The Vigilante Book 1

Chapter 3

A good will gesture my ass. You think a box of band aids and a map will make me trust you? I'm sure one of your people is following me right now. You're hiding something from me. It makes no sense to have a high schooler with these abilities. Either you'd have made me from birth and I'd have been indoctrinated or you have waited until I was a legal adult. You screwed up and you're not tellin' me how. And I will figure it out. I already stole from you, and if I can take from you then I can break you.

Though it was not yet night there was little light to see by. Crickets chirped and a single streetlight on a corner provided most of the visible light. I stopped under it to read the map.

A rustling of leaves came from nearby as if someone were shadowing me but standing in the grass instead of on the sidewalk. The street light just behind me abruptly went out. I looked to my left to see a figure stepping out of the bushes. His features were indistinguishable in the ailing light and he walked with a slight limp. Even in the darkness I could vaguely see that he was wearing a dark suit.

"Good evening," he said in a slightly mysterious, but wise and experienced voice.

"Who are you?" I asked, coming to a stop.

"That is not important. What is, is who I'm not," he told me.

"What is that supposed to mean?"

"I am not your enemy," he told me, gesturing for me to keep walking.

"Good to know, but what do you want?" I asked, continuing on my way to Jack's bunker.

"I want you to know that there are consequences for your actions. Ones you have failed to foresee," he told me.

"Consequences?

"I mean that you have blindly jumped into a situation, and now that you have there is no going back," he said.

"No goin' back?" I asked.

"You have done this without knowing of what might happen. Did you think to get to know what was going on before you jumped into this?" he asked.

"Not really," I told him, "It's not like I had much of a choice,"

"Richardson's past nearly destroyed him once, and the same thing may very well happen to you," he told me.

"What do you mean by that?" I asked.

"I'm saying that you are dealing with powers that are uncontrolled and violent, and you cannot predict them,"

"And you are speakin' in riddles," I told him.

"It may seem as such to one as naïve as you, but in time, you will understand my meaning," he told me, "But here is a riddle you can understand: it is dangerous to steal from the government,"

I pulled the infrared lens out of my pocket and twirled it between my fingers.

"How'd you know?"

"That is none of your concern, but you should be more careful with what you do,"

"You never told me why you are here in the first place,"

"I am here because I have power Mr. Xander. Power over others and power over you," he told me, "And with power comes duty, something that I fear you have yet to, and may never realize," he added.

"I know that power-," I began

"No, you cannot possibly understand at your age, but you will, someday, I hope, or we will have another gone," he interrupted.