Songs of the Wicked

Chapter Four

     Toes and heels collided with every point of my body. I tried to curl myself into a ball to protect myself but I couldn't seem to get my body to move at all. The legs and knees jostled into me over and over again. It felt like ever inch of my body was on fire, bruises already blossoming over my arms and legs. All I could do was cover my head, hoping that the crowd would be gone soon. Somehow it felt like all the air was sucked out of the area around me. I felt like a fish out of water, gasping for air as the feet collided with my chest over and over again. The screams from the crowd echoed off all of the walls, making my ears ring. I tried to call out for help but I couldn't get enough air in my lungs to make a sound. All you can do make barely audible sounds of pain. 

     Fingers wrapped around my, another hand wrapping around my waist. My body was lifted from the floor without warning, by someone I couldn't quite see. Even when I opened my eyes, my vision was cloudy and doubled. I blinked a few times but the clouds didn't clear in my eyes. Cold air hit me in the face but I still couldn't see straight. A gasp tore from my throat as I gulped the air down as fast as I could. I dug my knuckles into my eyes, trying to clear the clouds from my eyes. It took a few moments for my vision to clear before I could see the station around me. The stampede of people had almost cleared from the center of the station, only a few people remained trying to make it to an exit. Windows were shattered around the station, numerous dark figures lay scattered around the main hall of the station. 

     "Are you alright, ma'am?" a man's voice broke from behind me, reminding me that someone still had they hand wrapped around arm. A fresh round of panic shot though my entire body and I had the need to flee as far a way as I could. I kicked my feet against the air, trying to get some traction on the ground below me. The man set me down on the ground easily and I took that moment to spin around to face the man as quickly as I could. I put as much space as I could between me and the man, the only point still connecting us was the hand around my elbow. My eyes lined up with a single silver star surrounded by a bright blue uniform. I opened my mouth to say something but I had no idea who this man was or where he'd come from. My arm pulled at his hands as I looked up at the man's face. I couldn't see anything except his eyes and the lower part of his face, which left me even more uneasy. His eyes traveled my face and then down to his hand still clamped around my arm. His fingers released my arm and I took two large steps back from him, "Sorry," he muttered, almost to himself. I shifted my straps over my shoulder and fixed my sweater of my chest. My eyes shifted to my feet, intensity aware of the stolen art in my bag over my shoulder. 

     "Thanks," I muttered to my shoes. 

     "Get yourself to safety. There's a back exit that should be clear," he said. I nodded without saying anything. My eyes stayed on the ground as I scurried around him, toward the back of the station. I tried to keep pace normal and not run toward the exit. A glance over my shoulder, the man was running toward the entrance of the station where more chaos and fire flashed through the glass. I turned back around and quickly picked up my pace until I was sprinting toward the back exit. Explosions outside masked my footsteps as I ran toward the door. My hands caught against the push bar and immediately came to a halt at the state of the city. 

     The world outside the station was in full blown meltdown. Dark figures tore across the sky rapidly, explosions and animalistic roars following them. I took an involuntary step back but the door had already closed behind me, locking outside with the chaos. Everything sounded so loud and overwhelming. My feet felt locked in place, unable to move. The sounds crept closer and closer until I had to cover my ears to block out the sound. My eyes wondered up to the sky, tracking the movement of some of the figures zipping around the sky. I needed to move. I had to get out of here. Somewhere, anywhere, safe. 

     My feet were moving before I even knew what direction we were going. There weren't many people running down this road, only a few remaining patrons fleeing the explosions. I'd never been so turned around in the city I grew up in in my entire life. Rays of sunlight reached down through the buildings, making it hard for me to see where I was going. The sun made it harder for me to see, which is why I didn't like to go out during the day. My feet slapped against the concrete of the sidewalk, lungs and muscles burning. Up ahead, an intersection came into view and I needed to decide which direction I wanted to go; but before I could make a decision, hot, orange fire exploded under the street further in front of me. I skidded to a stop, the heat radiating from the explosion and almost knocking my off my feet. Cement rained down onto the street, cars and lights littering the area. As I looked up, dozens of those flying creatures whizzed by. Most of them flew right over me without a second thought. I was watching them pass over me when at the end of the road, a few of the creatures were attempting to turn back toward me. I glanced around me, desperate to find a way out of the area that I was trapped in. Directly next to me was a guardrail, leading down to a road below and an underground parking lot filled with trailers and mail trucks. Without a second thought, I scurried over to the guardrail. My fingers wrapped around the metal rail and threw my leg over the side with no hesitation. I didn't have a moment to think as I pushed myself off the rail and dropped down to the street below. 

     The fall was over before I had time to process that I was actually falling. My feet connected with the asphalt and my knees jarred together. Pain shot up my legs into my chest and I fell to my knees. A short gasp broke out of my throat before I could stop it. I wanted to stay there on the ground but above me, more explosions broke through the air. Searing pain pulsed up through my legs as I scrambled to my feet again. I had no idea where I was going but I just pushed myself forward into the the dark parking lot. A disgusting roar erupted from behind me but I was too scared to look over my shoulder to see where it was coming from. I skirted around a mail truck, ducking behind the back of the truck. My back pressed against the cool metal of the truck, trying to quiet my frantic gasps. Labored footsteps made their way through the dark parking lot, toward the truck that I had ducked behind. I closed my eyes tight, swallowing hard. I couldn't get my breathing or heart rate under control, the panic still settling in my chest. My toes vibrated, sending it up my legs and into my fingers. A few more breathy huffs escaped my throat before I opened my eyes to see the darkness enveloping my body and sending me somewhere completely different. 

     My foot slipped off the edge of something, the other foot left sturdy on solid ground. I stumbled forward, trying to regain my balance with one foot higher than the other. Soft wallpaper spread out from under my hands as I stumbled into a wall. I looked around the new room that I found myself in, on a staircase somewhere. Darkness grew in the direction going up the stairs, light peeking around the curve of the stairs. Crashing and distant explosions crept along with the light up to me on the stairs. I pulled in the darkness around me, covering myself in the safety of invisibility. The steps were silent under my feet as I descended the stairs toward the light, making sure to keep my body pressed against the shadows on the wall. Step after step, it felt like the stair case went down forever. I had no idea if I was in someone's house or maybe a store basement. No idea. All I knew was there were still sounds of the war going on outside so I had not gone far enough away. Up ahead a large room spilled out from the stairs but I still couldn't see much of what was in it. My back stayed pressed against the back wall as I crept into the larger room. I couldn't go very far into the room before sunlight streamed in through the large picture windows to the left. I recognized this house and I froze. This house had been splashed on the cover of every magazine in New York for years. It was a house that she would never dare to break into. The best secured building in the entire state. 

     This was the Penthouse of Tony Stark. New York's Iron Man.