Brenda and Patty both hesitated and as the car inched closer and closer to Zaire’s cottage, both of them wanted to raise doubts but now was no time to show weakness.

They both still had a dim flame in their hearts for the saddle brown, brown-eyed, blonde-dreaded haired, brilliant white smile of Zaire Aionios… but they couldn’t admit that to each other.

Especially not Patty… it had become clear to her that Zaire appreciated Brenda more than he enjoyed her – she harbored another intent deep in her heart.

To make sure Zaire would never have a happy ending with Brenda… not that he wasn’t fully capable of doing that all on his own.

“Maybe, we should—” Brenda voiced but she was cut off with a glance from Patty.

The plan was set – tonight, they would become arsonists… of course, while the anger was still strong and perhaps, growing stronger…

Neither of the girls were ready to become criminals.

Their plans had deviated from burning the entire area to burning the cottage, to burning the hummer, and finally settling on only burning the clothes in Zaire’s room.

They both knew how much the hummer meant to Zaire – neither of them was willing to take things that far… especially since they were somewhat scared of The South African.

Patty parked the car just outside the cottage… she picked a grassy area since she knew Zaire would examine the surrounding mud for a trail.

Brenda was the first out with a gallon of premium gas courtesy of Greg’s gas station – he hadn’t even asked why they put it in a gallon and not their car.

Patty exited the car with a gallon in one hand, and the fire extinguisher in the next. “How do we get in?” She inquired.

Brenda sighed and walked up to the door, directly unlocking it. “A key Zaire was not aware he had gifted me…” She explained.

Patty smirked… the translation was that she had nabbed the key from Zaire, printed one of her own, and now, the plan would go off without a hitch.

The girls kicked over a few of Zaire’s South African antiques as they made their way to the bedroom… Patty blushed when she saw the stains of their previous enjoyable night.

Patty burned with a bit of jealousy… the sex lingered in the air, especially to those who had recently had it.

“The bed definitely has to go,” Patty demanded, knowing just how legendary the bed was… she wanted to burn all the memories of being on her back with Zaire demanding she beg for me.

While Patty doused the sheets and pillows in gas, Brenda tossed the clothes out of the closet, gathering the fabrics into a large pile for burning.

“Ready?” Patty inquired.

“Ready!” Brenda replied.

It was as easy as lighting a match and tossing it on the gathered pile… the clothes, the sheets, and the remnants of intimate memories were slowly devoured by the flames.

Brenda held the fire extinguisher at ready – they agreed to burn the clothes just enough for Zaire to feel anguish and that demanded leaving evidence behind.

If they really wanted to get away with it, they would have just gotten Clay or some of the other guys to rob the place… but this was personal for the girls.

“Here…” Brenda slipped Patty a wet rag to similarly cover her face. “Don’t inhale too much of the fumes…” She advised.

“Damn, you really have done this before,” Patty admired.

“I have had some stupid exes,” Brenda freely admitted – she always tried to act more proper since she started to date Zaire but now that that had come to an end, she no longer cared. “Now, Zaire is one of those stupid exes…”

They watched for a few more seconds, ensuring the clothes were completely ruined… then, Patty extinguished the flames with the fire extinguisher.

That was that…

The girl made their way to the kitchen – though they had not discussed it, they simultaneously had the idea to steal Zaire’s entire stock of peanut butter.

‘He loves the stuff…’ They thought.

Patty even spared the time to pull out her phone, sending Zaire a picture of the things they had freshly burned.

How were Patty and Brenda supposed to know the truly deep paranoia Zaire harbored in his heart… paranoia deep enough to keep a stash of World War II bombs – purchased from the black market – under his bed at all times.

Zaire was nothing if not prepared.

And though Patty and Brenda extinguished the flames before the true damage could be dealt, World War II bombs were notoriously unstable…

All it took was a bit of wind, an ember of flame ashes that sunk between the floorboards, and…

BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM

The explosion was loud enough and large enough that half of Reston could hear the explosion, while the entirety of Reston could see the orange flames dancing in the air.

As for Patty and Brenda…

………………………………

Zaire had pondered the mysteries of his Master countless times before, and though the old man was mysterious and amazing, Zaire didn’t know how amazing until this very moment.

They were in a world of purple.

In theory, Zaire knew it was in his mind… and in his master’s mind… and their minds were meeting somewhere in the middle, but still – it felt as if it was more.

He knew of The Astral Realm… Zaire expected it to feel more magical, but then again, in his last life, moving from one continent to the next in the blink of an eye would feel magical as well.

Suddenly, fire surrounded the master and disciple in their calm.

Zaire felt a sense of crisis in his mind but he still didn’t focus away from tranquility – his body could be burning for all he knew but there was a process to follow.

“These flames follow you,” The Old Man’s mouth remained closed but his voice echoed in the purple expanse. “—you should go check on them…” He suggested.

Zaire nodded… he released whatever was holding him back and when his eyes snapped open again – he had returned to his body surrounded by green smoke.

The sense of crisis turned out to be his phone’s constant vibrations in his pocket – Zaire withdrew the device, planning to shut it down but thought better and ultimately viewed two text messages.

One from Brenda saying she was sorry…

And another…

“From Patty burning—” The words froze in his throat when he realized what was happening – it wasn’t about what they were burning as much as it was about where they were burning it.

Zaire had had crazy exes before… but…

“FUCK!” He quickly checked the meta-data on the photograph, confirming they had taken the picture just a minute before. “—then, it’s not too late…”

WHOOOOOOSH

The green smoke curled, and Zaire disappeared.

…………………………

Zaire appeared in a shimmer of space – he had Jumped twice to get inside the cabin… even at this moment when time was critical, Zaire did not forget his training.

Similar to how gravity was rounded to a general 9.8N, space also had a stable coefficient… but that was a generalization and not every second of Earth held the same spatial stability.

Some places more… some places left.

It was the difference between a nanosecond and a microsecond – not critical in any capacity but when it came to explosion, it could mean life or death.

Hence, Zaire weakened the space.

He Jumped just outside the cottage, barely remaining for a microsecond before Jumping into the kitchen of the cottage – he hoped beyond all hope that Patty and Brenda would not remain in the bedroom they just lit on fire.

Thankfully, they were smarter than that.

Zaire appeared in the cottage – his eyes met the girls' surprised faces… he didn’t have a moment to think.

The gas in the air…

The flickers of flames…

Everything bombarded Zaire all at once…

WHOOOOSH – WHOOOOSH

The first Jump to place a hand on Patty and Brenda… Patty swerved at the last moment and Zaire grabbed her coat.

Another Jump to shift his body ever-so-slightly – now his hand was on her right breast.

It was at that moment Zaire felt the head brush over their bodies… he closed his eyes on instinct – the detailed image in his mind had been replaced by a panic to get out of the cottage.

BBBBBBOOOOOOOOOOOO—

The sound came first, then the force…

Zaire was halfway through the Jump when the force arrived…

The girls had shut their eyes.

Zaire used his body to shield Patty and Brenda but an explosion of MK2 grenades, especially from so close, would leave no one unscathed.

Noise came first…

Then, the force came… it was akin to being directly impacted by a hundred silver balls.

Zaire may have dampened the blow by transitioning into a Jump, and again by placing his body between the forces and Patty and Brenda, but the girls still felt their organs shake.

WHOOOOOOSH

They were lifted from their feet when their perspective shifted – around two meters off the ground.

The duo slipped free of Zaire’s embrace – his organs had been jostled enough that blood escaped from his lips.

Then…

--OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOMMMMMMMMMM

The rest of the explosion followed and Zaire was carried by the aftershock, his body Jumping once more to protect him from popping bullets shooting out of the flames devouring the cottage.

WHOOOOOOSH

As for Brenda and Patty – the unconscious girls dropped onto the hood of the hummer and bounced onto the ground… bones crunched under the sudden fall but they were protected from the aftershock and popping bullets.

…………………………………………

SPLASH

Wet… drowning… vibrating water...

Zaire blinked for a moment and that was all it took – a moment of unconscious inattentiveness – for water to rush down his throat.

He bubbled and struggled… the water pressure felt enormous, though that could just as well have been a trick of the mind.

Blood floated in the water – there was skittering and splashing above… people rushed out of the water at the sight of blood… Zaire’s blood.

WHOOOOOOSH

The water churned, sending the crowd from a section of the pool rushing out of the water.

…………………………………………

Zaire didn’t know how much time had passed but his keen temporal senses, which complimented his Jumping senses, estimated an hour had passed.

A mere hour… that was a significant time for any Jumper, especially one in an uncertain situation like Zaire.

From a temple deep in the mountains to a cottage in the forest, to what was likely the bottom of the ocean, and now, in an abandoned warehouse.

“Fuck me…” Zaire muttered.

Large empty space…

It smelt of old wood, rotted dreams, and a sickly mold.

Zaire could immediately tell it was an abandoned building and when he heard the groans of several others, he finally recognized where he was – a drug house.

He groaned and stumbled around the corner, laying eyes on three guys shifting uncomfortably in seats that seemed to have been directly ripped out of the busses.

A better view revealed a few women… and a third look revealed more junkies.

The scent in the air stung Zaire’s nose.

He snorted on instinct – luckily, he was in a place where his presence captured no attention, and the little that his entrance did, was quickly forgotten in favor of heroin, cocaine, or some other drug.

A pounding headache rocked Zaire’s mind, preventing him from thinking too deeply about the mess he left in Reston… first of all, it was uncertain if Patty and Brenda had survived.

‘I have to think through things carefully…’ He thought, but the headache prevented him from doing so.

Zaire leaned against the wall, trying to steady his mind and body… at this point, he was sure it was more mental than physical.

Perhaps, some part of him was panicking.

A normal person may have a panic attack but Zaire, who had trained such instincts out of his body, probably manifested more serious symptoms.

Dizziness… aches… blurry visions…

It took a couple of minutes before Zaire could control himself enough to try and stumble toward the stairs, but it seemed as if fate would not spare him so easily…

Two bangs… more like pops.

His eyes widened with alert… it was a second too late since Zaire tumbled on the ground as someone rammed into his shoulder.

They both stumbled and they were both back on their feet, equally fast.

Zaire saw dime bags scattered on the floor… along with the recreational drugs were aspirin and even vials of insulin – finally, there was an ID amongst the pile.

“Brian Finch…” Zaire muttered.

The man was a mess with three different drugs flooding his system – his eyes were drooping, needle marks loitered his arms, and he was the very definition of a dirty blonde.

Without even gracing Zaire with an answer, Brian scrambled and raked the drugs on the ground into the bag in his hands.

Two more pops… this time Zaire could distinguish the sounds – gunshots.

Brian broke into an Olympic-level sprint but he couldn’t outrun the bullets… he was a couple of feet away when a bullet clipped his right shoulder, sending him stumbling forward.

Zaire, already on edge due to appearing somewhere unfamiliar, immediately kicked out with his leg, Jumping to the edge of the stairs where two attackers stood.

WHOOOOOSH

The first mafia goon didn’t even have an idea of what happened – suddenly, his body was floating down the rotten steps he had carefully ascended just seconds prior.

BUDUF - BUDUF

By the time the goon was at the bottom of the stairs, the pain from several broken bones had forced his mind into unconsciousness.

Still, Zaire had no time to confirm the kill… he directly spun and tossed his elbow into the empty air by the stairs, but the next second…

WHOOOOOOSH

The gunbutt heading for the back of Zaire’s head, courtesy of the second goon, suddenly hit empty air, and Zaire’s elbow met the tender neck of the second goon as he appeared on the other side in a churn of space.

Yet, Zaire was not one to underestimate his opponent – The Jumper directly used the momentum of his elbow to spin his body and though the second goon was down for the count, Zaire still brought the man’s face down on his knee.

There was blood… a shattered nose, and then, a similar trip down the stairs.

Everyone in the room had scattered slightly before Brian’s ascent up the stairs, and those that had not, departed as soon as Zaire sent the first goon down the stairs.

The Jumper snatched the gun one of the goons had dropped, slipping the weapon into the back strap of his pants, then he scanned the room to see if any other threat would present itself.

There was none… he could finally breathe easy.

“Brian Finch…” Zaire muttered, mind flickering to a traumatic memory he couldn’t identify. “The name is very familiar.”

Zaire felt as if he was grasping onto a strand.

The Jumper hardly managed to follow his instincts, throwing his body forward in time to avoid a devastating blow to the back of his head.

It was a glancing blow… but a brick was a brick regardless if he took the full blow or not.

Zaire’s mind drifted into unconsciousness.

WHOOOOOOOOOSH

Thankfully, his Jumper instincts worked on a subconscious level.

…………………………………

Two mouthfuls…

Zaire had suffered three blows to the head in the span of two hours and his swollen hand from the altercation in the locker room had yet to fully heal.

Still, he felt none of the pain.

Wet… water… deep… splashing…

Blood… vibrations… music?

Fighting against the sensation of drowning, Zaire’s mind was shocked awake… on instinct, The Jumper paddled his hands, desperately hoping the direction he chose to swim was up.

And it was…

In three seconds he broke the surface of the pool… in the previous Jump, he had thought he Jumped to the bottom of the ocean but it was just a moderately deep pool.

Zaire took deep breaths.

Though he had appeared in the pool out of nowhere, most of the party was still in full swing – where they were teenagers drinking vodka, there would be imaginary pigs flying.

A section of the pool became faintly bloody from the wound on Zaire’s head, but not many people noticed between the loud music and teenagers making out.

The few that took note of the strange occurrence of someone appearing from under the water quickly drifted to the far side of the pool.

Their drunk minds had already classified Zaire as a freak instead of considering the matter a freak event.

………

A couple of seconds later, Zaire paddled his way to the ladder – he was in the deep end of the pool, definitely disoriented, and hurting from multiple wounds… fresh wounds and old wounds alike.

“Need a hand?” She asked, extending a hand toward the pool.

Zaire glanced up and blinked rapidly, wiping chlorine out of his eyes… her warm smile was the first thing Zaire noticed about her, followed by her radiant presence, warm and friendly smile, and expressive dark eyes.

“Oh my gosh…” Kimberly grabbed Zaire by the arm, dragging him out of the pool. “—you’re bleeding…” She voiced, forcing away the drunk partiers around her. “What are you doing in the water?”

Zaire was relieved to have been pulled from the water… the chill of soaked clothes contrasted with the warm hand rubbing his shoulder, trying to grant him a degree of warmth.

“Fuck, that’s cold…” He cursed.

Kimberly giggled. “I would think so… but, just how—” She paused and seemed to consider her question before continuing. “Were you always at the party? Just how did you get in the pool…”

Then, like all people did, she provided herself an answer to the seemingly impossible.

Kimberly glanced at the roof of the house and back at Zaire, realization dawning in her confused eyes. “Ah, you must have jumped from up there and hit your head at the bottom?” She voiced, gripping his shoulders and meeting his eyes. “Dude, you could have died.”

“Did Sim or one of the other guys push you?” She inquired.

“Where?” Zaire questioned, folding his body to warm himself up.

“Angel Grove…” Kimberly replied, removing her jacket and placing it around Zaire’s shoulders as she simultaneously used a bit of padding to stop the bleeding.

It took a while for her to locate the origin but it became fairly obvious when she noticed the small bump behind Zaire’s head… it was getting larger by the second.

“You need ice…” She dragged him inside the house, through the crowd of dancing teens.

……………………

OW – OW

“Sorry…”

“I was kidding,” Zaire smirked.

Kimberly snorted and started to dab antibacterial a bit harder behind Zaire’s head.

“Now that hurts for real…” he complained.

Over the past hour, Zaire had been tended to by Kimberly – at first, it was because she felt obligated to, then it became because she wasn’t currently on the best of terms with her friends.

Ultimately, when Zaire was recovered enough, shifted out of his clothes into whatever was in Bryton’s room, and contented with his space on the roof, Kimberly made to leave but…

Then, moans started in the room and the window was locked – obviously, someone had come to start their business.

And the moans had persisted for the fifteen minutes since then.

“You can always jump…” Zaire offered, glancing at the party raging below.

The roof wasn’t too high up – a mere forty feet or a little less… and with a twelve-foot deep pool below, Zaire was confident that Kimberly wouldn’t get as much as a scratch.

“I don’t possess your level of bravery…” She commented, then stopped tending to Zaire and instead met his eyes. “—though, I should call it your recklessness.”

Zaire nodded – it was indeed reckless to Jump to a cottage where an explosion was likely to happen, then get Jumped to a Drug House where killers were chasing someone, and finally, end up at a party with a beautiful—

‘Okay, this part isn’t so bad…’ He mused.

“You know,” Zaire frowned. “All this time and we haven’t exchanged names…”

“I thought you were trying to keep the mystique alive,” Kimberly quirked a brow. “At least, that’s what you said five minutes after I dragged you out of the pool.”

Zaire snorted, that was indeed something a disoriented him might say to cover his ass.

No names had always given The Jumper a sense of freedom but that was working against him now that he really wanted to know the girls.

And she could see that… Kimberly didn’t make it hard for him.

“Kimberly… Kimberly Hart,” She introduced.

“Zaire… Zaire Aionios,” He responded, knowing she would never look for him twice.

Maybe it was instincts from having been with multiple women but Zaire could always tell what type of women would Google his name… not that there would be anything to find.

Also, Kimberly wasn’t that type of woman… she was shallow and lived for this particularly sweet, fairy-tale moment.

“Zaire… a cool name,” She commented.

“Hart… I love it,” Zaire similarly stated, though he was thinking about Kevin Hart who didn’t exist in the new universe. “Your mother’s or father’s?”

“Mother’s… she had always been…” Kimberly paused to choose the right words. “She has always been the Hart of the family. Dad is very determined in his path… logical to a fault, you can say. Together, they are perfect.”

‘So, they are considering divorce. Your mom is a romantic and your father is a man feeling the reality of his middle age. Your mom may have also cheated, though you don’t realize that yet. They are putting up a front for you, and you just want them to re-discover the love you saw between them as kids…’ Zaire analyzed, but his response was similarly measured. “They sound like amazing people…” He commented. “My parents are small bankers. They sent me to the US for school – we owned a small bank back in West Africa…”

“So, a rich kid…” Kimberly chuckled.

“Gosh, do you hate my top 10% kind?” Zaire joked back.

Kimberly shrugged. “I only hate the top 5%... 10% is safe enough for me…” She replied, closing her eyes to embrace the wind that fluttered past.

Zaire unconsciously moved – it surprised him… all of the movements in his life, big and small, had always been purposeful but Kimberly possessed something that drew him into her.

‘I had never considered it – why I Jumped here?’ He thought.

It was a question Zaire didn’t want to answer but now, the answer was staring him in the face… there was something about Kimberly – something powerful threatened to drown him.

His finger curled a few loose strands of hair behind her ear… her eyes snapped open.

Their eyes met, but instead of remaining locked, they both looked away… Zaire’s face quickly turned into a grimace – he felt like a virgin.

“I’m sorry, I—” His mouth moved without his approval.

“I have a boyfriend!” Kimberly blurted, wanting to smack herself for saying such an awful thing at such a critical moment. “—he left last year and we have been trying this long-distance thing – he came to see me last month and—”

“And…” Kimberly grew more and more confused the more she talked; eventually, she started to babble nonsense as Zaire slipped his hand into her pocket, withdrawing her phone.

A couple of seconds later… “Done,” He voiced.

“Uhm…” Kimberly frowned. “What just happened?” She chuckled nervously.

“You don’t have a boyfriend anymore…” Zaire mentioned.

Domineering… cool…

Uncaring… direct…

He saw what he wanted and he went after it… Kimberly felt her heart flutter.

The next thing she remembered was leaning forward, and even then, Zaire gripped the back of her head and pulled her toward him faster… their lips met with an electric charge.

Zaire scooped Kimberly into his arms – the moaning in the nearby room stopped.

‘Perfect…’ Zaire thought.

Though the window remained unopened, The Jumper locked lips with the girl in his arms, distracting her enough as he pretended to ruffle to lock on the window.

In Kimberly’s mind, the window slid open with barely any resistance but what actually happened was…

WHOOOOOOSH

Zaire jumped to the adjacent roof – his hand reached for a window already opened, and that led to an unoccupied bedroom… likely the room of the house owners.

Kimberly slipped out of Zaire’s hand – initially, she was planning to back away but she tripped on the edge of the bed, falling into its soft comforts.

Her mind was chaotic.

Zaire pressed his body above Kimberly’s – he grabbed her hands and held them over her head as he kissed her neck with a tenderness that frustrated him.

But he couldn’t help himself.

Then, knowing this was one sex session that would be different from all the others, Zaire retreated to meet Kimberly’s eyes – he saw his hesitation reflected… his confusion reflected… and his chaotic thoughts reflected.

The Jumper gave Kimberly a soft peck on the lips, then stopped.

Kimberly gave him a small peck on the lips in return, then stopped.

Their lips met in a subtle, shallow kiss… then more shallow pecks that evolved to the occasional flicking of their tongues.

Sometimes, no words were needed.

This strange ritual continued for ten straight minutes before Kimberly yawned in exhaustion… Zaire took the message for what it was.

She turned her body away, shifting to a more comfortable position on the bed as she slipped out of her shoes… Zaire snaked his arms around Kimberly’s waist.

Then, they fell into slumber.