Denise and John

Chapter Twenty Six

Grabbing his pack John headed out of his room and into the kitchen. He almost forgot Michael had spent the night until he greeted him with breakfast.
"Oh hey, morning Beastman." He said, taking the plate of pancakes from him.
"Morning. How is everything?"
"Good." John stated, as he grabbed the butter and smeared it all over the hot cakes.
Tugging Johns coat Michael said again. "No, John how is everything?" Michael began mimicking the eye trick Brianna showed John last night.
"Oh shit I forgot." John said as he quickly put down the syrup and began going through the steps.
Pulling his hand from his right eye, he blinked, the world on his left eye suddenly changed.
"Wow." John said. "This guy must have money."
The room he was in was decorated in murals, from solid oak formations to intricate art designs it was nicely made out to veneer a level of comfortability that John had never seen. When they traveled anywhere, they never went far so John had never seen the inside of a hotel room before, he could only imagine that's what this was and he was already in Portland. Looking around the room the perp headed into the bathroom and began brushing his teeth. Checking his appearance in the mirror, he continued by fixing his hair and proceeded back into the main room and laid on the bed closing his eyes. When John could see no more he broke connection, and began eating.
Sitting next to him Michael waited impatiently before finally saying. "Well?"
Swallowing the smothered pancake he reached for the orange juice Michael poured for him while entering into his connection. Taking a couple swallows he couldn't remember breakfast being this good in a long time. Normally he, and his sister would grab something quick that they could eat while they traveled to their bus stops. This was a nice change of pace.
As John readied himself to speak Denise entered the kitchen, and looked in his direction unassumingly. "Hey, where's mine?" she asked.
"On the counter." Michael stated. "Well Johnny shit, don't leave me in suspense what did you see?"
"Oh, John did the mind thing again."
"Yea and we were just about to find out what the hell's going on when you walked in the room."
"Where's mom?" she asked.
"Your mother left she had some loose ends to tie up and she will be home early. John?" Michael directed his attention back to him.
"Oh yea well I didn't see much just a really nice hotel room. I'm positive he's in Portland."
"So he's still in a hotel, which tells me he has no idea where you guys are. He just knows you're in Oregon."
Placing her hot cakes on the table Denise proceeded with the syrup. "So how do we keep him from finding out our city?" Denise asked as she took her first bite. "These are really good Michael."
"Thank you. On that though we can't stop him from finding your city it's only a matter of time. You see to stop him we would have to know how he found out where you are in the first place."
Finishing his pancakes John went to the sink and washed off his plate placing it in the dishwasher.
"You know I was thinking about that." Denise continued. "What if he does the same thing as John?"
"Meaning." Michael said. Picking up the butter and syrup he replaced it in the fridge.
"Well John now knows how to extend his bond and find him, what if he's doing the same thing?"
At that moment John felt sick. Heading back to the table he clutched his stomach.
"You ok John?" Michael asked noticing the difference in his demeanor.
"Yea I think I ate too much. Those were really good." He chuckled.
"Pace yourself next time, you might've eaten too fast." Michael smiled resuming a position next to him, he continued. "Well even if that's the case we can't stop living life. I mean you can't expect John to just stop everything, walk around with a blind fold so he doesn't see what John sees. He will eventually find you guys. We just have to be prepared."
"Well it's Friday." John interrupted.
"Your point." Michael said.
"We can do the camping trip thing. You know Green Peter. If anything, we would be away from the house and we can practice our abilities freely."
"If mom lets us." Denise continued finishing the last of her pancakes. "You know how she is John."
"Well if Beast man asks her she will."
"Possibly." Michael interrupted before Denise could reject the idea. "If anything it's worth a shot. It takes the danger away from the house at least."
As the sickness passed John sat straight up and continued. "And if he does track by abilities then he should have no problem finding us, only we will be ready for him. I can keep an eye on him as well."
"Yea well, I don't feel comfortable with the idea that we will be out in the middle of the sticks with a crazed serial killer." Denise said as she picked up her back pack and headed out of the kitchen.
"Better than leading him here." John replied. Taking his own pack he followed his sister before turning toward Michael who was still sitting at the table, obviously contemplating the idea. "So Beast man you gonna ask?"
Turning his attention to John he smiled. "Worth a shot."
Smiling back at him, John headed out following his sister.
                         ***
Because of all the snacking the previous night Alex woke with no appetite, so he didn't feel the need to call for room service which was one of the extra amenities this hotel offered. Instead he took a shower, dressed himself and took a look around the room. Even though he just arrived he liked noticing where everything was in the case that housekeeping came into his room and bumped anything out of place while he was gone. He didn't like the idea of strange women making his bed and cleaning his mess, but he knew it would look weird as a tourist if he rejected the offer. Satisfied that his stuff was all placed neatly in his satchel he continued into the bathroom and proceeded to brush his teeth using the complimentary products left by the hotel.
Fixing his hair Alex thought about his first course of action. It wouldn't be wise to run around aimlessly lost in a bunch of towns he knew nothing about. So first off he would connect with the boy and await for him to reveal something about their location. Making his way back to the bed he closed his eyes.
Unsure if the connection was stronger because he was closer to his targets, it didn't take him long to pull himself into the unknown realm and instantly make out the voices. The first voice caught him off guard as the screeching was too much to bare and almost caused him to break the connection before he heard the boy "….static…. ate….buzz…. Much….static…..really good." Continuing on the loud screech followed by static. For some reason he was unable to make out anything of the third person there. Holding tight he clenched his teeth covering the pain refusing to allow it to break his concentration.
"Friday….static….following screech... camping….static….. Green Peter…buzzing …..house….more static…..abilities. The girl must've been with him as he finally heard his other prey. ….static….lets us….static….buzzing….how…..static…..John…. Again the boy's voice carried. ….Static….. Beast man….. Buzzing…..she will…." The loud screech must've been the third person that the boy referred to as Beast man. Alex could not hear him as his voice carried the ringing, and stung his ears. Feeling it was unnecessary to hold on Alex broke his connection. Easily he at least got one destination. Green Peter. They must've been preparing a camping trip and Alex could only imagine from the word abilities it was to practice what they knew. Which means the Beast man must be their trainer.
Taking his phone from his pocket, Alex made his way towards the balcony and sat on the chair right in front of the window. Normally this would've been a perfect time to fall into the tourist attraction of watching the boats make sail, instead he pulled up the internet and searched camp sites.
Quickly finding the Green Peter reservoir he was positive he struck gold. There was also a site dedicated to Green Peter Lake but there was nothing on camping there. Thinking on the words the boy said, he had mentioned that it was Friday. They must have school today, so more than likely the duo with their unknown companion would leave sometime later on tonight or early tomorrow morning. That gave Alex time. He knew with having the unknown assailant this first experiment would have to be in the shadows. He would have to enlist some help, someone who could draw them out and force the Beast man to intervene so Alex could get an idea of his own ability. No reason for him to risk his own safety jumping into a situation unprepared.
Taking his coat and fedora, Alex quickly made his way out of his room. While he had the time, Alex went in search for the one thing that was going to bring his plan to life--- his patsies.
                           ***
Making his way through lunch, John quickly headed to the bathroom. He liked having the gift Brianna showed him. As long as he remained hidden he could perform the action anywhere at any time. Finding the furthest stall, John went inside and locked the door. Listening first for the sound of any other occupied stalls. He was alone.
Sitting on the toilet he performed the actions once again quickly transporting his left eye to the area of the killer. Across the street was a huge sign stating KEEP PORTLAND WEIRD, with cars parked neatly in a row. The perp glanced at the sign for a brief moment and that was long enough to send shivers down John's spine. This made it all too real that he was close. Keeping his focus he listened as some boys made their way into the bathroom. As the boys laughed and carried on, John tried to keep his focus more on what was happening outside the school. The perp looked toward a man who was walking next to him. Because of the noise in the bathroom John couldn't make out what he was saying. He didn't need to, to know anyone with him is bad news.
Breaking the connection John headed out of the restroom. He couldn't wait to get home and tell Beastman, and Denise, the perp was no longer alone.