Laws of Motion (Paranormal/Sci-Fi/Thriller) (1st draft)

Chapter 5: Recovery

Zeki took a different route home after he fled the scene. Had he headed down the path, there would have been a chance that he would have been identified as living in the area. Once he reached home he headed straight for the bathroom, took off all of his clothes, his contact lenses, and then took a shower.

        As he let the hot water bead down on him he thought about the fight and how a young girl, the very same young girl he had been spying on, saved his life by a few seconds. 'Was it by coincidence that she showed up?' he thought as he stood in the shower and washed up whatever dirt and dried blood that was left on his body. The young girl must have caught a glimpse of him every time he went to get the mail and somehow she knew it was him and decided to join in the fight. He also overheard her 911 call reporting the incident and wondered if she identified him to the police. It was possible that the girl saw him use his powers and was certain if she brought that up the police they would not believe her.

            After completing his shower he dried his hair with a towel and wrapped it around his lower abdomen. He took out some bandages and some ointment from behind the mirror and placed them on the counter next to the sink. He wiped the condensation off the mirror and stared at himself for a moment. The girl did make long enough eye contact with him and he did the same with her. He saw nothing in her eyes that would indicate that she had telekinetic powers. Whether she had them or not he had to silence her somehow. It was possible that he could run away and hide somewhere for a couple of months but if he did that he would not get paid. The house was owned by his employer and it was with them he had to talk if he wanted to move. If he moved out by himself he would have to pay for the new house out of his own pocket. At the same time if he wanted to stay longer than his employer intended for him he would have to pay out of his own pocket for things like electricity and taxes. He could have reported the incident after the hit to his employers but the attack on him did not appear to be from some rival mob or connected to his past targets. As far as Zeki's employer knew he always used a special technique in which he leaves no trace.

            After plastering his wounds with band-aids and gauze he went to his bedroom and lay on the bed. He telekinetically reached for the remote from the TV stand at the foot of the bed and turned on the TV. He flipped through the channels until he came upon an old, Japanese animated feature about a hypothetical future which involved a member of a biker gang gaining telekinetic powers. 'Why is it a recurring theme that people with telekinetic abilities are featured in stories as test subject in some experiments?' he thought as he watched a scene featuring the gang member opening a cryogenic storage container. Once he finished that thought he heard one of his phones ring. Zeki had two cell phones: one was a smartphone and the other was a basic, candy bar phone. The phone that rang was his smartphone and the number to that phone was only known to his employer and co-workers.  He got out of bed, walked to where he last left his phone and retrieved it from the back pocket of his pants. The screen was cracked from landing on his bottom during the fight but the phone was still in working condition. He answered the phone and said, "Allo?"

            "My, my, I'm impressed," the voice said. "I wasn't sure if you were going to pick up."

            Zeki had never heard this voice before yet somehow it was familiar to him. The voice belonged to that of an English native speaker but as to where it was from, most likely American but possibly Canadian, Zeki could not place. "Who is this?" he asked sternly.

           "You don't recognize my voice, Zeki? How long has it been? Twenty years maybe?"

            Twenty years ago was the time Zeki left the Organization. Just days ago he had killed someone from there sent to capture him. "You must be Sylvan."

            "Ah, good, you do remember," Sylvan said with a creaky voice. "You do remember I was the one who administered the tests back then? You were a good student until you destroyed the place. It appears that we have taught you well after what we saw what you did to Eisler and some of our hired help."

            "I appreciate the complements but what do you want with me?"

            "Oh we just wanted to make sure you're doing well. By the way have you encountered any more telekinetics?"

            "What? So you can use them to continue your science experiments if that's what you call them?"
            Zeki did not get a response from Sylvan. Instead Sylvan had hung up on him. Zeki checked to see if there was a number but the cracked screen prevented it. Even if the screen was not cracked the number would have been blocked out. Zeki sighed as he hung up his phone. "Siktir!" he yelled as he planted a fist into the bathroom wall. He retracted his fist and at last went to bed.

---

Tuesday would have been the day Jessica returned to school. Still shaken up by what she witnessed over the weekend, her parents allowed her to stay home an extra day. The events on Saturday did make the news but coverage only lasted all of Sunday and not much was said about it on Monday. She did give a statement to the police but not a very coherent one as she was feeling a bit unsettled. The police, however, scheduled her to come in on Tuesday.

            With both her parents at work and her siblings at school she had the whole house to herself. She tried to get some homework and assignments done but all she could think about was the hipster. His face haunted her mind. She saw that he was exhausted but at the same time filled with rage as he took his knife out of the burly man's body. While she did find some attractiveness to the hipster at the same time she thought he could be someone in his thirties approaching forty. If there was one thing that some of her favourite sci-fi and fantasy books, films, and TV shows taught her, it is that there is more than meets the eye when it comes to the love interest who has not aged a day since they became a vampire or an immortal from 'Highlander'.

            Hours passed and Jessica decided to check the mailbox. There was of course junk mail, a Chinese take-out menu, and something else that does not come quite often: a misplaced letter. The envelope had the address of the bungalow across the street addressed to an individual named Michael Cassio. She recognized the name from having to do Othello in her grade eleven English class and had imagined him to be some sexy Italian but doubted that the man living in the bungalow met the criteria of her dream guy. Jessica could have just placed the misplaced letter back into the mailbox and let the postal service handle it but her curiosity took over. She wanted to see who lived in the house and why her neighbours were complaining about him. Chances were he was not at home but she could not tell as the only vehicle that was parked on his driveway belonged to a contractor working on the house.

            Jessica took that risk and walked up to the bungalow. She went through the gate and up to the door to ring the doorbell. It was not long until someone answered by opening up the door. As soon as she caught a glimpse of the person she froze. The man who lived in the bungalow across the street was none other than the crazed, scrawny hipster whom she had seen stabbing the two burly men. The man did not look all too surprised and he stared at her as if he planned for this to happen.   

         "Oh!" Jessica exclaimed. She felt lightheaded, as if she wanted to collapse. "It's y-"