Weird Feelings

Awkwardly, John had to turn to look at the invisible-to-the-others being amidst the ongoing stare he was receiving. Why wasn't it replying, again? This was the second time today he was getting ignored by the being and he was starting to feel something was amiss.

What could he do to get the being's attention now?, he wondered. What was it even thinking of? He couldn't dare call out to it, that would seem weird as he was in a public setting at the moment. He wasn't ready to be misunderstood to be mentally ill like the day he completed his ascension.

Telepathy was an entirely different no-no. It was something he hadn't even mastered, talk less of being able to effect it. Even when he managed to make use of it for the first time earlier, he had to deeply concentrate. Would he now perform such feat in an open space?

He was totally out of ideas.

Just when he was ready to give up and walk on, he heard a clear message in his head.

[I cannot seem to comprehend why he is actually staring at you that way. But the look seems to harbor an aura of suspicion toward you.]

'Suspicion?' John wondered. 'What could Ryan Stones be suspicious of actually? At least, the disguise is on so he wouldn't be able to discern it is actually me. Or can he actually see through? No, that's not possible. I'm sure he probably had a falling-out with the original owner of this look in the past,'

He also thought of asking Rasmus why it couldn't simply find out why by reading that man's mind but he wouldn't be able to do that now. He would have to save the question for later.

Immediately, he resumed striding to his target's residence, not bothering to spare another glance in the direction of the starer.

He got in front of the door he had in his mind and knocked on it after. Soon as he did that, from behind, he heard the sound of screeching tires which meant the starer was driving away. He heaved a sigh of relief, completely getting rid of the awkwardness.

About a minute later, two figures came out through the entrance he was standing in front of — the reporter and his daughter.

"What are you doing here, Ken?"

He heard his target say with a confused expression. 'The disguise truly worked.' he thought, revealing a smile.

"Thought I should head over to your place, and well, here I am." He said nervously, praying in his mind that his target wouldn't notice his odd expression.

"Hello, Uncle Ken," the little girl greeted him.

"Hey there,—" [Anna.] "—Anna. How are you today?"

"I'm fine,"

His target suddenly interrupted the friendly interaction between him and the little girl.

"You're supposed to head to work, not here."

"Well," John, disguised as Ken, scratched on his hair awkwardly, "this might seem weird, and you know I've never requested such from you before, but I need your help with something,"

Stephen Ryder cocked up his brows. "And what might that be?"

John, as Ken, made use of his eyes to try send a signal, landing it squarely on the little girl. He was trying to pass a message that he wouldn't want to talk about it in front of her. Stephen Ryder got the message and spoke to the girl.

"Sweetheart, daddy and Uncle Ken will take you to Aunt Paige's today, okay?"

"Okay daddy,"

With that, the trio strode from there to another part of the street. As John passed by the side where Ryan Stones had parked his car before, he couldn't help but sigh. There was a large building not too far away from where Stephen Ryder's residence was located and that was where they intended to take his daughter to.

In front of one of the doors in the large building, Stephen Ryder crouched to his daughter's eye level, bidding her farewell after telling to her behave herself. He knocked and had to wait for a while before a woman opened the door. After exchanging pleasantries with the woman, he watched his daughter walk into the building with the woman and with that, he left with his companion.

They decided to go through an alleyway which leads to a cut out of the street, making it faster. And that was when Stephen chose to start a conversation.

"So, what is it you want me to help you with?"

The supposed Ken revealed an odd smirk from behind him. "Do you really want to hear about it?"

"Yeah?"

John suddenly stopped his target by the shoulder, holding on firmly. "Rasmus, now."

Stephen was confused. "Who is Ras—"

He couldn't complete the statement because the moment he turned around to look at his supposed partner, he saw the unthinkable right before his eyes. He couldn't even explain what was happening. The look of his supposed partner had changed to someone he dreaded to see.

The disguise withered off John's face and he revealed a stone cold expression to the now scared target of his, making his aura unbearable for the other party.

"M– M– Mr Ruben?"

.....

9:32 pm.

Sky Broadcasting Organization.

Two men walked out the elevator, the doors slowly closing behind them. The duo stepped into the receptionist area of this ground floor before walking up to the main entrance.

There was a contrast to the skin of both men as well as their hair styles. These were better revealed under the illuminating lights from the company building. The cold breeze rushed into their faces soon as they came into the outside view, welcoming them like they had been missing for awhile.

"Was it a success?"

The first man spoke, a light-skinned man named Matthew. Like his best friend, he also had a middle size briefcase in his glove-covered hand.

"A success?" Ryan shook his head, "Definitely not. I tried but couldn't achieve anything."

"So he didn't admit to being involved, did he?"

"He didn't, but his behavior said the opposite."

"What's really your motive behind meeting with him? What do you actually need? You still haven't given me an in-depth explanation," Mathew said.

They made a turn to where the parking lot was situated. "It's definitely not worth hearing," Ryan replied.

"You're still hellbent on keeping me in the dark, aren't you?"

"You should be satisfied with the bribe I gave out the other day,"

Matthew sneered. "That was just to buy my loyalty. Giving me the main motive now will definitely make me understand why you asked me to do that,"

They stood right in front of Matthew's car, a Camry hybrid mode brand, with Ryan's automobile parked not too far from there.

"Lest I forget," Ryan said as he snapped his fingers. "The director promised a bonus for your helping hand in cracking the address's code."

"A bonus? Why not double of my paycheck?"

Ryan turned to look at the other man while trying to make a move to where his car was parked. "You slimy thief. Double my as*."

"Hold on there. Are you trying to be cocky with me? I asked you a question but you're deliberately trying to avoid it," Matthew said, stopping him in the process.

Ryan stood still as he thought about it. What was his motive behind meeting with Stephen Ryder? Truthfully, he had asked himself that same question numerous times but hadn't come up with an explicable motive. Worse still, he always felt he was being pulled to do it, like his inner sense ordering him about.

'That feeling,' he thought. 'What can I actually call it? Why am I being drawn to knowing more about John Ruben? Why can't I even control myself regarding the issue? What is wrong with me?'

"Ryan?"

Matthew's voice brought him back to the present. He turned to look at the other man directly, his mind bubbling with different thoughts. "I don't know." He said.

"Are you planning something illicit that you can't bring yourself to say?"

Ryan arched his brows at the question, his expression twinkling with anger and confusion. "What I'm doing, does it actually deem fit to be called illicit? Don't you trust my judgement anymore?"

"Of course, I do," Mathew said. "But making me understand this situation better will broaden my trust in your judgement. Seriously, I don't see any reasonable motive behind what you're pursuing at the moment. Ask yourself... what if the management finds out?"

Ryan let out a deep sigh, soothing the mixed feeling in him. "I don't know, Matthew, I seriously don't know. I'm confused right now. And worse still..."

He suddenly stopped speaking. He was just about to mention him seeing John Ruben today. Not now, he cautioned himself.

But, was it truly John Ruben? There was something confusing about the man he didn't understand, neither could he pinpoint when he looked at him. His gut feelings just couldn't fish out the exact thing. If he was truly the one he had seen, what could he be doing in such a lowly environment, meeting up with a low profiled reporter? Did he find out the truth about the reporter?

'No,' he shook his head, 'that wasn't John Ruben.' he acclaimed thoughtfully. But his mind kept on saying the opposite.

"Worse still what? Why do you keep on ending up in a daze?" Matthew asked, looking annoyed as he stared at the other party.

"Sorry man. Just forget about it tonight. I'll give you details of everything soon enough, trust me."

"Trust you? Pfft." Matthew said with a sneer.

Ryan turned to walk up to his car. He unlocked the door with the key and just before he opened the door, he paused to look at Matthew who still stood to stare at him.

"Give me some time. I'll try to tell you all I have in mind soon. That's if it's safe to,"