[center][h1]Collaboration with [@Almalthia], [@Pilatus], [@Silver Carrot] & [@Damo021][/h1][/center][hr]

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[color=gold]“So yes,”[/color] Heidi continued. [color=gold]“Ayel. He talked in a bizarre, old-fashioned dramatic way, like a Shakespeare play or something similar. There was something very Quixote-esque about him. I wouldn’t call him harmless, but talking into people’s heads was all he had the ambition to do that night. Jason was there too.

Aya came back to her senses, and told us the name of the location where Uná was being taken; Nocturne. I happened to know where Nocturne was, because I’d seen it on google maps several days earlier, as one of many buildings in the area. So Ayel and I left Aya to Jason, and set off after Uná. Ayel could also....fly. Well, more like levitate. I’m not sure what other abilities he could have but once we got to Nocturne, we entered through the fire escape and split up. He searched up, I searched down. And I never saw him again.

He killed every henchman he came across. which was most of them, as he found Lex first. That was the name of the one who kidnapped Uná. I don’t know what they talked about. Uná herself might know. I was downstairs. I took down a few guards and rendered them unconscious but it soon became apparent that I was looking in the wrong place. So I went up. I found the bodies, and no Ayel. He’s still out there but I’m not sure if that’s something we need to worry about yet.

The sprinklers got set off shortly before I got to the room with Lex and Uná. Before I could find out too much, Uná turned invisible. I got closer, close enough to see the dance floor from the window.

There was a man on fire. And it wasn’t getting put out by the sprinklers. And they weren’t flailing. They were calm and deliberate. Just looking at them was the first time that crazy night I felt truly frightened.

Lex went to confront them. I picked up Uná and slowly started making my way to the entrance. Once we got there, we saw you two,”[/color] Heidi gestured to both Kaylee and Cleo. [color=gold]“And everyone else. And then we were stopped by what I’ve since deduced must have been an illusion of Lex. You probably know the rest. You were there.

So that was my perspective of the night’s events. Anything you need clarified or expanded upon?”[/color]

Cole rubbed both hands over his face slowly as they were scantly out of the car and it felt like she was calling a staff meeting. He did not like being called [i]Mr. St John[/i]. Cleo had barely got a word in before Kaylee had turned on Heidi like a recording. He listened as she talked, stepping over to a concrete parking block and sitting down so he could watch the waves as the story was recounted. The rest of the evening was news to him. He hadn’t seen what happened in Avalon and only knew that it had basically been destroyed and that somehow Ashford managed to cover it up. He shook his head slowly as the story continued; his stoic expression hidden as he sat facing the beach in the dark.

“The man on fire, Heidi” He said finally, not turning his head. “Describe him, what did he look like?”


Heidi shuddered slightly as she recalled the memories. [color=gold]”He was wearing leather, like a biker. He was dragging a large chain behind him on the floor. He wasn’t all burning. Just his hands and his head. He was wearing some kind of skull helmet, I think. I could have been a real skull. And...it wasn’t just him in fire. His footprints burned as did the trail of the chain, and the fire looked like it was spreading from them to the rest of the room.”[/color]

“How the hell do you remember what that guy even said?” Cleo interjected after Heidi had finished. “Oh… Forget I asked that.” Cleo paced a moment in thought, she couldn’t remember everything she was drunk. But some bits did begin to come back when she thought hard enough about it, she was fidgeting with her hands as the night was an uncomfortable one. 

“Oh where to begin…. Okay so yeah I remember hearing a voice in my head just like Heidi amazingly remembered. Oh and Nik and Uná were dancing together. I think at some point I was on the dance floor before I saw Uná dancing with some really pale white guy, yeah he was pale white” She reassured herself. 

“So yeah I was dancing the night away before there was this huge ass loud roar, all hell broke loose, to be honest I didn’t know what was going on, then there were gunshots, like lots of them, then... Then I saw it, this thing, a monster.” Cleo paused a moment in hesitation. She partially removed her leather jacket, gingerly pulling out her right arm from it’s sleeve, she then slight pulled down her arm sleeve and lifted up short sleeve of her shirt to reveal the small bandage covering where she got shot, she kept it secret from everyone while playing the lovely smile all day while still being in a bit of pain.

“I was shot when trying to save someone on the floor, I lost sight of Heidi, Uná and Aya..” A tear had begun to run down her face. “I saw a man die.” She cleared her throat before covering her arm back up. “Drake and Nik were still in the club and stood up to the monster, I grabbed a broken barstool leg and joined up with them to take it on. I know probably stupid thing to do. We attacked it and I managed to drive the barstool piece into its leg, I think I only made it angry, because all I can remember from the fight was being thrown by it and everything went black.”

“Next thing I remember, I woke up in a car, you were there, Miss Everose. We turned up at another club, it was darkened out if I remember correctly. Then that pale guy was there holding Uná, he wouldn’t let her go, I managed to sneak into a lit up side entrance using my abilities and ran from behind taking Uná out of his crasp, but I didn’t see Heidi and ended up crashing on the floor and failing to rescue them. I felt useless at that point, I couldn’t even save my friends” 

Cleo Sighed. “After that I don’t know, It was all bloody confusing. After that, Uná started doing some weird things, Attacked Miss Everose and…I pleaded with her to stop, I couldn’t do anything.”  A couple more tears ran down her face. “I am sorry miss, I couldn’t help you. So I just ran up to her and punched her as hard as I could in the face. It was the only thing I could think of doing. Everything seemed to stop, Uná was like standing in front of the place which was on fire and collapsed and not where I punched her, it’s all very confusing but she scares me, I have not felt right ever since”. 

It was quite apparent that Heidi was taking this better than Cleo as Kaylee watched both girls go over the night. Heidi was detached and logical. Cleo was an emotional wreck. Sighing inwardly Kaylee came from around the car and put her arm around Cleo’s shoulder.[color=palevioletred] "Hey hey. Shhh. We are here to help you all learn control. You and I both know that if Uná had been in control it wouldn't have happened. She looked terrified when the illusion broke last night. No one here, besides the staff, has full control of their powers."[/color] 

Kaylee looked over at Cole. Heidi had just put everything out there that Cole said. She wasn't sure that he wanted it known what exactly he had done. At this point now the only reason she had to talk to Uná about the night in question was to take a pulse check on her mental health. Which brought her back around to Cleo. Looking back down at Cleo Kaylee went on.[color=palevioletred] "Cleo we need to get you checked out by the nurse. I know things are difficult. I've been there. I was young at one point too. I'm here so you can hunt me down anytime. Now how do you think Uná feels, humm? Bet she's heartbroken and just scared if not more scared than you are."[/color] She looked back at Cole, worry and unsaid the weight of questions hung in the air.

Cole listened to Heidi’s recounting of the night, still just watching the waves as she spoke and listening to their rhythm over the sound of her voice. The sound of fear in her words prickled around a familiar feeling in his chest. He had never seen himself, but he had a sense for his appearance just in brief glimpses. When the time came, he was too focused to care. The sensation was far too overwhelming, like he was the final enactment of some law of nature, as natural as gravity. The wicked paid the price. There were no deals and no second chances. Judgment was final. He rubbed his chest uneasily as she described the man on fire. 

He let a breath out slowly as Cleo gave her story, feeling his pulse calm a few beats per minute. The apparition the others encountered was not something he could explain, though he felt no remorse about not being there to help. His purpose was dictated firmly for that night and he had followed it through to completion. Everything else was an aside. He stood up and crossed his arms as Kaylee attempted to console Cleo. The ocean wind ruffled his hair as his thoughts churned. What he wanted to say, as the young girl sobbed, he wasn’t sure about. Once it was out there, he wouldn’t be able to take it back. Heidi was like a human recorder. Nothing would escape her memory and he wasn’t sure how they would react. He turned around and looked at them for a moment. “It was me that you saw, Heidi,” He said finally, knowing she could read lips. “I’m not a mutant, it’s... something else.” He paused for a moment and let a breath out slowly. “And neither is Una.” 

Cleo leaned gently into Kaylee when she put her arm around her, her mind had been racing through so many thoughts that she really never stopped to take stock and assess. But it did feel relaxing at least when the teacher was consoling her. [color=f7941d]”I know, it just sucks ya’ know. Maybe, but can you imagine me staying still for more than five minutes?, but thank you”[/color]. Cleo managed a faint smile to Kaylee for her caring efforts, Maybe she could spend some time with Aya. 

Cleo began listening to Cole, he was still a man with few words and Cleo wondered why he was here with them, but from what Heidi said she saw it could be possible he was there, he seemed to confirm it and what he and apparently Uná was. “Wait what?” Was all she could come out with at the revelation, a concern and probably even more worry appeared on her features. Just what the hell was she?[color=f7941d] “I got a lot to think about.”[/color] She murmured quietly.

Heidi also had a lot to think about, but given her power, she had already processed this information by the time Cleo had stopped talking. Her brow was creased. It was hard to tell whether she was scared, angry or both, but whatever it was she was trying to restrain it. So, she wasn’t emotionless after all. She looked Cole in the eyes.

[color=gold]“I have a lot of questions, but...what happened to Lex? The guy with the white hair. What happened to him?”[/color]

Cole’s expression was unmoving at the mention of “Lex” by Heidi. There was something about the memory of any one of his marks that felt [i]satisfying[/i] like he had fixed something that was wrong with the universe and in all honesty, just like he had decribed to Kaylee before, he wanted to tell them about a scorching inferno that erased the man from reality, but knew it would be better to spare them the grim details of Lex’s final moments. He could already tell that Kaylee was absolutely mortified that he had shared his opinion about Una in front of two students. “He didn’t survive the fire,” Cole said, answering Heidi. “When the building collapsed, he didn’t make it.”
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