Crossfire - a sizzling slow burn with supernatural powers

Wednesday - witness

I didn't know.

I didn't realize the actions that were set in motion last Wednesday when I left school during sixth period. I had a headache and just wanted to get out of the humid classroom. Even though I appreciated English, my head pounded and I couldn't concentrate. I went to the school nurse, who left the room to call my mom. I knew the result of their conversation before the school nurse returned.

"Your mother is unable to leave work. She said, you could go home by yourself. Are you okay with that, dear?"

Of course she couldn't leave work. She never could. Work came first. I had gotten used to it. It didn't bother me anymore. I don't know what I would have done if my mom could have left work or picked me up. I shuddered at the idea.

"Get home and get well," the nurse continued with a pat on my shoulder. I thanked her and left, only to remember that the school bus was  due yet. The moisture in the air was almost a drizzle. The parking lot was empty. Everyone was in class. My choices were A: wait for the school bus B: walk C: wait and hope for a third option. That wasn't going to happen. I pulled both arms through the straps of my backpack and started walking.

Truthfully, I didn't mind walking home. I liked being outside. I felt more present and at ease here than I did at school with my so-called friends or at home in an empty house. It feels lame to say it out loud but the trees are my friends.  I followed the road most of the way home until the last mile or so. The road curved around and was much longer than the trodden down footpath through the trees.

I heard them before I saw them. It was the sound of someone hurrying through the tree, twigs breaking underfoot and the rustle of leaves snapping back into place. I stopped where I was and turned towards the noise. That was when I saw them. One man was running frantically, his jacket flying open. The other man was in pursuit. He lifted his arm and fired. A blue strike flashed from his hand, hitting and shattering the trunk of a grown tree.

"What the...?" I startled and fell to my knees.

The first guy turned and fired back with a beam of solid smoke. The second guy moaned in pain as his shoulder was pulled back. He was hit. The beam dispersed like smoke would.

I stayed down, unable to speak, but I couldn't help but watch.

The second man renewed his stance and stroke out again. Blue lightning sizzled the distance between the two, hitting the first man center mass. He fell to the ground with a thud. The second man approached the fallen, hitting him again with his lightning. It lighted his face in a forest of shadow. He didn't stop until smoke rose from the ground.

I didn't believe my eyes. What was I witnessing? The silence that followed unfroze my limbs and I ran. I ran through the trees. I didn't look back. I just wanted to go home.

I tried to lock the world out when I closed the front door behind me and entered the alarm code. No one could get in now. I went upstairs to my room and locked my bedroom door. I finally sat down in the armchair, shaking with the adrenaline surge in my body. I watched the door and listened. I didn't hear anything unusual.

I was still curled up in the armchair when I woke up. My headache present and persistent and my limbs stiff. I listened to the house. It was quiet. I checked my phone. There was a voicemail from my mom,

"Hi Harper. I need to go to New York for a few days. I'll be back Monday at the latest. Be responsible."

No I love you. No excuses. The voicemail brought me back to reality. I mean what had I really seen in the woods? Perhaps a couple of guys filming a prank or making a video. People didn't go around shooting one another with blue lightning and solid smoke nonetheless. I unlocked my bedroom door and went to the kitchen, turning on the lights as I went. A glass of water and a sandwich, and I would be ready for school tomorrow.

"Harper is it?" The male voice in the kitchen was confident and clear.