Love-Love || OLD DRAFT

eight - eight

Water, when not in control, is a formidable force. Having spent over a decade with Garnet, I knew it better than anyone. And I was realising it again as I saw the wreck she had caused.

The top floors of the building, towards which Aspen had run, were on fire. All its lower levels were flooding, as if it were a gigantic aquarium, drowning Satan-knows-how-many people in the process.

Aspen was nowhere in sight and I wasn’t sure whether it was a good thing or a bad. Cops and fire department personnel had surrounded the building, ensuring that no one tried to get in, and I had seen them in action enough times to know Aspen would not be able to get past them. Still, not seeing his face in the crowd was incredibly daunting.

So I let the earth do the work for me. I knelt down, pretending to tie my shoe laces, and felt the ground for Aspen’s familiar footsteps. Every person’s footsteps were unique and over time I had learned to trace people with it. I felt Aspen’s presence, his light, hurried steps, away from the burning building and away from the crowd. He was alone.

Once I had pinpointed his location, I got up and ran towards him. It was a small, deserted alley, so narrow it could barely qualify as an alley. I walked in but there was no sign of him.

I stood there frozen. I had never been wrong with my tracking before. I touched the ground again, trying to focus better this time, but the strangest thing happened – I couldn’t feel his footsteps at all.

I tried not to panic. All my nerves were in knots – it was very much possible that I was unable to focus –

A sharp shrill sound, of the crowd crying out together, cut through the air. I ran out of the alley, back on the street and followed the crowd’s gaze upwards. Super Storm had flown in, breaking the windows of the lower levels of the building to get the water out. He then used the air to channel that same stream of water upwards, to douse the raging fire.

I stepped back and took a deep breath. I needed to get my head straight. Hopefully, Aspen was nowhere near the wreck, and even if he was, Ridge could not help him further –

I ran back into the alley, jumped down a self-made tunnel and when I re-emerged, a couple of blocks away from the disaster, I was in my dark suit and mask.

I pulled the ground beneath my feet upwards, several metres, to get a better vantage point. Standing high above the city, I saw the true extent of Garnet’s attack. Three of the city’s tallest buildings were on fire. The buildings were away from one another, almost on the three ends of the city and anyone who was watching could see how Storm would be too late to save everyone.

I let my gaze drift to the one place I knew Garnet would be in. This attack wasn’t for money or some fun. It was a warning, a declaration of war. And having been in that position myself, I knew the attacker always fights from their home turf – the place where they are most powerful.

The Bessimor was the largest Aquarium in the state and a place that had fascinated Roux for as long as I could remember. Old memories came crashing in as I stepped into the building that was currently being evacuated – smart move by the cops, I’ll give them that.

I found Garnet in one of the top floors, in front of the shark tank (cue eye roll for the cliché). Her costume was different – instead of the simple black and garnet-coloured suit, it was a striking grey and blue. She had abandoned the cowl and had a simple mask in its place, hiding the upper half of her face.

She tilted her head to the side and smiled at me. It was a familiar smile but I couldn’t recognise my friend in it. “Hello, Gravel.”

“Nice outfit,” I said.