Chapter 2 - Flashbacks
The sun was heating his already warm skin as he was sitting in a chair, shoving perfectly crispy fries in his mouth. It felt like he hadn't eaten in months. The fries and double-cheese burger was disgustingly greasy and stuffed to the top with unhealthy fat, but it was so damn delicious. With how hungry he was, it was heaven on earth. After swallowing the fries, he took a bite of his burger and groaned with satisfaction. His brother glared at him from the other side of the table, amazed. "Hey, take a breath between bites? How long has it been since you last ate?" he asked with a chuckle and raised eyebrows. Delsin grabbed the Pepsi to gush down his food with three large gulps. "Awh man, this. Is. Heaven!" he stated when he finally could speak, which only made his brother slowly shake his head and sigh. "Didn't you eat at Salmon Bay?"
"Dude, I slept in that morning, and when it was time for lunch the truck showed up and all of a sudden I'm a fricken' super human!" Delsin retorted while gesturing with his hand, marking the importance of every word he said. He took another bite of his burger, ignoring Reggie's stern look when he mentioned the super human part. Bringing up the topic sparked his emotion to life, and images from the previous week flashed by his mind.
...
"Do you know how embarrassing it is to arrest my own brother over and over and over?"
Reggie's furious voice echoed in his head. He remembered his own fury as they fought, and then the confusion and fright when the truck crashed barely meters in front of them. The pride he felt when he rescued the man from getting crushed under the metal door. Then shock when he was punched and grabbed. Terror and panic when Reggie almost was hit by a gush of smoke, ash and embers. He remembered grabbing the prisoner's hand out of instinct, and the bizarre images gave him the worst kind of nausea.
He had woken up, and none of the men wasn't anywhere to be found. Remembering the intense heat from those very first dashes sent a shiver down his spine. He had been terrified to no end at the moment, but there was also that underlying thrill that made his heart jolt in his chest. Even now, he felt his blood rush faster through his veins, and he had to take a deep breath to get his emotions in control.
He remembered the terror when the prisoner blasted the truck toward Reggie. When his hands had started giving off smoke and embers as he pushed on that car. A small explosion, and then smoke, seemingly leaking from his skin - seeping out of his pours. He had cried out in panic and Reggie's strong arms had wrapped tightly around him.
...
Delsin didn't even notice his heart was racing before his brother shook his elbow. He blinked a few times to focus on Reggie's face, and saw worry in his eyes. "Hey, Del? You alright?" he asked with concern and furrowed his brows. "What-? Yea, no, it's nothing, just-.." the younger answered while trying to get a hold of his emotions. He pressed his lips together and shoved his plate away before resting his forearms against the table and focusing his gaze on a small rock on the ground a few meters away. "Just thinking..." he stated absentmindedly while his thoughts once again traveled back to the past week.
...
The doors closed behind him as Delsin watched how patches of solid concrete devoured the orange-clothed man, silencing him for good. Emerging from behind the newly formed concrete decoration was a woman with red hair and a black coat that reached down to her thighs. She circled the formation before turning her attention to him. He chuckled nervously while speaking, "Flushed out that conduit for ya! Good work guys! 'Specially you!".
He was just about to leave when he heard her stern, cold voice speak directly to him, "Bio-terrorist". His heart skipped a beat and he stopped dead in his tracks. A drip of sweat rolled down his neck as he looked up at her. "Conduit is a word used by traitors who sympathizes with their cause. You're not a... Traitor, are you?" she continued."I.. Try not to be.." he answered, his heart pounding in his chest. After that sentence, time seemed to speed up to the double, and before he knew it, shards of concrete had pierced through the back of his legs, and he was kneeling on the ground in front of her. Betty, the woman he'd grown to know as the closest thing to a mother figure since the death of his parents, were standing a few feet away, between two heavily armored men who held her firmly. His heart and mind was racing, but he couldn't let the red-headed bitch hurt Betty.
"I'm a conduit" he pressed out between clenched teeth. She turned to him with a dangerous spark in her eyes and asked him to repeat. "I'm a conduit!" he spat. "I just caught it from-.. That guy-!". She stretched her back and laughed at him. Her face quickly took on a condescending expression, and she looked at him as one would look at a shitty movie. "Caught it? You don't just 'catch' a power. You can't just 'become' a Bio-terrorist!" she stated while walking away from him, towards Betty. He felt a hatred rise within him, but there was nothing he could do with these shards in his legs. He heard the woman threaten to hurt the rest of the tribe, making the anger boil within. He cried out loud when an agonizing pain whipped his thigh, and he fell to the side. Before he blacked out, he saw shards of concrete pierce Betty's left calf, and she too fell to the ground.
...
Reggie's P.O.V.
"Hey, Del? You alright?" he asked with concern and furrowed his brows. His younger brother answered with a stammer before shoving his plate to the other side of the table. His gaze focused on something behind Reggie before he absentmindedly said he was 'just thinking', and he zoned out again. The older man sighed and turned in his chair to admire the scenery around them.
They had picked a restaurant on the outskirts of town. Their table was placed just inside the fence, and right outside it was a sidewalk, a road, another sidewalk, and then a low wall to make sure the pedestrians didn't fall right down into the water below. The soft breeze resulted in small waves, which in turn made the surface sparkle from the rays of the sun. It was a quite beautiful view. He turned to his brother and opened his mouth to comment about it, but the words got stuck in his throat. Delsin's hands were clenched to the point where his knuckles whitened and trails of smoke was oozing from his skin. Terrified, Reggie threw a look over his shoulder to spot a police officer patrolling the sidewalk barely a few meters away. He turned back to his brother and leaned forward to grab his hands.
"Delsin, cut that off!" he hissed with only a hint of panic in his voice. At the mentioning of his name, Delsin blinked before looking down at his hands. His eyes widened and he jerked back, standing up with such speed the chair was knocked over. To no surprise, this got the attention of both civilians and cops, and multiple pair of eyes were aimed at the two of them. Time seemed to stop. The brothers' eyes met before the younger glanced over at the policeman behind Reggie. He himself stood up from his place, threw himself forward and ordered; "RUN!".
Without hesitation, the two sprinted away from the scene. Screams could be heard behind them, and the police shouted at them to stop. None of them listened though, and they ran as fast as their legs could carry them towards an alley further ahead. In the back of his mind, Reggie knew this was wrong. This was against everything he had ever learned since he first signed up to become a sheriff, but he couldn't stop now. The man had seen him run together with his brother, so now it was too late to try to explain anything. They both were suspected, and there was nothing else than to keep running.
A sound he recognized as the loading of a gun reached his ears and he barked at Delsin to duck, but it was too late. Just before they sprinted into the alley, the gun was fired and multiple screams echoed in his ears. He prepared for the incredible pain that would soon struck him, but was surprised to see it was Delsin, and not him, that fell to the ground.
To be continued...