Chapter 248: The Perfect Escape

Chapter 248

"I’m not really sure about it," Alex said, scratching his cheek with one finger. "I don’t really fancy going to those types of parties. I kinda find it too loud, plus way too many people."

Emily turned toward him in her seat and pouted cutely while tilting her head to one side.

"Oh come on, Alex. Please? I heard from my friend that it’s going to be really fun. Everyone is going to be there." She played with the hem of her skirt and lowered her voice shyly. "And besides I was kind of hoping that the two of us could maybe go there together."

Alex pretended to sigh, like he was thinking really hard about it. He kept his eyes on the road and let a few seconds pass in silence. Then he gave her a small, shy smile.

"Okay. If that’s what you want, I’d be more than happy to go with you."

"Really?" Emily clapped her hands softly, her eyes shining. "Yay! You’re the best, Alex!"

Alex kept smiling, but inside he was going through about fifty shades of anger and disgust. When he glanced to the side and caught her profile in the sunlight, it got worse because all he could see was the cold, wicked face from his past life. The same face that had watched him die without a single trace of regret. His hands tightened on the steering wheel until his knuckles turned white, but he managed to quickly loosened his grip before she could notice.

’Calm down. Not yet. Just a little more, okay.’

For the rest of the drive, Emily talked about all kinds of things girls her age talked about which was honestly a form of torture on it’s own. She complained about how hard their pop quiz had been. Then she talked about a new coffee shop near campus, and about a girl in her class who had a small beef with her because they accidentally wore matching dress to a party one time.

All he could do was to just nod in the right places and gave short answers like "Oh really?" and "That’s funny," playing the shy boy who was too nervous to say much. In his head he was already praying to God to please let this end.

At last, they finally reached a quiet street lined with big trees and neat houses. Alex slowed down and stopped in front of a large house which was of course the exact same house he had visited before.

"We’re here," he said.

"Thanks for the ride," Emily said sweetly, unbuckling her seat belt. But she didn’t get out just yet, though. Instead she turned toward him and smiled. "Um, do you want to come in for a bit? I can make us some tea."

Alex already knew she would say this. He had planned for it. He scratched the back of his head and looked away like he was embarrassed. "Ah, no, it’s okay. I should get going. I still have a lot of things to do today."

"Oh, come on," Emily said, pouting again. She placed a hand lightly on his arm. "It’s just for a little while. I wanted to show you something, um, my... my notes! From Professor Dalton’s class. You said you missed a couple of lectures, right? I can let you copy them."

What a terrible excuse, Alex thought. But he still pretended to think about it. He let out a small, shy laugh.

"Well... if it’s just for a little while, I guess it’s fine."

Emily’s smile widened, and he swore that he could almost see the happiness of a hunter whose prey had walked right into the trap. Yeah right, what she didn’t know was that he was actually the hunter and she was the prey, not the other way round.

She hopped out of the car and walked to the front door with a little bounce in her step. Alex followed behind her, wearing same nerdy and shy look just incase she turned back all of a sudden.

Inside the house, the air smelled lightly of flowers and clean wood. Everything looked neat and expensive. As Emily kicked off her shoes, Alex looked around casually and asked in a light voice, "Are your parents home?"

"My dad is on a business trip again," Emily said, waving her hand like it was nothing. "He’s always traveling, you know. And my mom isn’t here either. She told me this morning that she was going to visit Aunt Brenda. She’s my mom’s childhood best friend, and she just came back from outside the country. They have a lot to talk about, so I think mom will be gone for a while."

Alex’s heart sank a little. The person he had really come for was not here. He had been hoping to meet Sofia again, but now it was only him and Emily alone in the big empty house. That was the last thing he wanted.

Emily seemed to notice something, because she smiled even wider and moved a little closer. "So it’s just the two of us," she said softly, looking up at him through her long eyelashes. "Isn’t that nice?"

Alex felt a chill run down his spine, and not the good kind. He did not like the idea of staying alone with her in this house even for one more minute. ’I need to get out of here. Now.’

He quickly tried to think of an excuse, but nothing good came to mind. Telling her he had work would sound fake, since she already knew he was free. Saying he felt sick might make her fuss over him. He needed something simple, something she could not argue with.

Then his eyes lit up as an idea hit him.

During the past few weeks, when he was testing some of his abilities, he had once accidentally sent a strong stream of Celestial Thunder into the clouds without thinking, and the sky had suddenly become dark like a big storm was coming. There were even flashes of lightning and the sound of thunder rolling across the sky. Luckily, It all disappeared after a minute or two, but still at that time it looked pretty real.

What if he did that again on purpose? He could make the weather look like it was about to rain, and use it as his excuse to leave. It was perfect.

But there was one problem. If he sent the lightning from right here, the bright flash would be easy to see, and Emily would surely notice that something was strange. He needed to do it from far away.

"Hey, Emily," he said, keeping his voice calm. "Can I use your bathroom for a second?"

"Sure! It’s the second door on the left," she said.

Alex nodded and walked away, then stopped. Emily had already turned around to put her bag on the couch, with her back to him. This was his chance. Quietly, he activated Void Step and vanished.

In the next moment, he found himself hundreds of meters above the ground. From here he could see the entire neighborhood, but there was no time to admire that. So raising one hand toward the sky he sent a small stream of Celestial Thunder into the clouds.

Dark blue light flickered inside them, before the clouds slowly began to turn darker and darker, spreading across the sky like it was about to rain.

’That should be enough,’ he thought, after all he did not really want to overdo it.

Right away, he used Void Step again and appeared back in the same spot inside the house, like he had never left. Emily was still fixing her bag on the couch and had not noticed anything at all.

Seeing that she didn’t suspect anything, he walked to the big window in the living room and looked up at the sky. Then he deliberately widened eyes a little, as if he was surprised and exclaimed.

"Ah, It looks like it’s about to rain."

Emily turned around and looked outside. The sky had become dark and gray. A low rumble of thunder rolled across the clouds, and a flash of lightning lit up the edges of the horizon for a moment. She frowned, and her small hands clenched into fists.

"Huh? That’s weird. The weather was so nice just a minute ago," she said. Then she forced a smile and turned to him. "But since it’s going to rain, why don’t you just stay here until the weather clears? I can make that tea now, and we can watch a movie or something."

Alex shook his head and put on a worried look. "I would love to, but I can’t. I’m sorry, Emily, but I promised my friend I’d help pick up his little brother and sister from school today. If I stay here and the rain starts, who knows how long it will last? Look at those clouds, it looks like it’s going to be one heck of a storm."

Emily opened her mouth to argue, but she could not find any good reason. After all, it did make sense. She looked at the sky again, then back at him, and let out a small, disappointed sigh.

"Okay... I understand," she said in a soft voice. "Then you should go. Text me when you get home, okay?"

"I will. Thanks for today, Emily. I’ll see you at school," Alex said with a smile that looked sweet on the outside.

He walked out of the house, got into his car, and drove away without looking back. As soon as he turned the corner, the dark clouds began to thin out. A few seconds later, the thunder stopped, and the sunlight broke through again, as if nothing had ever happened.

From this distance Alex’s extraordinary hearing picked up Emily’s voice from far away as she screamed

"Stupid weather!"

Alex smirked and shook his head.

"Sorry, but I really wasn’t in the mood to stay with a snake like you."

The drive home was quiet and relaxing. Now he was able to take his time to enjoy the peace and quiet while thinking about what to do next.

When he finally reached his apartment, he parked the car and walked up to the door. Thinking that Celine was at home, he stepped inside and called out, "I’m home!"

But there was no answer.

He looked around the living room. The TV was off. The couch looked as if nobody had stayed there for quite some time. There were no shoes by the door, and no noise from the bedroom. The whole place felt really quiet and empty like when he was still living all alone.

"Celine?" he called out again, but still there was no reply.

Alex frowned. Where had she gone? A bad thought crept into his mind. What if she had left? What if she had decided to go back on her word and left? His chest tightened for a moment.

He shook his head quickly. ’No, no. She wouldn’t do that. She probably just went out to do her thing or get some fresh air.’

He pushed the thought away and decided to go upstairs to change his clothes. But just as he put his foot on the first step, he stopped because his superhuman hearing caught something that sounding like a heartbeat, coming from the kitchen.