Elementals

Smoke

Jacob screams as he jumps up in cold sweat from a nightmare, in it he was shot to death by the 3 helicopters he escaped yesterday. He stood up in his cargo container, and picked up a spray can from his collection lined up inside the container beside a pile of new clothes he 'borrowed' from a store. After a while he sat down his fingers aching from the long use of spray painting and his hands cold from holding the freezing metal cans. He looked around at the walls of his container, on the left side he was a hero spray painted images of signs of him and people with T-shirts supporting him, and the NPF headquarters being burnt down. The whole left side was a nice light blue which reminded him of the nice days he spent at the orphanage with his friends causing mischief, he remembered getting his hands on his first spray can from the shed and he sprayed the hallways blue, Jacob laughed to himself as he remembered mother Katherine's face when she say the mess of blue. But then he turned around to see the other side of the container to see a strong red background and images of NPF soldiers hanging from nooses from buildings and lamp posts, people screaming and running from him as he stood in the middle of the street laughing, smashed up cars and building debris around him. These were his sides, his ying and yang, the way he chose his path. He could be a saviour, he could be loved and praised, but it would be hard and would mean taking down the NPF and freeing the captured Elementals or he could be feared, given anything he wanted, power and wealth and freedom, he could rule the city and make everyone pay for what this cruel world has done to him. He looked over the blue side to see the painting he just added, a friend, just him with his arm around someone but their backs were shown and the faces were hidden. Jacob groaned and lay back down facing the blue side tonight as his eye lids eventually became heavy and hard to keep open and he drifted of to sleep.

"Mom look!" Screamed a small child pointing up in the air as a figure plummeted down from the sky, his arms outstretched as if pretending to fly. "oh my god, what is it Justin!" Says the mother frustrated as she looked up where her son was pointing, but the figure was gone, "no there was someone flying!" Says the child "I swear", as his mom grabbed his arm pulling him through the crowds of the streets of New York. Jacob sat on top of if a Billboard yawning as he stretched his arms, he swung his legs as he jumped off the billboard landing a few meters down on the roof of the building walking calmly off the edge falling 5 stories and landing with a roll in a alley way, surprising a black cat as it hissed at him sprinting away. Jacob emerged from the alley way into the busy streets of New York, with a hoodie pulled over his head. As he passed a cafe table outside the cafe he grabbed a bagel sitting there as a man continued to text unaware that his breakfast had just been stolen. "Too easy" Jacob muttered to himself with a mouth full, as he sat on a park bench eating the bagel watching a kid chase pigeons around the park with his parents sitting down watching him. Jacob wondered if he would ever have kids and if they would be given abilities like he had, he laughed at the thought of him teleporting around the city urgently trying find nappies. But again it doesn't look all bad, "time will tell I guess" he thought to himself as he vanished, leaving no trace.

Later that day he walked through the street and suddenly he heard a loud beeping above him, he looked up and swore seeing a NPF security camera and put his head down walking faster, the beeping fading behind him. A few minutes of walking away later the crowd started getting thicker, Jacob pushed through muttering "sorry" or "excuse me" here and there as he continued through. He immediately stopped as he saw a large NPF fence in the way of the path about as tall as him and with barbed wire on top Jacob quickly spun around to try run the other way but a large NPF truck burst through the crowd trapping him and a massive bunch of people on the path, he looked at the street but then saw soldiers waiting and watching from the other side. He was ready to disappear out of there but then a soldier climbed on top of NPF truck holding a small girl in his arms and the crowd immediately became silent watching. The soldier drew a pistol from his belt and put it against the girls temple as a few people on the crowd screamed, "we know there's a freak here!" Shouted the soldier "give your self up or I shoot her in the head".
"Shit" Jacob mutters knowing He can't run away now, the girl looks about 7 and tries to struggle against the soldiers grip but he tightens it and she screams and he digs into her collar bone. "I'm going to count to 5" says the soldier coldly as he cocks the gun, Jacob looks around desperate for an idea. The soldier flicks open his mask and reveals his ugly brutish face with a large scar across his cheek, "one" he says quietly and the girl trembles. Jacob pushes through the front of the crowd about to give himself up but someone in front of him blocks him, he tries to push past them but they won't budge. "Two" says the man a little loudly pushing the gun against the girls head, she tries to turn it away but the soldier holds her head firm, "daddy!?" The girl yells her voice quivering, Jacob pushes against the guy In front of him and the guy turns around and shakes his head at him. Jacobs mind is racing now, how does this guy know what he is he tries to see who he is but he has a large black cloak over him. "Three" says the soldier loudly smiling at the girls fear, Jacob is desperate now and is about to yell out when he feels something touch his hand, he looks down to see the guy in front holding something and trying to get it into Jacobs had. Jacob takes it and looks at it, on the front side is one word-RUN Jacob looks at it and knows he has to. "FOUR!" The soldier yells as he looks around as if expecting Jacob to give himself up, a tear slides down Jacobs cheek as he looks up at rooftop above him. "Too late" the soldier whispers forcefully.
"DAA!" The scream stops short as the gunshot echoes through the street and Jacob vanishes into smoke.