Ella didn’t speak for a few seconds. Then she burst out laughing. 

“What?” Jed asked, bewildered. What was she laughing at? Her laughter slowly ebbed away.

“Oh. You actually mean that? You sounded so serious it sounded fake!” Jed raised his brows. Wasn’t that how heroes always talked? 

“Um, that is definitely how I always talk,” Jed said, trying to sound animated and fake. Ella started giggling again. 

“Are you trying to make me laugh? Well, anyway, meet me tomorrow at four pm in front of the shab, ‘kay? See you then!” The line cut off and Jed was left staring at the wall, wondering what in the world the ‘shab’ was. 

A few minutes later, he was walking down the street in his childhood hometown, one of the poorest neighborhoods in the country of Trandite, Jed would guess. The surprising part was that it was the next city over from the capital if you could even call it that. At every apartment, he passed trash bags that were for a dump truck that only came once a month. Shingles were hanging from roofs and paint was peeling from walls. Metal fire escapes were rusted so much that they were out of order. There were potholes in the roads and sidewalks alike. Even the richest part of the town wasn’t a quarter of the value of the capital city. 

Jed glanced up at an especially dank-looking building. There was mold on the part of the walls connecting the apartment to the sidewalk. Jed sighed and walked up to the front door. There was a cheap paper that said “closed” in thick sharpie behind the glass. He shook his head at the stupidity of the owner who he knew to be an accomplice of his adoptive father.

He walked up to the door and pushed it aside with an ear-splitting squeal of metal on glass. He winced and shivered. He suffered through this every day. He went inside, through the lobby, and started slowly up the stairs to his private room. 

As Jed climbed, he thought of all that had happened that day. He had a chance to get revenge. But it could also risk the identity of his family. It was also too late to turn back now, though. He sighed. His father would not be too happy about Jed making a decision without his consent. 

Creak.

The sound was small, almost silent, not many people would be able to hear it. But he had good ears. And that sound told him that someone was following him. Still, he did not react. 

When he got to the top of the stairwell, he stopped. He reached out with his gift and felt around for all consciences close to him. Sure enough, he found one only a few feet away. He pulled on the person until he felt them right behind him. He knew who it was without looking at them.

Jed released them. 

He heard a distinctly female gasp of surprise. 

"How did you know?" a voice said behind him. He grinned.

"I heard you, of course," he said. "You know how good my hearing is."

He paused.

"Sister."