Jordan finished his first slice, wiped his mouth off, and asked Nick what sort of power he'd want to have if he could have any ability at all.

Nick only told them he didn't have any idea.

"I'd want something cool like that guy from London." He stopped to recall his name but failed to do so.

"It's Ilion," Drake filled in.

"Who?" asked Nick.

"He's London's newest hero," Jordan reported. "He can fly, manipulate fire, and lots more."

"Oh..."

"You don't watch the news that much, do you?" Jordan asked.

Nick frowned, "Not really, I'm too busy with work," he said as he resumed their game.

"What is it that you do again?" Jordan asked.

Nick told him he worked at a department store in Mukilteo.

They returned to their game for a short while before they grew tired of it and decided to simply watch a movie and talk. Drake elected that they watch the Seven Samurai, which was one of his favorites. Jordan whined at first, but once Drake told him it was a samurai film he kept his mouth shut; Nick didn't utter a word of disagreement.

Jordan couldn't withstand the uncomfortable silence, got up from his seat, and wandered around and examined Drake's living room. "Do you still collect those sweet plastic robot models?" he asked Drake.

He nodded, (though Jordan couldn't see him), "I do, why?"

"No reason." He looked around the room and noted that nothing changed since Drake's father died. "Why don't you display them out here or something?"

"Because I hate having to explain the differences between all of them and what their respective anime series are," Drake told him. "Besides, it'd make this house look like my bedroom and I like the decor how it is now."

Jordan shrugged and muttered, "I'd redecorate if I was you."

"You're not though."

"True."

Drake watched his friend wander around and told him to take a seat. "You're distracting me."

"Haven't you seen this a dozen times already?"

"Yes, but it's a cla.s.sic nonetheless."

Jordan reclaimed his spot on the couch and only kept quiet for a moment before he started up another conversation with Nick about his work. As much as Nick wanted to sit quietly and simply watch the movie, he knew Jordan wouldn't let him.

"It's fine."

"What do you spend all of that money on anyway?"

"Groceries and gas mostly," he told him.

Jordan apologized and said he wasn't thinking.

"It's okay."

They watched a short scene before Jordan asked when the last time either of them spoke to Ian was. Drake and Nick exchanged exasperated looks and told him to relax and watch the movie. It took Jordan two more sodas, half of his pizza, and a few pills he popped without the others' knowledge before he managed to do so. Drake felt the movie was a poor idea, as Nick and Jordan were not overly interested in it. Drake wanted things to remain as they were before Ian left, but he knew that time in their lives was over.

Drake sighed and asked his friends how school was for each of them.

Chapter 22.

September 22nd, 2029 10:49 PM.

London, England Suzy Castell stood in the background of a nearly vacant stage with a well-worn copy of a loose adaption of Franny and Zooey. There were only a few actual parts in the entire play and she was somehow fortunate enough to portray Franny, though she imagined it was simply because out of all the ladies who auditioned, she was not only the right size for the part, but she knew how to smoke about as much as Franny did in the novel. Suzy was also a closet Salinger fan and read the novel her instructor formed his play around four times prior to signing up for the production. However, she felt out of place and unnecessary onstage, as the rehearsal for the evening focused around Zooey and his mother's discussion during his bath; Franny wasn't a part of the act.

"Well, since we've just finished the second act I'd say we can call it a night," the director called out. "We'll pick things up tomorrow and really focus on how we're going to set the stage. So actors, please keep practicing your lines, and as for all of my engineers, we'll talk tomorrow afternoon. Good night everyone, and keep up the good work."

Suzy only rolled her eyes and stowed away her script in favor of her carton of cigarettes. She lit it and took a drag before heading for the door. She stopped however, when she came across a familiar face. "Jason? What are you doing here?"

He smiled and admitted he wasn't there for the performance. "I have a few questions and I wasn't sure I would have been able to ask them at dinner the other night."

Suzy kept her cigarette between her lips for a moment and tried to read his expression before she relented and asked him to follow her. She took her bag from one of the nearby seats and led him out into the chilly night.

Jason scanned the area and cleared his throat. "What play was that?"

"It's not really a play at all," she started. "My professor just thinks he's brilliant and wanted to disgrace something he loves."

"Excuse me?"

Suzy shook her head and told him to forget about it. "Is Audrey here with you?"

"No, she's back home putting the finishing touches on one of her projects."

"Then are you trying to hide this from her?" she questioned him. Suzy took a step in front of him, turned on heel, and looked him straight in the eye. "You're not keeping something from my sister are you Jason?"

"It's" he paused for a moment and glanced away from her. "It's nothing like that Suzy. Listen," he shook his head and forced himself to focus on their discussion. "This is about those girls you said were missing, kidnapped. I hoped I might get some more information from you."

Suzy dragged on her cigarette once more before she dropped the remainder on the tarmac walkway beneath her feet. She didn't bother to stamp it out. "Why are you so interested in this Jason? What compelled you to drive out here on your own to ask me rather than just read the papers or the story online?"

Jason took a shallow breath and tried to compose his response, though Suzy immediately recognized his faade and told him to be truthful. He let out a breath and told her to walk with him. Jason continued to glance around for a quick minute until he seemed certain they were alone, and then he began, "What you said about the two girls missing seemed to resonate with other kidnappings and killings in Richmond. I have looked into things, at least as far back as I can trace the murders, though all I've managed to find is that there have been four abductions which eventually led to someone locating a mutilated corpse. The first was an accountant named Edward Park who turned up in Ham missing a liter of blood with only a few minor wounds to his skin. There are a few theories that the blood was surgically removed. This was on the eighteenth of August. Emma Thompson went missing on the seventeenth and was discovered on the twenty-first, missing a kilogram of skin, mainly taken from her back, which was also surgically removed. Emma Thompson was located near the Munic.i.p.al Offices in Twickenham. And then there was a lull," he continued. "The next abduction wasn't until the thirty-first of August. Her name was Jeanette Smith and she wasn't found until September third."

"And she was missing her lips and tongue," Suzy finished. "I heard about that one from a friend. What are you getting at Jason?"

He hesitated momentarily and told her he believed he'd found a trail that could lead to the killer. "He's been working his way through Richmond and I believe he's here somewhere in Roehampton."

Suzy cussed and thanked him flatly for enlightening her. "I don't know if you can't tell but I'm scared as h.e.l.l Jason. In fact, the only relief I have right now is that you're going to be kind enough to walk me back to my dorm."

Jason nodded and told her it wasn't any trouble. "And I'm not trying to frighten you Suzy. I need your help." He took a breath while some students pa.s.sed by and continued his report. "Jeannette Smith turned up in Saint Margret's on the third, which was the day Sean Williams went missing. His remains were found on the seventh on Richmond Hill by some runners. He was missing two liters of blood, similar to Edward Park. And this is where I need your help. You mentioned two girls are missing, could you, would you mind telling me about them and when they vanished?"

Suzy stopped walking and told him the first girl, Nicole Weaving, turned up early that morning. "Some guys in my writing cla.s.s found her in Richmond Park near the campus. She was missing her left ear and left hand." Suzy frowned and told him she suspected the villain was somewhere on their campus too. "I'm not the only one either. The police and the school aren't sure what to do as of now. All I know is that it isn't safe at all." She looked away from him and admitted she would ask to stay with Audrey and him if things worsened. "I'm scared s.h.i.tless Jason and I hate to impose, but you live close and I don't clash with you and Audrey the way I do with mum and Alan, or with Jack. And I can't bear to ask him, I wouldn't ever hear the end of that," she remarked.

Jason told her they would be more than happy to have her stay with them. "I would want to check with Audrey, but as long as you don't mind taking the couch, I think she'd oblige."

Suzy thanked him while she retrieved another cigarette. She held it in her hands, which quivered as she continued, "The other girl, Sasha Collins, went missing on the sixteenth, three days after Nicole went missing, but Sasha hasn't turned up." Suzy took a moment to light the cigarette before she asked if Jason had any questions left.

"No, that about sums it up."

"Can I ask something then? What's your interest in this? Why are you digging for more information?"

He wiped off the edges of his lips and hurried her along until he felt they were far enough from anyone who might overhear their conversation. "Can I trust you to keep something to yourself Suzy? I mean, you can't tell this to anyone, especially not Jack or his wife or Alan or your mum."

"Does Audrey know?"

"What? Of course, of course," he rubbed his eyes, "She's known about as long as I have. In fact she's working on the d.a.m.n outfit as we speak."

Suzy's brow furrowed while she dissected his words. "Jason, are you"

"I'm Ilion," he told her in a whisper. "I mean it, the whole production and all, though your brother has misguided rumors built up in his head...but basically, I am Ilion."

She didn't move. All she did was examine his eyes for any sign of a lie or jest, but quickly realized it was true. "Oh my...Jason, you-you're really him?"

"Yes."

"I mean you are actually"

"I am Ilion," he repeated. "Please don't make a scene I'd rather not"

"Prove it," she said with a smile. "Fly or lift a car over your head or something."

Jason scowled and though he didn't want to perform for his sister-in-law, he plucked the cigarette from her lips, put it out on the end of his shoe, set the rest of the cylinder in the palm of his left hand and quickly produced a fire which reduced it to a small amount of ash in only a few seconds.

Her eyes widened and Jason saw an immediate change in her overall countenance. "Holy s.h.i.t. You weren't lying at all, that's...this, this is astounding. I-I didn't even know you could do something like that."

"There are other things the media hasn't learned of, but I don't plan on showcasing myself," he told her while he wiped the ash off of his hand.

She apologized sheepishly, but asked, "Then you're looking for this killer?"

"In one manner or another."

"Do you have any idea who he is?"

Jason admitted he thought he had a name, but he was sure it was nothing more than a dead end. "When I was in the hospital," he paused, "And this is strictly between the two of us, Audrey, and my doctor, alright? Well, I was recovering rapidly." He mentioned his regenerative power, something she would have remarked excitedly to had he allowed her to interject. "Someone broke into my room and tried to kill me. Actually, they did kill me, but I recovered, revived really."

"Then the story about the hero who you and all the doctors a.s.sumed healed you, or rather resurrected you, was a lie?"

"Yes."

"Why did this person try and kill you?"

Jason admitted he was uncertain. "But I have a few theories. They're rather unseemly so I won't burden you with them, but I believe it might have been somewhere along the lines of what has happened to the other victims."

"But it didn't work," she said. "He must have tried, or at least that's what you must think. But why didn't it work?"

"Probably because of my regeneration," he told her. "My best guess is that he tried to remove blood or an organ or something, but he couldn't because of my regeneration. I'm not altogether sure, considering my overall revival took days, but in any case it didn't work."

"But why do you have any doubt that he's the culprit?"

"He told me his name but I think it was a false one, seeing as he called himself Doctor Joshua Todd, and the only Doctor Joshua Todd who fits the description I could give would have lived over a century ago."

Suzy reminded him that it was a common name. "It could have been someone named Todd pretending or claiming to be a doctor to get close to you."

"But then why use their real name? If they were going to lie, why not fabricate something else?" Jason checked the time and continued their walk. "I do need to get going Suzy, but let me ask you a few more things. Firstly, if you still want to come and stay with Audrey and myself you are more than welcome, but if it would be more convenient to remain here, I can a.s.sure you I'll keep a close watch on you."

"How?"

"I can hear a pin drop in Havering with the utmost clarity. I would be more than willing to keep an ear out for you at all times, in the event that our mystery killer attacks you."

Suzy gawked at yet another one of his powers but quickly agreed it would be easier for her to remain in Roehampton. "You'll give me a moment of privacy at certain times though, right?"

"Naturally," he said, somewhat embarra.s.sed. Jason cleared his throat and added, "The other thing, two things really, are that you update me if anyone else goes missing, and if you could do just one last thing for me. I really need to know what blood type those two girls have, errather had, sorry."

Suzy said she would see what she could do, but couldn't promise anything. "I gather this has something to do with the motive behind all of these murders?"

Jason nodded and said it all revolved around the organs, tissue, and blood the killer stole from the victims. "He knows what he's after and is extremely skilled at what he's doing. My guess is he might actually be or have been at one time, an actual doctor."

The two arrived at Suzy's dorm where they said a few parting words, and exchanged a brief hug, before Suzy dashed inside and up to her room. She rushed past her roommate and peered out her window and into the night sky for her brother-in-law, the hero, but he was gone. Suzy sighed and muttered in a low whisper her roommate couldn't hear, "Your secrets are safe with me. And send my love to Audrey."

6:34 PM.

Seattle, Washington Lauren Facet sat alone at a small table in the only restaurant her hotel offered. Her parents brought her with them from Paris because they feared she would throw one giant party at their home from the second they left until the moment they returned months later. They cloaked their paranoia in the ruse of the journey's benefit to someone of her age, but Lauren managed to see through the cover story. The restaurant was nowhere near as fashionable as she hoped it would be, but with a falsified pa.s.sport which claimed she was two years older than she truly was, Lauren drowned her misery with cheap chardonnay. Before her family departed for America, she asked if she could stay with friends, but her parents told her they weren't comfortable with that plan. Lauren couldn't help but agree though, as a majority of her good friends were all people she was not altogether sure she trusted either.

Lauren sat with her chin rested in one hand and swirled her drink in its gla.s.s with her other. She'd only taken two sips from it and since there wasn't anyone to drink with she almost felt guilty for having it in the first place. In fact, she almost exclusively drank with friends back in Paris, which made the event sobering in one manner.

She retrieved her cell phone and tried to give David a call, but it only went straight to voicemail. ""The tone sounded and she quickly cheered herself up and said, "" she stopped and realized what time it was in France and apologized for that as well. ""