In the alleyway right up ahead across the street, an elderly priest was reading a bible. He would surely make for an easy target, and the location was less likely to get us caught, however I couldn’t help but feel like something was off about the man; it made me hesitate.
Nova snickered. “Damn, Leith, I didn’t think you had it in you.”
“Huh?” I blinked. “What do you mean?”
“The priest”—she motioned at the elderly man who had yet to move from his initial spot—“you were sizing him up, too.”
“Ah. Yeah, uh…”
There was a glint of madness in her eyes. She smiled. “Let’s do it.” Nova grabbed my hand and led me out of the building. “Come on.”
“No, no, Nova, stop. This isn’t a good—”
A car honked.
We crossed the street.
“Sorry.” Nova turned around and leaned in as if to hear me better. “What was that?”
We were three steps away from the priest now, and potentially freedom, too, if he had something on him that could be of use to us. I glanced around in hopes that we could go for someone that wasn’t so helpless, but the woman with her bike and the young man holding the books were both gone.
Shit.
“Nothing,” I forced myself to say. “Never mind. We should hurry."
I approached the priest and took out my gun once Nova and I were deep into the alleyway. It smelled of piss, and rats were crawling by our feet. I wanted to get out of here, fast.
We dashed at the elderly man and grabbed his arms. I pointed the gun at him. I said, “Give us everything you have. If not, I’ll shoot.”
“Yeah, buddy, you heard him. We’re not playing around.”
We sounded corny. Corny and unprepared. Maybe he wasn’t going to buy it, this was the thought that ran through my mind as we waited on his reaction for what seemed like an eternity. And then I felt pain, a sharp stab that pierced the flesh near my waist, before something cool entered my veins. I gasped, and pushed the priest away while I searched for my partner in crime.
It seemed Nova was in a similar predicament, for she’d let out a yelp not a second later than me.
My eyes went wide. I parted my lips to speak, however like my body, they went numb.
An ominous cloud shrouded my vision. I saw black, the void of nothingness.
I dropped the gun. I fell to the ground with a thump. Then, there was nothing. No pain. No putrid scents from the alleyway. No priest. No Nova. No one. Until I blinked again, minutes—maybe hours, days—later.
I was in a basement.
A light cast shadows of cyan across the walls. It blinked on, off, on, off. As a fly flew into its faint glow and died a quick death, a voice said, “Zap,” its tone amused.
I—
A) I screamed and thrashed against my restraints. Maybe if I took my captor by surprise, I could still get away. Screw Nova, I thought. All she’d done so far was get me in trouble and make morbid remarks; I needed to escape, and I needed to do it alone.
B) I stayed silent and searched for Nova. It was better if my abductor thought I was still out of it; I figured it could buy me more time.
C) I gulped. And although I didn’t want to know the answer—for this person had somehow managed to cancel out mine and Nova’s powers—I asked, “Who’s there?”
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