The noise in a crowd is overwhelming in the best of situations. Everyone’s talking, conversing, making noises, trying to get to their own personal place on time and take care of personal disasters and important pieces of their daily lives that wouldn’t make a scrape on anyone else’s. There’s too much going on to get any sort of idea of what any one person was up to.
Now add all of their thoughts to the equation.
Crowds were a place of near-bliss for Zeke. Not because he could hear everyone’s thoughts. No, his reason was near the opposite. It was because it was only when he was within a crowd or completely alone that he felt that he wasn’t violating anyone’s personal privacy. In a crowd, there were too many voices to pick out any one. When he was with less people, the voices became more distinct. Even at home, he couldn’t sleep without sharing a dream with his older sister. Yech.
He had taught himself to love the cacophony that lay in the direct center of a crowd. He would spend days at a time outside, from near dawn till late at night. The earlier or later the time, the more thoughts were directed at him. Most were questioning or distrustful, and the handful of racist ones. No-one thought a black boy out in the center of a crowd at night was up to any good. Around that time he normally started home.
Tonight was one such night. After a mother had pulled her children closer as she passed him, he decided to head home.
His city could be dangerous at night. Gangs hung out in alleys between tall buildings, where fire escapes and windows with faulty locks allowed quick escapes from cops (who always seemed just a bit too late). This was a time when Zeke both loved and hated his power. He loved it because it told him where to stay away from, and hated it because he had to read the minds of groups of gangs.
He shuffled his feet, keeping his eyes down at them. His shoes were getting holes in the toes, and he could see his big toe if he wiggled it. He focused on his toe, his mind wandering…
If you feel, so empty… umf… so used up, so stepped on. You’re not the… yikes! Only one…
Zeke stopped. There were a number of voices, thoughts, coming from the next alley up. But a girl’s thoughts were loud and clear above the rest. She was thinking through the lyrics to some song… Zeke thought it sounded familiar, though he couldn’t place it.
Refusing… take that!... To back down. you’re not the, only one, so get uuuuuup.
“Lets start a riot,” Zeke sang quietly, matching the girl’s words. A riot… huh? “Lets start a riot…”
He stopped right before the entrance to the alley. The girl had stopped singing (in her mind, that is), letting the other thoughts take over.
Get her! Damn this bitch! Dude, he wasn’t lying when he said this stuff would f’ you up… the hell is going on around here?
Zeke poked his head around the corner, seeing a gang of maybe five guys, all with their backs to him, facing a girl of perhaps 15. She was wearing… -the fuck? It looked like an orange leotard, knee-high black leather boots, green gloves up to her elbows… and a beret that looked like a pumpkin in her wavy brown hair.
She locked eyes with him, and a jolt of pain seared through Zeke’s mind, paired with a staticy-feedback sound. He let out a cry of pain and surprise, clutching his head as he stumbled backward a few steps. And suddenly it was gone. He looked up, and the gang had turned to him, looks of mingled surprise and confusion on their faces. He locked eyes with the girl again, who had a hand to her temple as well.
The hell is this f’er? Damn, another one? Hey kid, if you hear this, follow my lead.
He blinked. What?
The girl straightened, placing her hands on her hips. “You are doomed! The mighty Psykin’s faithful sidekick, Mindbender, has arrived!” she waggled her fingers eerily at the gang. “He can see into your minds, nothing you do can surprise him, for he already knows your thoughts!”
“Fuck this shit.” One of the men swore. “Kill ‘em both!”
“Mother f-“ Zeke ignored his instincts and ran straight at the closest man, plowing him over. He heard another right behind him, and dived out of the way as they pounced on the place he just was. at this point, he was right beside the girl, Psykin, was it?
“Mindbender?” he muttered to her, sounding irate.
Just go with it, please? She shot him a look, as if asking if he could still hear her.
“As soon as we’re done here I want some answers.” He whispered.
Whatever. Oomph! She screwed up her face, and for a moment Zeke didn’t know what she was doing. Then he saw one of the men forcibly pushed into another… when nothing was touching him.
“So… you’re…?” He asked before running forward to ram into another man.
Telekinetic? Yeah. Telepathic too.
The two who had been pushed into one another had run off, and the one Zeke had just rammed was moaning on the ground. Zeke looked over at the last two, who were exchanging uncertain glances. Zeke tilted his head down, lifting his arm to point at the two, and trying his hardest to look intimidating.
Needless to say, they booked it out of there.
Mere moments after the last of the thugs were out of sight, the girl sank to the ground. Shit… ow…
“You okay?” he asked stupidly.
No. “Do I look okay?” she asked, glaring up at him. It took him a moment to get past the pumpkin hat, but then he saw the lines under her tired eyes. She looked like hell.
“Not really.” He admitted, offering her a hand up. She ignored it, preferring to sit. After standing there awkwardly for a few moments, he straightened.
Well, that was a complete bust. Not to mention I dropped my last fifty on this outfit…I don’t even have enough for a motel tonight…
“Do you have a place to stay?” Zeke asked, then colored, realizing he was snooping.
She looked at him, an odd look on her face. “Why are you still reading my mind?”
“You didn’t answer.” He swiftly avoided the question.
“No, I don’t. Now you have to answer me.” She demanded.
He looked away, shrugging unconvincingly. “It’s not like I can turn it off, you know.”
She stared at him doubtfully. “No, really. Why.”
“I’m serious. I can’t just flip a switch.” He made a motion with one finger, as if there was an invisible light switch on the side of his head.
“That’s gotta suck.” She said, her thoughts reverting to her own telepathy, how it was a strain to use and limited…
“You should come home with me tonight.” He blurted.
She looked at him doubtfully. “Yeah, right.”
“Really. You have no-where else, and in that outfit you’ll be bait for any bad characters out tonight.” He reasoned.
“I’m not going to go home with some stranger just because you helped me kick some ass, okay?” she said firmly, though her thoughts portrayed some doubt before she managed to censor them.
But he managed to catch something… something about being able to learn from him. Personally, Zeke had no idea what he was doing when it came to his power. It was there, and he couldn’t turn it off; that was all he knew. If he knew someone’s voice or thought pattern, he could hone in on them in a crowd, but not mute out everyone else. What could he possibly teach her?
But at the same time, she didn’t know how much he knew. Maybe if she thought he could somehow help her… but that would be lying. But for her own good… he couldn’t let her stay out in the city on her own for even just the night…
“You’re not the most advanced at your powers, are you?” he asked, driving the toe of his shoe into the ground, unknowingly making the hole above his toe bigger.
Her thoughts raged, as if it were an insult. “So what if they aren’t the best? I’m working on it.” She spat, defensively.
“Hey, relax, willya?” he held up his hands, as if warding off her thoughts (now on the offensive side and calling him out openly. The audacity…) “I could help you with that.”
“What, like, mentor stuff?” she asked, softening slightly. Her thoughts considered, but lingered on her in a ‘sorcerers apprentice’ kind of deal, complete with water buckets and pointy hat. Zeke couldn’t help a snort, but managed to cover it with a cough before she noticed.
“If you want. But I wouldn’t be able to find you again if we split up…” he scowled, as if in thought. “Too many variables... my schedule always changes, so there’d be no guarantee of setting specific meeting times…” he shook his head sadly. “Maybe it wouldn’t work out after all…”
She looked at him, puzzling him out. The solution was already planted in her mind, she was just weighing the options. He egged her on internally, rooting for the thought that kept growing and growing…
“What if I stayed with you?” she finally suggested.
He perked up, as if that was the first time that was considered. “That… that would work!” he snapped his fingers, then regretted it, worried it was too much. Damn, he was a bad actor… “But you’d have to be snuck in and out. No-one ever bothers me in my room, so as long as you’re quiet they won’t know a thing.” He reasoned.
Suddenly she backtracked. “Wait, hold on. Snuck in? They? Explain.”
“I live in an apartment with my parents. They’re barely ever home, so them you don’t have to worry about. I have an older sister, but she just crashes on the couch sometimes when she stays out too late or something. She has her own place nearby.” He explained, using his best ‘convincing’ voice. It was the same that worked flawlessly on his parents.
She stared at him doubtfully.
“Look, do you want to learn and have a place to stay or stay where you are and sleep in a park looking like that?” He stated flat-out.
She paused, looking down at herself. “Well, you do have a point…”
Zeke nodded. “Of course I do. You coming?” He dug into his pocket, emerging with a keyring. He twirled it around his fingers, the few keys he had on it jingling. Apartment key. Sister’s apartment key. The key for his bike lock. One for the safe in the apartment. They rattled, giving him a distraction from her thoughts for a moment.
She was silent for a minute. Then another. He fidgeted, trying to entertain himself with the keys and suppress his yearning for what was in her head. That was an odd feeling… usually thought ignorance was bliss when it came to the thoughts of others. That was why he stayed in crowds all day, and tried to avoid one-on-one contact at all costs. Why was she so different?
Maybe because she knew what it was like.
Yeah, that was it.
“Okay.” She finally sighed. “I’m coming. I just hope I can pilfer some clothes off of you… or maybe your sister would be better…”
He smiled, a small laugh on his lips. He motioned with his head before he started out of the alley. She followed, sticking close to him and slipping off her pumpkin hat to hold it in her hands. She fidgeted with it nervously, her thoughts full of worry and- could it be?- regret. He felt bad for tricking her, but the safest place she could be at the moment was with him.
Feeling she needed some encouragement, he draped one arm around her shoulder. Her thoughts immediately switched to protecting her innocence, causing him to remove his arm before she decided to break it.
“Sorry.” He apologized. He was answered with a head-splitting wave of feedback. “Ow!” he cried. “Can you not?”
The feedback ceased and she scowled. “That’s extremely irritating…”
“The feedback?” he asked stupidly.
“No, the fact I can’t get anything off of you. No feelings, no emotions, no thoughts. It’s maddening.”
“Kind of like if you were normal?” He gave her a sidelong look.
She colored slightly in the darkness. “That just sounds selfish.”
He gave her a small smile. “It’s okay. I just have to say that I’d love to feel like that for a while.” He sighed. “Just to have some peace of mind… literally… for a day.”
She looked down, pulling on the cloth ‘stem’ of her pumpkin hat. “Now I feel guilty.”
“Don’t. It’s not your fault.” He reasoned. “I’m Zeke, by the way.”
“Erin.” She greeted. “And just f-y-i, I’m not insane.”
“Now, why would I think that? A girl dressed as a pumpkin found fighting thugs in an alley is the peak of mental health.”
She sighed, but had no arguments against that.
And the two walked along into the city night.
