Underground Hatred - My Hero Origins (MHO)

3: Friend?

Word Count: 1573

(Kat)

Meandering down the street, Kat hid her hands in her pockets, hiding them from the cold despite the warm sun cascading over her back. The smell of decaying leaves hung behind the exhaust of cars and buses passing by with the mix of fast food hanging on the corners of the streets. The traffic beside Kat on the street was congested, as if it was at an all halt; it was that way throughout the city. Kat had gotten off her bus a few blocks back, annoyed with the traffic when she could walk just fine.

Only a few people walked on the sidewalks, which was abnormal for the heart of the city, but the day was chillier than the last. The temperatures continued to dip astronomically, a possible chance of snow preparing at the end of the week; with Halloween approaching in a few weeks, this was poor news if this weather kept up. Decorations covered the shops and homes of spiders and skeletons and movies filled with horror and murder. The year was more festive than the last, the spooky season looming in more and more every day. It was as if a switch had flipped on; the chill of the air reminded everyone that the change of seasons was upon them, which meant the transfer from scary to harvest to giving.

Turning the corner, Kat recognized the shops around. The previous day she wandered this same street to the thrift shop and found the costume. The reminder of the costume brought a secretive smile to her face. Trying it on the night before, it was practically perfect. It was strange that there was padding in the torso, elbows, and knees like the outfit was used for something more than dressing up; but, again, Kat sat in the city filled with heroes. It would be no surprise if it once belonged to a hero that had no use for it.

Something halted Kat's feet: in front of the thrift store she went to so often was a fence of "CAUTION" tape surrounding the land on the sidewalk. Behind the tape were officers talking amongst each other. An ambulance sat outside while five cop cars sat beside it. People stood on the outside of the tape, whispering like a secret was to be told. In the street in front of the store, the road was closed due to the pile of emergency vehicles and rows of cones that blocked cars' paths.

She hesitated for a brief moment, but rushed to the scene to figure out what was happening. The cold in her body vanished, her heart thrumming in her throat with concern. Fingertips beginning to shiver, Kat had trouble identifying the shopkeeper in the crowd; the lack of the shopkeeper quickened Kat's footsteps more than before.

Approaching the sight, Kat walked up beside two women who were experiencing an intense discussion. Kat examined the officers as she tapped into their conversation.

"How could this happen in such a public location? This is absurd!"

"Especially with the broken door." Kat peered over at the door to the store, finding all the glass to be shattered and scattering the sidewalk. "What could a criminal want with a simple store like this?"

"It might have been a homeless person. I don't think anyone would rob a thrift store rather than them."

"But someone shot her! Didn't you hear the officers talking about it?"

"There were also strangulation marks, too; don't forget that. But the shot might have also contributed to her death as well."

"Who was shot?" Kat questioned the women, making their heads snap in her direction. Though, neither seemed annoyed she pried into their deep discussion of what occurred at the location.
"Iris, the woman who owns this place," one of the women stated, appearing distraught. "Last night someone broke in when the shop had just closed. That's all the police will say."

"Broke in?" Kat mumbled to herself, glancing back to the store, eyebrows furrowed gravely.

The atmosphere darkened in color, an eerie feeling wafting through the street. The voices around the scene numbed, silenced as the wind carried them away. The women disappeared at Kat's side, Kat's golden brown eyes continuing to examine the shattered door. The inside was dark without the electric lighting to bring cheer to the scenario—cheer that had once inhabited the store. The shadows leaked out to the sidewalk, the air growing chillier, biting at the bone. With the gusts carried down the sidewalk, voices of the damned followed with, mocking the travesty that took place less than twenty-four hours prior. Clouds began to huddle together above for warmth.