Noah had been walking through the city a lot recently. No specific destination, just walking and thinking.
The ordeal with Isaac left its mark on his mind, even though it had been five days since it happened.
Today he was out of school. He didn't have many lectures today, so he just skipped after his morning class and went into the city.
Even with the sun this high in the sky, the city was vibrant and alive.. Monolithic buildings cast their long shadows over the crowded streets.
He crossed the street after coming out of a shop, where he bought some clothes, things he planned to use for the basketball tryouts next Monday.
A casual craving made him stop by a food truck to get something to eat and drink before he continued his aimless meandering.
The man inside the truck was sweaty from the afternoon sun, but still smiling. He high-fived Noah through his nylon gloves, chuckling.
"Noah, how you doing?"
"All good out here, Dev, just finished class for the day," he replied with a sigh. "I might go buy a movie later, but I'm still considering it."
"What movie?" Dev murmured as he prepared Noah's coffee.
"Something scary or wholesome, I'll decide when I get there. There's this shop that sells VCRs, mostly old movies though."
Dev handed him the coffee and disappeared into the truck to get something. Noah opened the cup in the meantime and blew on his drink.
Before he closed it though, he paused, staring down at the coffee that was now frozen over, eyes widening.
"What the hell?"
"What?" Dev asked, returning from the interior of his truck, startling Noah slightly. "You don't like it?"
Noah looked down at the cup then back up at the man.
"Um, it's frozen. It wasn't like a second ago—"
"Wait, are you joking?" Dev asked, raising an eyebrow. He was staring right into Noah's cup. "I mean… it's not steaming hot, I don't know why, but it's definitely not frozen. My machine must be bugging again, I could swear it was hot."
Noah quickly covered his cup, forcing a shaky smile. Something wasn't right.
"It's just me, never mind." He took a sip of the ice-cold coffee and managed not to cringe. "Yeah, it's good."
Dev just chuckled and went back to making his hotdog. Noah looked around the street, gulping. No one saw that, hopefully.
A new Wraith power? Why is it manifesting while I'm in my human body?
He checked his green eyes in the food truck's reflective base, running his fingers through his black hair.
It definitely wasn't a head of black flames.
Dev came back with his hotdog, so he just received it and murmured a quick bye as he walked away.
He found a secluded park and ate there while checking his coffee obsessively.
Dev didn't see the ice even though it was right in front of him, so maybe it's something only supernaturals could see.
He poured the coffee away with a sigh; he didn't need it, but that was money thrown away. Maybe he had to become an iced coffee guy now.
He didn't need it to stay alert, of course. His ghost form constantly healed this body as long as he had a good amount of energy.
When his ghost form was low on energy, it wouldn't heal his fatigue, and he would feel constantly hungry. But as long as he killed a scumbag, he could regenerate.
And he got a lot of energy from killing Isaac and Raph.
After he killed Isaac, he watched the news for two days straight for any mention of the damage their fight had caused in the forest.
But there wasn't a single word said. It was like nothing even happened.
There was definitely some kind of supernatural agency in this world, keeping everything quiet so the normal world was undisturbed.
For a while, he worried about how they might track him.
He didn't have fingerprints in his ghost form and couldn't leave any biological matter behind at the crime scene, but it was still a worry that plagued him.
It was why he had been moving around recently. He didn't want any problems to meet him at home.
Even his appetite for hunting down the mob was stifled by the incident and his lack of hunger. Maybe when he needed more energy, he would have to kill again.
But for now, he just wasn't feeling it right now.
His mind drifted from the ice ability to Isaac's final words for a moment. He was just sitting there, alone in the park, shaded by a tall tree, looking into space.
Then a shock ran through him.
Noah jolted, standing up and looking around. That shock was what he often felt when close to other supernatural beings.
He searched the neatly cut grass and the paved walkways for any sign of danger, but there was nothing there.
I did not just hallucinate that.
He immediately picked up his bag and started walking. His gaze jumped to each shadow under the trees.
The place was empty. But everything in his body was screaming that something dangerous was looking at him right now.
Someone from the supernatural agency?
They might have finally caught up to him. And now he wasn't quite sure what to do. He couldn't kill them—or rather, he didn't want to kill wantonly.
And besides, killing them might only make things worse. He needed to find a way, maybe to negotiate.
He walked out of the park and into the streets, blending into the wave of people around him. It would be harder to track him in the chaotic mass of moving people.
The sounds of cars honking and advertisements playing from the billboards above him were jarring, especially when he felt someone was following him.
Once he rounded the corner, Noah stuck to the wall and waited. People stared as they walked past, but he ignored them. The shocking sensation in his belly was growing; it was getting closer.
I just need to know what it looks like, then we can talk.