Sky Ghosts: All for One (Young Adult Urban Fantasy Adventure) (Sky Ghosts Series Book 1) (8 page)

“Really? I guess I didn’t pay attention that night. And now I’ve actually been watching Jane and Ryan. They got some style,” Chad answered with an approving shake of his head.

“Yes, they’re good; but isn’t it interesting, what Pain just did?”

He shrugged, “Yeah, but I guess I’m not surprised, considering all the other stuff they’re capable of.”

Dave only waved his hand at him, disappointed, and turned back to Pain and Marco.

The practice was finished, and the sisters came up to them. Aside from a light sheen of sweat and a weary expression, Jane looked as if she had just walked in, and the guys couldn’t say the same about her sister.

Pain’s gear was cut and torn everywhere, the skin under it raw and bruised, her T-shirt splattered with blood. Her jacket was split on the back, and a big gap stretched vertically between her shoulder blades. And just as they came up to Chad and Dave, restoring their breaths and sheathing their swords, one of the doors cracked open, and Peter’s head stuck inside.

“Hi, Peter!” the sisters greeted him in unison.

“Hi. I just wanted to check if you’re alright,” he responded, looking at the guys. They looked back at him, a little surprised, and got up.

“We’re okay,” Chad assured him, coming closer.

“Yes, we’re fine,” Dave added.

“You need anything, maybe?”

“No, we’ve already got everything, thanks,” Dave answered for them both, and Peter nodded.

“Good. I’ve contacted your father, Dave, and he confirmed that he never had any business with Eugene,” Peter informed him, dropping his voice.

Dave nodded, not surprised at all.

“You didn’t tell him about what happened, though?”

“No, there’s no need for him to worry, right? Sorry I don’t have any other news,” Peter grimaced.

“It’s okay,” Dave waved his hand, not wanting to upset the man, but feeling disappointment creep inside the pit of his stomach.

Peter smiled at him, but then his look switched to Pain, and he frowned. She stood with her back to him, wiping her hands with a towel, her attention somewhere else.

“Pain,” Peter called for her, and she turned.

“Yes?”

He suppressed a sigh before saying, “Another set of gear?”

“What?” She seemed confused. “Oh, no, just small cuts.”

“You’ve caught the seam,” Peter said, pointing with his finger. “Haven’t you noticed that the jacket has torn?”

With a mixed expression, she shrugged off the jacket and stretched it by the shoulders, looking at the wall through the big gap in its back. Behind her, Marco snickered.

“Damn!” She lowered her hands and looked up. “Peter, I’m sorry, I’m trying to be more careful,” she said it so honestly that Dave wondered if she really believed that what he had just seen could by any measure be called
careful
.

“Pain,” Peter sighed again and shook his head. “Maybe I should set up a factory here, just for you?” He threw up his hands and closed the door, disappearing behind it.

Marco chuckled, and Pain whirled, shooting him a resentful glare.

“Not funny, dork,” she snapped, but Marco didn’t seem to be bothered by her reaction. Instead, he just spread his hands wide, as if for a hug, and advanced on her.

“Heeeey, don’t be so sad! Come here, my little butcher!” he lisped and then reached her in two swift strides, trying to sweep her into his strangling embrace. She jumped back, scowling and swearing, but he caught her and squeezed her like a toy, heading for the doors.

“Let go of me right now, you, obnoxious, nasty freak…” her voice trailed off as Marco retreated to the exit, carrying her away as she twitched and kicked in his grip.

Jane watched them go with a mild smile.

“What’s the problem with this gear?” Dave asked, rousing her out of the reverie.

“If the cloth breaks up at the seam, it’s impossible to repair it,” she answered mechanically, seeing Ryan pull off his jacket and wipe his neck with a towel, his white T-shirt translucent from the sweat. “It’s made of leather featured with a rubber of some kind. When there’s a cut, they just melt it together again. But if any of the seams were caught, it breaks up, and it’s impossible to repair. It’s a pretty expensive and laborious process, so Peter gets edgy every time any of the fighters ruin a set. Unfortunately, Pain does it more often than the others,” she finished remotely, still watching Ryan.

“Why’s that?” Dave wondered. “I mean, she’s pretty fast on her feet. It seems difficult to catch any of you two.”

“Yeah, it’s true. It’s just… she isn’t careful enough. She doesn’t care about being wounded. She only cares about results.” Jane made a face, turning to the exit. “Let’s go, we’re done here.” And she headed for the doors, giving one last look to Ryan’s back before she walked out of the training hall.

“Wake up, Curiosity! It’s almost evening!” Pain snapped Dave out of his dream once again, and he groaned, looking at the clock.

“It’s seven AM! And I was having such a cool dream! I was flying and fighting, too, but I was faster and stronger somehow; and then Iron Man came- ”

“Have you ever taken any mental retardation tests? Because you’re old enough to be diagnosed with it right now,” she cut him off mid-rant, her face colored with fake concern.

Dave growled irritably.

“You hate me. Why do you hate me?”

“Because you’re comparing me to Iron Man, obviously.”

Dave turned his face away from her, staring at the upper bunk’s bottom with indignation.

“Fine. I think I hate you too.”

She only snorted, not disturbed even a little bit by that.

“Good, then it’s finally mutual. Now get up, we’ve got some boring, stupid hanging around to do, thanks to
you
, richass.”

Ten minutes later the four of them left the room, and Pain led them to the canteen at a rapid pace. But she stopped short as soon as they came out of the elevator. There was a big gathering of fighters in the hall, and she eyed it only for a moment before rushing forward.

“Stay with them,” she ordered, and Jane suppressed a sigh. Why couldn’t she be the irresponsible one?

Followed by two incredulous gazes of Chad and Dave, Pain elbowed the crowd and disappeared somewhere in its center.

“What the hell happened?” she raised her voice because it was impossible to make out anything in this mob. The fighters were gathered around one of them: he was young and skinny, his hair blond and his look frantic.

“He says Ricky and Joey were killed tonight,” someone answered her question.

She frowned, peering into the boy’s face. She remembered him: he was one of the last spring’s rookies, and Rick was the head of his group.

“Who did it?” she enquired. When nobody answered, she stepped forward and grabbed the boy’s elbow. He looked at her as if she were death itself, and she knew it was bad, whatever happened to Rick and Joe. The size of the boy’s eyes told her everything she wanted to know, and she only needed a name now. One name to confirm her suspicions. “Who did it?” she repeated, locking her gaze with his, and he took a long ragged breath before answering.

“Chuck.”

She nodded, mostly to herself.

“Did he let you go on purpose?” she asked and realized it was quiet around, with everybody listening to them talk.

The boy swallowed audibly.

“Yes,” he said, and then quickly added, “I saw everything, and I ran, and he said, ‘Let him go,’ just like that. Ricky was already dead, I couldn’t help!”

“You didn’t have to,” she muttered, restraining the wave of anger that was about to rise inside her.
I could, and I wasn’t there. Again.

She let go of the boy and made her way out of the crowd. Jane met her with a questioning look.

“Chuck,” Pain spat, shoving the guys in the canteen’s direction before her. “Every time someone dies – it’s Chuck,” she was hissing now, “Chuck, Chuck, Chuck; why don’t I ever meet Chuck in the city? I’d like to have a little chat with Chuck. I’d even bring Chuck’s head home so I can put it on the wall and try to see what’s so special about this Chuck that he’s still around!”

“I think no matter what Peter says, after we’re done with this,” Jane jerked her head toward the guys, who were walking in front of them with worried faces, “we should go out there and track him down. He and his squad, they’re starting to get on my nerves. They already deserved a good hunt a month ago.”

Pain nodded, “You’re right. It won’t be difficult to find them; though I guess, a lot of others are also interested,” she added with a sour face, and Jane smirked.

“I heard his squad is getting bigger with each day. I think there’ll be enough for all.”

Later that day, after training and supper, Jane, Dave, and Chad were playing cards in their room. Pain was held up by Marco after they left the canteen, and it had been a half-hour since he took her somewhere with him.

Dave glanced at the clock.

“Hey, why do you think Marco wanted to talk to her alone?”

Jane scoffed, looking at her cards with a calculative face.

“You really are curious, aren’t you?” she murmured and made a move. Chad whistled, seeing her card. “Gosh, it’s so hot, I can’t remember the last time it rained,” she complained, tugging at her tank top wearily.

It really was hot outside. The window and the door were open, but it only gave a weak breeze to the room. Jane had a thin white tank top and shorts on, and still her forehead glistened with perspiration. Chad and Dave wore only shorts, but even being shirtless didn’t help much. They sat on the floor cross-legged and waited for the night to come.

“No, really, why aren’t they together?” Dave asked, looking at Jane. “They seem to be close and… I don’t know, bonded.”

Chad was about to make another move, but Jane snorted loudly, and he paused, raising his look at her.

“Who??” She made an incredulous face. “Pain and Marco?? Ew, gross!” She waved impatiently for Chad to continue. “They’re not like that! They only like each other as friends,” she explained and shook her head in bewilderment.

“Yeah, you think so? And what about all that dirty talk? All those tweaks and slaps, you really think a guy would act like that if he’s not interested?” Dave asked, looking self-righteous.

“Oh, come on!” Jane looked at him with a bemused expression. “It’s Marco we’re talking about. This is what he does! Just be happy he has Pain for joking and mocking around, because otherwise he would just slap you, and I’m not kidding.” She pointed a finger at him. “And dirty jokes? I bet ‘boobs’ was the first word he said as a baby! He just has to spill it out of him. He would talk dirty to this chair if there was no one around, trust me.”

“Okay, maybe you’re right about that, but for me it all looks like he’s constantly hitting on her,” Dave objected.

“He’s hitting on everybody! And yes, he did try to hit on her at first, but when he realized it wasn’t going to happen, he quit it. He’s not relationship material. Pain’s different, she’s everything that he isn’t, and she didn’t need it and she showed it pretty clear and he stopped. That’s it. Hitting on women is just a habit for him. He doesn’t mean it, and she doesn’t even get annoyed anymore, we’re all used to it,” she explained.

“So, he did try to hit on her?” Dave didn’t give up.

Jane threw up her hands.

“Yyyes, so what? Once he hit on a tranny, can you imagine that? Not that I told you this, of course,” she smirked.

“And by ‘showing it pretty clear’ you mean that scar on his arm?” Dave asked, not paying attention to her last words.

“Yeah, it was a part of it,” she nodded.

“Part of it?”

“Yes, it was only one time. There was a broken nose, five broken fingers, three dislocations in his left arm- ”

“Okay, okay, I see,” Dave cut her off with a raised hand.

“Don’t feel bad for Marco, though. He doesn’t know when to stop. It’s the only language he understands.”

Dave nodded.

“Okay, so it was in the past. Now she seems pretty happy when he’s around. He’s actually the only reason why I know what her smile looks like, I think,” he said.

“They just always have fun together,” Jane replied with a shrug. “Isn’t that what friends are for? To feel happy around them? I don’t know, you two are friends, aren’t you happy to see Chad?” She waved her hand in Chad’s direction and stared at Dave expectantly.

He glanced at Chad with a perplexed expression, then back at Jane; a few seconds passed in awkward silence.

“Hmm,” he responded finally, “Not really.”

Slowly, Chad turned to look at him. His eyebrows arched as he said,

“Huh… This is an interesting turn of conversation.”

Dave turned to him with a sigh.

“No, man, seriously. Of course, I’m happy to have you as a friend, but I don’t get all jumpy and… buzzy from goofing around with you,” he tried to justify himself.

“Goofing around? Ew, what are you talking about? We don’t goof around, man!” Chad grimaced and moved away from him, sitting beside Jane now. “I ain’t sitting with you!”

Jane was shaking with laughter already, and Dave growled, irritated.

“You know what I mean!” he exclaimed.

“Seriously, pal, if you think we’re goofing around, I think we should stop hanging out together,” Chad continued to mock him. “Unless!” He made big eyes, stabbing his index finger into the air. “You’ve been goofing around with someone else and you mixed it all! You’ve been cheating on me, gotcha!”

Dave turned away with a dismissive flick of his wrist.

“I’m not having this conversation with you. You can’t discuss anything seriously,” and he returned to his cards, shaking his head.

With a gloating look on his face, Chad chuckled and picked up his cards.

“Okay, what do we have here…”

But at that moment Pain showed up in the doorway with Marco next to her.

“Nice, nude Tuesdays!” he boomed with appreciation, peering inside. “Chad, buddy, could you move to the side a little, I can’t see if Jane is topless, too,” just as he said that, Pain shoved him out and closed the door from the inside.

Without a single look at the others, she began taking off the pants she was wearing. She didn’t seem to care about the guys, coming to her bed in just her underwear and a T-shirt and rummaging for her shorts. Dave swallowed. Nude Tuesdays would be so appreciated, he thought. Even nude Monday-to-Fridays.

Jane looked at her sister. The expression on Pain’s face couldn’t by any stretch of the imagination be called happy or even neutral.

“So, what did you talk about?” she asked tentatively and earned an indifferent shrug.

“Stuff. About that bastard Chuck,” Pain answered after a moment, and Jane could feel she was keeping something back.

“Hm-mm,” she hummed with a narrow look. “You’re not planning to go after him without me, are you? Because then I will find out, and I will follow you, and you won’t be happy about the result, trust me.”

Pain grimaced.

“When did I ever leave you behind? And don’t say in Mexico, because you know that was accidental.” She pointed a finger at Jane and pulled off her T-shirt; Dave turned away.

“No, it wasn’t! It was that overprotective bullshit of yours kicking in again,” Jane objected.

“It was a rush, okay? We had to catch a plane in two hours. And may I remind, someone was somewhere else, monkeying around with Ryan!” Pain said maliciously.

Jane fumed at her.

“First, we weren’t monkeying around, we were shopping!” she retorted. “Second, that someone later hurried after you through the whole city and saved you and your Mohawked friend from being torn to pieces by some Mexican dogs!”

Pain let out a weary sigh.

“Okay, okay… We’ve been through this. I don’t want to discuss it again, and I’m not gonna go after Chuck without you. Can I have my revanche for yesterday now?” She looked at Jane, placing a hand on Chad’s shoulder absently. He flinched and glanced at her, but she didn’t seem to have noticed. She was in jean shorts – that looked more like panties to him – and in a white shirt, through which he could see a black bra. And her touch was cool even though the room felt like thousand degrees.

She let go of his shoulder, and he couldn’t help but cut his eyes upward. She was twisting the short ends of her shirt into a knot on her stomach, her face frowned with concentration. She finished and raised her look back at her sister, and Jane sighed with resignation.

“Fine. Whatever.”

“Thank you,” she purred, “Now, since you don’t seem like finishing your game, let’s play some Eights, mechanic-boy…” And she got seated at her sister’s place while Jane walked away, grabbed a magazine from the table, and flung herself into the recliner.

Chad looked up at Pain curiously. She had a hair band on her hand and was gathering her hair into a ponytail meticulously. Her neck was already glistening with perspiration, and her cheeks had reddened a little.

“As you wish,” he murmured, holding back a smile. He’d been constantly beating Pain at the game, and she couldn’t let it go, of course. However, he only considered it good luck.

As he and Pain were playing one-on-one, Dave looked at Jane and asked,

“Why did this Eugene separate from the other Ghosts? Was there any particular reason for it?”

Jane raised her look from the magazine, but sat silent for a long time before answering.

“Nobody can say for sure, but a month before it happened, Eugene’s parents were killed,” she paused thoughtfully, then continued, “They were slaughtered by some robbers in a dark alley, attacked from the back. When the police found them, their wallets and jewelry were gone, so everybody concluded that it was an ordinary robbery. They say after it happened, Eugene lost control. He wasn’t himself the whole month and tried to persuade everybody that people didn’t deserve the kindness that Ghosts showed them. He had shown that kind of attitude before, and he and Michael had already been fighting over this for a few years. Michael tried to change him, but it was impossible, of course. Eugene’s parents’ death only brought up what was already inside. Everyone hoped that it would stop once he got past the shock phase, but just a month later he declared to Michael that he was going to leave whether Michael followed him or not. Michael refused, of course: he knew that what Eugene was talking about was turning the Ghosts here into killers. So Eugene left. The rest you know,” she shrugged as she finished talking.