Arrogance: Volume One of Ebb & Flow

Chapter 5 - The Party Part Two

If I match it to the floor plan, I'm in the second living room attached to the foyer. I crouch down and hide while watching the spectacle. The demon begins to speak, and its voice is slightly digitized. "This is what you get, Jake, you fucking monster."

"Why are you doing this? What did we do to you?" Jake screamed.

"Yeah, what the fuck, man?" Hunter howled.

The helmet's eyes glowed briefly before lasering a hole in Hunter's head. His body slumps to the floor as blood gushes out of his face. I thought lasers would cauterize the wound, but the web page from earlier popped into my head. Tinkerers can create futuristic and fantastical technology that can violate the laws of physics. In front of me is a Neuvohuman, a Tinkerer in the flesh. And they're killing my classmates. I've never seen a person killed before, least of all in this kind of fashion. My palms are sweating, and I can feel my teeth when I bring my hand to my face. I'm smiling involuntarily for the first time in my life.

"Holy fucking shit, that was awesome," I said while chuckling.

The demon turns toward me. "Who said that? Who's hiding? DON'T FUCKING LAUGH AT ME!"

I duck back down as a laser rips into the wall, slicing through it and engulfing the room in flames. Another chuckle slips out, causing him to shoot again. The room I'm trapped in is beginning to fall apart, the fire licking at the carpet and devouring the drapes. I look around for an exit, but the way I came in is blocked by flaming debris. I run across the room to hide behind some furniture. There's a large window that I could use to escape the blistering heat, but I can't stop watching. This is amazing. I pull my turtleneck over my mouth and nose. That should help with all the smoke I'm inhaling.

The masked man turns back to the others. "You ask what you did to me? You pretend you have no idea what you could've done to deserve this. Jake Deckler, you are a psychopathic bastard. YOU FUCKING TRIED TO KILL ME!" He yells as he rips his mask off.

Davis Allen was the popular kids' punching bag until he went missing after Christmas break. The nerdy bookworm with no friends and a shit home life. His dad's an infamous drunk, the type to start a fight over nothing. So it isn't hard to imagine what he's like behind closed doors. His mother died when he was younger; we have that in common. Everything pointed in the direction of eventual suicide, so when he stopped coming to school, we all assumed that he finally did it. Their house has been empty ever since. I guess it turns out he triggered and became a Neuvohuman. Based on the murder and destruction, I think he classifies as a Cowl.

The itching on my arm brings me back out of my thoughts. My sleeve is on fire. I quickly smother it out on the couch I'm hiding behind. A turtleneck isn't the best fit when the room is over three hundred degrees. My face stings, and my eyes hurt from straining them through the smoke. Damn it. It looks like Davis killed Kyle while I wasn't paying attention.

"For years, you assholes tormented me. Nowhere was safe. You bastards at school and my fucking dad at home. I just wanted to be left alone, to finish high school and get the fuck out of this backwoods pisswater town. But you took it too far. You fucking assholes kept dunking my head into the freezing water at Colton's Pond. Over and over, I begged you to stop. I told you I couldn't breathe. But Kyle and Hunter held my legs while you pushed my head underwater. And you, Hellen, just fucking laughed. WAS IT FUNNY, HELLEN? WHY AREN'T YOU LAUGHING RIGHT NOW?" Davis screamed.

Hellen is hysterically crying now. Snot and spittle are flowing out of her mouth and nose. Her hair is pressed against her face from the heat, and her makeup is running down it.

"I'm so, so, so sorry, Davis. I didn't want to do it, but Jake made me watch. You know how he is, right?" She whimpered.

"HELLEN, YOU FUCKING BITCH! HOW DARE YOU?" Jake roared.