Time and place. I had mine. Donna had hers. She didn’t like surprising me with last minute instructions and she liked having last minute revelations even less. But for better or worse, it was something we had both become accustomed to with her power glitching. Donna did not expect to feel the tide to our endgame so soon but she took the path without hesitation. Guided by her instincts, Donna waited in the long dark hours of the early morning to find Brenda. Now eighteen, Brenda had been on the street for a while and knew how to survive. She had been pushed even farther from the girl that she used to be.184Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmFcujkjwDI
The modesty of her former life had given her license to hide a figure she didn’t love. And while she wasn’t in love with her body, the relationship had begun to slowly warm over the years. She grew to appreciate a form that was not like the women society held up as the ideal. She let her jeans hang lower on her hips now, highlighting a feature that used to be one of the banes of her self-esteem. Brenda even allowed her shirts to come just to the edge of her belt line. She surprised herself. Now Brenda could sometimes look in the mirror and think, “I look... good?” Sometimes that wasn’t even in the form of a question.
That did not, however, stop her from keeping people at a distance. Brenda now armored herself with long red hair, head shaved on the sides, nearly too much eyeliner, and clothing that was somewhere between metalhead and punk. This was New York but the look still mostly kept people away. It was also a camouflage that hid the epic nerd she became and that no one seemed to understand. It wasn’t that Brenda was afraid to show the person on the inside, she was just selective with who she shared herself with. Too many people had burned her, so it was just easier to play the part of scorched earth. If you saw her, you wouldn’t know that Brenda was anything other than just another street kid. Some people knew better. Well, some people knew more.
The group following her knew she was more. They were also in the category of not knowing better. Brenda knew she was being followed. She could sense five men, the term “men” being used incredibly loosely here, trying to be stealthy. Brenda sensed them through the displacement of the air around them, the weight of their feet on the ground, and through the water on the street and the wet of their clothes. It’s a good thing it just rained. The elements were her friends. At that time, the elements were the only friends she had.
Now, normally Brenda didn’t mind a little drama and causing a scene. She got a kick out of it actually. But on that night she wasn’t in the mood to deal with idiots. She turned down a dark alley hoping these particular morons would lose sight of her. The alley had the added benefit of boxing them in if they were dumb enough to follow. The gaggle of hoodies paused for a second before entering the alley. She hoped they might be smart enough to leave her be, but they proceed into the dark.
“Oh, well. It was a boring night anyway.” she said to herself.
She leaned against a wall, hidden in shadow. She could hear them whispering as they got closer.
“You sure it was her?” said one.
“Yeah, I know that crazy bitch anywhere.” said another.
She knew that last voice. Brenda almost chuckled to herself.
“Rudy? Seriously? That was a year ago.” she thought.
Brenda also immediately questioned some of her life choices even if they happened to be cute at the time. She didn’t typically entertain the company of males but it happened on rare occasions that she usually ended up regretting. Her relationships with women were not all that successful either but they tended to end more amicably and didn’t bring about stalking or revenge plots. A normal person would have at the very least gotten worried with this kind of turn to a night. Brenda got a little excited because to her the night just became more entertaining. She composed herself as best she could, trying not to laugh.
Brenda whispered to herself, “OK. Be cool. Be cool.”
She needed something witty to say.
“You know, boys, a girl could get used to being followed by so many fine young men.” said Brenda, in a “Southern” accent no less.
Nailed it, she told herself.
Did she though?
The guys stopped in their tracks. They didn’t expect to be noticed. Rudy spoke up.
“Come out, mental bitch. It’s time for you to get some.” he called out.
Brenda had a talent for bringing out the best in people. She smoothly stepped out of the shadow near them, hands in her jacket pockets. She kept on the “Southern” accent to add a little extra. It was... a choice.
“Really Rudy, must we do this? I got some from you a year ago.” she said, holding out her hand and pinched her thumb and index finger together. “Well, I got a little.”
She surprised herself with how well she thought she delivered the lines. Brenda could be a bit delusional.
“Yeah?” Rudy said with a creepy smile. “I’ll show you little.”
He was thinner the last time Brenda had seen him. He used to be a bit lanky, awkward, and had the look of boyish innocence and thoughtfulness that attracted her. Rudy had apparently been working out and bought into the whole alpha male persona. She did think he had filled out nicely though. Now Rudy began to grow even more before her eyes. His muscles began to ripple and expand under his clothes and he grew a couple of inches taller. Brenda reverted to her normal voice, thankfully.
“Getting a little roid rage, Rodolfo?” she asked, feeling somewhat impressed.
Rudy charged forward and took a swing at her. He hadn’t noticed the thin layer of water accumulating under his feet. With no solid ground under him, a gust of air augmenting his momentum, and a swing that was too hard, he was thrown off balance. Brenda leaned a bit to dodge the punch as Rudy’s feet slipped. His body spun and he landed on his back. She stepped back a few more feet to gain some space.
“Careful there, Ruds. Growth spurts can make a boy clumsy.” she said to the boy on the ground.
“Get her!” Rudy yelled.
One of the pack jumped at her, turning reptilian in the process and growing claws in midair. But she controlled the air and a turn of her wrist directed a sudden gust to carry him over her and into an open dumpster. Another one of Rudy’s crew opened his mouth and spat fire, engulfing her. Brenda hit the ground, covered in flames.
“It burns! It burns!” she screamed.
Rudy got back on his feet and shouted, “That will teach you to disrespect me!”
His boys smiled and laughed.
“It burns! It burns, Precious!” Brenda yelled.
And then she began to laugh.
“Okay, okay, sorry, I couldn’t resist,” she said.
She stood up still engulfed in flames. Then the fire went out leaving her unharmed.
“Get it? I was doing Gollum,” she said.
There was silence and shock.
“With the rope around his neck? It burns. It burns.” she said, clutching at an imaginary rope around her neck.
There was more silence.
“Gollum? Lord of the Rings? The Hobbit?” Brenda asked.
And more silence.
“Seriously?” she asked.
She pulled a pack of cigarettes out of her jacket, took one out, snapped her fingers, and a flame sparked from her thumb. She lit the cigarette, took a puff, and shook off the flame.
“You guys need some culture,” said Brenda.
Rudy yelled at her again, “You're dead!” and lunged.
Brenda opened her arms and wind carried her up and over him. The fire breather tried his trick again, but she directed the flames into a circle around her. With a circle of flames swirling around her, Brenda floated further back into the alley, giving these boys more space to retreat. She then tried something she’s been wanting to do for a while. Combining the air and fire she built a whirlwind of flames to surround herself. She made sure the rumbling roar of wind and flame didn’t drown out her voice, which she projected with a bit of echo and distortion.
Brenda calmly said, “This is just air and fire. You guys want to see what I can do with earth and water?”
She made the ground tremble a bit for emphasis. Lizard boy scrambled out of the dumpster and joined the fire breather and two others who took off running. Rudy stayed for a moment before he finally withdrew. He backed away slowly trying to calculate some form of revenge but eventually he just turned away in anger and defeat. Brenda cut off the flame tornado and other effects. The alley steamed as she gently floated back down to the ground.
“Impressive.” said a female voice from somewhere above.
Brenda jumped.
“Dude! What the hell? You scared the crap out of me! Who’s up there?” she asked.
Donna stepped out of the shadows on a fire escape wearing khaki pants, a tucked-in navy blue polo, and a black baseball cap. Another person in this clothing could look like a theme park employee. On her, it felt more like tactical business casual. All she was missing was body armor, a rifle, and sunglasses with mirrored lenses. If she was a man she definitely would have had a beard. Donna looked dangerous because she was.
She leaned on the rail and said, “I’m your new best friend. And cigarettes will kill you.”
Brenda was done for the evening.
“Nope. I already had a hormonal super team sniffing after me, I’m not interested in any more advances. I got places to be,” she said.
Brenda flicked her cigarette at a trash can. A drop of water jumped up from the ground to put it out. Then the cigarette stopped over the can and dropped in. Donna spoke as she made her way down the fire escape.
“You got nowhere to be. You were just going to wander around all night, sneak back into that vacant apartment you’ve been scoping out, and sleep off whatever you get into tonight. FYI, this was going to be the highlight of your evening. It gets pretty boring after this.”
“Have you been following me?” asked Brenda with an annoyed face and a cocked eyebrow.
She took a moment to give Donna’s body some consideration while she climbed down to the ground.
“I mean, I’m flattered and I’d think twice before kicking you out of bed, but you seem a little too tightly wound to really be worth my time.” said Brenda.
Donna reached the ground, and smiled. She calmly stepped towards Brenda with her arms down and her palms facing out.
“Following you, yes. In a sense, but not for that. And I’m not a serial killer. Also, no, I am not some government spy, at least not anymore. And yes, I agree, I do give off that weird secret agent vibe.” said Donna.
Brenda put her hands on her hips and threw her head back in frustration. She had considered making comments along those lines.
“God dammit! You’re a mind reader.” she said.
“No, I sense timelines and probabilities.” said Donna, crossing her arms.
“You what now?” Brenda looked a little confused.
A few people have had the same look on their faces when Donna has tried to explain her gift. I was one of them.
“No time to explain. And to answer your next question, my name is Donna Tate,” she said.
Brenda took a few steps back. The woman in front of her was projecting that she wasn’t a threat but Brenda had gotten good at reading people. The person in front of her could clearly be scary if she wanted to be.
“Is this the part where you say, come with me if you want to live?” asked Brenda.
“Basically, yes,” said Donna.
She put her hands in her pockets and walked past Brenda down further into the dark alley. She knew Brenda would follow. Brenda knew she was going to follow too because this was way too interesting to pass up. But her pride demanded she didn’t prove someone right about her, especially someone she just met. She thought about walking in the opposite direction.
“Ugh. Who am I kidding?” Brenda asked herself.
She walked briskly down the alley to catch up with this Donna person that she just met.184Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrXXEznpZCi
