[Recovered File // First Full Recorded Draft: Lianne Vail // Authenticity Rating 100%]
[Lev] As a fun note, this appears to be chapter 2 at the time. Who needs Marcus anyway?
2. Teorin
Teorin found a decent place to land a couple miles away. It was behind some sort of stripmall on the edge of town leading into the forest. He landed pretty cleanly all things considered. It was harder to balance with a passenger, but he had a lot of practice.
He jogged to a stop and sunk down to a crouch reaching one hand out to steady himself. He turned off the suit's adhesion and the weight redistribution stopped. He unclipped her calves and waited. It took her a couple of tries, but she got herself unhooked. He could feel her shaking. “You clear?” he called out and he heard her stumble away.
“Clear,” she called out in a tired voice. He pulled the tab to retract the wings and they refolded, tucking neatly back into their slots along the back. Finally he turned around. Dr. Tanel was leaning against the back wall of the strip mall. Her wavy, golden hair was tangled from the flight. He hadn’t had time to read up about her before getting shipped here so it had been a shock to find that she looked to be almost the same age as him.
He felt bad. They hadn’t intended for this to happen, but he had turned her whole life upside down with his visit. She was brave, he had to give her that. A lot of people would have decided to stay when they heard his plan to get out. She had looked panicked, but had gone along with it anyway.
She was still shaking. “You alright, Dr. Tanel?”
She closed her eyes breathing deep. “Just give me a second. I’ll be alright and you can call me Kara. Only my students call me Dr. Tanel.”
“Alright, Kara then. I know this is overwhelming, but we need to get out of sight. That pulser might have followed us.”
She nodded. “Give me one more minute.”
He ran his hand through his hair. He was no good at this stuff. What could he do to put her at ease. He settled on a question.
“How old are you anyway?”
She actually smiled. She must get that one a lot. “I’m twenty-two. And you?”
Cascades, she was even younger than him.
“Twenty-three.”
She sighed. “Alright out of sight. We will have to walk through town and you stick out like a sore thumb. You are going to have to take that jacket off. There aren’t enough pulser’s around here for that to not call attention. You could stash it here.”
He grimaced. His flying suit was his most valuable possession and they might have to make a quick get away.
“Or not,” she said, noticing his grimace. “I think one of these is a clothes outlet, the sporty kind. Do you have money?”
He didn’t have much on him, but he had something.
“Some. What did you have in mind?”
“We’ll see when I see their selection,” she said heading around the building. He followed and they walked into the store. It reminded him of home. His mother loved backpacking so they had spent plenty of time in stores like this. Kara made a beeline for the backpacks.
“Don’t you have a backpack?”
“Yes. It’s not for me. It’s for you. We need one that can fit your jacket,” Kara said. He surveyed the selection. He could only fold it up so much with the wings so it would have to be a larger one.
“You find one that works. I am going to find a couple other things,” she said walking off. He found one that should work reasonably well and strode to the front. Kara was talking with the cashier and she was wearing a ballcap. “So does your boyfriend like backpacking?” the cashier asked.
This story originates from Royal Road. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.
Kara laughed. “Oh for sure. He can’t get enough of the woods. Right honey?”
She said, glancing at him. She turned so the cashier couldn’t see her face and the expression said play along.
“Right. We thought now would be a great time to get out there.”
“For sure.” The cashier said in agreement. “Just this and the ballcap then?” She said, taking the backpack. Teorin nodded, pulling out the money he had. It would cover it, barely.
“Thanks so much Gemma!” Kara called as they left.
Gemma just smiled and winked at Kara mouthing something to her.
They left and he loaded his jacket into the backpack. “So what just happened?” he asked. Kara frowned.
“You have to understand I have lived here for years, almost everybody knows me so when I show up with a random guy. They are ravenous for gossip. Saying nothing would be worse, but if I say you're my boyfriend. It will still get around, but better than nothing. If we are trying to lay low.”
“Why not cousin or something?”
“My family lived here for years. That would be weird. Plus then you would be available and I would have other sorts of problems incompatible with laying low.”
He raised his eyebrows.
“You didn’t see what she was mouthing as we left?” Kara smiled mischievously. “She said, Holy cascades, he is so hot.” Teorin suddenly found himself blushing and Kara laughed.
“You’re making that up.”
“Why would I lie about that?”
He had no idea. He thought about what she had said. “So you were trying to avoid…” he trailed off, unsure how to finish.
“About thirty girls begging me to set them up with you. New people only tend to show up at the beginning of the school year so fresh blood is exciting.”
He came from a family of five brothers and while he didn’t think of himself as bad looking some of his brothers were the kind of guys girls went crazy for and they were pulsers to boot so he had never really felt like he was anything special and well some girls liked the idea of flying other’s didn’t care much for the idea.
“So where to next?” he said trying to change the subject.
She was silent for a moment thinking. “The ice cream parlor might work.” He just blinked at her and she sighed. “I know the owner pretty well. He and my brother are good friends and at this time of day there shouldn’t be much business. We should be able to stay for a while and I doubt that anyone would go looking for us there.”
Well she wasn’t wrong about that. An ice cream parlor was the last place he would think to look. She started walking and he followed.
“Teorin” he started. It was the first time she had used his name. He didn’t even realize she remembered it. “Do you think they could go after my family?”
He considered. It was a possibility. If they took someone she cared about, they could use them as leverage. In fact, it they burned the building
She watched his face. “Just tell me the truth. I can take it.”
“I’m not sure. It’s a possibility.”
Kara grimaced. “I need to get word to Lev. When we get to the ice cream parlor, I’ll have John call the university. He has a phone in the back. Lev should be at practice right now. He’ll get a message. Lev can meet us there. I’d prefer to explain this in person.”
“Are you sure that’s a good idea? Your brother isn’t exactly inconspicuous. Maybe they will leave him alone. People are bound to notice if Lev goes missing,” Teorin said. He would prefer to remain as hidden as possible until they could figure out what to do.
“They burned down a building. There were people in that building. They probably got out, but I’m not taking any chances. I don’t think that ignorance is going to protect Lev in this case. As for being conspicuous…” Kara frowned, “There isn’t anything I can do about that. I’m willing to take the risk.”
“They could have him followed and he could lead them straight to us.”
“I won’t say that I sent the message. Lev visits John often enough, but if that is a danger then saying anymore in a message would be dangerous, even warning Lev he could be followed would tip them off.”
“So how exactly are you going to get him to come without telling him who you are?”
Kara shrugged. “I just need some reason for John to invite him to the ice cream parlor.”
Teorin wasn’t sure contacting Lev was a good idea, but then again, there were a number of things that seemed off about this whole situation. He still hadn’t seen that other pulser, which made him worry for Jeron. Jeron was smart and skilled, but Teorin had no idea how many mercenaries were in that building. He had seen the heat singer and assumed it was the Niolins, but he didn’t know it was them. They made the most sense, but if it was the Niolins who had hired them? There were too many questions and not enough answers.
Teorin sighed. “Fine. Have Lev meet us there, but we are going to have to be very careful here. Something is wrong. There’s something that I am missing, but I’m not sure what it is yet.”
Kara raised her eyebrows and said, “I wouldn’t know. If you ever feel like filling me in, feel free.”
He wasn’t sure how to explain. He just shrugged. Kara glared at him.
“It’s complicated,” he said.
“Of course it is. That doesn’t mean you can’t explain. Fortunately for you, we are here.”
They turned a corner and he could see the ice cream parlor. The name was painted across the front “Kalin’s Bay Ice Cream”. It wasn’t exactly original. The university was Kalin’s Bay University. The front windows revealed several booths and tables inside. It looked nice enough.
“Won’t we be seen?” Teorin asked. Windows weren’t ideal for hiding out.
“There’s a room in the back for large groups and reservations. We can go there. Ready to get some ice cream?”
Kara didn’t wait for an answer before going in. He sighed and followed her.
[Lev] Do you like real Teorin or romcom-energy Teorin better?
