Shadow Color (NEW VERSION)

Chapter 14

Felix and Vincent stood by the edge of the road where the car Renley had been driving had smashed through the guard rail. Down below on a shallow beach, police were searching and examining the nearly destroyed taxi they had retrieved from the water. Vincent cursed under his breath before turning around and taking a few steps away from the caution tape. He was frustrated that Renley had gotten away. It was hard enough for them to follow the car without being spotted.

"Don't be too frustrated with the outcome. This was something neither of us was expecting," Felix said as he turned around. "Besides, I highly doubt Luxtra would have expected this too."

"You have a point," Vincent sighed. "Still, why were Elise and Tyrell here?" he asked as he looked over his shoulder and at Felix who shrugged. Elise and Tyrell's presence certainly did catch him off guard. Renley was Mystica's target, why was Luxtra suddenly trying to get involved?

A chilling wind blew through the area causing Felix to zip up his jacket more and stick his hands in his pockets. Vincent could hear Felix zipping up his jacket, he took this as a sign to find someplace warmer to talk. With the police just below them and more coming and going from the area, this made the spot dangerous for them to be in, although Vincent wasn't too worried about the police recognizing them for, he believed they didn't have any info or proof of his identity. Felix on the other hand preferred to stay far away from the police.

"Let's go. We've been in this area long enough," Vincent said in a low voice before he began walking down the sidewalk. A few cars had slowed down as they passed by the area, trying to examine the scene. Felix quickly caught up to him and began to match Vincent's pace. It was sometimes hard to keep a comfortable pace with him since he was about a foot shorter than Felix. "You know, it would really help if you would grow a few inches," Felix teased.

"Shut up," Vincent growled. "If you struggle to keep up with me, we can cut you down a few inches. It might take a while before you would be able to walk again."

"Let's not do that," Felix said as Vincent gave him a side glance, he knew he was serious. The last person to make that joke to him had their legs cut off. By the time the organization's medics arrived, they couldn't save them as they had died from blood loss.

Felix shivered as another chilly gust of wind blew through the area, he hated to be by the lake at night. He then looked at Vincent who didn't seem bothered by the chilling wind. He never seemed bothered by the heat or cold, probably because of his abilities. "Are you really that cold?" Vincent asked.

"How are you not? This has to be the coldest spring we've seen in decades," Felix complained.

"I'm a dualist. The fire and ice abilities help me to adapt to the weather. If I give you this, will you stop complaining?" Vincent asked as he reached into his pocket and pulled out a set of black gloves. He held the gloves in both of his hands as an orange and crimson flame engulfed his hands and the gloves he was holding. Felix could feel the warmth from the fire magic radiating from his hands. The heat could almost be described as hot rather than warm. After the fire died down, Vincent handed Felix the gloves which were burning hot and ended up dropping them onto the sidewalk. They both stared at the gloves that now had a crimson glow around them.

"Wow, if you didn't want my help all you had to do was shut your mouth and stop complaining," Vincent commented.

"You did that on purpose," Felix said unamused as he bent over and snatched the gloves off the sidewalk, they still felt burning hot, but not as bad as before. They were still hot enough to burn his hands if he kept them on for too long.

"Did I?" Vincent asked a smirk appeared on his face before continuing down the sidewalk. He may seem to be in a good mood, but Felix knew he was doing this just to cover up his frustration with their failed attempt to capture Renley. Vincent didn't go very far when he suddenly stopped. Just across the street, he spotted a young girl with long white hair and a man with spiky blonde hair who looked to be a bit older than her. "Felix," he called as he quickly looked over his shoulder, Felix was slipping the last glove over his last hand. He looked up at the sound of his name as an eerie purple aura surrounded him and Vincent and, in an instant, the disappeared and reappeared in front of the girl and man who jumped at their sudden appearance.

The girl looked frightened while an irritated look appeared on the man's face. "What do you want?" he asked with a hint of anger in his voice. He knew why Vincent and Felix were here.

"Answers. What business do you have with Renley? Were you not informed that she's, my target, Tyrell?" Vincent asked as he stood face to face with him.

Tyrell shoved Vincent away from him, he was still a bit startled after the two appeared right in front of them, "Your target or not, we didn't see you two in the area, so we decided to act. And since when was she specifically your target? We all have the same end goal here."

"I am more than aware of that since I am one of the few who helped establish this goal. I'm specifically after Renley so I can study her magic. She has been a popular one since her arrival to this world and I'm quite curious of her magic," Vincent answered.

"Speaking of curious," Vincent began as he narrowed his eyes and a smile appeared on his face as he stared at the girl who was peeking around Tyrell, "I'm still curious to know why little Elise left my team to join yours."

"She doesn't have to tell you why. Leave her be, she's with us now," Tyrell spoke quickly before Elise had a chance to speak. She wasn't planning on speaking anyway, there was too much tension in the air. Even the discomfort on Felix's face told her that even he felt the same as her. "Look, why does it matter who gets her first? We can hand her over to you if we catch her."

Vincent shook his head in disapproval, "That certainly won't do. I'd like to continue my chase with her. It allows me to study her in combat. Anyway, I better not catch you doing that again-"

"Alright, fine! We get it," Tyrell raised his voice. He didn't want to be around Vincent any longer than he had to be. And surely, Elise didn't either. She had been afraid of him almost since the first few days she joined the organization. No one knew why she was afraid of him, but it was obvious that she had switched departments because of him. The odd thing was that she was able to transfer departments without any issues or disagreements between the leaders. It was almost as if she was never part of Mystica.

Tyrell and Vincent gave each other piercing glares for several moments. To Elise and Felix, it felt like an eternity. This wasn't uncommon to see between the members in the organization. Sometimes, fights would break out too, but that didn't seem too likely this time since they were in public with police officers just down the road from them. After some time, Vincent broke eye contact with Tyrell and walked away. Felix stepped to the side to let him walk by as if he knew he would walk in his direction. Once he had passed, he began to follow him down the street. As he trailed behind Vincent, he quietly pulled out his phone from his back pocket.

Vincent could hear Felix quietly tapping his phone and knew he had to be texting Elise. The two seemed close before Elise transferred departments. It wasn't much of a secret that the two would text each other often. As much as Vincent hated that his members put their significant others before their work, he decided to let this slide. Although, he wasn't sure if the two were dating. He wanted his department to be tough and therefore required his members to toss aside their personal feelings and emotions towards their targets. Instead of questioning Felix, he decided to let it go. Besides, there were more important things to focus on.