Regenerate

Chapter 5

By morning, I've pretty much scoured the entire apartment. I know where everything is, and I don't think there are any more cameras. I guess the place could still be bugged for audio, but it's not like I'll be talking to anybody besides Mantis anyway.

I eat breakfast, just because I can, and as I'm washing up my dishes I get a call from Mantis. I ask him if there's any news on the serial killer.

"Nothing new on him, but my facial recognition scanners have picked up the guy from the burning building a couple times. I think he moves around a bit, but he seems to be sticking to one neighborhood."

"Which makes it easier to find him," I say.

"Exactly. How do you feel about taking a little roadtrip today?" Mantis asks.

"So ready," I said. I'm feeling energized and ready to go out and do something.

"Ok. I'll email you directions to get to the neighborhood using the metro. If you do see him there you can try trailing him for awhile, but you probably don't want to let on that you know what he can do. It may scare him off."

I roll my eyes, "I can only imagine how unnerving it would be to have somebody figure out that you had special abilities."

"Right, so keep your distance. Don't engage him."

"Yeah, sure thing."

"Oh, and in your closet you should have found a pair of sunglasses. Wear them when you go out. They'll record everything you're seeing and saying so that I can be involved too."

"Why?" I don't like the sound of him spying on me more. Not after what I found last night.

"Because two eyes are better than one. Maybe I'll notice things you can't."

I don't argue with him any more. He is my employer, after all.

Instead I finish cleaning up from my breakfast and pick out an outfit for the day. Shorts, a tank top, and some comfortable walking shoes. I don't bother to put on sunscreen, since I don't burn at all.

I follow Mantis's directions to the neighborhood where our guy is supposed to be, but as soon as I step off the railway, I feel stupid. There have to be a thousand people at the station alone, and my bright idea is to just wander around until I find this guy. Brilliant.

And my supposed super genuis employer couldn't think of anything better to do anyway.

I get a text and flip open my phone.

I figured out how to wire your sunglasses so that my facial recognition software runs through them. If they pick up anything that's a match, you'll get a text. Hope that helps.

That at least makes me feel a little better. I wander out of the station and start looking around.

It's not a nice neighborhood. One of those neighborhoods where a girl shouldn't go walking around alone. 

I get a lot of looks from guys who look like bad news, but I'm used to that. I ignore them, and they leave me alone. I spend all day walking, looking inside the grocery stores for products I don't need and at the gas stations.

As the sun is setting, I decide I should probably get back home. Then it occurs to me that if this guy is much like me, he won't be wandering around stores and gas stations. He'll be hiding in the shadows. I decide to take the back alleys back to the station. Which turns out to be a terrible idea.

For one thing, this isn't a neighborhood that I know well enough to not get lost. For another thing, the riff raff in the alleys are even worse than the riff raff on the street.

One guy in particular is making a lot of cat calls at me. I ignore him, and try to walk past him, but he grabs my arm and shoves me up against a wall. He has a knife out, but he's drunker than drunk. Besides, there's only one of him. Won't even be a fair fight.

            Before I even have a chance to kick him, though, somebody grabs his shirt collar from behind and yanks him away from me. The newcomer, throws the drunk guy on the ground and yells at him to get away. The drunk guy doesn't need any more warning.

The guy who "saved" me turns to face me and says, "Are you okay?"

Even in the diminishing light and with his hood covering half his face, I can tell this is the guy we're looking for. As if in agreement, my phone vibrates in my pocket. Facial recognition has noticed him too.

I'm so busy studying him that I almost forget to respond, "Yeah, I'm just a little lost. Think you can help me find the metro station?"

"Yeah, sure." He shoves his hands in his pockets and nods his head in the direction we need to go."

"Thanks for helping me out," I say, even though I didn't need his help. "I'm Thalia, by the way."

"Oliver," he says. He's pretending like his last name is his first name. Clever.

"Are we far from the station? I'm wondering how lost I managed to get."

"Not too far," Derek says. "You were headed in the right direction. Should be just around the corner from here."

I nod. "Thanks for going out of your way to walk me over here. I appreciate it. Maybe I can buy you dinner tomorrow night?"

He hesitates. I suspect he wants to, but like me he's used to anonymity.

"You don't have to do that," he says at last.

I try on my most charming smile and say, "I want to. Please?"

I see just a little grin crack on his face. "Sure. Where do you want me to meet you?"

I give him directions to a little cafe a few blocks over. It's a little bit nicer than this neighborhood, at least. He agrees and we set up a time. He leaves me at the metro station. I ride the rails back to my neighborhood and hurry up to my room. I'm not even a little surprised that Mantis calls me the minute I walk into my apartment.