"Yes, it is, at least you know that" Chester puts his hands over his face, effectively calming himself down. "Kid, whoever these people that you're talking about are, they're gonna be in big trouble when I take you to the cops. I promise." He sighs " I'm sorry about… whatever happened" he placed his hand behind his neck now. He didn't know how to comfort kids.
“Really? They won't hurt me anymore?” he asked, almost sounding hopeful as he looked up at Chester. “I won't have to go back?”
"No… no I don't think you will" a shiver went down his spine when he heard a voice from behind "Hey! You! Have you seen a kid around the woods?!" They were still a bit far, but they could see him. He was stabding in front of Peter, who was on the hood, so they probably couldn't see him. He turned around, and whispered "Kid, get down, and crawl into the car door. Don't let them see you" then he yelled "What kind of kid? I've seen a few, I think they were on a school trip!"
Peter almost smiled at the assurance before the stranger called out to Chester. He nodded and quickly made himself a blanket of shadows and scurried to the open car door and curled up on the floor. It was an old trick he’d used when he didn't want to go with them. Sometimes it worked, other times… not so much. Hopefully, this time it would work in such a small place.
"Sir, we saw you earlier and the child, a small redheaded boy, was near your area. If you have any information, you have to confess right now. He and everyone else is in danger if you don't" said one of the men, who were getting closer now. "No, I don't think I've seen a child with that description. At least not that I rem-" One of them glanced to Chester's left. "Why did your car door just open sir?" he asked. Shit "Sir, I'm gonna ask you to stay where you are, we're checking the car" The one speaking pulled out a gun from his coat pocket. "Shit!" he ran into the car and pulled out of the driveway, as a gunshot pierced the back window " You okay kid?" he asked, yelling now. Shit.
Peter was able to control his breathing even in this situation since it helped him hide better. That was normal. Hearing Chester talk to the strangers outside… He was still fine. But when he heard another voice ask about the door; the boy held his breath and pressed even further into his hiding spot.
Of course, that didn't last long very when Chester for in the other door and started driving. Thinking quickly, Peter reached out and closed the door, yelping at the sound of breaking glass. “I… I'm ok.” he nodded, dropping his shadows for now.
He pulled out of the driveway, as the men behind continued shooting. One of the bullets caught a sidemirror of the car "Good. Glad your ok. Listen kid, I'm sorry about this, but there's a change of plans. If I head to the police station with the car in this state, I'm getting in trouble, and I can't risk that. Instead, I'm taking you somewhere I know for sure is safe for the both of us." He looked back at the kid, who was crouched on the floor of the car. "Hey kid, you can sit in the chair." He smiled "We're out of danger for now"
Peter squeaked again when the side mirror broke. “Where we going?” he asked as he slowly climbed into the chair once Chester said they were safe. He really didn't know what was going on now but he was starting to feel like he could actually trust this man. “Why do we have to go somewhere else?”
"We're going to… my friends house. I trust him more than anyone. Even the police… especially the police." Chester answered Peter's first question, not bothering to look back " Listen, the police station would probably be super safe for you, but if I take you, I would not be safe." He felt kinda bad telling this to a little kid, who probably wouldn't understand the nuances of life, especially with how little this kid knew of the outside world, but it was the only explanation he could give.
Peter listened carefully, tilting his head as he tried to understand what Chester was saying. He nodded slightly since he didn't want Chester to be in trouble just so he could be safe. That wasn't fair. But… “What's a friend and why do you trust him?”
"Um…" Wow. As worrying as this behavior was, it was a little endearing. "A friend is someone you know a lot about and knows a lot about you, who you like. And who doesn't hurt you… intentionally." He wasn't great with explanations. "I trust him because I know he wouldn't hurt me intentionally. However, I'm currently on bad terms with him. So uh… yeah" Ugh, he COULD NOT explain the concept of an ex to the kid, so he wasn't about to.
“Oh…” the young boy nodded again before leaning back in his seat. “But if he won't hurt you, why are things bad?” Peter asked, turning to face Chester as he wasn't wearing the seat belt, and likely didn't know about it.
"Geez pipsqueak, lotsa questions right now. Uhh, sometimes even friends have problems. Things happen. Things we can't control. And sometimes it's best to… seperate for a bit, even if you still trust the person." He looked to his side "Now sit down, I don't want to get pulled over because you don't have your seatbelt on." He pointed at the seatbelt hanging next to Peter.
“I’m sorry.” he said, sounding sincere for bothering Chester with his questions as he looked down and leaned back in the seat again. The boy looked to the strap hanging near him and pulled on it, surprised when it moved. If it wasn't for the strange piece of metal on it… it almost reminded him of… He quickly let go of the seatbelt and scooted closer to Chester.
"Oh. You don't know what that is do you? That's just a seat belt. It holds you down just in case the car stops abruptly or we get in a crash. Don't worry about it though, just don't let people see you." He looked back at Pip worriedly. Kid was messed up. And now it was Chester's problem. He might have minded if it was any other situation, but this kid didn't let him be mad. "Also, you don't need to apologize." He turned the car and entered a tunnel leading to the edge of town. It's been a while since he's been to Omar's house. Last time he was there… ugh, he didn't like thinking about it. "Almost there kid"
Pip looked back up at Chester and nodded, he really didn't know much about these kinds of s things. But he brightened a little as he moved back in his seat. “I can do that!” he said once the purpose of the seatbelt was explained. Instead of reaching for it again, Pip made a strap of shadows about the same size as the seatbelt and laid it across his lap. “See? I’m safe.” he smiled, feeling proud of himself for coming up with his own solution.
"WHA-!" The car almost swerved into the wall of the tunnel when Chester saw what happened "WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT!" He yelled at Peter, accudentally a bit too aggressive. His eyes kept switching between the narrow road of the tunnel and the belt of shadows strapped to the kid next to him. "Please. Please explain."
Pip yelled at the sudden movement of the car and Chester yelling at him. The shadow around his lap moved to cover him like a blanket to hide him. “I…” he whimpered from underneath his little shelter. “I can move shadows. It's why they want me back. They make me do things with the shadows.” he made himself answer through small hiccups, trying not to cry.
Chester took a deep breath and whispered to himself "Wow. Ok. Scary scientists experiment on a small child with mutant abilities. I'm in some anime shit. Shit." He saw Pip covered himself fully after he yelled, and he felt bad, even if it wasn't on purpose "Sorry kid, I shouldn't have yelled. I was just… startled. That's not something that happens often here in the outside world." He heard the hiccups and sighed "Don't cry kid, I promise I won't hurt you. We can be… friends" Felt strange to say, but he was getting better at this comforting stuff.
Pip slowly brought the shadows down, uncovering his head but still a bit shaken as he rubbed at his face. He knew what he could do wasn't normal. They constantly reminded him of that fact. Using words like; fascinating, unusual, remarkable… Freak. He let out a shaky breath and looked up at Chester. “Friends? You promise?” he asked, his small voice softer than before.
"Yeah. Promise." He smiled slightly. He didn't smile often, so he hoped it was a nice smile and not a creepy one. He stayed silent for the rest of the car ride. He pulled out of the tunnel, into a neighbourhood at the edge of Thomasine City, Paradiso Haven. "Hey kid, we're here" he said as he parked in the driveway. Paradiso Haven was a series of two story apartments lined up horizontally. The place brought back a lot of memories.
Pip smiled shyly back as the shadows melted back into his version of the seatbelt. He wanted to trust Chester. It helped that he wasn't like the people he had known most of his life. He seemed nice and hadn't hurt him yet. During the quiet of the rest of the ride, the boy looked up out the window and just watched everything fly past until he got dizzy. When that happened, after they were out of the tunnel, he just looked up higher at the stars.
He looked back at Chester when the car stopped and let his shadow belt disappear. “Is this the safe place with your friend?” he asked, looking up at the new building.
"Yep. This is it." He had a sort of bitter look on his face. He sighed and got off the car, heading over to the other side and opening Peter's door. "C'mon." He nodded his head towards the apartment before him "I have a feeling you'll like him. Also, there's no way I'm showing up at his door alone."
Pip slid out of the car, since he's so short, and stayed close to Chester as they walk to the door. “Really? Why?” he asked as he wondered why the man would think that. Though he was also hoping that things weren't so bad between the two that Chester’s friend wouldn't help them.
"He's really good with kids." Chester answered plainly as they headed to the door of the apartment "And he's just good at socializimg in general. I think it's how we became friends in the first place. I'm no good at any of those things and he's… basically the best at them." He sighed, a little dreamily this time, before shaking himself off. "Alright… now or never I guess…" he knocked on the door and it was almost immediately answered by a tall, darkskinned man with an orange beanie, sticking his head out the door, and in a sing song voice, asked "Who is i-?" before stopping abruptly and clearing his throat, opening the door fully. "Chester! Heyyy…" his eyes looked anywhere but at Chester's. "Oh. You brought… a kid?"