Jacob was staring blankly at a rack of chips, trying to decide between Loaded Spud and Dill Pickle, when he felt the hairs on the back of his neck rise. Or rather, fail to rise. Ordinarily he'd have dismissed it as his well-learned paranoia. But at four months in...
Calmly, taking care not to betray what he knew, he grabbed both bags of chips, and dropped them into the cart, turning in such a way as he did so that he got a look down the aisle behind him. There, staring at the frozen pizzas. The old man was doing a good job pretending to be considering them, but Jacob knew well the expression of concentration that some people got when they were using their powers. Orville had had that expression a lot. He started slowly pushing his cart towards the register, and started dissembling.
Learning to run two tracks in your mind at once took a lot of practice, and for most people would be completely worthless. But when you have a legitimate reason to be wary of psychics, and nothing better to do with your time, it was amazing what you could learn to do. So as his upper layers started naming off snack foods at random, the second, obscured level started running a mental checklist. There was no charge in the air, so that ruled out atmospheric manipulation, and they probably wouldn't send a psychic on point, though he couldn't rule out the possibility that they'd started sending other duals after him... the air! That was it, the air! Jacob hadn't noticed up until now, so the man must have been doing it gradually, and his strength would have been compensating for the difficulty, but the air around him was definitely getting stiff. That could mean any number of things, from element control to density manipulation to a particularly skilled telekine, but at least now he had the guy at least half figured out.
Alright, walk slowly towards the register, can't let this guy know I've got him figured out, or he'll stop me in my tracks, and all the strength in the world isn't going to help if I can't get leverage. Stop, grab the twinkies, it's what you'd do normally. It's getting harder to breathe, he's still ramping it up... stay in the camera's view, he's not allowed to do anything obvious where it can be recorded...unload the cart, nod at Amy as she start scanning the groceries, through a candy bar in the mix as well... actually, make that two, I'm going to need some quick calories soon... pay for the groceries... shit, his partner I forgot about his partner where's his partner... tell Eric it'll be plastic, not paper, it'll be easier to carry out to the car, so I can leave the cart behind right outside the door... tip Eric a dollar, like always... out the door... shit, there's his partner... wait, the hell is Aeoni doing here?
Carefully, Jacob walked past the standoff, doing his best to make it look as though he hadn't noticed. They always thought he was stupid, even though he'd evaded capture for the past year. They probably thought he was a big fat idiot who only lasted this long because he was a dual. Not that he particularly minded. It always helped when they underestimated him. He pretended to ignore the other two, and walked to his car with difficulty, the pressure around him starting to become tough to move around in. Aeoni could take care of himself. After all, if he needed to get away, he'd have no problem blinking out of there. Hopefully he'd stop the goons long enough for Jacob to get away.
He had tossed the groceries into the back seat, and just opened the driver's side door of the car, when a thought struck him. He shook his head and sighed. This wasn't going to be easy after all. He knew from experience that although Aeoni could blink all over the place, he couldn't blink straight up, or out of a super-strong grip... or out of an airy prison. Making a decision, he stepped halfway into the car, and made the effort to take a deep breath. Facing the showdown, he shouted at the top of his lungs.
"YOU MAY HAVE FOUND ME HERE, ASSHOLES, BUT YOU'LL NEVER FIND MY APARTMENT!"
He struggled into his car, slammed the door shut, thumbed the ignition, and floored the accelerator. With any luck, he'd make it out of the old guy's range before he was brought to a dead stop. With more luck, he'd have enough time at the apartment before they arrived. There were preparations to be made.
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