Even Heroes Fall

Chapter Three - Violet

I pull myself awkwardly through the bedroom window and tumble over the ledge onto the floor. Typically I am more adept at using the window as an entrance after four years trying to avoid my housemates when returning from a night time excursion. But my body and muscles ache after my encounter with Ghoul the previous night, making my movements awkward and clumsy.

Lying for a moment on the floor I wonder if anyone is home and heard the crash. We all typically work during the weekday, except Laura with her varied shifts the hospital. Luckily on this occasion the house seems silent and empty. Remembering I am on a time schedule I pull off my Justice outfit as quick as my aching body will allow: whipping off the hood and catching sight of myself in the mirror. Dark circles from a lack of sleep are evident under my eyes, and there is the ghost of a bruise on my right cheek. To be deemed acceptable for a lunch with my mother I definitely need to shower first to wash the sweat of last night off. Grabbing my towel, I scurry into the bathroom, locking the door behind me out of habit, and jump into the shower. Breathing out a sigh of relief as the hot water streams over my aching body that is currently developing a technicolour pattern of bruises from my fight with Ghoul.

Suddenly I am torn out of my shower bliss by something clattering to the floor downstairs in the kitchen. I freeze behind the shower curtain, heart hammering. Is there someone in the house? Running through my housemates' schedules I recall Celia and Jo should be at work, and Laura, who is training to be a doctor, should be at the hospital today. Unless I am more sleep deprived than I thought, I'm certain I did not imagine something crashing to the floor downstairs. I turn off the shower and listen, but now there is nothing but silence.

My vigilante instincts kick in, I can't ignore it. Stepping out of the shower, I wrap my towel around me, and inch out the bathroom as quietly as possible, silently descending the stairs like a ninja.

The kitchen faces the main road and has those large eighteenth century windows that most of the houses in the area have. Big enough for someone to climb through if they wanted to. Thoughts race through my head: how did they find me? How do they know where I live?

Moving into the kitchen I put my hands on a rolling pin left over from a late-night baking attempt by one of the girls, probably Laura who uses baking to decompress from a stressful work shift.

The fridge door is open and someone is rifling through the contents. Our fridge is one of those American-style ones to accommodate the amount of food four girls need. The whole door is concealing whoever is behind it. I creep forward to place myself between whoever is hidden behind the fridge and any available exits, holding the rolling-pin out in front of me, gripping my towel tightly with the other hand, ready to fight the intruder despite my lack of suitable clothing.

The fridge door closes and to my relief I come face to face not with a would-be attacker but instead with Celia's latest boyfriend, Max. He does not even seem surprised to see me standing there, although I am pretty certain I made no sounds approaching. He is holding a carton of soya milk as he observes me with some amusement.

'Expecting someone else?' he asks, eyes pointedly eyeing the rolling-pin I am clutching like a weapon.

I hastily ditch it into the sink.

'I, err... heard something fall.'

He offers me a smile that could probably win awards. 'Sorry, that was me. I knocked over a glass looking for a bowl.' When he smiles he has a slight dimple, blue eyes sparkling. Celia only dates handsome, successful men, presumably to match her equally beautiful and successful life. Max could be a model for his good looks, even his blonde hair seems perfectly ruffled as though he has just woken up. Knowing Celia's type he probably is a model. I have only met him once before now, when she introduced him to us last week as her new boyfriend. I've got to say I am surprised they have already progressed to him staying over and hanging out in the house when she is at work.