((When running out of chapter title ideas just steal some from your abandoned stories))
It didn't take long for Ezra's nerves to start going wild.
Amelia had surprisingly agreed to let him tag along, but had said he wouldn't be allowed into the room while the interrogation was actually happening. She did say, however, that once it was over, he could do whatever he wanted besides let the man go.
"I won't let him go," Ezra had said, looking down at his hands, "I don't want to see him walk free again."
Amelia drove him to the S2 herself, watching out the window from the passenger's seat. The woman had turned on the radio, playing music from whatever station it was already on. The speakers pop and crackle, but still the words play through.
"Music has changed a lot in the last five years," Ezra murmurs absentmindedly, raising his hand to the glass. The sun had begun to set on Amelia's side, but he still tests his luck by tracing his fingers along the edge of where the sun casts a square on the inside of the door.
"It has," she says, watching the red light in front of her, "I don't understand many of the lyrics anymore, but I guess I listen to it anyway."
Ezra tips his head down, fixing the glasses on his face. The police still have a reward out for him to the public, as well as Orgon's fifty thousand dollars online, so traveling through the city in a normal car probably isn't the best idea. They decided to do it anyway, and just dusted up his lenses and tucked his hair back under his hood. No one will recognize him. No one will look for him.
The buzz of his escape had died down, but the huge money signs plastered to every surface he touched still remain.
"Amelia," Ezra starts, hesitating as she glances over with only her eyes, "were... were you ever a fighter? Before you became the leader of S1?"
Amelia looks back at the road as the light turns green, smiling to herself. "I was," she says, "I was retrieved by S1 when I was twenty four."
Ezra looks over at her, watching her bright eyes scan the road before shifting back out the front window. "How long has S1 been around?" he asks, "who led it before you?"
"I was a worker in S1 for about twelve years before I took the title of 'leader'," Amelia explains, "and I was apprenticed by a wizard named Henry. He was very strong, but very strict. I couldn't breathe in the correct way for the first two years of my shadowing, and I never did anything good enough for his taste. He ran the base well, but always wondered why the rescues we housed left as soon as they got on their feet."
Ezra hums, watching cars pass by. How many people glance at him as they go home to their families, and how many don't even look at him once? It's strange to think there are people out in the city that don't know his name, or what he's actually done. What he was forced to do.
"I almost did the same thing," Amelia says, smiling sadly to the cloudy sunset. "I couldn't stand that man, and no one enjoyed his presence. As soon as he stepped down from the throne he created, I changed things. I don't want to sound like I'm praising myself, but people enjoyed my reign a lot better. Our numbers went up, yet he still hated the way I ran things."
"...I know we had our differences when we first met," Ezra says, unable to smile at the memories, "but I know I like you a lot better now. You treat your people well."
The witch glances at him, smiling as he avoids her eyes. The lines and wrinkles in her cheeks and by her eyes show her age, but her eyes look younger. Wiser than a child's, but younger than a stress-worn woman.
"I'm glad to hear that," she says, watching the street again, "I swear, I try my greatest."
-:*:-
Despite the sun being out when they began their drive, the clouds had taken over the sky by the time they stepped into S2.
S2 is smaller than S1, but appears to be more secured and tightly knit. They don't have as many people, and seem to use more money on the base itself than the individual. Still, the residents that stare at Ezra as he trails beside Amelia seem fit and taken care of.
"Are you sure you're ready to face Orgon again?" Amelia asks quietly, voice low enough to not be heard by anyone other than the two of them.
Ezra glances up. He wants to remain stiff, keeping his back straight and head forward so he won't have to look up to face most of the taller members as they move through their own home. Sometimes the outfit he wears won't give him the status he needs, but at the same time he'd do anything to stay out of something resembling his old uniform.
In the fighting world clothes don't dictate how likely he is to kill someone; his fangs and worth do. But he's back on the surface now, and violence isn't a common option. He won't have respect, he'll have a prison sentence.
"He didn't kill me last time," Ezra says, briefly looking around the lounge room. Surprisingly it doesn't look much different than S1. Perhaps it's just the generic layout they both had- easy to navigate and easy to memorize.
"No," Amelia says, "but you didn't get to rest and have a nice chat either. This will be different."
"I know." Ezra sighs. "But I'm not afraid- not anymore. He's drug more people into this than I ever could have imagined, and now I'm defending them. It's more than just me now."
Amelia nods, stopping the two of them in the middle of the hallway and turning to face him. It's silent for a moment, but no tension rises in the subtle emptiness. They had turned through an open doorway, only one thin hall stretching before them.
"You are very strong," Amelia says, folding her hands in front of her, "but I still worry about you, just like all the others. Through my eyes you are still a child, and I find it hard watching someone so young go out and fight the way they do."
"If you could see how old I really am you wouldn't be as worried," Ezra says, frowning as Amelia does. He didn't mean to make it sound defensive. He was turned at nearly seventeen- no one takes him seriously.
"I know that," she says, "but for now you are another addition to the ever growing family we have. I dream of the day we run out of people to recruit, but at the moment we must address the immediate problems. That's how we get stronger."
"Do you want me to kill him?" Ezra asks quietly, making Amelia huff out a laugh and tilt her chin down.
"I can't give you instructions," the woman says, turning to begin walking again, "but I will say- I guess I would prefer to not see him walk free again."
Ezra follows close behind her, watching as another woman exits a heavy looking door not far down the white hallway. She quickly locks it behind her, shutting out the profanities that try to slip through the crack. She sighs deeply, turning up to Amelia with a tired smile.
"It's good to see you," the stranger says, opening her arms and accepting a gentle hug the other offered. They look similar in age, but the other has dark brown hair, frizzy but still tamed. It's tied in a loose bun on the crown of her head, kind of like Clover's.
"Alexandra," Amelia greets, pulling back and holding the other's shoulders in place, "you look so different from the last time we met."
"It's the stress," she says, drawing a laugh from both of them.
"He hasn't drawn too much out of you, has he?" Amelia asks.
Alexandra smiles, taking one of Amelia's hands between hers. "I'm alive as I'll ever be," she says, "but that man is a monster. He won't give me any information, and is posing as a huge distraction and threat to S2. He needs to be addressed."
"That's what Ezra is here for," Amelia says, shifting slightly and gesturing to him. He gives a small smile as Alexandra grins.
"Oh good!" she exclaims, "someone who can help." She lightly smacks Amelia's stomach with the back of her hand, turning to wink before focusing back on Ezra. "But in all seriousness, I don't think there's anyone better in the world to help us with information right now. Would it be too much to ask for a few questions?"
"No- it's alright," Ezra says, earning another smile. She seems relieved to have a partner in the project now.
"Don't scare him." Amelia smiles despite her words, shaking her head as Alexandra waves her off. "We have the rest of the day to do whatever we need."
"I know," Alexandra says, pulling Ezra to a room on the direct other side of the hallway. She opens the door, letting him and Amelia step inside. "I still don't want to take long on this; we have other things to do."
-:*:-
She only asked him a few questions. Simple things, like if he knew what Orgon's favorite activities were outside of the fighting rings, or if he had a family, or if he'd ever fought anyone with his own two hands.
He didn't know all the answers, as his memories from between the fights are blurry and dark. Trying to look back and repeat had begun to wrench his stomach, making his chest spark with pent up adrenaline. Amelia and Alexandra made him stop before he could dig too deep and throw himself into a panic.
They both tried to convince him to save Orgon for another day. He said no; he's doing this today.
"A bit spontaneous, don't you think?" Orgon asks, Ezra watching through narrowed eyes as his dry lips curl into a smile. He's strapped to a chair that's bolted to the floor, but still his words ring with excitement. "You wanted nothing to do with me a few days ago. What- can you only 'take care of me' when I'm tied up and useless?"
Ezra steps through the open doorway and into the containment room, letting Amelia and Alexandra fit in behind him.
"Our fight wasn't too even then, to be fair," Ezra says, "I think this makes up for it."
Orgon nods his head, tightening his lips into a line. This is the first time Ezra has seen Orgon feel anything less than confidence. What had shifted his mood?
"I guess that's true," he says, watching Ezra with dull red eyes. Even from several feet away he can feel how cold the man's body is, almost sucking the life right out of the air around him. "Still cheating, however. You know what happens to cheaters."
"You can't do anything to me now," Ezra hisses lowly, the words reaching out from deep in his chest.
"Not to you, no," Orgon agrees with a toothy grin, closing his eyes as he tips his head down. It's strange to see him without his signature white hat; the one that matched his suit and shadowed his eyes. "Not directly, at least."
Orgon chokes as Ezra darts forward in a burst of speed, digging his closed fist deep into the conductor's abdomen. A rib cracks beneath his knuckles, at least one of the man's organs rupturing under the force.
Ezra freezes, drawing away and stumbling a step backwards. The room falls silent besides Orgon's sudden coughing, leaning as far forward as his restraints allow him to spit the rising blood and bile from his throat.
After a minute his breathing shallows out, and he looks back up with a bloody smile. "God, kid," he says roughly, "that was a good one; I never really knew how that would feel. That's what you went through?"
"SHUT UP!" Ezra suddenly barks, voice so shrill it rattles the walls. Orgon jumps as his head snaps to the side, two teeth dislodging with Ezra's punch. "Just stop talking! Shut up!"
"Alright, alright!" Orgon exclaims, spitting more blood on the already dirty floor, "what do you want now?"
Ezra reaches forward, slamming his palm into the man's throat as he tightens his fingers, squeezing hard and forcing silence. Amelia and Alexandra remain silent, almost afraid to interfere.
"...I want to kill you," Ezra hisses finally, watching from a foot away as Orgon's face begins to shift colors. He doesn't have as much living blood in him as he did the day he ambushed Ezra, but still enough to turn his wrinkled cheeks purple-blue. "I want to kill you in the worst way I have ever killed another creature. I won't punch a stake through your heart- I'll duct tape a silver cross to your forehead and let it burn. I'll pour holy water down your throat, and let it tear through your muscles on the way down. I will rip off your head to end your life. And you, will feel, everything."
Ezra releases his grip, stepping back and watching as the man takes a deep breath and the color drains from his face. He gasps for a few moments, eventually looking up with another bloody grin.
"Go ahead, kill me," he says as blood sputters from his split lips. He falls silent, breathing hard through his scratchy throat. "But- you'll never find the mother."
Ezra hesitates. "Mother?"
Orgon raises his eyebrows, leaning back in his bolted down chair. "Oh! You didn't know?" He pauses. "Have you checked your phone lately?"
Ezra darts out of the room, disappearing in a dark blur as Orgon begins to laugh. The obnoxious noise bounces off the walls as Ezra digs into his pockets out the door, hands fast and shaking as he draws out his phone. He had put it on silent forever ago and never turned it back on; he still isn't used to having it.
Missed call (26): Leon
Ezra's heart sinks, making his stomach roll with nausea before he can even open the dozens of texts left by the human. He doesn't look at them, jabbing harshly at the screen to dial and call him back.
It takes four tries, Orgon having finally tired out and shut up as the ringing clicks off and sniffling fills the speaker. "Leon? Leon!" Ezra cries, holding the phone to his ear with both trembling hands. Amelia steps out of the room, face dim and serious. "Leon what happened?!"
The teen chokes on the other side of the call. voice low and rough from probably hours of crying. Cars honk and whine in the background, giving indication he was outside in the city.
"E-Ezra," he whispers shakily, speaking so quiet it's hard to hear his voice past the life of the streets. "Ezra... H-He, he took my mom."