Chapter 06:The Scars We Bear

[25th August, a week after the encounter with Joren]

“Alright, class please flip open your books to the topic on advanced algebra.” A slightly overweight man in his mid-forties said monotonously as he scribbled on the white board. 

“Arghh.. I can’t believe that out of everyone at Westwood High, we got Mr Snoozefest over here as our math advisor.” Eddy Lamented. “Well, to be fair Mr Jeremiah does have a masters and multiple degrees in math.” Luce added. It wasn’t that Eddy hated Mr Jeremiah, it was just that the way that he taught. Mr Jeremiah had a reputation that preceded him; not about his vast expertise on math, but rather of how slow and monotonous his lessons were. In fact, his lessons were so dull and boring that it made reading the encyclopedia seem entertaining to Eddy. “Well, at least he isn’t teaching us History,” beamed Sarah from behind as she walked into the classroom. 

“If that ever happens, I might actually consider playing his lessons as a lullaby to sleep.” Eddy Jokes. Irked at the chatter enveloping the room, Mr Jeremiah slammed the ram shackled book he was holding on to the desk, which caused the pages that were already barely holding on to the spine of the book to fall out. Riveting his glare to Luce, Eddy and Sarah, he yelled at them to see him after school for detention. Sarah mouthed an apology as she sat down. 

Throughout the lesson, the previously noisy classroom was filled with nothing but silence as Luce and the other students struggled to stay awake during class as Mr Jeremiah explained through the various formulas that would be tested in their upcoming test. With his eyelids growing heavier and heavier as each second passed, Luce shifted his gaze from the board to the clock hanging above the teacher’s desk. In an attempt to stay awake, he counted each time the hands of the clocks shifted. Unbeknownst to him, his mind had wandered away from him, which caused him to lose concentration and his body to slump onto his desk with a loud thud. 

“ LUCE TEVIAN SMITH. Two more hours of detention for you and your friends for sleeping in my class. ” Mr Jeremiah howled. Before he could open his mouth to protest, Sarah whispered to him not to waste time arguing with him and that arguing with him was trying to convince a lion to become vegan- impossible and pointless. Sighing in defeat, Luce slumped his head back onto his desk.

[Back at the Sanctuary, 3.30pm]

“ Red Ghost? Why would Joren leave a note from Red Ghost behind?” Hailey said as she peered intently, eyebrows furrowing at the piece of paper in her hand. Concerned, Jay asked what she was talking about. 

“Oh, I tried deciphering the code from the note that Luce and Eddy brought back the other day and I understand the message and all but what I don’t get is why it’s signed off as Red Ghost and why would Joren have it.” Hailey said, placing the note on the table and sliding it over to Jay. The note now even more crumpled than before, had words and scribbles spilled all over it. Above each symbol was words in english written in a bright red marker.

With his eyes scanning through the paper, Jay traced his fingers over each word as he read through the note, making sure that he did not miss out any detail or word on the paper. Only stopping when he reached the signature of the writer. Fixing his eyes on the name and signature of the writer, he muttered the name of the writer and tapped the edge of the table several times before proclaiming out loud that he got it. Frantically tapping away on his hologram, he scrolled through a bunch of documents before opening up one titled ‘Red Ghost’. Before becoming the head of operations at the sanctuary, Jay was a detective at Joltic City Police Department who investigated suspected meta-human cases, and Red Ghost was one of them. 

No one knew who this Red Ghost was or what he wanted, apart from the fact that he was a notoriously famous hacker, known for hacking into databases of the most advanced cities in the world. Like his name implies, he would disappear as soon as he entered the database, living not a singular trace behind. However, it wouldn’t be long till he resurfaced again, attacking the cities once more. While his identity was a mystery that puzzled many worldwide, it wasn’t the actual mystery. The actual mystery was what he was after. Nothing was stolen, missing or permanently damaged. Red Ghost never left a ransom note or anything of that sort, other than his alias. Cities around the world poured 

whatever resources they could to find out who he was, but it was to no avail as after his last attack, Red Ghost mysteriously vanished and never showed up again. All cases were dismissed as unsolved or just a prank.  

As he opened the files, the case on Red Ghost was reopened with accompanying footage similar to the one Dristina had shown them attached to it and a description that matched those of Joren’s. Showing the files to Kayden and Hailey, the three of them stared at each other dumbfounded.  

“ Maybe it's a coincidence, ”Kayden said, trying to reassure them.  

“Kayden Cooper, believing in coincidence? Now this is something I would never get to see in this life” A high-pitched voice trailed from behind them. 

Meanwhile, at Westwood High School, seeing as they were not getting out of detention anytime soon, Luce seized this opportunity to catch up on his homework and topics he had missed due to the last rescue mission. Sarah, too, was using this opportunity to finish whatever assignments she had that day. Eddy, on the hand, was impatiently tapping his foot on the ground as he crossed his arms over one another and placed them on his table; counting each second as the hands on the clock moved.

“I’m going for a quick break, but don’t even think about skipping detention. If I catch any of you outside this class before the clock strikes 4.30pm, it will be triple the time plus toilet duty.” Mr Jeremiah said sternly as he shifted his gaze from all three of them towards Eddy. His eyes fixated on Eddy as he left the classroom. As soon as Mr Jeremiah’s heavy footsteps faded off, the three of them let out an exasperated sigh. 

“Finally, Mr. Snoozefest is gone. Now I can finally catch up on my sleep after the last mission,” Eddy said. Shooting him a confused look, Luce quickly added that that was what their family called errands. Glancing at the both of them, she let out a half believing ‘oh’ and proceeded to ask Luce if he needed any help on the topics he had missed because he was sick. Sarah knew that something was up after she accidentally stumbled across Luce and Eddy’s personal details’ folder. Even though Luce had proclaimed that Eddy was his brother, on the school’s database they had different last names. In addition, Luce seemed distracted and shaken that day at the mall after coming back from the toilet.Wanting to avoid being rude, she felt that it would be better to not pursue the matter.

After what seemed like an eternity of teaching Luce organic chemistry and graphs, Mr Jeremiah came into the classroom to dismiss them, but not before assigning each of them a 700 word reflection on what they did wrong that day.

“Ra-Raina?” stammered the usual calm and emotionless Kayden. 

“ Live in the flesh. Why did you miss me?” Raina replied. Taking a minute to breathe in and collect his mind, Kayden proceeded to ask what she was doing here.

Before the war broke out and all hell broke loose, the two of them were slated to become in the next line-up of the five- Kayden for his intellect and Raina for her telepathic abilities. Even though Kayden was typically quiet and reserved, Raina was one of the few people he genuinely trusted and was comfortable around and could open up to. With their bond growing stronger as time passed. Then war came, and it didn’t just threaten their bond, but the survival of their kind. Kayden did whatever he could to ensure that his people survived, from conducting as many search and rescue missions as possible to holding human hostages in exchange for meta-human hostages. All of which was to no avail, as he soon realised that the game of cat and mouse was pointless as neither side were willing to give in. So, he made a decision that he would regret it for the rest of his life- Joining the hunt for his people.

Back then he convinced himself he was doing the right thing as by joining the hunt, he could limit the deaths of his people to a bare minimum and doing so was the only option to ensure the survival of meta-humans. However, he soon realised that telling himself that was simply a lie he crafted to damage his ego, with the reality being he was afraid of losing the only bond he has ever had. Which was lost the moment he hunted Raina’s family.

“Because after years of hiding, Vampiria finally decided to show her face as the Leader of the biggest gang in all of Navitia City.” Raina addressed as she handed Kayden a silver tinted thumb drive. Vampiria was an annihilator who was known for her ability to get stronger through sucking the life force out of meta-humans and humans alike. Frequently, addressed as the goddess of death or the harbinger of doom, she was the world’s strongest annihilator, and it is rumored that her birth caused the death of thousands instantaneously. Despite her power being powered by death itself and the war was a perfect opportunity for her to get stronger, she chose to disappear in the midst of the war into Navitia City, an underworld city ruled by gangs which was consistently fighting for power.

Suggesting that they take this to the meeting room, the four made their way down to the meeting room. On the way there, Kayden apologized to Raina about the past, to which she hushed him off, stating that she wasn’t one to bear grudges and had forgiven him a while back. But what she couldn’t forgive him was how he had let his mistakes consume him.

“You know what is the most painful part of a scar? It’s the memory that is attached to it.

 The pain inflicted by the wound is only temporary, and it will eventually go away. You spent so long convincing yourself that the pain is from the wound that you failed to realise that it’s coming from reminiscing about the wound. Let go of it Kayden, relieving the past is not going to solve anything, it’s only hindering you from moving forward.” Raina gently said. Not knowing how to respond, Kayden kept quiet throughout the rest of the journey to the meeting room, creating a tension in the atmosphere so great you could slice it with a knife. As they walked back, they met Eddy and Luce, whom Jay dragged in to join them to lessen the tension in the atmosphere.

At the meeting room, Raina briefed them on the situation with Vampiria and in Navitia City. As it turns out, she has made use of Navitia’s lawless society to build her position in the new world ever since the war. As her powers not only allowed her to get stronger, absorbing their life force also extended her life. This gave her more than enough time to make her way up the ranks and eventually become the leader of Silver Fang, the top gang of Navitia City. Operating in the shadows as a leader, she led Silver Fang, which was one of the weakest gangs in the city, to become the most powerful gangs in the city till this day. The very mention of her name was more than enough to strike fear into the hearts of the rival gangs, from gang leaders to the common thugs. 

“So, how has this got to do with Joren?” Hailey inquired.

Explaining that from the speculations are that her reason for starting the gang war is her daughter’s recent disappearance and to make matters worse, the world council has conducted a recent ‘Field Surveillance’ in the city searching for meta-humans under the suspicion of them hiding a wanted fugitive in a red cloak. Never in her life would Hailey have thought that a simple description of a person could overwhelm her with so many emotions. From the excitement and joy she felt when she first received news of the possibility that Joren could be alive, to pain and sorrow for the life Joren has to live as Raina filled them in on the bad news.

"Hang on, if Vampiria is the most powerful annihilator, can’t she simply just fight them?" she asked. With the expressionless smile Kayden usually wore on his face, he explained that it wasn't as simple as that. Because her powers only work on living organisms and are ineffective against the bayonetts, fighting her way out of this is out of the question for her. Especially since Genetic Rarity Indicator can neutralise powers through extraction of the unstable elements in the meta-human gene. Intrigued by how much Kayden knew about the bayonetts, she asked Kayden how he knew so much. 

Tilting her head as she raised her eyebrows and said in a surprised manner, “Oh, Kayden didn’t tell you all? He helped develop the Bayonetts.” Silence filled the room once more as a mixture of emotions filled the atmosphere.