Isaac
Isaac was in silence. Or at least, at some point in his life he would have thought it was silence, but now he could hear things. Faint things. Movement mainly.
The only one who ever spoke to him was Miette, and she wasn't always there.
"Guess she's too busy running her little empire," he thought bitterly. "If you're going to deprive a man of half his life, the least you can do is... but then..."
Strange that Isaac would find it a little frustrating talking to Miette now. There were flickers of the old Miette every now and then, but the rest? Who knew.
Still, the time alone gave him a chance to ponder. How had he used his power? and it was the 'silence' that drew him to the right conclusion.
"People who are blind - or any other handicap for that matter - strengthen in other areas to compensate..." Isaac breathed. "I... just because I can't see... I still have my power, I just have to learn a new way of using it!"
He chewed his lip.
"No time like the present..."
He fumbled for, and found the bars of the cage. He gripped two neighbours and concentrated. He used his telekineis to push the bars and his hands as guides as to where they were.
His hands would have to be his eyes now.
With a little mind power, he pushed the bars enough for him to have room to step out. There was carpet under his feet. He walked forward a little, feeling carefully with feet and hands.
"Ow!"
Despite his efforts, he had stubbed his toe on... something. Isaac felt around. It was a bed.
He felt his way across. He had a vague idea where the door was but he wanted to check the wardrobe... wherever it was. He knew what he was wearing and he wasn't exactly enthused about the idea of walking around in public in it.
"Ah ha! Now hopefully there's something wearable in here."
He felt around inside and frowned. Rather skimpy clothing in there... Miette never dressed like that before. But he didn't dwell on it, he had found a box in the bottom. He opened it hopefully.
"Yes!" he hissed.
They had to be his clothes, and when he fumbled around putting them on he was convinced.
Isaac had to feel around a bit more then... but he soon found the door. He opened it and now the hard part began.
Actually getting out of this joint!
Isaac crept along the hallway. It was difficult trying to keep out of sight when you have no idea where people could see you. He had to listen instead. Any movement that sound nearby made him stop. He kept to the wall. He felt he woudl be caught at any moment - he was sure the whole world could hear his heart beat, it was so loud.
He felt a breeze and headed towards it. Stronger, stronger... he felt the wall and found a window sill. His hands moved up and found a fly screen. He felt along it and pushed it out, but he telekinetically grabbed it - it fell to the ground.
"Rats," he muttered.
He was trying to follow the fly screen down telekinetically in the hope that he might figure out how far up he was. It didn't work too well.
"Either I can't do it, or I need more practice," he thought to himself.
Practice. Now there was a word that touched a nerve, and from different angles too.
"Don't think about it, just concentrate on getting out of here," he told himself.
There was nothing else for it. He would have to try the window. He clambered over the wall, using his atom manpulation to mould the wall into appropriate grips for his hands and feet as he climbed down.
Then his foot struck dirt. He had made it to the bottom. Isaac started walking away from the wall then. He could only hope that he wasn't walking in the wrongest direction, or end up walking around in circles.
Isaac's feet dragged over the ground. His arms were flailing out in front of him in an effort not to bang into any poles or trees or whatever else might be there. The ground was grassy, with the odd patch of dirt and some rocks.
Abruptly Isaac stopped. The terrain had changed. It was... hard. He frowned thoughtfully. Why would the ground change so - a road! He had found a road! Roads lead to civilisation... civilisation mean phones. And boy, he could sure use one right now.
He started walking down what he thought was the side of the road. It was the only thing he knew to do.
He walked.
He walked.
His arms ached, his feet were blistering (he hadn't been able to find his shoes) and the heat of the day was upon him.
Heat of the day... reminded him of Miette. She had seemed so warm when she touched him. heck, she didn't even need to actually be touching him, just near him and he could feel her warmth. It was beyond just sensing that she was there.
Odd.
He walked.
The cars would drive pass. Fast. Isaac would feel the air rush against him as they passed.
None stopped. Isaac didn't know if he was relieved or annoyed.
More traffic. Isaac heard it become a little more condensed. There was a smell too... petrol?
Ah ha! A petrol station. Now if he could only get use of a phone without getting hit, that would be even better.
"Hey, watch it!" a voice said, and a hand grabbed his arm and yanked him to the side.
Well, that was one way to do it.
"Sorry," Isaac replied.
"Don't mention it. What's wrong with you?"
Isaac turned his face towards the voice, his eyes incapable of focusing.
"I'm blind."
The young lady who had pulled Isaac out of harms way helped direct him into the store.
"You know, you remind me of Isaac Hanson," she mused.
"Really?" Isaac replied. "Y'know I get that a lot, but I just don't see it."
She laughed.
"Okay, so what happened? Where's your cane? Or dog... How'd you get here?"
Isaac had not walked all that way without coming up with a good cover story. Somehow he didn't think "I got abducted by my ex-girlfriend who used her powers to blind me so I couldn't use mine" would sounb very believable.
"My brothers and I are always pulling pranks on each other. And just my luck, they thought it would be funny to stick me out in the middle of nowhere. At least, I can only assume that's what happened... I'll know when I get home, won't I?"
"Nice brothers."
"Oh that's nothing. Once we put superglue in Matt's beanie. It stuck to his hair and basically, he had to have a bit or a makeshift hair cut before it would come off again. And once Luke thought he had have a tank of petrol left when it was actually empty - and he wondered why he ended up stopped in the middle of traffic. And then there was -"
"Thanks, I don't need to hear any more."
"It's all in fun. But if they left my cane with me, I mustn't have been able to find it," Isaac shrugged. "Oh well."
"Hmm, okay look... you can use a phone, right?"
"Sure. Numbers are always in the same spot."
"Okay, lemme see if I can con this guy into letting you use the phone."
The woman chatted to the assistant and soon Isaac was allowed to use the phone. He dialed Walker's mobile phone and spoke the moment it was picked up.
"Hello? Dad? It's..." Isaac paused. "Clarke."
Walker
Walker jumped up from where he was sitting, startling everyone nearby.
"Isaac?! Isaac, where are you? Are you ok?!"
Isaac
"I'm fine Dad," Isaac replied, wondering how he was going to tell them that Miette blinded him. "I can't find my cane though. I don't know if Matt and Luke left it with me or not but yeah. Tell them it was fun walking down the road getting blisters on my feet because I couldn't find my way without stumbling for lack of it."
He wondered if that would do the trick... there were a few different kinds of canes around. He didn't think he could say any more without making present company suspicious.
"I'm at a petrol station in... where am I?" Isaac asked them.
They told him and Isaac nearly had a heart attack as he told his father.
Walker
Walker's brain ticked over for a moment.
"Ok Ike. Just... tell me the name of the station that you're at and we'll get a teleporter out as soon as we can," he insisted.
"If you go anywhere, let me know as soon as you possibly can. Is there something else we should know? That you can relay discreetly?"
Isaac
Isaac gave him the name of the station.
"I'll just stay here until you arrive," Isaac replied "Umm, yeah there's a whole story behind all this, but I'll fill you in when I get back. Talk to you soon!"
He couldn't think how to tell him about Miette and the Eye discreetly. It would have to wait.
Walker
Walker couldn't hide the worried look on his face as they said their goodbyes.
"Is everything alright?" Diana looked up at him, concerned.
Walker hesitated, before dialling a number into his cell.
"Don't worry the kids," he insisted, waving a hand at her before leaving to go outside.
He contacted a teleporter and told them of the situation.
Isaac
Isaac hung up the phone.
"Someone's going to be here for me soon," Isaac said. "Thanks for your help."
"No problem."