The Silver Killer

Thirteen: Storytelling

You woke up tangled in a mess in your blanket, but somehow still shivering. Whatever. You prayed you didn't have a fever from blood loss, but you weren't sweating. Dreams. Well, memories.

The day prior, you'd investigated the microphone, and had found no telling traces. No insignias linking the mic to the Sparrow Academy or the police. But somebody had put it there. Somebody had known - or at least suspected - that you were the Silver Killer, and had found out where you lived and planted that mic there. The thought terrified you, but there was nothing else to do about it. You had nothing to go on.

You went into the kitchen and made yourself a cup of coffee, leaning against the counter and sipping it half heartedly. You were tired. And worried. Was Five okay? Had the Sparrows found him? Or his family? You hadn't known him for long, but you found your heart thumping at the thought of him.

There was a sudden flash of light, and a body crashed into yours. You cursed and stumbled backwards, dropping your coffee mug and feeling a hand deftly slide around your waist to steady you and balance the boy that had run into you.

"Are you okay?" Five asked, eyes flitting over your face, an unusually concerned expression on his lips.

You blinked, and licked your lips, which felt suddenly parched. Your nose brushed his and you ripped yourself out of his grasp, heart thumping. "Fine. I'm fine, I'm fine."

His eyebrows knit together in concern. "Y/N? Are you su-"

"YES!" You caught yourself and closed your eyes for a moment, letting out a shaky breath. "Yes. Just surprised. You surprised me."

If you were telling the truth, nobody had put their hand around your waist like that since Victor, two years ago. Victor being your boyfriend, that is. Not that you'd ever wanted him to be, he wasn't a person you ever wanted to associate yourself with, it just-

You shook yourself, making Five's eyes narrow even further. "Checking up on me, I presume?"

He stuffed his hands in his pockets and glanced around. "Well, uh, yeah. Since you were stabbed and all, I figured it was best if I came back around and . . . checked on you." His voice trailed off and he looked at the ground. It wasn't hard to tell that that wasn't the only thing he was there for.

"What else?"

He swallowed. You'd never seen him show his nerves before. In the cafe, the alleyway, when you'd been stabbed . . . he'd kept his cool. But now he was cracking. "My siblings. We're . . . we're not safe. Not at all. The Sparrows found them at the first hideout, and we all know it's just a matter of time until they find us at the new one."

"They won't stop searching," You told him calmly. It wasn't new information; you both knew that the Sparrows would stop at nothing. They were like royalty in the town. There was nothing for them to lose.

"We need somewhere safe. To stay. A place where we can learn how to fight back against them, with somebody that knows them-"

"Just say it," you snapped, crossing your arms. "You want to bring your siblings here to stay with me. You think I can help you fight them."

Five was silent.

"You can't fight them. They'd win in an instant. Maybe you guys think you know your powers, but you don't. Maybe you were trained day and night for over a decade on how to properly, perfectly use them, but you're all out of touch on it. The Sparrows have been at this for years. They haven't stopped. If you face them head on, you'll be crucified."

"And how do you know that?"

"Because I know them, Five. I know them way more than I know you. They will kill you, and then move on to the next people without looking back. Without another thought. You'll be old news as soon as your body hits the floor."

His cold blue eyes searched yours. "You're lying."

"You barely know me, how the HELL could you know if I'm lying?!"

"If what you're saying is true, then they sound like the type of people that would rather kill a girl than have her hang around, absorbing all of their information. How did you-"

Just like that, the walls had shifted. The pair of you were standing in an open field, grass swishing around your ankles, the sun shining high up in the sky. Perfection. 

But Five hadn't seen it coming.

His eyes darted to you, mouth turning into a little 'o' as the pair of you appeared back in your kitchen. "You-"

"I can manipulate the senses," You told him bluntly, cheeks flushing. The only people you'd ever shown your powers were the Sparrows. "That's why they let me into the Academy."

His eyes searched yours as the field fell away, the landscape reverting back to the kitchen. "You weren't always in the Academy?"

Crap. You'd given away too much.

Your eyes darted away, out the window to the trees. You were tired, but not just physically. You were tired of running from people and lying about everything. Of playing the part of the perfect teenage girl when you were in public, and then slipping back into your grieving conscience when you were alone. 

And being alone. You were tired of being alone.

"I come from somewhere else," you said quietly, still gazing out of the window. "Far away from here. But I . . . something happened, and I ended up here. Alone." Your eyes went back to his, cool and steady, listening. You knew he knew the feeling of being alone. Of showing up in an unknown land, all by yourself. "I'd known I had the powers for years, but had pushed them down. I didn't want to use them, to have them, I just wanted to be a normal kid.

"And then I ran into the Sparrows. They were on a mission, and I was exhausted. Probably hadn't slept in three days. One of them offered me some food, and I took it, but my powers started going haywire. It caught them all off guard, and I passed out afterward. When I woke, I was in the Academy. From there, they . . . they were my family."

Five took a step closer to you. "What happened?"

You didn't back away. "A lot. A lot that's not important right now." You turned to face him completely. "Are you gonna get your family over here or what? We've got some planning to do."