Bear Mountain Road was so overgrown, that neither Eleven nor Kali could see the sun through the dense canopy of treetops. But regardless, both of the girls were on their guard, like they were everywhere else they visited.
"I'm starting to wish we had gone the other way," Kali commented, looking around worriedly. Both of them were still thinking about the way the old man had acted around them, the way he'd spoken and it had raised too many red flags.
Still, not knowing any better both Eleven and Kali had gone down Bear Mountain Road.
Eleven was looking around, trying hard to keep her own trepidation down. "Kali, let's go back to that man and find out why he was so interested," she suggested.
Kali stopped. "Do you think something is wrong? Do you sense something?"
Eleven stopped in her tracks as well and looked around. "Do you remember when I told you that my powers had grown after my fight with One, back at the Lab?"
Kali nodded.
"Well, my awareness has also grown. Kali, ever since we met that man, I felt nervous and it's only gotten worse. Something's not right about this road, and he knows about it," Eleven said.
"Could you see in his mind?"
"No. I'd have to concentrate and peer through the void, if I had a radio I could picture him in my mind."
"And we don't have a radio," Kali nodded, biting her lip. "What do you want to do?"
"I want to go back, find out why he was so keen on us coming down this road, and you can take care of that."
"Me?" Kali pointed to herself.
"Yes, go into his mind, find out what he is frightened of the most, and torture him with it," Eleven was a matter of fact.
When Kali and Eleven had both left the lab, they had both tried to move on and live a normal life with ordinary people, but no matter what happened, the people they'd lived with had reacted with fear, and they usually blamed the two young girls for things even if it was not their fault. In the end, one day, Kali was blamed for causing trouble in the town they'd been staying in, and she was nearly beaten for it but Eleven had stopped it from happening.
After that day, Eleven and Kali both developed an ends justifies the means approach to survival. They didn't care about causing pain and torment if it meant they lived for another few weeks or so. They weren't going to bat an eyelash towards an unpleasant old man in the middle of nowhere, and besides, there was something, seriously wrong here, and both girls were becoming agitated.
Kali understood what her little sister was saying. "And you enter his mind, and find out if there is something wrong," she stated.
Eleven nodded, "Yes. If we turn back now, we can get there soon enough."
In total agreement, the two girls were about to turn around when Kali spotted something in the corner of her eye. Turning around she stopped and showed Eleven. It was a fire, set ear some trees.
"Hello?" Eleven called.
No answer.
"Is there anyone there?" Eleven called again.
Again, no answer.
Shivering at the eerie feel of this place, Eleven glanced at Kali and saw the same look of worry on her face. The two girls walked towards the fire slowly, eyes darting from left to right, looking for any signs of movement. Neither said a word, both of them mutually agreeing to keep silent to listen out for any unnatural sounds. The fire was in a small campsite; there were the remains of a tent, but there was nobody there. But there was something Eleven found that scared her, and she showed her sister.
"Blood," Eleven pointed to the splatters of drying, but still relatively fresh blood on the tent, and some of the leaves nearby. "I've had enough of this. Let's get out of here, Kali. We are not alone. People are being killed up here, and I don't want us to be next."
But Kali had just thought of something critical. "Jane, do you think you could enter the void, and find out what the man is hiding from here, and who else is here?"
Eleven shuddered at the thought of entering the void. How many times had Papa forced her to track down and kill people using the void, and punished her whenever she failed due to her nerves? But right now she had other worries. Using the void could be stressful for Eleven, but working under the threat of death was never pleasant. "I could, but for the best results I'd need a bath, I can do it here, but would we be safe enough for me to do it?" She asked pointedly.
Her statement made it clear to Kali that the idea was not a good one, and the older girl decided to concede the point.
"So how do we get back?" Kali asked.
Eleven chewed her lip, making Kali think her sister looked cute. And then she brightened up. "I could fly us back," she suggested, "use my powers to do it."
Their powers had grown since they'd left the Lab, both of them resorting to using their darker emotions to help them. But the two girls didn't like reaching their long-term limits.
Suddenly they both stilled, as they heard a sound in the distance. It was a car engine. Kali silently held her hands up, blood starting to trickle down from her nostrils as she held up the invisibility shield as they slowly walked back towards the road, just as the car came into view. The engine was loud, but the sounds of loud music and singing were trying to drown out the sounds. The car sped past the two girls, but it went by so fast that even with Kali's invisibility shields, it was debatable if they'd have seen them; as they sped past, Eleven saw that they were a group of young people, teenagers.
There was a popping sound, and the car skidded off of the road.