The room remained speechless as Gray ended the call with a simple tap on the screen.
It was so quiet, that the usual, low rumble of the ice machines in the back seemed to blast in their ears. No one seemed to know what to say to address Gray's sudden change; it was a side of him that no one had seen before.
Not to mention the way he suddenly blurted out those two names: Clay and Titus.
It sounded almost as if he knew who they were, personally...
But it was exactly that that they didn't know. It was true that he knew who those two were, he knew them quite well. But the others would definitely freak if they knew...perhaps it was best that they knew little about him, and nothing of his upbringing.
Gray placed his palm on the top of the smooth counter before casually swinging his body over it onto the other side. He headed calmly for the exit, both hands stuck into the pockets of his jeans, and didn't say a word until he was standing right at the doors.
He stopped but didn't turn around.
Why didn't he turn around?
Truthfully, it was a bit hard to. He wanted to turn around to give Jade the reassuring look she rightfully needed, to make sure Emrys wasn't about to do something as stupid as to follow him.
But if he did so right now, they'd not be looking at the 'Gray' they've come to befriend, but a criminal with blood-stained hands... 'Rune'. And something about being Rune, strangely, made him felt a bit sad. Depressed.
He felt out of place in the presence of innocent civilians.
"...Make a statement to the authorities if you want, but either way, your aunt will be fine when I bring her back," he said, his words at first directed towards the puffy-eyed girl. "Watch the store and, please... don't follow me."
Emrys clenched his jaw as Gray left them right after that, disappearing in a gust of wind.
Literally.
The man stepped out into the street and was simply blown away, nowhere to be seen, not even when he ran outside to see where he could've disappeared to. There was no way to follow him if it were like this.
For once, Emrys cursed Gray's powers.
"I think we should make a statement to the police," Kameron said solemnly, drawing their eyes towards her. "Even if Gray is a mage, I don't think it would be a peaceful exchange between him and the kidnappers. Besides, I also think those that took Jade's aunt have something to do with the recent gang activities. It's best if they knew about this."
She looked to Jade for approval and let out a breath when Jade nodded, wiping her tears with her sleeve as Milo kept a comforting hand behind her shoulders.
"Alright, then let's-"
Jade grabbed Kameron's wrist and looked up at her pleadingly. "I- I want to stay here," she hiccuped. "I'll wait for Gray...s- so can I not go?"
Kameron furrowed her brows, agitated. "O- okay," she answered uncertainly. "But then who will go?"
"I'll go," Emrys quickly volunteered, his fingers closing around his mage's identification card inside his pocket. "I can go. It won't take long."
_______________
"Did...did I hear it right?" Clay stuttered with a nervous scowl. He stared at the now-blank screen of the device in his hands with wide eyes. "D- did you hear that?"
He whirled around when Titus didn't answer him, only to see him sitting on the ground with his rugged back against the metal beams that held up the empty building. He was in a daze, twirling his razor-sharp knife in his rough hands.
The woman they had kidnapped on the streets last night sat across from him against the opposite metal beam, unconscious.
"Hey!" Clay shouted, rushing towards him in long strides. He crouched down and seized Titus by the collars of his black leather jacket, shaking him out of his daze. "Just earlier you were still up and talking, what's wrong with you eh?" he hissed. "I'm asking you a question!"
He pulled him closer and glared into his eyes. "Did you hear it or not? This person that we just talked with... he knew our goddamn names!" he said through his teeth.
Titus took in a deep breath and shut his eyes. "I heard it," he said, awfully quiet. "Why are you mad at me?"
He sheathed his sharp knife back in its leather scabbard before striking Clay across the face with his fist, throwing him to the ground. He got on his feet as Clay groaned, pressing his hand against his jaw where he was hit.
"You motherfucker," he growled, rubbing the bruising spot on his face. He spat out saliva on the cold hard ground and got back up, wiping the corner of his mouth with his sleeve. "You wanna fight?"
Titus snorted half-heartedly. "You'd only get your ass beaten by me, dumbass."
Clay's scowl turned into a confused frown. Even without getting punched out of nowhere, he could tell his usually fearless and husky ex-killer of a friend was completely out of it. "Hey, are you good?" he asked.
He raised an eyebrow. "It can't be that you feel scared by such a meaningless death threat?" he jeered with a sly grin. "Don't be such a-"
"No."
Titus turned around to face the money-obsessed thief, scratching the back of his head with a hesitant look on his scarred face.
Clay and Titus were both single and grown men in their mid to late thirties, and each had their fair share of experience with women. But neither of them had children, nor really had much of an idea of what it's like to be a father.
Suppose, the closest they've come to being a father figure to anyone else was with Rune. They've watched him grow up, as did many of the others in the gangs. Raising a kid was new to a whole bunch of outlaws like them, but a great lot of them grew more attached to him than they realized.
They knew him. His appearance, habits, powers...
"That voice...," he started slowly. "You...you don't think it sounds a bit familiar?"
"Voice?" Clay echoed. "You mean-"
A light tap echoed on the metal beams above them, and the two snapped their attention to the top in surprise. "Who- who's there?" Titus thundered, brandishing his weapon.
"Who's there?" Clay murmured. "Don't be paranoid now. It's probably a bird that flew in through the top. There's no way a person can be up there..." But the shrouded figure crouched on the metal rafters directly above their captive proved his words wrong.
The muscles on his face twitched. Who the hell was this? When did this person get here? He swore the entire building was empty when they came here last night.
"I'm...a bird?" the low voice murmured, the words echoing throughout the dark, vacant building. "You're just as stupid as ever," The head of the figure faintly shifted, looking down on the woman ten feet below him.
...just as stupid as ever, Titus repeated his words to himself in his head. Why did he say it as if they were familiar?
"What?!" Clay exclaimed. "You brat! How dare you call me stupid! Do you know who I am? I'm the ingenious bank robber-"
"Shut up, Clay," Titus barked. He stared up at the figure with slightly widened eyes. Slowly, the hand the held the long knife lowered to his side, inciting Clay's restlessness.
"Have something to say?" the eerie voice suddenly inquired. "You..." The man extended an arm from the darkness, the gray sweater's sleeve and his pale hands coming into view under the light. He pointed straight at Titus, who flinched in surprise.
"...you look like you have a lot to say," he mused.
"I do," Titus answered.
Clay grumbled under his breath at his friend's wishful tone of voice. What the hell is wrong with him? But when he listened closely...this voice...really did sound familiar?
"What do you want to say?"
"Why are you here?"
The figure tilted his head to the side. "Isn't that a pointless question?" he said. "This woman is the relative of a kid that I watch over, you left me no choice but to come here when you kidnapped her."
Titus and Clay dropped their jaws simultaneously. This was the same person that was on the phone only a few minutes earlier? H- How did he get here so fast? That's impossible!
Unless...
"Y- you're a mage!" Titus stammered, baffled. Clay stumbled back and fell to the ground, inaudibly muttering, "I'm not getting that five hundred grand..."
"...don't worry. I'm not going to kill you," the mage said quietly. "I never planned to. What I said over the phone...it was said on impulse."
The two criminals heaved a sigh of relief, the cold sweat that formed out of sudden fear dripping down their brows.
"However, not killing you does not mean not hurting you."
They froze.
"So," he said. "I'm taking the lady away, any objections?"
"N- no. No objections."
"Great. Turn around for me for a moment."
"Turn around?"
"Don't make me make you do it."
Titus quickly turned around, facing the opposite direction, and he forced Clay to do the same, making him stand back up on his feet. Clay was definitely not happy about this.
A faint whoosh and light thud followed, and Titus assumed that the man had jumped and landed on the ground.
The silence that followed only irked him, and he did his best to not do anything that might alert the mage. Inside, he was dying to turn around, the suspense crawling up his spine insufferably. Inside, he was dying to see who this man was.
Inside, he was hoping that this person was who they've been looking for.
The voice was unmistakable.
What were the chances?
In the end, he could stand it any longer. He gripped the knife in one hand and balled his other hand into a tight fist, and turned his head slowly. His eyes turned to look as far behind him as he can...and-
Luckily, the mage had his back to him. He was knelt down in front of the woman, undoing the ties around her wrists that restrained her to the metal beam behind her.
He was wearing a loose gray sweater and light blue jeans. Looking at his wide back and long limbs, he seemed considerably tall. His thick hair was a midnight black, the ends of it curling at the lower neck.
Titus' eyes widened with shock. Th- this man...even from the back...looks like him!
The mage suddenly stood up with the lady in his arms, and Titus whirled his head back around in a panic. Sweat dripped down his chin and onto the ground, his heart pounding loudly in his ears. He didn't see him, did he?
"...you still have something to say, don't you?"
Titus dipped his chin, readjusting the grip on the hilt of his knife, which was slippery from his sweat. He took the chance that he was given and answered yet again, "Y- yes...I still want to say something."
"Go ahead."
"But first...can we turn around?"
"No. I rather you not."
Clay pursed his lips at Titus' disheartened expression. "A- alright," Titus sighed, defeated. "Then I'll just say it... I'm not sure you are exactly, but if you are who I think you are, there are somethings that I want to say. If you're not, this information won't hurt you at all. I swear. But it is also information you can't use against us if you are to report us to the authorities."
"..."
Titus sucked in a breath before starting. "...Old Mike is looking for you. We want you back."
Clay jolted up in frantic surprise at his words. "Hey! What the hell are you saying, you retard!" he hissed, grabbing Titus by the arm.
Titus continued, ignoring Clay and shaking him off. "Since the day you've disappeared, it's been chaos. Cereus, he killed so many of us. Fox and her gang are dead, the rest are too scared to move against him.
"Gramps, Clay, Jax, and I have been meeting secretly. We've laid low until now... The gang activity during the past few weeks was an idea we came up with to try to lure you out. We believed you weren't dead, and Old Mike wouldn't give up on you. If you don't come back, I'm afraid he won't stop.
"So, please... Come back. We can't deal with Cereus without you. He's a complete tyrant and won't let anyone leave.
"But...even if you refuse to, we understand. The way I'm wording this only makes it sound like we only want you back to deal with Cereus after all. I sound quite heartless, don't I? I'm sorry...these three years must've been extremely hard for you."
Titus paused after that much, silently hoping for some sort of response.
When nothing came, his shoulders sagged, and he looked as if he suddenly aged twenty years when he stared at the ground with sad, reminiscing eyes. A dejected smile formed on his lips and he sheathed his knife, letting out another sigh.
"Well...if you are who I think you are, I just want to let you know. We all miss you, Gramps especially," he said. "Really, nothing's the same without you."
"..."
"..."
"Sounds like a pretty shitty life you got there," the mage finally said. His words were said somewhat unenthusiastically, somewhat bitter. "But what can I say? You're a criminal, after all. You deserve it."
Titus flinched, a pang hitting the inside his chest. Rune...would never say something ignorant like that. Rune was family, and this mage...was not Rune.
He let out a defeated laugh. What was he expecting, anyway? He and the others were simply too hopeful. Rune was as good as dead by now. It's impossible. He can't come back. "Hah. You're not wrong," he said sourly. "We are criminals, of course we deserve it... What a f*cking society..."
It was silent for a long while. So quiet that one could hear drops of water falling from the broken ceiling.
"...Well, I'll be off. Maybe I'll see you around."
Titus looked up in surprise. "Huh?"
But before he could ask, a low whistle blew behind them, and a small wind seemed to sweep by, causing their clothes to whisk to the side before it all completely died down. He was gone.
And it was only at this time that Titus remembered a crucial detail, but it was already way too late.
He whirled around, only to see the empty building spread out before them.
Now they had no way of knowing how he came to know their names.