Chapter 36: Waiting in the Rain
And well, just as Isabella had told him to, Carl waited.
He didn't just stay in his car the entire day, instead, he had a walk around the neighborhood, stopped at a nice little restaurant to eat, and then went and paid for a room in a nearby building.
He wanted to rest before meeting Isabella.
Even though he could power through without sleep as he was a superhuman, it would still affect his mental state by a bit, and he wanted to be at his peak during the next discussion.
The room he booked was a small one, it was just a room with a bathroom, nothing more, but he didn't need more, in fact, if there were any cheaper and smaller rooms near the area, he would have gotten that one.
After Carl's father died, the family situation changed, and his mother lost her job, so they had little money. He remembered those days vividly, his mother crying herself to sleep every night, doing her best to not let him notice.
The meals they had were simple, very simple, and cheap.
She had trouble finding and holding a job, and as days passed, her mental state deteriorated, sometimes she would even forget to make food, which would lead Carl to go to her to tell her he was hungry.
They had moved from city to city, town to town, in order for her to find a job and survive, and each time, somehow, somebody would notice them recognize who they were, which would lead to them having to move again as even when his mother wouldn't lose her job, and Carl wouldn't be kicked out of school, the people around were visibly hostile to them.
He would be bullied in school, she would have to listen to the customers who were yelling and cursing at her, some even attacking her. It was impossible for them to stay in one place for long.
Carl loved his mother dearly, even now.
When he was younger, he did feel contempt for her, he felt hatred for how she gave up in the end and left him all alone. He was just a kid, and he was forced to not only live with unknown people, but he also to move frequently as some would find out who he was and would kick him out, as for others, he simply disliked being with them and left by himself.
There were some that kicked him out later on because they disliked him as well. His mental state was deteriorating from everything, he was incredibly moody and snarky, and it was finally when he started high school that his fake identity was given to him and he stayed with one family for 2 years before finally leaving after he started working.
It was later on that he forgave his mother and her actions, he wished nothing more than for his family to be back together, but knew it was impossible, so he powered through the early stages of his independent life.
He didn't make much, so even back then, he had to save up money, spend little, and live frugally. That kind of lifestyle was ingrained in him, and even now, when he was making more than a decent wage, he still disliked spending a lot of money.
His alarm was set off and he got up before showering in the bathroom and dressing up. He had another meal, a light one this time, before giving the keys back to the owner of the building and leaving to meet Isabella.
He was in front of the café at 4:50 and waited for her. Unfortunately, Isabella's colleague was late and the café was full, so she didn't leave at 5.
'I'm sorry, my colleague is not showing up, the other one can be here in one hour, see you then?'
'If I didn't know any better, I would think she stood me up.' Carl thought before sighing and telling her that it was alright.
[ Yeah, it definitely did seem like it, who knows, maybe she changed her mind? ]
'Nah, it's fine, I'll go around, have a little walk, enjoy the weather and then come back.'
[ Enjoy the weather? ]
[ It's raining, and it's windy. ]
'Yeah, I like this kind of weather, it stifles down other sounds and makes it easier for one to think and relax.' Carl said with a sad smile that he made unconsciously as he thought back on how he started to love such weather.
It allowed him to only hear what was in his immediate vicinity, it would make the sounds from the foster family and anyone else hard to hear, which he preferred.
He walked through the town, not even caring that the rain was making him wet. He enjoyed the wind, the droplets of rain falling on his face, his hair getting wet and needing to be pushed back…
[ Hey, I know that you have a few screws loose, but even if you are superhuman, you can get sick, you know that? ]
'I never got sick from this in the past, so I don't see why it would happen now when I'm stronger.'
An hour passed rather quickly and Carl was back at the café, and in a couple of minutes, Isabella was as well.
"Hole hell, you're freaking drenched, did you actually stand here the entire time, are you crazy or something?" Isabella asked Carl who chuckled.
"No, I took a walk around the city, it's a nice place to relax."
"Alright, anyway, let's go, this rain won't be stopping any time soon, damn it, it's gonna take some time to reach the place."
"Yeah, let's go, my car is parked right there," Carl said as he pointed at where his car was, which made Isabella look at him weirdly.
"So, you have a car, a place to take shelter from the rain, and you decided to walk around and get all wet, there's something wrong with you man."
"Isn't there something wrong with all of us?" Carl asked Isabella as he started walking toward his car, with Isabella walking next to him.
"I just like the rain."
"Yeah, I can see that," Isabella said as she used her jacket to cover her head from the rain.
Carl chuckled and the two reached his car. They got in, and Carl started the car before asking her where to go. She told him the address, which he quickly typed in the navigation while talking with the system.
'All three of the items that Blorg gave me are with me, right?'
[ Yes, you took them all, no worries. ]
[ The place where she wants you to go to, isn't that – ]
'Yeah, it's the run-down building where I saw her go last night, her hideout.'
[ You think she is going to try and kill you there? ]
'I doubt it, I'm just making sure I have everything I need in case things go wrong, she knows I work for the agency and she isn't dumb, she knows that the agency will look for me and find out we talked and that my car, as well as me, were here, making her the prime suspect.'
'She wouldn't have sent me the text if she really wanted to kill me, it doesn't make sense as all clues lead to her, and I doubt she wants to have the VSA looking for her and trying to kill her later on.'
[ Yeah, I agree, it would be a dumb move, but if she is angry, she might not be thinking straight. ]
'Then she is a far better actress than I thought she would be.'
"Hey, do you mind turning on the heating a bit?" Isabella asked, to which Carl raised an eyebrow before doing as she asked.
"I thought you would prefer it to be cold since your ability is ice."
"Yeah, well I don't, my ability does give me more resistance to coldness, but I still prefer to be warm."
"Abilities don't really show you what a person is like, you know?" Isabella told Carl who nodded his head.
"Having flames doesn't mean you're hotheaded, angry, and eager to action all the time, having ice abilities doesn't mean you're a cold person and so on, it's not a representation of a person, just something we got without knowing how we got it," Isabella said as she sighed and looked out of the window.
"What about you, what's yours?" Isabella asked Carl.
"My what?"
"Your ability, I unintentionally used a bit more power when freezing your hand, if you were a normal person, it would have taken more than simply rubbing your hands to get it back to normal."
[ Damn, had you not taken the pills, you might have lost a hand by now. ]
"I'm strong," Carl said, to which Isabella stared at him.
"I mean physically, I'm quite strong, see?" Carl asked Isabella before taking out a switchblade he had in the car and clenching it in his hands without taking the blade out, the entire thing warped by a bit, making Isabella nod her head.
"Body enhancement huh?"
"You could say so," Carl said with a smile as they drove to her hideout.
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone