Changed by Time ✔

two.

Getting out of the city wasn't nearly as bad as getting in. But the relief Wendy felt the second she stepped through her apartment door was almost as wonderful as laying down in bed after a nice shower and a long, successful day.

She threw her bag onto the coffee table and kicked her shoes off before falling back onto the couch. She took off her flannel and laid it over her legs, curling them up underneath her as she opened the book.

She flipped through the pages, skimming through the various stories and myths within it before settling on whether she wanted to go from the beginning or start with one in the middle. She stopped when she reached one of the chapters: The Gods Among Men.

With a brief skim of the story, Wendy let out a slight scoff. She said to herself, "This just seems like what Mom and Dad were – superhumans."

She got up from the couch, placing the book where she sat and throwing her flannel onto the set next to hers. She shuffled over to the kitchen, shutting the curtains over the windows before she opened the fridge to pull out her jug of tea.

She went over to the cabinets, opening them and attempting to reach for one of the larger glasses on the higher shelves. She kept reaching and reaching, stretching her arm to its full length and going on her tiptoes.

Wendy eventually let out a sigh and jumped slightly. Her feet flew off the ground and bent beneath her as she went eye-level with the shelf and easily grabbed the large glass. She was easily two feet above the ground, floating above it as if she weighed nothing.

A slight blue vapor flew off her legs and her arms, disappearing as soon as her feet touched the ground again. She closed the cabinet and poured out some tea for herself, plopping a single ice cube in the glass.

"Now," she said as she returned to her curled-up position on the couch, "Let's see what these Gods Among Men were really like."

--

Wendy felt herself wake up instantly, yet her eyes remained closed as she listened to her surroundings.

I must have fallen asleep while reading, she thought as she felt the book's weight resting on her chest. I suppose it was full of a bunch of different stories, but I guess I was just tired from the day rather than bored to death.

She prepared to get up, going through the mental struggle of whether she should bother going to bed or staying on the couch until morning. That was until she heard the quietest click of her window lock, then the slide of it opening.

Oh, so that's why I'm awake. Not naturally. She kept her eyes shut as she listened to the intruder lightly step around the room, circling the area as if they were looking for something.

Wendy opened her eyes slightly, looking into the area as she spotted them. They were a couple inches taller than her, more muscular but not in an overwhelming way, and wore full black with a ski mask.

You're... You're joking right? She closed her eyes and rolled them at the scene. Oh this is going to be too easy.

The intruder suddenly stopped walking around, pausing for about thirty seconds. The footsteps then made their way towards Wendy, stopped at what she assumed was the coffee table and reaching over it towards her.

She felt gloved fingers brush against her bare forearm, wrapping around the object on her chest. The second she felt that weight change, the intruder lifting the book, she snapped her eyes open and grabbed their wrist.

With a shocked gasp, the intruder tightened their grip on the book and tried to pull their arm out of Wendy's grip. She instantly sat up, kicking the coffee table into their legs and knocking them onto it.

They twisted their arm, pulling it from Wendy's tight grip and held the book close to them. She eyed them up and down as she got into a crouched position on the couch. She looked them up and down, letting out a slight scoff as she said, "You're really here for a library book?"

They didn't answer, simply bolting back to the still partially opened window. Wendy leapt from the couch, a slight blue vapor floating down off of her legs as she went for them. She grabbed around their torso, allowing the vapor to vanish, and threw them to the ground along with herself.

They rolled into the nearby bookshelf, causing it to shake and throw off a couple decorative objects onto them. The intruder took no time in dealing with her and simply grabbed the book and went back towards the window.

Wendy reached up and grabbed a hardcover book off her shelf, throwing it at the intruder's leg as it slapped against the back of their knee. Their knee bent and forced the intruder back to the ground.

She pulled herself to her feet once again and leapt onto the intruder's back, wrapping her arm around their neck and holding them in a chokehold. She wrapped her leg around their torso, stomping her foot on their other arm and pined it against the ground as they attempted to grab the book again.

"What is so important about this damn library book?" she questioned, tightening her grip as they rolled onto their back, pressing their weight down on Wendy. But she did not let up – not at all.

"You... You wouldn't... understand," the intruder wheezed out, their grip on her arm loosening as they began to lose consciousness.

"Oh please, you'd be surprised what I do and don't understand," she whispered sharply into their ear, her words lined with venom. "So answer now or the next time you wake up will be in the back of a police car. Or worse."

Wendy couldn't decide if the intruder beneath her grip was hesitating or stubborn, but they eventually spat out, "The source... of... of superhumans..." Their voice trailed off as they finally lost consciousness.

She let go of them, pushing them off of her as she stood back up. She brushed herself off, pulling her hair tie out as half her hair had already fallen out of the ponytail due to a mixture of sleeping and fighting – in that order. She ran a hand through her curls, letting out a sigh as she looked down at the intruder below her.

Wendy knelt down, pushing the intruder back onto their back. Her eyes fell to the gap between the black shirt and the ski mask, a sliver of their neck showing. She hesitated for a moment, eventually giving in and wrapping her fingers around the edge of the ski mask.

She pulled it off to reveal a mop of chocolate brown waves and a face she wouldn't soon forget. She let out an irritated sigh as she threw the mask onto her couch and stood back up. She rested her hands on her hips and shook her head.

"God damn it."