It's not hard to sneak out when your father is an alcoholic and doesn't care what you do or where you go anymore. Grabbing a jacket and my keys, I headed out in the cool night around thirty minutes before I was supposed to be there. The sky was already dark as summer was over now, so the air was crispier than usual. However, the walk was nice and comforting. Some might think that going out by yourself at night is dangerous but in a town where everyone knows each other, it's pretty safe.
Once I arrived at the school I headed up to the front steps to wait for Cole to show. I was here pretty early so I sat down on the steps and leaned against the front door. To my surprise, it slid out from under me and flew open. Cole must already be here.
Walking through the empty hallway was kind of surreal. Eerie, in a way. I called out his name several times but never got a response in return. I finally decided to head to the cafeteria, hoping that he would be there because it's such a central part of the school.
Once I reached the lunchroom and walked inside, I saw a single figure sitting with their back turned to me. In the moon-lit room, it was hard to see any kind of features but I saw dark hair and who else would be at the high school late at night?"
"Cole?" I called out and the person stood up rather quickly. In the brief moment it took for them to turn around, a cold wave rushed through my body.
The person wasn't Cole and despite the dark room, even I couldn't miss the pitch black eyes. This must be one of those Catchers I was told about.
I had initially expected some sort of monster-thing when he described them. After all, they're the enemy so they must look disgusting, right? But they looked human. The only part different was the eyes that were very unnerving to look into.
"So you're the new Supernatural," they spoke in a chilling voice that sounded almost robotic. "We finally felt you today. We have had suspicions about this area for a while now, but nothing was confirmed until this morning. You must have realized your potential, what you can really do, right?"
Gulping, I began stepping back without saying a word. I kept my eyes on them as a creepy smile spread across their cheeks.
"So what are you?" they asked. "Fire?" They started walking closer to me. "Water?" Another step. "Air?" They kept getting closer and closer. "Earth, perhaps?"
With every ounce of power and adrenaline I had, I flipped one of the lunch tables toward the Catcher and turned to run.
"Ahhh," I heard behind me, seeming unfazed by the fact a table hit them. "You're a Mind."
I sprinted through the halls and I knew they were following close behind. I took the chance to peek behind me and see they were really close. Without another thought, I turned around and threw my hands out in front of me focusing on time, just as I did with the day my mother died. When I opened my eyes, the Catcher was moving slower so I ran ahead to try to find a place to hide because slowing down time for a long period would only exhaust me.
I finally found an unlocked science room so I ran and hid in the corner behind some desks and breathed out as I felt the power slip from me and time turn normal again for everyone. Trying to control my breathing, I kept my eyes on the door hoping the Catcher couldn't figure out that I was in here.
My heart was pounding in my chest as I struggled to stay quiet while someone creaked through the school. My eyes widened when I saw some mist swirling from underneath the door as if someone had opened a freezer as I peeked from the corner. I wanted to make a break for the open window behind me but I knew that they would hear as soon as I moved a single inch.
It was in that moment when I realized this was a part of my dream. Instead of Deja vu like I always cast stuff like this off as, I knew it had to do with the fact that I have an ability.
Slowly but surely, I began inching up to the corner and, while keeping my eyes on the door, made my way towards the window in the black room.
I saw a shadow pass from the crack, two feet moving so slowly and then paused for one moment, slightly turning--
Then suddenly a hand covered my mouth and I found myself staring into black eyes.
I screamed out, expecting a Catcher but realized it was only Cole in the same moment that the thing following me burst into the room.
"God, you're such an idiot," Cole said through gritted teeth as he stared down the Catcher. "Why would you scream during a time like this?"
Without a second to spare, he threw me behind him and flames engulfed his arms. He threw a ball of fire at the Catcher but water escaped from its hands and disintegrated it.
I watched in both fascination and fear as the two began fighting with fire and water. Cole was obviously more skilled but the fact that he was facing his weakness gave him a harder time. Every time he would get the advantage, the Catcher would win it back by getting him off guard. Finally, Cole caught the Catcher at an angle where the fire hit its side and it screamed out in pain. In the brief moment of it being distracted, Cole jumped in and finish off the fight. The two grappled on the ground for a few seconds before Cole pressed both hands on its chest, scrunched up his face in concentration and the Catcher stopped moving. At that point, I knew it was dead.
"Let's go," Cole yelled at me but when he realized I wouldn't move, he grabbed my hand and pulled me along.
"What the hell did you do to it?" I gasped out while we ran down the empty hallways. I always thought entering a class right before finals was scary but this was way worse.
"Internally baked it," Cole said evenly while we exited through the main doors.
I was confused, "Wha--it's not a cookie! What about the body?"
"Samuel will get it, but we have to go," he pushed and pulled on my arm harder to get me to go faster.
We ran through the empty streets and what was previously a nice walk at night became one of the most frightening experiences I have ever gone through. We arrived at my house and it didn't even cross my mind to ask Cole how he knew how to get there. I saw that my dad's car was gone so he must be out at his nightly bar-hop adventures. I didn't know if that was a good or bad thing considering I was taking a boy I had just met today up to my room. We went upstairs and he grabbed my school bag from the bottom before tipping it upside down, letting all the contents fall to the ground.
"What are you doing?" I gasped out, trying to catch my breath as he began throwing clothes from my closet in the bag.
"They know you're here now. You can't stay here anymore or else you will die. Once one knows, they'll all find out. You're putting yourself, friends, and family all in danger by staying here. You need to come train so you can at least protect yourself."
I didn't say anything and watched as he packed my life away in a few simple bags. He grabbed a notebook and pen from my fallen school supplies and threw it at me.
"You need to write a note to your father. Say you're running away and not to go looking for you. It makes it more difficult that you're under eighteen, but Samuel will deal with the cops and any searches that go on. Right now he's dealing with the body so that'll have to happen tomorrow--"
"Can I say goodbye?" I finally spoke up and asked. "My dad and I don't have a good relationship but I know Ryan would be hurt by me leaving."
A look of pain, the most emotion I've seen out of him since this morning, crossed his face. "You can't give them anymore trails to people you care about, Taylor. We really have to go."
I didn't say anything but looked down and continued writing the note to my father.
Finally, most of my stuff was packed and we were running out the door and to a car that must have appeared there courtesy of Samuel at some point while we were gathering my belongings. Prior to us leaving, I grabbed a photo of my parents and I before the accident and threw it into my pocket. Cole tossed all my bags into the back of the car and we got in. As he backed out of the driveway, I looked up at the house that I spent my entire childhood living in while I left with a boy I met this morning.
We drove in silence for the first ten minutes or so before Cole spoke up.
"I'm sorry..." he said softly." I know today has been crazy but you have to do this."
"I know."
"You'll see them again, I promise to make that happen."
I looked at Cole and the smirking, cocky guy I met this morning was nowhere to be found. Instead I found a caring man who quite literally saved my life tonight. Granted, he also ruined it by taking me away from my whole life here but I knew this has to happen.
We drove for a while longer, passing city by city as we got farther from my home. "Cole?" I asked and he turned and looked at me for a second before turning back to the road.
"I thought you fell asleep," he commented. "What's up?"
"Can I ask where we're going?"
He was silent for a moment before he finally spoke.
"We're going to Supernatural Abilities."
__________
I apologize if this one is a mess because I wanted to post a chapter this weekend but I'm working the entire time. So here I am, posting from work, without having proofread it before. I'll definitely come back and revise it soon, but I hope you enjoyed it regardless of the mistakes!