Chapter 9 part 1

Matias

Turning down Samuels offer for a ride home wasn't exactly what he wanted to do. Hell, he would've actually enjoyed to have Samuel drive him home.

However, if Samuel saw where he was going he'd be furious.

When he made it to the correct alleyway he glanced around him and walked in as casually as he could. He had to take the long way to avoid every chance of seeing Guzantee's men, but it was worth it in Matias's eyes.

He was going to see James. Or he was going to on of his events at least.

As a matter of fact, Matias strictly wanted to avoid being seen by James. After their small fight before Matias had gotten beat up he wasn't exactly in the mood to deal with him.

Even though he had to avoid James, going to one of his events would without doubt take some stress off his shoulders.

You could call it a party, since 'event' is a bit formal. It's not really either of those, but it's usually what people called it.

Really it was just a bunch of people gathering around and getting hella stoned, blackout drunk, or both.

After a bit of walking he made it to the area where bunches of people were gathered all around, bundling in the small area.

He made his way to a corner, keeping himself on the lookout for James. He did not have the energy to fight with him right now. Matias couldn't really blame James for being cautious though. James knows what Matias has been through with drugs— minus the whose villain part.

Matias stood in the corner my himself for a couple of minutes. Approaching people didn't usually work at this kind of party.

Eventually standing by himself paid off as three guys who were stumbling and had red eyes appeared in front of him.

"Hey man, you lookin for some shit?" The guy in the middle slurred, sounding high out of his mind, which he obviously was.

He held out an unlit joint in one hand and a lighter in the other.

"Thank you" Matias replied dryly, taking both the joint and the lighter

Typically taking random stuff from people could be dangerous, but everyone here respected one another. That's what made James so great. He didn't let that messed up shit slide.

Matias flicked on the lighter, putting it up against the end of the joint. He held it up to his mouth and inhaled slowly. It stung the back of his throat in a soothing kind of way. Slowly, his stress began to evaporate.

The three men tried to drag Matias into a conversation, but Matias paid them no mind. Instead he was keeping his eye on James, who was slowly making his way towards Matias. He hadn't seen him yet but he would soon if Matias didn't move.

He dismissed the men he was talking to, or rather who were talking to him, and made his way to the opposite corner.

Gradually throughout the afternoon Matias kept partying, in his own way at least. Roughly an hour had passed and he was well aware that it was time to go.

He had done enough and if he stayed longer he knew he'd do more.

Everything was a bit wobbly and every one in a while he'd trip over his own feet. He didn't have it that bad, he was still perfectly fine to get back to his house just fine. That didn't stop him from running into a few walls though.

By the time he got back to his house the sun was down and stars were appearing in the sky. He didn't even remember walking into his house or to his bed, but the next thing he knew his alarm was blasting a horn noise through the room.

He groaned but lifted himself out of bed nonetheless. It was earlier than he would usually get up, but re-wrapping his wounds didn't seem like an optional decision. Not to mention he still wasn't patched up at all in some places.

Once he was in the bathroom he removed the wrap from around his arm before undressing to shower. He turned and took in his appearance in the mirror for longer than he would ever admit. The mirror cut off in his mid-stomach but what he saw was already enough to make him stare.

Matias never enjoyed his appearance. As a kid he did everything he could to cover his face but his 'parents' were convinced that it was just young insecurities and that it would pass soon. They were only somewhat right as he did stop trying to cover his face, but he never changed his opinions about it.

His eyes were a very dim color that drew lots of usually negative attention. They were a light gray that seemed lifeless and void of color. He had a roman nose that pushed out of his face in a way that he thought was unflattering. His lips rested in a frown but whenever he would smile it looked unnatural on his face. Not to mention the way that all his features pulled together made people anxious to approach and talk to him. People seemed to shy away when he tried to make simple conversation with them.

Matias forced himself out of his head and turned the shower on cold. Despite the frequent cold showers that he took, he didn't enjoy them. However the warm water seemed to hit injuries in a much more painful way. Hot water made them sting and he'd rather be cold than in pain.

The took his time making sure that he didn't hurt himself while running his wounds under the water. He finally washed his hair and rid of the grease that was building up.

Once he was done with his routine he finally got out of the shower. He dressed himself in jeans that hugged his legs just a bit and a plain white t-shirt. He then returned to his bathroom to patch up his wounds. He wrapped his arm very rushed and unprofessionally then lifted his shirt to look at his stomach. He quickly realized he wouldn't be able to bandage it. Not in an affective way at least.

The wound in his stomach was about three inches deep and while it was off to the side and probably didn't hit any organs, it still wouldn't heal quite right. He scoffed at the sight and let go of his shirt.

He was forced to look in the mirror as he cleaned the slash in his throat. He avoided meeting his own eyes and kept his gaze firm on his throat.

While it was fairly easy to cover up with no bandages, once he covered it with wrapping it was practically impossible to hide. He opted for no bandages even though his chances of an infection were going up. He pulled on a different hoodie with the same design as yesterday, remembering that he once again left the villains hoodie and mask at Samuels house.

He finally left the house and walked to work. The cold air bit his skin only a bit as it was early morning. He walked for only five minutes before showing up at the shop ten minutes before his actual shift.

"Hey, Matias" A collage kid who worked the few morning hours greeted.

Matias noticed that the kid was often louder and friendlier when he wasn't there, but he paid it no mind.

"Hi" he responded blandly.

Matias went ahead a tied his apron around his waist and greeted Meera, a fairly young girl who worked morning hours with the collage kid. He wasn't sure why she worked the short early morning hours since she didn't have school or another job, but he wasn't concerned about it.

Matias came back out front and decided to go ahead a start taking orders, even though he wasn't on his shift. There was a line of four people by the collage kids counter so he figured he could help out.

A few minutes before his shift was actually supposed to start the bell on the door rung aggressively and Lexi came running in.

"Sorry I'm a little late! I got caught up at home!" She shouted while rushing into the back.

She wasn't late, she was actually a few minutes early. Matias noticed a while ago that Lexi likes to show up from 7:00 to 7:05. If she shows up a minute early or a minute past you can assume that she's going to be freaking out. It didn't help that it was now a bit past 7:10. Her shift didn't start until five minutes later though.

Lexi walked out from the back much more calm and with her apron tied around her neck. She stood awkwardly behind Matias as he took the last person in the shops order. When he was done with the nice old lady's order she spoke up.

"Yo, tie this for me" she said cheerfully

She held up the two strings of the waist on her apron and turned around. They both knew that she could tie it herself, but Matias always did it for her so today was no different.

"Awe, are you two a couple?" The old lady asked as Matias bent down to tie the strings together.

He chose not to respond and simply kept his eyes to the floor.

"Oh no mam, we're just friends" Lexi said politely as she nudged Matias's arm.

The old lady just giggled, apologized, and walked away to wait for her drink. Nobody could really blame her for thinking the two were together. If he didn't know better Matias himself might even think Lexi was into him. However, he's learned over time that she simply has no social boundaries and doesn't know the difference between friendly and too friendly.

It was then that Meera came to the front holding the lady's drink. She handed it to Matias and started to untie her apron.

"I'm going to head out," Meera announced as her shift ended a few minutes ago.

"Okay" Matias said flatly before calling the lady's order name and handing off the drink.

"Hey, Meera," Lexi began

The girl just hummed in response.

"Why do you only work a few hours in the morning? You said you didn't have school or another job or anything didn't you?" Lexi asked

Matias rolled his eyes listening to Lexi question Meera. Lexi had an awful bad habit of sticking her nose in other peoples business, but Matias would never say that to her face.

"Oh, I just have a bunch of hobbies. This job is just so I can save up a bit of money" Meera smiled sweetly

Lexi clearly had more questions but Meera swiftly walked away, leaving Lexi no more time to interview her.

"She might have something going on Alexa, mind your own business" Matias said lightheartedly after seeing Lexi's frustrated face.

"What did I say about calling me Alexa" Lexi whacked Matias's arm.

"Yeah, yeah. Get to the back, there should be people coming in soon" Matias instructed.

Matias usually would insist her get to the back because she would never end up doing her job anyways, but that wasn't the reason today. The reason was, he was still in lots of pain from the recent few days. Not to mention he had far too much going on in his head.

The wound in his arm simply beat in an uncomfortable way, but the wound on his stomach was much worse. If he put his hands on his hips or stood the wrong way it would be incredibly painful. Not to mention just standing for long periods of time made him dizzy, presumably from the loss of blood accompanied by little sleep.

He pushed the thoughts of pain away as an image of Samuel popped into his head. Why couldn't he seem to keep Samuel out of his mind? Nobody had ever made Matias feel so obligated to them as Samuel did. Matias felt the strong urge to just listen to whatever Samuel wanted him to do and say what he wanted him to say. He felt like if he did something to make Samuel disapprove of him he would explode.

Matias shook his head and blinked a few times after the annoying bell on the door rang. A middle aged man walked up to the counter. Matias did what he does all day. He took his order, made him pay, and gave him his drink.

It was just seconds after the man exited the store that Lexi went up front, the store remaining empty for a moment. Lexi ran her index finger down his spine making him fix his posture uncomfortably. The stab in his stomach ached a bit but remained manageable.

"Heyyy" Lexi said coyly

"Can you not stay in the back for more than five minutes?" Matias asked sarcastically.

"I can!" Lexi gasped "I just wanted to tell you to turn that tv onto the news. People are dying for any updates on the hero's situation.

Lexi gestured to the tv that hung on the far wall of the shop. The tv was rarely used but when something like this happened they would switch it on to keep everyone updated. Though Matias knew there would be no news of 'the hero'. That's what he thought at least.

"Alright, I didn't think you'd be one to care that much though" Matias said while pulling the remote out of a near drawer.

"You kidding? The villain could be holding the hero hostage right now! If something happens people will want to know" Lexi said rather enthusiastically.

"Yeah yeah, get out of the front" Matias complained.

He switched on the news that was undoubtedly on lookout for any information on the hero. Not that any of it would matter all that much since nothing was actually happening.

Matias paid the tv no mind as he continued to serve peoples coffee for the next multiple hours.

The station on the tv seemed to say the same thing over and over while basically harassing multiple police officers. They had exact times and dates for the most recent sightings of the hero and the cops had probably explained the voicemail they received a hundred times. Matias couldn't help but find it all a bit amusing.

He pushed back a laugh as he glanced at the tv for the first time since turning it on. The news reporter was in the middle of explaining some in depth theory on the hero's whereabouts when her attention shifted. She put a hand on the earpiece she was wearing and stopped talking for at least ten seconds. When she finally continued talking she was much more.. enthusiastic?

"There seems to be something going on!" The lady remarked

Matias rolled his eyes as she stated the obvious. Lexi ran up from the back and every customer in the shop had stopped to watch the broadcast.

"The is a woman with unnatural powers walking down Greenlake!" Everyone in the shop gasped and many began to talk while others shushed them to hear the news.

The coffee shop was just at the end of Greenlake.

"Her powers have not yet been described as anything more than terrifying. She seems to be damaging nearby buildings and harassing innocent pedestrians"

There were eight customers in the shop. A mother with her son, an elderly man, and three teenagers. The mother picked up her son and rushed up to the counter.

"This shop is on Greenlake! Should we evacuate?!" The mother yelled at Matias and Lexi.

The two workers shared a look of concern and looked back at the woman. Neither of them said a word for a long moment.

"I-" Lexi finally tried to respond but a loud crash interrupted her. Everyone looked out the window and saw nothing but a red dagger-like thing sweep across the neighboring shops window. It wasn't long before they noticed more approaching.

"Everyone get in the back!" Matias shouted in a panic.

Surely he could help more as the villain, but nobody could see Matias use his powers.

The three teenagers were the first to make it back, each sprinting full speed. The mother still holding her child was a bit behind them, tripping a little before she had gotten behind the counter. The elderly man was still at his table when Matias glanced over at Lexi. Her face was full of nothing but fear and she was clearly fighting the urge to run to the back.

"Get into the back, I'll wait here until they're all back there" Matias nudged Lexi on her arm.

She looked like she wanted to protest but quickly scurried into the back just a second before the mother and child. Matias looked up at the table right beside the window. Outside the window was those red.. sticks? Ropes? Strings? However, in front of the window was the elderly man, still struggling to get out of the booth.

Matias looked back and saw everyone who had already made it to the back staring right at the old man, none of them willed enough to help.

"Damnit" Matias just barely mumbled.

He threw himself around the counter and swiftly made his way to the old man. He forced his eyes to not look out the window and instead to remain on the man in front of him. He grabbed the man's arm and wrapped it around his shoulders, practically dragging him to the back of the store. Several grunts were heard from the old man, but some joint pain was worth keeping your life.

They were just steps away from the door leading to the back when the window shattered. Matias hurriedly pushed the old man through the door before rushing in behind him. He slammed the door behind them last second, leaving everyone uninjured. Not including Matias, who was now in a tremendous amount of pain.

Matias turned around to watch through the little window hole in the door.

"Matias! You amazing bastard!" Lexi had now clung herself onto Matias's good arm and had tears running down her face, but Matias paid it no mind. His eyes stayed glued at the scene before him.

The red things were now slinging everywhere and Matias couldn't deny, they were powers. He couldn't decipher what they were made of because they sure as hell weren't made of anything he knew of.

He looked to the source of all these red slashes and his eyes widened at the sight. There was a human figure with a mask and long hair standing in the middle of the street. The figure was undoubtedly the source of the power spreading everywhere, but that wasn't what Matias was looking at at all. Matias was too busy looking at the hero, who was down on their knees in front of the figure, gasping for breath.

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The beginning of this chapter was sorta a boring filler bit, but it sure got more interesting!