Twisted

by J. L. Meyrick

  “Oh crap. We need to run, now!” Liliana grabbed Rose’s hand and ran back into the coffee shop behind them. “Carl! Get everyone out the back door. Something big is going down, down the street. We need to get to safety.”

  For such a small, round man, Carl was a quick mover. “You heard her people! Get those asses in gear and out the back!” He shepherded his customers through the kitchen to the back alley.

  “Thank you, Rose. You saved my life there,” Liliana gasped as she half ran behind Carl.

  “Did you see who that was? That was Sentinel fighting!” Rose was starstruck. One would remember the man who saved your life.

  “Yeah, I saw. I also saw the car door that would have sliced me in half. We need to keep moving, we aren’t invulnerable, Rose. We could get really hurt if we get caught up in this.” Liliana’s heart was thudding in her chest, so much she was sure it was visible.

  Sunlight blinded them as they came out of the back door of the coffee shop. Carl was still shepherding his customers down the alley that led to the next street.

  “Keep going people, head for the subway. It isn’t far from here. We’ll be safe soon, don’t you worry.” He had taken control of the situation like a pro. Liliana wondered if he had been in this kind of situation before. He was staying remarkably calm. Liliana was laser focused on keeping herself and Rose safe. She could stress about it later.

  “Did you see who Sentinel was fighting? I swear he looked familiar,” Rose asked, still watching the fight rather than running for their lives.

  “Familiar? You glimpsed the bad guy from half a block away. He couldn’t have been that familiar.” She was getting annoyed with Rose. Why couldn’t she see the danger they were in?

  The group rounded the corner from the alley to the street as they felt a rumble that knocked a few runners to the ground. The ground rumbled again, pursued by a deafening boom and crash. Liliana didn’t want to know what was causing it, she just wanted to get away from the fighting. Stooping to help up those who had fallen, Liliana spotted the entry to the subway twenty feet away. The fastest of the group were already descending the stairs, lost in a crowd of people also on the run.

  Liliana took a quick glance back towards the news building. She saw some windows were smashed, including some on her floor. She was suddenly very glad for coffee. She saw Sentinel fly around the edge of her building; he was being chased by a figure in what looked like a suit of armour. But he was flying as well. That didn’t look easy in a metal suit.

  Hang on. Sentinel was flying away from the suitman? Why would he try to escape? He was the most powerful of all the Supers; he feared nothing. Liliana watched them fight for a moment. The dynamic made little sense to her. Why were they flying around the news building? Most big fights took place in open areas, not around high rises, they’re too dangerous. At the very least, Sentinel should try to get the suitman out of the city. Instead, he was leading him towards her building.

  Before she could figure it out, she noticed Sentinel fire on the building, narrowly missing the suitman. The blast took out a sizeable chunk of the building, exposing the steel poles running up the middle of the construction.

  Liliana sucked in a sharp breath. It stung her chest and burned her throat as she watched her office being destroyed. If she hadn’t left for coffee, she’d be dead.

  “Oh my god. Did you see that? Sentinel almost had him!” Rose exclaimed next to her.

  “Did YOU see that? He just took out our office. When does Sentinel miss? Or fight in the middle of the city? Something is going on here, Rose.” Liliana was panicking. She couldn’t catch her breath and her heart was trying to escape her chest.

  Carl grabbed her arm and pulled her down to the subway, cramming them into the crowds. Terrified people shoved, nudged, and knocked her so much, Liliana lost sight of Rose in the mix.

  “Rose!” she called, trying to see over the heads of those surrounding her. Cries of fear filled the air as crashing booms continued above them. It was in this moment she really hated being as short as she was. Shoulders knocked her about so much her head was hurting. “Rose! Where are you?” She fought through the crowd as best as she could as she heard a faint voice calling her name.

  “Liliana! Liliana!” Rose was calling her from somewhere to her left. Liliana turned, shouting back, trying to push past the masses. Elbows were digging into her ribs and arms, bruises soon to follow. Deafening booms continued above them, screams followed shortly after each one. Dust was shaking down onto panicked heads. It sounded like they were fighting right above them now. Liliana half expected them to come crashing through the ceiling onto them.

  “Rose!” Liliana glimpsed Rose not far ahead of her. She looked as worried as Liliana felt. They stretched out their hands to grab onto each other just as an elbow came out of nowhere and hit Liliana in the head. The world went dark as Liliana fell to the floor.

  Chapter 4

  She was floating in nothing. It was comfortable and terrifying all at the same time. Liliana didn’t know what was happening, or what had just happened before the floating sensation. Were her eyes open? She couldn’t see anything but that could just be the back of her eyelids for all she knew. Was she dreaming? Was she dead? That thought should have scared her more than it did. She was oddly calm, calmer than she had ever been before. It was nice.

  She was happily floating in nothing when she felt a gentle tug pulling her down. Suddenly, she had a sense of which way was up. Ever so slowly, she felt herself falling and straightening up so she was standing. Finally, she felt solid ground under her bare feet, though she couldn’t tell what the sensation was. A dim light formed in front of her. She knew now that her eyes were closed as the light shone through her eyelids. Blinking slowly, she opened her eyes to see a familiar scene. Why was it familiar?

  She saw a room, a soft rug under her feet, a cosy chair sat in front of her behind a small desk. She curled her toes into the rug. Feeling the soft fibres scrunch up, she took a deep breath in and noticed a familiar scent. Again, unaware of why it was familiar. It was a comfortable, relaxing home. Home? Was this her home? That seemed right. This was her room, her study, where she worked.

  Looking behind her, she saw through the open door to her main living space. She walked through to see her couch, well used, draped in blankets and cushions. Across from the couch was her television and gaming system. She spent many hours here relaxing after a hard day’s work. She saw another open door and heard a rustling on the other side. Before she could explore further, a person walked through into the living room.

  “Max,” Liliana sighed, smiling at the man she loved. She felt unable to move towards him.

  Max stopped short of arm’s length in front of Liliana. He had a confused smile spread across his face; calm but worried eyes gazed at her.

  “Max? What’s wrong?” Liliana struggled to keep ahold of the calm feeling she craved.

  “I’m sorry, Lils.” His eyes watered. She had never seen him cry before.

  “What do you mean? What could you be sorry for?” Liliana worried, the calm feeling long gone.

  “I should have told you. I should have been honest. I’m sorry—”

  She jolted backwards, cutting Max off. Something pulled her out of her home, back through the space. Max held out his hand as something pulled her away, the vision of her happy place shrinking quickly. She felt a sudden hardness at her back, hot air pressing down on her.

  “Liliana!” a voice cried above her. Liliana was aware she was now lying on something hard. Confusion briefly consumed her before her memories of before rushed back at her. She sat up swiftly, gasping for air. Hands on her shoulder, keeping her steady.

  “Liliana! Finally, you’re awake.” Rose’s face swam into view before Liliana. “Are you okay? You hit your head quite hard there,” Rose worried, clearly holding back panic and horror in her clenched jaw.

  “Ow. Oh god, that hurts.” Liliana grabbed her head; she hadn’t noticed the pain until Rose mentioned
it. The ground began to spin beneath her. Holding back the urge to throw up, her throat burned. “What’s happening? How long was I out?”

  “It’s been about ten minutes. I can’t hear anymore fighting, I think it’s over. No one here will go look though.” Liliana nodded her sore head. She decided they should be the ones to look if no one else would. “Can you stand?” Rose asked. Liliana nodded again, immediately regretting it. She took in a deep breath before drawing her feet under her.

  Rose helped her up slowly, the ground still spinning a little under her. As soon as she got upright, her legs shook. The ground beneath her didn’t seem stable enough to be walking on. She was about to fall when a hand grabbed her elbow. Rose was keeping her upright.

  “I got you, don’t worry.”

  “Love you, Rose.” Liliana lent her head on Rose’s shoulder as they made their way to the subway entrance, hoping not to hear anymore crashes above them. Instead, they heard sirens blaring around the city above them. Oddly, that reassured them. If the emergency services were out and about, that would mean the immediate danger had passed.

  Liliana had never found a set of stairs to look so daunting. Then again, she had never passed out before. Step by step, it felt like she was climbing Mount Everest going up these fifteen steps. She lent into Rose as much as she could as the steps moved underneath her. One, two, three, these steps were never ending.

  Sunlight burst over the top step, blinding Liliana and Rose as they struggled up into the world. Sirens blared all around them, the noise filling the city. Lights flashed past them, heading back towards the news building.

  Liliana fought back the urge to hurl her breakfast across the street in front of her. She saw smoke in the distance, across the city. The fight had clearly taken its toll on the skyline. Her building was no different. It looked on the brink of collapse. She couldn’t see her apartment building from here, but she hoped it remained intact.

  “We should get you to the hospital.”

  “No. No, I’m okay, I’m—” She stumbled over her own feet and scraped her knee on the pavement before Rose could catch her.

  “Ow.” Liliana clutched her knee as Rose hurled her back up to standing. “Okay, maybe I need to get checked over. Why can’t I stay balanced? Why do I need to throw up so badly?” The world and everything in it confused her right now.

  “All bets on a concussion, Lils.” Rose’s attention seemed split between keeping Liliana upright and moving, and searching for something. What she was searching for, Liliana wasn’t sure.

  “Where is he?” Rose mumbled to herself, eyes scanning the sky above them.

  “Who?”

  “What?” Rose looked back at Liliana, not understanding that she had heard her mumbling. “Come on, the hospital is around the corner here. Let’s get you checked over.” Rose was trying to distract her. They stumbled around the corner to spot a rush of people moving in and out of the hospital.

  They pushed past people, clamouring for attention from the nurses and receptionists who stood at the doors trying to direct people.

  One nurse stood with a megaphone, shouting over the masses.

  “If your injuries are critical, please follow the red line to your right, we will see you immediately. If your injuries are serious but not life-threatening, please follow the amber line to triage. Someone will see you as soon as possible. If your injuries are minor, please follow the green line to the waiting room where you will be seen when possible. If you can self-treat your injuries, please do. This includes scrapes and bruises, NOT broken bones or cuts requiring stitches.” Several nurses were inspecting people unsure of what line they needed to follow.

  Rose and Liliana shuffled for a few minutes until they could speak to a nurse directing people.

  “My friend hit her head. She was unconscious. I think she might have a concussion.” As if to aid Rose’s description of her injuries, Liliana’s legs went out from underneath her as she blacked out for the second time that day.

  Chapter 5

  Images flashed through Liliana’s mind as she once again tried to figure out what was happening to her. Fluorescent lights passed over her. She was moving somehow. A blinding light flashed over her eyes, followed by a glimpse of a woman wearing a mask and gloves. Where was she? The answer felt like it was just out of reach.

  A splash of red hair appeared above her, worried eyes on the brink of tears. Her mouth moved to form words Liliana couldn’t understand. She wanted to comfort the redhead. Rose! The redhead was called Rose; she was a friend. With that realisation, the rest flooded back into her mind. She was in the hospital; she’d passed out again after hitting her head earlier.

  What felt like only seconds later, Liliana opened her eyes to see a hospital room. She was on a bed, hooked up to several monitors. Her head felt tight, like a boa constrictor had her in its grip. Just as the pain was about to reach a crescendo, a wave of cold flushed up her arm. She looked down to see they’d hooked her up to a drip filled with what seemed to be painkillers. A breath of relief loosened up her tense muscles. She hadn’t even noticed how tense she was till she relaxed back into the bed.

  “Lils? You awake? How are you feeling?” Rose stood up from the hard wooden chair at the side of the room. She took Liliana’s hand gently as she waited for her to speak.

  Liliana put her other hand to her head to end the throbbing. She felt something wrapped around her forehead, a bandage by the feel.

  “They had to give you some stitches. You had a nasty cut on the side of your head. The bandage is to stop you from itching it too much,” Rose informed her. The mention of itching her head brought the itchiness to the front of her mind, of course.

  “How long was I out this time?” Liliana forced the words out. Her throat was scratchy. She needed a drink. “Can I have some water?” She spotted a jug and a couple of cups on the table to her left. Rose poured her a cup, which she downed in two gulps.

  “A couple hours. They said the injury and moving so much to get here caught up with you and your mind went into survival mode. The doctor said you’re going to be okay; you just need to rest up and don’t bust your stitches. You’ll be back to normal in no time.” Rose looked less worried now that Liliana was making sense. She felt less confused than before. The couple hours of sleep seemed to have done her some good, plus the painkillers, of course.

  “Stitches? Not had those before. Have you heard anything about the fight?” Liliana felt torn between what was going on with her injuries and going into work mode. Reporting on Super fights was her livelihood, after all.

  “They arrested the bad guy; Sentinel left him alive. People don’t seem to be sure whether that was the right choice, but you know Sentinel doesn’t like to take a life unless he must. They haven’t released the bad guy’s identity yet.” Liliana nodded along with Rose. At least she still had the chance to write about the bad guy, whoever he was. “I’ve heard some people coming up with a name for the bad guy, though. Some are calling him Dark Warrior because he was wearing full-body armour, pitch black. I’ve got some pictures some citizens got of the fight.”

  Liliana raised her eyebrow at Rose. She was always in work mode, never switching off.

  “I know, I know. But I was stuck in the waiting room for an hour while they looked you over. What else was I going to do?” Rose shrugged her shoulder, waving off the look Liliana was giving her. Liliana chuckled in response.

  “So, show me the pictures then.” Liliana held out her hand for Rose’s phone, which she was palming as she spoke. Rose climbed onto the bed so they could flick through the pictures together.

  They weren’t of the best quality; the photographer was hiding while snapping the shots. As good as phone cameras were now, fear would always make the camera shaky. There was a dark figure standing across from Sentinel holding a defensive stance. The action sequence shown through the photos showed how they clashed multiple times, both sides taking some hits and going back for more.

  Liliana could see w
here the name Dark Warrior came from. You couldn’t see past the armour he was wearing. It was thick but flexible, well designed. In contrast, Sentinel stood tall in a skintight suit. His hands, neck and head unprotected. His powers were protection enough, which made Liliana wonder if Dark Warrior had powers or just highly advanced technology. Supervillains normally showed off in battle. This one was different.

  Liliana zoomed in on the dark figure in each picture. “Either the person taking these had good timing, or it looks like Dark Warrior stayed defensive throughout the fight. Strange.”

  “Huh, probably just timing. Why would they stay defensive? Sentinel wouldn’t start a fight in the middle of the city for no reason, would he?” Again, Rose appeared blinded by her adoration for the hero.

  Before Liliana could disagree, the door quietly opened. She looked up, expecting to see a nurse coming to check up on her, or maybe Max coming to see how she was doing. Instead, she saw a friendly face, Yates. She wasn’t expecting Yates to come. She rarely saw them without Max.

  “Ms Masters, I’m glad to see you well,” Yates said. They closed the door behind them, checking that no one was about to follow them. They were wearing dark clothing, actively trying to avoid attracting attention. Slim cut trousers blending into the long top and headscarf to match. Only showing the smallest amounts of beige-coloured skin aside from their face.

  “Yates, good to see you. Where’s Max? Is he okay?” Yates was tense and fidgeting. They paced the room, staring Liliana down.

  “You haven’t heard?” They were curt, almost on the brink of a nervous breakdown, it seemed.

  “Heard what? Yates, where is Max?” Panic rose in Liliana’s tight chest. Max had to be okay. She didn’t go through a severe concussion and almost suffocate in a subway tunnel only to be told he hadn’t made it.