Gracie Abrams is eking out a solitary existence, fighting day-in, day-out against the drain of working customer service and nursing two newborn kittens in her off time. Out on her own ever since her sister moved in with her boyfriend, the burden of...
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Shaky hands somehow centered the iPad on the air mattress, still blown up and sitting awkwardly in the corner of the living room.
I imagined all the hands turning on the news channel from all over Mayhop were shaky at best.
It was unbelievable.
"Thank you for joining us for the 5 o' clock news..." The caster's face was ashen, stark against her olive skin. Wearing a navy suit, she looked drained of almost all life. "We will do our best to explain what's been happening at the Hastrell building today."
The name was familiar, but it wasn't until the camera panned to that building downtown with the jade green facade that I knew: it was Patty's hideout. My stomach clenched, banking hard. I found myself drifting with it as I vied to see above Talia's and Kirishima's heads.
Gone was Kirishima's caution to keep his distance.
He was too shocked to remember to be scared.
I knew the feeling.
My eyebrows stayed fully raised on my head as I looked out at what could only be described as a warzone.
Tanks lined up along the street and down each way from the Hastrell building for at least two blocks. The right lung of the downtown square was occupied with swat trucks, national guard tanks, and a slew of red and white emergency vehicles. Everyone's lights were on, but thankfully, there was no sound. I couldn't imagine the ruckus down there right now.
It appeared there had already been an exchange of gunfire, but from the looks of it, two patrol SUVs had been the ones destroyed. One looked as if it had been set on fire, all at once, leaving the entire thing black and brown, sizzling in the sunlight.
The other had a giant spear sticking out of it, squashed like a sample on a tray in a grocery store.
I immediately recognized the spear, but I didn't want to. The wide, almost trough-like point at the top, followed by something of a black star. And that green piece just below it. In a moving picture, the design's purpose was purely the coolness factor. In reality, it looked more like a fearsome gardening tool.
But I didn't see the owner of the spear, and so I was at a loss. My jaw had dropped open at some point, and trying to close it proved harder than I'd thought.
Just when I thought this situation couldn't get worse...Had I done this? Just by thinking that? I'd summoned a worse disaster into being?
"Look," someone said, choked, so I couldn't make out if it was Talia or Kirishima.
Hable ended up in my lap, little paws kneading somewhat painfully at the skin on my neck before moving down to the fleshier parts of my chest. She peered at the screen, bobbing her nose up and down as if she, too, couldn't believe her eyes. Funny. I'd heard of dogs picking up the mood in the room, but perhaps cats could do it, too?
