It had been a week since that night. The date was December 27th. All the snow had melted, and now came rain. The rain was pouring outside, so much that it looked like the city was dipped into a cloud. It was hard to see anything because of the thick droplets. Not only that, but it also meant that Xaiver was stuck in the coffee shop he had gone to with the intention of purchasing a single pack of coffee. Trapped, he had seated himself by the window and decided to watch the falling flood while sipping on a latte.
On the day a week before, Mariane had gotten upset about him placing her on the floor outside his apartment. He’d probably ruined the fantasies she’s dreamed of in her free time. He found it to be funny. It was probably one of the most entertaining things that had happened for a while.
Now that he was here, alive and sturdy as a tree, (more comparable to a brittle twig, actually), he needed to find something to do. Maybe his cheap statement to Mariane wasn’t a full lie. He thought back to his phrase.
“I want to give it one more chance.”
The question was, how, when, and what would he do now? His issues didn’t magically fix themselves. Once you shatter a piece of glass, you have to remake the whole thing. You can’t glue it like it’s nothing. You have to melt it, go through the exhausting process of making glass sculptures all over again. That is, if you wanted to. Throwing it out would always be an option too.
The question was why? What did he have to live for? Who, who did he have to live for?
“Hey,” he heard behind him. Damn, his guard was down again. He needed to stop being engulfed in his thoughts.
“F–k off, jackass.” he responded without turning around or taking a moment to even question why he was here.
“Hah, kinda sour today? You’re going full on philosopher mode with this ‘life meaning’ stuff.”
“I said go away,” he repeated. Brandon was a friend of Xavier’s. Or, at least that’s what Brandon thought. He was also gifted, and with a pretty badass gift too. Mind reading. According to Brandon, he could read the mind of a single person he focused on. Unlike Xavier, however, Brandon couldn’t see what people were thinking unless they were within his view. Within his close view. Not only that, but he also couldn’t hear the tone of voice while doing his mind reading. Brandon claimed that the thoughts he saw were all in a plain, monotonous robot-like voice.
Brandon was pretty bad at understanding people. That man could probably see the schemes of a serial killer but couldn’t understand the difference between sarcasm and serious situations from tone, both in thoughts and actual voice. Brandon’s drawback? Achromatopsia. The lack of the ability to see colors. In simple words, he was color blind. Xavier internally hated him. It was pointless to say internally. Not much could be hidden from Brandon.
“Aw, you don’t hate me that much now, do you?” Brandon joked. He gave off careless vibes. Every thought that Xavier passed in his mind, Brandon scanned with an eagle’s eye.
Brandon, get out of my mind for at least two f—ing seconds.
Brandon made a laugh that caused Xavier’s blood to boil. See, this was the biggest issue with him. He was bad at interpreting that he upset people, that he bothered them.
“Fine, fine,” Brandon laughed. “I’ll go snoop into other people’s thoughts, then. That seems funner than listening to your boring ones.”
Xavier didn’t know why he had even befriended Brandon in the first place. Right- he didn’t. Brandon befriended him. He had looked around Xavier’s thoughts and saw that he too was gifted. Xavier didn’t want to talk with him much, but that parasite stuck with him. Eventually, Xavier warmed up to him enough to call him a friend, but not someone close, similar to Mariane.
“How are you here anyways?” Xavier asked.
“Nearest place I could find while it was raining,” Brandon responded before walking off in the large shop and taking a seat at the other end of it. Every once in a while, he’d snicker. Probably seeing people think of embarrassing stuff. That guy could be a pain in the ass, but at least he left you alone when you demanded it.
He kept watching the rain, but the noises inside distracted him. It got more and more crowded. Getting bored, he broke his steel focus away from the pouring weather.
Xavier's eyes wandered around the shop. They bounced from place to place. He watched the employee make a fresh coffee. He watched someone walk in, seeking shelter from the dreadful rain. He watched a person spill their drink. How sad for them. After a while of him looking from place to place, his gaze landed on the T.V. The news channel was open. It displayed the photos of quite a few people.
Just as he was about to look away, something caught his eye. All the people had a white highlight in their hair. His inner monologue told him to listen. His attention turned to the T.V. He began listening to what it was broadcasting.
“Within the last month, 28 individuals have been reported missing in Baltimore county, all gifted. It’s highly likely that the cause between them is linked. Footage of 3 were caught on security cameras while the abduction took place, but no further information on their whereabouts have been found. If any individuals are sighted, call the hotline +1 (###) - ### - ####. It is advised that all gifted individuals proceed with full caution . . .” and so on.
It raised a bit of concern in him. Confusing situation, really.
What now?
ns 15.158.61.8da2
