Authors: Christopher George
“What do you see when you gaze off into the distance like that?” Tina asked me.
I didn’t have an answer for that. I wasn’t sure what I saw anymore. I didn’t answer her.
“Do you mind if I at least sit with you or should I leave you alone?” she demanded as her anger flared up at my lack of response.
“No,” I whispered. “Don’t go.”
“What’s the matter with you?” she asked softly, placing her hand on my arm. “Something’s been bothering you all week.”
“Something happened last week. Something bad.”
It felt better to just say this.
“What?”
I could tell that she was genuinely concerned by my response and she moved in a little closer. I couldn’t tell her everything. That would definitely be wrong of me. She didn’t deserve to be dragged into all this. But that wasn’t the reason I didn’t tell her. I was selfishly concerned that once she discovered the truth about me and what I’d done, she’d leave me. And she should, a voice accused in my psyche. I would deserve it.
“I hurt someone,” I mumbled to Tina. “There was a fight.”
“Badly?” she whispered, her eyes seemingly searching across my soul, desperate for the answer and yet at the same time dreading it.
“Bad enough.” I nodded.
“Why?”
“I’m not sure how it started,” I lied guiltily, “but I know that I didn’t start it.”
This at least was true. I hadn’t started it – I had merely finished it.
“Where did this happen?”
“I was at a bar with Tony,” I began, already aware of how this sounded. “Tony wanted to go.” I’m not sure why that was important.
“What was it over?”
“A guy thought we were cheating at pool when he ended up owing us quite a lot of money,”
I could tell that she was confused. It was probably better that she didn’t understand.
“What happened then?”
“He led us out to his van. He told us that the money was in it. When we got there he threatened us with a crowbar.”
Tina sucked in her breath at this, her eyes wide. “What happened then?” she repeated breathlessly.
“I’m not sure,” I lied again. “I think he swung the bar at us but somehow dropped it. And then I hit him.” My voice was beginning to crack up and tears welled in my eyes.
I relived this event over again in my mind. I could see the look of horror on his face as I pulled the crowbar from his fingers. I again felt the crack as my mana thread slammed into his chest. I heard with clarity the cracking noise as the wind was expelled from his chest and saw the look of disbelief as he fell to his knees.
“Oh Devon,” Tina whispered and pulled me into a tight embrace.
“He went down so quickly,” I murmured brokenly into her hair.
My body was wracked with quiet sobs. She held me as I unashamedly cried onto her shoulder. I was sure that we were creating a scene in the canteen; however, at that point I was beyond caring.
There is no escape. We pay for the violence of our actions. One way or another – we pay.
My conversation with Tina actually did make me feel a little bit better. I was still consumed with guilt, but I was coping with it better. I guess being able to get even a little bit off your chest does help. My afternoon classes were strangely disjointed. I could see people taking tentative looks at me out of the corners of their eyes and then hurriedly look away as I’d turn to face them. Obviously my outburst during lunchtime had been noticed and had done the usual gossip rounds.
It would have been interesting to have known just what the gossip network said was the cause of my outburst however upon reflection I found that I didn’t much care anymore. I’m sure in my previous life I’d have been mortified at the prospect of becoming a social outcast.
I was getting ready to leave school later that day. I’d just left the locker room when a sneering voice broke across the hallway towards me.
“What was the matter at lunchtime, Devon? Your boyfriend breakup with you?”
I turned to look at the source of the voice even though I knew who it was.
Mark Constance.
I’d had several run-ins with him over the years and I didn’t like him very much. Fortunately I didn’t have too much to do with him. Mark was considered one of the ‘cool’ kids. He and his cronies didn’t usually bother me too much as I wasn’t much of an easy target. Except for today.
There was a reason why guys don’t cry in public at school. Guys like Mark were the reason. They would zone in on weakness like vultures and I’d obviously provided them with a target too tempting to resist. He was lounging against the wall on the far side of the corridor surrounded by several of his friends. He was never alone. They were cackling loudly to themselves at Mark’s joke. Although I didn’t see any humour in it.
“Yeah, Mark, he did,” I replied with a sigh. “He said you were better in bed.”
It was a childish retort, but considering the audience it was perfectly suited and delivered with – if I do say so myself, perfect timing. Immediately the cackling stopped and the cronies looked fearfully at Mark and then back at me. They expected some form of cutting rejoinder from Mark that would put me in my place. This wasn’t the way the script was supposed to go. Mark stood silent, as he obviously couldn’t think of a suitable response.
I almost felt sorry for him.
I shrugged slightly and grinned at him disarmingly. I pulled my backpack over my shoulder and moved to walk down the corridor. Mark immediately moved to intercept me. He was quite large and noticeably stronger than me. He loomed over me in a threatening pose. In my other life this would have been terrifying. Now, however, it seemed like pointless posturing and his failed attempt at intimidation appeared a little silly. Pulling up short I looked up at him with a resigned look on my face. I really didn’t want to do this now.
“Get out of my way, Mark – I don’t have time for this,” I said, and roughly pushed my way past him.
He stumbled back several steps to the side as I forced my way past him. Mark gasped behind me – obviously he’d expected some form of back down. Maybe even a slight show of fear. But I’d given him nothing. I could hear the stunned silence as I walked away. That probably could have been handled better, I was sure that I’d pay for that later; however, at the moment I didn’t much care.
The truth was that I was indeed terrified. It wasn’t of Mark – but of me – and what my reaction might be should he really push me. I didn’t trust myself and that was the worst feeling.
What the hell was wrong with me? I’d just finished a fight with one guy and now I was baiting someone else for another? I couldn’t afford to lose control over something as stupid as this. I was jittery enough without Mark agitating me and I had no idea what I might be capable of in my current state. I hadn’t used mana consciously in almost a week and I could feel the build-up in my gut and see the mana particles visibly agitated along my arms and legs. There was nothing for it. I came to a quick decision. My conversation coupled with my encounter with Mark had convinced me that I could no longer just swear off mana. That would be irresponsible. I’d need to blow off some steam tonight. I had the perfect idea of just what to do. I just had to wait until nightfall.
Night couldn’t have come any sooner. I had a quick dinner and did a little bit of homework while waiting for it to get dark enough. Mum wouldn’t be home until very late as she had some stuff she needed to do for her course. She’d left a packet of sausages defrosting in the sink.
This suited me as I’d be home again before she was and hopefully rested enough to sleep. I hadn’t really been able to focus on Saunders’ assignment either. He’d kindly given me the extension and I still hadn’t started it.
The cat grumbled to himself, his dull purr rumbling across his chest as I playfully scratched under his chin.
“What’s new, pussy cat?” I mumbled to him. I didn’t really expect an answer of any kind from him. Cats are kind of jerks like that. True to form he simply ignored me and rolled over onto his back so I could scratch his stomach. It must be nice to be a cat.
It was strangely peaceful, sitting on the front porch. I had a soft drink in one hand and my other was petting the cat. It wasn’t quite dark yet, although it was definitely twilight. The only sound was the sound of an occasional car in the distance, the sound of crickets and the loud purrs of a thoroughly contented cat.
Once I determined it was late enough and there wouldn’t be too many people about, I set off. I pulled my roller blades onto my feet and tucked my keys into my pocket. I scratched the cat under the chin once more and took off. The cat grunted, annoyed that the patting had stopped and rolled back onto his side to watch me go.
It felt good to be active again, I hadn’t skated that much in a while and I’d missed it. There’s nothing like exercise for sorting out a troubled mind, but that wasn’t the point of this exercise. I turned the corner from my house and began coasting down the hill to the highway. I soon stopped skating and just let my momentum keep me going. I was quite nervous, but I needed to be certain I could draw upon my powers uninhibited. I hadn’t used my powers in at least a week and with what I had planned ahead for tonight, I needed to be sure that they would come when called.
Breathing a deep sigh I readied myself and with a slow extension of my arm I sent out a mana thread. I need not have worried. The mana drew forth from my hand with ease.
I felt a small shudder run up my arm as the mana thread took form and a wave of euphoria flushed over me, making me slightly giddy. I used the mana thread to pull myself around the corner in a controlled arc, actually picking up speed as I threw my weight into the curve and used the momentum to throw myself out of the corner.
It was fun in a small way, but it still didn’t give me the rush that skating used to. Hopefully that would change tonight.
I used my momentum to pull myself further into the street. My final destination was the local shopping centre. I’d figured that by this stage it would be mostly empty as trading hours were long over. The shopping centre was a huge multi-level complex and although there was a supermarket open at the other end of the complex, I shouldn’t be disturbed if I was careful.
I quickly put on a burst of speed to get myself up the on-ramp and onto the top level of the car park. I wasn’t even out of breath. I reached the top level and sure enough it too was empty.
I grinned slightly to myself in the darkness and readied myself. There was something particular that I wanted to see if I could do. This car park was divided into two sections with a gap between them that dropped several levels to the centre’s entrance below. A single walkway of several metres spanned the gap.
I wanted to see if I could vault the gap between the two car parks. It was perfect! My blood was pumping and I felt the slightly sick twinge of excitement that I hadn’t felt in a long time. I pulled up just before the gap and looked over the railing down to the ground. I wished I hadn’t done that. It almost destroyed my resolve. It was an awfully long way down.
I breathed in. I could do this.
Turning sharply I skated away from the edge giving myself a good run up to the gap. I breathed out. I could do this. I was going to do this. With a sudden burst of speed, I took off. I could barely feel my feet as the skates danced along the ground. I had never gone this fast before and I was approaching the car park chasm at high speed. There was no way I could stop in time even if I wanted to.
At the last moment I threw the power down at my feet, setting a mana thread into the ground below and forcing myself into the air. I hadn’t expected it to work this well. I cleared the gap between the two car parks with ease and covered almost half the length of the other car park as a bonus. I can’t say I landed with perfect grace. In fact I completely mucked up the landing, but I did make it.
I threw a mana thread at the ground to steady myself before my skates touched down. Unfortunately my timing was way off and my legs collapsed under my weight as I landed back on the concrete. I found myself sliding along my side to the car park, but surprisingly I wasn’t too badly hurt. I grinned to myself as I recovered my footing. I was pretty sure what I had done wrong. Next time I’d do it properly.
I geared up to go again when the sound of a siren with flashing lights caused me to turn with alarm. There was a security patrol car tearing up the ramp to this level of the car park at high speed.
A security guard leaned out the side window gesturing at me to stop. At this point I wasn’t exactly sure how much they’d seen or what they wanted, but I wasn’t about to wait around to find out.
I immediately took off in the opposite direction. There was no way that I could outrun a car trying to catch me but fortunately I didn’t have to. All I had to do was to get to the ramp before them. I could also jump over any obstructions on the pavement that they’d have to go around. This gave me a distinct advantage.
I heard the security guard curse and attempt to bring a spotlight to bear on me. I easily leapt over several embankments and managed to keep out of the light. The car screeched off in close pursuit.
I was about halfway there when I realised that I was pretty much going at my full speed and I wasn’t even really breathing that hard anymore. I should have only been able to maintain this kind of exertion for a few minutes, but I felt completely fine.
I’d made it to the down ramp when the security car was about half way across the upper level. I quickly grappled my way around and slid down onto the next level of the car park.
The regular poles that held the roof up dominated the second level of the car park. This meant that I could use these poles to avoid my pursuers. I was about half way across the car park when I heard the squeals of the security car as it made its way down onto this level.
I decided to change plans slightly and made my way over to the far side of the car park and attempt to hide behind one of the poles. I figured that they’d think that I’d already gone down to the next level. I could then go back up to the top level and escape down the ramp I’d come up.
I pulled myself to a sudden stop and hugged close behind a pillar at the far side of the car park. It was very dark here, making it obvious when the security car had come down, as the headlights played across the walls behind me.
The car descended the ramp and I watched as it slowly pulled to a halt in the centre of the main roadway of the car park. Two security guards exited the car and walked in opposite directions, shining their torches around the abandoned lot.
Damn it! They obviously didn’t think that I could have gotten down the opposite ramp so quickly and must be hiding here somewhere on this level. Damn it!
I cursed my rotten luck. Who were these security guards? In the movies the car would have simply kept going down the levels, leaving the hero unhindered and free to go about his business.
I’d have to do something pretty soon. If I stayed here the guard closest to me would soon spot me. There was nothing for it. I’d have to make a dash for it. The only problem was I couldn’t make it to the down ramp. One of the security guards was in my way.
I glanced about in a panic and saw a stairwell not too far away. I could make a dash for that. I exhaled nervously and waited for the security guard to be focused on another area of the car park when I made my dash.
“Hey! Kid! Stop!” the guard called almost immediately as I left the cover of the pillar. He quickly followed in pursuit.
One of the interesting things about rollerblades is that a running man is actually faster over small distances than someone on blades. Fortunately I was much closer to the doorway than the guard and made it there first.
The door was closed. This didn’t prove to be a problem as when I was few metres from the door I sent a mana thread barrelling into it and forcing it open. I had originally planned to slam the door shut behind me to prevent the guard’s access but I now had bigger problems.
Another of the interesting things about rollerblades is that they don’t work too well on steps. Yet here I was barrelling at high speeds into what was essentially a very small room with lots of steps in it.
If I didn’t do something I’d probably end up breaking my neck. My instincts kicked in and I was able to loop a mana thread around the stairwell handrail above me and pull myself into a horizontal flip over the handrail. I landed with a small degree of inelegance on the floor below. I quickly pulled open the door as I heard the guard burst into the stairwell above me.
“Who is this kid?” he exclaimed as I disappeared onto the roof below him.
I took off at high speed towards the car park complex exit. I wasn’t out of the woods yet though. While one guard had pursued me, the other had returned to the car and I could hear it making its way down the ramp onto this level. It was now a race. It was a race I couldn’t win.
I was only one level above the ground. I could see the park area just over the barrier on the far side of the car park. If I could reach there I’d be free. They couldn’t bring a car into that area and I doubt they’d chase on foot for any distance. Once I got up to speed there was no way they could catch me anyway. The only problem was getting there. I swiftly changed directions and headed directly towards the barrier. If this were a race that I couldn’t win – then I wouldn’t race at all.
The security patrol car followed in close pursuit. I wasn’t exactly sure what they planned to do as the driver was driving way too fast. I vaguely wondered if they intended to ram me against the barrier. I didn’t think I’d annoyed them this much. I grinned slightly to myself; when I wanted to I could certainly antagonise people. It was a gift.
I had no intention of slowing down when I reached the barrier. If anything I increased my speed and leapt into the air. I had to tuck my legs in tightly to my chest. I cleared the barrier with ease and was now literally flying over the car park below me.
I heard the screech of brakes behind me as the security car pulled to a halt. I casually latched a mana thread onto the ground to control my descent and with a graceful crouch I landed onto the ground level car park. Now THAT was a rush! I turned back and saw I had effectively just done a jump from at least ten metres onto solid concrete. I couldn’t help grinning to myself. It hadn’t occurred to me that if I’d mucked up the landing I would probably have broken my skull. The security car didn’t pursue me any further but I think I saw one of the security guards give me an astonished look from the first floor car park.
Well, that was less than subtle, but I consoled myself in the fact that they would have no idea who I was. It was also doubtful that anyone would believe their wild tale of a flying skater in the car park. I made for home. I’d had enough excitement for one night. I had even raised a fair bit of sweat.
I had timed it well. I arrived home about five minutes before Mum. I greeted her as she walked in the door. I had the cat on my lap and an expression of disarming integrity on my face. In hindsight this was probably what clued her off that I’d been up to no good.
“Okay, what did you do?” she demanded as she saw my expression.
She was in full on mum mode. Nothing would get past her. I had to play this carefully, give her the impression that I’d been a dutiful son. That I’d been sitting here all evening with the cat for company and not out at the shopping centre being chased by security guards.
“Nothing,” I exclaimed, forcing a wounded expression onto my face.