Chapter 45 - Can't a man catch a break sometimes?

Note:

- Back to some action... maybe idk we will see

- Also do keep in mind I write these quite late at night so I'm drunk of sleep deprivation at that point and ability to point out errors is compromised. Forgive me.

- I'm also confused how I got 500 reads but THANK YOU FOR READING THIS WORD VOMIT <3

--------------

POV: Nerovsky

Exactly one week later...

Man, I was tired. Today was one of those days where there was no rest for the weary or the strong. It was hectic from the first minute in. This was due to the event that was going on with our messaging services and the temporary blackout of the office. It put everything behind schedule and everyone was essentially scurrying around to finish up on time. Needless to say, no one finished on time.

It was also due to this fact that I was really vibing with my chill playlist, blasted through the speakers as I cruised back home. Being inside all day really made me appreciate the trees growing along the sidewalks or appreciate any parks that were fitted among the grayscale buildings. The active appreciation not only made me aware of my surroundings but it helped me stay awake and not totalling over. Although, I was shocked the soft playing music hadn't put me to sleep land. My body did wonders sometimes. Wait no actually, there was another reason why I hadn't lost consciousness.

That would be because of Leonardo Covell. He was on a business trip so he was partly the cause of the chaotic day but that's not the point. This man had single handedly fucked me over these past couple of months, either intentionally or unintentionally and all he did was either stand close to me or just breathe. Very close to me. Oh, and he tried to kiss me like three fucking times. His actions were more confusing than a nine sided Rubik's cube. No, more confusing than a girl on her period. No, more confusing than Aiden trying to retell a story. And that's on a new level of confusing. I'm pretty good at reading people if I do say so myself but Leo seemed to be made out of some alien transcript because no matter how hard I try, I could not figure this guy out whatsoever. I don't know what he wants. Was he being serious with me? Was he playing me? Did he know about my crush? Did he have a crush on me? He was not allowed to. I wanted to confront him but I was terrified of losing what we already have and making it awkward.

Obviously, there was the possibility that he wanted what I wanted, which was like a dream come true. But it's a dream I could not have. I was not allowed to have. He didn't deserve someone like me. He deserved someone better. Someone who wasn't broken with a million issues weighing on them every day.

Wow, that got depressing real quick.

Luckily, I pulled up to my parking spot in the underground garage, so all self-deprecating thoughts were washed away and the only thoughts running through my head was how a hot bath was all I wanted today. All was well and dandy until I got to my front door and I was reaching for the keys. This was due to my phone going off. My night job phone. God literally enjoys watching me in pain. Like he's so bored, he will pick on me and only me to kill time.

With my signature sigh, I picked up the phone and gave a dull, "what."

"Wow, someone woke up on the wrong side of the bed."

My tolerance was already on the verge of breaking. "Aiden seriously, not now. I just had one of the most exhausting days alive. Why'd you call?"

"Yeah, you're right. This is an emergency. Like seriously urgent. I need you to move, pronto." I heard a fast wind through speakers, meaning that the blue-haired man was on the move.

"I legit hear you flying. Can't you handle it?"

"Do you think I'd be fucking calling if I could? Stop being a whiny bitch and get on the move."

"Don't be an ass. You legit gave me zero information."

"Oh right. There's a bomb going off in about... thirteen minutes."

"... Aiden?"

"Yes?"

"MAYBE FUCKING START WITH THAT!" I quickly unlocked my front door, threw my satchel into the apartment, closed the door again and headed for the rooftop.

"Yeesh. I was getting to that but you interrupted my train of thought."

"Aiden I swear to fucking– you know what? Just tell me where to go."

"Indigo Halls."

"So I got about... five minutes. Why can't you get there yourself again?"

"I'm too far. I won't make it on time."

"Where on earth are you?"

"Oh my god, do you even listen to anything I say? This relationship is becoming real toxic and I'm becoming really un–"

"Aiden!"

"Right whatever. The company had a day out today to someplace that has acres of grapevines and an amusement park. So you know, I went and got myself drunk... before fucking around in the amusement park."

"Oh right, how long would it take for you to arrive? I'm not doing this alone without any sort of prep here." I finally reached the rooftop and immediately called for my power, moulding the wings onto my back before taking off into the starry night sky.

"It'll take me fifteen minutes. Think you can deal with it till then?"

"I– yeah I think I can manage. Maybe. Depends on the circumstances. Speaking of which, background info?"

"Oh right. Ahem, the culprit goes under the name of Rothwell and he's normal. Wait, bad wording. He has no Oddity. That's all I gathered in the short amount of time I had. Among other things."

"Wait actually backtrack. Why DID you find out about this so last minute? It's not very like you."

"Well you see, the guy has always been on my radar whenever I look for activities in the neighbourhood. Like, he's been saying some fucked up shit about and directing it towards Nori, who I will get to shortly. Anyway, I thought he was all bark no bite until I manage to get DMs between him and his sister from tonight. He stated quite clearly he's going to destroy Nori and everyone she loves in one go. Which means the guy wasn't all bark when he warned her about the bombing a week ago."

"Yikes."

"Yes, yikes. Anyway, Nori is some social influencer, who happens to be the daughter of some big businessman. He's irrelevant. She's currently throwing her 28th today, which is where we are heading."

"Ok... I'm assuming Rothwell has some sort of grudge against her? Extreme internet troll? Also, it's fucking cold man. Couldn't he have picked some other day to do this? I think my wings are stiffening up. I didn't even know that's possible."

"Well yes and no. They met each other through the internet and they have also met each other in real life as well. They got along pretty well but everything changed, when the fire nation attacked..."

"... do you think you're funny?"

"Extremely. I am the funniest person you've ever met. The best thing that has ever happened to you."

"Assden, you're getting extremely off track here and it's not appreciated."

"Please, I'm very appreciated."

I growled in frustration. "Aiden..."

"Sorry, sorry. As I was saying, they were good friends but all went to shit after Rothwell–"

"Tell me later. I've reached the venue." Luckily, the outside was fairly empty so I managed to land in the shadows, hidden from everyone else. I drew back my Oddity and I walked out and head towards the entrance but then it hit me that I actually had no idea how to get inside or what obstacles I had to get past. "Yeah, so what the fuck do I do now Aiden?"

"Right, you can just walk into the place. They had the guest list all online so I just hacked it and inserted your name there."

"My name?"

"Well, I put Bob Ross."

"... you didn't."

"Oh but I did."

"I fucking hate you. Not only is my face completely out in the open, but I also have to walk in with a stupid ass name."

"Oi, you do NOT insult Bob Ross like that."

"Shut up Assden."

Grumbling was the only response I got before I ended the call. I finally got to the entrance of the hall and as expected, it was guarded by a security guard. Said guard monotonously asked, "Name," as soon as I stop in front of him.

I'd rather much get caught sneaking in. "... Bob Ross."

The man's face remained blank, not even fazed by the name as he looked through the list on his iPad. Time seemed to drag on before he gave me a small nod and opened the door for me. I sent a quiet "thank you" his way and I entered the grand hall.

I'm not exaggerating when I say it's grand. The entire room was gold with white accents. Almost all flat surfaces were made out of marble and the room had four marble pillars at each corner of the rectangle room, further elevating the grandness. Tables were surrounding the edges, a bar to the left of the entrance (a posh bar) and a dance floor dead centre of the room, accompanied by a large, crystal chandelier. If this doesn't scream money, I don't know what does. I looked around, directing my attention to the guests and found that there was a theme ongoing. Females seemed to be wearing white and the men were wearing black suits, which was lucky on my part since it allowed me to blend in with my work clothes. I saw some familiar faces. Not people I personally knew but famous, important people. This was a high end party and I now had seven minutes to find the dude so it's pretty justified when slight panic began bubbling within me.

I walked around, in hopes of finding someone suspicious while simultaneously redialling Aiden. As soon as I heard the line pick up, I gave him no chance to talk. "Ok, I'm in. I have no clue where to start and I'm really fucking mad at you. Like I really want to break your neck right now. Not the point. Quick rundown is that everyone is loitering around the tables and are beginning to migrate towards the dancefloor. Meaning dinner just finished. A couple of people are at the bar and the birthday girl is in a gold dress I think. This is inferred from the fact that out of all the white dresses, she's the only gold dress. So I'm just going to assume that's nori. Anyway, what do I do now? Do you have any other leads?"

"WHAT DID I DO THIS TIME?"

"What. do. I do. Now."

"Right, the dude managed to keep his appearance off the internet quite well, which begs the question of how a social influencer got talking with someone with no face and didn't think anything weird about it. REGARDLESS, the only thing I found is that the dude has a tattoo behind his left ear and his helix is pierced on the right. I think he has black hair and he's the same age or a bit younger than Nori."

"Well, it's something to work with. Not good enough but it's something. I don't know how to look behind people's ears non-creepily though."

"Eh, I'm sure you'll manage. Also, another important thing is that there are four bombs going off at the same time–"

"FOUR?!"

"–but they're not as explosive as the usual. That being said, they're attached on the four pillars in the room, if I'm not wrong so it's going to bring the building's entire support system down so you gotta either stop him from detonating in... five minutes or get everyone the fuck out of there before the entire ceiling collapses. No pressure."

"No pressure he says. You're an ass. Wait, why can't I just, remove all the bombs before they go off and throw 'em in the ocean or the sky?"

"Because, the bombs he bought can be set up so if someone tries to forcefully remove it, it'll go off. Now I don't know if he did that but it's too much of a risk to find out."

"So my only option is to find the guy since I have no way of yeeting everyone out of the room."

"Essentially, yeah. Now tell me why I need to be preparing for my funeral. Again."

"You had the fucking guest list right?"

"Yeah..."

"Why didn't you warn me that we had celebrities and important people attending this damn thing? I thought it was just going to be other influencers from YouTube and TikTok. Not fucking CEOs of massive corporations."

"I still don't see the issue here..."

"The issue is, our job is to bring down evil people right? WELL KNOWN evil people. Meaning, I've come in contact with them a couple of times without anything covering my face, pretending to be a janitor or something to sneak through."

"Oh, now I get your point. But it's highly unlikely they'll remember you anyway."

"It's also highly likely that someone will recognise me because there have been many times where I have met high-end people due to my job or because of Leo. It's always his fault at the end, isn't it? Whether he is here or not, he will somehow manage to fuck me over one way or another."

"lol. Look, I briefly skimmed over the list and no one stood out or seemed recognisable so I think you'll be fine. You have more urgent matters right now. Like finding Rothwell?"

"Yeah, yeah." I began scanning through people, studying the back of everyone's head. I had a timed goal in mind that I would see through till the end.

I was so invested, I didn't notice a familiar pair of hazel eyes heavily observing me from a short distance away, since the moment I stepped into the hall.