Chapter Two - Kayla

You always wake up thinking about it. 

You're cold, shivering, the remaining sensations from a nightmare, or a drama-ladened dream, the leftovers spilling into your mentality. 

But you know why.

It's the same every time.

You go on, your day continuing as it as no choice but to, hoping to forget about it. 

But it feels impossible. 

The weight of it lingers. 

You wish you could bury it. You want to avoid it entirely, but you can't help but reflect. 

What could I have done differently?

What should I have said? 

Who am I now?

And...

Do I truly regret it? 

However, you know deep down that if you don't now, you soon will. 

Because one day...

It'll come back to rip away every single thing you've built for yourself.

You'll just have to hope that you're ready.

Another day ends. 

It's time to sleep.

------

"Maya, huh...I like it! I don't know quite how to describe it, but that seems to just kinda fit you." Um, Maya...?" He was fishing for a last name here, but she did not quite seem to understand.

"Yeah, Maya!" she replied enthusiastically. Her demeanor seemed to shift to a slightly more upbeat one.

"Well, yeah but Mayaaa....." Ren replied, motioning with his hand. Maya just watched him as he did this.

"Um?" Maya finally spoke, breaking an awkward silence. Ren laughed a bit.

"You know what? Don't worry about it. My name is Ren Baker."

Maya nodded her head. "Oh! That's a nice name." Ren smiled and thanked her. At this, they both found themselves standing around, unsure of what to say next. Ren finally stopped feeling so stuck in the moment, and he broke the silence.

"Agh—Are you hungry?" Ren felt a bit embarrassed that he hadn't even considered that.

Ren led her to the kitchen, which didn't take very long. Considering how small his apartment was, everything was basically the kitchen. He searched his cupboards to make sure he had what he was looking for: a loaf of bread. To his surprise and relief, he did. Upon checking the fridge for eggs as well, he knew he could make his signature meal.

"When I'm completely out of ideas, French toast is always a go-to for me," Ren muttered to himself. Yeah, and also when I have no money for better shit to make. He began to prepare his skillet, already sitting on the stove waiting to be used, and everything else he needed for a very, very late dinner. It hadn't occurred to him until he looked at the alarm clock on his countertop that it was 3:03 AM. He grimaced at this before shaking his head. Oh well, I knew how this night was gonna play out when I decided to help her—more or less, he thought, glancing back at Maya.

She was sitting at the table in the kitchen, observing everything spread across it. The apartment was fairly messy, but Ren tried to play it off. Maya didn't seem to mind this, if she had even noticed. Upon hearing the first piece of egg-soaked bread hit the hot skillet, however, Maya's relaxed demeanor shifted as her attention was immediately redirected to this sudden break in the silence.

"Christ!"

"Oh, did I scare you?" Ren chuckled, "Sorry, there's not much background noise other than the storm."

He turned on the radio on the alarm clock to try and get some music going to fix said issue, only to get static. Christ? For a girl as seemingly nonchalant and almost unaware of herself as Maya seemed, Ren thought that was a curious word choice for a reaction from her. Perhaps he was overthinking, he thought, after all, she was a regular person like himself. She must have been shocked by the sudden sound. Why wouldn't she react in such a way? He knew he would have jumped at a sudden sound breaking a seemingly impenetrable silence, had he himself not made it.

"It's okay," Maya replied, "It just caught me off guard, is all! That's starting to smell g—" She was about to compliment Ren's choice of cinnamon in his egg mixture when something immediately set her on edge.

"You smell the cinnamon, huh?" Ren replied, smiling to himself. "Yeah, it—" He too was now abruptly unsettled.

Something was not right here.

What the fuck is this feeling...?

Ren slowly peered over his shoulder to look back at Maya. He saw on her face that she too looked uneasy. She was glancing all around, eyebrows raised in a worried fashion, probably much like himself, he imagined. He tried to cycle his thoughts properly to figure out this strange sensation. Is there some sort of danger nearby? Is there a gas leak or something? Is my sixth sense working properly? Is—

His thoughts were cut off as he immediately recognized this feeling. One familiar to him, one he had once gotten used to once before. It was all rushing back to him.

Eyes.

Something is watching us.

Ren looked toward his window, only just missing a shadow disappearing from the darkened, rain-soaked frame.

"Maya, come over here!" He hissed, trying not to sound afraid. Maya, however, did not obey this command.

"Maya, what're you—?!"

She stood up, glancing around the place once again, and her initial look of uneasiness shifted into one of aggression. She seemed sure of herself, like she was in a familiar situation. Ren watched as she clenched her fists, getting ready for some sort of altercation she knew she could handle. Ren's demeanor had not yet changed. He didn't find himself as afraid anymore, but he was uncertain of what was about to unfold from this point on. His anxiety had been growing more and more, but now it was even more so with Maya's battle-hardened stance. On top of this, he had forgotten to turn the stove down, so the sweet and luscious scent of cinnamon had started to turn heavy and burnt.

Maya's attention had now quickly turned toward the front door. She was starting to hear what Ren could only hear moments later. Footsteps. Slow, purposeful footsteps slowly approaching his apartment door. The creaks of the old building rang profusely in Ren's ears.

"Get behind me!" Maya exclaimed, "Hurry!"

Huh?!

Before Ren could follow Maya's command—

KNOCK. KNOCK. KNOCK.

Three slow, methodical knocks at Ren's door. Ren and Maya looked at one another, Ren starting to remember his instincts from his fighting days, and Maya? Well, she seemed even more prepared than he appeared to be.

"Who is it?" Ren shouted, making sure his delivery wasn't shaky or weak.

"Hmph. You're smart, Renford. You telling me you haven't figured it out by now?"

With this, Ren's demeanor dropped from ready to fight some malevolent force to utter annoyance.

"Oh, son of a bitch." Ren muttered, Maya's battle-hardened stance dropping upon seeing Ren's reaction.

"Wait, what?" She asked inquisitively. Ren went to open the door.

"Seriously? After all this time, you just happened to drop by tonight?"

Standing out in the hallway was Kayla Kay.

------

Kayla was a bit younger than Ren, being a freshman in high school when he was a junior at West Allis Central, but he knew her quite well. Back in high school, when Ren was in his prime fighting days, Kayla Kay was never too far behind. Ren would notice her in the background of crowds from time to time, always watching him. These weren't glares of affection or unrequited love, no, these were looks of pure malice and disdain. He could still picture himself sitting in the cafeteria, trying to enjoy his barely edible school-provided lunch, when he'd look over and notice her glaring at him from afar.

For a while, all Ren did was ignore this. He had his own issues going on. Everyone in his small circle knew this. For some reason, despite these problems being confined to this circle, he had a strange inclination that maybe Kayla knew as well. As it would turn out, she'd be privy to more than Ren could've ever thought possible.

Ren had an older sister. Well, older by a few minutes, but an older sister nonetheless. Heather was a lot more outspoken and rowdy than Ren. She was never too far from an argument with a teacher, or shit-talking fellow students who chose to try and tease her. She didn't wear makeup or jewelry, and her messy blonde hair and tomboyish style always seemed to give people the impression that she was trying to appear tougher than she looked. Truth be told, she was stronger than she looked. So strong, like her brother and a small number of like-abled friends, that she could accidentally disfigure someone permanently if she ever chose to engage with a bully or classmate in a fight. She knew well enough what to save her power for.

In addition to Heather, another ally of theirs was Damien Zevon. He was very close with Ren and Heather, having close ties with their family since he was a small child, and being the same age as them. It was while they were children that they discovered they had more strength than anyone else their age did, following an incident where Damien accidentally punched a hole through a steel fence. Upon seeing this, they all began to panic as if Damien did something bad; of course, this situation was a little more complicated than that. Ren and Heather had tried this as well, and while they could not punch the same gate as forcefully as Damien, they did notice that for each of them not only did their strikes still manage to dent the steel easily, but even more curiously, it didn't really hurt. They were jealous of Damien's show of force, but sometime after they also considered the fact that the reason Damien did this was that he was upset that his mom wouldn't give him his allowance early that week. Had his anger been a factor in this?

As they got older, they discovered this would indeed be a key component to their abilities. It just wouldn't be quite the reality as they envisioned for themselves. 

For some time, they decided to form a sort of alliance. A group of vigilantes, if you will. Inspired by some of their favorite movies and stories from school, they thought it'd be a good idea to become "heroes", to traverse the streets at night and try to prevent potential crimes. For a while, they were mildly successful. They were even having fun. But good things, as everyone knows, always end. Usually in ways no one can begin to anticipate. 

Kayla Kay was a seemingly ordinary girl. She was fairly short, no more than 5 feet tall, and her not-quite curly, not-quite wavy brown hair blend was complementary to her well-toned face. She did, however, always appear cold. Not in the literal sense, more in the, "if you piss me off, I'll cut your head off!" sort of way. Ren shared a class with her once, along with Heather and Damien, but they didn't quite catch on to Kayla's unwavering stares as much as Ren did. One day, at a pivotal point in their lives, Kayla became crucial to the roles they tried to fill.

This however, is a story for another time.

------

Kayla Kay let herself into Ren's apartment.

"Nice place you've got here," she said, "Well, not really but that's not the point."

Ren shook his head. "I haven't seen you in two years now, what reason could you possibly have to drop by announced like this?" And why did you have to be so damn cryptic about it?

Kayla scoffed. "Isn't it obvious? Ah, but before we address that fully, I should probably explain something. I did use a ladder to spy on you through your window. I'm sorry, I'm sorry!!!" She cried sarcastically, raising her hands in a mock plea for forgiveness.

"Well, I did wonder how the hell you managed to look in at us from there. But seriously, you really have some explaining to do."

Kayla cleared her throat. "Right, well let's get the obvious out of the way. Just because we all parted ways some time ago doesn't mean I stopped keeping tabs on you."

Ren went from being irritated to being irritated and pissed off.

"Huh? You've been watching me this whole time?!"

"No shit. People like us don't just appear out of nowhere."

Maya didn't know what to say to any of this. As they conversed, she slowly sat back down to take in their confusing dialogue.

Kayla turned her head slightly to acknowledge Maya's presence.

"At least, they didn't." Kayla spoke, her gaze meeting Maya.

Ren's eyebrow raised, him now taking a defensive position.

"She has nothing to do with any of that!" He shouted, holding his arm up as if to block her from an assault.

Kayla shifted her eyebrows in a sarcastic manner.

"Maya," Kayla said, "What were you going to do if I had posed a real threat like you imagined?"

Maya looked at her as if she had just said the most offensive series of remarks. She looked at Ren as if needing validation, to which Ren reluctantly gave in and nodded his head, as if to permit her to answer.

"I-I would've—" Maya began to mutter before stumbling over her incoherency. Kayla stood there waiting for a response.

"Okay," Kayla spoke, "How about this?" She pulled out a gun from her back pocket, and without a second of hesitation quickly pulled back the hammer and aimed it at Ren's forehead.

SHIIIIINK!

To the bewilderment of both Ren and Kayla, a gray, steel chain suddenly wrapped itself around Kayla's gun, with a sharpened hook at the end of which pulling taught, shattering the firearm into several pieces. Ren and Kayla both had to catch their breath from the sudden display. They both followed the end of the chain back to Maya; this gray chain starting at her left wrist.

The rattling clinking of the linked chain rang through Kayla's ears; a symphony of this jingling steel like a pounding drum invading her brain. But her brief forced reminiscing was quickly overshadowed by the demonstration before her.

"Holy fuck..." Kayla whimpered, before letting out a nervous laugh. Ren could only stare in amazement. Maya did this?! She has a chain in her arm? How? What's going on here?!

The chain retracted itself, quickly disappearing back into Maya's arm. Only the smallest amount of blood was seeping from the entry and exit spot, which itself quickly healed as if nothing had happened.

"I had a feeling," Kayla spoke up, "You're special, alright." It's just as I've heard about. Now that I see what lies before me, I so wish it wasn't.

Maya knew in her heart she was fending off an enemy in that moment. At least, that's what she had assumed instinctually. Ren's reaction made her feel guilty in a sense. His shock at her chained attack made her feel as if she had done some bad thing. But I was protecting him, right?

"Listen," Kayla said, "You were right to do that. I obviously wasn't going to hurt Ren, but you've just shown what side of the fence you're on here, and I'm all for it."

"I think she gets it," Ren retorted, not wanting Maya to get more upset at the escalation of this situation. He could read her face, and she was clearly showing her uncertainty at what she had done.

"I'm sure she does," Kayla replied, "But there's something neither of you get. Now, I hope I'm wrong, but...actually, I—"

"Just spit it out, Kayla!" Ren exclaimed.

"Maya, your existence is something of a sign, one of change in this world."

"Huh?" Maya replied, not knowing what she was getting at.

"I really don't want to overwhelm you or anything, but none of us have anything quite like what you have. I'm stunned, honestly. That never happens."

She stepped toward Maya, and despite her brashness, her tone shifted a bit to worry in this moment.

"I'm also highly concerned ."

Ren and Maya looked at one another.

"What do you mean?" Ren replied, trying to play off Kayla's sudden change of attitude.

"I don't like what this means," Kayla said, "You know me Ren, this was something I didn't anticipate." At least, not this soon. I was hoping to have found a way to die before it got to this.

Ren had realized he was smelling the burnt side of a piece of French toast on his stove, and only hurried to turn it off when he realized the smoke was about to set off the fire alarm.

"Maya, you're going to prove to be crucial to our lives going forward," Kayla spoke, trying to sound more confident, "But I can't be here like I was for the others years ago."

Maya was getting more and more confused. "Our" lives?  Who else...?

Ren was surprised to hear this. "What's going on with you?"

"I've got people I need to see, things I need to do, having now seen this for myself. We don't have a lot of time, Ren."

She began to turn to walk out of his apartment, and dramatically stopped.

"A lot of time for what?"

"Right now, just focus on helping her adjust to regular life. Help her learn everything she needs to, and be wary of those chains accidentally showing themselves to anyone. A lot of explaining you can avoid that way. But, also..."

"Also what, Kayla? Can you stop with the ambiguity?"

Sigh.

"You need to call the others."

Damn it. "No, I can't, not after—"

"Stop worrying about yourself. This is bigger than any one of us!"

"What is?!"

Kayla raised her head and rolled her eyes, growing irritated. She pointed over to Maya.

"When you saw her, she reminded you of someone, didn't she?"

Ren's blood ran cold once again this cold and rainy night. She was correct. He just didn't want this sign to be anything more than a bizarre coincidence.

"No, no she's not—"

"Aht—" Kayla cut him off. "Call. The others. We can't be sure, but we can never be too careful either."

"So Maya's existence, is what? Some sort of warning? What?!"

Kayla lightly shrugged. "I don't want to jump to conclusions just yet, but I'll tell you one thing, Ren."

Ren and Maya listened with bated breath.

"A switch has been flipped in our universe."

As she said this, she looked back over at the stove.

"French toast?" She said sarcastically, eyeing Ren.

"Ew."

With this, she left, shutting the door behind her.

She just waltzes in here, claims this girl is some sign from the universe, and proceeds to roast my cooking before leaving. What the fuck?