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Grand Ridge Academy - Callie's Dorm --> Cafe SucreShe stared at herself in the mirror. Having just finished her morning routine, the girl's flagging eyes were directed towards the enigmatic mark. Days had past since the once ordinary girl discovered her true calling being some ninja protagonist badass... All which had been revealed when she combated the beast that spread blood through the small town from edge to edge..."
Callie gently ran her fingers across the eldritch symbol blazed across the back of her neck. Where did it come from? What was it? The answers to these questions, not even the host of the tattoo knew, though Callie had her theories. She was conceded to the idea she was captured by the Illuminati for some crazy experiment— thusly giving her the mental ninja powers— only to wipe her memories of the very event. Okay, maybe she didn’t actually know what happened, but she sure as hell didn’t drunkenly get a tattoo on the back of her neck and she would much rather make wild speculations than accept something like that. Either way, she wasn’t about to let the day go to waste just thinking about the silly thing. She would find a way to get rid of it eventually. As Callie finally got back to getting ready for her day, she figured a high collared top would have to suffice to disguise her… Mark.
She didn’t have much to do today, and being the awkward observer she was, Callie found herself deciding to finally go out in public for a change of scenery. She had some testing to do as well… Whatever happened to her, Callie was different. She found herself able to… feel other places. It is almost as though what she would once get lost in thought pondering over would become readily available in her mind’s eye. Maybe her imagination was acting up. That was likely the best explanation, but sometimes she seemed to imagine things in other locations that seemed so real. Maybe she could mess with her thoughts a bit today. People seemed to be affected by her weirdness too. Now where did people hang out in this tiny town? Callie still wasn’t well acquainted with Farmer Hill and she felt she never would be. Of course, she did know about the cafe. What writer doesn’t have a signature cafe? Callie was no amateur, and she wasn’t about to miss out on that writer aesthetic sitting in the corner of a cafe typing away like some super mysterious hipster.
Cafe Sucre was much busier than expected, particularly bustling with kids Callie imagined went to Grand Ridge. Awkward... In her short time in Farmer Hill, she hadn’t been the greatest at making acquaintances. That didn’t really bother her, but it sure made public appearances a bit weird. She made haste to move inside. Time to… Imagine? What a lame catchphrase. Callie made sure to note to herself that as a ninja superhero, she would need a better catchphrase. Entering the cafe, Callie was hit with an unconscious pang in her heart. She knew a few of the faces about. She groaned under her breath, squinting momentarily as if bogged down by a pain in her mind. She was trying to forget the party— Well she was trying to forget some parts of it at least. Callie was somewhere between idyllically reminiscing on the memory of her doing battle with some jacked monster while also trying to block out the horror that accompanied the event.
As her journey led her through the small cafe, Callie's thoughts were interrupted as her trailing gaze landed upon a very familiar face. Jordan? Callie didn't know if she wanted to see Jordan again or not, but for now, she hastily flicked her eyes away, finding herself a table to sit at. What would she say? 'Hey, we met at that party before the axe murderer started massacring everyone. I tried to help you, but ended up almost dying. Remember me? Callie spent a moment just trying to formulate an idea for starting conversation, simultaneously shifting her laptop open to busy herself— or at least look busy.
And Callie definitely didn't go past Jordan's notice either. The dark skinned teen caught sight of Callie while taking a sip of her coffee. Jordan noticed that she was busy (or trying to make herself look busy), but she also wanted to talk with her. Given that she hadn't seen the girl since her Awakening... and the fact that Jordan thought that she was dead after Scott went after her. The nervousness of the situation made Jordan fidget the cup of coffee. Jordan sighed as she just forgot about it, and moved over to Callie's table and said,
"Thank God you're okay," Jordan just spat out, "I was... worried about you... I'm... sorry for leaving you behind like that."
Well Callie was tentatively saved from the awkward moment anyways despite the lack of relevant thoughts in her head as Jordan approached her. Maybe she'd have to tell the tale of her triumphant victory over whatever the hell sort of juggernaut Scott Reese had become. There was an expression of subtle surprise crossing Callie's face. Even after all the nonsense, she didn't expect Jordan to care whether she lived or died. Here she was, though: alive... A superhero... Yes, Callie was quite the catch.
"Well..." Callie blinked her eyes a few times, her stare now distant. Not that such an occurrence wasn't commonplace. "I managed to make it, yes. I finally met the sheriff's boy that everyone has been talking about on my way but..." She paused, a bit of exasperation evident in her tone accompanied by a exhalation of relief. "But I managed. You and your friend are okay, then?"
"We're here right now." Jordan said with a faint smile. "That should say something..." She wondered if she should ask her about the paused tim. The thing that saved Kimberly. Jordan said, "It was crazy... And for a moment, it felt like time stopped ..." She bit her fingers when she realized time actually stopped back then. She was confused as to what happened... but .
"I suppose that's what important..." Callie's eyes momentarily flicked to meet the working Kimberly. Her mind began to wander at the speak of more anomalous activity occurring during the party. The whole thing was a damned Twilight Zone episode, and on top of that, Callie had been kidnapped by the Illuminati, given her ninja powers, and then had her memories wiped of the event... Crazy, but the only possible option, obviously.
"I suppose everything goes to hell in the brain when stuff like that happens. I'd rather just focus on the fact that everyone is alive... Or- We are all alive." Well that was a lie, but Callie didn't believe in time travel nonsense. Why would she? If time travel was real, she would also be able to time travel with her ninja powers.
"I'm trying to..." Jordan answered, with uncertainty obvious in her tone. Both she and Kim are alive, yeah. But, they're down one friend, and the killings are still going on. "But... I can't rest just yet... people are still dying, and the person responsible for it is still out there."
"And you intend to do something about it?" Callie's voice was clearly marked with skepticism. Even she, armed with her ninja powers might not be able to take on the demon beefcake a second time. "That'd be a good book idea," she mentioned to herself offhandedly in a mumbled tone.
Jordan raised an eyebrow at the comment. Did she think Jordan was retarded or something? She raised an eyebrow, and turned one of the corners of her lip up.
"Sweetheart... I have a bad leg, and my best friend's a dork," Jordan spat out, "What do you think I can really do?"
"That seems to be the common problem to every story, yes." Callie seemed ignorant or apathetic to the tone of Jordan's response. "I'd say it's best left alone, but... You think people are still dying?" Callie was never one for action— well perhaps she was, but she was the watcher, not the action hero. What was someone like her going to have to contribute? Well, her supernatural abilities seemed to count for something, but she was still by no means prepared to take on the Hulk.
Jordan almost facepalmed, but instead she just rolled her eyes.
"... There have been many more deaths reported since the incident," Jordan just flatly said. "Of people our age."
Yikes. Perhaps Callie should have started reading as much as she wrote. She shifted a bit awkwardly in her seat. What was she going to say? Callie wasn't a superhero— or at least, she wasn't a superhero that was powerful enough to take on some murderer that had a body count greater than her age. "I don't suppose the authorities can do anything," she spoke almost rhetorically.
"Sounds like little Farmer Hill needs a superhero..."
For a moment, Jordan's eyes shot open with rage, because she nearly had enough of this girl being stupid.
"... Okay, girl, are you taking this seriously right now?" Jordan asked bitterly.
Well Jordan surely didn't seem okay. Callie didn't think she was being mean. Was she? Her eyebrows lifted a slight bit, but as usual, she showed very little in terms of extreme reactions.
"I don't see many other options, friend..."
"... and that's the problem," Jordan said. "Superheroes don't exist. It's almost like we're helpless against something so much stronger than we are... and you're acting like this is some story you're writing."
"Unless you've got a better idea, it seems like being helpless is all we've got." Callie offered a pitied shrug. Perhaps she wasn't taking this seriously. She wasn't particularly good at taking things seriously. Hell. she almost died just a handful of days ago. Each person copes in there own way I guess.
Jordan rolled her eyes as she leaned back in her chair. Part of her wanted to slap some sense into this girl, but another part of her knew it was a lost cost. Maybe Scott whacked her in the head and made her lose a few braincells. The thought made Jordan chuckle a bit. But, Callie wasn't entirely wrong... there was something in their arsenal that they could both make use of.
"... Not entirely helpless," The lightbulb snapped on in her head. "I have to ask you something... when I opened the door to see Kim about to get axed, did you notice anything weird?"
Jordan finally seemed to cool off a bit or something like that at least. Her query made Callie pause for a moment. Any weird occurrences? Did her failure to see things properly count as something weird? The memory was fuzzy, but Callie still felt something was off about the experience. Callie couldn't really just explain that to Jordan, though. Could she?
"Well despite the giant axe murderer..." Her first sentence came out under her breath, as if she caught what she was saying and hushed herself.
"I suppose the whole thing is a bit of a blur... With you two and the other guy, that is."
"No, I mean like..." Jordan gestured to her wrist as if she was wearing a watch. "Something stopping."
Something stopping? My heart felt like it stopped for a moment... Even Callie's thoughts were plagued by a lack of solemnity. In response to Jordan, however, she merely offered a shake of her head. "Definitely no... Stopping."
"Well..." Jordan wondered if there was an easy way for her to explain what happened. Or if she should. It might be foolish, given that this crazy girl was probably out her mind to begin with. "Dunno how to really explain this to you, given that it was so damn weird..." She said, "When Kim was about to get axed... time stopped."
Now she probably sounded crazy, "... and I know it sounds crazy - I know I sound crazy - but like everything froze. Except... me and Kim. It barely lasted more than a minute before time resumed...."
Well... That wasn't expected. Callie quirked a brow as she looked to Jordan. Seeing your best friend get almost bisected had to mess with your head already, but now this nonsense? Callie pieced together her best rational explanation, which seemed most definitely possible and likely the most probable occurrence for Jordan's strange experience. "Adrenaline has been observed to make things seem to slow down when in stressful situations. The brain works in crazy ways, Jordan." Was it the best explanation? No, but maybe it would calm Jordan down to hear something logical in the memory that came straight out of a horror movie.
"Oh no, you're not bullshitting me like I'm crazy," Jordan said, putting a finger down on the table hard. "Adrenaline can't do what I've seen back there. I'm telling you that time had entirely stopped for everyone but me and Kim-" That's when someone else approached the table, and Jordan shut her mouth.
As the two engaged in conversation, they were joined by another familiar face on their way back from the counter - a stocky teen in a hoodie with shaggy brown hair. Nate took a seat at the edge of the table opposite from where they sat, gaze set towards them. "Don't mind me, continue with the classy conversation you're probably having about surviving the biggest mass murder this side of the West."
Suddenly, Jordan's growing irritation at Callie was shifted towards Nathan, who just sat down on the counter. Though, it was confusing given how hysterical Kim was about the possible death of Nathan. But, while she was annoyed, she could also get something useful out of him. "Hello... Nathan..." Jordan said.
For a moment, he wondered where she'd figured out his name - then realised that Kimberly had probably mentioned it earlier. "Hello, uh.. I never actually got your name so I can't tack anything on to the end of that." He shrugged, then continued, "Really though, it's kinda good to see you guys didn't get killed. That would've been really shitty."
"Yeah," Jordan near-snarled at how lax he was about it. "It would have been."
It felt like Jordan was the only person who understood the weight of the situation here. It was almost like... maybe, they did have different ways of coping. Maybe Jordan should indulge. "But, my name is Jordan, Kim told me about you."
"She did," Nate had figured right, "Did she mention anything about wanting to talk to me? Maybe you could enligten me."
"Off the top of my head," Jordan trailed off. "She thought you died."
"Shit." He blinked for a moment, again confronted with the prospective of his own mortality, then quickly shrugged it off. "Obviously I'm still alive or I wouldn't be here."
Jordan rolled her eyes at the comment. He was such a fool... but, he still helped Kimberly during that shitstorm. So, Jordan guessed he was okay. For now, that was. Maybe he might had seen something that can help her convince Callie that time had stopped. "But, I gotta ask you something, Nate... that night... did you notice something stop that shouldn't have? Like..." She gestured towards her wrist as if she was wearing an invisible watch yet again.
"Your pulse?" he asked with a hint of sarcasm in his tone, knowing that he had an idea of what she was really insinuating. "No, yeah - I saw the fucking fire freeze, along everything else including that psycho-fuck with it. Only things that didn't stop were you two and her..." Nate thumbed back towards where Kimberly manned the counter.
"... and obviously not you."
"No shit."
Callie fell silent for quite a while as she and Jordan were approached and Jordan struck up conversation with the new acquaintance that had joined them. 'Nathan', Jordan had called him. She vaguely recalled his face, though it wasn't until Jordan mentioned the ordeal with Kimberly that Callie recognized the face. It wasn't seconds later that Jordan also asked Nate about her crazy experience. He was crazy too? And here Callie was thinking she was some insane imaginative fool.
"Well I sure don't remember it..." Finally speaking up her gaze was cast distantly rather than focusing on one of the other two.
"I guess that's because you didn't get axe-man trying to take your face off up close and personal." Nate retorted.
Callie met Nate's eyes at that point. "What do you think happened after the three of you left and I was stuck in there with 'axe-man', Nathan?"
"You didn't have him close enough to make space for a fucking colostomy bag," he retorted, "That's my point, is all."
"Well I think..." Jordan said, trailing off. She stopped when she realized she wasn't getting anywhere. There was just no way to convince Callie with words. Nothing made sense and yet this airhead was looking for it. How did Jordan and Kimberly get those tattoos on them without ever getting them? Maybe she was crazy... but, there wasn't anything explaining how Kim narrowly avoided death. That pulse came from Jordan. There was no doubt about it.
"Look, I'm telling you," Jordan said as she stood up, the chair sliding back. It made everyone's eyes fall on her, and she sure as hell felt it. Even if she didn't see all of them. "I'm not. Crazy." And if they weren't on her then....
The sigil on her back brightly glowed through her shirt as the pulse came. A pulse of inverted color that traveled at speeds unheard of. It engulfed everything in it's powerful light, before disappearing, and leaving time in a paused state. Jordan was completely baffled, as she looked at her coffee and knocked it off the table... and after a few seconds, it froze in midair.
... Eyes were on her now.
"Yeah," Nate awkwardly cut into the silence, "Not crazy." And Nate took the words out of Jordan's mouth.
Callie's jaw fell slightly agape as her eyes shifted to examine her surroundings. There was awe in her gaze, but for a long moment, she didn't say anything. It was Nate who broke the silence that engulfed them. Until that moment, the girl hadn't even known whether or not others were... working. What she finally uttered was anything but overwhelming as Callie was too focused on trying to comprehend that which had just occurred.
"Oh..." She was almost afraid to move. What if she messed something up? She settled just for trying to keep things a little more calm.
"I... suppose I believe you, then..."
"You suppose?" Nate echoed, "Understatement of the year," he exclaimed, before correcting himself, "In fact, no - understatement of the century! Look at the cup! What kind of 'suppose' is there about this?" The rant continued, unfettered, oblivious to the others around them - up until he slammed a palm on the table and, almost oblivious to that fact, felt his hand sink through the tabletop until only the very back of his wrist was visible. "Argh, shit-"
"Nathan, chill," Jordan was quick to say to her portly associate (because it'd be pushing it to call him a friend). She was still amazed that she had stopped time. It was like a miracle to convince Callie that she wasn't full of shit. She felt the need to gloat, but that smile on her face was the only gloating that Jordan needed. Kimberly had walked away from the counter, briefly adjusting her glasses as she looked around. It made her remember what had happened when she was about to die at the hands of Scott not so long ago... Kimberly hadn't gone crazy.
Only then did Nate realise his hand was sunken into the table, prompting him to draw it back out. "I am chill."
Ignoring that, Jordan turned her attention to Callie, before saying, "... Does this look like adrenaline to you?"
"I..." Callie's eyes wandered around the room. It felt familiar. Not so much the time stopping, but the eldritch oddities that seemed ever present in this forsaken town. She really should have just went to a big city school. Jordan's ability had her thinking back on her own experiences the past few days. It was just too coincidental. There was certainly more going on in Farmer Hill. It was like a story...
"-I get it, really. I think I get it more than you might realize..." It couldn't be that she was different too?
