Blood Obsidian

Issue 31

Whoso comes from the dark ... - Part 1

If it were possible to both hate and appreciate a growing number of individual things at the same time, Caitlyn would feel that at this very moment. She both hated and appreciated the fact that Aunt Mary accepted her explanation for breaking her grounding. A grounding now extended. Caitlyn hated lying that she only sat up on the roof for some time to herself, but appreciated Aunt Mary's trust. A trust broken, nevertheless.

She hated and appreciated the fact that Drone had not only upgraded her cell phone to receive and send everything anonymously, if she wanted to, but it now also received alerts for crimes happening within the city. No doubt Drone had thought that would help her in her crimefighting, but hadn't considered the fact that there was a lot of crime. A lot! And messages pinged up on her screen with an alarming regularity.

And Caitlyn both hated and appreciated that Rayna had reached out to her to smooth things over between Caitlyn and Alaina. Pho-Boy was good for his word. The entire school, apparently, had seen the proof that the video of Caitlyn trash-talking Alaina was fake, but, as Kyle had said, some people didn't care. There was smoke and they were warming their hands in glee over the fake fire. Alaina had lost much, all because of Fiend's campaign against Caitlyn. Caitlyn could totally understand how hurt Alaina felt.

"This is nice. Parochial." Rayna didn't curl her nose at the diner that sat a few doors down from Aunt Mary's apartment building, but the implication was there. "Your Aunt still not allowing you off the leash?"

"No leash. Cage. I'm pretty certain she's told everyone in the neighbourhood to watch me." She glanced at Ted, behind the counter, who suddenly found wiping things down of great importance. He started to whistle, tunelessly. "Only a few more days, I guess. How ... how's Alaina?"

"Loud. Loud and outgoing. Loud, outgoing and hungry. Like, she's hungry a lot!" She laughed, turning the bagel on the plate with her fingers, picking off pieces and dropping them. "But she's also pretty sad and lonely and furious. She misses you, but she's not ready to talk. Sorry."

"I understand." Where Rayna picked at her bagel, Caitlyn bit down and chewed. The best bagels in the area, by far. "I can't blame her."

If not for Caitlyn's activities as Blood Obsidian, this wouldn't have happened. Since the night Kyle had taken her to Fiend's hideout, he had spent each night trying to find the villain, with no success. All the data he had found and none of it led to any more of Fiend's lairs, or had given him any clue as to Fiend's identity, or why they hated Caitlyn so much.

Another ping came to Caitlyn's phone and she felt her cheeks burning. She could see Rayna's eyes drop to where Caitlyn had the phone, in her back pocket, but said nothing. Then those eyes rose up to catch Caitlyn's, a warm smile crossing her face. Alaina had, somehow, broken the girl's brittle façade. The smile suited her and Caitlyn coughed as she looked away. Her thoughts had turned to kisses and that wasn't appropriate, given the situation.

"Well, I'm the daughter of a powerful industrialist, I'm sure I can negotiate some simple reconciliation terms. We'll have you back talking before long, trust me." Rayna's hand, long, delicate fingers with perfectly manicured nails, reached out, touching Caitlyn's. "How are you coping? It must be hell, sitting at home all day, every day. I bet you're dying to get out and about."

Caitlyn almost laughed at that. Blood Obsidian had not ventured out for the past few nights, what with Aunt Mary watching like a hawk. Every movement Caitlyn made brought her Aunt knocking at the door to her room. Every noise had an innocent call from the living room, asking if she was alright. Did she need anything? Was she secretly sneaking out in the middle of the night to battle people that thought dressing up in colourful costumes was the best way to steal things stealthily?