Damsel

Revaporate

Anna Marie Bee

Anna watched it eleven times. The officer made sure to repeat the clip often, as if the words 'I don't know' were code for 'throw on that news broadcast'. He pushed play again, his one slightly off eye pivoting in a malice grin.

The tape played a while, displaying frames of Anna's sister, Ella, hanging in the background. She tried not to react to that, but the yearning to scream out captured all of Anna Marie. She needed to find her sister. No matter what happened, she needed Ella. Across the six foot wide screen, a blur of falling mass kept the camera's focus. The camera zoomed in and Anna immediately recognized her baby blue feather jacket. She only wished she weren't wearing it on when she appeared on numerous new stations earlier in the day.

"Freeze!" The officer screamed aloud, pushing down on the pause button to freeze the lopsided image of a girl. He looked from Anna and back to the screen with a smug arrogance. "Pray, is that you, Miss Bee?"

Anna Marie briefly glanced at the screen. Like it held nothing of interest. Back to staring at her thumbs. "No."

Officer Leary pinched his face into an ugly expression, squinting his vision in mock exasperation. "Are you sure?" Anna nodded. "Well," he went on, undeterred. "I have numerous witnesses claiming it was in fact you who 're-vaporated' in the middle of downtown Danaby." Anna resisted the urge to inform him that she was positive that re-vaporated wasn't a word.

But, then, again, it had a ring to it. And it was oddly accurate in describing what transpired on the video clip. One second there was a body moving quickly towards splattering blood and guts all over the packed street, the next, there was gas -pink and red, like the after effect of setting off too many fireworks in a contained space. When the smoke cleared, there was only Anna Marie, buck naked, sitting awkwardly on an unseen force of air, staring wide-eyed around her, looking as if everything was somehow alien. The girl in the video soon disappeared into a black poof, but her frightened and dazed expression had a lasting effect on Anna Marie and she tried not thinking of how that moment had felt. How her skin tingled and buzzed as if she'd been hooked up to a live wire -how her mind couldn't recognize simple things like trees or people, roads signs, even hands and feet. There was nothing of which she was familiar. There was no part of humanity she felt beneath her skin. She was nothing.

But that was then. This was now. She could totally do this. Yeah. She could...probably....maybe do this. Totally?

"Did they mention the Hero who was, for no reason, attacking me?" Anna Marie beat a fist on the table, unaware she was doing it until after it was done.

Officer Leary's eye's focused on her -an accomplishment considering one of his eyes was always wandering to the far wall -and Anna got the feeling he was fully aware of what had transpired atop Manny's car. The officer was in on it.

Anna continued to speak. A rush of words exploding from her. "What excuse can you have that justifies pulling a vehicle into the sky and then letting it fall with two innocents inside? I'm a victim here."

A second officer, dressed in street clothes, entered at this. The man was handsome, early thirties, with a forgiving face and searing eyes that watched Anna Marie.

"A victim?" Officer Leary mused, directing it towards the second official. "How many times have we heard that?"

Handsome officer nodded and took a seat. "A few." He said, less inclined to answer.

"Officer..." Leary blinked at the officer next to him, and Anna Maria saw his eyes go huge before they fixed. "Officer Tuck."

Anna Marie crossed her arms in front of her chest and sighed. Officer Leary saw her silence as reassurance enough and he leaned backwards, getting comfortable.

"And as the victim, who was your assailant? Who was it that was 'after' you?" Officer Leary put air quotes around 'after' and it was obvious he was humoring her. No matter what Anna Marie said, he wouldn't believe it.

So she went with the truth. "The Hero Breese. I was pulling up to the warehouse, trying to get to my sister. All the sudden I'm in a car flying through the air."

Officer Leary tapped a pen against the table and the handsome officer, Tuck clicked his tongue on the roof of his mouth. "All of what you said have been made plain to us by the Hero herself. She volunteered that information when we brought you in."

"She's here?" Anna expressed her outraged. Handsome officer's interest pitched. "Tell her I can't wait to find her. Tell her, I'm making it my mission in life to kill -"

"Hey!" Handsome officer growled, rising from his calm state. "I have no problem taking you out of this room and into a secure location, but I will not have you threatening public officials."

"Public officials? Oh, come on. Last I check you had to be elected for that honor; unless within the last year Breese earned a badge I'm not aware of. They aren't public, nothing about them is public. Their lives are private, there duties, even their names."

Handsome officer chuckled, glancing at Leary, who didn't appear amused. "She does have spirit."

With those simple words, something clicked in Anna Marie. "Spirit." She repeated in a low tone, so low neither officer could comprehend her words. It was what Breese called her atop the car. Then, aloud, she said "I want to go to jail."

"Excuse me?" Leary wondered, head snapping to handsome officer.

"I said," Anna enunciated, "I want to go to jail, now! No more questions."

"But...Miss Bee, you aren't under arrest."

That was a problem. Anna pretended to think on it, but she knew what had to be done. If Breese were already at the station, then she would certainly be waiting for her upon Anna's release. What had Breese said? 'You are our death?'

She didn't know how she knew what she did, but Anna Marie fully grasped what that meant. The Heroes intended to harm her, and the police officers would unintentionally send her right into the arms that wanted to deliver that death. Releasing Anna was a death sentence. So, without so much as a nod or twitch, Anna reached across the rickety table, and slapped Officer Leary across the right cheek. He withdrew; looking surprised before becoming enraged and handsome officer was on top of her as more men in uniform filed into the room.

As Anna Marie was carted out of the room, she managed to turn so that her face was towards the mirror she imaged Breese stood behind. All she could do was smile.

Then, without rhyme or reason, Anna Marie felt her body expand, like the air before a rainstorm and she was suddenly aware of her body dissipating under the arms pinning down her shoulders. Yellow and green steam rose, officers coughed and choked, and Anna found herself floating up, following the flow of the air –it knew how to escape - into a small looking vent on the far end of the room. Then, she was gone, rushing down a metal enclosure, gaining speed, her mind's eye seeing the colors around her lightening until it was clear and she became nothing all at once.