Enhance 2: Chapter 14

Yumi hopped forward clearing the gap between the train and a sandwich shop, quickly traversing the roof before sliding off it and jumping again, kicking her legs to land on a clothing store. Crossing the strip mall from the roof tops were always more fun than doing it on the streets. No extra people to deal with and no cars.

Just bright lights from surrounding buildings, pipes, the occasional steam cloud. She pulled her scarf tighter around her mouth and tightened the black hoodie on her shoulders. Feeling the air on her face and blowing her hair around was weird. She missed wearing her mask but for this kind of stuff she couldn’t be Yumi the thief.

It had been a week since those images went out there and the stress on the streets was at an all-time high. More police were active, on patrol, some neighborhoods even having an active curfew. Lots of false arrest had gone out but they didn’t amount to anything more than increased tension.

People constantly had their eyes on the rooftops or were nervously checking the shadows. They were scared. And when people got scared they got desperate. Desperate people did desperate things whether that was aggressive and destructive outwardly or inwardly. She felt guilty that she was even remotely apart of all this.

Hopping over a low generator she slid off the roof and went feet first forward the street. She landed on a car and felt the roof buckle slightly but she jumped forward again swearing under her breath. That actually made her feel a little guilty. Clearing the street in one go she heard a car honk behind her.

She looked over her shoulder and saw that her bag was still in one piece. The contents weren’t that messed up either which was doubly important. She was retracing her steps back through this neighborhood.

At night it wasn’t quite the same. More commotion back and forth, more people out but none of them really paying any mind to one another. A few more cars moving, most of them all blasting music. She beelined her way through the neighborhood and took her sharp turn toward the old soup kitchen. The only consistent light that she could rely on to let her know she was going the right way was the moon overhead.

She found the broken wall that let her cross from the open lot to the kitchen. The air was still stale and cold, the barest amount of light streaming in from the moon overhead but as she went further the darkness fell back into place. Her eyes did their best to adjust to what she was seeing and they only got half way there.

She couldn’t stop herself from walking into old shelves and cracks in the ground. Stumbling over an old bottle she walked right into the side of a wall and she started swearing up a storm under her breath. She really missed her mask. Grunting she put both her hands in front of her and the orange light glowed to life at her palms. They weren’t exactly flash lights but she could see her at least a couple feet in front of her.

Walking forward she looked around going loosely in the same direction that she’d went before. She resisted the urge to touch walls and accidently set it on fire. The wide-open area was just as empty and she didn’t see any signs of the two from before. She sighed having assumed this wouldn’t work out but stubbornly wanted to try it anyway.

Turning around she started to head back toward the hole when she heard a heavy sequence of coughing. Pausing she turned toward the direction of the sound and walked toward it. Her hands managed to fight off the cold but she shivered anyway. It might have been because of nerves honestly.

The coughing was coming from a room that if it had a proper door it would have been able to muffle it. But sans a door, all merits of privacy were gone. She walked to the doorframe and let the glow from her hands go away slowly. She heard another coughing fit but this time it cut off sharply by a gasp.

“Get the fuck away from here,” came the voice of the boy. She remembered it from the last time, accent and all, but this was the first time she’d actually seen him. Short curly blonde hair, dark brown skin, smaller and big brown eyes, gaunt cheeks, a slight build so thin that his shirt hung off his body. In his shaky hand was a gun. It looked too big in his hands. He looked like a younger blonder Shade to her eyes.

Behind him was a girl barely able to sit up. She looked exactly like him in every way except her hair was straight and in a loose bowl cut. She kept one thin hand against her mouth as she glared and tried not to cough again but Yumi could see the strain it was causing her.

Yumi raised both her hands and looked at the two of them, “I’m not here to hurt you. I can help you in fact,” she said and took a step back. “But you have to not shoot me first. Can we agree on that?”

He tried to keep the gun steady on her but he didn’t say anything. He gasped and sank down to his knee and then he coughed. Coughing was the wrong word, he hacked at the ground and pressed his forehead down against the wall. Grunting he looked up slowly and she saw the blood in his hands.

She wanted to run to their side but again she wasn’t trying to get shot. So she slowly got down to her knees and slid her bag off her shoulder. The boy kept his eyes on her, fixed in a glare but she could see how his shoulders shook. How he was constantly looking at the edge of his vision. That he wanted to look back at the girl. Probably his sister by the look of them.

She opened the bag slowly and held up a small leather case. Setting it on the ground she slid it over to him quickly keeping his gaze. He glanced down at it and reached out with his other hand and popped the tab. It opened and he gasped looking at it and raised the gun again glaring at her.

“What the fuck is this?” he asked sharply. “Is this poisoned? Or Is this some kind of trap? Some kind of game?”

“No. It’s real. I know what you’re going through. I know what it looks when you feel that withdrawal. And the person these belonged to wanted you to have them. It’s not a lot but it’ll help you. It’s not fake. It’s real. Use them for her. Especially her.”

He looked down at the gun and her again unsure but she started coughing again and he dropped the gun immediately. He picked up the case and popped open taking out the needle and sliding it into the small vial. He was a pro at setting up that’s for sure. He took the girls arm, pressed it in, and pushed. She winced initially but relaxed and as the drug worked its way through her, her face glowed.

Not the glow of a high, though that was there too, no her eyes, her ears, her mouth all glowed going bright like a light. Yumi covered her eyes and watched as she glowed from the inside out like a torch. She almost floated off the ground and then sank back down. Coughing hard she shivered and held onto him tightly.

Looking at him with her glowing eyes she reached for the case weakly. “Take it Ray. Please.”

“No sis, you need it more than I do right now.”

“This will hold me over. You’re in as bad a place as I am. Please.”

“There’s more,” Yumi said going through the bag and taking another case out. It wasn’t quite the same good quality as the last one but it was good enough. From a different dealer. Sliding it forward like the last one both teens looked at her.

“Who the hell are you,” Ray asked, the sharpness in his tone gone. Replaced by uncertainty and disbelief. “Why are you giving us enhance.”

Yumi pulled at the bottom of her mask and slid it down revealing her face. “Because helping people is what I do. And you two are people I can actually help. Maybe people that I specifically can help.”

“You’re the girl that came here a week ago. The person that we tried to rob. But that other girl,” the girl grunted trying to sit up. “That weird one got in the way.”

“Yeah Echo,” Yumi smiled. “She’s a lot like you guys. At least she was. Homeless and addicted to enhance. Needed it to survive. She still needs it to survive. But not as badly as before. And she saw how bad you guys were. She needed to get it to you in some way she could.”

Ray looked at the new case and took a slow breath picking it up and did what he did for the girl. He prepared the needle and shot it into his arm. He stiffened almost falling over from the surge of it in his body and his eyes nearly rolled to the back of his head but he stayed conscious.

Yumi watched the two of them but shook her head and looked at the girl, “When’s the last time you guys ate?”

“We stole some bread this morning,” she smiled and then coughed again.

“Not scraps to survive. Real food,” Yumi said.

Ray recovered enough to turn his unfocused gaze onto her and shook his head. “I don’t know.”

“That settles it,” She stood up quickly and both teens tensed and almost flinched away from her. “Food. There’s a diner around here. 24 hours. Not far away. Let’s go. I’ll feed you two and then if you want to hear me out I know a place you can go.”

Ray reached for the gun and Yumi frowned hard but understood and raised her hands up again. “Why are you trying to help us?” he asked.

“Already told you. I’ve seen this happen to someone before. I want to help people.”

The girl raised her hand and an orb of light pulsed, barely bigger than a tennis bowl but it was bright enough to make Yumi squint. Ray turned to look at her his eyes wide. “Flair. You’re going to burn yourself out again.”

Flair shook her head and stared at Yumi, “You know what we are. Monsters. Freak.”

“Me too,” She let the power flow through her hands again watching them glow like red hot irons. She pressed one against the ground and it hissed against the stone, smoking hard. She shook it out, letting the heat dissipate. “Now come on. I want to feed you guys. There’s no strings attached I promise.”

“Promises aren’t worth a lot,” Ray said narrowing his eyes but his shoulders slumped. He was tired and she knew that look. He looked back at his sister and the sunken tired gaze there told him, and her, all they needed to hear. Looking back at her he lowered the gun and put it into his pants, “Okay.”

“Can either of you two walk?” Yumi asked coming forward slowly.

“I can,” he said and got to his feet slowly. He looked like he’d be blown over by a strong wind but he held his ground. Going over to his sister he helped her to stand, her arm against his own. They were the same height as well and it finally dawned on Yumi.

“You’re twins.”

“Yeah,” Ray said pointing at himself. “I’m Ray.”

“I’m Flair.”

“I’m Yumi,” she offered her hand to help them but neither of them took it. They walked forward slowly and Yumi picked up her bag sliding it across her shoulders. “Just follow me. It’s real close I promise.”

And it was. She’d scouted it out before even coming out here to try and find these two. Getting them out of the soup kitchen and through the lot had been the hard part. Neither of them had done a lot of walking in the past few hours and they were unsteady but they were strong. Or maybe stubborn. Probably both. They leaned on each other, holding each other’s hands tightly.

The diner was around the corner a few blocks away. It was small only a few tables within and near the tables. Most of the people that would normally go by the place would be walk ins, parking off the corner off the street. Yumi opened the door and the bell dinged.

The twins shuffled their way forward squinting at the lights. They stared at the menu, their eyes jumping from item to item. They looked at one another and whispered quickly back and forth and Yumi gave them space but she loosely heard one of their stomachs rumble and she laughed.

“You guys know what you want?” Yumi asked and looked at the menu herself. “I’m thinking cheese fries and a milkshake. Hits the spot this late at night.”

Both of them looked at her and exchanged glances with each other again and nodded. “Yeah. That sounds good.” Ray said quickly.

“I agree.” Flair mumbled.

“Go pick a table. I’ll order.” She walked up to the counter and could hear some voices behind the counter talking. She peaked back but someone finally came over to her. They looked tired, like someone who needed a shot of coffee or to get off their shift. “What’s up. Three orders of cheese fries and three chocolate shakes.“ She held up both fingers showing this off and smiled.

They nodded slowly, ringing her up without any comment. Taking out her wallet she handed off a few twenties and got her change, a receipt, and a metal stick with their number out the top. Going back to the table she sat across them. The twins weren’t really looking at her though. Flair was constantly looking out the window and Ray toward the door behind her.

“You two can relax you know,” She said and both twins shook their heads almost at the same time. “Habits I guess.”

“We appreciate you buying us food but,” Flair looked at her and through the dirt, the hunger, and the uncertainty she was pretty. She started to say something else but the bell dinged again, this time coming from the countertop instead of the door. Yumi glanced over at the counter and their was their food steaming and fresh.

She got the tray with three plates of hot fries and shakes. She even managed to snatch some napkins which she knew Feint would be proud of. Balancing it between her hands she walked slowly but confidently toward the table and slid it in front of the twins. She rotated it around so that they didn’t have to reach over one another to get their food.

“Alright. Eat up. And be careful its-“ she didn’t get another word out because the pair started digging in. They were slow at first but as they ate and they tasted things they started scarfing it down like the food would disappear which that wasn’t insane to believe. Yumi dug into her own, much more reservedly but no less polite. They got through half their shakes and most of their fries, licking their fingers before finally slowing down.

“Can’t remember the last time we had cheese fries,” Ray said.

“I do. It was like six months ago. Remember. That party that we were able to sneak into?”

“Yeah yeah. We had pizza that day.”

“God that was forever ago.”

“Before the winter.”

Both went silent for a long moment and their arms moved. Yumi had a feeling that they were holding hands again and she frowned hard. “The place that I want to bring you to. It’s a shelter and they’re welcoming. Even for people like us. It’s run by a woman, kindest that I’ve ever met. She’ll make sure you guys have a bed. And food. And there’s no strings.”

“It’s hard to believe that,” Flair said. “We’ve been screwed before.”

“I’ve worked at this place for a few weeks now. I know they’re legit. Hell I’d make sure you guys are taken care of.”

Ray stared at her, “Why? Why go this far for strangers.”

“Because I met you.”

“What?”

“We tried to rob you.”

“Yeah you did. I know a thing or two about stealing. You guys did it to survive.”

“What if you didn’t find us today?” Flair asked. “Would you have kept looking?”

“Yeah. I would have tried at least.”

Ray scoffed, “You would have searched the whole city?”

“I have friends, family, that would have helped,” she said and both of them tensed slightly.

“Like that girl with the white hair,” Ray said and Flair shuddered. “How did she do that?”

“She’s just like us. And she doesn’t read minds often. That was just a special case. She thought she could help by getting specific. Ended up scaring you guys off.” While she talked the twins had started eating again and when she finished their plates were just the remnants of cheesy smears and their milkshakes almost empty.

“It was fucking weird.” Flair said unhappily, looking down and then back at Yumi. “How far away is this shelter?”

“A train ride. Maybe twenty or thirty minutes.”

The twins looked back at one another, again that mirrored unease rested on their faces. But something unsaid transpired because they both sat up straighter. “We said we’d go. So we’ll go.”

“Okay. Do you have anything that you like kept with you that was like special to you?” they shook their heads. “Alright.”

Finishing her milkshake as well she led the them out and down the streets. Now that they’d had food in them both twins were walking stronger and far more confidently. They kept pace with her easily now, getting to the station in about five minutes. Normally she would have hopped the turnstiles but the last thing they needed was trouble.

She paid for them and waited another few minutes for the train to finally slide in. No one ended up getting off and they took the corner spot. For Yumi this was just normal but the way the twins stared out the window this was like a field trip. Staring at the lights of the city rushing past them with wide eyes. They pointed at things whispering back and forth and she caught glimpses of smiles that must have been rarities. It made her recalculate their ages, no older than sixteen.

It made her wonder how long they had been fending for themselves.

Yumi stared out the window and watched a trio of police cars speeding down the street. One took a sharp right while the others kept going. Before she could keep track of where they were going the train turned in the opposite direction. She kept trying to watch but she couldn’t keep track. Her instincts wanted her to go out there and help. Or hinder depending on the situation. But priorities.

The train finally came to their stop and she nudged the twins to wake them up. They had started to doze off together, the side effects of having a full meal. The shelter wasn’t lit up but there were a few lights still on. She went toward the front door and pressed a button for the intercom.

At first no one answered and she leaned back on the balls of her feet. A man came by finally, scruffy beard and curly hair. He was holding a cellphone like a flash light and when he saw Yumi he unlocked the door. “Yumi. Didn’t expect to see you tonight. Or this late. Who’re your friends?”

“Hey Rhodey. You’re looking great,” he gave her a tired stare that came from a caffine defecit. “Right. The point. These two are some friends of mine.” Ray and Flair just stared at Rhodey as he looked back. “They need a place to stay that’s not the streets. I know we have a corner bed that’s still open right?”

“Yeah we do. You know we prefer to do things like this during the day.”

“What can I say. I’m unconventional.”

“They can spend the night. Come back tomorrow to talk to Hanako properly,” he said and waved toward the two of them. “Come on. I’ll show you in.”

The two looked back at Yumi and she saw that uncertainty again. She went forward gently taking their hands. “It’s safe here. I’ll be back tomorrow and we’ll get you properly set up. Promise.”

She smiled and they looked at one another before finally nodding to her. She watched them go back inside and waved to Rhodey with two thumbs up. Once the door was closed and locked she stretched her arms above her head grunting. “Alright. Time to get back home.”