"I wonder why they didn't stop by," Kim said to Wesley as they walked out of the restaurant. "Or why they left so quickly. Had we known they were coming, we could've double dated."
"I don't know if you'd like that," Wesley told her. "Matt seems like a nice enough guy from the outsider's perspective, but when you get to know him he's pretty much an asshole. He's a Yankee; that's just the way they are."
Wesley and Kim decided to bypass the car and walk to Centennial Park, where the jazz concert was being held. The restaurant was not far at all, and this would save parking time and parking money. Aside from that, the weather outside was perfect. Not a cloud floated in the sky, stars were easily visible, even in the dense light pollution of downtown Atlanta, and a slight breeze kept it from being too warm. The two of them held hands as they walked.
Their bliss was short-lived as they saw a rather tall man tearing off in their direction. His face was covered with some sort of hood, but for some reason his eyes seemed to almost be glowing. The man had a purse in his hand, and sure enough, an older woman's voice could be heard behind him, screaming that her purse had been stolen. The man rapidly approached Wesley and Kim. Kim's eyes widened as she looked at her boyfriend. Wesley only returned the glance. Was he supposed to stop this man and save the day? Even from a distance, the man looked bigger and taller than his brother James. There was no way he would be able to recover the woman's stolen purse.
"Do something!" Kim urged Wesley. "He's coming this way!"
"What the hell am I supposed to do…take him down?" Wesley countered. "This guy is twice my size! Besides, what if he's got a gun or something? Then what?"
"Well we can't just do nothing!" Kim argued. "Oh my God, he's almost here!"
Wesley sighed as he quickly took in his surroundings. He and Kim were just out of the parking lot. There were street lights around, but the only people in the area were the two of them, the mugger, and the woman was far behind. The man's eyes seemed to glow even more the closer he got to Wesley. Kim hid behind her boyfriend as the man turned just before reaching them, heading towards a back alley. Wesley's eyes rolled automatically. Why did these sorts of things always have to happen in alleys?
"Hey!" Wesley called out, as he started to run after the man. He turned back to Kim. "You go back to where the woman is and stay with her. I'll be right back."
Kim nodded briefly as she started to run back to the woman, who now was out of sight. She stopped, blinking quickly. The woman had just been there a moment ago. Where could she have gone in such a short time? Kim concluded that she must have gone back to find some more help, so she continued that way. She stopped cold when a mass of air rippled in front of her, and a tall man with glowing eyes appeared from nowhere. Her own eyes rolled in the back of her head as she fainted…
Meanwhile, Wesley had almost caught up with the mugger. Being on the track team had its advantages. He checked one last time to see if he was alone, then reached out a hand towards the running man. He froze mid-step, as if Wesley had pressed the pause button. Wesley slowed down, panting heavily, before finally reaching the thief. Taking a closer look, Wesley saw that the man's eyes really did glow a sort of eerie yellow hue. Looking even closer, Wesley could make out that the eyes were not human; they looked more like a snake's eyes. His first instinct was to run; this was no regular mugger. Something supernatural was going on, and he knew that he did not want to be any part of it. On the other hand, his brothers' voices resonated in his head, reminding him that he had a responsibility to uphold.
He took a deep breath as he reached a hand out to grab the purse. Thankfully, he pried it from the unknown man's hand with ease. He turned around to run back to Kim and the owner of the purse, but slammed right into a second man who looked very similar to the mugger. Wesley's body bounced back a few feet, but he kept his footing. This man, on second glance, looked to be almost identical, with the same height and build, and those same yellow snake eyes.
"Who the hell are you?" Wesley asked, raising his hands up and preparing to freeze this guy as well. "What do you want with a lady's purse?"
"The purse was the trap," the man said, stalling. As he slowly spoke, his protégé began to slowly twist and turn his way out of Wesley's freeze. "I only needed it to get your attention, and now that I have it…"
The man's accomplice, now fully functional again, sneaked behind Wesley and grabbed his hands so that he could not freeze anyone. He laughed as Wesley struggled futilely against his iron grip. The one speaking to Wesley rippled into the thin air, disappearing. Wesley continued to fight the man and break free, but could not pry his hands loose.
"Who are you?" he asked. "What's going on?"
"You'll find out…" his captor answered in a mysterious tone, "…maybe."
The other man rippled back into existence, this time carrying someone familiar. Wesley took one look and his struggling intensified. That man held his girlfriend. Her body was limp; she was not moving at all. If they had done something to her, Wesley would never be able to live with himself. He started thrashing, his legs flailing about wildly to free himself.
"What did you do to her?" he demanded. "If you hurt her, I'll…"
"You'll what?" the man holding Kim taunted. "She's fainted for now. Don't worry, though. Soon enough, fainting will be the least of either of your worries."
That fueled Wesley enough. With the grip of his captor being as strong as it was, he raised both his legs and launched them backwards as hard as he could. They caught the man in the upper leg, startling him enough to loosen his grip. Wesley slipped through the man's grasp and ducked down low, swinging his right foot around to trip the yellow-eyed man. He proved to be stronger than Wesley anticipated, though. Wesley's foot came to an abrupt stop as the man stared down at him with glowing eyes.
The one holding Kim only looked on in amusement, knowing that Wesley alone posed no real threat to either of them. Every chance Wesley got, though, he looked back at Kim, hoping that she really had fainted. That she stayed unconscious only made him want to fight more. Wesley jumped back to his feet and threw a punch at his foe's stomach.
It was like hitting a wall. The man's dark coat peeled back to reveal scale skin that was grayish-brown…just like the demon that attacked back at the house. Wesley's jaw dropped as he came to the realization that he was being attacked by two demons. He had no time to waste. The one he was fighting roared loudly and threw a mighty fist at Wesley. Without thinking, Wesley's body burst into tiny sparkles of blue and white light that disappeared from view.
"Wait for it," the one holding Kim advised. "Remember, he can't go anywhere. He'll be back right about…now."
Wesley's opponent sent a kick at the space Wesley once stood. Bright lights, the same ones Wesley disappeared in before, came back into existence in the exact same spot, bringing Wesley back with them. The kick connected with Wesley's side, throwing him to the ground. The demon ran and grabbed Wesley's arms so that he could not freeze him anymore while the other laid Kim down on the ground, roughly shaking her awake.
"Leave…her…alone!" Wesley shouted, continuing to flail about.
The shaking worked. Kim began to stir awake. Her field of vision started off very blurry. She could make out two large figures and one smaller one as well. As her vision focused, she saw Wesley being held by a tall man with yellow eyes, and another standing right next to her. She started to scream, but the one near her quickly covered her mouth, muffling her. Her eyes grew wider as the one covering her mouth revealed his face to her. It was grayish-brown and scaly like a snake, but it was the face of a gorilla. She was on the verge of fainting again, but Wesley's yells kept her conscious.
"Stop!" he screamed before his captor shoved some sort of rag into his mouth, quieting him as well.
"Shut up!" the demon gagging Kim ordered. "If you do not stop talking I'm going to kill this woman of yours…very slowly."
Those words hit home for Wesley. He immediately hushed and stopped thrashing about, becoming still. Both demons smiled at Wesley's compliance and the rag was removed from his mouth. He wanted to scream again, but he had been in contact with plenty of demons and he knew very well that if they said they would kill someone, they would do it. He concentrated on glimmering away, trying to take his mind to a calm place. He tried forcing himself to panic. He tried anything he could think to try, but nothing triggered his dormant ability. What good was this power if it was uncontrollable, especially in times like this?
"Do you care for this woman?" the one holding Kim asked Wesley.
"What?" Wesley asked, somewhat confused.
"You will find out soon enough," the demon answered with a sly grin as he, Wesley, the second demon, and Kim vanished from the area in an evil ripple.