THE EMPATH

PURSUIT

"You go through the backdoor and follow those two, I will follow the others," Mory said. I could tell from the way he breathed he was nervous. "Okay, but whatever happens out there, it was nice knowing you," I had learned that from the movies and God knows I had waited my whole life to say it. The guys were already halfway across the streets by the time I got outside. I also saw the girl from the club take a left on the far side. Forgetting that I had no idea where I was or where I was headed, I put all my speed into pursuing the girl. The two dudes didn't seem to be in a hurry, which kind of gave me the headstart I needed. Now, I have never known danger in my life. I always had my parents to back me up and a community that knew me as the cool doctor's son. Back in my village, everyone knew everyone and everyone was always out to protect everyone. A scream was always answered by everybody who heard it. Here in the city, everything was different. People were robbed in broad daylight while others just watched. No one answered to screams and no one seemed to give a damn about others. I just passed by these two dudes having the time of their life in one of the dark corners and imagined what would become of them if they were back in my village. A few steps away, a crazy guy was sound asleep on the cold corridor and people just walked over him like he was a log. Two girls were laughing as their boyfriends were fighting some police officers. The whole place felt just wrong and I felt like I was supposed to do something about it, but then again, all that was none of my business.

After a ten minutes walk, I saw the girl about ten or so steps ahead. I broke into a run for the rest of the distance since I could feel the two dudes behind me approaching fast. "Hello there, you probably don't know me and therefore have no reason to trust me but you are in danger and I figured I should try and help you out," I started. I knew I was no good when it came to talking to girls and I wished Mory could show up right about then and help me out. "Oh please, that is literally the most common line ever, try something else," she said and kept walking without even looking at me. "Line? What do you mean by that?" I had no idea what she was talking about. After all, there were no such things as lines where I came from. "Now, that's good, but still, you need to come up with something much better," this time around she took a quick glance at me and noticed my clothes for the first time. "Isn't it way past your bedtime kid?" she asked, now fully aware of my presence. "Is this some sort of high school leavers initiation or something, because if it is, then you have chosen the highest possible bar and as much as it is brave, it is also the most stupid choice ever," I was starting to think that she was somehow crazy.

Everything that came out of her mouth was strange to me. "I have no idea what you are talking about... listen, my name is Vicky and I have followed you all the way from the club. Some very bad people are after you and you need to get somewhere safe like right now. I have a friend around here somewhere and he is willing to help. Come with me," back home, that would be enough explanation, but here in the city, it was just a "line" whatever that meant. She pushed me onto the wall and kissed me deeply, something that caught me as both a surprise and a shock. Was it really this easy to get a girl to just pounce on you and do the unthinkable with you? I pushed her and she stood there looking at me in confusion. "What the hell is wrong with you? You want to win right?" she came back but before she could reach for my mouth, she was pulled from behind. One look at the guy holding her and I knew we were toast. "Hello Trixie, did anyone ever tell you that your name is sweet but probably only best for a hooker, well, if none, then I will be the first not just to tell you, but also to show you," One of the destroyers said. I could feel the pain on her head and I knew he was pulling her hair too hard. "Hey, you saw loverboy here about to win your little game and decided to ruin his chances," the poor girl had no idea she was playing right in the middle of a fire she could never live to extinguish. She still thought it was a game.

"Let her go," I said walking up close to her. I saw the two dudes glow blue and I knew they intended to scare me off as they had no idea who I was. "What if I don't want to?" he asked leaning closer and l*****g the girl's face. "Eew gross! Don't you boys know it's not okay to lick a girl's face? You have no idea how many chemicals you have ingested right about now," the dude let her go on realizing that she had no clue what kind of trouble she was into. They also had noticed that I wasn't scared by their glowing eyes and that kind of made them uneasy. "Where are the others? They should be here by now," one of them said and started looking around to see if anyone was coming. At that moment, Trixie saw their glowing eyes and something in her knew this wasn't a game. I saw the others coming but Mory was not behind them. I knew something was wrong. They must have made him out and my best guess was that he was dead. "Trixie, run!" I shouted. There were too many of these guys and Mory had just warned me my weapons were useless against them so I didn't see the need to stay and fight all by myself. Trixie started off in the direction of the club and I followed. Now, I knew we could never outrun them, but I also knew that if we found a safe place to lay low, we could be safe for just about enough time to find out whether Mory was still alive.

"We can't go to the club, that is way too predictable, we need someplace safe," I said. "The unfinished building at the corner, my uncle owns it but no one else knows apart from me and my cousin, we should be safe there," she was fully aware of the danger she was in right about now and I liked that she didn't freak out and froze. I could feel the now six dudes running after us and they were getting dangerously close. "Guardian, some help here, please?" it felt like the right time to ask for a little help. "Get the girl to the building, leave her there and go get Mory's blade. That is the only way you will stand a chance against them," he answered. I had just found the perfect plan to save the girl but it meant that I had to put my a*s on the line. My guardian knew what had happened to Mory and he knew where I would find his blade, I just had to follow his lead. "Listen, at the next corner, you are going to run to the left, go into the building, find the most secure place and hide. I will lead them away from you." I could feel the endless questions in her mind and I wished Could answer them but there was no time and the destroyers were pursuing us in anger, I promised her I would find her after it was all over and I would explain but made it clear that at the moment she needed to get to safety before they got to us.

"Okay guardian, remember when you told me that I had the ability to create illusions, now I need you to explain to me how to do that. Also, I need you to take me to Mory," I only had one shot at my plan and I knew that if it failed, I would be in hot soup. My guardian explained to me what I needed to do and I followed his advice. I created an illusion to show the destroyers that Trixie and I were running hand in hand. That way when we split up, they did not notice and therefore kept coming for me. I knew Trixie would be safe for some time and I hoped to God that I would be back before the guys knew where she was. I knew they would never let go of her now that she had a clue they existed. Even though they decided that she was no longer important to them, they would still go looking for her to make sure she remained silent. The pursuit was hot and I was beginning to grow tired, I could not catch my breath and I had a sharp pain on the left side of my stomach. I felt like stopping but my guardian was in there encouraging me and reminding me why I couldn't afford to give up.

I had been pruning for about twenty minutes with my guardian giving me directions that seemed to be leading me nowhere. So far, there was no sign of Mory or his blade. I was just about to give up when I stepped into what I thought was water but soon realized was blood. I also hit something a few yards across the road and I instantly knew it was the blade so I reached for it and hid it in my boxer. I guess it was a good thing they made boxer shorts with pockets. It was during all that that the destroyers caught up with me and one hit me over the head and dropped me to the ground. Another one dragged me on my a*s to a dark corner. " Do you think he is a protector?" One of them asked. "No, no way, we have killed all the protectors around here. Also, he doesn't smell like one and he sure as hell has no special abilities," the one I assumed was the leader answered. It was hard to tell them apart as they all looked right about the same height and it was too dark to see their faces, they were all clad in the same outfits as well. The leader was however a little bit stronger and the glow in his eyes was different. "Let's take him back with us and force him to tell us who he is and what he knows about us," one of the others suggested and they all agreed. "Wait, what about the girl? and where the hell did she go?" I knew the voice, it was the guy who had pulled Trixie by her hair earlier. "That stupid girl still thinks it's a game so she will be back to the club like nothing happened, we will get her then. Also, I just lost my appetite for her, we will just silence her," the leader said and laughed for a moment before turning towards me."Don't you worry, it seems like the old man didn't die right away. However, he is not going to be alive for long," he added.

I felt a heavy blow at the back of my head and everything went dark. I could not exactly tell how long I was out, but when I came to be, I was tied up in what looked like a basement. The strong smell of urine hit my nose burning its way through to my lungs. The place was dimly lit and one could not see clearly. "Vicky, Vicky...thank God you are awake. For a moment there I thought you were a goner." a girl's voice called. My eyes were still adjusting to the sudden change but I could see her face. "Diana?" Yes, it was her. The girl I came here looking for. I sat up and looked around. From what I could count, there were at least thirteen girls in the room. Ten of them were visibly pregnant, and from my abilities, I could tell that Diana was pregnant as well but it was still too early to tell by physically looking at her. The other two were probably new as one of them was still untouched while the other was just about to get pregnant. I hated that I could tell all that by just looking at the girls, it made me feel dirty. "You are alive, I knew it," I reached out to hug her but the heavy chains stopped me. "Yes, I am alive. How did you get here?" I had no answer to that, or rather, I didn't want to go into details of how I got there.

"Okay, we are here. Now how do we get out?" He had to have a plan or all my efforts would be in vain. I struggled to reach to my pants with my elbow and I was glad to know that the destroyers had not found the blade. I still had a chance to win and get the girls back home but I had to be smart about it. That was the reason why I had to confide in my guardian. "Now Vicky, we wait for them to come down and untie you. You will have to be quick and clean. What I mean is, now we fight our way out of here. Be creative son," he said. That didn't sound like a safe plan but that was about it, I did not come here to be safe, I came to save a girl I barely knew so that she could help me save myself and my girlfriend. "How many are they up there?" the girls had been there for some time now and I figured they probably knew their jailers. "They were eight last week but now I see only seven. I heard them say that the other one was killed by some old guy," One of the girls at the corner answered. Right about then, I heard the door click and all the girls pretended to be asleep. I knew to follow their lead and I played unconscious. "Okey ladies, it is time for your pills. Hello Monica, I know you are not asleep...how is Junior doing in there?" I could tell that the girl was disgusted by the sound of his voice. She wished she could gain some superpower so that she could tear him apart piece by piece. The guy offered the girls a glass of water and a tiny maroon pill each. "Now, what do you say we deal with our new guest here and I will be back for that cutie by the corner," he smiled and walked up to me.