The Second Layer

Chapter 26: Ryan

Chapter 26: Ryan

Ryan was walking the streets of the city, enjoying the night air. He'd spent the entire day training, and it had been utterly amazing, seeing his new abilities in action. He'd already gotten the hang of the technique Vryce had showed him to charge his attacks with energy. He'd also pretty much mastered being able to use the full extent of his new found strength whenever he wanted, though right now he was pretty much stuck at having it be on or off. He was still working on fine-tuning it so that he could control just how much of his strength he used at any given time, rather than always needing to use all of it. He'd also been practicing with his speed, and he thought he was starting to get the knack of what it felt like to have it active, but he still couldn't manage to turn it on and off at will yet.

He'd trained until after midnight before he'd finally decided to stop for the day. After making sure he remembered how to get back to the abandoned building he was using to train, he'd headed back to his new apartment, taken a quick shower, and slipped into bed. But he'd quickly discovered that even though he felt tired, he couldn't manage to fall asleep. He just kept thinking about everything that had happened that day, the things he'd been able to do and the way his new powers had felt. Finally, after tossing and turning for nearly an hour, he'd gotten out of bed and tossed some clothes back on, figuring that maybe a walk would calm him down enough for him to sleep.

He'd only gone a couple blocks when he sensed the dark aura that meant a freak was nearby coming from an alleyway up ahead. As he approached, a man in his early twenties with short bristly hair and cold black eyes stepped out of the dark alley to meet him. "You must be the new guy," the man said with a smile, watching him.

Ryan took a quick glance around, but at that time of night in that part of the city there were only a few people striding along the sidewalks within viewing distance, and none near enough at the moment to overhear. Still, he moved over closer to the alley, and spoke in a low voice. "Yeah, I guess you could say that. Who are you?"

"My name's Kade. I'm the city's resident bastard. Well, one of them," the man said with a smirk, offering his hand, which Ryan hesitantly shook. "I'd just had a really stressful day, and went to a private bar we sometimes use to wind down, when I heard that the city had some new blood. I figured I'd come check it out for myself."

"It's nice to meet you, Kade," Ryan offered, not sure what else to say exactly.

"So, I hear you used to be a cop?" Kade asked, looking interested.

It was strange to hear it put that way. Used to be a cop. But then, Ryan supposed it was true. He wasn't a cop anymore. He'd become a freak now, and cut himself off from his past. And his old job was part of his past. "Yeah, I used to be," Ryan answered, giving a short nod.

"So what's that like? To one day be a preserver of justice, someone who protects and serves the innocent, and then the next day find yourself thrown into the world of the evil and the wicked, expected to become a part of them?" Kade queried.

"It's... Strange, to say the least. Really though, you all keep telling me how horrible you're supposed to be. But I don't think some of you are quite as terrible as you want to make yourselves out to be. I mean, sure, there are some really bad people among you, but not all of you seem that bad," Ryan told him.

Kade's face twitched slightly, and his expression shifted to one of amusement. "Oh really? What makes you think we're not that bad?"

Ryan noticed a woman in her early thirties approaching along the sidewalk towards him, so he chose his words carefully to make sure he didn't actually mention anything she shouldn't overhear. "Well, Vryce and Erik actually seemed nice. And so far you don't seem so bad either. I mean, people do really bad things sometimes, but sometimes you don't have a choice, or there are circumstances which drive your actions."