Chapter 28: Smell of dried blood
Another flash of light caught his eye, coming from a corner of the parking lot. A lone figure, surrounded by a glowing, almost burning red aura. Kaiser squinted, trying to make out the details, but his friends’ voices abruptly snapped him back to reality.
"Kaiser! Are you zoning out or what?" Carter shouted, shaking his shoulder.
The world suddenly regained its colors, as if someone had flipped the lights back on. Kaiser staggered, nausea twisting his stomach. His hands were still trembling, and his throat was dry. "Shit..." he groaned, rubbing his temples.
"Did you see something or not?" Yuki asked impatiently.
POV: Hugo
At the same time I wanted Kaiser to find the bastard who had kidnapped Ben, I silently prayed he wouldn’t see anything. The risk was too great. If his ability fully activated... I clenched my fists in my jeans pockets, watching Kaiser out of the corner of my eye.
A creepy smile stretched across his lips, growing wider, as if he were in a trance. His eyes gleamed, his pupils so dilated they looked like two black holes.
"Is he overdosing or something?" Carter asked, his voice shaky as he nervously chewed on his toothpick.
Yuki narrowed his eyes, analyzing the scene. "No, I’d say more like..."
"He’s happy?" Hassan finished, raising an eyebrow behind his glasses.
I stared at Kaiser, trying to catch his gaze. With his pupils like that, he looked like the Kaiser from Saturday afternoons, when he’d pop two of his antidepressants to "zone out a little." But this was different. He was weird on top of being out of it. "Hey, Kaiser! You good?" I called, my voice higher than I’d intended.