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*THIS CHAPTER CONTAINS THEMES THAT MAY NOT BE IDEAL FOR ALL READERS. PLEASE READ AT YOUR OWN RISK*
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That is until I reach the clearing. And them. They're both still at least a mile away from me across a field of tall grass, but I can see them clear as day.
Slung across his shoulder is the little girl. Her body is limp. I can't tell if she's dead or just passed out as a result of the overwhelming ordeal she is being put through. The monster turns towards me, almost certainly having heard the echoes of the trees I've just smashed into pieces.
I freeze, luckily just far enough away that he cannot see me. Wait... If I was a meta now, did that mean I could do anything? Am I invincible like Liberty? I'd certainly gained some type of powers by activating these bands on my wrists, but how can I possibly be sure? Donnie Crosby thought he was invincible too.
He held a pay-per-view TV special where he'd planned to survive inside of a building as it was demolished to clear the way for a new mall. They buried a casket with only an ear inside of it, because that's all they could find. It was too big of a risk to take.
I reach into my pocket and pull out mycell phone to dial 911 again.
"911. What's your emergency?"
"I need help. I called earlier and no one came. I'm in the forest nearmile marker forty-five on Old Brooksdale Highway and there's a little girl in danger. There's a man with a knife and he's going to kill her. He already sta…" I stop myself from telling her the truth. If I was stabbed last night by this man, how could I explain to her that I'm perfectly fine now? Can't risk it.
"Sir, is this a prank call?" she asks.
"What? No! Absolutely not! This girl is in danger!"
"Sir, we have a unit at the location you reported to us and they have not found anything. This is a serious investigation sir and if you are wasting police resources, you are breaking the law," she tells me.
"I'm not lying to you! Look, can't you track my phone or something?" I ask.
"If you're just going to turn your phone off again sir, this conversationis pointless."
"I didn't! Look, my phone is on right now. You think I'm lying to you and breaking the law? Fine, come and arrest me." I place the phone down on a rock, making sure not to accidentally hang up.
This should lead them right to me. Regardless of what happens now, I need to save this little girl. I'm not sure why, or how I was given a second chance... but I was. And I need to take it. I run towards the man and his young victim, stopping just a few feet behind him.
"Put her down and get away from her!" I yell towards the man. He looks back at me, wide eyed. The sound of my voice makes him jump. He clearly wasn't expecting company out here.
He is a pale, thin man. Wiry frame. Thick glasses magnify his eyes to the point where they seem to take up half the real estate on his face.
His hair is greasy and slicked to the top of his head in a severe part. The white, old button-down shirt he wears has yellow stains under each arm the color of urine. In his back pocket is the knife he used to stab me in the back, still stained red with my blood.
"That's right. I'm not dead. Nice try though," I yell towards him. He looks at me for a long moment. Then at the girl slung over his shoulder. He drops her to the ground, and I'm relieved to hear her cry out when she hits the ground. The pink flower patterned dress she's wearing is caked in dirt and torn, but she's still alive.
"Now step away from her..," I begin to say before I notice him reaching into his back pocket. The pocket holding the blood stained butcher knife. I yell to him to stop, but it's no use. He already has the knife held high abovehis head as he turns towards the little girl.
The knife begins its fall, towards the barely conscious little girl's chest, as he put the entire weight of his body behind it.That's when time seems to stop. The man's arm hangs there in the air.
I don't even realize that my feet seem to have started moving without me consciously giving them the order to do so. Again, the world has slowed down around me as I rush through the trees. I feel nothing but anger.
Anger at this man, this monster, who derives satisfaction from killing the most innocent. A man who receives pleasure from their torture. This monster who tried as hard as he could last night to end my life. To crush my brother's world so he would have to bury the third, and last, member of his family.
I don't throw a punch, like you would expect I would. Like a hero would. I honestly just don't know how to punch. Even if I did, it wouldn't have come as second nature quickly enough in that moment. Instead, I do what any kid on the playground who doesn't really want to fight, or doesn't know how to, would. I push him.
The difference here though as opposed to the schoolyard is that when I push him, he doesn't get a chance to push back. He flies about three hundred feet backwards through the woods instead. Bouncing between trees like a pinball. In retrospect, a punch probably would have been much more humane.
I stand for what seems like an eternity, desperately trying to catch mybreath. It's not the running, or the shove, that has me out of breath. It's the adrenaline coursing through my veins at the idea that this little girl almost died. And that I almost certainly just killed a man.
Finally, I snap back intothe real world and catch eyes with the frightened little girl. I pull the dirtyrag out of her mouth.
"Everything's going to be alright now, okay?" I say. She nods, but is still trembling with fear. The knots are even tighter than they were before. I start fumbling withthem again but have the same amount of luck. It occurs to me that I could use the same strength that just rocketed a man through a dozen trees to pull the ropes loose, but I'm afraid of to.
What if I pull the wrong rope and inadvertently suffocate this poor girl?
"What's your name?" I ask, trying desperately to keep the girl's mindoff of what just happened until I can get her free.
"S…s…arah," she stutters.
"It's nice to meet you Sarah. We're gonna get you out of here," I say. I hear footsteps crunching leaves in the distance. Dogs barking. Authoritative shouts from men in the distance. It's the police. They've traced my phone. I need to get out of here. There's no way I can explain how I did all of this without revealing the truth.
I don't even understand how I got these metabands, so how could I possibly explain it to them?What if they throw me in jail? What if I'm interrogated? Metas are supposed to be extinct. They might not be thrilled that at least one of them is back.
I wipe the tears from the girl's cheeks.
"I'm sorry. I have to go. The police are here now. They'll take care ofyou. Everything is going to be alright," I tell Megan.
"What the hell is this!?" I hear a police officer scream. They must have found the tangled corpse of the man.
I turn and the entire world grinds to a halt once again. It's time to get out of here, and within what must have been seconds, I'm home.