Chapter 2: Chapter ~ 2# ~ Instant Fame
Noah ~ POV
I sat in my room looking through my computer, just double-checking my homework for school. I glanced out the window, seeing light, gentle snowflakes falling from the over casted sky. That's one thing I will never get used to. After all, it doesn't snow in LA; waking up with five thick blankets on top of you is still new to me. Even some clothes I've had to speed order still feel weird. Like thermal underwear, you'd think it was like regular underwear just a little thicker. But nope, long-sleeved undies and undershirts that make me feel like I'm in a jumpsuit. However, the electrically heated jacket I got does help, along with the hand warmers I stuff into my pants pockets.
A slight buzz on my desk got my attention. Mom and Dad installed this weird indoor doorbell system. Dad was tired of yelling through thick, insulated walls and doors to get my attention. I don't mind it, though it gets annoying when Dad uses it. He'll keep pressing it, making the light flash like lights on a cop car. Ever since the 'incident' with Ethan at Cooper's Ridge, dad's been more… aggressive lately. He's even installed security cameras around the house and the garage. It was one of those D, I, Y systems that you just need to replace the batteries. He's hooked them to all our phones so we can view them remotely and get notified.
When I got downstairs, I saw Dad had finished making breakfast. It was rare to have a shared breakfast. I sat next to Mom as Dad put two full plates of scrambled eggs, sausage, and hashbrowns in front of us.
"Any plans today?" Mom asked us as she cut up her sausages.
"I've got a project I need to finish up on…" He then looked at me.
"Mostly just finishing up homework and then…" I started but stopped when I felt my phone vibrate.
Mom and Dad started talking as I turned my focus to my phone. I froze in place when I looked at the screen. There was a news report about an attack downtown, and plastered on the front page was a picture of Ethan and some random guy being carried to a pair of ambulances. It was hard to tell who the other guy was, but Ethan looked like hell.
This is just going to fuel the flames. Since the 'incident,' people have started calling Ethan The Beast like Rebecca does. He's been seen as a hero around the school and some parts of town. But, not everyone thought of him as a hero, especially Dad. When I showed mom and dad the news report. He glared at the picture before turning back to his food. The way he stabbed his fork into the eggs was as clear a sign as any how angry he just got. The rest of the time, he talked about Ethan being stupid and not calling the police first. I slowly pulled my phone back and read through the article. It mentions Ethan had called the police, but they didn't respond in time.
Mom dropped me off at school before heading to work. When we got to the front, I noticed a big crowd gathered around where Ethan typically parked his bike. As I walked passed I looked over and I saw all bike spaces were taken up; guess they didn't realize there were other places for Ethan to park. I saw Rebecca sitting alone when I walked in, looking down at a small book. The closer I got, the more I saw it was a sketchbook; Rebecca was working on one sketch of two figures back to back, swinging something around. It looked like some kind of weapon, maybe swords. I called out to her but I noticed she had a pair of earphones in.
"Hey…" I tapped her shoulder, getting her attention.
She pulled out one of her earphones and looked up at me.
"You know where Ethan is?" Honestly, with everyone looking for him, it's no surprise he's hiding.
"He's hiding in the GYM. Guessing you saw the news?" She gave me a sideways glance as she asked that.
I could tell from how she looked at my awkward smile that she already knew the answer.
"It's honestly surprising he got to school at all," I muttered out loud.
I guess Rebecca heard me
"It's not like he can stay home." I was caught off guard by Rebecca.
"Why not?" I noticed Rebecca looked worried when I asked her that.
She closed her book and slowly turned to me.
"Look, I think Ethan needs some space for a while." She then stood up and walked away.
Ok… that was weird. I stood there wondering what was going on. Ethan and Rebecca aren't usually this cold to each other; what was happening?
I looked at my phone and saw class was about to start. It felt like Ethan was a ghost for the rest of the day. I'd only catch glimpses of him before he'd disappear around a corner or something. I was worried; every time I saw Ethan, he… seemed different. Like he was worried about something or… even scared? But that couldn't be right; I mean, the man fought off a crazed knife-wielding maniac. And from some of the stories I've heard about him, he's no stranger to fighting.
The school was boring for the rest of the day. I shot Ethan a quick text asking him if he was ok. I only got a quick reply saying 'I'm good,' leaving me where I was before.
When I got home, I went to my room like normal and started looking through my computer. Mostly to help with my homework, but to also check out this cool website I came across. It was a small chat board someone in town made. I came across it by accident one day while scrolling online. When I looked at the chat's I saw most of them were talking about Ethan. But then I saw something concerning: there were a lot of people posting links to different videos. When I watched one, I was confused at first. That was until I realized something: it was a dark alley. There were hushed whispers as a person stepped into the view from the side. They wore all dark clothing before jumping out and grabbing a random guy that was walking by. The dark figure quickly pulled them back into the alley. A bag fell to the ground, and you started hearing cursing and screaming. However, the screaming stopped after a punch across the attacker's face.
"Son of a bitch!" The attacker yelled as he and the other dude broke out into a fight.
It looked brutal, the two punching and kicking at each other. Suddenly, the attacker pulled a weapon from under their sleeve and swung it at the victim's head. It looked like a metal bar or pipe; it must have been heavy because they used their entire body to swing it. They swung it around in a giant swirl before striking the guy across the face. When the victim fell to the ground, the guy dropped the bar and began kicking and punching the downed man. After a few hard-sounding strikes, you could hear a voice call out. The attacker looked up as a third dark figure suddenly charged in. It must have been Ethan. Ethan wrapped his arms around the attacker, and the two seemed to struggle. I stopped the video after they both fell to the ground.
When I looked at the comments, I noticed most condemned the video. Saying how it's so wrong and twisted in a demented way that people like these kinds of videos and make them without hesitating. Some of them even referenced the news article I saw this morning. But then I noticed a few talking about warning Ravel Krypty. After looking him up, I found a YouTube channel for him. It looked like he was a younger adult MMA fighter; some of his videos showed basic workouts and techniques and a few critique videos. But something caught my eye; in the list of videos, there was one from this morning.
It was a short video of a middle-aged man sitting in a hospital bed; some bandages covered his body, and there was a large bruise on the side of his head right above his eye. Guessing the pipe did that. He started talking about how he was attacked while on a vacation. He then mentions how he was saved by a young kid… what shocked me most is that by the end of the video, Ravel didn't know Ethan kept him. He asks his followers to help identify the kid that helped him.
I frantically looked down at the comments, wondering if anyone knew. The top comment I saw talked about Ethan and mentioned how he's a classmate of theirs. I felt my heart drop as I watched people chatting away. It mostly revolved around trying to get in contact with Ethan. Was that why everyone was looking for Ethan today?
Slowly with each comment my eyes widen in horror. As little pieces of private info on Ethan was leaked out. I quickly posted asking everyone to stop but it was brushed up and out of sight in the comments.
Slowly, a thought formed in my head. If Ravel knows where to find Ethan… then that means…
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone