V.I.R.A.L - Chapter 253

Diego came home to find his mother arguing with something. He stood idly at the door listening to the muffled shouts as he built up the courage to slide the door open. His mother turned to him, slightly thrown off, as Diego spotted an older girl in her late teens looking at him. “What’s going on?”

“Diego, I don’t want you being here right now… Here, go and buy yourself an ice cream or something. I’ll call you later.”

Diego took the small amount of money being pushed out of the house, hearing the arguing once again. He was completely thrown off by what happened. He didn’t give it much thought stuffing the money in his pocket, turning around and walking back into town. He knew what was going on wasn’t his business, so he decided to just forget about it and hit the town buying the best ice cream ever.

****

Some time had passed, and Diego was still idly waiting for the phone call to come home. Had finished his ice cream, he was now just idly playing games on his phone, growing bored. He sat alone on a bench by the nearby park, his schoolbag resting next to him. He let out a longwinded sigh fed up wanting to go home, and just as he thought of this, his phone began to ring; about to answer, he stopped as a voice spoke up. “Don’t answer that.” Diego looked up, seeing the same girl with who his mum was arguing with standing idly by with her school bag resting over her shoulder. She had short blonde hair matching Diego’s own, but her eyes were a different story being dead of colour or life. Just looking at them was an empty void of nothing. “Diego, I want to talk to you.”

Diego was ready to stand up as he brushed her off. “I have to get home; leave me alone.”

“I’m your sister.”

Diego stopped on the spot, still sitting down as he looked up at her, confused. “Excuse me?”

“Well, half-sister. Your father is Kevin Jolts, correct? Snap.”

Diego scratched his head, giving it a little thought. “So? What do you want from me?”

“Just to talk.” She asked. “Can I sit?”

Diego stood up, sighing. “No. It’s going to rain in a couple of minutes. We should talk elsewhere.”

“Huh?” She questioned, looking up at a clear sky. “Is that some kind of joke?”

Diego picked his bag up, throwing his rubbish into the bin. “Just trust me.”

“Ok? There’s a coffee shop not far from where I work part-time. We’ll go there.” The two-headed in that direction as Diego wasn’t much for making small talk. Sister or not, it didn’t really bother him; he wasn’t someone to care but would at least allow her to speak her mind. Just as he suggested, as they got to the coffee shop, it began hammering it down out of nowhere. “Told you…”

The girl stared out of the window in shock. “Damn, we would have been drenched… How’d you that?”

“My mum says I’m a lucky guesser. It’s a bit more than that… Let me show you.” Diego whispered, looking to the clerk. “That boy is going to spill the coffee over the next customer.”

The girl pivoted on her seat, watching idly, waiting. Like Diego suggested, the next customer yelled out as a fresh brew of coffee was spilt all over their suit. “Hot damn! No way could you just guess that. You can see into the future?”

“Briefly and only one person at a time. It’s nothing special, really. It’s not going to win me the lottery; it might avoid me from stepping on shit or something but nothing more than that.” Diego tossed away. “Anyway, just who are you.”

“Right, sorry. I always forget to introduce myself. My name is Sae Jolts. See, we share the last name. Do you believe me?”

“I never actually doubted you,” Diego replied, sipping his drink. “I still don’t get why you’re here? You were arguing with my mum.”

“I was… I’m actually looking for the old man. He left my mum and me when I was not much older than you. Just poof vanished off the face of the earth. When I learned he had another child, I thought you could help me.”

Diego shrugged his shoulders. “Well, we sure do share something in common; the dickhead left my mum just before I was born. I never met him; if what you told me us true, he’s probably out there fucking some other helpless woman. Why do you want to find him so badly?”

“Because I want to kill him,” Sae admitted making the room feel heavier. She chuckled, sipping her drink. “I really messed that one up. Let me explain; I’m actually one of the CEOs of V.I.R.A.L.”

“Seriously?” Diego muttered. “Aren’t you a bit young to be a CEO?”

“I get that a lot. I was approached by them when I was young, as they found my gift remarkable. You see, I can control shadows. Something pretty cool, right? Well, not as cool as seeing into the future! That wasn’t the only reason they approached me, however. Our father, he’s dangerous. His own so-called gift is unstable. He’s basically a ticking time bomb just ready to go off, and I need to find him before he causes a lot of harm.”

“Oh, well… I’m sorry to tell you, but I have no idea where he is. Like I said, I never met the man, so I’m just as clueless into where he would be.”

Sae began fidgeting, looking stressed. “I see; that doesn’t help whatsoever. You really have no idea? Nothing your mother mentioned that could help?”

Diego shook his head. “Nothing of note… Actually thinking about it, there is one thing.”

“Yes? Anything could help!”

“I remembered a few years ago, some scary men came knocking. Something about loan sharks looking for dad. My mother kept it all very hush-hush, but that’s all I know.”

“I see; well, that isn’t much to go on, but I could easily work around this. I don’t believe there are too many loan sharks in this city, so they must still have him on record. If I could track down his last known location…”

Diego sipped the last of his drink, pushing it forward. “Well, if that’s all you came asking for, I’ll be leaving now.”

“Now, just wait a minute, brother.” Sae sarcastically said, sitting him back down. She gave a quirky smirk, whispering. “Don’t you want to help me find him?”

“Excuse me? Isn’t this your job?”

“Well, yes! But I could use some help; with your powers, we could make a great team.” Sae suggested.

Diego rolled his eyes, slouching back in his chair. “Trust me, I’m the last one you want help from; I can’t do shit… I’ve been trying to stream for a while now, but I can’t make any progress. Wouldn’t one of the CEOs be a better choice or a streamer like Vanguard?”

“Again, yes. But you see, the other CEOs are somewhat scary. They are all so cold and distant, and then there’s Kurt, who I just can’t work out; he gives me the creeps. I’d much rather have my awesome brother helping me. Besides, don’t you want to meet your father too?”

“Half-brother.” Diego reminded, her arms crossed. “You’re going to kill him, right? Why would I want to meet the old man if he’s just going to die in front of me?”

Sae began tapping the table, slightly annoyed as she began to mumble. “You sure come up with good questions, don’t you? All of that doesn’t matter, beside as Jolts don’t, we have a reasonability to stop him causing any potential harm?”

“That’s the first good point you’ve made since we started talking… But why should it be my problem? I don’t know him.”

“I can’t keep up with this logic! Look, Diego, I’ve always thought ahead to the idea that if you can make a difference or stop something bad from happening, you have a moral duty to stop it. Our father could hurt anyone unintentionally. He could walk up tomorrow, storm into your house and hurt your mum.”

Diego tapped the table, scorning. “You seriously had to bring her into this?”

“Sorry. But I’m serious. We can stop anyone getting hurt; I know this isn’t something you’re used to, but hey, its always good to try something new.”

“Don’t you know I’m the king at trying something new… I’m just never good at the things I try.”

“Well, how would you know unless you try? Trying new stuff is great but sticking to it is the real task. Diego, seriously, I can’t do this without you.”

“You really are hopeless, aren’t you? I can already tell that, and we hardly know each other.”

Sae pouted, folding her arms. “You don’t have to be a big meanie about it… So?”

Diego rubbed his face shrugging his shoulders. “I’ll help you. Only because it’s our father, and he could hurt my mum.”

“I knew you had it in you, Diego! I’ll be sure to pay you back no matter what!” She yelled, getting everyone’s attention. Leaning forward, she whispered. “I’ll give you my phone number. Let’s keep this a top-secret. You never saw me. Oh, and one last thing Diego, lighten up. You need to smile some more if you want to be a good streamer!”

Sae ran out of the coffee shop sprinting through the rain as Diego stared blankly, unsure what to make of his newfound promise. Feeling his cheeks, he gave off a confused look. “To be a good streamer, you have to smile? Is it really that simple?”