Superhero

Chapter 9

"Where is he?!" Fiolina demanded, going towards the counter. "Is he still here? Did he run away?"
"It's him," Addison said, still staring at the spot the man was standing on. "Fio, it was him!"
"Who's him?" Fiolina asked, frustrated. "Him who?!"
"That teleporting Superhero!" Addison blurted out. "He was here!"
"What?!" Fiolina uttered in surprise. "He's back?"
"Yeah!"
She asked Fiolina to get in behind the counter with her, and opened the CCTV footages. She showed her the footage of when the guy first came in.
"Look, he just came in, and conked out at the table!" Addison said, pointing at the screen. She forwarded it a little, to the time when she tried to wake him. "I wanted to see if he was okay, and he woke up."
Fiolina watched, nodding thoughtfully.
"Then he got himself some instant spaghetti, cake, SlurpSlurp," Addison said. She pointed at the screen to herself, playing with her phone. "I was texting you at the time."
The two women watched as the man came towards the counter and put everything down before leaning over with his arms on the counter. Fiolina laughed slightly when she saw how Addison jumped as soon as she saw him.
"What did he look like?" Fiolina asked.
Addison shrugged. "I don't know. He didn't look up for even a second, and didn't say anything. When I saw the footages to see his front view, I realised that he was wearing a mask. He lifted it off slightly so that he could eat, but it wasn't clear at all, his face was still shadowed, and I couldn't see anything."
Fiolina nodded thoughtfully, watching the strange man eat at the table. She fast forwarded a little more and saw how he came back to the counter after throwing everything away.
"What did he buy?" Fiolina asked, watching the video of him putting something on the counter. "Chocolate? Breath mints?"
"Peppermint gum," Addison corrected with a frown. "He popped one out to put into his mouth, but you arrived by that time. He instantly disappeared, right before you walked in."
"This is some serious stuff..." Fiolina shook her head with a frown. "And why did he come in during your shift and not mine?! You saw him like twice already! Why didn't he wait till I get here?!"
"Fio?" Addison said, still a little creeped out. "I was freaked out!"
"Of course!" Fiolina exclaimed, shaking Addison's shoulders. "It was the Superhero!"
"Well, he could've acted less creepy," Addison sighed, swatting Fiolina's hands away while going towards the back room to change. "But he looked like he'd been through a war zone. Anyway, I'm out."
Fiolina waited for Addison to change and then got changed herself. She took over for Addison and sat down on the stool behind the counter. Addison decided to grab something light like biscuits and a small chicken pie since she didn't really feel like eating after... after what just happened.
Addison bid goodbye and started walking towards the main road. She was just in time to see the bus turn the corner towards the bus stop. She hailed it and got in.

Addison arrived home and sank down on the bed with a groan. It was a really tiring day, and to make it worse, she was shaken up after the Superhero incident. She got back up with a sigh and staggered towards the bathroom to get herself a hot shower to melt away the tension of work. She stood under the shower and replayed the day's happenings in her mind.
The guy seemed to have just escaped something, coming in tired and unstable. He instantly fell asleep as soon as he sat down. Then he just woke up and made a beeline for food and SlurpSlurp. Addison had never seen anyone gulp down the cold drink so quickly, not even Jeff.
And then he bought chewing gum and left as soon as Fiolina set foot in the store.
Addison frowned when she remembered how she didn't once get a glimpse of the local Superhero's face. Not that she wanted to propaganda it to anyone, just that... she wanted to know who it was under the hood.
She turned the water off and sighed, stepping out of the shower. She pulled her nightdress on and went back to her room to dry off.

Addison turned the television on and sat cross-legged on the bed, nibbling on the snacks she bought earlier. She flipped to the news channel and frowned as the professionally dressed newscaster read the headlines.
"Local Superhero strikes again," that was all Addison needed to know that something else happened earlier that night.
It was the first news that was told.
"Earlier today, our Superhero managed to save a family from robbery," the newscaster said, staring at the camera. "The Superhero managed to teleport the the whole vehicle to the safety of the main road, while the mob, three of them were all brought to the police station, dragging all three at once. The police didn't have to ask them to know that they did something bad. Like the other criminals involved with the Superhero, they all surrendered, begging to be put in jail instead of trying to escape."
'But what happened to the Superhero?' Addison thought to herself. 'How did the guy end up in the convenience store?'
"The alleged Supehero was last seen walking away from the scene rather slowly," the newscaster continued, a footage of the hooded figure dragging himself down the road being shown. Addison instantly recognised the road to be the one near the convenience store she worked at.
'So that's what happened...' Addison thought, watching as the screen shifted back to the scene where the Superhero made the entire car disappear from sight before returning for the criminals. The screen then flipped back to the newscaster sitting behind a desk, moving on to another story. Addison turned the tv off and finished whatever that was left of her light dinner.
She didn't even sleep much that night. It was a good thing it was a Saturday.

***

Addison went downstairs and filled her flask up with coffee before heading out the door. It was Sunday, and she didn't have to go to college, but she still felt like she needed the caffeine even when she woke up later than usual.
Mrs. Kennedy looked up from her newspaper just as Addison was making her way down the stairs.
"Addison, honey, are you okay?" Felicia asked, seeing how tired Addison looked.
"I'm fine, Felicia," Addison said, forcing a smile. "Just a headache."
"Would you like some paracetamol?" Felicia asked, folding her newspaper before putting it down on the coffee table.
"No no, it's fine," Addison quickly said. "I already took one earlier."
"You sure you're okay, honey?" Felicia gave Addison a concerned look. "You don't look so hot, dear."
"I'm fine, Felicia," Addison said with a smile. She looked at her watch and gasped. "Oh no, I'm running late. See you later, Felicia."
Mrs. Kennedy smiled and waved at her. "Take care, hun."
"Bye-bye," Addison waved back with a smile, opening the door to leave.