“She’s going through a process known as a 'Reboot.'” The head physician narrated the scene for those who were not familiar with what they were seeing. “A Reboot is common for super powered humans after they experienced near fatal injuries. What happens is after the person’s power had come to a halt or slowed down, due to draining life force but they were successfully resuscitated, their powers would go through a surge until it regained its normal state in the body.” Her body thrashed up and down in desperate pain. “Although this was common when bringing people back from the brink of death, the act of people actually being revived is rare all in itself.” He pushed his broad shoulders through the group to get a better look.
Being that there had only been a handful of actual reboots ever have happened, all the information on and about them are sketchy at best. The staff could only stand by and marvel at the girl. Her mauve hair flowed with heated energy, similar to what happened when Trey so forcefully gave her a slap on the back. But now the expensive monitors, and just about everything else that was not nailed down, formed in a cyclone around her bed, which was nailed down. If anyone wanted to get near her to help, not that they even cared, the protective barrier of machines and monitors prevented them from coming three feet close to her.
Flashing movements and lights, this event was coming to its epic end. Ian was still in the waiting room in an all-out battle with Trey. Justine had still yet to reappear.
“Nyeaus.” The boy repeated, with the same cocked head and sideways smile as he pushed against the rock man’s best efforts.
“Ugh!” Trey pressed the palms of his hands down on Ian’s shoulders in an effort to subdue the boy. “Sit... Sit down!” But Ian refused to budge.
Ian's slim body twisted from Trey's grip, leaving the golem to believe Ian had given up. But just as quick he thought he had won, the boys boney shoulders rammed him straight in the chest. His sharp feature sent stinging pains throughout Trey's torso. He fell to the ground, clutching his chest in pain. Without a second thought, Ian used this opportunity to escape. Stepping on the heaving back of his friend, Ian was finally on his way.
“No you don't.” Trey's hand covered itself in flames as he stretched out for Ian's leg.
“Svythke.” His chanting stopped.
Head still slightly bent on his shoulders, Ian slowly turned his attention to the hand that was still grasping his leg. Ian jerked his leg free, without any effort on his part, and grinded it into Trey's rock protected back. He broke through several layers of rock before turning his mind to the elevator and returning to speaking non sense.
“Higuwas...” Ian’s voice faded from Trey's ears.
Still lying face down on the static gray and blue carpet, Trey pressed through the shooting pain that flowed in his body. He used one hand to give him a boost off the floor and back on to his sturdy legs.
“How the...?” The golem had never had anyone fight back and still be conscious as long as Ian had. “Since when did he have power like that?”
He watched Ian's legs stumble and wobble like they were made of over cooked pasta as he entered the elevator. Shaking the entire ground floor, Trey took off charging for Ian. Trey knew he could not let anyone see the boy in this state. Someone might want to put him in a cage and do test studies on his body, as so many scientist and doctors in the world so did those days.
Ding! The door began to close.
Trey jumped and slid across the floor, creating a new path through the lobby by doing so. His arms had reached the doors before closing and Trey stood off the ground pushing back the doors, permanently breaking them. He grabbed Ian by the neck and sent him flying out of the elevator. This action had taken the smile right from his face.
“Loivder...”Arms back and head down, Ian was not taking any more of Trey's interruptions. “Gyaski vabf cecans...” Ian chanted hands at his side, similar to how the girl was fighting the night before, and rushed at the golem.
Trey was still getting his balance back when he watched as his friend came charging after him. He took a step to the left, avoiding another one of Ian's unusually strong upper cuts into his gut. Ian hunched over, but never wasted a second going after Trey once again.
One, two, three. Ian swiped after Trey's body, desperately trying to disable his opponent. Trey had no time to turn around and had been running backwards from Ian's attacks. The fight had turned and Ian had Trey standing on an armchair in an attempt to shake him off. It was not long before Ian destroyed the armchair with a single blow to its cushion.
“Keep this up kid and,” He tried to warn Ian only to get a face full of his fist.
Trey tipped backwards crashing through the cement wall behind him and on to the floor of the women’s bathroom. He destroyed the floral print pink tile floor and two sinks. Water gushed out the now exposed pipes from the wall. Steam rose off of Trey's body and clouded his vision which left Ian a window of opportunity that he was not about to waste.
“Kiovt!” Yelling at the top of his lungs, body as limp as ever, Ian tried to crouch and drop kick Trey.
Luckily for Trey, the steam around the boy’s body parted as he attacked, letting him get a clear shot at Ian. “Ugh!” He put all he had in one final attack against Ian.
Crack! Ian was sent flying through the other end of the bathroom. Trey had back slapped Ian who went through several stalls and a concrete wall before stopping. If it was not for the spectacle going on floor seven, everyone would have gathered around and surveyed the damage that had happened in the lobby.
On the seventh floor the girl's light began to dim and fade away just as she glided back into her bed. Now her gray skin was tan and lips blush red instead of blue. She was alive, not like she had been, and no longer an empty shell. A soul with true and honest feelings flowed through her veins. Only two things were missing now; to wake up and to be given a name.
“Coo...” She exhaled letting out a high sigh.
Everyone from in the doorway hesitated to step forward and get good look at the girl cooing in her bed. Her features were relaxed and serene with a sense of being, not like she had before. Instead of lifeless body, her cheeks now flushed with blood causing them to have a hint of a sun kissed blush. Only looking of her early teens, she still retained all of the beauty of her adult body; long lengthy mauve hair, plush breast, tan skin, and toned hips and thighs.
Over half of the hospital staff moved into the room and tried to get a better look at her. One doctor was so bold as to try to touch the girl, only to be met with a shock from her skin. He recoiled and nursed his singed index finger. The other members of the hospital staff backed away and examined her from afar.
“All readings are normal.” Her nurse, the women who had found her, declared to the interested spectators around her.
They all leaned in closer to get a better look, staying just above her skin.
“She looks like any normal teenager.” Someone from the crowd gave their two cents.
“But pink hair?” Another questioned the girl’s appearance. “This girl is odd enough...”
A doctor pushed her way through the staff in the hall and in the room. She drew the curtain around the girls bed shut.
“This girl needs rest in case you missed the show she just put on.” She said matter-of-factly in her island accent while pushing air with her hands signaling them to leave.
Shamed, they hung their heads and moaned as they left the room. In seconds the last person had left and all that remained was the girl and the doctor who ordered the others to leave. She moved the curtain open a crack with her mocha colored hands and gazed at the child in the bed through her piercing sharp violet eyes. This women's heart sank as she could see the girls hardships and pangs that she had faced and of the ones yet to come. Her first thought was to pity this girl, but she could also see her true purpose and identity.
Trey stumbled through the debris left behind from several sinks and restroom stalls. He ran after Ian as the boy began to rise from a hole in a nearby wa
ll.
“Grrrr!” The Hunter reached down and wrapped his rock solid hand around the boy’s shirt collar. “Now you’ve done pissed me off, boy. And no matter how close we may have been as friends, that is not going to save you from my fist!”
Ian’s blue eyes widened at the sight of Trey's fist that was covered in a deep sapphire flame. Trey brought his hand back then let it come swinging forward, but Ian put his hands across his face to soften the blow. Nothing happened. After a minute, Ian removed his skinny arms from his face to find that Trey still stood above him, fist ready to smack him senseless at any moment.
“Hey, dude!” Ian squirmed as he made a lame attempt to get his friend to release him. “What’s up?! Let me go!”
As soon as Trey was sure it was Ian and not some possessed demon girl puppet, he released Ian and let him fall to the ground and back onto the broken tiles that now covered the floor. He turned to leave, like he should have done twenty minutes ago.
“Are you not going to tell me what has just happened here?” Ian dusted himself off and rushed after the golem.
“Huh!” He muffled a laugh. “Just ask your girl.” Was all that Ian was going to get out of Trey.
Ian turned to look around the lobby. “Where is Justine?” He went to face Trey only to see that the Hunter was already gone.
The pain of being thrown all over the ground floor was just now starting to hit him. Ian crumpled to the ground and sought out help via telepathy. He tried to sort through his contacts and the list started to shrink as he crossed names off.
“Trey... Sean... Justine...”
Trey had been cast out for obvious reasons, Sean was still incapacitated, and he would never dare invade Justine’s thoughts, for she had forbade him to so. His list only included one name, just a random name that had been there since before he could remember.
“Uh...” The pain was now a faint tingling sensation that soon disappeared leaving Ian feeling better than he had when he left for work the evening before. “Wha.....?” He was able to stand on his own now. “Must have just been a spasm or something...”
Click, click, click. Came the sound of a pair of high heeled shoes crossing the rubble and without notice, something reached their skinny arms around his waist.
“Oh, what happened to you?” Justine rubbed her face into his back very gently. “I leave you alone for one second to check on Sean and you...”
Ian cut her off. At the mention of his lieutenant all other thoughts faded from his mind. “I am not quite sure. I blacked out and woke up to find the lobby this way...” He scratched the back of his head and Justine released him.
“Oh, well you look fine, in fact better than you had when I left you earlier.” She hugged him from the front this time.
“Eh, yeah so about Sean,” Gently pushing her away, Ian avoided eye contact with her, as he usually did.
She slipped her dainty hand into his. “Come on and you can see for yourself.” Justine pulled him off the pile of broken tiles he had been standing in and on to a more solid section of the lobby.
Ian gazed at the room and the destruction he had no idea how it happened, but somehow knew it was his fault.
“Don't worry.” Justine pulled his hand harder this time. “I will call someone and tell them that the girl on floor seven did this, which I am guessing since she sent tremors throughout the entire building, shaking things loose from their foundation and stuff like that.” But Ian resisted. “Huh, what’s wrong?”
“No,” Justine dropped his hand at once. She was about to open her mouth, obviously very hurt. “Let's just go home. It has been a crazy shift.” Now it was Ian holding onto her hand and leading her.
Her eyes softened at the very romantic and considerate gesture. “Now that’s more like you.” She took him up on the offer and Ian picked her up off the ground and carried her across the debris.
“Ah.” Justine sighed in contempt as she rested her arms around his thick neck and her head on his narrow shoulders.
The pair left the hospital looking like the perfect young couple madly in love. Although Trey, who had been watching from the shadows in the hospital parking lot, could see differently. He was one of the handfuls of people who really knew what was going on. Everything had been set into motion only hours ago.
The Hunter had waited outside the hospital until nightfall and just as he had suspected, nothing happened. On floor number seven, the girl still slept peacefully and the hospital maintenance crew had cleaned up and repaired the mess he and Ian had caused early that morning. Thanks to the girl, all the electricity in the hospital was out for their little duel. Not one of the cameras caught any part of him trashing the building. Just like Justine had told Ian, the staff just attributed it to the girl on the seventh floor.
On the other side of the town, Ian was waking for the first time since he had gotten home. Overwhelming emotions of peace, love, and something else crossed his face and he looked at Justine who was sleeping soundly to his left. After a couple seconds of admiring his fiancée who he had compared to an angel sleeping on a pure white cloud, Ian lifted the black cotton sheet covering him and slid slowly out of the edge of the mattress.
“Yeah.” Ian yawned stretching out his entire limb as he checked the time on the clock on the bed stand. The little red digital numbers read 6:00 p.m. Shocked by how late he had slept in, Ian rushed into the bathroom and hopped in the shower.
“Hmm.” Justine stirred. “Is that you?” She called out to the bathroom across from her.
“Uh huh.” Ian shouted through a mouth full of foam. In a hurry he had brushed his teeth in the shower while washing his hair at the same time.
She turned in the covers. “What are you doing? It is so late in the afternoon.”
Ekk. The shower squeaked as it was turned off. Steam drifted into the bed room as Ian stepped out of the bathroom.
“I have to work tonight, remember?” He kissed her on the cheek wearing nothing but a gold colored towel.
Justine tossed to the other side as he put on his uniform. “Oh, but I think they would understand it if you stayed home just one night. It is not as though you get paid by the hour.”
“I know.” Ian replied buttoning the last buttons on his blazer. “But I just don't want to miss a day now that Lieutenant Sean is hospitalized. If they bring in a new lieutenant or something else happens, I don't want to miss it.” He grabbed the keys off the nightstand and kissed Justine's cheek one more time. “Don't worry.” He turned the bathroom light off before heading to the front door. “We have the weekend coming up. I love you.”
Ian turned to leave, not waiting for her to respond. Justine usually waved or did nothing at all when he told her that he loved her each night that he left for work. Tonight was one of those nights when she waved to him. But her actions never put him in a bad mood. She had been that way since they met. He brushed it off as another one of her quirks, like never calling him by his name or trying to keep him in her sights at all times unless he was at work.
“Ah.” Ian sighed on the front step of his house feeling great sense of accomplishment. One story and white, Ian was on his way to owning his first, and hopefully only, house. It was just one part of the dream almost every citizen of the nation had; the house with the white picket fence, two cars in the drive way, and a lovely wife and children. Except for the children part and the second car, he was almost at fulfilling his dream. He skipped on the cream colored cement stones that laid a path through the crisp blades of grass that covered his front lawn, trying to avoid the now activated sprinkler. Yes, Ian was truly the poster child for everything this nation stood for and offered.
With one last and final look at the house, Ian opened the door to his light blue sedan and sat down inside. He did the same thing each and every night he left for work. It was like he lived his life by going through the motions everyone expected of him. Though, the boy could find comfort in this thought as he enjoyed the scenery on his way to work and this way thinking abo
ut his life always made him feel at peace.
Rows of single story homes lined both sides of the streets all of light pastel colors. Even the yards looked identical as well as everyone’s mailboxes. This was a neighborhood as old as this city itself and tolerated nothing but conformity. The neighborhood home owners association saw to that and Ian complied with the rules no matter what they called for. He was just a regular boy scout going through life with a big goofy smile on his face.
Coming out of the neighborhood and onto the freeway ramp, Ian waved to every one of his neighbors out for an evening stroll. Ian was so straight laced that the NSSH allowed him the luxury of living out of a Zone as long as he stayed to their standards. Though, that all Ian seemed to be doing; staying and complying standards, never wondering what would he do if an unexpected variable was tossed his way. What would he do then? But of course, thoughts like that were so far from his mind, Ian never thought close to those kinds of thoughts.
A quick half hour on the freeway and Ian was at the neighborhood NSSH. All Zones had been locked down for the night which always gave him an extra sense of security as he stepped out of his car and into his office building. He himself had never had to live in a Zone. That may have been the reason that caused him to imagine the inhabitants to seem like snarling beast that foamed out the mouth when someone unfortunately came close enough in contact with them.
With a Zone only several miles away, Ian always felt safer once he was in the NSSH building. He jogged across the parking lot like he did each night and into the building not glancing back for one last look at the outside world. Inside the Disten NSSH headquarters was the same as it had been every night for the past eleven years he had worked there. At the front counter was the same security guard that was there every night and he waved Ian through like he had done many nights before. But none of this got to him, it was the way his life had been set out and he played through.
Misery Saves the Night Page 4