16. Tae

"Calm down, Kim, what's wrong?" Chae soothed.


"We found a man on patrol. In black, he's dying. In black. Amee's with him. He's dressed in black."


"Okay, we got it, black," she smiled, and then it was wiped off in a millisecond, replaced by horror."Kim take me there, Tae stay behind-"




"Alert and follow, got it." I rushed.


***


My theos is like a network, a network of minds. It's like a three way phone call, but with images. You don't say anything you don't want to say, you don't show anything you don't want to. There's no limit to the number of participants, it's useful, but useless in fights.


Wes, we need your grandmother. Make sure she's prepared for a severely injured patient.


Tae?


Yeah-yes, I urged. Amee and Kim found something unexpected on patrol. Just get your grandmother prepared.


Screw you, he moaned, you know what she's like.


Just get it done, it's an emergency. Contact you later.


***


I summoned the others. Cass? Jess? Karinna? Oi... oi... OI!


Huh? One was confused. Jess.
What? One was annoyed. Cass.
NO. One hates me. Thing.


Kim and Amee found an injured man on patrol, most likely an enemy. I need you to make sure the Elder doesn't get wind of this and help out Wes as well.


***




I ran. I really ran, I've never 'run' before. I've only been merely 'fast'. I ran today. 


It felt like everything was pushing me even further. Curiosity, fear, vengeance, hopes and expectations, like a hurricane without pity, like an avalanche that wouldn't stop, even if I did.


"No..." Amee sounded sickly. 


As I reached them, Amee was staring into the trees, shielding her eyes. She was slumped on the ground, fatigued. 


Chae was crouched over the man, blocking most of my view. His black sleeved shirt was ripped at the seams, exposing his entire back. My innards clenched themselves together, he was a marked man. A familiar pentagon-like symbol was etched into his back, raw and scarred at the same time.


I walked around to his other side, the side he was facing in the recovery position, the side his face was. I needed to see his face. Before he seemed abstract, like he wasn't real, just a crash-test dummy or something.


When I saw his face, he gained depth and became less vague. His eyes were furrowed together, eyes without resolve, eyes that got covered by eyelids 'cause they couldn't fight. They flickered when he heard me. 


I saw his iris in that millisecond, and he gained dimension. Like an ashamed dog that smashed a delicate vase, he shoved his face down deeper into the dirt, tilting his head towards Chae.


But not before he let out a resigned gasp of breath and rasped... "Tae."


My insides unclenched themselves and seemed to plummet. He was suddenly so real. "Oscar," I breathed. No longer curious, fearful, vengeful, hopeful or expectant... I pitied him.


"Oscar," I knelt down next to him.


"Oscar," I coaxed. I wanted him to see my face, my expression.