“Where do you think it is?” one man asked.
“I dunno,” another answered shortly.
Suzette ducked behind the couch.
“Hey, boss, we got enough,” a third voice mumbled nervously. “Don’t you think we’re good?”
“No!” the boss snapped. “We need this fox! It’s worth a fortune!”
Suzette peered around the side, between the legs of a side table, and spotted the three figures walking in the darkness of the room. Then they were out of sight.
“Where is everyone?” the first wondered.
“Gone,” said the leader. As they walked, their voices began to fade. “She took her maids out for dinner tonight.”
The last one laughed. “What a saint.”
When Suzette set her hand on top of the side table to boost herself up, she felt a familiar object. She ran her fingers over the smooth, crescent top and a few small buttons. Perfect! She picked up the receiver of the phone, brought it up to her ear, and felt the buttons carefully until she was able to dial 911.
“911,” the operator said kindly. “What’s your emergency?”
“Hey, this rich lady’s house it being robbed,” Suzette said softly, as not to be heard. After she gave her the address she hung up without a word, against the protests of the operator. Satisfied the intruders would be caught, she turned and started for the door again.
An intense draw beckoned her back into the house, grating against her better judgment. She paused, her heart racing. What exactly could she do if she obeyed the instinct anyway? But as her mind danced, the thought of her newfound strength fought its way to the forefront. Gulping, she turned back and scuttled into the foyer, where she stared at a large set of stairs. Taking a deep breath, Suzette began tip-toeing up the steps, tilting her head to hear for their voices.
“Boss, I think it’s this way,” one hissed.
Suzette looked up toward the second floor and saw a bright light flickering around. She crawled on hands and feet up the stairs until she reached the top. There, she watched as the three men walked into the door at the end of the hall.
Quiet as a mouse, she slipped from one room to the other, peering out to make sure she was not discovered. As she made her way closer, she found her steps lighter and silent. It made her excited. Her movements grew faster, testing just how far she could push her stealth. She slipped into the room at the end of the hall unseen. Bookcases lined the walls, along with a few reading chairs, but the men all shined their high-beamed flashlights at the large, black statue in a case at the far end of the room.
“That’s it?” the shortest asked.
“This is her most prized—most valuable possession,” the leader explained. He crushed the glass around it. “This fox is made completely out of pure onyx. It’s worth a fortune.”
“Who’s going to carry that thing?” asked another thief.
As they spoke, Suzette darted forward along the wall, loving the soundlessness of her steps. Until her foot bumped a table. The wood dragged across the floor, making an awful screeching sound.
The men stopped and turned, shining their light on Suzette. She quickly brought her hand up to cover her face, protecting her eyes from the bright flashlight. All the men were obscured from view.
Suzette’s whole body tensed, but she gulped down her fear and tugged her hood closer around her face. “It’s staying there!” she shouted, hoping she sounded stern. The longer she stood there, out in the open, oddly, the more comfortable she grew.
“What do you think you’re doing here?!” the leader snapped.
“I could ask you the same question,” she shot back with a little more confidence, a split second before she glimpsed the shadow of a baseball bat out of the corner of her eye.
Time slowed.
From her left, she could faintly detect the bat starting to come down. Feeling more in control of the delay, she reached her right hand over, grabbed the bat, and jerked it away, tossing it aside. The man came into the light afterward. She grabbed the back of his head and was quick to introduce his nose to her knee.
The lights began to bounce around her when they abruptly shut off.
A strange urge told Suzette to duck. Obeying, she dropped to the floor and instinctually stuck her leg out, sweeping the leg of the shortest man who had been behind her, trying to grab her. A low boom reverberated off the walls and she took it as a signal of her success as she took a few steps away.
Slowly, a low-toned growl filled the air and she could sense hands starting toward her. As the last person began to descend upon her, she rolled to her back and tucked her legs. With that, she grabbed the man’s outstretched hands and pulled him down. Then she kicked off of his stomach, sending him flipping over her.
When Suzette somersaulted backwards and to her feet, time was back to normal—only, now, sirens blared in the background.
She gasped and stood to her feet, her nerves flaring as the thieves at her feet all stumbled around on the floor, groaning in pain. What would the cops think of a scene like this? She didn’t want to find out! She darted out the door, stopping short at the sound of footsteps trampling up the stairs.
Darting into one of the side rooms, she prayed she wouldn’t get caught. There, she threw herself under the bed and waited, peering out from under the bed skirt. With the robbers and the mess, maybe they’d forget about the girl who made the call.
—
Lady Augustine stood in front of her home, staring up at the windows, terribly worried. Callie, Mel, and Thalia, her maids, all stood huddled around her, following her gaze. She had no clue what was going on. Why were there so many police cars surrounding her house?
A young, eager-looking man stepped up to her with a pad and pen, capturing her attention. “Hello, Lady Augustine. Buddy Smith,” he said. “I work for the paper. I’d like to hear from you: what’s all the commotion about? It seems as if you were robbed. Would you care to comment on this?”
Speechless, Lady Augustine stumbled on what to say.
“Hey, back off,” an officer ordered, by her side in an instant. “Nothing to see here.”
As he spoke, several cops walked out of the house with the three men in handcuffs, who blabbered to the police.
The young reporter, looking frustrated, took in the sight. “It doesn’t look like nothin’,” he snapped.
“Go away!” the officer barked, waving his hand at him.
The reporter glared at him, biting his tongue. He walked into the shadows and disappeared.
Lady Augustine waited for the officer to continue, but he watched the darkness for a while to make sure the pesky reporter was really gone.
Finally, the officer turned back to her. “Lady Augustine, you were almost robbed,” he explained.
She gasped and grabbed onto Thalia, who grabbed her back. “Well, good heavens! It’s a good thing you stopped them!”
Tucking his hands into his pockets, he flashed a bemused look. “Well, you see ma’am, we didn’t,” he admitted. “Someone else did. The thieves are ranting on about some…‘kung-fu chick.’ But it’s a good thing she was here, whoever she was. They were about to make off with a bunch of jewelry and some sort of black fox statue.” His features strained as he struggled with a description. “Granite? Marble?”
“Onyx,” she interjected.
“Lady Augustine, they almost made off with your onyx fox!” Mel looked appalled at the very thought.
“Oh my!” Lady Augustine gasped. Her hand fell to her heart. “I’m ever so grateful for this hero—and you, of course, for putting these thieves where they belong.”
“Just doing our duty, ma’am.” He smiled.
All the while the robbers continued ranting as they were pulled toward the police cars.
“She was crazy! She broke my nose!”
“I couldn’t see her face! I didn’t even hear her walk in the room!”
“She couldn’t have been real—she couldn’t! How did she see that bat coming?”
/>
Lady Augustine’s eyes followed the men, trying to piece together their claims.
“Hey, get these guys out of here!” the officer yelled to the others. Then he turned back to the ladies. “Sorry you had to hear all that.”
“No, it’s quite alright,” Lady Augustine replied, though her heart still pounded steadily. “Thank you, sir.”
He nodded and left them. The four ladies watched as the cars rolled away, standing a while afterward.
Callie’s hands came down on Lady Augustine’s shoulders and steered her forward. “Let’s get you inside.”
The other two maids followed behind, back into the house.
—
Suzette flattened herself under the bed, waiting for the flashing of blue and red to go away. She thought they’d find her for sure. But a quick scrunching of her knees and an old, well-placed pillow made a shield for her as she hid near the farthest corner of the underbelly of the bed. Even after her world plunged into darkness, she waited, just to be sure. When she peered out from under the bed skirt, the only light she saw was the one coming from the statue’s room.
The police must have forgotten to turn it off.
She slithered out from under the bed and tiptoed into the hall. When she gazed into the room, she could see the frail woman’s back as she stared at her beloved, unharmed statue.
Suzette bothered her bottom lip with her teeth as she stared at Lady Augustine from under the shadow of her hood. Perched low, she swerved around and began away on the balls of her feet, hoping her soundlessness would leave her undetected once more.
“Stop right there.”
She froze at the elderly woman’s scold.
“Come here this instant,” Lady Augustine ordered.
What was Suzette supposed to do? She was caught! But hadn’t she come to speak to the Lady in the first place? Defeated, she turned and stiffly walked to the older woman.
Lady Augustine stood tall and proud, projecting a strange air of authority that was almost frightening. “What were you doing in my house?” she demanded.
What could Suzette say to that but the truth? After a deep sigh, she removed her hood and watched Lady Augustine’s face light up in surprise. “I came here to talk to you about the offer to help,” she confessed. “I heard someone break in and…” She looked around as if the rest of her sentence was floating in the air and all she needed to do was collect it all and make it usable. When no conclusion came, she shook her head and forced herself to look at the woman. “I don’t know,” Suzette breathed. “I just…stopped them.”
Lady Augustine’s mouth slowly molded to a smile. Hand on her chest, she breathed, “My dear child, thank you ever so much. Yes, I remember; you were that remarkable girl from that lovely little church.” Her eyes gleamed as she recollected the memory.
Suzette hesitated. “Y-yes.”
“I knew you’d come sooner or later,” the old woman laughed, waving her hand at the young woman. “You don’t know how much it means to me that you stopped those thieves. I honestly don’t know how they got past the security system. It would have been a true tragedy if they had gotten away with it. That poor statue is worth a fortune to me, if no one else.”
Confused, Suzette stared. “To you?” she repeated. “Is it not that expensive?”
Lady Augustine laughed at her observation and turned to the statue. “It is a little expensive, but I have plenty of jewelry pieces that could easily be more valuable,” she explained, walking over to the statue. Her countenance fell and she stroked the smooth, black creature. “This was the last thing my husband gave me before he died.” She shook her head. “Silly fool wanted to get me something himself—spent such a long time trying to find something different. Something simple, yet meaningful. And…” She set a hand on it and sighed. “Well, he came up with this. But I’ve come to love it.
“In our charity work, we’ve come across many people who appear noble and good, but in the end, they are nothing but wolves in sheep’s clothing. My husband and I have had to learn to weed out who was honest and who wasn’t, though we were never perfect at it. There are many folk stories that my husband enjoyed—stories of the fox outwitting the carnal wolf, slipping away just in time. I suppose my husband wanted it to be a memento to our diligent, honest, Christian work.”
Suzette had no problem waiting for the woman to finish reminiscing and watched as Lady Augustine rubbed the fur shawl draping off of her shoulders. The old woman stared at the fox, lost in memories.
Finally, the old woman turned to Suzette and smiled a bit. “Now tell me why you’re really here,” she suggested kindly.
Suzette gulped. “I think you were right about me being…different,” she explained in a babbling manner. “It’s weird. It seems that time slows down when there’s any sort of trouble or danger.” Seeing the woman’s confused face worried Suzette and she stared at the floor. It sounded crazier saying it than thinking it. “And I don’t move fast—I move slow too, bu-but I know how to react, so it doesn’t feel slow to me anymore. I guess that’s because maybe my mind is moving in fast-forward…?”
Silence.
She was afraid to look up and see a pair of critical eyes cross-examining her. “I don’t know,” Suzette mumbled, scratching the back of her head. “I know that’s not why you were expecting me here, either. Sorry this sounds weird.”
“How many times has this happened?” Lady Augustine wondered instead.
Suzette looked up at her and was surprised to see the old woman’s eyes sparkling with interest. “Well, I’ve always had good reflexes. Been able to scoop things up before they hit the floor—pencils, cups, small things like that. But the first time things actually slowed down was with you at the church.” She rocked on her heels and looked anywhere but the woman. “It happened a few more times with the little stuff. Then today I almost got hit by a limo.”
“Good gracious!” Lady Augustine gasped.
“But I didn’t get hurt! Time slowed down and I ran up it and jumped off,” she added. “Then, when I came here and saw those guys sneaking around, I climbed up a tree and jumped the fence and was able to roll safely—I’ve never been able to do that before. Then when the robbers tried to attack me, I…” She shrugged. “I fought them,” she huffed in disbelief. “I know some self-defense but don’t know how to actually fight. Yet I fought them like it was a reflex.”
The old woman only stared.
“And now I don’t know what to do,” Suzette muttered, uncomfortable. “Or…who to go to. If I went to my family or friends, they would call me crazy and they wouldn’t ever let it go. So, I came to you.”
For a long time, there was another silence. Both women just stood there; the young one shuffled around, unsure of herself, while the older one gazed wide-eyed. Slowly, the Lady’s mouth twitched up into a sparkling smile.
“You sound like some sort of hero,” Lady Augustine said in awe. “Well, you’re certainly my hero, saving my precious fox. But I mean you sound like you could be a real hero, the kind with powers.”
What? It was Suzette’s turn to stare. Her earlier thoughts in the car about helping people flooded back. It set her on edge to hear the old woman second such an idea. The thought was ludicrous. “That’s out of the question,” Suzette said, waving her hands in front of her. “I couldn’t be a hero. This was a freak accident or something! It’s not something I’ve always been able to do, something I can do whenever I want. I don’t know how to protect people.”
“A crime-fighting extraordinaire, then,” Lady Augustine urged, stepping up to her.
“Oh, ma’am,” Suzette grumbled, “I’ve already thought about it. It’s not a good idea. I don’t even really have a…a power…do I?”
“Oh, I hardly doubt anyone in the world has the same unique ability you do,” the old woman scolded, walking over to the light switch. Under it was a mechanical box with a few buttons.
“So, that just makes me a freak,” Suzette argued, watching Lady Augusti
ne press one of the buttons. “A mutant.”
Lady Augustine laughed at that. “A mutant,” she repeated, amused. “Have you come into any radioactive chemicals lately, dear?”
Suzette scoffed. “No, I…” But then she stopped; she had never really thought about it. A faint memory lingered on her mind, but there’s no way it could be right. Yet part of her felt like it was. “Actually, I don’t know,” she confessed.
Lady Augustine saw the seriousness in Suzette expression and it wiped the smile off her face. “Really?” she challenged.
The thoughts that came flooding were fuzzy and Suzette had to pause a moment to take a breath, allowing the hard memory to process itself. “Well, I went to a genetic engineering lab for a project,” she explained. As the words came out of her mouth, the more they seemed to make sense. “There was an accident and I got popped by some heated glass.” As evidence, she rolled up her sleeve and paused, surprised. Sure enough, there was a pale little line down the inside of her forearm, already healed over far more than it should have been. She blinked and looked up, not even recalling the injury the day after the accident.
Lady Augustine examined the girl’s skin and marveled at the barely-visible scratch.
“There was a chemical on the glass and my veins were glowing and everything,” Suzette went on. “Then I blacked out and that was all I remember before I woke up.”
The old woman mused that for a while, running her frail finger over the mark. “Well, I suppose if it changed anything in you, then you really are some advanced human, aren’t you?”
“I don’t know what to do,” was all Suzette could reply.
Blind World (The Onyx Fox Saga Book 1) Page 10