Midnight

Chapter 1

It had been the peak of the night. The time when even the most stubborn of souls found peace and curled up to surrender to the sweet bliss of sleep. When it seemed like even the moon and the stars began to dim and wane away ever-so-slightly. Contrary to belief, it isn't day, but night that brings peace to most. When one is left alone, with nothing but their thoughts (and perhaps some music), and the sensation of their body slowly giving in, and their eyes finally sealing shut.

For most people, that was peace.

For me, it was hell.

Unlike you, I actually have problems that matter. I can't just close my eyes and try to fall asleep, that's not a luxury I'm capable of. Because when I try to sleep, things happen.

Things I don't want.

Aside from lovely nightmares from my past, reminding me of every mistake I've ever made, or those horrid moments that I've been trying to shove away for as long as I can remember, I have something that's slightly more pressing.

I doubt you'd be able to understand.

I doubt anyone would be.

Those..damn voices..crawling into my head.

The voices of a mother and father cursing each other out, or a teenage girl stressing about her cheating boyfriend, the little kids thinking about their new action figures, the student procrastinating at 3 am, and-

It never ends.

Constantly, crawling into my mind the moment I try to ease up. Constantly, flooding my own thoughts. Constantly, haunting me in the middle of the night.

I never asked for this life, that's the thing no one understands. Was being a telepath useful? Sure, in some situations. But if you want to think about it in a more practical sense, it does have its drawbacks.

I was standing in the kitchen, rummaging through my cabinets for some sleeping pills. But of course, the second you're trying to find something, you can never find it. After a few minutes of turning my house upside down, I finally found the bottle.

I began opening the bottle when I heard intense knocking at the front door. It was loud and sudden enough to make me flinch. Luckily, I didn't drop any of my pills.

Ah, yes a visitor at 4 am because that's normal. Who could it be?

Before making my way over to the door, I pulled my hood to cover my bedhead. The person at my front door appeared like a dark shadow-like figure until I turned on the front lights. When I saw who it was, I gaped and nearly stumbled.

It was Zephyr, the superhero that found it as her life's purpose to ruin each and every single plan that I worked on. But, there was something off.

Her white and blue suit was stained with blood, she was shivering, and her teeth chattered. She leaned her weight on the wall for support and looked up at me with desperate and dazed eyes. She was breathing heavily, covering her dripping wound with her hand.

"V-Vertigo?" She quavered.

I covered my face with my hood and scoffed with disbelief.

"How the heck did you find out where I live?!" I yelled at her. "What the hell are you doing here?"

She flinched and shut her eyes tightly as if I were about to hit her or something.

Zephyr looked up at me again, and this time I noticed water building up in her silver eyes. I was stunned, I had never seen her in this state before. Her face was pale, and her eyes were filled with fear.

She was swaying slightly and mumbled, "...D-didn't know where else to go..."

Her breathing became labored, and her face grew paler and paler. I opened my mouth to respond, but she stumbled forward and collapsed. I grabbed her by the arms before she hit the ground. Her face landed on my chest, so I had to push her away.

She had fainted.

For reasons I don't know, I placed one of my hands behind her back, and the other under her knees, and I carried her inside. Her arms fell lifelessly at her sides, and her brown hair messily scattered across her face.

I laid her on the sofa and sat on a chair across from her.

What was I doing? I could have easily left her outside to die, she was my enemy after all.

I examined her for a moment. Her suit had holes and rips scattered around (which resulted in me seeing more skin than I wished), and her face had cuts and scabs. The only aspect of her suit that had been intact was her mask. She had freckles across her face, many of which were covered with dirt.

The haunted look in her eyes was still etched in my mind.

I could so easily end her at this very moment, it was such a golden opportunity. All I needed to do was wrap my hand around her delicate neck, and squeeze. I began tracing my hands around her smooth neck, certainly tempted by my thoughts. I could also make it slow if I desired.

It was so, so, so easy.

Why did she come to me of all people for help? How did she know I wouldn't just finish the job?

What did she mean when she said she had nowhere else to go?

More and more questions flooded my mind, because nothing about any of this added up. My fingers traced across her cheeks, which were as cold as ice. The bandaids made their way over to me when I looked at them, as did the Neosporin.

I could have never imagined that this was going to be the way I would spend my Friday night, with a crazy chick lying unconscious on my couch. I ended up patching her up because honestly, I had nothing better to do and maybe I'd get a good deed done for this week.

Just kidding, I have absolutely no idea what I'm doing, or why I'm doing it.

Zephyr was a strong foe, with the ability to control the winds, summon hurricanes, fly, and even run at super speeds. What the hell could have happened to her?

Were they after me too?

I took a look at her wrist, which had a glowing interface on it. The interface contained a little red dot showing my location, which meant that she had bugged me in one of our previous fights. Smart girl.

There was blood seeping from under her suit, so I pulled down her shirt only enough so that I could see her shoulders, they were still bleeding. I groaned with horror as I realized my poor white sofa was now a bright crimson.

I sat back and used my telekinesis to handle the bandaging and cleaning of her wounds. There was a strange wound across her left arm, it appeared to be carved into her skin. I took a closer look, and realized it was the same word written over and over again, it was so tiny and precise, but it must have been written over a hundred times to appear like such a large wound.

Ignis.

I've never heard of Ignis before but seeing all of this was enough to bring chills to my bones. Me. These bastards made a hell of a first impression.

How did she even survive?

I could have read through her memories to find out, but then even more of her energy would have been drained, and I doubt she could take any more. I really don't know why I cared.

Her breaths seemed to slow and calm down after I was finished. Her body continued to shiver, so I threw a blanket on her.

Maybe I was just scared, like the damn coward I was. I've never seen someone so strong and energetic be reduced to a condition like this.

It certainly wasn't the first time I'd seen someone beaten or even dead. But something about all of this really bothered me.

I guess all I could do now was wait for her to wake up.