S. Welles - To Ocean's End

“Jessie!”

Jessie gasped. She thought she recognized the voice but she had to be imagining it. There had to be another Jessie on the train. Her heartache had to be tricking her into thinking she was hearing Mido’s voice. She tucked her feet onto her cushiony chair and wrapped her arms around her legs, leaning against the cabin wall.

“Jessie!”

She froze. That had to be Mido’s voice. But… why…? Why would he come for her? She leaned over the empty aisle seat and peered down the walkway. Mido was steadily working his way towards the front of the train, grabbing headrests as he checked each occupied seat. He looked up, then stopped when their eyes met.

Jessie’s heart started pounding. She cowered back in her chair, scrunching herself up in as small a ball as she could.

“Jessie!”

Second later, Mido stood before her, panting and sweaty. He reached for her but stopped when she cringed. He paused, then dropped to one knee and propped his elbows on the empty seat, looking up at her with blue eyes full of relief. He wore a smile beneath his concerned, yet relieved gaze.

“Please come back, Jessie.” He held out his hands, palms up, fingertips inches from her boots, his handsome eyes filled with pleading.

He’d really come back for her… just for her. Despite all the danger her company posed, and what bodily harm she’d inflicted on him, he’d willingly given chase, and now here he was, kneeling before her, breathing hard and with an open invitation to fly into his arms. Jessie wanted to cry.

She eased some tension from her limbs and delicately placed a hand in his. He wrapped it in both his hands and began massaging it. He said, “Please?”

Her vision blurred with tears. He cared about her. He really, truly, genuinely cared about her. He didn’t care about what she’d been through and how her body had been used; just cared about her and her wellbeing. She unwrapped her other arm and reached for him. He rose into the empty seat and pulled her into safety of his arms. She returned the hug as tight as she could and began crying. “I’m sorry.”

“Shh. You don’t have to say anything. Just please come back.”

Oh, god, she would. Yes she would. She tried to say as much but she was crying too hard. She never wanted to leave his positive energy bubble ever again. Mido kissed the top of her head and rocked her gently, whispering words of comfort.

I focused on the tower as Sauna faced the security guards head-on and Scully ran over to help. I hoped I could break the tower before too many guards arrived. Rusty as the thing was, it was still sturdy. I closed my eyes and felt where the water flowed, my mind riding along the pipe that dived into the ground and led to filtration tanks and a huge network of pipes. Everything was watertight, like it was supposed to, except for the welding where the drum and vertical pipe met. I opened my eyes to confirm what my mind saw. Rusty streaks lined the pipe. I close my eyes and felt out the weakest spots with the water’s touch.

I began spinning the water in the pipe and frequently tugging it to me like an oarsmen rowing with one oar. Sauna and Scully were in a heated argument with the authorities. I tuned them out. This was a lot of water I was trying to move, an amount my demon form was far better equipped to handle. I was already sweating. Moving metric tons of water, to put it simply, was hard as hell. As much as I wanted the boosted strength of my demon form, there was no way I’d make today the first time I ever transformed on purpose.

The water was slowly eating away at the rusted welding. Every jerk made the pipe vibrate and more metal chips break off. Water began leaking down the side, slowly at first, and then like a faucet once half the welding had broken off. And then the pipe let out a teeth clenching screech as the metal snapped and bent towards me. The arguing lulled. I called the water to me and it roped out and arced for the ground like a dolphin dive. I pulled as much as I could control towards train’s entrance and people began voicing their alarm. The train filled with screams as I filled it with water. I did my best not to pour too much in there. I didn’t want anyone to drown, child or adult; just needed my avatar back.

I filled the train level to the seat cushions and let more stream onto the platform and collect at my feet. Tons of water poured out of the tower but there was no way I could hold every last drop in place. At least now Revivre had plenty initiative to replace their water tower. I collected enough water to fill a swimming pool and let it whirl around me no higher than my waist as I watch the stupefied looks on the security guards faces. They gaped in horror.

Passengers sloshed off the train, and Sauna and Scully waited by the door. The guards regained enough composure to tell people to head back to the ticket station as they helped people off. They tried to apprehend Mido, who was holding Jessie’s hand, but I knock them over with water. By then my skin began to tingle and my body ached from the mental strain. The smell of drinking water flooded my nose.

My four crew members—well three and a tentative bodyguard—approached me and my swirling water. Jessie gasped and took a step back, and my three men gaped. Scully pointed at me.

“Captain, look!”

I looked down at myself and lost concentration on the water. My skin had turned an ocean blue. The water rolled away in all directions, soaking my crew’s boots. The other portion of water poured off the train. I wrapped my arms around my stomach and fought back the transformation. No wonder my skin felt all tingly. I held my breath and concentrated on what I look like as a human and willed myself to revert to that. The tingling reached a fever pitch, then that and the full body ache left me. I looked at my arms, which were back to their hairy human pastiness. I sank to my knees with relief and began gasping for breath. Sauna and Scully ran to me. I barely held up a finger. “Gimme a minute. That was too close.” I let my arms hang limp at my sides.

Mido’s arm around Jessie’s waist, he guided her to stand before me. She resisted every step and looked ready to cry.

I, quite honestly, had little energy to argue. “Don’t do that again.” I took a deep breath, gathered my food and coat, then groaned as I stood. I looked at all of them, then back at Jessie. “See you in two days.” I walked past them. Sauna and Scully joined my departure.

Jessie said, “Why did you come for me?”

I turned and gave her a flat glare. “Don’t ask stupid questions.” That said, I headed back to Milud’s to finish my lunch and beer. After that, I’d need a brothel. The guards looked at me like they wanted to handcuff me. I gave them a hard glare, until they glanced at the sodden train, then eased their hands away from their stun guns.

Jessie watched Dyne, Scully and Sauna leave, then she looked at the sodden train. It was completely empty and water still dribbled off the bottom step. One security guard stayed with a distraught stewardess, and the other escorted the throng of soaked passengers to the ticketing station. Jessie and Mido were soaked to the waist and stayed put.

Seeing all that water rush up to the nose of the train had been terrifying, but hadn’t taken long to figure out what was happening. At first, she thought Dyne was drowning her for leaving, but when the water stopped rising and everyone gathered enough wit to start disembarking, she had a feeling he was just flushing her out and foiling her escape. As to why he did that, she still didn’t get it. Stupid question? Not from her perspective.

Mido looked her over with those blue eyes she was so glad to see again. Sad to see them, too. But her happiness and relief far outweighed her sadness. She felt so much better being reunited with him.