of the last. On her way out, she approached Alex, telling her "Don't let yourself get forced to anythin'!" before throwing one last stern glimpse at Ryan and Steph, chiding them. "And you two get your shit together! Alex is not your playball."

Then, she was gone as well, leaving Alex, Steph and Ryan for themselves. And though the atmosphere wasn't that tense anymore, Steph still was angry and Ryan stayed silent. So, it was down to Alex to ease them both down again.

"Hey guys, maybe we should do the same. Just sleep a night over it and…"

"You're not really considering this bullshit?!" the brunette snipped at her girlfriend, a wave of anger hitting her.

"Steph…" Ryan tried to mediate, but got shut down right away.

"No! She barely got away with her life the last time."

"Steph, I'm gonna be fine," added Alex to the conversation, now trying to calm down Steph as well, when suddenly something strange happened. The nerdy girl's aura began to flicker. Red changed to purple, purple to blue and then back to red. "Steph…?"

'Not again! Please, not again! I just lost Gabe…a-and Mom…and Rachel…Izzy. God, why's everybody who I let close to me leaving? What the fuck did I do? I don't wanna lose her! Not her! I love her so much!'

As Alex witnessed how tears started to flow down Steph's face, she reached for her shoulder, but the brunette just squirmed away from her touch and shook her head.

"Don't!" she hissed, taking a few steps back. "I so don't wanna go through this again. Not again!" Then she turned on the spot, stomping towards the door. "You wanna get yourself killed? Fine!" she spoke furiously over her shoulder, her tears now forming a constant stream. "But without me! I'm out!"

The heavy door fell into the lock with a loud slam, which left Alex with a big sting in her heart, a sting that almost let her lose her balance. Only Ryan gave her a bit of a hold.

"Don't worry," he said. "She's gonna calm down again."

But Alex didn't believe him and shook her head. "No, she won't. She was afraid and sad and angry…all at the same time. I never experienced that before." Once more the young woman took a deep inhale and then looked sternly at her friend. "What happened to her mom and, uh…Rachel, I guess was her name."

For a short moment, Ryan stared at her with wide open eyes, before he sighed. "So, you read her emotions?" he asked, which was answered with a short nod. "Alright. You remember this strange storm that hit a small town on the West Coast, about six years ago?"

Alex tried to remember. Six years ago she had been 15 years old and had been sent to another foster-family. But there was something. A name.

"Arcadia Bay?" she said, earning a nod by the brunette man.

"Yeah. She used to live there with her family. A year before it happened, she moved to Seattle. Then, the storm hit the town, killin' a lotta people. Her mom was under them."

Now Alex understood her sadness and her fear of losing another beloved person. But who was Rachel?

"And Rachel?"

"I don't know," continued Ryan truthfully. "She never mentioned this name to me. Maybe you should ask her yourself. I think you two need to talk anyway."

Giving her friend a wry smile of appreciation, Alex immediately ran after Steph, hoping to save their young relationship. And as she was standing in front of the Rocky Mountain Record Traders store and saw that the sign showed Closed, the Asian woman simply hoped that the door wasn't unlocked. To her luck, it opened and the renounced bell chimed. But as she was just asking herself, where Steph could be, she got the answer presented as her girlfriend's slightly depressed voice sounded from the store's speakers.

"Hi, Haven Springs, this is your beloved DJ Steph with KRCT, Haven's best - and only - Radio station. You guys know that I mostly try not to get emotional during my broadcasts, but today...shit, today I can't get around it. 'Cause today I realized something. I realized that… I… Shit, okay, here we go! Today I realized how much I love a special person. So, I hope she's hearing this and if not...please, tell her to find a fucking radio and listen.

Alex, I'm sorry for freakin' out before, okay. I didn't mean to, but...I love you, okay! I...I mean I really, really love you. Like love-at-first-sight style. I love you so much that I...I just don't wanna lose you. No, scratch that. I CAN'T lose you. I thought that givin' up my dream and rippin' that bus ticket was enough, but...it wasn't. I need to get this off my chest. On air, in front of all those people. The first time I saw you on the other side of that window here, I totally lost my shit and grinned like a stupid idiot. I think letting you choose the next song was just my emergency exit to don't stand around like a brain dead zombie. And… Shit, I hope you even listen. And just yesterday I realized, that loosing this fucking foosball-game against Gabe and staying here for another year, had been destiny, 'cause otherwise I never would've met you. Maybe it was Gabe's plan at all to lure you here, just so that I'd finally meet my dream girl. Fuck, maybe all this shit before...*a knocking sound in the background*"

As Steph shifted her focused gaze from the microphone to the radio boothe's window, she barely couldn't believe that her girlfriend was standing on the other side, looking shyly at her with deeply blushed cheeks. Like in trance, she walked over to the door and opened it up. The gap was barely big enough to fit a person through as Alex jumped at Steph, embraced her and gave her the longest and most intimate kiss she'd ever received from her.

Now Steph's aura changed back to golden, signing that she was entirely happy.

"I heard all of it," said Alex after breaking the kiss. And then, she walked over to the mic and pushed the broadcast-button, saying into it "I love you too, Stephanie Gingrich!"

Being as happy as never before the nerdy woman couldn't suppress a slight shy chuckle, but it got even worse as Alex got an even crazier idea and pressed the button again.

"Hello Haven, this is your apprentice DJ Alex Chen, announcing to you the one and only chance to watch a hot lesbian couple making out in the Rocky Mountain Record Traders store. You're invited to enjoy the show. But don't forget to buy a few records or comics!"

As soon as Alex had taken the hand of the keypad, Steph closed in, still giggling. "Are you crazy?!"

"Sex sells," replied the Asian girl with a shrug. "And wasn't it you who made it public in the first place?"

Steph didn't answer that anymore and engaged in another kissing-session. And as Alex had predicted, the store got literally overrun by people. But they didn't look at the two kissing women like perverted, horny freaks, but mostly to congratulate and encourage them. Today, the record store sold more records than in an entire month.