DRIFT

It was an average Friday afternoon; high school students had flooded out of school and headed for the local mall, River Cross to hang out. It has never been scientifically proven as to why... teens are attracted to the mall on Fridays ….that's just the way it is.
Secret eyes were watching a young girl yakking with her friends on an escalator. The eyes belonged to a young man slightly older than her sporting a black hoody, a pair of grey jeans and a pair of shades. The girl had long shining blonde hair with pink streaks and wore classic teenage girl attire, overly tight jeans and clingy shirt that says 'Cutie' on it. The young man casually made his way to the escalator and then quickened his pace to follow the group of chattering girls on the second floor. The group had entered a girl's clothing store, which was the epitome of everything feminine. But that didn't stop the young man, for he was on a mission in which there was no room for error. He felt a little unsure of himself walking through the racks of mini skirts, short shorts, boot cut jeans, and so on. The young man smoothly moved through the racks and pretended to be looking for something and hoped that no one thought he was a pervert. He quickly picked up the first thing that didn't look too scandals, a blue t-shirt with a kitty cat on its front. The young man pretended to stare it with great interest, while watching the blonde out of the corner of his eye.
"Sir, Can I help?" a store assistant asked. It was creepy how they were able to sneak up on you. This was not good, he had to focus on the blonde girl and this little spring chicken was in his way. Fortunately for him, his target was heading his way.
He smiled slightly and turned to the assistant "I don't think you can. You see my girlfriend's birthday is coming up and I am trying to get her something special."
"Awww…that's so sweet," the assistant cooed "I wished my boyfriend would do that for me."
"Well perhaps he doesn't deserve you…I must say you appear quite charming."
"Oh thank you."
The young man chuckled "So um…got any suggestions?" he asked. While the assistant thought the young man's maze shifted back to the blonde. She was very close this was his opportunity...

He picked up the kitty cat shirt and asked the assistant "What do you think?"
She eyed it expertly and pursed her lips. "I think you are on the right track." The young man turned to the blonde near by and asked "What do you think?' he asked.
The blonde giggled "You're asking my opinion?"
"Well of course you are a human-I mean a girl aren't you."
The blonde frowned suddenly but managed to put on a quick smile. " I think she'll adore it…please excuse me," she said pushing passed the young man and the assistant. The young man turned to the assistant "Thanks for your help I think I have some ideas now." The girl nodded and moved on. He instantly put the t-shirt back and left the store. He spotted the blonde moving at a brisk pace.
"That guy…could he be…one of them?" She thought herself. The blonde shook the thought, it gave her chills. She tossed a quick glance over her shoulder and saw no sign of the young man in black. The girl began to relax when someone grabbed her arm.
"Don't make this harder than it needs to be," the young man whispered in her ear. "Now walk." Terror flooded the girl's mind and she obeyed and they made their way to the escalator.
"How did you find me?"

"I have my methods…keep walking…please don't make a scene."
"Oh I'll make a scene alright," the girl muttered dangerously. She grabbed the young man's wrist and it began to sizzle. He cried out and recoiled. Once freed from his grip she bolted for the exit. "Oh no you don't," the young man muttered running after her. Suddenly the girl's hands turned into two fiery fists and she hurled fire balls back at her pursuer. People began to scream as fire balls set fire to everything they touched. "She's making a scene…I'll need back up." He pulled a cell phone out of his pocket and hit speed dial.
"Hello?" A lethargic voice answered.
"Raf, she's running out to the parking lot stop her! Stop her NOW!"
"What do you mean by "stop"."
"You know stop her …what else is there to it?"
"Well there is "stop her" in terms of killing her, "stop her", as in stun and—."
"You know which one I am talking about…So get moving!"
"Roger." He shoved the cell phone into his pocket and bolted through the doors into the parking lot. His eyes scanned the parking lot.
"Where is she?" he thought. Suddenly he saw a small explosion sending a couple of cars into the air. "There she blows," he muttered. The young man found the blonde hurling fire at another assailant who had retreated behind some cars. The young man hurled himself at her and they both tumbled onto the ground. She screamed angrily and tried to burn him like she had done in the mall, but couldn't get a firm grip.
The young man punched her several times "That is for my wrist, wench."
"Your wrist is not the only thing I am going to torch!" the girl snarled slugging him in the jaw. The two continued to fight and wrestle each other on the ground.
"Get out of the way!" a voice shouted. The young man immediately jumped away from the girl as a small car hit her, sending her flying across the parking lot. He ran with unnatural speed and was able to catch her before she hit the ground. A black Volkswagen GTI rolled slowly toward him then stopped and the driver stuck his head out. He looked just as old as the young man except he had dark thick hair littered with jet black feathers. The young man looked up at the dark haired driver.
"This is your way of "stopping her"? He asked raising an eyebrow.
The driver yawned, "What did you expect me to do she was throwing freakin' fireballs at me."
"I guess that is cause to use our car as a weapon."
"Is she alive?" The young man checked for a pulse, "Yep…you hit her just right." He said with a smiled. The driver smiled sheepishly back at him….

I placed the darling blonde pyromaniac in the trunk of the car. It was a tight fit and she would most likely have a back ache…but hey that isn't really my problem. If you asked me she deserved it for giving me a hard time. My name is Purple Cat or PC for short…I'm experiment tracker. The stupid driver is my associate / partner, Rafmire or Raf for short. We both had our differences and disagreements but there was one thing that we had in common, we were scum of the earth...and we were good at it. It had been three long years since I was forced into involuntary servitude. I still hate it, but on a milder level and I still hate my employer too. But that doesn't matter right now. What Raf and I had to worry about was getting this girl back "home" without bringing a parade of cops along with us.
I checked the girl's bonds before I slammed the trunk closed and proceeded to the passenger side of the car, checking for security all the while. Raf sat in the driver's seat reading a magazine with his feet up on the steering wheel. He wore black just like me only he didn't wear shades like I did. The reason for the shades is simply this. If someone comes up to you with blood red cat eyes would talk to them? Or hold up a cross and sprinkle them with holy water. Need I say more? Raf put his magazine down and took his black converse off the wheel.
"You ready to go?" He asked. I reached for the glove compartment and pulled out a bottle of water. Next I rolled down the window and poured the water on my scorched wrist.
"Yeah, We'll go." I finally said.
"Did she burn you really bad?"
"No…I'll be fine."
"Gotcha." Suddenly my cell phone rang making us both jump. We looked at each other. "You goin' to answer it?" Raf asked.
"No, Are you?"
"No."
"Well someone has to answer it."
"Okay, well why don't you, Raf, because it was your idea."
"No way,"
"Fine we will flip for it." Suddenly the phone stopped ringing. We both sighed and then it started ringing again and we both jumped a second time. Raf pulled a quarter out of his pocket.
"You call it," he said. I nodded, Raf flipped it.
"Heads!" I said.
Raf held up the quarter "Tails." I muttered a curse word or two and picked up the phone. "Hello?"
"Hello, Seth."
"Hi."
"Did you capture, Blaze?"
"Yeah, we've got her."
"That's excellent…excellent…head home."
"Right," I said flatly and then hung up.
"So what did he say?"
"We're heading home."
Raf nodded "Right," he said flatly. He put the keys in the ignition and we were off…..

"Are we there yet?" I asked my feet propped up on the dashboard.
"You know the answer to that PC there is no point in me repeating it," Raf replied casually clinking his claws on the steering wheel. Raf didn't have normal hands, the tops of them were covered in coal colored feathers and the skin in that area was grey. His fingernails were replaced with thick black talons. He could do basic things with his hands quite well but he had trouble handling a fork. I stared out of the tainted windows and watched the trees one by one go by. It had taken us three days to track Blaze, she wasn't our toughest case, but I have to commend her for putting up a fight.
"How long do you think she'll stay out?" Raf asked.
I looked back at the trunk, "I don't know. It'll all depend on how hard you hit her."
He sighed "I hate this."
"Join the club," I said.
Raf chuckled "Perhaps we should start a club…we could make nifty t-shirts, mugs, key chains,…Oh and my personal favorite felt-tip pens." I smiled but said nothing. We drove for another two hours when we heard some unwanted movement coming from the trunk. Raf immediately pulled over.
"What do we do? If she lights up, we're in trouble."
" I know," I said unbuckling my seat belt and jumping into the backseats. My feet stuck up in the air as I searched under the seats, which were flooded with take out boxes, foam cups and those cute little plastic toys that you get with kids meals…we can never get enough of those.
"Raf, where are the tranquilizers?"
"I—tell you…once you-get-your-foot-out -of- MY-FACE!"
"Oh sorry…So where are they?"
"Check under the cups."
"Which one?" "The Starbucks one! Hurry up PC, I smell something burning!" This wasn't good. We always kept a box of tranquilizers to calm down the targets. But there was none to be found, until I spotted a little white box. I grabbed it and sure enough there was a lone syringe sitting inside.
"Got one!" I said. Raf and I stumbled out of the car and hurried to the trunk. I could hear Blaze's muffled screams…it was a good thing I taped her mouth shut.
"Alright when I open this hold her still, got it."
"Gotcha." I nodded and popped the trunk. Some smoke trailed out and then we saw Blaze thrashing around inside. Raf reached in and tried to hold her down, but she was fighting him. Frustrated with her, he dug his claws into the upper part of her arms, Blaze shrieked in pain, tears running down her cheeks.
"Don't make this harder than it needs to be," he said in a very soothing voice. Blaze stopped thrashing and sat still. "Listen to me. We are going to tranquilize you…so you won't give us any trouble." Blaze started to wiggle a bit. Raf dug his claws even deeper and crimson ribbons of blood trailed down her arms. " Hush now. The stuff we are giving you will put you out for only a while. Its not the stuff that the School uses so you won't have to worry about pain or being completely disoriented." Raf explained in the same calm voice, never changing his tone once. While he talked to her I slipped the needle into her lower arm. "The next town is about an hour or two from here. If you're good, We'll feed you. Understand?" She nodded and then fell back unconscious. Raf wrapped Blaze's gash wounds and then I slammed the trunk closed. I sighed and leaned against the car staring up at the fading light in the sky, then looked over at Raf who was cleaning the blood off his claws. "That was quick…usually we can't keep them IN the trunk." He commented.
I smiled grimly, " Let's go…"

What Rafmire said to Blaze was true. The next town was only about an hour or two away. This town was called Littleton, a was a small cheerful looking place out in the middle of nowhere...which is ideal for people like us. We stopped at a diner and gorged on the entire menu. I kept looking outside at our car, just in case Blaze woke up and decided to get bold.
"Do you ever wonder...," Raf said absent mindedly eating French fries.
"Wonder what?" I asked sipping taking a sip from my milkshake.
He nodded towards the car, "What they think of us?"
I snorted, "I stopped thinking like that a long time ago, Raf...They are entitled to their opinions but the fact remains we are what we are."
Raf smiled, "Where did you get that crap? Out of Reader's Digest?"
"Nope I made that up just now...but no one else needs to know that." I grinned. Raf chuckled and continued eating.
I looked back out the window at the car and then pushed the check towards Raf,"Why don't you take care of this buddy. I'm going to get Blaze some food."
"How about you pay and I go wait out by the car," he replied holding up one of his clawed hands.
"Alright you do that." Rafmire got up and left the diner and I paid for out small feast and bought some food for Blaze and headed out. The night was its typical shade of red through my eyes. When Jeb discovered that I suffered from night blindness he and his league of merry Whitecoats decided to fix it. Although it didn't turn out quite how they hoped. I can see better than I had before...so I guess it was a perk. I tossed the food in the car and we drove several miles out of town, so we wouldn't rouse any suspicion….

She glared at us angrily, but didn't scream.
"Hey we got you some food. Are you hungry?" I asked offering her the food. I slight glimpse of hunger leap across her fine features, but then she concealed it with a defiant scowl.
"Come on you've been in here for almost 5 hours."
"I don't want anything from you two...you disgust me," she replied sticking up her chin." I didn't like her attitude it was bad enough that she was PYRO. On the list of things I hate PYROS are near the top along with teleopaths. They like to burn crap! Mainly people they don't like. Anyway enough ranting.
"Oh, did you hear that Raf, we disgust her." I said.
Raf shook his head "That's to bad...oh well, I guess you must be really eager to starve for days on end and get feed through a tube." Blaze's hunger showed again.
"Last time...little pyro, take it or leave it," I said waving the bag in front of her.
Blaze sighed, " Fine, but how am I supposed to eat when my hands are tied?"
"We'll feed you," I smiled.
"Raf, if you will be so kind as to sit this young lady up." Raf sat her up with little effort and I ripped off pieces of the burger I got for her and fed them to her, which didn't take long. After she was finished eating Raf laid her back down.
"Why are you doing this?" she asked with a knot in her throat.
"That's simple, because we were ordered to do it," I said calmly.
"So you do anything THEY say?"
"It more complicated than that."
"What are they going t-" I placed another strip of tape over her mouth.
"I don't know," I said coldly and then slammed the trunk door down. I heard her muffled screams start again and sighed. Blaze's screams were like invisible blades cutting into my conscious. I plugged my ears and got back into the car. Raf was already waiting inside, his claws clicking on the steering wheel.
"How much farther?" I asked, neglecting to notice my voice shaking.
"We will be there in a couple more hours," he replied.
"Well let's move it."…..

We made it 'home' around three o' clock in the morning and for once I was relieved because, Blaze hadn't stopped screaming since we left Littleton. Lab 7 was our home still but it got a major upgrade. It was bigger, had more security and a lot more. Jeb would sometimes visit and check on our progress. But we usually got our assignments from Dr. Risa, the new head of Lab 7. Dr. Rancor as it turned out died in an unfortunate accident while on vacation…Hey, even an evil sadistic scientist needed a little R&R….
However Dr. Risa was no Mother Teresa. She ruled Lab 7 with an iron fist and wouldn't hesitate to punish us if we weren't obedient.
We parked our car in the parking deck under the compound; there we were greeted by a squad of Jawz. Hulking black furred Erasers that didn't have a human form. They had huge mouths, hence their name, with even larger oversized teeth that could bite through anything even steel. The Jawz were also accompanied by two Land Sharks, a fiendish combination of tiger and shark DNA.
"Give us the target," the one of the Jawz said spraying flecks of saliva. Do to the size of their teeth ,Jawz couldn't close their mouth all the way so they were constantly drooling. I opened the trunk and Blaze started screaming again and started kicking with more fire than she had before. The lead Jawz reached down and yanked her out. Suddenly Blazes hands ignited and she punched the Eraser in the stomach, but it didn't hurt or burn his flesh.
"Nice try girly…but I don't feel pain." Blaze continued to fight anyway even though it was useless. She ripped the tape from her lips.
"Traitors!" she shouted at us. We flinched a little at her accusation. Soon Whitecoats came in and tranquilized her. We watched as they carried her away. This part is always the hardest for me even though I had done this for a while it still bothered me.
"PC, Rafmire," a voice called. A Whitecoat named, Dr. McKinney approached us. He was one of the new employees in his mid twenties with intelligent looking little glasses. "What is it?" I asked.

"Dr. Risa wants to see you two," he said. "Follow me." We followed the scrawny doctor down a clean white hallway. We passed many rooms some with mutants inside them, others were filled with doctors performing outlandish procedures and then there were the training rooms for Erasers and Collectors. That is what they called us, Collectors…I don't really like the term it doesn't sound very cool…like Eraser.
Dr. Risa's office was well lit and spotless place with a few plants and a fish tank filled with guppies gave the room have a more dignified look. However the place still gave me the shivers. Dr. Risa sat at her desk signing papers with her gnarled old fingers wrapped around a pen and her snow white hair was tied back in bun.
"I brought PC and Rafmire ma'm," Dr. McKinney announced. Risa looked up at him with two sharp sapphire eyes which had been left untouched by time.
"I see that. Be on your way, McKinney," she said coldly. He nodded and left the room closing the door behind him. Dr. Risa sighed heavily and placed her pen down and looked up at us with what appeared to be a friendly smile. "How are you doing, boys?"
"Fine," we said in unison.
" Hmph. I am glad to hear it. Now, let's get down to business. Your next assignment is to capture and apprehended this experiment," Risa said plopping two brown envelopes on her desk. We both took one. "He's avoided us for a very long time…Everything you need to know is in that folder. He is one of our tougher cases, but I am sure you boys can handle him."
" How dangerous is he?" Raf asked.
"He's killed over 15 collectors and many more Erasers. Most of them died being crushed by large projectiles. The other unfortunate few…I'd rather not talk about it."
"Charming," Raf remarked smoothly. "You have 24 hours to recuperate and then I expect you to be on your way. You are dismissed." She said and then immediately picked up her pen and continued her work…..