Bliss of Reentry: Part VII

 Aeryn glanced down at the dashboard clock and frowned at the time.  2:40 am.  She had been trolling arbitrary streets for more than 2 hours. The location that Tobias had picked up on was very broad, and Aeryn had been hoping that she’d be able to sense some form of psychic activity to help direct her to any of the individuals sending out the raucous telepathic waves. So far, she had nothing.

She realized that she was more than a little bit tired, and with no cars or people on the streets, she was feeling uncomfortably alone. She was considering returning to Salem and Tobias, thinking that it may be more productive to aid in the inevitable relocation of Roux instead of wasting gas, when suddenly it began to drizzle. To her surprise, the light rain stopped almost as soon as it started.

 

Sometimes in an area where energy has been heavily manipulated,  weird weather patterns could result. Some psychics even specialized in weather manipulation.  There had been many devastating tornados, hurricanes, and tsunamis that had been blamed on psychic activity.  However, Aeryn wasn’t sure if she could blame this rain shower on a shift in psychic energy.  Even if it did only last for only a nanosecond. And even if there wasn’t one cloud in the sky. And even if she was looking for any excuse to get out of the car and investigate something. 

 

Figuring that she ought to look around anyway, Aeryn pulled into the entrance of a parking lot, parking crookedly. She turned off the vehicle and stepped out, looking around cautiously.  The neighborhood was exceptionally quiet, as if trying to prove to her that nothing of concern could possibly be happening here. 

 

She began a meek attempt at trying to pick up the presence of auroric energy, something she had never been good at unless she could see the person, or knew exactly where the person was located beforehand.

 

She was picking up the weak vibes of some sleeping residents in the nearby buildings when she sensed a bright shock of a strongly telepathic psyche located in the building directly in front of her. 

In her surprise, she broke her concentration and lost a sense of the clearly marked aura. But it was all she needed. 

Aeryn began moving slowly, watching the windows cautiously for any sign of movement. She tried to pick up the telepathic aura a second time.  She was again surprised when she regained sense of it almost immediately, realizing that its owner was employing no methods whatsoever to shield it, which was extremely odd, being that even psychics without a great shielding ability had some fundamental and innate shielding mechanisms.  Was the owner of this aura injured? Or even worse, was this a trap? She was trying to pinpoint the exact location of the aura when she felt as though it was moving… no… rather like it was falling.

 

A loud thud to her right caused her to cry out in a mix of surprise and fright.  She was shocked to see a figure of a man appear out of nowhere near the corner of the building.  She rubbed her eyes in disbelief as it appeared that the man was… flickering. It was as if he was blinking in and out of her eye sight, with his skin and clothing taking on a odd shade of gray.  She watched, bewildered, as right before her eyes the motionless body of the man began to take on substance and natural color as he flashed in and out of her sight. After a moment, his flickering stopped.

 

Aeryn’s shock was momentarily replaced with awe as she gasped under her breath, “Oh my god. He’s an astral…”  Growing up in the psychic community, Aeryn heard many stories about an incredibly powerful type of psychokinetic, or energy-mover, that had numerous abilities surrounding the manipulation their own personal energy field. They could send concentrations of their own energy long distances, allowing “out-of-body” experiences in which they could literally be in two places at once.  They could move their energy very quickly, allowing them to “jump” from one location to another in an unnatural speed. Some astrals were able to manipulate the appearance of their energy, and subsequently themselves, appearing to be static, ethereal, or even invisible. 

 

However, Aeryn had always believed that they were only rumors.  When Aeryn was a little girl, her own mother had once told her that there was no such thing as ghost, just psychics with too much time on their hands.  But most others seemed to believe rather, that it was the astrals that were not real.  It was thought that if they did exist, there were so few of them that it’d be impossible to verify their powers. Even worse, once The Calling went rouge, prior to its collapse, psychics with extensive powers were hunted down and never heard from again.  Aeryn figured that if astrals did exist, The Calling most definitely wiped them out a long time ago.

 

And yet, here, right in front of her eyes, was a man who had simply appeared, and then began to flicker.  

Aeryn, almost afraid to move, attempted to examine the man from afar.  “Sir?” She said, taking timid steps toward the unmoving figure “Sir, are you okay?” Getting no response, she sighed to herself, and began to muster up her courage.  She took a few more steps toward the man. “Sir?”  

 

Aeryn felt the dramatic shift in the energy of the air just as the rain drops began to hit her face.  Before she could even turn around, a build up of energy in the form of lightening struck the ground across the street and she felt the energy of her aura being gripped by an incredibly powerful force flinging her full-force backward down the street.

Aeryn went flying through the air and landed violently against Tobias’ car. A sharp pain ripped through her spine as she slid down the side of the car and collapsed on her knees on the ground.   

 

With the air knocked out of her lungs, she struggled to breathe, wheezing laboriously as she gasped for air.   

 

 

 

 

 

When she was able to breathe normally again, she slowly pulled her feet under her, and looked around for whatever it was that threw her nearly 30 feet through the air. She looked up just in time to see Mercer exiting the building.  

  

 

“Like I need any more shit today!” Mercer yelled as she made her way onto the street.  “You would think that people would learn! Or that someone would spread the fucking word that I don’t play! I mean, really! Like I need this!”

 

Mercer, although mostly unharmed, had apparently been involved in an altercation, given the long red laceration that traveled the upper left side of her face.

Aeryn had a slight sense of Mercer’s aura and as she stood up, began channeling Mercer’s abilities. Aeryn was a little bit overwhelmed by the extensive psychokinesis that she was borrowing from Mercer, and having never channeled a psychokinetic before, she had no idea what to do.  

 

 

Forcing herself into an awkward, but upright position she tried to focus on Mercer’s energy field, sending what she hoped was a powerful jolt in her direction.  It was more like a puff of air that seemed to simply flick Mercer in the forehead. Although it barely registered, the simple act only appeared to worsen Mercer’s phenomenally bad mood.  

 

Mercer let out a cry of surprise rather than of pain, and reached up to touch the spot where the jolt had hit her head. Focusing, she seemed to see Aeryn for the first time. “WHAT! THE HELL! ARE YOU! DOING?!?!” Mercer yelled down the street to Aeryn.  “I don’t have time for amateurs!” 

 

 

 

Aeryn cringed as Mercer spread her arms and threw the little slither of energy right back at Aeryn, but with much more force.  Aeryn felt as if she had been punched by an invisible fist, and coughed as a warm liquid trickled into her mouth. She reached up, touching her face, to find that her nose was bleeding. 

 

 

 

After being thrown against a car, Aeryn was sure Mercer could inflict much more damage to her, but the sight of blood on her hand infuriated her.  Even though it seemed completely irrational to do so she furrowed her eyebrows and yelled at Mercer. “No, what the hell are you doing?!?!”

  

 

Mercer stopped, not expecting to be questioned in her action. She seemed to consider the question for a second before replying, “I’m kicking ass, that’s what I’m doing.”

 

“NO!” Aeryn responded, loudly. “You are making a mess and a lot of noise. AND you made my nose bleed!”

“You threw energy at my face! Like my face can use anymore damage!” Mercer motioned toward the cut on her face. “Do you know what I’ll have to do if this thing leaves a scar?! Do you know how much more money I’m going to have to invest in foundation?!? My skin is naturally gorgeous, I don’t do foundation!”

 

Aeryn, wasn’t sure if she wanted to be angry offer product advice.  She chose anger, “UM, HELLO! You threw me against a car!”   

“OH PLEASE, I WAS THROWING EVERYTHING! You just happened to be around!”

 

“Maybe you could have used a little more discretion!”

 

“MAYBE YOU COULD GET OUT OF HERE BEFORE I HAVE TO REALLY HURT YOU!”

 

Wary of the threat, Aeryn calmed her tone a bit. “Well… You should be lucky I’m the only one here. You are tearing up the psychic telewaves. Someone was going to investigate eventually, don’t you think?” 

Mercer sighed and frowned. “You’re right, but it’s not my fault.  I didn’t start this. I was attacked.” She turned to look at the seemingly lifeless body that was lying on the far street corner. “And frankly, if you’re gonna blame anybody, you can blame that bastard!”

 

“Is he… Is he dead?” Aeryn asked.

 

“What?! No, he’s not dead! He’s a frickin’ astral! You can’t throw an astral off a roof and just expect him to die! Granted, I was the one that threw him off the roof in an attempt to kill him, but he deserved it!  Jumping around like a schizophrenic rabbit, the nerve of this guy! And as much as I want to just leave him in the street, I’m not going to do that! You know why? Because I am a good person! No, I’m a great person! And also because someone is definitely going to call the poli–”

“Slow down! What the hell are you talking about?!” Aeryn yelled in frustration at Mercer’s tirade. She was talking a mile a minute.

 

“The astral! All that jumping and fading and invisibility crap! And MY FACE is probably RUINED forever, and I cannot believe the night that I’m- no wait!” Mercer paused in the middle of her rambling. “Who the hell are you?” She asked with sudden suspicion. 

 

“Oh, so you just throw people at cars and then want introductions later?” Aeryn said testily.

I said I was throwing everything! No one told you to come and start snooping around! This isn’t any of your business anyway! Why are you here? ” Mercer yelled.

 

“You have my brother,” Aeryn said, watching as Mercer’s frown deepened.  

 

“I hope he’s not your brother.” Mercer said, crossing her arms and motioning toward the unmoving figure down the street. “Because, if so, you’ve got a serious dickwad for a brother.”

 

“Um, no…” Aeryn said. “Hadrian.  I’m looking for Hadrian Faye.”  

Mercer paused, rubbing her neck. She seemed to consider Aeryn for a moment, and then looked to think better of it. “Who did you say you were again?”

 

“Aeryn Faye.”

 

“Well, Aeryn Faye, I’m sorry, but I can’t help you.” She said, and began to turn away.

 

“Wait! I know you have him. Or at least know where he is. You have to tell me. He’s… special. He needs help, and he needs it before somebody gets hurt.” 

Mercer turned back around with a smirk on her face. “Look, Mr. I-just-fell-three-stories-and-now-I-don’t-look-so-good was looking for your brother too, and you see where that got him.  Listen to me when I tell you that I can’t help you.”

 

Aeryn’s tone took on a hint of desperation. “Is Hadrian dead?”

 

Mercer stopped again, and then huffed. “Look,” she said, “I really shouldn’t even talk to you, but you happened to catch me at a bad time, and I’m far from being in the mood to walk around you in circles, so I’ll tell you this. You’re brother is not dead. In fact, he’s very much alive, and he’s somewhere where he won’t be such a menace to society. If you brother had remained on the streets, something big, bad, and ugly was going to happen.  He was taken into… custody… in order to avoid that.” 

“What does that mean?!?! Custody? Like jail? What is going on?!”

 

“I’ve already told you everything that I’m gonna tell you.”

 

“Mercer!”

 

Mercer turned, a little surprised at hearing her name. 

 

“I can’t just leave it at that. He’s my brother.”

 

Mercer shrugged, and turned again, resuming her walk toward the man lying at the end of the block. Aeryn watched as what little hope she had of finding her brother walked away from her. She was about to cry when Mercer called over her shoulder.

 

“Find a precog named Jericho Lee. I’m not promising anything, but maybe you’ll get some answers.”