Super

Chapter 7

[Noah]

         Nobody had ever used the emergency alarm before, so I was surprised and disoriented when I was jerked out of my sleep by the blaring noise. Despite this being the first time it had been used, however, I still knew the drill; get out of there and figure out who needs help, and quickly.

         Grabbing my bag took only a few seconds as I practically flew around the room, my mind not yet caught up with my body. I could hear Matt stirring, and I knew I had to get out of there before he figured out what was going on. I could come up with an excuse later.

         I didn't look back as I ran out of the room, stumbling around the corners and clutching my phone for dear life. I must have accidently turned off the alarm in my rush, because the halls were eerily silent other than my footsteps. Everyone still seemed to be asleep.

         Slipping into the bathroom on our floor, I dropped my bag and quickly began to pull my suit out. Each and every noise seemed magnified as I pulled everything on. I turned to look in the water-stained mirror.

         It took only the slightest exertion of power to shift my brown eyes to a milky white behind my mask, dimly glowing in the dark and reflecting off of the glass. I ran a hand through my hair, unconsciously changing the part in an attempt to look less like myself and more like Talpa, especially since I was in a building where I could be very easily recognized by my friends and neighbors. Once I was satisfied, I turned and rushed out of the bathroom, but not before tucking my backpack behind the trashcan in the corner.

         It wasn't long until I was at my dorm again. I closed my eyes and rushed past, hoping that perhaps Matt hadn't woken up...

         "Hey!"

          I skidded to a halt and turned slowly to see my disgruntled roommate standing in the doorway, running a hand through his mussed up hair from sleep. He wasn't wearing a shirt or pants, the only clothing on his body being his boxer shorts. I tore my eyes away from his decently muscled torso and met his gaze.

         When he saw me, his eyes widened considerably. A variety of emotions that I didn't recognize flashed across his face before it settled into an unreadable expression.

         "Talpa," he said, as if trying out the name on his tongue.

         I backed up a step, looking over my shoulder despite knowing nothing was there. "That's me," I said, deepening my voice more than I usually would. "Can I help you? Because I'm in a bit of a rush..." I explained, attempting to sound sheepish and failing miserably. Hopefully Matt wouldn't pick up on the nervous energy radiating off of me.

          "My friend is missing. Do you have anything to do with that?" he asked, raising his eyebrows questioningly. The hardness in his tone surprised me; why would he suspect I did anything since he should have just seen me as a hero and nothing else?

           "Um...what does he look like?" I asked.

         Matt frowned. "Brown hair and eyes, wearing a blue shirt and black jeans. Did you see him or not?"

         Mind racing, I blurted out the first thing I could think of. "He, um, went that way. To the stairs. He had a card in his hand, maybe a bus card or something? Sorry I can't tell you any more, that's all I saw." I stumbled over my words and I was sweating profusely, but Matt didn't seem to notice. He was too busy looking over my shoulder in the direction I had pointed, as if I--Noah, that is--would appear out of thin air.