Her Villian

TWELEVE

Cody

"Fucking asshole!" The man on the ground grunts as I tie his hands together with some spare rope.

The guy isn't innocent. I caught him trying to lure kids into a park after hours. When I saw him I called the police, got into my gear and stopped him. Thankfully no kids were harmed and are back with their parents.

I stand and wait until I hear sirens to take my leave.

I stop behind a green abandoned building and pull my mask off.

"Oh! Am I uh...intruding?" I hear a female voice ask.

I turn around quickly and freeze.

The girl looks me up and down before recognition fills her eyes. "Holy shit are you-"

I move towards her with her hands out. "No, no it isn't what you think. I'm not The Mist I...uh.." I struggle to think of an excuse.

She smiles and shakes her head. It's hard to get her features in the dimly lit area but I can tell she's of Asian descent and has black short hair with purple streaks.

"Don't worry. I won't tell anyone." She reassured.

"What are you doing back here anyways?" I ask

"I'm thinking about renting the building. For my business. I was just scoping the place out before making the final purchase." She clears up.

I sigh. "I didn't realize the place was up for grabs."

How could I be so stupid? Why didn't I see any signs? How am I going to fix this? Will she actually keep my secret?

"I'm Maria! I'm new to town." She said with her hand out, a silver flower bracelet on her wrist jingles a bit at the motion.

"Uhm...Cody." I say shaking her hand. I can't turn the situation around now. And strangely enough...I trust her.

"You look different than I would have imagined." She says.

"How so?"

Maria shrugs. "I dunno. I thought you'd be older. You seem...experienced"

I nod "Right...uhm, anyways I should be going. But please, keep this between us alright?"

She smiles. "Of course. Be safe out there Cody."

I nod once again before leaving her alone.

Once coming back to my place I see Mara rise from the couch.

"Hey, what took so long?" She asks as I sit beside her.

"Oh, I ran into some trouble. But it's no big deal."

She sighs. "It's different hearing you talk about saving people every day like it's normal." She laughs a little. "I guess it is normal for you isn't it?"

I nod, "It is. It's cool though."

"I worry about you now. Every time you leave...or when you take longer to reply to a message. Like when you blew me off. I'd be lying if the image of you laying hurt somewhere did not cross my mind."

My heart breaks a little as I reach over, grab her chin, and force her to look at me. "I don't want to worry you love."

She smiles, "I love you. Of course, I'm going to worry." She leans up and kisses me gently to which I return it.

"I love you too," I whisper as I break from the kiss and kiss her forehead. She lays her head against my shoulder as we relax on the couch and she presses play on the movie.

I could get used to this.

The next day I see Maria outside of the building she is thinking of buying. As I get close I see the big red "Sold" sign on the front windows.

"So you bought it?" I ask, coming up behind her.

She turns to me and smiles. "Yeah, it was a good deal and I have construction workers in my family so I get to fix the place up for a discounted price."

"What kind of business do you have?" I ask.

"Flower shop." She replies, "Always had a passion for it."

I smile, "Yeah, you seem the type." And she did. She had her hair in a low ponytail, a yellow sundress on, and some black flats. She fits the vibe.

"Hey, are you busy right now?" She asked.

"Uhm, nope. Just walking around." I say truthfully.

She steps closer as she whispers. "Follow me."

She takes my hand and begins running through the city before cutting the street corner to the city garden. Once there we come up on a flower maze. It's all very beautiful. The maze is huge, surrounded by pink and purple lilies.

She looked around before setting her eyes on a dead flower before looking around to make sure we were alone.

"What are we doing here?" I ask a bit confused.

"I need to show you something." She says in a shaking voice. I can tell she's scared. But why?

I stand beside her and she focuses on the dead lily. She closes her eyes and waves her hand in front of it. Right before my eyes, the lily comes back to life. Blossoming as if it has never been unhealthy.

I stare at her shocked. She gets the memo and begins to speak.

"Healing powers. I can do it with more than just flowers.I first discovered I could do it around the age of 16. I'm not sure why I can. I haven't told anyone and when it came time for me to decide a career. I went with one that I could use my powers with without being too noticeable."

I nod. "A flower shop."

She smiles a little. "Yeah."

"Why did you tell me?"

She sighs as she throws her hands up. "Because I need help, Cody. I can't control my powers sometimes and I don't want to be found out. The other day I walked by a dead rose bush and they all came back to life! Thankfully no one saw, but what if they did? After I saw you last night I knew you would understand, and I trust you. Just like you are trusting me with your secret. For years I wondered if anyone was like me. And then I saw you on the news last year and knew someone out there was like me. That I wasn't alone. I moved here in hopes of finding you. Luckily, I did so pretty quickly."

I stare at her with a small smile. She has felt alone for a while. I do understand. Hiding such a secret makes you feel alone and like you're different. it's refreshing to know someone is like you.

I nod.

"I'll help you."