Wraith

Tycoon Chapter Two

Chapter Two

Wraith turned the piece of paper over and back again, but that was all the words she could see. Carefully she folded it up again and tucked it under her belt. Maybe if she looked at it in daylight she would see something that would allow her to make sense of it. Even a clue as to the sender would help. "'This is not the end but the beginning'," she muttered. "What isn't the end? The end, or the beginning of what? And then it says 'he is coming and with him is the horde'. Who is coming? It certainly sounds ominous when paired with 'horde', but what horde? Is it actually a horde of something – and if so, of what – or is it a name? I've never heard of a User, or an Abuser, called the 'Horde', but that doesn't mean there isn't one."

Wraith sighed and tried to put the matter to the back of her mind. Whatever the message means, that sneaky little Snake shadow  ghost thing knew something about it or he wouldn't have been trying to take it. And he's been spying on Olive which makes me very uncomfortable. I hope he turns up again – I've got a lot of questions to ask him. Her mind strayed again to the message as she checked the Captain once more. If he doesn't return, I'll have to ask some of the other Users once everyone's over this bout of talent flu. Whoever is coming will just have to wait until then.

Wraith stayed with the Captain for most of the night. Toward morning he started to produce fine droplets of perspiration and she realized with relief that his fever had broken. She refilled his glass of water and would have stayed longer but her ears alerted to the fact that Flayme was starting to shift about and mutter in her sleep. I've got to get home and back into Normality before she wakes up.

Immediately she pulled herself out of the bedroom window and bounded across the roofs toward her own house, racing the dawn light. Out of habit she nearly went in via her own window, but remembered just in time that Flayme was sleeping in there and swerved to enter through her Dad's. Then she dashed to the bathroom where she had left her clothes and stripped off her mask, gloves and boots before pulling her garments on over the cat suit. Olive just had time to stuff the extra bits of Wraith's costume into the center of a bundle with her dressing gown before she heard Flayme shuffle out onto the landing and knock at the door.

"Olive?" The User ended her query on a yawn.

"Just a minute." Olive flushed the toilet, splashed water on her face and then opened the door. "Dad's fine," she added. "He slept like a baby all night."

"Good." Flayme yawned again and rubbed her eyes through the holes in her mask. "We're probably past the worst of it then. I won't go just yet since there is still a small chance that his talent could break out, but it would usually have happened by now if it was going to."

Olive nodded as she moved out of the way. She still felt slightly guilty about leaving the other User in a potentially deadly situation, but nothing happened so we're all okay. And it's a good thing I went to the Captain when I did. He might have coped alright with the flu, but that message would have been lost, whatever it means. She remained vaguely dissatisfied with her own actions however, and so she checked on her Dad and then headed downstairs. I'll make Flayme the best breakfast she has ever tasted to make up for it, she decided firmly.

It wasn't until late afternoon the following day that Olive felt things were finally starting to get back to normal. Flayme had left the previous morning shortly after breakfast and gone home to finish recovering when John had finally woken and expressed an interest in getting out of bed. But he had stayed away from food until that morning and it was lunch before he was eating his usual portion. That afternoon as they sat watching a gameshow, he looked across at Olive and said.

"So, when are you planning to go back to University then? You've had a lot of time off, what with that Wraith kidnapping you for 'safety' reasons and then you were ill and now you've been taking the time to look after me. You're going to have missed a lot. How are you going to catch up with the others?"