xp_logs | Malibu: Fall of the House of Keller

A trip back home to survey the damage results in further destruction.

Despite the fact that the sun was just now rising over the horizon, the Keller beach house- or what was left of it- was in tattered disrepair, surrounded by police tape and reporters. Julian Keller, the only member of the family who was even in town was sorting through the rubble in what had been the living room while the sound of a helicopter's engine started up in the back yard. They'd been able to commission a last minute heli to fly them out to the beach. The rotating blades were now signaling their need to depart, if they were to make their commercial flight home (which Julian had fortunately been able to secure first class seating for all of his friends). All that remained was to put the house as back into order as they possibly could, checking to make certain no one had forgotten anything.

Fred had been moving the remainder of the couch out of the way as Julian looked over the wreckage. His shoulders and back ached as he hadn't really been using his powers, but whining about aches and pains was the last thing on his mind as of now. Hefting a large piece of furniture out of the way, he looked about, trying to address his friend softly, "Hey, coulda used a remodel anyway, right?"

"It's getting one regardless," Julian said with a slight smile. In any other situation he would have found comfort in his roommate's gallows humor, but not today. Sifting through the wreckage, things he hadn't taken the time to notice while they were intact kept being brought to the surface. Family photos, happy and smiling of a simpler time, before he'd had powers. "I've got a contractor coming in this afternoon, he'll be calling me mid-flight with an estimate."

Fred picked up one of the shattered photo frames and, wiping the glass from it, handed it to Julian, "It may be a headache to take care of man, but the important stuff, the real important stuff, didn't get wrecked. That's what matters."

This time he genuinely did smile, taking the framed photo from Fred. "Yeah, I guess you're ri-" his smile faded in mid-sentence as his words slowly tumbled away. His blue eyes were fixed on the cracked glass, which ran over a picture of his mother, father and little brother. The image was a recent one, taken within the last year or so, but definitely after the black sheep of the family had departed. "Son-of-a-" again he left the statement hang without finishing it as Julian kicked a piece of rubble off another photo.

Again, it was a picture of the family, at the beach, taken within the last year. Frantically searching through the rubble, all the pictures came up the same. Telekinetic energy began to swirl around the living room, flooding the house with a dim green glow. "Those bastards...."

Fred was pretty thick when it came to this kind of stuff, but even he could read the writing on this wall. Coming up behind Julian, he put a firm but friendly hand on his friend's shoulder, "Jules, take a breath... it ain't worth your blood pressure, man..."

Julian held the photo up to Fred over his shoulder, his eyes closed, "Notice anything missing from this picture?"

Fred looked at the picture, and then chuckled a little, in the back of his throat, "What's missing? Yea. Decent folk. I'm sorry Jules, but...look, this house? 'S a good house and stuff. I admit that. But it ain't your home. You know that. And these people wanna pull this shit?" he pointed at the photo, "Fine. I know it hurts man. You know I know. But it's there loss."

"To hell with that," Julian replied, his voice becoming dark as the television set exploded- no small feat considering it was a plasma screen. "Look at the other pictures, Fred...I've been gone for less than a year and they've removed every memory of me from their life. They've taken new photos and the only one that had me in it was behind the entertainment center.

The sound of cracking wood and stone started to fill the house as several shouts for people to get back from the house could be heard from the front yard. "They've cut me out," the photo with Julian in it floated into the air and zipped across the room into his hands. "I wish they were here right now," the glass on the picture fractured and fell to the ground as the picture slid free and into Julian's hand. "I'd show them just as much care as they've shown me," looking down at the picture he suddenly became very quiet.

Fred tried to move closer to Jules carefully. He'd never seen his power...behave like before. It was like something out of 'Akira'. He put his hand towards his friend, "Jules, buddy....simmer down man..."

As Fred's hand touched Julian's shoulder, the silence was broken and the young scion's eyes flashed green. A cracking sound and some shouting outside was quickly quieted, but it became immidiately obvious that the foundation of the house had shifted- as the upstairs was now visible from a crack that seemed to run across the ceiling. In fact, the sunlight could be seen beyond that as the roof had cracked open as well.

Falling to his knees Julian put the picture in his pocket and sighed, "Sorry man." Before Fred could say anything, Julian spoke again, "We should get going...the plane won't wait for us this time."