Blowing off some steam... (PRIVATE: Anime)

Riley cringed dramatically. "Ow!" he protested, starting up before they tumbled into space. Riley shut his eyes, leaning his head against Salone's shoulder for a moment as the world spun around them. He'd had enough uncontrollable world spinning for a lifetime last night, and the last thing he needed was for it to start up again. They stopped moving quickly, though, and Riley released Salone and allowed her to get off of Hound. He slid off after her, his eyes widening as her phone rang before he remembered what she had told him the other day... or had it been longer ago?

Stop it, Riley, he chastised himself. He couldn't afford to let himself get all nuts too, now. Salone gestured for him to move on, and after lingering uncertainly for a few seconds he started up the pathway to his parents' house. It was decent sized brick house, a few miles west of the coast, and it was a beautiful, colonial style home. His family was never rich, but his stepdad worked a good job, as did his mom, and they supported one another. The outside of the house looked like a home out of a catalog, and if his mother kept it anything like he had left it, the inside looked similar. He almost felt guilty, bringing Salone here, as if he were rubbing all of his "perfect" childhood in her face, but he knew Salone wouldn't think of it that way.

Cautiously, Riley knocked on the door, looking back to the pathway in front of the house. Riley was still talking to whoever was on the phone, and she seemed alright, and Riley turned back to the house as his stepdad answered the door.

Harold, Riley's stepfather, answered the door, and his eyes widened in surprise. "What are you doing here, Riley?" he asked him, his eyes narrowing. "And who's that?" he gestured to Salone, who stood on the sidewalk outside the house. "Your mom found out you were hurt last week, and she called me up all distraught. You scared the shit out of us! She came home bawling yesterday. You think it's okay to just leave her at a hospital in Florida all by herself, left to think whatever of your disappearance?!"

Amy Peterson emerged behind Harold, an expression of shock crossing her face as she processed that fact that Riley was here, on her doorstep. "Riley?" she asked tentatively, slipping under her husbands arm and propping open the door with her own hand replacing his. "Is that really you? Why did you-?"

Salone squeezed Riley's arm as he walked past her, suddenly she was nervous... would they like her?
"Salone? You there?"
"Yeah, sorry." She turned her back on the door as it swung shut. She would go in later. After about ten minutes to give him and his family time to relax. "Just got distracted."
"Does it have anything to do with Winnie the Pooh pj's?" He asked casually with a light tone of mockery.
"Never you mind," Salone laughed her cheeks burning. Out of the corner of her eye she saw Hound wander off.
"How's your back?" Jance asked.
"Fine, It's not bothering me. Hey can I call you back?" She said noticing movement out of the corner of her eye.
"Sure, just don't take two days next time." Jance hung up.
Holding her phone in her hand Salone looked around, What did I see? She took a few steps to the right, out of view of the front room window. WHAM! A person slammed into her. She spun on the spot her foot colliding with the attacker's throat in a round house kick. He toppled over... dead... Then a bigger person grabbed her from behind, kneading her back. Salone whimpered and her legs seemed to stop working so the hand covering her mouth had to adjust his grip to support her.
"Don't move don't make a sound."
A tiny woman got out of the van parked across the street that had been sitting there, her eyes were yellow. She held a rag and a bottle. At the sight of it Salone started struggling again.
"Shhh... deary we are here to help you." The woman caressed her face with a long fingered hand, tracing her scars. "We can make these go away, along with the voices."
Salone shuddered under her touch.
Then the rag closed over Salone's mouth and nose. Her eyes rolled up into her head and the beefy man holding her grunted.
"Get her in the van," The woman commanded. "We are going to Italy."
After a few moments the van pulled away from the curb. Leaving a dead man and a silver cell phone next to each other in the grass....

((Dun dun DUH!))

Riley opened his mouth to start talking, but before he could get the words out his mom had him wrapped in a bone-shattering hug, which he returned once the feeling returned to his arms. "Mom, I'm sorry," he murmured. "I had to manipulate the mist so we could leave, because it wasn't safe, and I meant to come back and talk to you and say goodbye but the mist had blinded you as well. I tried to call you, but it was like I didn't exist. I didn't mean to leave you like that, I'm sorry." Riley spit the words out as quickly as possible.

Amy just nodded, opening her eyes and stiffening immediately at what she saw. She was unable to choke back the cry of surprise she let out as she saw a slim blonde girl being choked by some guy, and a dead man lying on the ground beside them.

Riley managed to slip out of his mother's arms. "What the-" he began, turning around and losing his ability to speak upon seeing the scene before him. He grabbed his sword, pulling it out of the sheath in his pocket as he sprinted down the pathway back to the street. Damn, why'd the distance between his house and the sidewalk have to be so far. "Stop!" he screamed at the man who'd already shoved Salone in the car, his heart nearly stopping as he realized that these people were mortals... celestial bronze wouldn't work on them anyway. He choked down a sob of desperation, fighting rationality and sprinting straight into the street.

The car had already pulled away. It was halfway down the road, and gaining speed by the second. He wasn't going to be able to save her. He wasn't going to be able to save her. Salone might have been dead, but somehow he doubted it. Unable to control himself, Riley collapsed on his hands and knees on the grass in front of his parents' house, his fingers gripping the lush grass as he struggled to choke back sobs. He was pathetic. He should be trying to help her.

But how?

Sobs rippled through Riley's body, and he could hear sirens start up in the distance. Damn Harold. Knowing the police, someone would probably be locked up for a murder they didn't commit, and they weren't going to find Salone. He was vaguely aware of the arms that wrapped around his torso, but as the sirens grew increasingly louder he knew he had to get up and do something, anything. He pulled away from his mother, refusing to look at her, even as she called his name.

Numbly, he moved to the other side of the yard and picked up the cell phone that lay there, somehow intact. He flipped through the contacts. Last phone call: Jance. Riley's heart pounded in his chest as the sirens grew closer, and in order to avoid questioning, he ran, even though his legs could barely support him standing. He moved straight into the house, not bothering to kick off his doubtlessly dirty sneakers, and took the stairs two at a time up to his old bedroom, spiting the protests of his stepdad. He shut and locked the door behind him, slouching against it and pressing the center key on the cellphone's pad. Jance's number dialed immediately, and he couldn't help but drum his fingers against the carpet impatiently as he awaited an answer.

His room remained mostly as he remembered it, except his bed was made and someone hadn't dusted in a month or so. Still, his childish knick-knacks remained on his shelves, an elementary school graduation diploma hung on the wall and there was a bookshelf filled to the brim with middle grade books... his Harry Potter set sat in its respected position atop all the others.

This might've brought Riley comfort under normal circumstances, but right now the sirens were driving him absolutely mental and if Jance didn't come through on this phone call he might just bust a gasket.

Jance was studying a map. It was a Nordic Demigod map. His glasses perched on the end of his nose. He was pinching his nose between his forefinger and thumb. His phone was sitting on the desk beside him.
Then it vibrated.
Without checking the caller I.D he answered, "Hello?"
****
Outside Riley's house several cop cars had pulled up their lights flashing including a sleek black SUV. A young woman got out, her fiery red hair in a pony tail and in black slacks, white long sleeved shirt, and a black vest. A FBI badge was clipped to her belt along with a gun. Coming around from the passenger side, she was pulling on medical examiner's gloves and she crouched down as Police started to preserve the crime scene.
"Cause of death," she said tilting the dead man's head back. "Asphyxiation due to a crushed esophagus." The young woman had an american accent.
"What?" The cop behind her asked, the one taking notes. "Speak English."
"His wind pipe was crushed."
"Oh."
"Caucasian, male, mid thirties to early forties. " She said, her eyebrows drawing together. "His wrist has been fractured."
"Miss Swift," A detective called.
Danielle Swift looked up, her blue eyes flashing. She hated being interrupted.
"You are needed over here."
Danni stood and walked over to the police chief, her heals clicking on the cement. Harold was questioning the couple that lived there.

"Jance?" Riley asked quickly, so relieved to have someone who might understand on the phone. "It's Riley. Listen. I'm on Salone's phone. I don't know if you know anything about it, but Salone and her friend Danielle thought we were lied to back at the hospital, about how many days we were there, that there was a group of mortals out to get demigods for some reason, and I didn't believe her but we went to my parent's house and she was on the phone with you, I guess, and all of a sudden there were people and they took her before I could get to her and I don't know where I went and what if they killed her and it's all my fault and oh my gods..." Riley blurted all of this information out quickly, hardly even stopping to take a breath, before he realized he was being completely irrational. He also realized that the bandage on his arm would only confirm his suspicions... why did they wrap Riley's whole forearm if he only injured his wrist?

Riley pressed the speaker button on the cell phone, resting it on the floor. "Sorry, Jance," he muttered, listening for the other demigod's thoughts as he peeled back the bandage on his wrist, only to feel a wave of nausea wash over him. His wrist was still badly bruised, purple in some places, but all along its inner edge were tiny red-purple circles, obviously unrelated to his sprain. They were pinpricks, beginning to yellow as if they'd been there for a week or so. Shit. A week? How hadn't he realized this before? Why hadn't he just trusted Salone? Now this was all his fault. All of it. He'd promised not to be responsible for hurting Salone again... but here he was again, and she was almost worse off than she was with Fabian, who'd mutilated her mind. Riley'd gotten her potentially killed, and probably tortured. His stomach roiled as his mind spun, and he struggled to pay attention to Jance's voice on the phone.

Tears rolled down Amy Peterson's face and she glanced nervously back towards the house, praying her son was alright. The police officer asked her ruthlessly, and she was surprised no one had gone in the house looking to question him yet. Her husband stood a couple feet away, being questioned separately from her. Amy just prayed he wouldn't say anything against Riley, though that was doubtful. She delved into a summary of what'd happened, skimming over bits and pieces.

"My son had come home from a camp program with his girlfriend... she was on the phone, I guess, and hung back... I saw a man grab her, teamed with a woman... No, I don't know how he died... my son ran towards their vehicle, a van, but they got away before he could reach them... his name is Riley... he ran inside the house, I don't know..."

Another girl had approached mid-questioning, and she seemed young, maybe Riley's age. Amy wiped her eyes on the sleeve of her cardigan and she looked at the girl confusedly. A teenaged girl on the police force?

Jance listened quietly. The expression on his face morphed from concentration to pure horror.
"Slow down," He said slowly. "Mortals against Demi Gods? What the heck?"
He stood and started pacing, "Salone's friend... Danielle, have you tried to get a hold of her?"
He waited while Riley did something on the other end of the line, "What is it?"
***
Danni listened, her face expressionless, and pulling off her gloves. But her heart softened as the woman began crying. She pulled a package of tissues out of her pocket and handed a few to her.
"There you go Ma'm. I shall go into the house and question the son, shall I?" She moved towards the house. Opening the unlocked door she stepped in, her heals clicking on the hard wood floor. She looked around, straining her ears for any sign of Riley.
She moved up the stairs slowly and then she heard voices.
"What is it?"
She knocked on the door, "Open up, This is the Police."
She said this in an American accent.

Amy took the tissue gratefully, about to protest against the girl searching for her son but it was too late by the time she'd gotten into the house. Mrs. Peterson took her husband's hand and leaned into him, emotionally fatigued.

Riley swore under his breath, jumping as he heard a knock at the door. Crap. The police? Or was it really? It sounded like a female, but in the demigod world that didn't mean anything. Hastily, Riley grabbed a folding chair, ramming it up beneath the door handle to prevent it from turning... and the girl from making a forced entrance. "The police?" he said carefully, measuring his voice. "Right. I don't know about that." Riley's hand moved to his sword's sheath in his pocket and he grabbed the cell phone. "Look, Jance," he murmured into the phone, so that whatever he was saying should have been incoherent to the lady outside. "I can't talk to you right now. Salone-" his voice cracked slightly as he tried to maintain his volume... and his emotions. "I'll figure it out. I think Hound is still here. I'll keep you updated. She's not dying, if I can help it." He glanced at the door, where the "police officer" was likely getting impatient. "I'll talk to you... bye." Riley shoved his phone in his pocket and unsheathed his sword before opening the door.

He nearly dropped his sword when he did. "Danielle?"

"I seriously can arrest you for waving that sword around in my face," Danni said crossing her arms. Her very real FBI badge glinted in the lighting. Her face was stony, so unlike the girl from breakfast. She seemed hard and cold, not angry, but there was an air about her that was difficult to describe. Danni seemed older and much more sad.
"But to answer your question, yes it is me. You need to come down stairs and answer some questions."
She stood out of Riley's way so he could pass her, "Preferably quickly cause I have a dead body I need to get back too before the ghost starts haunting me."

Danni looked at his steadily, "I know. Why do you think I'm here? To sit around and twiddle my thumbs? As I said before I have a body waiting and questions that need to be answered." She started moving out the door. "Do you find out how long you were at the hospital?"

She asked calling over her shoulder. She moved down the stairs and back outside. She retrieved a new pair of gloves and started prodding the corpse, her fingers vanished inside the dead man's jacket pocket. Danni pulled out a wallet, keys, and a picture of Salone. Danni studied it, it was old. Salone had short hair and no scars on her face. She was also holding hands with a boy with light blonde brown hair. This was a Salone who wasn't haunted. She packaged each item individuality into evidence bags.

((so riley's mom's name is sophie, not amy. oh well. now she's mrs. peterson))

Riley followed her out of his room, growing impatient as he sheathed his sword. "I'm sorry, but how is the body going to help us? And questioning isn't going to make a difference, you know everything I do, really. I was talking to my mom and she was on the phone and a group of 3 people drove up and took her. I don't know how long we were in the hospital..." he trailed off as she started emptying the man's pockets, and was distracted as he saw the picture she was looking at.

It was a picture of Salone, but she looked so different... she looked so happy, so untainted. Sure, he had seen her happy before, but here she looked so unbothered by everything. Her face was free of her scars, and she stood with a guy... was that Fabian? Riley's stomach twisted in disgust, even when he hadn't had it confirmed that the boy was Fabian. Somehow, he just knew. Seeing her like that only intensified Riley's guilt, and he was snapped out of his trance as Danielle stuffed the photo inside of a transparent evidence bag. He watched as she packaged the wallet, as well.

"Uh, hello? Is there an ID inside of the wallet, an address, anything? We need to get the hell out of here as soon as possible."

Gods, he wished he just knew where they were taking her, and then he could help her, somehow.

Footsteps resounded on the wood floor behind him, and he turned to face his mother.

"Are you kids alright?" she asked. "Riley, you know this girl?" She looked between the two of them, apprehensive.

Riley took a breath. "Yes, mom, she goes to camp. I'm fine, but I might have to leave sooner than I wanted to. I'm sorry," he looked up at her guiltily, and she just nodded.

"Okay," she spoke, understanding but visibly disappointed, as she always was. "I trust you'll tell me before you leave, this time?"

"Of course," Riley said, giving her a small smile even though it felt so wrong to be smiling amidst all of this chaos.

"Good," his mother spoke tiredly, before leaving the two alone and heading off into the kitchen, probably to address more cops.

"Uh, hello? Is there an ID inside of the wallet, an address, anything? "
Danni stood and gave him a look that if she were a basilisk, he would have turned to stone.
"We have to get all the evidence first, THEN we go through it. It gives us a bigger picture of the whole thing."
She stood, passing off the evidence bags to another cop. All around there were people looking at stuff, taking pictures, and collecting convinced. A man was taking pictures of the dead body, then another was taking pictures of the skid marks on the road.
Danni opened the dead man's mouth clicking on a flashlight handed to her by one of the aids.
"He smoked," she muttered. Her voice wan't wavering from her american accent.
"Chill, we will leave soon."

"No offense, or anything, I know you're running an operation here and you say we're leaving soon, but Salone could be dead. Why the hell are we standing around her over an already dead man's body, when we could just grab his wallet, find an ID, credit card, or both, and go? Who cares about the skid marks on the road, when someone was kidnapped and could be dying?! Mortals and their formalities, jeez..." Riley didn't even want to watch. He wondered vaguely where Hound went... had they taken her too?

Sure, Salone could fend for herself, under normal circumstances, but this was a case of 5 or more strong mortals taking one demigod hostage. It didn't look good. "Be right back," he muttered, still pissed and worried beyond comprehension, and made his way back into the house. He pulled his mom to the side. "Mom, how long were you told we were in the hospital?" he asked her, anxiously awaiting her response.

"Two days... why?" she asked him, obviously concerned.

"It doesn't matter," he spoke, even though it did. "Thanks, though," he made his way back outside to Danielle. Honestly, he thought she was a bit difficult, but she was the only person he had around who would be helpful, so he was stuck with her. Great.

"They told her two days," Riley spoke. "My mom, when she went to the hospital. Such bullshit... excuse my french."

He wanted to use a few other choice words, at the moment, but he withheld his frustration and took a deep breath.

"You and I both know swearing doesn't sound a thing like french," She muttered while helping to zip the body into a black body bag. A tattoo flashed just barely under the sleeve of the dead man.
"OI! Hold on." She unbuttoned the sleeve and rolled it up. It was a complicated looking symbol of Nordic, Greek, and Italian origin. A grin spread across her face.

"Sweet son of holy pants," Danni said. "It's the symbol of the Anti-Hero's. We've been trying to nail them for years. Totally kiss Salone for me next time you see her for me."
She zipped up the bag and it was loaded into an ambulance.
"Come on. Tell you mom we are leaving."

Riley just watched her, not bothering to reply to her comment but raising an eyebrow as she proclaimed her excitement at the tattoo on the guy's arm. Give Salone a kiss for her? Seriously? He knew she was joking, but that was just so messed up.

"Are you kidding me? Give her a kiss for you, like she did something good? She was kidnapped off of my front lawn, to get forcibly tested or worse. She might have helped you get this guy, but now she's screwed and you're acting like it's something to celebrate. Jeez, Danielle..." Riley knew he was being irrational, and that she hadn't meant it that way, and that she was probably going to mock him for this later, but he was so frustrated that he didn't even care. He turned and made his way back towards the house, barely even giving her a chance to respond.

"Mom?" he called tentatively, looking for her. "I'm leaving." Mrs. Peterson's head poked around the corner and she moved into the room, facing her son. Gently, she reached her hand out to touch his cheek, and though he probably should have been embarrassed, he didn't care. No one was there, and his mother hardly even got to see him. He wasn't going to shrug away from her.

"Stay safe, okay?" she ordered him, and he just nodded, knowing that that wasn't something he could promise. "Try to call me, if you can. I love you," she spoke, enveloping him in a hug, and Riley felt like a little kid again. Blushing, he pulled away.

"Okay, fine. I love you, too. I'll see you... soon."

Honestly, Riley had no idea when he'd see her next, but he didn't dwell on it. They said their goodbye and Riley took about thirty seconds to gather his belongings before he stepped back outside to meet Danielle... oh, what a fun trip this was going to be.

Danni was leaning against a cop car and in deep conversation with another person. The officer threw his head back and laughed. Danni cracked a smile.
She turned to Riley, "Do you have a passport? The man's tattoo gave us a heading, Italy. That is most likely were they have taken Salone. They have all of their high tec toys there. They have been tracking her for a while so they won't kill her. She is probably very valuable... "
Danni itched her scalp thinking rapidly. Why Salone... why her... why the daughter of Anubis....

"Oh well, can't be helped. Ron," she turned to the cop who she had just been talking with. "I need a pass port for a Riley Peterson in less than forty five minutes. Now move."
Danni got into the drivers seat of the car and started the engine. After Riley had gotten in she pulled away from the curb.
She flicked on the radio and said, "Don't talk to me we have a ghost haunting the back seat and I am finding it very hard to block him out."
She said this completely casually like she was discussing the weather with a friend. Occasionally her knuckles would tighten and whiten on the steering wheel and her eyes would flick up to the mirror. After about fifteen minutes they pulled into the parking lot of a coroners office.
"You wanted to go look in the dead man's wallet right?" She said, turning off the car and getting out.
She walked to the front of the building and went right on inside.

Danni listened to Riley rant for a bit before saying, "We can leave as soon as we get you a pass port. But I first want to get a look at the stuff that was in the man's pockets."
She entered a room, removing her jacket she hung it on a coat rack, pulled her hair into a bun, then pulled out some medical gloves. She passed a pair to Riley and pressed an intercom button. She asked for the evidence collected at Riley's house and gave her clearance code. Within five minutes a cart was rolled in bearing a box with the evidence. It was placed on the examination table with it's lid removed.
"Will you require the body of John Doe number 542?"
"No but thanks." Danni answered pulling on the gloves as the aid left. "Look for anything useful," She instructed Riley. "Mainly dates, times, and addresses. If the guy had any receipts we may be able to pull is credit card number and trace it."
With that she got to work, Danni opened the zip lock bag containing Salone's old picture. Flipping the picture over she studied the back, Salone's complete name was on it in loopy fancy hand writing. There was a rusty brown stain on the corner that looked faintly like blood. Using a scalpel she sliced away a thin sliver and put it in a dish, then labeled it clearly. She put that aside and studied the picture itself, noting the date and how worn the picture looked. Then she put it back in the bag and got started on the next item.

Danni studied the hand gun pulling it apart and peering inside it, "Italian made," she muttered to herself. "We may be able to get a cereal number off of this and see who bought it." She pulled out the magazine and examining it. She pulled out a few bullets blinking at them in surprise, "Look at this. Celestial Bronze tips. How did they do that?"
She made a note on the note book beside her.

"How long have you known Salone? The red head stopped and looked hard at Riley. He might as well asked her who she actually was. Sure her name was Danielle Swift and she was Italian. But, he didn't actually know her.
"Five years."

Danni leaned over and looked at the pictures, biting her lip. She looked at the date her brain working fast, "What day did you guys go to Disney?"

"That is a week and a half give or take a few days," Danni muttered writing down the dates. Her brow was furrowed again, she picked up the credit cards and whistled through her teeth. "I wonder how many of these are nicked, fake, or copies."
Danni looked at Riley, "Do you mind if we run a blood test on you? We might be able to figure out what they put in your system."

"Crap," he murmured. "Well, we're not dealing with idiots."

"No we are not," Danni said. "These guys are dangerous. Scams, murder, any crime you can think of their name is on there."