Run For Your Life [IC]

[AnaSilan Sunja]

-L-i-n-k->OOC<-L-i-n-k-

{Cleveland, Ohio}
It was on a rigid day in December that Frius Mahts found herself walking through a park that was completely devoid of human life. Most likely due to the layer of ice and snow covering everything. Not affected by the cold at all, the young girl continued her search for what she could sleep in when night falls. Walking around the park, running her hands over several structures, she left an extra layer of frost behind. Finding nothing to sleep in, the white haired girl resigned herself to another night sleeping on a metal park bench. Sitting down on the bench, she ran her hand over the freezing metal and sighed. She couldn't avoid the nagging thoughts anymore.

'I have a really bad feeling about today.' No sooner had she thought that, the sound of a SAFE taser gun being fired reached her ears. She turned just in time to freeze it, mid-air. Her ice blue eyes widened in shock. How had they found her so fast? she just escaped them in Illinois! Stomping her foot on the ground, a trail of ice made its way along the ground until it reached the SAFE member, freezing his feet to the ground. She turned and began running, the briefest thought in her mind about how SAFE works by pairing people, there is never just one of them.

"Not so fast, Freak!" Called another voice from behind her. She ran faster, down a street. Still no people. She needed a witness! Or, if she was super-extremely lucky, another Power that could help. Suddenly, her feet were tangled in metal binds, thrown from the SAFE partner. She lurched forward, hitting the ground hard. She was terrified; she didn't want to be caught by them again!

"HELP! PLEASE, SOMEONE HELP ME! HEL-MMPH!" Her words were cut off as a gag was put in her mouth, her hands already in power-suppressing cuffs. Tears burned her eyes, freezing on her cheeks as they left her eyes. 'Please, someone help...'
---
{SAFE Base}

"This is the second SAFE member of the team tasked with catching Frius Mahts. Target acquired. I'll thaw my partner's feet and get her to you, Sir."

The report brought a grin to the young leader's face.

"This is Base. I hear you, bring her in ASAP." he answered back.

"Roger."

He was going to get his revenge.

[BeautifullyYou]

Linkin's breath came out in a white fog. Then, her wolf ears perked atop her head. Screaming. Someone was screaming for help. The small teenager leapt into action, or rather, off the top of the roof of the one-story house she'd been on. Landing in the grass as a large, brown wolf, with golden-red eyes. Stopping for a moment to listen, she took off running. Schreeching around the corner, she saw a SAFE member cuffing up a white-haired girl.

With a loud bark, she continued running forward. Jumping, she hit the SAFE in the chest, sending him sprawling backwards. Snapping her fangs close to his face, she felt a knife cut into her stomach fur, coming closer to skin. She yelped, then latched her fangs into the collar of his shirt. Dragging him up, she slammed his head back down. He quickly lost consciousness.

Shifting back, she rolled her shoulders until her muscles were unfrozen. Shifting always made her body temperature drop. Snatching some keys from the SAFE's belt, she quickly unlocked the cuffs from the other Power. "There ya go. Might wanna hurry incase the other SAFE comes... they usually work in pairs," she murmured, glancing around in confusion but also caution.

--------

Evan heard everything over the report. They'd caught her, Inu's main Power to catch. He smirked, but then frowned. He knew the other Power, one he'd grown up with, would probably be there to help. Listening intently, he waited to hear what would happen next.

[Deli]

While not the town’s most popular coffee house, The Hobson Café had a number of loyal “regulars”. Some came for the pure simplicity in their brew, and others for the inviting fireplace to warm themselves from the cold cobbled streets outside. It was in this particular café that a bundled up gentleman walked into on an especially frigid winter day. Upon the coat hanger, the man peeled off and hung to dry several layers of thin coats and long-sleeved sweaters. It was only after he unraveled the scarf around his neck and removed the wool cap from his head that it became noticeable how unkempt this individual was. Shaggy brown hair brushed his shoulders and an unshaven beard left a moderately unprofessional impression despite his nicer-than-average clothing. After kicking the excess snow from his shoes upon the entrance mat, the man walked up to the front counter,
“The usual Americano for here please, 16 oz.”

After picking up his drink, the man walked over to the very back corner of the room and sat at the round 2-seated table. He took a small sip of his drink before speaking in a friendly and greeting tone,
“So soon Lynnette? I must say, it has not been long since our last cup of coffee.”

The young woman at the opposite side of the table gently set her cup down upon its saucer and expressed a subtle smile. Compared to the shaggy man before her, she was a drastic contradiction. The girl had garbed herself with a fine black dress, leather boots and a white trench coat adorned with intricately designed buttons. But it was not just her attire that set her apart; her posture and very composure let forth an air of confidence and charm. She set her elbows upon the table and interweaved her fingers before her, resting her chin upon them as she leaned forward toward her addressor,
“This was an especially easy decision. Or do you doubt my judgment, my friend?”

The man could not help but let out a loud laugh before offering a response,
“You know I would not be here if that were the case. Just making pleasant conversation Lynn, but worry not, I shall whisper your message forward.”

Lynnette Lyon brushed a stray blonde curl of hair back behind her ear before resting her shoulders back in her seat and tenderly expressing her gratitude,
“Worrying is for those without faith, and it is faith that I have in people like you, my friend.”

The two sat and exchanges small talk of weather and books over their drinks for the next half hour before leaving The Hobson Café. The man laid a gentle kiss on Lynnette’s cheek as they parted ways at the entrance. After a few blocks, the gentleman pulled out a napkin from his left coat pocket. Scribbled upon it in the neatest cursive writing was an address, which he memorized before tossing the napkin in the nearest waste container. The man then turned towards the nearest bar.

He knew what to do. He would subtly spread small rumors around of an unusual individual residing at that address, changing the story a bit here and there each time and location he told it. Only a few times did the story need to be told, the grapevine usually took care of the rest. SAFE was far too advanced in their surveillance capabilities to not pick up on the whisperings of such an individual. He had no doubt that SAFE would come for the poor sap, whomever it may be.

The gentleman let out a long sigh. He felt a slight sense of pity towards the Power, Lynnette Lyon had fed it to the wolves.

[TheOtherRealm]

Evangeline was almost frozen to the bone as she walked slowly on an abandoned side-street, seeking any form of life to help. Suddenly, she felt an overwhelming sensation of guilt, shame, sadness and depression. She almost feel to her knees the iced sidewalk, and she quickly tryed to regain her balance. She turned and saw a homeless man staggering on the ice.

She tried to shut out his powerful emotions but they were too strong. Taking three deep breaths, she began to walk toward him and the feelings got even stronger as she approached the man. He's draining me, she thought. "Are you okay, sir?" She asked with caution. No reply. "Do you want to be happy? I can help you with that." Still no reply. Taking things into her own matters, she walked closer to the man and place her hands on his shoulders.

She closed her eyes and began sending happy thoughts and memories to him. The man took a large breath. When Eva opened her eyes, the man had a grin on him, from ear to ear. "I-I'm sorry..." the man whispered. "..What?" Eva stepped back.

Just as she turned to walk away, she felt something she had never felt before... something malicious... Screeching, a jeep sped around the corner with two SAFE members in it. Eva screamed and looked into the homeless man's eyes one last time. It... was a trap?!

Eva tried to run but it was too late; a SAFE member threw a lasso and tied her ankles and wrists together with metal bindings. She lay on the sidewalk, helpless. As the SAFE member approached her, he said, "Don't talk to strangers, kid."

[AnaSilan Sunja]

Untangling her legs, Frius got up to thank the Shifter who had helped her escape. Before she could, however, a screech stopped her dead. Without thinking, she grabbed the girls hand and began running in that direction.

"You are SAFE's top priority, Power! Get back here!" Yelled the SAFE whose feet were previously frozen in ice. She hoped that the Shifter girl didn't ask why she was the top priority. Practically ice skating over the sidewalks at the speed she was going, and the grace she was moving with, Frius -along with the girl she had dragged along- came to a stop after rounding a corner.

There, a girl with wavy, brown-blonde hair was tied up on the ground, a SAFE standing over her.

"STOP!" Frius yelled, darting forward.

"Priority One!" The SAFE yelled in shock. Jumping up, over the shot from the other SAFE, Frius landed, palms down on the ground. The air grew colder, and a sheet of ice quickly spread over the ground, giving her the advantage, as it was hard for the SAFEs to stay upright. She 'skated' over to the girl, picked her up, and moved back to the shifter.

"S-sorry, with the ice thing, I sorta made this my territory, my advantage... so could you just help her while I deal with these four?" She asked, referring to the other two SAFEs who had finally gotten here from the park. With the SAFE Jeeps frozen to the ground, they had to run. Now they had group up with their buddies, and were ready for a fight. Frius looked at the blonde, probably a year or so younger than her, and her features darkened. Her ice blue eyes practically glowed as she turned to the SAFEs. It had began snowing rather hard. "Now, where were we."

"Priority One! You won't make it out of here free; our leader wants you, and we'll get you to him." The SAFE announced harshly.

'Ah, yes. That's where we were.'

[BeautifullyYou]

Linkin was dragged along with the girl, her breath coming in quick gasps. "Shit," she mumbled under her breath as they rounded a corner and saw more SAFE members and a Power tied up on the ground. Dodging some stray darts, meant to knock the Powers out, she grabbed the tied up girl from the ice-girl. "No problem, I've got claws if I need them."

Quickly untying the girl, she sat her upright. "You okay?" she asked, then her wolf ears flicked atop her human head. It was snowing. But could the ice-girl really stop all of them? She whined, looking between the blond and 'Priority One'.

[TheOtherRealm]

Eva was surprised to see not one, but two other powers after such a long time. The white-haired girl's eyes staring into hers mesmerized her for a second, and the wolf-girl's question brought her back to reality. "Y-yes... thank you so much!" Eva smiled, relieved that she was free from her bindings. "My name's Evangeline." She stood up and watched the white-haired girl hold off the SAFEs with her amazing abilities.

"Do you want to... help her?" she jerked her head toward the white-haired girl and the SAFES. She closed her eyes, clenched her fists and took a deep breath, mustering all her power for this fight. She hated fighting and just wanted peace, but if it meant self-defense and helping others, she would do it.

[AnaSilan Sunja]

She wouldn't stand for it; harm upon others, especially younger than her, no matter how small the age gap. Powers had been caught faster, and taken down harder, ever since Inu had taken over. All because she harmed him by accident. All because she scarred him. Her twin. He was to blame for SAFE's harsher and more competent acts, but she was to blame for all but leading him into power. Her thoughts are those of what she has always had. Her fault. His fault, therefor making it her fault. It all circled back to her. The SAFEs would not be as efficient in catching Powers if she hadn't fueled her brother's hate. He wouldn't be sending hunters out to catch and torture every Power in hopes of getting the slightest information on his twins whereabouts.

But this wasn't the time to think about that. She would pay her due's where ever she ended up when she died, if there was a place to end up at all. Dodging another dart, she made a risky move, and ran right at them. Pulling her hands together, she made an ice shield, and once she got close enough she wrapped the ice around the four members. She froze them from shoulder to ground, making sure they couldn't move. 5 years of constantly being 'Priority One' and always being targeted can turn you into a seasoned warrior rather quickly. Rule one: Incapacitate the enemy. Rule two: Interrogate or threaten.

"Stop coming after me! Tell Inu that if he has a problem with me, that we will duke it out, one on one. No more, No less." She told them. Leaving them frozen, she walked away, knowing they would be fine once they thawed out. She skated back over to the other Powers, then retracted the layer of ice on the ground. Letting out an exhausted sigh, she looked up to see the rising moon. 'So much for resting tonight.' She thought.

"We should get moving; get as far away as possible before resting... and sorry, but now that you've been seen with me, your lives are about to get a lot tougher." she whispered, before she began walking, dragging the two with her. "You alright?" She asked the blonde quietly as they hurried down the street and around the corner, away from the frozen SAFEs.

[TheOtherRealm]

After witnessing what just happened, Eva said, "Yes I am fine, thank you so much for saving me. What you did back there was really heroic and I appreciate it." Eva was panting from the emotional stress the white-haired girl was giving off. She thought, hm. Her brother doesn't seem like a very nice person. And my life will be hard after being seen with her? Ha, nothing can get worse than this.. I think... "I'm Evangeline by the way. Evangeline Rowe." She gave herself a quick mental shake to get back to reality.

Ever since her parents were captured by SAFE and murdered by Inu himself, Eva hasn't always been the happy girl she used to be. Ever since that dark time she felt like a piece of her heart had been ripped out, and nothing could replace it. She tried to fill it up or ignore it but nothing worked. It's been weighing her down ever since. She thought life couldn't get any worse with such an emotional drag. She sometimes wished she didn't want other people's feelings piled on to her own. Everywhere she went, there was sadness and anger. It ravaged her.

[Deli]

She took another sip from her teacup and set it upon the black glass table before her, smiling at her guest.
“Are you certain there is nothing I can get for you Officer…?”

“It’s Lacher. And no thank you, miss, I really don’t have the time to spare on such luxuries at the moment I’m afraid.”

Lynnette gracefully bowed her head in appreciative recognition,
“Of course, please forgive my assumptions. Please tell me then, what it is I can do for you Officer Lacher?”

Officer Lacher eyed the infamous miss Lyon carefully. The observation that she was pretty, but not exceptionally beautiful was something he only noticed after moments had passed in their meeting. The way she presented herself made her seem much more composed than most of the women he had met in time. Still, this did not change the fact that Officer Lacher did not trust the young property empress. He couldn’t explain it, but something was…off about her, plain and simple. Others might consider listening to one’s gut feeling as amateur and naïve, but Lacher had learned through his veteran years serving the city that one should never ignore that feeling.
“5542 Linder Court. It is one of yours, is it not?”

“Indeed it is, though one of many. Most of the Linder Court area is owned by the Lyon estate.”

“Yes well, we received a few calls last night from the neighbors around the area who reported some violent noises emanating from 5542. We sent a few men to take a look, and by the time they got there they found the place completely…well demolished I suppose is the right word.”

Lacher placed a few photographs on the table before her. The left half of the infrastructure of 5542 had collapsed in upon itself and a few pieces even littered the lawn before it. Lynnette was more than capable at feigning surprise; she was ingenious at it.
“Goodness, what could have caused this?”

But it was all an act; she knew very well what had happened that night. The SAFE had come for the Power she had essentially handed over to them, a wood-based elemental user. Lynnette was disappointed to say the least, for his gifts had been so promising to the advancement of humanity. Indeed, she never did like when a Power failed to fit in her ideal world. And so, for a mere 3 weeks, Lynnette hid him from the SAFE. It had taken him no less than that to arrive at 5542 in the middle of the night a richer man that he had the night before. What a fool he was to think she would not notice; she had read the article of the supposed insane shopkeeper who claimed an invisible man with a wooden bat had been the culprit to rob his store. The shop itself had been small, with no real surveillance, and so the shopkeeper had been assumed not of sane mind regardless of the fact that he had been beaten half to death. But Lynnette was not without surveillance cameras, and she had seen the Power arrive in 5542 with more than he could have honestly earned in a night, not to mention a bloodied wooden bat. There was no room in the world Lynnette was trying to build for people like that; she would simply not tolerate it. The next morning, Lynnette Lyon had gone to the Hobson Café. Though it did appear that the Power had not let SAFE take him without a fight.

Officer Lacher recollected the photographs into a pile,
“We’re not sure. It did not take long for our men to arrive; not long enough for something like this to happen. We found no demolition equipment around either. But I have a few questions for you, miss Lyon. Records show that no one was residing in 5542, but we have to ask anyway.”

“Of course. That is correct, the place had been vacant since the previous tenant moved a few months ago. I had not yet filled it and was questioning whether to update it or not.” Lynnette smiled gently,
“Though, I suppose now that issue has been settled for me.”

Officer Lacher pocketed his notepad and stood up,
“Yes, well, I’m afraid you will have to wait some time. We’ll be investigating the property for clues. We can’t have such a drastic scale of vandalism going unpunished as I’m sure you understand.”

Lynnette smiled to herself, revealing nothing. She knew they would find nothing. SAFE did not want to be known, and was more than efficient at hiding their presence. Even she was lucky to have found out of their existence.
“Yes, of course. I understand. Please do let me know if there is anything else I can do to aid your investigation.”

Officer Lacher placed a card with a number on the table,
“Call if you have anything else that comes to mind.”

And with that, Lacher excused himself from the room. Lynnette sighed and took another sip of her tea, wishing the SAFE had been a little more efficient at capturing the Power before he had destroyed the property. Now she would have to avoid hiding future Powers in the Linder Court area. How bothersome. She walked over to her desk and unlocked the drawer, looking at the few envelopes she had prepared earlier that day.
Perhaps she would have them dispersed tonight.