Unlikely Heroes (Sander Sides au)

The First meeting... (Chapter 11)

=~•Janus' POV•~=
It's been about three weeks since we had got the costumes and I had been spending more time with Virgil and Remus. Something that is bad is that I have no idea how to pay taxes and do bills, like seriously what does school teach you? I feel like I should ask V or Remus to let me stay at their place but I don't want to be a burden on Virgil and frankly I'm too scared to be in the same house as Remus. I had a feeling today would be quite odd but maybe that is just because I'm going to go walk around the city with V today. We had invited Remus but he declined right before going over and jumping on his brother's back, successfully knocking him over. I didn't have any pity on Roman, due to the fact I get weird vibes from him, kinda like I do with the nerd.

It was getting to 2 o'clock, and I need to head off to meet with Virgil at the corner coffee shop. As I was walking, my footsteps echoed throughout the suspiciously quiet street. I was getting a small pit in my stomach as my walk sped up into a slow run, too fast to be a jog but too slow to be a proper run. Finally, I reached the shop and found V sitting inside with a cup of coffee at the furthest table from the window. When I entered, the bell above me rang, alerting Virgil to my presence, to which he gave a small, welcoming smile at. His smile was more of a smirk but I'll take it as a smile because I can, so suck it up. I sat down at his table and he gave me a cup of coffee, I assumed, that seemed to appear from thin air. We talked for a short while as we drank are drinks and mine turned out to be hot chocolate. My bandages covered my scaly side of my face while he put up his hood to cover his hair.

It was becoming 4 o'clock when we left the cafe after buying two more drinks and a muffin for each of us. We were walking down the street, when that sinking feeling returned but in more force. I felt as though we were being watched from everywhere but that's when I remembered my weakness was fear. My eyes shifted from the ground to Virgil who looked quite worried about something. He does have anxiety so it wouldn't be much of a surprise. After about five minutes of complete, comfortable silence, a scream was able to be heard about a block away. More screams followed, which made me and Virgil share a look of panic. These screams were not from the same person due to the pitch of them.

We began to run towards the noise, although Virgil kept saying how we should be running the opposite way. The screams became clearer and we, well I could but I don't know if V could as well, were able to make out a few words. They were pleads and swear words thrown around. We turned around a corner at the end of the road to see a building sat a light by flames of golden yellow and blood-red. The wind had become more intense and V's hood had fallen off to show his royal purple hair swaying in the wind. I held my hat close to my head as my head began to throb in pain as though I had been hit with a baseball bat. I saw Virgil seemingly having the same issue but not as bad, maybe he knows how to deal with it. What if he knows how to hide it because he is abused?! My thoughts raged through my mind, hurting my head more each second.

I was dragged from thoughts by a pale hand on my shoulder. I looked up to see V who was now staring at one window of the building. The window broke with a smash by a large boulder of earth that was now hurtling for us. Virgil acted quickly as he dragged me into the shadows that were scattered randomly across the floor. He ran as I was being pulled behind him into an alley tucked far way into the corner of the street. His breathing was erratic and now I was beginning to assume that this wasn't from his powers but just his fight or flight responses kicking in. I began hyperventilating before a poof sound was made revealing me as a snake... once again. Now I can understand how fear is one of my weaknesses as I loose control of my shape shifting. V whipped his head around to see me coiled around his forearm. The shadows around the alley began to consume us in their warmth, calming me down immediately. He ran to the corner of the blocked alley before going through a small breathing exercise he must have learned.