The man sat tables away from her, sipping a cup of something. He had an unlit cigarette in his moustache lips mainly to look cool and a Red Devil's cap beside his unfinished plate of rice. Earlier when she and Arman entered the restaurant, he had given her a wink and a lecherous grin. Followed with a lavish head to toe glance.
She had already read his lurid thoughts on the sole female foreign helper at the roadside restaurant they stopped at. Disgusted, Ain turned his lusty thoughts into total revulsion transforming herself into a naked plus sized man with a humongous member to boot. Ain couldn't help smirking as she saw him gag and nearly retching in response.
He thus returned his attention to the waitress. And why not. She had on a figure-hugging t-shirt on which did not leave much to imagination on the ample curves she flaunted. Her lips bright pink and luscious. Small wonder the male patrons with partners would contend with letting their gaze rest on the noisy television screening endless advertisements.
Arman said he needed to again take a pee, his loins near bursting. Ain herself had calmed down considerably. She had told Arman she'd be fine, to go do his business while she grabbed a hot drink. Choosing a corner table overlooking the road, she beckoned to Miss tight tee, ordered a cup of tea. Shook her head when the young woman offered her the outlet's specialty, rojak pasembor.
Her leaving allowed Ain to focus in extending her mind scan to the bank in Tanjung Malim. This time she remained a passive observer requiring no host and slipping from one mind to another and getting a good view of what had happened since she had inadvertently triggered the murder of a young woman.
She found the mind of the three gangsters totally blanked out. Their nervous system short-circuited by the intensity of her assault. Though not clinically dead, they might as well be with their minds in complete vegetative state. She breathed a sigh of relief to discover those others within the premises recovering from the feedback of her mind-blasting the trio. The assistant manager who had been her host at a loss to comprehend why he had remained standing when everybody around him went all raggedy dolls without support.
Ain read from him of listening in as the police officers chatted amongst themselves over what had transpired. Hearing the words weird and strange. Looking away in shock as he saw a chalk outline and a bloody patch left of the young woman who died.
Of course he didn't witness her killing.
Her killer and his three gang members huddled against the wall on one side of the bank, vacant eyes staring ahead. Hands cuffed behind their backs. The police knew them well. Notorious young thugs preying on foreign labors for petty cash spent on cigarettes and drugs and the occasional prostitutes. Suspected to have been involved in several break-ins but they've never been caught red handed.
Ain returned to fully focus on the restaurant, glancing at the men's room where Arman had dashed into when they arrived. A cup of tea, a hint of vapor above its reddish yellow surface, in front of her. She had slipped after all.
Needs to do better the next time, Ain.
The Red Devil was in animated chat with the waitress, her slight height providing him with an eye-level view of her bosom. Ain didn't need her telepathy to hear words of her being free at such and such hours.
Arman arrived at the table with a grin. Earphones still in both ears, the wires snaking from his shirt pocket.
"Sorry. Full house, so had to wait a bit. Feeling better?"
"Yeah. Much better. Sorry I didn't order anything for you."
"It's okay. You didn't know how long I was going to be in there anyway," he said, gesturing for the waitress to take his orders. Coffee, and glutinous rice plus salted fish. She hollered them to the kitchen and re-joined the Red Devil.
Ain saw Arman composing himself and braced herself for the inevitable questions which came right away.
"What happened back then? I thought you were slipping back into your coma…"
Ain looked at her unsolicited companion. His thoughts were crystal clear to her. The songs pumping in his ears had lost their effectiveness long since. Worst, it was someone else's playlist he had to endure.
"I lost control of my abilities, that's all. There is still so much I need to learn," she said.
"You're sparing me some details, aren't you? Come on, Ain. We're in this together and until you find out who you are, you're pretty much stuck with me," said Arman, staring into her eyes.
"I know, and I really appreciate it. But really, I overextended myself and lost control of its impact on others."
"And those shouts about shots fired?"
"Shot. One. Killed a young woman. Last thoughts were of her parents. On who'd take care of them."
Her cold words clearly stunned Arman who went silent.
"I'm sorry. I didn't realize you had experienced that," he said after a while.
there you are I found you she must be close by yesss she must be
Shit! John Doe. I let my guard down!
Ain caught both thoughts in Arman too late as he fished out the music player and pressed a tiny button for another set of continuous music. Immediately, she placed a wall around Arman's mind and scanned the people around them. She caught John's cold tendrils entering the waitress's mind.
The young woman stepped on a chair and then atop a table. Started gyrating seductively to a soundless music, hands slowly massaging her upper body. Stunned seconds passed and then chaos erupted in the restaurant with wolf whistling and claps from those enjoying the spectacle, stares and shouts from those surprised and disgusted. Ain detected John's thoughts leaving the waitress and slipping into another.
Interesting. He's no longer tied down to his host…
As she followed him closely, Ain found her excitement growing as they zipped from one mind to another amidst rancorous hysterics triggered by the impromptu sexy dance. She knew Miss Tight Tee was only a diversion.
"We have to go, Arman" she said, grabbing his arm and as they both stood up from their table in haste. Ain heard the rumbling of a big engine starting up. Only that it wasn't in her mind.
The Red Devil!
"HistrailerohmyGod!" screamed Ain, as the behemoth trailer accelerated and crashed headlong into the restaurant, crushing the concrete wall. The impact burst opened a water pipe, sending gushing water and debris into the crowd.
Ain saw a chunk of concrete hit the waitress and knocking her down from the table. A bloody gash appeared in her midsection. Felt Arman's hand on her arm, pulling but Ain knew she had to stop John.
The trailer had momentarily stalled, its driver seemingly confused or readjusting the throttle. She concentrated fully on the Red Devil, and then blasted a single commanding "STOP!" into his mind.
Silence ensued, and then she heard a coherent thought from the man in the trailer's cabin, "What happened? Why am I inside the truck?" as John tried to regain control.
Gotcha.
Murderous thoughts behind her. A telepath hiding in John's slipstream. Whirling around, Ain froze as she saw a burly woman leaping towards her. The face contorted in a rage, kitchen knives in each hand, blades glinting as they caught the sunlight shining through the breach Red Devil had created.
A swung wooden chair crashed into the woman's torso and send her sprawling into the restaurant counter. Ain turned to see Arman holding on to what's left of it.
"Let's go, Ain. Move!"
She swiftly moved into the woman's mind and extinguished the telepath trapped within. Dissipated his essence by pulling them apart in all directions. Left John who was still trying to influence the Red Devil's mind but finding her single word command having rallied his host's coherence. He had lost all control of the situation. She heard a curse and then John was gone.
As they ran towards his pickup, Ain could not help but glance towards the wrecked restaurant. She spied the Red Devil down from his trailer, on his knees weeping and cradling the young woman. Around him, the least impacted had begun to clear the wreckage and help those injured.
The dust from the aftermath of the crash coalesced amidst the pandemonium, and the noisy chattering rose as the victims wondered what had happened. Arman swerved the pickup into the main road and accelerated, leaving the scene as cars screeched to a stop behind them.
Another one. Who are these people?
She remembered the other female presence she initially had thought was the dead patient's schizophrenic manifestation. Discovering instead a passive observer. In just for the fun of seeing John Doe executing his devious deeds. Ain turned towards Arman to reveal this when she saw him checking the rear-view mirror every other second. His face was grim, lips pursed. Knuckles white from gripping the steering wheel tightly as he navigated the road.
"Ain… This is beyond simple hatred. What's he's got against you? People are dead back there, for God's sake!"
"… I really don't know…"
She heard Arman breathing hard, let out a walloping holler before steadying himself. He then tapped the steering wheel, thoughts running at a furious pace she didn't bother reading.
Instead, she began scanning the wrecked restaurant, slipping into the mind of a motorist who had stopped to assist. Saw the Red Devil consoling the waitress who wept. A kitchen towel around the cut in her abdomen. Relieved to discover no fatalities despite the damage to the restaurant. The patrons were so shaken and traumatized none zoomed to the driver of the trailer still stuck to the wreckage like a sore appendage.
Jumping inside the Red Devil, Ain read his intention to surrender to the police despite not having any clear idea as to what had happened. Only that he had suddenly felt an uncontrollable rage and hatred against the people jeering the waitress who sat naked and ashamed atop the table where he had sat moments before. Surprised to see her fully clothed after all later.
He felt ashamed over what he had done. Blamed it on probably the supplement took every trip to stop from falling asleep at the wheel. With no idea either as to how he was going to make up for the destruction he caused.
Withdrawing from scene, Ain recalled her own prejudiced perceptions of the Red Devil and his moral lapses. Besides her, Arman concentrated on the drive. In his mind she saw the image of a house, a haven.
****
Is Sagen…
Dead? As a doornail. Tsk.
… Your joy is inappropriate, however understandable it is. How did he finally succumb?
Trapped inside a host. She went in and just pulled his lifeforce apart. Just as well. He was way too cocky with such an amateur attempt of killing her. I mean, really, Sagen?
But, had the man not been there…
The man? The hospital staff?
Him indeed. Still, the way she disposed of Sagen was… brutally effective.
…
Cold and clinical. Perhaps we should entice her to our cause instead? I'm sure you agree she'd make a formidable member.
If she is anything like the Ghost, you know how undependable she would be. I doubt the rest would accept someone who had decimated our ranks so readily. The man with her… Could he be her soft spot?
So far no… But he is the closest to a host for a direct strike. May I suggest we sacrifice instead the other telepath from the hospital?
He's neither skilled nor strong enough to do it on his own. There is also some resonance between both. A tenuous link.
We can boost his influencing gameplay, C. Against the companion. At worse, we will rid ourselves of her ally, but who knows?
I'm getting the vibes she knows of our existence. Ramp up of the fortifications. Let there be no major moves from Cabal against her. Not until we are assured of victory.
Sure, C. Who shall I rope in for the next assault? The senior echelon is becoming nervous since, well…
Let you and me prep up this John Doe for his task. His naivety will be our ace. Let's not repeat Sagen's mistake, shall we?
…
Is that hesitation I hear, Amstrong? Are you afraid, young man?
A little, C. Our opponent is formidable, and I have never seen a telepath do to another the way she did Sagen.
That is why we shall remain on the fringe for the next battle. If need be, bye bye John Doe then. I am curious, though. She seems to be holding back against him.
Yes. I noticed that as well. Perhaps she thinks of him of a mere nuisance.
Perhaps. We will know soon enough. Ping me when you're ready.
****
As John slid back inside the jet-black glob that was his abode, Ain resigned to being far too repulsed to probe further.
Or could it be you are afraid of what you'd find within, girl?
Indeed, she was. John's energy resonated far too much with her to be a mere coincident they knew each other. She'd rather deal with the nuisance of the hitchhiking telepath who helped boosted her nemesis's abilities enabling him to not remain within a host.
Ain knew this when she noticed John had lingered inside the dead patient even after she and Arman had hit the highway. She had provided the breach allowing him to finally leave otherwise he'd haunt the deceased family by being stuck in a rotting body. The female observer had long retreated since then.
Ain had noticed the more organized nature of the second attack on her and Arman. The deceased telepath had another on his tendrils of thoughts. When she moved in for the kill, the presence disappeared almost as though leaving the other at her mercy. Anticipating more than a single entity, she had gone in with far too intense an attack that scorched the sole telepath completely.
Away from the highway, the slower driving along the federal roads proved calming to Arman. He had switched on the pick-up radio and pumped it to the point of chats between them were impossible.
Almost half an hour passed before she figured Arman gathered the courage to switch off the radio and ridding the cabin of the irritating noise level.
"I noticed you had blanked out again along the way. Much shorter than in town and you didn't collapse," he said.
Ain eyed Arman. The grimness had left his features, leaving again the relaxed young man who was her inadvertent companion.
"I think we should separate, Arman. I'm a danger to you and to everyone else whom we might come across."
"Separate? And what would you do? Hitchhike all the way to the city? To Cyberjaya? Maybe like die from exhaustion? Or, worse, get raped and left by the roadside?!"
Ain didn't respond. She knew where the answer came from.
Arman covered his face with his hands and muttered "What the heck is wrong with you" before turning to facing her.
"I'm sorry. I shouldn't have said that," he said, "Look, Ain, my life is no longer the same. There is no way back for me when I walked out of the hospital door with you."
Through the corner of her eyes, she saw him ruffling through his hair. His left hand tapped the steering boss. Running thoughts in his mind clear to her.
"The hospital was everything to me the last few years. The staff there were the only family members I have ever since my parents died. Other than that life, I have nothing else."
"You have someone there who loved you," she finally replied.
Arman stared at her, then laughed, his body shaking uncontrollably.
Feigned nonchalance. She knew. Tried not to laugh herself.
"What did you do? You read the mind of the whole staff?"
"Not all. Enough to know there was someone attracted to you. One who you're similarly attracted to."
"You're kidding me, Ain? Who could that be? Mazni?"
"You're avoiding even naming her. I don't need to read minds to know a bluff, Arman."
His face blushed, cheeks turning red. Arman shrugged his shoulders, his face turning non-committal.
"I don't know what you're talking about. Anyway, this is about you and me going on separate ways, remember? Or have you forgotten? Said you wanted to hitchhike all your way to remembering who you are. That ring any bell?"
"Hitchhiking was your idea, not mine. Okay, I retract going separate. It was a stupid reaction. I'll tag along with you as long as it takes. Anyway, I am flat broke, and you're the only purse I have."
Arman rolled his eyes. The briefest of smile flashing across his lips.
"I think we can put up at a friend's house for the rest of day. Don't think she would mind but we'll see. We really do need some rest time," he said.
And I need to learn how to protect those around me.
The sun shone brightly right above their heads, casting no shadows as Arman accelerated to close to gap with the vehicle in front.