Estyr

Chapter Four

"You anticipating trouble?"

Eva had just settled on the passenger side of her own car while he sat on the driver's side. Given that she didn't know where Laura lived and he did. They'd both decided it would be easier if he just drove them there. Despite how they'd left off their conversation during lunchtime earlier that day, Eva seemed to be in a chipper mood. Something that Jack liked, he wasn't interested in starting another argument.

Jack turned to Eva with a bit of confusion at the question. Could she tell how tense he was? Jack had once again gotten the feeling he'd gotten before entering the house, only this time it was ten times worse. It was much akin to the feeling of prey caught in the sights of a predator that wouldn't relent until it had caught its mark. He had been at the end of his driveway ready to cross the road towards Mr. Phillips' house to pick her up when he felt it. Someone was definitely there, and that person watching him. Whoever they were, they weren't out to just hurt him, they were out to kill him.

Try as he would however, he couldn't see anything that stood out to him. No one strange was hanging around and nothing out of the ordinary seemed to be happening. A fact that caused a moment of doubt. Was he being paranoid or was there actually danger lurking around?. He had momentarily considered turning around and walking back into the house. However, whether out of pride or stupidity or both in equal measure, he was unwilling to depend on Izora for anything. Especially if it turned out that he'd been paranoid and there was never really been any danger. It would be like a boy acting tough and then running back to hide behind his mother at the slightest rustle in the shadows. If someone had it in for him, then he'd meet them head-on.

He turned to Eva to find her eyes fixed on the metal bar at his side. It was presently resting on the seat parallel to his leg. Jack had already forgotten about it partly from the more pressing concern that he was in the crosshairs of someone who wished him harm. It was also partly from the fact that unlike something that was actually attached to him, there was no feeling of it by his side and thus it had slipped from his conscious awareness. "Oh," he intoned. "Commander Izora gave me that," he said in a stoic tone of voice regarding it with a measure of distaste. "Apparently it's her idea of a birthday present," he said as he started the engine.

"If commander Izora is the one worried, then I'm all the more worried," Eva said, her eyes already turning this way and that looking for anything that might out to harm them.

"Relax," Jack said more out of instinct than anything else. He had sensed the danger himself and so he wasn't in any way trying to make it seem like she was overreacting. It was more of the fact that he didn't like to see her tense as she presently was. They had argued, yes, but Jack found himself very much attracted to the girl seated beside him. This would be their first night out together and he wanted it to go well. He was perfectly aware that this wasn't any sort of formal date, still, it wouldn't hurt if they had a good time together.

Jack cast a glance at the passenger side of the car when he heard her begin to murmur in an arcane language. The same language Commander Izora had used to attach the metal bar to his side. He looked at her hands expecting them to glow instead his gaze was drawn back up to her face. Two circles had formed around her eyes but not on the sense of lines around her eyes. Instead, glowing runes seemed to be fading in from some unseen edge around her eyes and becoming brighter and more distinct as they moved towards the center of her closed eyes. When she, at last, opened her eyes, the runes remained undisturbed and continued to move towards the center of her eyes. Only, unlike when her eyes were closed, the runes didn't move to a central point. Now with her eyes open, the runes seemed to be seeping into her iris.

Her jade green eyes were now glowing, almost as if the runes were feeding their light the irises into which they disappeared. Jack, however, got the feeling that they were doing more than just feeding light into her eyes. "What do you see?" he asked as she turned her gaze all around scanning the neighborhood.