docs/Chapter 4 - The Near Miss on Elm Street.md

Chapter 4: The Near Miss on Elm Street

Sera clutched the faded newspaper clipping as she navigated the bustling sidewalk of Elm Street. This was the location where the runaway delivery van had miraculously stopped. She scanned the storefronts, looking for the bakery mentioned in one of the eyewitness accounts – “Mrs. Gable’s Sweet Treats.”

Inside the cozy bakery, the air was thick with the aroma of cinnamon and sugar. An elderly woman with a warm smile and flour dusting her apron stood behind the counter. Sera introduced herself and explained her interest in the incident from a few weeks ago.

Mrs. Gable’s smile softened with concern. “Oh, you mean about poor Mrs. Henderson? It was a terrible scare. Thank goodness she’s alright.”

Sera nodded. “I was hoping to speak with Mrs. Henderson, if she’s available.”

“She usually comes in for her morning tea around this time,” Mrs. Gable said, glancing towards a small table by the window. “Ah, there she is now.”

Sera followed her gaze to a frail woman with silver hair, slowly stirring a cup of tea. She thanked Mrs. Gable and approached the table.

“Mrs. Henderson?” Sera asked gently.

The elderly woman looked up, her eyes a little cloudy. “Yes, dear?”

Sera introduced herself again and explained she was a reporter looking into the incident with the delivery van. Mrs. Henderson’s eyes widened slightly. “Oh, that awful business. I still have nightmares about it.”

Sera sat down at the table. “Could you tell me what you remember?”

Mrs. Henderson recounted the terrifying moment when she saw the van hurtling towards her, the driver frantically honking his horn. “I closed my eyes, dear. I thought that was it.”

“And then?” Sera prompted.

“And then… nothing,” Mrs. Henderson said, a look of bewilderment still on her face. “Just… stopped. Like it hit a wall, but there was no wall. The driver was just as shocked as I was.”

Sera leaned forward. “Did you see anything else? Anything unusual?”

Mrs. Henderson frowned, trying to recall the details. “Well, there was a young man… standing across the street. Near that alleyway.” She pointed with a shaky hand. “He was just watching. He looked… sad, somehow. All in dark clothes. He was there before, when the van started coming, and then he was gone right after it stopped.”

“Did you get a good look at him?” Sera asked, her pulse quickening.

Mrs. Henderson shook her head. “Not really, dear. It all happened so fast. But I remember his eyes… they were very pale. Like… like grey stones.”

Grey eyes. The detail stuck with Sera. She thanked Mrs. Henderson for her time and left the bakery, her mind buzzing. A young man in dark clothes with striking grey eyes, present at the scene and then vanished. It fit the description of someone trying to stay out of sight.

She walked across the street towards the alleyway Mrs. Henderson had indicated. It was a narrow, shadowed passage between two brick buildings, smelling faintly of damp concrete and discarded trash. There wasn’t much to see.

As she stood there, a sudden gust of wind whipped through the alley, swirling dust and leaves around her. It was a strange, localized gust, the air around her otherwise still. Sera shivered, a prickle of unease running down her spine. It felt… intentional.

She pulled out the newspaper clipping with Kaelen’s name. He would be around 25 now. Could this be him? Was he the one responsible for stopping the van? And if so, why?

Sera decided to canvass the nearby shops, see if anyone else had noticed a young man matching Mrs. Henderson’s description around the time of the incident. She showed the faded article, hoping someone might recognize the name or even a more recent picture if one existed. Most people shook their heads, but at a small bookstore a few doors down, the elderly owner peered at the clipping through thick glasses.

“Kaelen…” he murmured, tapping a finger on the name. “That’s a name I haven’t heard in a long time. There used to be a quiet young man who would come in here sometimes, years ago. Always looking at the science fiction and fantasy sections. Kept to himself. He had… striking grey eyes, I remember that.”

Sera’s heart leaped. “Do you remember what he looked like more recently? Has he been in lately?”

The bookstore owner shook his head. “No, not in years. He was just a boy back then. But the name… and those eyes… it could be the same person.”

Sera thanked him profusely, a wave of excitement washing over her. She was on the right track. This Kaelen, the survivor of the lab fire, the subject of local myths, was likely the one behind the unexplained events. He was out there, somewhere in Oakhaven City, using his abilities in secret.

As she stepped back onto the sidewalk, her gaze drifted across the street. Leaning against the wall of the building opposite, partially obscured by the shadow of a large oak tree, stood a figure. Tall and lean, dressed in dark clothing. And even from this distance, Sera could see the unmistakable pale grey of his eyes. He wasn’t looking at her, his gaze fixed on the flow of traffic, his expression unreadable. But there was a stillness about him, an almost ethereal quality, that made him stand out from the bustling crowd.

For a fleeting moment, their eyes met. Kaelen’s gaze flickered towards her, a brief, almost startled look before he turned his head away, melting back into the shadows as quickly as he had appeared.

Sera’s breath caught in her throat. It was him. She was sure of it. The ghost in the machine. The silent force behind the city’s strange occurrences. She had found her story. Now, the challenge was getting him to tell it. And something in his guarded gaze told her that wouldn’t be easy.