Max hit the grassy backyard running and leapt in a blur to land on the roof of the next building. He dropped to a crouch and focused his mind outwards, sending his thoughts into the sky above. Collecting the light reflected from the streets and buildings below, he channeled it back down to himself, focusing it into his eyes. He knew that some of the light, reflecting from the blue of his irises, would give them a faint glow. But no one is going to be looking up here to see it.
From the bird’s eye perspective his Farsight spell gave him, he scanned this part of Alexandria. A needle in a haystack, if I wasn't chasing a warlock. A flash of red, moving fast several blocks to the northwest, caught his attention. The possessed woman was rushing north out of Old Town.
Max holstered his weapon behind him and took a running leap. The ground blurred beneath him as he went rooftop to rooftop, avoiding Market Square to the north, which was too open to jump across. At first he moved carefully, trying to avoid making any sound that would attract attention. Another flash of Farsight told him that she was moving away too quickly, so after a moment he abandoned caution for haste.
He glanced downwards as he sailed past his car, but there was no use in stopping for it. He couldn’t afford the delay, and going by foot was faster than by car this close to DC. I can cover a block in a few seconds using magic.
He rolled from the impact of a long jump and dashed to the edge of the building. Below him was US Highway 1, a busy thoroughfare leading from far south of Alexandria up north through to Arlington. Even at this time of night, a steady flow of cars traveled in both directions. He glanced to his right, at the twinkling of the many lights around Reagan National Airport. Best not to let him go that way.
Concentrating his vision, he saw her again, in a parking lot just two blocks away. Looking for a car to take? Getting under cover and avoiding the use of magic would make him much harder to follow. As Max closed the distance he continued to watch her.
A pickup pulled out of a drive-through and onto 1st Street, then coasted to a stop before reaching the intersection at Lafayette. The truck lurched as the driver stamped on the brakes, stopping just short as a young woman ran into the road. Both men in the truck stared for a moment before the driver rolled down his window and called out to her.
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The woman, frozen in the headlights, looked up with a swing of golden hair. The men shared a look, then reacted in surprise to find the woman no longer before them, but standing by the driver's door.
Max landed on the building just behind her, and paused as she turned slightly to look at him. He can track me following. Not bad. Max's hearing was no better than a normal man's, but he could make out enough of what she said to them to guess the rest.
“Oh god,” she said. “Can you help me? My boyfriend went crazy, started shouting and throwing things. I had to leave the apartment. I’m so scared.” Her sweater had been slashed in several places passing through the window, and at least one cut showed a little blood. Her hair was in disarray, and she hugged herself in a way that made her look frightened and vulnerable, but also pushed her breasts up towards the driver's face.
Max rolled his eyes as the two men blustered their assurances that she was safe with them. You idiots have no idea how much danger you're in. And not from me. The driver opened his door, dismounting so that she could get in the truck's middle seat.
Time to stop this before it gets worse. Max dropped from the building and crossed behind the pickup in a few quick steps. She had taken the driver's hand to help her up as Max stepped into sight. “Forget it, guys. She’s not your type.”
The woman pulled away quickly and took several steps backward. The driver stepped between her and Max, and the passenger got out and circled behind the truck and Max.
“Listen, man,” said the driver. “You need to shove off. She’s with us.”
“I applaud your courage, friend, but it’s misplaced. Shit, there she goes. Well, at least you two are alive. I doubt you would have been for much longer.”
The driver turned his head. The woman was gone. Forgetting Max, he turned in a circle, his eyes wide with shock. Max's enhanced sight followed her progress up the next street, already a block away.
“Sorry gents, I don’t have time for you,” Max said. He threw an elbow into the solar plexus of the passenger creeping up behind him, then as the driver snapped out of his stupor Max met him with a low hammerfist to the gut. Both men fell down gasping for air. Max was gone before either could take a steady breath.
He focused on the light a block ahead of him, magnifying his vision, and immediately caught sight of streamers of yellow hair whipping behind the woman as she fled north. She slowed for a moment, as if hesitating over the choice between crossing the rail tracks to the left or veering right again towards a major road. Before she could decide, Max had caught up.
She glanced up as a shadow passed above her, and she barely got her arms up in time to defend against Max's double handed-smash. The woman’s body was thrown to the earth with enough force to kick up dirt and grass around her.
Max’s earpiece beeped. He tapped it quickly, and his partner's voice spoke in his ear. “Did you find her?”
"Yep."