Secret Hero

I adjusted the buttons at my wrist once more, as I waited for the elevator doors to open. There was nothing out of the ordinary. Nothing whatsoever, I told myself for the millionth time. I could act normal. Be normal. Be myself. Nobody would notice my injuries because I always wore long sleeve shirts to work, I wouldn't stand out, nobody would know I'd helped to save the super heroes from being defeated by Ghirar. From all appearances, they had pulled a victory at the last second. Saving the city once again. I exhaled, yes. For all intents and purposes, I was never there. Nobody would know I was there. So why was I freaking out about this?

-Inspiration from watching Rise of the Guardians.

Lives on the Line

"Hey, Hey, Honey, look at me. Look at me." I told her, struggling against the ropes holding me to the chair. "Just at me. It's going to be alright. We're going to be fine."
Noelle swallowed, her chest heaving with suppressed sobs. Her mascara ran down her face, as her desperate grey eyes held onto mine. "Tony." She whispered.
"It's going to be alright Jazzie. We'll get through this." I had no idea how we were going to make this out alive. Kidnapped. Tied up. Injured. Thanks to some crazy lady.
"We're going to be fine."
"Fine? You look less than fine, cutie."
I tensed, think of the devil and so she appeared.
"Let us go." I told her. "We've done nothing to you."
She laughed, sending chills up my spine.
"Nothing? Na-ah-ahuh-thing?" She repeated in a sing song voice, trailing a long manicured fingernail along my jaw. "Ah, cutie pa tootie, you've done everything. Everything to me." She flashed a smile, brilliant white teeth, but her breath put a garbage dump to shame.
"We don't even know you!"
"Of course not! But your happiness has wronged me!" She hissed, her nails digging into my cheek, before she whirled to Jazzlyn. "How could you two be Sooo happy when I was supposed to be this happy! It's not fair!"
"We had to work at it." Jazzlyn said raising her head even as she trembled. "It wasn't all good--"
"But you have Each Other!' Crazy woman cried. "Everyone I've cared about." She pulled out two guns, pointing one at the each of us.
"No!" I cried.
"Has been taken away from me." Her eyes glinted. "Now...I get to take away everyone's happiness from them!"
"You don't have to do this."
She laughed, throwing her head back. "Oh, Oh you poor delusional fool." She said cocking the gun, finger on the trigger. "I do."
"Stop!" I threw myself against my bonds.
A bang.
A flash of fire.
Jazzie's scream.
Agony exploding in my chest, like a firework on steroids.
Jazzy....jazzy....jazzy....

-Inspiration from watching Arrow

Achy Breaky Head

"Come on, it can't be that bad!" I said in exasperation. So her head ached. So what? "You can't be so simple of a creature to be weakened by an achy head."
She grimaced at me. "Guess I'm simple." She said leaning her head against the wall, massaging her temples. "I can't....I need to sit down." She said turning.
I caught her arm before she could slide to the ground. "We have to move!"
"and if I take another step I'm going to vomit all over your nice shoes." She said jerking her arm in my grip.
I growled. "I don't have time for this!" I grabbed her head. Holding my fingers over her temples. I concentrated, seeking for this 'headache.'

It was like stirring a vipers nest. The headache lashed out at me like a coiled black lightning bolt. Darting into my own head before I could stop it.
I gasped, letting go in shock, staggering back. This....this was a headache?
All of a sudden my already enhanced senses increased by twelve.
The smells, the sounds.
Vomit? How could she not be trying to tear her head apart? I could hardly see with all the squiggly lines crossing my vision.

I flinched as her hand, too warm, grabbed mine. "What did you do?" She asked, pulling at me. Looking more energized than I'd ever seen her.
"Something stupid apparently." I groaned, closing my eyes. That helped with the vision. But the rest? It felt like a clawed demon had moved into my head and was kneading my brain with gusto. "This...is a headache?"
"Yah." She tugged at my arm. "Come on, you said we have to move. Surely such a thing can't weaken such a high and mighty creature."
I opened my eyes enough to glare at her and she flashed one of those heart stopping smiles. "Guess we'll see." I took a firmer grip on her hand and pushed away from the wall. I would be stronger than this thing. I would get us both to safety. "Come on." I said tugging at her, she came much more willingly now. Keeping up with me easily. Which was unfortunate. I should be able to out pace her. I kept my head as still as possible, difficult to do when running, as we navigated the passageways.
As soon as our lives weren't in immediate danger, I was going to get this 'headache' out of me.

-Inspiration from personal experience suffering from a headache that won't go away.

Musical Reminder

I let the melody surround me as I played.
I hadn't even liked the guy.
Okay, not at first.
But the last twenty-four hours when I'd been stuck with him....
I'd grown....fond. And I don't grow fond of people that quickly.
I frowned, adjusting the melody on the piano, from angry to more melancholy.
I hadn't liked him.
But....we'd had a few similar interests.
Like the piano. I glanced down at the ivory keys, remembering his own hands flying over them just hours before. Hours. It felt like a lifetime. How could a man have changed my life so quickly. How could he have found a place in my limited circle of admiration to stand. We'd been so different. Yet...I'd liked him.

I exhaled, letting the melody drift to a close.
And now....I would never see him again.

-Inspiration from watching Lucifer: A Priest Walks Into a Bar

Trapped Alone

The noise reminded me of firecrackers going off on the Fourth of July. A series of small explosions that echoed around me. I'd only begun to look up, when I was struck on the head, and to be cliché, had my world go black on me.

A line of lava seemed to be running down my head, as I stirred. I opened my eyes, the colors and shapes blurring around me before snapping into focus. I winced closing my eyes. Too bright. I struggled, gasping for breath as I tried to push myself up off my stomach, to move my arm to touch my aching head, but I was prevented. Cautiously opening my eyes against glare of the sun against the rocks, I cautiously twisted my head aware of the streak of lava there. Injured there. I groaned softly, working to not hyperventilate. Rocks. Debris. Pinning me down. Trapped.
I was trapped! Alone. In the middle of nowhere.

-Inspiration from reading an article about an arch partially collapsing. Musing about what would have happened had someone been under it. 

Vanished

"The train never stops, but the man vanishes." he said. "There's no side tunnels, no stops, he's gone."
I frowned, grabbing the mouse from him to scroll through the video. That couldn't be right. It's impossible for a man to just disappear like that. Yet that was exactly how it appeared. Timing was right, the number of cars on the train stayed the same.
"Impossible." I muttered, watching the footage. There had to be something here. Something to indicate how one man on an empty train could just...vanish. Honestly, this would be so much easier if there were cameras on the train itself. Anything could have happened in that seven minute gap between stations. Anything. We had a missing person here, and no idea what happened. "Have you scanned the footage"
"To all the other entrances to see if he left? Of course." he said in a tone that made it sound like I'd just insulted him. "This was the last stop. Everyone has to get off. The train goes on to the yard after this point. You can see here." He points. "The conductor walking along the aisle, checking to make sure everyone is off. He wouldn't leave someone there. Even if someone managed to avoid him, The cleaning crew would call if someone managed to make it to the yard. And the last incident reported was seven months back."
I tapped my fingers against my chin, frowning. "There has to be more to this." I turned abruptly away heading for the door.
"Where are you going?"
"I have a train to catch." Maybe being on the scene, taking the same journey would help solve the mystery.

-Inspiration from watching Sherlock Season 3 episode 1.

Thoughts: Answer to disappearance would involve a magic of some sort. An introduction to a hidden world within our own. Maybe there's a 'magic portal' of sorts for 'special' folk. That takes them to a different station, to stop at, but while they're in this portal time doesn't shift so that the train still arrives on time to it's 'normal human' stops. This time there was just the misfortune of someone on camera noticing since the guy was the only one on the train. (possible Harry Potter esq connection. *shrugs*)

A Choice To Move On

"I thought you knew me!" Her once warm eyes now as cold as the stone beneath our feet. "I thought you loved me!"
"I thought I did too." I whispered. But I didn't recognize this creature before me that wore her face. The one who wanted me to kill the man tied to the chair in front of us. If she knew me at all, she would know that I never had any intention of killing the man who'd tormented me all my years I'd been a slave to him. I would not be like him. "I can't kill him."
"Yes you can! If you love me you will!" She screeched.
"If you love me at all you won't make me!"
Her eyes blazed, the knife in her hand coming up. "Coward."
"No."
"You're a coward, I give you the man who ruined your life! Who took away six years of your life! You can take his life in return!"
"For what Cause?" I demanded. "Yes. I hate him. But I'm not a killer!" I backed away towards the door.
"Don't you dare leave." She hissed, stepping forward. "Do this! Finish the job!"
"No. It's over." I told her. "This. And us. I'm done." I dashed out the door, hearing the thunk of the knife on wood just behind me.
I ran into the night. Heart breaking even as it raced with adrenaline, hearing her howl my name into the night. What had I just nearly gotten myself into??

-Inspiration from watching Daredevil Season 2