Heroes & Villains

Ex: 10|The Aftermath

• • • • • • • • • • • • • •Sera's POV• • • • • • • • • • • •
We exit the building in silence. Instead of going back through the ventilation ducts, Kal finds a small emergency corridor that leads into the basement where the cleaning staff works. From there, it's easy to slip into the streets. My mind is clouded with everything, the Manila folder, the key, the man we tased, the ribbon, that it's impossible to think straight. Why was there a ribbon on the key? Do I even want to know what it's for? I zip the Manila folder inside my jacket when I feel the droplets of rain on my forehead. The sky is spitting down, the stars barely visible due to the rumblings grey clouds and the light pollution of North Chatham. I catch Kal glancing at me from a few steps ahead, but he doesn't say anything. He unlocks the door to his shiny black vintage looking car. I slouch into the red leather seats and I close my eyes while breathing in the smell of cigarettes and a hint of pine.

• • • • • • • • • • • • • •Kal's POV• • • • • • • • • • • • •
She's been quiet for some time now, but when I glance at her I can feel her mind screaming. She opens her eyes and looks at me for the first time since we left SAROM, "You know, cigarettes are silent killers."

Her head is leaning on the headrest as a faint smile forms on the corner of her mouth. "I don't smoke" I say, my tone comes out more guilty than I intended, "Well not anymore. But the people I'm with smoke like we breathe air".

A small pitched noise escapes her lips, it would have been a laugh if her eyes didn't hold so much worry. She's staring off past the dash board. My eyes drop to notice a small rip in her suit near her left shoulder. The ripped seams still cover her skin, but now they are doused in blood.

"Damn, your shoulder" I say, gesturing to the rip. She looks down and touches the area with her fingers, when she pulls away her fingertips are stained deep red, matching the color of the car interior.

"Ah" she winces in pain, "It's probably just a scratch. I'll just wash it-"

"Bullshit. Come." I beckon her to follow me as we head outside the car and to my trunk. The rain has picked up now, creating a loud yet melodic sound on shiny metal roof of my 1967 black Ford Mustang.

"It's really not that big of a deal. It's just a rip, I can clean it up at Finn's" she rambles and shifts her weight from one foot to the other.

"What would his parents say if you show up at 2 a.m with a gash in your arm? Your alibi won't check out" I say straightforwardly. I can see her thinking through what I just said as her eyes stay focused to the ground and as I shuffle through my trunk for a first aid kit.

I find it wedged between a spare tire and one of my beat up leather jackets. I close the trunk and gesture for her to sit on top of it. The bottom of her white boot finds the valence panel near the bumper and holsters herself up. She nearly slips because of the rain or  the fact that she seems a little out of it, but I steady her by grabbing onto her elbow.

She unzips her jacket revealing a blue tank top with the Hero logo plastered across and winces as she pulls her left arm out of the sleeve.

"It's just a scratch she said. It's no big deal, she said" I mock while looking for antiseptic in the kit.

She squints her eyes which look purely black due to the absence of streetlights "Shut up".

I feel a grin covering my face as I rip open the alcohol wipe with my teeth. The rain continues to drizzle and the serene sound of the drops rolling down the roof fill the silence. I hold the soft part of her left forearm for steadiness as I wipe the wound. There, below her left shoulder, is a gash that's at least 4 inches wide. The skin has been ripped apart as some blood has now dried on the corners. Because we're metas, we have slightly faster healing, but that doesn't necessarily make us invincible. Between the red stained skin a reflection catches my eye, which causes me to notice a piece of the leftover shard still lingering in her open wound.