Hush

ONE

Throughout her shift, seventeen year old Ruby Radcliffe hadn't paid much notice to the silver van parked under the fuchsia neon sign of RecDJ's, the record shop she was preparing to close for the night while her boss escaped out back for a cigarette. At one point the men inside had exited the vehicle and the slamming of the doors brought her attention long enough to see them shake hands with someone approaching its rear, but, at that same moment she had been distracted by the man- no, boy- entering the shop.

Her eyes shut briefly as she heaved a sigh as he began to weave through the suspended baskets of records lining the store floor. A somber song played on the record player behind the counter, one she knew by heart and had cried and danced around her room to. Her chest swelled as she stared down the boy with dark eyes and shaggy blonde hair. He grinned a little too widely, dimples showing but not quite reaching his eyes.

"What do you want?" She asked steadily.

"Looking good Rubes,"

"What do you want?" She repeated, heart beating rapidly in her chest as she fought to steady her breathing. Her hands clutched the counter desperately.

"I missed you," he pouted up at her, as if a look that could've melted her into his arms so long ago would work now, "the last eight months have been unbearable."

"Well," she scowled, "in that case you're going to have a miserable life. I told you when I left you that I would never come back to you."

"But you were joking," he whined, reaching across the counter to touch her brown hair, although it looked more red in the ambient light of the store. Subconsciously, she laughed at his having to stand on the tips of his toes to reach her face over the counter. Cutting the laugh short, she jerked away,

"I don't joke with cheats, Reginald."

His mouth opened in protest but the men outside the store began yelling before he could fight the accusation. Ruby felt the weight on her shoulders lessen as he drew his focus to the front of the store for a moment.

Outside, one of the men seemed to be shot at and fell against the van door, which swung shut and dropped him to the ground with a thud. Another man dove for cover around the front of the van while the two remaining sprung out of view into the back of the van. Suddenly, a white blast of energy shot out of the van at the attacker who swung into view.

Manoeuvring to the front of the store, Ruby and Reginald watched Spiderman swing into view in his red and blue spandex suit. The eyes on his suit narrowed on the van as he dodged a blast and shot his webs into the van. The vehicle rocked and the final man jumped out of the van and ran into the street holding a bulky weapon. It was a menacing scene lit in different shades of pink and red under the shop light and the dull lamp lights. The dark buildings across the street light up under each energy blast directed at Spiderman who jumped and dodged and ran around the man. Each shot the hero took either stuck to the barrel of the weapon or hit the man.

In a few moments, as he ran towards the gunman, Spiderman shot enough webs to cover the barrel of the gun and was pulling back with another web to try and disarm him. The machine lit up as it tried to fire but the blockage built up so much energy it near-exploded.

Behind Ruby, the record had reduced to the needle scratching the vinyl but she couldn't tear her eyes away from the fight to flip the disc. Beams of energy shot out from holes in the webs but it was painfully obvious the machine was about to blow. The man dropped the weapon and ran for cover and, in the same moment, Spiderman's webs lost their grip and it hit the ground.

The weapon swelled, white and hot and ready to burst. Reginald swore and stepped away from the door.

"Ruby," he turned and she was already retreating behind the counter. As he moved to join her, he watched Spiderman's eyes widen as he noticed their presence. He ran for the weapon as it trembled on the ground and Reginald was suddenly frozen in anticipation.