by Liz Long
I glanced at the mirror as I pulled my strawberry-blond hair back. My blue eyes and pale face wouldn’t hide me very well, but I didn’t have a mask of any sort. Guess I’ll have to make one later. I would never wear a ski mask.
I stood in front of the full-length mirror on my closet door to get the full effect. I looked ridiculous, like a hipster’s idea of a cat burglar. I was, for the most part, a regular teenage girl, not some anonymous billionaire who had fancy uniforms that would injure my enemies with a button. I didn’t have other options unless I went shopping for leather pants or a corset.
I grimaced at the thought; how was one supposed to be lightning-fast in hot pants and heels? I shrugged my vanity off—I was going to fight crime, not compete in a beauty pageant. I needed to be able to fight and run, not stun my opponent with heaving bosoms and luscious calves. Not that I really had either of those things, anyways.
Finally, it was time to leave. My heart pounded fast, but from excitement rather than anxiety. It was still early, just after nine, but my parents thought I was going to Henry’s for a movie. I heard my mother go to her bedroom and flip on the television while my father surely remained down in his office.
At the last second, I grabbed the one baseball cap I owned. I could pull the brim down so that it hid my face. I slipped out the front door and into my car. As I headed towards the city, I contemplated the options. So far, my plan was to drive into Arcania and tiptoe around the streets until I came across…well, a bad guy. I couldn’t hope that I’d find Fortune so easily, but I could use some practice on a teenage vandal spray-painting the walls or something.
“You always wanted to be the game-changer Dad talked about,” I muttered to myself in the car. I kept trying to psych myself up. “Not exactly what you had in mind, but it’s a start.”
I’d wanted to follow in Dad’s footsteps to become a lawyer and put criminals where they belonged. This path is a little more…illegal. I took my car to Dad’s parking garage. Mine was the only vehicle on the floor and the emptiness of the giant space gave me the creeps. I took the stairs down, footsteps echoing in the stairwell, and headed away from the courthouse. My heart thudded in my chest; I half-expected to be jumped from behind at any moment. I felt like an owl, my head spun around so much in every direction.
The movies only showed the good parts of criminals getting beaten up. They never showed the tedious part where the hero ran around hunting down justice. It was a lonely, eerie process. My excitement quickly faded, replaced by doubt and nerves.
Shadows leapt out at me from every direction. Dark, graffiti-covered alleyways made the hairs on the back of my neck stand up. The stench of rotting food in the nearby dumpsters made my eyes water. I gritted my teeth and pressed onwards, stepping as quietly as I could, listening for any sounds of movement. No way would I chicken out, even if I did just nearly wet myself at the newspaper rustling against the pavement.
“You have to do this, Nova,” I whispered to myself, trying to strengthen my resolve. “Trouble isn’t going to walk up and say hello. You can’t run back home with your tail tucked between your legs every time you get scared.”
Since it was only my first night on the job, I didn’t stray too far, perhaps only a ten or twelve block radius around my dad’s office. I’d memorized a few spots from online maps, but tried to familiarize myself with the city layout and its buildings. There were several one-way streets and connecting alleyways. I need to know shortcuts.
After maybe an hour, I’d gone from scared to almost bored. All I’d run into was the occasional homeless guy rattling his cart across the streets. One cop car rolled through, the police officer looking a little anxious behind the wheel. A handful of dilapidated cars drove by and when they passed, I stayed in the shadows to avoid being noticed.
As I crossed the same alley for what had to be the third time, I heard a sound coming from the darkness. I froze, straining to listen. A garbage can fell over with a clang and I took a few steps towards the culprit. I realized I was holding my breath and quietly released it. Heart in my throat, I forced myself further in. A few more steps and I saw…a stray dog digging through the trash.
I heaved a sigh of frustration. The dog barely looked at me before going back to its dinner.
Great. Not even a stray dog finds me intimidating enough for a growl.
I decided to pack it up and go home to bed. If any vandals were out, they were in another part of the city. I’d have to summon my bravery another night.
I’d walked into the parking garage but hadn’t made it past the first floor when I heard it. A slap of a hand across skin followed by a strangled cry, then a thump as someone hit the concrete floor. A man’s voice cursed loudly as the woman cried. The sounds echoed across the lot all the way to where I stood. I was so close to the stairway, to my car hidden in its corner on the fourth floor. It would be so easy to run. I could get away and go home to my safe, warm bed.
A shout made me pause, my hand halfway to the stairwell doorknob. Another sob emitted from the woman. My heartbeat thudded in my ears as my mind struggled to weigh the consequences of either choice. One thought chose for me as I took off towards the struggle: Starling.
I skidded to a halt when I saw shadows dancing on the concrete walls. I poked my head around the corner and saw them: a pimp and his prostitute. The girl, who couldn’t possibly be more than twenty, lay on the ground, tears and blood on her face. What little clothing she wore was ripped, barely concealing her lime green bra and scraped brown thighs. The man, who had his back to me, wore dark jeans and a black leather jacket; I guessed he had maybe forty pounds on me, but he was only a few inches taller.
“I told you I was gonna get my money one way or another!” he yelled at her.
“Please, I can get it. It was a slow night! I’ll get it to you tomorrow.”
“Said that last week. I ain’t no sucker and I’ll get my money’s worth outta you, slut.”
“Please,” she begged. “I promise I’ll get it to you. I—”
He cut her off with a backhanded slap. She kept her face to the ground and wept. Anger slammed through me, a rushing sound in my ears. Now’s as good a time as ever. I had no plan so I did the first thing I could think of—I used the element of surprise.
I pushed myself off the wall and barreled towards him. I had a moment to see the girl’s face as she looked up; her shocked gaze made the pimp turn to look, too. I sprinted faster and as his face registered surprise, I threw all my weight against him. It was a tackle my football team would’ve envied too, because it propelled us both about twenty feet across the concrete. Miraculously, I kept the upper hand and as I rolled over him, I hopped into a crouch beside him. Dazed, he looked around and found me, tried to lift his hand. I put a knee on his throat.
“What the—?” he tried to say, but I cut him off.
“You’re going to leave her alone. Go back to the hole you crawled from.”
“The hell I will. She’s mine, you crazy bitch.” He moved faster than I thought, slinging me off him. He jumped to his feet and charged. His swing missed, but his fingers caught my shirt sleeve as I jumped back. The fabric tore and I tumbled down on my butt. He grinned at me and wiped the blood off his scraped chin, spit on the ground. I got up, facing him for an awful second before he struck out.
I ducked and tried to throw a right hook, but he blocked my arm and shoved me backwards into the wall, put his hands around my throat. I couldn’t break his grip no matter how hard I pulled at his wrists. Every bit of anger I had made my adrenaline surge. He squeezed hard; it didn’t hurt, but definitely cut off my air supply. One downside to my so-called power—I can’t fight. He would choke me to death if I didn’t hurry to stop him.
He may have been strong but my feet were still on the floor. I stomped on his foot as hard as I could and jabbed him in the eye with two fingers. He howled, his hands involuntarily coming up to his face. I shoved him backwards and kicked him in the chest. I tried to put a little extra “oomph” into it and
he stumbled a few feet back. He tripped over his own feet and I heard him choke as he fell, knocking the wind out of him.
He struggled to get to his feet but I ran to him in no time. I put every bit of strength I had into my fist and rammed it into his face. For the first time in my life, I punched someone. His head snapped back and I heard his skull hit the floor, hard.
I paused, braced myself in case he got up again, but he was out cold. I felt confident he would have a concussion.
What’s next?
Oh, I could rob him since he’d taken her money. I searched his pockets and pulled out a large wad of cash. I walked over to the girl and kneeled beside her.
“Can you move?”
She nodded and sat up. A large bruise already darkened her cheekbone and a split bottom lip looked painful. “Who are you?”
“Doesn’t matter. Here, take this.” I stuffed the cash into her hand and put a hand on her shoulder. “You have to get out of Arcania. He’ll try to find you.”
I helped her up and she straightened her clothes best she could. She breathed deep. “I don’t know what to say. How could I thank you enough?”
“By getting far away from him. You might not have many options for employment, but I’d recommend you get out of this business.”
“I know. I don’t even know how it got this far. Oh, your clothes…are you hurt?”
I looked down at my shirt to see a large rip in the arm. I grimaced. This would get expensive if I had to buy clothes every time I went out.
“I’m fine. I have to go and so do you. I hope wherever you go, it’s better than here. Run, before he wakes up and starts the search for you.”
“He’ll take it out on the other girls,” she said, her face scrunched up in tears.
“Then I’ll have to tackle him and take his lunch money again,” I replied. I gave her a small smile before I pivoted and ran to the stairwell. When I looked back, she still stared at me in awe. “Go!”
She nodded, ran out of the garage opening, and disappeared into the night. I ran to my car and drove as fast as I could out to the front. When I passed the pimp, he still lay unmoving in the spot where I left him. I gunned the engine and bolted back to my house.
I didn’t acknowledge the evening until I pulled into my well-kept neighborhood. I parked in my driveway and turned off the car but didn’t get out immediately. Instead I sat back and relished my success. I probably saved a woman’s life tonight. I’d done an insane thing to put myself out there, but couldn’t it also be a bit brave? I helped that girl and maybe she wouldn’t quit her night job, but at least she’d live to see another day. A broad grin spread across my face but vanished as I considered the consequences. The joy dimmed.
That man would remember me, would know my face if he saw it again. I was irresponsible for going anywhere without a mask. I didn’t think I would be very memorable, but I couldn’t be in any photos with my father when he won a case and landed on the news. I’d be pretty recognizable if that man saw me in the paper; he could easily figure it out and attack me. Or my parents. Oh god, that nauseous feeling in the pit of my stomach.
Maybe I should’ve killed him.
The fact it took me a long moment to realize my statement was a problem in itself. I shook my head, disgusted with myself. I couldn’t think those things. But then again, don’t I want to kill Fortune? My father said he wanted justice, but my feelings weren’t even deeply hidden: I wanted Fortune dead. How would I convince someone he deserved it over anyone else? Besides, didn’t that make me just as bad as him?
Exhaustion hit me and I gave up my mental war for the moment. I wanted to crawl into my bed more than anything. I trudged into my house and managed to get in my room and change. No matter the future, I’d done a good thing tonight. My head hit the pillow and as I floated into sleep, I hoped Starling was proud of me.
I went out the next several nights, followed the same routine as before, but no more bad guys. At least, not that late at night. With no one out to rob, maybe they were planning more things in their hideaways.
I slipped back into my dark, quiet house. I almost made it to the staircase when a light clicked on. I jumped about a foot in the air, my heart racing as I turned to see my father sitting on the couch. Clearly, he’d been waiting for me.
“How was your night?” He kept his voice casual, but I didn’t buy it for a second.
“Uh, fine.” Minus the small heart attack you just gave me. Guess I’m not immune to those, either.
“You’re a mess. I can see your shirt is torn.”
“I…fell?” Not exactly true; it was the shirt I’d worn when the pimp fight occurred. I only had so many black long-sleeved shirts.
A long silence washed over the room. We both knew I was lying and I was sure he had a good idea of my evening activities. The pit in my stomach made me feel sick. I snapped back to attention as Dad spoke.
“I don’t want you to hide things from me, Nova.”
“I don’t want to do that, either.”
“Where were you tonight?”
I hesitated, my answer coming out like a question. “I’ve uh, picked up a new hobby?”
His jaw tightened as he considered his words. “You know that no matter what happens, Starling is gone. It is important that criminals, especially ones like Fortune, are brought to justice.” He heaved a sigh, the wrinkles in his forehead more pronounced than ever. “I know you want to help, but I don’t want you getting hurt. I couldn’t handle it…”
His voice caught and a knot of guilt weighed heavy in my stomach. We never lied to each other; he deserved the real reason behind my sudden crusade. We stood there in silence for what seemed an eternity, my brain yelling the pros and cons of the truth. When he got up to leave, the words crashed out of my mouth before I could stop myself.
“I need to tell you something.” He looked at me expectantly and I shook my head. “You should sit back down.”
I sat on the edge of sofa opposite him. I didn’t take my eyes off my lap, too scared to see his face when I told him. He might think I’d gone insane. This could ruin everything. Then I remembered the most important part of all and looked back up at him to make sure he saw my serious look.
“Dad, what I’m gonna tell you, you have to swear to me you won’t tell anyone. If you don’t, I can’t tell you.”
“You know I can’t promise that.” He straightened up in surprise, nudged his glasses up the bridge of his nose. “If this is important to our men getting him, they need to know.”
“You’d never convince them. It sounds crazy, believe me.” I said it with such certainty that he stared at me, considering it for a long moment.
“What do you mean, crazy?”
“Like, ‘your daughter is invincible’ crazy.” I almost smiled at a distant memory, of Starling and her pronunciation.
“I see.” Another long pause, his blue eyes studying me. He nodded. “Okay. Let’s say I don’t tell anyone about any…special powers. If there’s anything I can use on him as a regular Joe, I take it to the captain.”
He wouldn’t be able to take any of it back to them. However, that was as good an offer I would get and I’d said too much now to go back on my word. I took a deep breath and cleared my throat.
“He’s, like me, but in a really different way. He has this blue electricity kind of power.”
Dad’s eyes widened, but he said nothing. I told him everything, down to Fortune’s threat against me before he killed Starling. He never moved, his face unflinching even when I accidentally said Starling’s name aloud. When I finished, he took his glasses off and wiped them with the bottom of his t-shirt. The glasses-cleaning was his habit when he processed information. I wanted to tell him I wasn’t nuts, but I could see that wasn’t the issue anymore.
When he put them back on, his kept steady eyes on me. “I guess we can agree no one in the department would believe me. They’d think we finally snapped, that Fortune’s bombing after all these months sent us over the
edge.”
My breath came out in a whoosh. I nodded, relieved that we were on the same page. “Exactly.”
“This explains the burn marks. But how could anyone guess? We assumed it was some special weapon.” His lips pursed in thought. “This could change everything.”
“When he said he didn’t see me coming, it meant more than some flippant remark. I think his men could have a few talents, too. What if they’re helping him plan the heists?”
For six months, I’d thought about nothing else. The more I considered his band of merry men, the more it seemed plausible. If his special power was so different from mine, why couldn’t there be other extraordinary people?
The thought appeared to take Dad’s breath away with a whooshing sound. He slid back against the couch. “How the—,” he gave me a quick look and changed direction, “—heck do humans stop them?”
I’d seen enough superhero movies to answer this one. “They don’t. People like me do.”
His eyes widened behind his glasses. “You can’t be serious.”
“Dad, I could stop him.”
“You don’t know that for sure,” he said sharply. “How do you know you could survive electrocution?”
“I’ve never skinned my knees or broken any bones. I’m probably immune to him.”
“But what if you aren’t?” The twist of pain in his voice almost broke my heart but thoughts of Starling pushed me on.
“I might be the only one who can stop him. I’m not saying that because I think it’s a great idea. Fortune scares me silly, but I can’t sit back and watch him destroy everything in Arcania, or kill more innocent people.” I managed to stay calm, having known to prepare for this argument. Yet my heart still hammered the inside of my chest.
“You’re a kid. My kid,” Dad said, bringing his hand to his heart. “What if people see you? It’s not just Fortune who could be discovered for what he really is, you know.”
“Yeah, I know. I guess that’s a risk I’m willing to take. I promise to do my best so that it doesn’t bring any suspicion on you.”
