Chapter 12 — The Man in Gray
The rain hadn't stopped since the marketplace incident. It had been three days, and Seattle seemed drenched in silver and quiet. Arin hadn't been sleeping much — not from noise, but from the absence of it.
Silence used to bring peace. Now it brought expectation.
He sat by the window again, sketching absently on the edge of his notebook. The drawing was of a man — tall, sharp-faced, wearing a gray coat. The same one who'd watched him. The lines came naturally, as though burned into his memory.
Behind him, Maya moved quietly, her soft steps like whispers across the wooden floor. When she leaned over his shoulder to see what he was drawing, he quickly shut the sketchbook.
"Just… something I remembered," he said.
She tilted her head, clearly not convinced. Her fingers danced over her tablet, and she showed him the words:
> "The man from the market?"
He hesitated, then nodded. "Yeah. He's been in my head ever since. I can't get his presence out of my mind. It's strange, though — I can't hear his thoughts anymore. It's like… he's blocking me."
Her eyes widened slightly. She wrote:
> "Can someone do that? Block you?"
"That's what scares me," he murmured. "No one ever could before."
---
That afternoon, Arin went out alone. Maya wanted to come, but he promised he'd only walk a few blocks — "I'll be fine," he'd said, smiling reassuringly.
The truth was, he just needed to know.
He walked the same streets near the market, scanning faces, stretching his senses. The crowd murmured around him — fragments of inner voices flickering past his mind.
Need to call mom…
Where's my umbrella?
I shouldn't have said that to her…
Normal, harmless, human thoughts. But beneath them, something colder pulsed. A static buzz at the edge of his perception, distant yet deliberate.
And then he heard it — a voice unlike the others. Controlled. Calm. Too calm.
You shouldn't have come back here, Arin.
Arin froze. He turned slowly, searching the crowd — and there he was. The man in gray. Standing just beyond the row of umbrellas, face expressionless, hands in his pockets.
For a long moment, they just stared at each other through the rain.
---
When Arin finally approached, his heart was pounding so loudly he could barely think. "Who are you?" he demanded.
The man smiled faintly. "Someone who's been listening, just like you."
The words sent a chill through him. "Listening?"
"Your ability. You think it's rare, don't you? You think you're alone in it. But you're not."
Arin took a step back. The man's thoughts were… quiet. Too quiet. Even when he spoke, Arin could only feel a dull hum.
"What do you want?"
"I want to help you," the man said calmly. "Your power — it's unstable, unfocused. You're wasting it on small things. I can show you how to control it."
"I don't need your help."
"Oh, but you do." The man's gaze shifted slightly. "That girl you're always with — Maya, right? The one whose mind you can't read."
Arin stiffened instantly.
The man's smile deepened. "You've wondered why, haven't you? Why her mind is silent when everyone else's screams? Maybe I have the answer."
Arin's pulse thundered in his ears. "You stay away from her."
"I'm not threatening her," the man said, raising his hands. "I'm offering understanding. You want to know why your gift doesn't work on her? It's because she isn't like the others. You think her silence is ordinary, but it's not. There's something different about her, something you're connected to — something I can help you uncover."
Arin clenched his fists. "If you come near her again, I'll—"
"You'll what?" The man's voice lowered. "You can't fight what you don't understand."
And just like that, he was gone. One blink — and the man in gray had disappeared into the moving crowd.
---
Arin stood there for a long time, heart racing, soaked from the rain. He didn't know whether to believe what he'd just heard, but one thing was certain — someone out there knew about his powers. And worse, they knew about Maya.
He ran home.
When he entered the apartment, Maya was waiting by the window, worry etched in her face. The moment she saw his expression, she rushed to him.
He told her everything — the man, his words, the mention of her. She didn't react with fear, though. She just looked at him, steady and unflinching, before typing:
> "Then we'll face it together. I don't care who he is. You're not alone."
"I don't want you getting hurt," he said, voice shaking slightly.
> "I'm stronger than you think."
That made him smile despite everything. "I know. But if he's right — if your silence means something more — then I have to protect you."
She touched his cheek gently, her thumb brushing away a raindrop — or maybe a tear. Her eyes said everything she couldn't speak: You already are.
---
That night, Arin couldn't sleep again. But it wasn't fear this time. It was something else — a pull. The man's words echoed in his mind.
There's something different about her… you're connected to it…
He looked over at Maya, sleeping peacefully beside him. Her hair framed her face in the soft light, her breathing slow and even.
He reached out, brushing her hand gently. For a fleeting moment, he felt it — not thoughts, not words, but something. A faint pulse, warm and familiar, like a heartbeat inside his mind.
It wasn't silence at all. It was a voice — buried deep, waiting to be heard.
And he knew, in that instant, that the man in gray was right about one thing: Maya's silence wasn't empty. It was sacred. Something powerful, something that might change everything.