Listen To The Wind – Chapter 1
"Stop him, He robbed my store!" A small Asian man shouts down the busy streets of New York. Talos runs down the sidewalk, his tall stature, making it hard for him to blend into the crowd. The fact that he's a tall teenager in a white hoodie and blue jeans pushing past people and gripping onto a black back pack stuffed with twenty dollar bills doesn't exactly help him go unnoticed. People in front of him begin to turn around, wondering what the commotion is about, blocking his path. 2 men turn around and stand in his way, as if to halt his getaway. Talos thrusts his palm towards the two men as if pushing them down from 20 feet away. A sudden gust appears and knocks the two men off their feet and onto the cold concrete.
The boy stops just after passing the men and glances back; about five "Good Samaritans" have joined the effort to take "Justice". Talos spins around and looks to his left, a tall building wall stands next to him and to his right, the busy streets of New York. Quickly, Talos thrusts his hand in the direction of the building, the glass cracks from the pressure of the wind as he is catapulted across the 4 lanes of traffic. His body twists into a mid air cartwheel and he lands on the opposite side walk with a thud. In an instant he picks himself up and begins running down the sidewalk again, hoping after that no one else will dare try to stop him.
The sound of police sirens echo along the glass walls of the concrete jungle. A cop car comes speeding down the very road he was on, the lights shining against the reflective walls of the buildings around him. Talos quickly turns down an alley but soon finds it to be a dead end. The squad car follows him in, trapping him into a corner. Talos looks up around him and with a smirk on his face places his gaze back upon the officers, whom have already gotten out of the car and have their guns pointed towards him.
"Put your hands up in the air son" yells the driver officer. Talos's white hoodie shines in a bright light as the passenger officer shines a search light onto him. The white of his shirt glows along the walls of the alley. His chest rises and falls as he breathes harder and harder. He begins to calm himself down, so he can focus. In a swift move, Talos lowers his right hand and faces his left one towards the officers. Two gun shots ring out along the alley walls and out into the city. Talos stares at the bullets as they remain pushing against an invisible wall, inches from his face, before falling towards the ground. A grin comes upon his face as he surveys the officers' expressions of shock and dismay.
Before either officer could react Talos thrusts his right hand towards the concrete. He is hurled upwards towards the sky, his body arching backwards towards a nearby building. Talos lands on the roof of the building, looking down upon the officers. The grin is lost from his face as he begins to focus on his powers. His eyes begin to burn a bright blue as the winds all around the city begin to howl. A garbage dumpster in the alley begins to shake and rattle next to the squad car. The container begins to float as the winds gather all around it. Talos guides the dumpster with his hands over top of the squad car, he begins to sweat and shake out of exhaustion. Out of fear of losing control, Talos releases the dumpster from the winds, as it comes crashing down onto the squad car. He wipes the sweat from his brow, turning to walk home.
Slowly walking towards the edge of the building Talos finds himself looking down over Broadway. All the colorful lights and sounds coming up from the streets brings a smile to his face. Not of happiness, but of disgust. A disgust of the fact the people down there have normal lives, while his kind are outcast from the world. Nothing was wrong with being what he was, in fact he could pass for one of them at anytime, but he chooses not to. He thinks, why live in a world as anything but who he really is.
Standing at the edge of the building, Talos steps up to the ledge. Focusing his power, he blows a stream of air down in front of him. Talos steps down off the ledge onto his new bridge of solidified air. Slowly Talos walks across Broadway grinning as he hears many pedestrians screaming in terror of the man walking across nothing. He makes his way to another roof. Talos walks 10 blocks this way before getting to a Large brick building on the upper east side of New York. With one more breathe, Talos makes his was onto the roof and walks to the stair way door. He enters and descends into the hotel rooms below. After walking one flight Talos turns down a long hallway and walks over to room 520, he pulls out his key and opens the door.
After he enters, he places his backpack onto the ground and quietly sneaks over to the bed. As he begins to strip off his hoodie and jeans, the light from the bathroom floods the dark apartment. Talos quickly stands up and turns to see a woman standing in the doorway with a towel draped around her self.
She glares at him and asks, "And where have you been?" Her faint Spanish accent slips through as she stands in the doorway, her hands on her hips. The towel clings to her wet body. Her dark tan skin accented by the soft glow of the bathroom as she leans against the door. A pile of dirty green cargo pants and a red shirt lay at her feet, covered in mud.
"I…Uh…I was just… Listen…" Talos Stumbles over his words, trying to explain.
Immediately the girl's green eyes are diverted to the back pack lying next to his feet. "Baby, you said you were done. No more remember? We were going to go clean!" The look of disappointment in her eyes killed Talos.
"Look, Xiomara, I did it by myself, see? You don't have to worry anymore. This way you can stay safe at home and it's only me at risk. Mara, it will all work…"
"No! If you got caught, how am I supposed to survive! I'm not like you; I can't do what you do!" Her eyes fill with tears and her voice begins to quiver, "Please Talos, say this was the last time" She walks towards him, placing herself in his strong arms, her head against his chest.
He rests his chin on top of her head, "I'm doing this for us, and I'll make it all work out, somehow. I have to, for all of us" Talos places a hand on her stomach.
She raises her head to look up at him as he smiles gently and kisses her forehead. "Come on, get dressed, I want to take you out."
"It's almost ten. Where are we going to go?" She asks, letting the towel drop from her body as she searches her dresser for a pair of underwear and a bra. Xiomara slips into her new undergarments; she places a pair of earrings into her ears and one more right above her eyebrow. She slips into a pair of jeans and puts on a green shirt with a black leather jacket. Her six month stomach sticks out of the jacket and her long black hair is pulled back into a tight ponytail..
"We can go to central park for some dessert" He says smiling as he pulls off his hoodie and undershirt. Standing there, Talos has the build of a normal athletic teenager, with a well toned, tan body. His Greek background gives him a natural tan to his skin. He pulls on a blue t-shirt and a leather jacket as well.
Now both dressed, the two walk out of the room into the darkened hallway and down the stairs. They hold hands as they walk through the main entrance of the building and out onto the side walk.
After a stop at a local ice cream shop, Talos and Xiomara walk into central park. They admire the beauty of the greenery around them and hold each other close to keep warm in the December night air. In an instant, the wind all around them begins to howl and become colder.
"Baby stop, what're you doing? Its cold enough, stop showing off!" Xiomara yells over the winds loud gusts.
"It's not me! I promise!" Talos shouts back as the couple moves over to a nearby area of bushes. "Mara can you give us something to stand behind!" The wind begins to get harder and harder.
"Sure!" She shouts as she kneels down near trunk of the tree. She places a hand on one of the roots and it begins to move. Slowly the trees branches begin to bend and twist as new limbs begin to form. The trees new branches, envelope Xiomara and Talos in a small dome of leaves. A small area of protection from the howling winds but adequate enough to keep the winds out.
"Thanks babe, what's going on out there?" Talos says as he begins to rub his arms, trying to get warmer.
Xiomara walks over to one of the tree branches and pushes some of the leaves away to get a better look outside. "Talos, I think you better come see this."
Talos walks over to the opening and looks through. Outside the winds have created a small tornado in the middle of the park pathway. Two people begin to descend from the sky, being carried by the tornado to the ground. After landing, a 3rd person, this time a woman floats down in the middle of the tornado. Her short white hair resting on her hair.
The woman stands up right as the tornado begins to dissipate. She stands in her black leather outfit and begins to shout commands to her team. "Everyone to your positions, get ready for…." Before she can finish her sentence, a fireball hits her in the stomach and she is knocked backwards. Talos's eyes divert to the left, a man stands in the shadows with his arm raised and a puff of smoke in front of him. He lowers his arm as he walks forward into the light.
"Get ready for us" He says with a grin on his face.
