Under Renovation

Maddox lying on the ground in his room in the early morning as he was trying to incorporate miasma into a workout routine that he had devised for himself as he attempted to see if working out while training with his miasma being used would provide some sort of benefit and it seemed to work. He felt more mentally tired than physically as he had been attempting to change what his illusions were after he had created them since he had been creating them before drawing back the miasma into his body to use again. However, changing them while they were already in place led to a strain on his mind.

Eventually, Maddox was done for the morning workout and was now lying on the floor sweating up a storm as he was exhausted.

"Now then, the investigation into the murder of the young fifteen-year-old girl found last week who police have now identified as young Susan Rose who disappeared about eight months ago from her school in the Beverly Hills area is still ongoing, as police have claimed her death was due to a hit and run incident within the parking complex she was found which the current suspect or suspects are still at large," An ABC news reporter says through the TV in the living room where Maddox was working out in

This particular incident was something that Maddox was paying attention to since he wanted to see if he could find the infected who did this and if possible capture them for information.

A week had passed since Maddox had found the ability to create illusions, which he worked on two hours a day to test their limits and see how effective they would become in combat. Hard work did pay off as Maddox was able to find that to create something more realistic he would need to have to have a close look at it to get finer details down. Still, sight was only one part of illusions as to complete the perfect illusion you would need to trick all five senses of sight, smell, taste, touch, and hearing for the perfect illusion.

Maddox would be skipping on taste since that would not be that effective and extremely difficult since taste is unique to everyone whereas the other senses can be a better asset in combat.

The other aspects of illusions evaded Maddox's grasp but for now, he was making decent progress in illusions that he could make them faster than before but was unable to make anything that could move on its own.

About a week ago a man came over to his house to give him a quote on how much it would cost to renovate his house to include a few things that he wanted which were a bit difficult since California is weird about basements which is what he wanted to be built mainly. Thankfully the excuse of having it as a place to act as a bunker in case of another incident such as what the media was told helped as the man was able to give a quote for how much such a job would cost which lead to Maddox the construction starts tomorrow.

It was projected to take a minimum of two to five months for the construction to be completed as it depended on a variety of variables that could impede the work and seeing as Maddox did not have much he just moved everything out of the house to avoid any damages to his belongings and his cars were moved to a parking lot within the area that would allow him to leave them parked there. It did not take long either to move since he hired a company to move it all to a storage unit that he was renting with the help of his mother's company. They paid for all the expenses for this endeavor that Maddox had planned in exchange for all the notes and ideas that his mother had so that they would be getting something out of helping Maddox before getting him out of the company.

Maddox knew that his mother's company would try to drive him out by buying his shares of the company only after making sure that they got everything they could out of him.

He did not mind this thought process since it was only natural for people to think this way for their benefit, but Maddox was not just gonna let them have their way since his mother's company was the only source of funds for him at this moment. So by solidifying his position and proving his worth to his mother's company and their board of stockholders would he be able to stay as the owner. That could be settled later as the board would not act until they legally could and he would do the same.

Another thing he did was an attempt to remove the illusion that covered the section of the wall in his parent's room but when he tried it was infective, which led Maddox to leave it be and also tell the remodeling company to avoid his parent's walk-in closet, as it had the wall in between it that was the wall with the illusion, as he did not want to change anything.

Leaving these matters aside Maddox turns off the TV as it was now going to a live police pursuit that was going on on the I-5 freeway. Going into the kitchen Maddox opens a small box of donuts from a place nearby and enjoys a small breakfast. Looking at the time Maddox cleans up after himself before looking around once more and leaving his house to enter a Uber that was waiting outside on the side of the street.

The drive was pleasant and Maddox arrives at his destination about 15 miles away from his home. He leaves the car and is now standing in front of the River's Hotel apartment complex where he would be staying for the next few months. This was a specifically chosen location as it was a 6-minute walk from the parking structure where Susan Rose's body was found a week ago. While Maddox's house was under renovation he would look into the murder of Susan to see if he could find the infected that were associated with her.

He felt that her death was related to the infected since the circumstances of her death were too random from what Maddox had seen online and the facts of the matter did not make sense.

If it were a hit and run then the killers would have been found by now since it would require finding the vehicle that hit her on the parking complex camera's and that would lead to a license plate which would lead to a person. All these led Maddox to believe that this was an infected-related case, so Maddox wanted to see if he could find some clues that others could not.

The only problem was that the entire parking complex had become closed off to the public as the people in the surrounding area, mainly dumb teenagers, wanted to show up to the crime scene to mess around there. That would make things a bit difficult, but the produce stores that are typically open were allowed to reopen their doors today.

So tomorrow, under the guise of getting some groceries, which he did need, Maddox would also try to find a way into the parking complex with his illusions to see if there was anything he could find or learn about.

Entering the apartment building, he drew a few stares since his age, and only having one arm drew quite a bit of attention out in public. Some people's faces had strange looks on them as they recognized him, and they stared at his face as he walked into the building from a few of the people there.

Maddox said nothing and just climbed the stairs to his floor where his room was with his computer already set up with the wifi from his house pumping out the signal necessary to search the web.

The apartment that he had rented out was simple as it had a small living room-type area, bedroom, kitchenette, and bathroom, which was suitable for all his basic human needs. The place was cheap and of decent quality, so Maddox had no complaints as he sat down on his bed and thought of what to do tomorrow. Since he was not planning on just scouting out the area around the parking complex, he needed to find something to do.

Boredom...

Boredom would be the biggest threat to Maddox while he stayed here since there was not much else to do here so practicing miasma illusion and basic exercising would not be of much help either in the long run. He needed something to help take up time that would benefit him as he needed to get stronger and not draw any suspicion to himself from any insightful eyes or ears that may come after him. Being away from home made Maddox feel unprotected as he trusted the front gate security to some extent back at his home. Still, now in this apartment complex in the city, there was nonexistent security in the building. The only solace was the gun that was in his father's safe that he brought with him for the defense of his new place.

Making a plan for the day Maddox sets an alarm for tomorrow morning so that he can get up early and begins his illusion practice once more, testing it on himself to see if he could have a nice trick up his sleeve when he fights.

The following day Maddox wakes up at five. He stretches with a yawn in his dark bedroom as he gets up to use the restroom before putting on something warm for the morning chill and grabbing a few of the items that he did not trust being kept in the apartment such as his debit cards to his parent's accounts, the key to his room, his phone, and a pair of workout earbuds before hiding the gun and locking up behind him.

Leaving the building, Maddox walks onto the sidewalk, and after setting up his music, he begins to stretch for a moment before beginning on a good three-mile run while listening to his music.

While running, he knew that he was being followed as he saw the same car with the same license plate drive by him three separate times within the first mile of running, which Maddox allowed him to see since he took a look, they were part of the Coalition. The essence radiating off of them was easy to see in the morning, allowing Maddox to figure out who they were.

Leaving them be since Maddox knew they were only doing their job led to Maddox's thoughts leaning towards Katherine since he had not heard from her in the past few days.

The two of them had gotten decently close after the welcome home party that she helped put together with the two of them meeting most of the time in Maddox's house and just making meaningless conversation with nothing discussing infected and the Coalition.

It was nice having a friend who could relate to him and provide him some comfort in these dark times, cause after all he had no one now.

'I should talk to her again... she was a good practice dummy and a good way to kill time' Maddox thinks as he slows down as he doesn't believe his own words

"Fuck..." Maddox cusses out while panting and shaking his mind of useless thoughts, seeing that he went three miles in one direction, meaning that he would be doing a six-mile run today

Not complaining much, Maddox sigh's as he begins his run back while trying to control his breathing to prevent it from being a hindrance to him. All the while, the Coalition goons follow behind Maddox, ensuring nothing is going on.

About an hour later Maddox was sitting in his living room while taking sips from a glass of water while panting slightly due to the long ass run that he did. After a minute of recollecting himself, Maddox reaches for his phone and dials a number on his phone.

"I am sorry, but the number that you have dialed is no longer in service," A robotic voice chimes before promptly hanging up

"Huh? Did she get a new number?" Maddox questions as he had tried dialing Katherine just now, but her phone number no longer works

'Guess I can use the number on her card,' Maddox thinks as he searches through his belongings in the apartment that he had

"I am sorry sir, but the employee you are trying to reach is not here," The female voice of a receptionist rings out after he was connected and asked to speak with Katherine

"Ma'am, I know about the infected and Coalition so please, can you connect me to her?" Maddox asks

"...."

No reply comes through, leading to Maddox feeling a bit worried now since he is not receiving a reply from the receptionist

"Sir... Miss Katherine is currently deemed as MIA by the Coalition since this morning..." Was the reply

"Oh... well then, thank you, ma'am," Maddox says as he hangs up the phone

However, the phone does not live long as it is crushed into pieces within Maddox's hand as miasma leaks out from his body at a scary rate, threatening to transform him with the unbearable pain of his body being destroyed. Still, Maddox makes not a sound as he clenches his fist and stares ahead.

Soon though, the miasma retreats as Maddox's emotions recede, and the golden essence in his body appears to heal his body of the damage. Maddox only stares forward as he begins to think for a very long time about his previous plan to spend the day finding a way into the parking complex now, thrown out the window, as he comes up with something more suitable.

Maddox may not be considered a righteous guy or hero, but he does return favors and helps those in need if possible, and he considers her a friend.