Mind Over Mask

5. Angie

"MMm, Maurice..?" I said, waking up from my nap. Nowhere to be found.

And now that I think about it, neither was Arya. Just as I was about to call out her name, Dahlia drifted by. "She went out for a walk," Dahlia said. "Got bored because you've been sleeping for half the day."

My eyes fell on the coffee table to see today's newspaper. Arya must have brought it in. I quickly scanned the front page and a headline beneath the fold leapt out at me: "Another super goes rogue," it read in bold Impact font.

It was the third incident of a superhero seemingly turning in their cape. Three weeks ago, a video surfaced of Talon, a fairly new superhero with no discernible power, strangling a woman. The video ended as the woman lost consciousness, but police reportedly found her passed out in an abandoned building downtown, and she survived. No one has heard from Talon since.

A week after the video surfaced, another superhero, named Belladonna, kidnapped the mayor and left a threatening ransom note. Two hours later, he was found with vines wrapping around his torso and strapping him to the tree. It's been crickets from Belladonna too.

And now apparently Black Dynamite has blown up an apartment complex downtown. Some were starting to suspect a conspiracy, while others felt that the superheroes were lashing out against the restrictive government. One thing was abundantly clear, though — public trust in superheroes was beginning to wane.

The door opened, and Arya rushed into the room, still in her horrible outfit.

A wave of relief washed over me, assuaging a concern that I didn't even realize was there. My eyes narrowed and focused on what she was swinging in her right hand. "What's that?" I asked, pointing in its direction.

"Oh it's just a gift from some guy." Was she smiling?

"Some guy." The words echoed, bouncing off the walls of my brain. Even when you're sleeping you manage to screw things up.

Then I recognized the mug she was holding. "Is that the Howler?!" I asked incredulously. "But he's an asshat!"

She cocked her head a little to the left, and let out an amused chuckle. "That's kind of the impression I got too."

Thank god.

"You've met him?" she asked.

"No, but he takes all the media attention he can get. Never has anything to say of substance, though."

"You're probably just jealous cuz he gets all the girls."

I stiffened. At first, I thought Arya had said those words, but then realized Vincent, a usually quiet ghost, was eavesdropping on the conversation. Arya was still staring at the cheap-ass mug.

"So, are you ready to try mind reading again?" I said, walking to the corner of the room where she stood. I leaned on a bookshelf and crossed my arms, trying to appear suave. I was scared of getting KO'd again, but didn't want her to know.

"Sure, if you're feeling up to it." Then suddenly her eyes widened to twice their size. "Look out!"

I looked up to see a ceramic vase rolling off the bookshelf — and aimed right towards my head.