Blood Obsidian

Issue 43

Hope falls silently in the dark ... - Part 1

Caitlyn didn't care if she looked like a peeping Tom as she peered into Alaina's room and, to her relief, found that everything looked normal. Normal for Alaina, that is. Anyone else would think the room had been upended, but Caitlyn knew what Alaina was like. The mess was all of her friend's making. Alaina, at least, had avoided Fiend's attention, but that still left Aunt Mary missing.

Just to check, Caitlyn called Alaina again and, once again, her cell went straight to her voicemail. It felt good to hear Alaina's voice, but it still worried Caitlyn. Just because Fiend hadn't attacked Alaina at home, didn't mean he hadn't taken her elsewhere. As for Chief Watson. As much as she liked him, he was a police officer. He could take care of himself.

"Kyle! Ping Alaina's cell. Wherever she is, I need to make sure she's alright." Floating down to the alley, she sent the suit back into hiding. She wanted to check one more thing. "Have the drones found anything?"

Almost as soon as the explosion had occurred in Aunt Mary's apartment, Kyle had transported down, with several of Drone's drones in tow, proving that the transporter was accurate, after all. The explosion hadn't caused much damage, but Kyle thought the debris could hold clues to the events leading up to Aunt Mary's abduction.

"Components from Ald-Tech, but, apart from that, nothing. No fingerprints. The blood is definitely from your aunt, but it's not enough to be life-threatening. Keep your focus, Caitlyn!" He sounded busy. In the background, Caitlyn heard the sound of furious keyboard tapping. "Alaina's cell is ... in her apartment. Switched off. It could mean anything."

It could. While talking to Kyle, she made her way into the apartment building, racing up the stairs instead of waiting for the elevator and, after several thunderous knocks, Alaina's mother came to the door. Eyes drooping from smoking too much pot, the mom tried to focus on Caitlyn, as though she had trouble remembering the girl that had only been her daughter's best friend for, like, ever.

"Mrs Allen? I'm looking for Alaina. I'm supposed to copy her notes for Math class." Caitlyn talked slowly, noting the confused look on Mrs Allen's face. "Do you know where she is?"

"She ain't here? Mikey? Mikey! Is Aly not here?" She shouted over her shoulder and Caitlyn heard a muddled mumbling from within the apartment. "She's out. Oh, yeah! She's with that girl. You know, that girl? Snooty kid. Thinks she's better than everybody."

Caitlyn didn't even wait to thank Alaina's mom. Alaina was with Rayna and Caitlyn didn't know if that was a good thing or a bad thing. Fiend, Raymond Alden, Rayna's father, had had AlleyGator attack his own daughter to test Caitlyn, Blood Obsidian. Yet, he had also ordered AlleyGator not to hurt Rayna. That was not the way a father should treat a daughter and Caitlyn doubted he would avoid capturing Alaina just because Rayna was with her.

As soon as she reached the street, she didn't care who saw her. The suit enveloped her and she launched herself to the rooftops. Only one person would know where to find Aunt Mary and, maybe, Alaina. Raymond Alden. The man must have gone mad, using the synthesised Black Element, believing Caitlyn had tried to kill his daughter. Whatever the reason for this madness, he had all the answers and she intended finding him.

-+-

Meanwhile, at Machina's brownstone ...

Chief Watson had trouble changing the fuses in a house. Couldn't fix anything even remotely technical, but he knew how to break things. That tiny drone had flitted about, trying to escape the Faraday cage below Joe Morrison's brownstone, but there was no way out. Watson had squashed the damned thing like a bug.