{Rune}
I had followed the black car in which the people from Inoue group were driving until they arrived at one of those small vacation houses that could be rented. It wasn't far from Berlin at a lake that I knew from having been there a few times.
Around them other people were living at least 200 meters away so they were pretty much by themselves.
"Intersting... so they really aren't staying here for long." I concluded still watching them enter the house one after another.
When everyone was inside I slowly came out of my hiding spot, still keeping me head low while walking around it.
There was a slighty opened window to what seemed like it had to be the kitchen so I positioned myself right underneath it to hear what was going on inside. It was difficult to make out words from it because these people were in another room.
"I need to get closer." I whispered to myself and got up from my squatting position to turn around and search for a better place when I almost hit my head on something right behind me... or rather someone.
"Hello there." It was the blue short haired girl that was with Raven. She was about as tall as me and her eyes were piercing holes into mine. I already knew that I was screwed from this point on but how couldn't I have noticed her creeping up behind me? My hearing wasn't especially gifted but it was good enough to hear a person walk.
"Oh uhm." I prepared to fake a german accent and awkwardly scratched my neck.
"I am the son of the landlord of this house and I was searching for the owners. The bell didn't work so I tried at the window." I came up with the best excuse I could find and smiled awkwardly at the girl.
For a moment she scanned me up and down before her intimidating frown turned into a wide grin as she started laughing. But her intentions were very hard to read since she radiated a certain crazyness.
"Oh sure, I should've known that the landlord would send his people over at the last day before we go again. Come on in, boy." Was she serious or was she just playing with me... and I definitely wasn't a boy. I was 19!
"Eh sure haha." I let myself get dragged to the front door to not cause more suspicion than there already was when the girl had already shoved me inside.
"Guys, we have a guest!" She yelled and a bad feeling made it's way to my stomach. Should I run now? I wouldn't have a chance as soon as that Raven guy recognized me.
"I'll lead you to the living room." The girl sweetly stated and suddenly I noticed she had my arm tightly in her grip. She knew... she suspected me and I was caught.
Still smiling I followed her movements through the door leading into the living room where both of us stopped. In a smooth movement she had me kneeling on the floor in front of her, harshly pushing down my shoulders before getting a hold of both my arms... it hurt. I should have been more careful again.
I had my head low, hood covering most of my face so I could only spot 3 pairs of shoes and thought that this was a moment when I should be scared for my life but I strangely wasn't... there was definitely awareness of eventually getting hurt but it was covered by the adrenalin of excitement that went through my veins
"Jane, explain this." A deep voice spoke, that I hadn't heard before. That must be the serious looking guy that drove them before.
"Sir, I found this guy sneaking around the house outside saying he's the son of our landlord." The girl called Jane reported in a professional manner and I heard someone chuckle. That someone was Raven Inoue. He really seemed to be easily amused by others suffering, didn't he?
"I didn't know this house had a landlord?" He added to his laugh and I felt his heavy stare on me.
"We should be careful. He is most likely a spy from the enemy." Again someone else was speaking. It had to be the guy that found Raven first after I left...
"I am not." I answered clearly and with confidence. Actually, I hadn't come up with a plan yet but them thinking I was a Mellontikos spy minimalized my chances to get out of this drastically.
There was silence in the room for a moment.
"Jane... take off his hood." Raven's voice now sounded serious as he walked closer and squatted down.
My voice... he recognized my voice and I accidently stopped using the accent. Go damn it.
A second later my view was flooded with the shining daylight coming from the windows behind the silhouette of Raven. I blew away some strands of loose hair in my face and felt the lower part of my hair that wasn't tied up falling on my shoulders.
Raven stared down at me with an unreadable expression and I wondered what went through his head at the moment.
"Do you know him?" Jane sounded seriously surprised.
"Urgh..." Raven groaned.
"That ugly kid is the one who found me..." he sighed in distress and closed his eyes for a second.
I literally saved his life twice even though he only knew a little of the truth and yet he still acted like this to me. It was interesting to see a strong personality like that though since I didn't experience that often.
"Wait, him?!" Jane shrieked and finally let go of my arms to pull me up and look at my face more closely.
"Raven, are you sure?" The brown haired guy wanted assurance.
"Yeah, there is no doubt."
"Look at his blond hair though. It's naturally light and really soft."
I felt her hands touch my hair and out of reflex I slapped her hand away.
"Oh... I'm sorry." I quickly apologized even if I didn't mean it. What person just touched others' hair?
"Jane, please don't bother him. We owe him something for saving Raven." I was finally able to see the man who that deep voice belonged to. He couldn't be much older than 35 and his hair was brushed back and yet styled neatly and his eyes gave of a wise, aged vibe.
"No no no wait a second. I first want to know how you managed to follow us. And your reasons..." Raven stopped the calming atmosphere and pointed right at me.
"I knocked you unconscious when I left so how did you find me?" His eyes narrowed and I knew I couldn't get around this with an easy excuse. Raven wasn't the dumb type of person and I doubted that any of these people were either...
"I... I want to join your group!" I raised my voice from desperation and held my arms tightly straight on both sides. It was the best and most helpful excuse I could come up with that didn't have any disadvantages for me if it worked. And it also successfully changed the topic.
"So you know about the gifted ones and Inoue group?" The man asked sternly and I nodded quickly.
"Yes, I've heard about them all my life, the great Inoue group that has their members in the whole world. I really wanted to join you and when this guy told me his name I was sure you are the people I am searching for." I cheered with excitement apparently being believable...
"Do you have any gifted powers?" The man proceeded to ask and I noticed Raven's eyes perking up at me again when the topic changed.
"Hm, I think I have very fast eyes. Give me a page of words and I grasp the content in a second." What I said wasn't a lie but obviously not the whole truth. Having speed as my gifted ability was like experiencing in half a minute what others experienced in less than a second so seeing fast was not a problem.
"I don't trust him." Raven stated directly after what I told him and crossed his arms. I could sense the same mistrust in the eyes of the guy that I finally remembered was called Vince.
"Why do you suspect him so much? He looks believable to me." Jane wondered not hiding her dislike towards Raven's Raven's behavior in the least.
"Even if he wants to join our group, that doesn't explain how he found us here. And it's irritating that he hasn't shown any sign of discomfort or fear since he entered this house. Any normal person whould have started panicking but he is just sitting there and staring like he did half a day ago!" Raven snarled bringing tension into the room.
Everyone directed their eyes at the serious looking man now who again studied me from head to toe.
"What's your decision Mr. Gray?" Vince wanted to know. So that was his name... Mr. Gray.
"We can't risk anybody knowing about our location and this fellow here is most likely a spy of some sort. Even if he isn't he poses a potential risk to us since he already knows too much. We can't take him with us... so we'll need to make him unable to speak." he demanded with a small hint of regret in his voice but yet he didn't take it back.
"What does that mean?" I asked out loud and took a step away from Jane so she couldn't grab my arms again. I was surrounded though so getting away without my speed could turn out to be difficult.
In the corner of my eye I noticed Raven pushing himself from the wall he had been leaning at, his lips curled up in a sadistic grin.
"Oh no this is unfortunate. But hey, see it as my thank you gift because we won't kill you brat. At least I hope you don't die." he chuckled but that guy was the only one actually enjoying this. Both Vince and Jane had averted their eyes and only stood there nervously.
So this was what they were planning to do... They'd beat me up so badly I'd probably be in hospital for the next few days which gave them enough time to leave without risking that I leaked information. It was brutal but simple and it worked out just fine... these people weren't anyone to joke around with.
I needed to get away from here and approach them some other time... it was the only way they'd ever let me join their group for real.
{Raven}
I glared down at that dirty looking guy in front of me. Now he'd get what he deserved for being so arrogant to the nephew of Inoue group's leader. I reached back to aim my first right at his face but when I was about to hit he avoided it in the last second and ran behind me. My reflexes hadn't been quick enough because I didn't expect him to fight back but that kid really was fast.
In the next moment I felt him pulling my hair so my head fell back and at the same time he positioned a knife right in front of my throat. That little bastard really hid a weapon from us...
My body froze when he had the knife daring to cut my throat. If his eyes really were that fast he must have seen my attack coming so if I'd try to push him off, that guy could've already slit my throat open.
"You little bitch~" I voiced chalanty being caught in a mixture of amusement from the fact that he could only barely see over my shoulder and slight panic that he might actually kill me. His vibe held insanity of some sort.
"I think I picked the wrong time to ask for joining your group so I'll come another time. Now would you be so kind to accompany me outside? Only us two if all of you understand what I mean... or my hand may slip." he said this as if explaining a child how to brush their teeth. So he still thought he had the upper hand here? Such an annoying brat.
"Raven you-" Mr. Gray attempted to say something when I interrupted the speech that was about to come.
"Stop looking at me like that you idiots. As if a boy like this could do anything to me. Just wait until I return." I demanded making them nod slowly.
"I give you 15 minutes." Jane warned and I rolled my eyes at her. Had this guy attacked anyone else we might have gotten out of this situation easier but with me he found a weak point and he was probably aware of that. As the nephew of the leader and Mr. Gray as the person responsible, they put a very high value on my life and that value was more important than the possiblity to get caught by Mellontikos again.
"You're gonna walk where I lead. One wrong move and I'll slice open your throat." The guy behind me whispered while I kept walking until we exited the house.
"Sure honey, wherever you wanna go." I remarked with sarcasm but he wasn't shaken by that making me think that this guy must be hard to irritate in the first place.
"First you call me ugly and a bitch and now you act all lovely. How amusing..." he laughed emotionlessly and led me into the woodland along the street. So we were going to walk a while... god damn.
"Am I wrong though? Did you ever look into the mirror? Your skin is red and dirty, you got eye bags and your lips are dry. Usually people would do something about that." I remarked sharkily and again thought that I hit a weak spot. However, his answer came unexpected.
"It's all make up actually... and calling people ugly because of how their skin looks like is ridiculous. You should apologize but my intuition tells me you're too thic headed to do that..." he sighed and gripped my hair stronger so it hurt.
"Hey, you'll make my hair fall out, crazy dude. And who the fuck puts make up on like that?" I hissed and desperately tried to suppress the wish to kick him. Why should I even apologize? I just stated my opinion so what was wrong with that?
"It's none of your business Raven Inoue."
"Then you'll have to deal with me calling you ugly." I smirked and purposely stopped in my tracks so the guy almost bumped into me.
"Will you not move?" He asked and I felt his voice tensing meaning I slowly got on his nerve... this was getting interesting.
"You know... I'm quiet sure you won't kill me so I see no reason in continuing to do what you say." This was only half of the truth because I couldn't be sure about the guy's motives. However, common people without real fighting experience or a harsh environment usually couldn't bring themselves to kill someone... especially not if their victim was as good looking as me.
"Urgh this is useless, whatever."
Suddenly he pulled the knife away and let go of my hair. Did he really just free me like that? I could easily catch him now so what was he thinking?!
Slowly I turned around and noticed the close distance we had... he didn't even run away? No, that guy just stood there, arms crossed and eyes narrowed in focus.
"Just a question before I leave? How can I join your group again?" He seriously wanted to know that in a situation like this... what the hell.
"You... will need to apply at the headquarters in LA." I didn't know why I answered to him but I just did it because the situation left me confused.
"But seriously... are you extremely stupid or just crazy in your head?" I tilted my head with a raised eyebrow and scanned his now indifferent face for a reaction. This time he started smirking... he hadn't done that before and it creeped me out slightly.
"What? Because I let you go so easily?" He took a step closer and his eyes were suddenly gleaming dangerously when he stared up at me.
"Try to catch me if you think you can."
It was like his mood made a drastic change when he tried triggering me like that. But I wouldn't let myself be fooled so I did what I originally planned and reached for him.
Surprisingly, my hand reached into nothing as I missed him by merely a centimeter.
"Go back to your friends, big boy. We'll see each other again when I join your group." His normal smile was back and the dangerous atmosphere had completely perished.
"Wh-"
Before I could finish my sentence he had already thrown dirt into my face causing me to not be able to see for a few seconds. And when I opened my eyes again... he was gone just like that.