The Unseen

Chapter 15

CHAPTER 15

I had to go save a person's life after school.

A fabulous day so far, wasn't it? It was as if this world just wouldn't let me have a break. 

Apparently, a child was going to be crushed by a falling building if I didn't get there in five minutes.

I shoved my mask and costume on, and then I took off running. I must have sounded like I was bored—but saving the day got tiring after a while. The same routine nearly every day, and sometimes even twice a day. Let me say, wearing a mask was only fun the first time. Now it was just itchy and difficult to breathe in. 

I was running along, tugging at my mask and trying to remember the street name when I saw Rashal with...a boy I didn't know.

But I didn't have any time to stop and confront her or check out the guy and put a name to him.

Right now, I had a job to do, and if I messed up or lost my concentration, I would let an innocent little kid die. I guess that had always been my fear, over the last year at least, as a superhero. Failing. Letting somebody's family down. Going to a friend's funeral. Feeling guilt that I didn't save them.

So, that's why I didn't ever let it happen. At least, it hadn't happened yet, and I wasn't planning to let somebody die because I, a person who was meant to save citizens, messed up. If this was how I was supposed to spend my life, then I was going to at least do it right. Sure, I complained, but that didn't change the facts.

I glanced left and right, and then I remembered the street. My legs carried me quickly towards the building, then I spotted the kid. It was a boy, with a baseball cap on and jeans with a red T-shirt. He was running past the building, chasing after another boy who was already out of range of the hazardous building.

The baseball cap boy was only jogging, not at full speed.

"Hey, kid!" I screamed at the top of my lungs, running so, so fast. I had two minutes at the most to save this boy, and if I failed, we could both die. And I wouldn't just leave him; it wasn't a choice to run away and let him die. I was The Unseen, and The Unseen wasn't a coward. The Unseen was going to be even braver than Superman himself. 

Those kind of determined thoughts sent me running even faster.

The boy didn't turn around though, just kept running. He either didn't hear me or was ignoring me. I caught up to him in little time, grabbed his arm, and almost screamed, "Come on! Right now." I yanked him away from the building and just made it before it toppled, saddled with another's weight. I could see his friend staring in horror, and then he caught sight of the boy and me.

"The Unseen!" he belted, sprinting towards us, his little eyes widened with admiration. So he had heard of me. I wondered just how many people had heard the name The Unseen already from the stunt Rashal and I had pulled just last night.

Soon, there was a large crowd gathering, and the kid's mom was practically in tears. I'd just saved her a massive heartache. My own heart throbbed with a little joy at seeing them reunite, and knowing that a moment ago that boy could have had his last breath. But I prevented that. For a moment I felt special, accomplished.

Then I slipped back into my previous state of loneliness and self-pity, as all the attention turned towards the little boy.

"Thank you!" the mom exclaimed, then hugged her boy, tears still streaming down her face. She didn't know the turmoil in my heart; all she knew was that her child was safe and in her arms.

I backed away. "It was no problem," I said in a voice that was not like my natural one. Even my voice could have given away my identity, especially now that the media had their eyes on me. One slip up and my real identity could have been all over national news.