Going... Downtown

Posted on Sat Oct 23rd, 2021 @ 5:08am by Elias Buckley & Bliss Hawkins & Elizabeth Villar

3,485 words; about a 17 minute read

Mission: Episode 1: X-Odus
Location: Salem Center, NY
Timeline: July 1990 (exact date TBC)

She was pretty, blond and confident, all great features to have, though Elias had still secured 'payment' for agreeing to take Bliss into town the quick, easy and virtually untraceable way. He wasn't sure yet just how closely the Professor's staff policed the students with regards staying on the grounds and being good boys and girls, but the fastest way to find out was to test the limits.

After taking hold of Bliss' hand in a downstairs corridor of the mansion and offering her a swift flash of a grin, there was no perceived passage of time or motion before they were both suddenly simply standing on a sidewalk in town. Salem Center, a quiet little place with just enough activity to prove there were people here. Elias let go of the younger teen's hand and nodded to the building they'd materialised in front of. The Auger Inn.

"Do you play pool?" He asked.

Bliss looked around with a big smile on her face. This was her first experience with teleportation. She gave Elias a wink.
"Oh, I've played a game or two...."

She looked to see the building and then back to Elias.
"Let's check it out "

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It had been a rough day. This school, all the dumb trees, Myfawny felt exhausted. Even the double espresso and chocolate cookies she had eaten for the evening hadn't done much to push back the wall of fatigue she knew was coming. Her meager belongings were barely shoved into the dresser, she pulled a well worn Alice in Chains T-shirt on and crawled into bed. It was early by common student standards, but she needed this. She closed her eyes and the world faded into twilight.

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Salem Center was not exactly a happening spot, but it did attract some folks. Izzy floated through the main street, looking at ghostly shapes of the occasional closed store. The coffee house was tempting, although she had nothing to buy anything with, nor the actual means of drinking it. She drifted on. The shadowy lights of living people resonated through her senses. She drifted to where they were assembling. The hazy sign read the Auger Inn. The lights of people seemed to be enjoying themselves. She drifted through the wall inside. Near the door she made out two brighter lights. That was different. People were usually shone all the same. She decided to manifest at an empty table near the pool tables. She sat their confidently looking at the townies drinking cokes, playing darts and pool. A Bryan Adams song was playing on a juke box near the windows. Her silver white hair was full and cascaded down to her midback. She wore a style pair of black jeans that clung to her legs. She also manifested a fashionable layers top, that displayed a hint of cleavage. If someone actually knew her, it would be obvious she had been reading too many seventeen magazines.

Our people vanished as snow before the summer sun...

Someone had clearly set a melancholy mood with Native Son on the jukebox, but Elias felt the guitar chords cut into his soul as he strode confidently up to the bar.

"Two Cokes, please," he said, sliding a couple of dollar bills across the counter to the twenty-something barman who greeted him by name and reached into the cooler. Clearly this wasn't Elias' first time here. The teen scoped the bar with a casual interest in the usual suspects, then lingered briefly on a couple of new faces. A blond guy nursing a dark pint and a young woman with silver white hair. His gaze caught far longer on the latter, unashamed and curious.

Ice-cold bottles in hand, Elias nudged his head in the direction of the pool tables, handing one Coke to Bliss as he let her lead the way.

With a quiet word of gratitude, Bliss took the offered bottle. She took a swig as she contemplated the open tables as she paid attention to the players surrounding the taken ones. She smoothed her hand experimentally over the green felt of one table, and then another. She finally chose one that satisfied her, then she started checking for a good cue stick.

She looked over her shoulder at Elias with a raised eyebrow. "How often do you come down here to play?"

With silent indifference at his company's apparent OCD with regards tables, Elias leant back against the wall and sipped his soda. He shrugged as Bliss asked her question. "Whenever I want," he said, without any malice in his tone or stance.

Bliss offered a wry smile. Got a bit of the rebel in him, she thought. Kindred spirit, or just contrary? Both? Who can say?
"Good answer."

Myfawny/Izzy watched the pair walk over to the pool tables near where she was sitting. In her normal 14 year old body she wouldn't dare talk to them or anyone else in the place, content to draw in a booth in the back while downing half a dozen Cokes. But as Izzy she didn't feel tired, being that she was already asleep. Before she had even thought about it she was standing and walking toward the table the two 'bright' ones were gathering around. She knew she knew she was out of her mind, but she also knew she only had a little less than an hour in town and she had to make the most of it.

Her silvery hair glimmered in the lights of the pub as she brushed it back with her hand and sauntered up to the pool table and sat her tight jeans down on the edge near the guy. She picked up the cue ball and rolled it in her hand. "I'm Izzy, I'm new in town. Can you show me how to play this game?" Izzy spoke with confidence that Myfawny could never muster. She looked older than 14, she might pass for 17, clearly too young for conspicuous relations, but certainly flirt worthy as her almost crystalline eyes flashed at him.

Elias' attention shifted swiftly from Bliss to this new chick and stayed there a while as the stranger casually wandered into their vicinity. His gaze slowly studied the younger teen from the top of her shimmery head down those slim curves to her denim-clad behind. He followed the motion of that cue ball with the merest hint of a smirk then drowned briefly in her eyes.

"Elias," he said, giving an upward nod in Bliss' direction. "That's Bliss. We go to the same school." Izzy's request was then easily accepted. "Sure," the boy added. "I can teach you. You wanna Coke?" Elias offered, a nonchalant shrug preceding his shift away from the wall to stand tall between the two young women. Tonight definitely didn't suck...

Bliss smirked at Elias as she moved around the table. He was casual as he engaged with the new babe. He didn't blame him for a second. The chick with white hair was fine. Bliss mused that if she was more into babes, she would have made a play for her herself. She found an adequate stick, reminding herself she'd have to get a pool cue of her own if she was going to stick around Westchester. A personalized stick was unnecessary weight when you were wandereing the road, but if you were going to stick around a while it was essential.

"Thank you, I'd love a coke." Issy responded flashing her eyes at the older boy, knowing full well she had no ability to actually drink it. But she could play around with it and pretend. That's what these excursions generally were, pretending. Izzy was everything Myfanwy wasn't.

"Be right back," said Elias, leaving his Coke on a shelf against the wall before ducking off in the direction of the bar.

She turned and looked to Bliss. "Bliss is a beautiful name. Do you go to school in town? I havent heard much about the local schools. Like I said, I'm new." She smiled at Bliss, she didn't seem to be in Competition for Elias' attention. That suited her just fine. She could still see the light coursing out of both of them. What did they have in common that the rest of the townies did not. The school, of course she assumed the rest of the kids in the place went to the same school.

"So are you two from around here? You just seem... different. Cooler." she said recovering from asking too prying of a question she wouldn't like asked. Still there was something about them she had to figure out.

Bliss bent over the table to gather up all the balls and rack in the triangle. She noticed that one of the players from a neighboring table was more busy checking out the deep scoop in her white shirt than his shot. The distracted guy ended up knocking the ball off the table. Her eyes followed the clattering ball as his friends laughed at his goof.

Izzy watched the little scene unfold and giggled at the young man's misfortune. "Looks like you have command of that table too." she stated lifting an eyebrow in play.

Bliss looked back to issy with a shrug.
"Not much of a challenge, kid. As for being local? I'm from Vegas. I'm still adapting to the local lifestyle, or lack thereof."

The mention of Las Vegas caught Issy's attention. She thought she was the only one from the lands of sagebrush and oppressive heat. "I know right, it's totally weird here. I'm a Zonnie from Tucson. Cant get used to all the shades of green here. Not to mention whatever folks consider run here." she blurt out with an enthusiasm that slightly played to her true 14 year old nature.

Ambling back into their vicinity, Elias handed off the third bottle of cola he'd legitimately purchased with previously 'borrowed' money to Izzy, then followed the younger teen's gaze back to the nearby table. Neither pool player over there looked like any kinda trouble, so he strolled over to grab a couple of cues from the rack and made a point of looking down both before gifting one to the white-haired girl. "Here ya go," he told her. "You ever played before?"

Bliss leaned against a vacant table and let Elias take the lead with Izzy. The last thing she wanted to do was cockblock a classmate. She took a fresh swig of coke and studied the occupants of the place.

Izzy took the offered coke bottle. "Thanks." she said with a coy smile as she lifted the bottle to her lips, careful not to actually drink any of it. One of the drawbacks of experiencing the world Astrally, you miss out on the real flavors, or being able to eat to begin with. "No, I've never really played." she said reaching out to take one of the cue sticks Elias held. She took the stick casually in her hands sizing up its weight and length. "So, I just take this, slide my hands along it and knock the balls around." she said sweetly but slightly suggestively. "Maybe you could show me how to do it." She had no idea what she was getting herself into.

Looking to Bliss, Elias raised his eyebrows - she was playing this game, he'd help Izzy - but his attention flipped back to the white-haired stranger as she took the cue and tested its feel. The amused smirk lightened the young man's expression somewhat as he felt his body react to the verbal teasing. "Yeah, kinda," he acknowledged. "First you gotta flip a coin to see who breaks," he looked to Bliss again with the inference that this was her job. "Then one of you gets to break the balls up by hitting this one," He picked up the cue ball. "Into the mix to scatter them."

Bliss did a great job of not rolling her eyes at the mildly suggestive commentary regarding the cue stick and balls. What was this girl--14 going on 25?

At Elias's suggestion, she fished a quarter out of the small pocket in her skirt and flipped it into the air. With her power, she could have made the coin do just about anything, but why risk drawing attention from the straights?
"Heads or tails?"

"Tails." Izzy called with a smirk. Myfanwy got a rush out of Izzy being so very opposite to who she was. It was freeing, and it generally had no consequences as she just needed to poof and it was all over and she was back in her bed. A bunch of townie kids she would likely never see again would see a mysterious girl that appeared, made a scene and then vanished. Of course Iris had asked her to make a scene for people she would see again... maybe rumors of a ghost girl would float back to the school.

She looked to Bliss to see who would start their game. With any luck she could hold their attention long enough to let her do something freaky. By her count she had about 40 minutes before she faded one way or the other. She needed to work fast or she was going to pay for this in the morning.

Bliss uncovered the quarter and showed the George Washington on the coin.
"Heads."

Bliss lined up the cue ball to break. As she did so, the boys at the other table moved to position themselves so they got the best look down her shirt as she bent over the table. With a smirk, she launched the cue ball with a little extra telekinetic boost. The triangle of balls scattered. The two guys closest to the table got hit in their groins. They crumpled to the ground, and their two friends circled the table with vengeance on their mind.

Izzy put a hand across her mouth to smother a laugh, but she continued to bend half way over in hysteria. She looked back at Bliss with a wide smile.

He didn't move to intervene when the other young men opted to check Bliss out - she was independent, fair game and no harm was done by looking - but Elias straightened up as his fellow student deliberately sent pain to their most sensitive regions. Damn, girl...

Elias stepped into the path of the bigger of the two lads and wasted no time in throwing a swift punch to the side of the guy's face. No powers at this point, just his own weight should be enough. His opponent staggered, rubbed his jaw and returned the favour. With a duck to the left, Elias stole that inbound energy and hurled it back behind a gut punch. A leg sweep made him stagger and the two rolled back against the other pool table.

Izzy watched as Elias engaged the oncoming students. Other kids in the bar caught on to the action and started to close on Elias. This looked to errupt into a major brawl. A large student wearing a varsity football team shirt looped around to come in at Elias on the side. Izzy suddenly sprang up onto the young man's back, throwing him off balance as he closed on Elias.

It happened in a second, that red glow about the teen's left hand and forearm, and Elias drove said enchanced attack straight into Football Shirt's belly. He planted his feet with a lazy certainty that showed he was in this for the long haul and ignored the shouts from the bar. He had no choice now, but to fight, and Elias wasn't about to back down.

From behind, another student vaulted across the pool table, grabbing him and rolling backwards across the hard, felted surface. Meanwhile, Football Shirt raised back up, spinning in an attempt to lose his passenger.

From behind the bar, came the sounds of the owner reaching beneath the counter for a final warning - a shotgun.

Bliss feigned ducking from the various bodies tumbling around her. She saw Elias already had two townies engaging him. She wasn't sure what he can handle on his own, but she wasn't about to let him get overwhelmed by more jerks.

With the cue stick, her supposed ducking movement ended up tripping one boy into another. She squealed as if she was truly terrified, stumbling into the path of what appeared to be the last townie looking for trouble.

"Stop! Don't hurt me!"
She reached out to the guy and touched him with her hand. She slipped her force around him and aimed him towards the dogpile that Elias was in the center of. With a casual flick, the guy pinwheeled away from her with impressive but far from lethal force into the scrum.

Izzy held on to the football player as he spun. It was ridiculously easy to hold on when there wasn't any actual force to push her off. She started laughing as he fought to shake her off. Suddenly the big guy fell off balance as another townie flew into him making him land on top of a large pile up of bodies over Elias. Izzy felt the impact of the big guy on top of her as his weight pressed her against the pile. The sudden pressure caught her by surprise. She reacted by slipping partially into the Astral plane. The big guy fell through her and she was suddenly a semi-transparent girl standing chest high in a scrum of bodies.

"What the hell is that?!" the owner said astonished as he moved into the pool room with his shotgun watching the apparition of the girl moving through the pile of students. He brought the gun up, but realized he couldnt fire into a pile of kids. "Get out!" he started calling gesturing with his impotent shotgun towards the front door.

"Nice lightshow, Al," said Elias, as he casually stepped into place beside and just slightly behind the bar's owner, acting as if he'd just walked in. Clearly this "But no need to shoot anybody."

There followed a muttered grumbling of mostly curse words and Al racked the shotgun out of pure necessity to expend a little of that pent-up rage. That got some attention.

"All of you, out!" He demanded, watching as the chaotic mess of bodies transformed slowly and awkwardly into individual humans. "I don't care who started it," He called as a couple of them talked back at him. "Party's over. Just go home and quit backtalking me! Out! Now!"

"Us too?" Elias asked, both hands raised up in a surrender gesture. He had a good thing going here, and no intention of ruining it anytime soon.

"Yup," said Al. "All of yous. Out."

"You got it, man," returned the teen, and he looked from the unravelling scrum of townies to the Izzy-ghost and finally to Bliss. "Thanks a lot..."

Izzy was feeling a little disoriented as the fight so rapidly became a pile up. She suddenly found herself looking at Elias standing next to some old guy with a shotgun. Both were looking at her. She looked down herself and found herself standing with her upper torso and head sticking our of some guy's back. She grimaced quickly in embarrassment before diving back into the pile in her mostly non-corpreal form and then going purely into her Astral traveler state, completely unseen and unfelt by others.

She moved out of the pile and drifted over by Elias and Bliss as the old guy started shouting for everyone to get out. Elias had nice eyes. She planned on staying in the Astral plane as the situation in bar calmed down. She hoped she didn't create to big of a spectacle. Of course, that was part of the purpose behind her stopping in for the evening. She was sure Elias had seen her standing through the pile of guys. That should freak out most people. He seemed oddly calm. Maybe she hadn't been as obvious as she thought. She drifted in closer to Elias to make sure she could hear all they might say, even in the hollow echo filled astral plane, she should be able to make things out fairly clearly.

Oh, he'd seen it. And Elias was definitely interested in the hows, whys and whos. It wasn't, however, something he was about to get into here and now. There was a reason he'd kept the powers low here, in his chill-out place, and a reason he didn't plan on escalating it too far.

"C'mon," he said to Bliss. "Let's get outta here." Out somewhere more private where they could discuss the vanishing young woman who called herself Izzy and said she was new in town. Maybe Izzy The Ghost was still here, just outside his visual spectrum, maybe not, but Elias had a feeling this wasn't the last time they'd meet.

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