Paragon

Zeke stood with one foot on top of the smoldering corpse of the doctor he had just electrocuted, after the man had tried to shank him with a scalpel, and the other on the linoleum floor of Facility Wyvern. It hadn’t taken him long to find this one, in fact was able to directly follow a Nullifier squad car into the building. After that it had been a simple matter of getting his hands on them and asking the right questions. His left hand was currently latched onto the other doctor’s neck; the man squirmed and gasped as he clawed at Zeke’s hand trying to get free. The doctor, Garrett Farnstrom, started to feel unnaturally cold.

“I promise you I have no qualms with what I’m doing, especially considering what you’re doing to your patients so I’m only going to ask you once more. How do I find the next research center?” Zeke’s voice sounded rough and electrical; like a deep, throbbing bass speaker.

“There aren’t anymore! You’ve destroyed them all!” The doctor yelped through chattering teeth as the cold slowly slipped through his veins.

“You’re lying to me,” Zeke said and tightened his grip around the doctor’s neck; his will stalked through the man’s veins as they slowly turned into solid ice and clotting his blood flow. “You don’t have long to live, make yourself useful.”

“The only place left is HQ, I swear! Draco Industries! The Tower! It’s the only place left I swear, on my own life.”

“That’s good cause you’re about to lose it.” Zeke said and then let his will burst forth. In a matter of seconds, the man’s entire body was covered in frostbite that boiled and blackened his skin. His blood froze, his heart froze and his lungs became brittle sacks of air. Zeke dropped him and the figure fell to the ground with a loud thud. Zeke didn’t feel a drop of remorse for the dead doctor, especially considering the fact he’d walked in on them about to rape a female Super. The woman was still writhing around on the floor from the room’s Nullifier.

Zeke looked down at her and then overcharged the device with a quick burst of lightning from his right hand. Her writhing ceased and she sat there moaning for a minute while clutching her head as she recovered. It took a moment but soon she stood and her eyes shifted around the room in confusion. She opened her mouth and a forked tongue slipped out as she tasted the air around her. Zeke noticed her eyes were milky and fogged like cataracts.

“Are you blind?” He asked and she jumped at the sound of his voice. “You are… You’re tasting the air…”

“Not all blind…” She whispered, “just mostly… The air tells me things though… You’re not one of them…And there’s death in ’ere…” Her tongue flicked out between each sentence; her head darted around as she tried to get a grip on her surroundings.

“What kind of powers do you have?” Zeke asked, curious if her serpentine tongue was the only thing strange about her.

“No… Lotsa things I can do.” She said. She looked dirty, very dirty with her hair matted in clumps; either they weren’t bathing her or she was a stranger to hygiene.

“The guards won’t bother you anymore,” Zeke said and then stepped to the side to give her access to the door. “You’re free to go.”

“You… You’re not affected by the nulls?”

“No, no I’m not.” Zeke said.

“How?”

“You need to leave and I have to free the others.” Zeke turned to walk out of the room to leave the woman to her own devices.

“All dead,” she called out after him and hobbled closer.

“What?” Zeke blurted out.

“They been dead awhile,” she went on, “I’ve been the only patient here for two months.” Zeke was stunned. Then he became angry and electricity hissed off of his body.

“They’ve been doing this to you for two months?” Zeke fumed and clenched his fists.

“Longer. I’m not sure… The days get hard to count after a while. I just know it’s been nearly fifty-seven of them since I had any company besides those two creeps…”

“I’m sorry… there are shelters being developed for escaped Supers if you can find your way to the subway, or I can escort you there.” Zeke said with a hand on her shoulder.

“No need, love,” she said, patting his hand and smiling; close up the woman looked young, probably very pretty if she could take a shower. “I can find the subway myself, it should be nearly dark out by now, correct?”

“Yes, the sun will be down by now. The elevator is just down that way.”

“I can find it, you do what you needs doin’. Thank you for killing those twits.” The woman smiled at him and then hobbled down the hallway towards the elevator, flicking her tongue and tilting her head as she went. He watched her go until she disappeared into the elevator that would take her to the surface. She seemed to be able to move quite well despite her near-blindness. Zeke continued exploring the facility and found that the woman had been quite right; there were no signs of any other prisoners or even guards. It seemed like the only inhabitants had been her and the two doctors. He walked down the hallways, following various signs that would lead him to the control room. He had taken both keycards off the doctors he’d killed in order to save himself some time.

Zeke swiped one of the keycards and entered the control room. Electricity hissed and leapt around him as he walked through the room, looking for the security feed. He found a large assortment of computer monitors all showing video feed of a different part of the facility and sure enough he was completely alone.

“Strange…” He said aloud, “why was there only one patient and two doctors?” Zeke used one of the cards to log into the system and found that no further security was required. He was actually quite surprised that there wasn’t some kind of login or access phrase, or one of the hundred other security measures he’d heard about from Jon, protecting the place.

Don’t look a gift horse in the mouth, I guess, he thought and started sorting through computer files, searching for research data, patient information and special projects. In two weeks he’d managed to destroy and ransack eleven of Draco Industries’ underground research centers, all of which were conducting experiments on Supers. Some were much like the first facility he’d encountered, Manticore, in the sense they were mutating Enns by trying to give them abilities or gene splicing. The result was always some sort of horrific abomination with too many of one ligament or another, and all of them completely comatose.

Zeke continued to sort through the files until he found research data pertaining to this facility. But all the folders were blank; none of them had any documents saved in them so there wasn’t anything to even look at. Zeke cursed and slammed his hand down on the control console; the impact let out a short burst of electrical energy that surged through the console causing lights and monitors to flicker briefly. It was frustrating to not know what was going on here but it didn’t take long for him to get over his disappointment. This place was going to be a wasteland soon and he didn’t come for information. Zeke continued hunting through the folders and files until he found what he needed; a schematic of the laboratory leading him straight to the generator. Seeing the plans for the generator that powered this place left him even more confused; it was several times the size and with well over a hundred times the power output than any of the other power sources used for the other facilities he’d toppled.

“What are you fucks doing here?” Zeke said to himself as he tapped his finger on the console some more. He shook his head; staring at blueprints wasn’t going to get him anywhere. He memorized the path to take and left the control room and made his way towards the generator room. He casually strolled down the hallways as he made his way, feeling there was no rush since the facility was lifeless except for him. Again he used one of the doctor’s keycards to enter the generator room; it was large, which struck him as odd. The door opened into a large, multi-story room with ledges and staircases around the sides of the walls leaving a gigantic, gaping crevice in the center. At the center of the room was the most massive generator he’d ever seen. It started at the base floor, which seemed to be at least three stories down, to the center level where there appeared to be a figure standing at the center of it.

The figure was cased in what appeared to be a glass dome with many thick wires and tubes poking into the dome and attaching to his skin. Zeke lifted off the ground and floated closer to the center of the room with his eyes glued to the figure at the center. The bottom of the room was adorned with conductor tubes, proton accelerators and electric panels that all seemed to be very alive. As Zeke drew closer to the glass dome he noticed that the figure was standing on his feet, facing away from him, wearing tattered brown pants and a lack shirt that was almost see through given how old and worn it was.

When Zeke was close enough to touch the glass the figure turned and stared at him; the man was old, balding with white hair but none of the age in his face seemed to reflect his broad frame and well-defined muscles in his arms. His face was weathered by lines and dimples that did not compliment his large nose and creased forehead.

“What in the fuckin’ hell are you?” The man said but the noise did not come from his mouth. Rather the voice came from the entire room like one enormous bass speaker.

“I could ask you the same thing, old man.” Zeke said and touched his hand to the glass and turning his head from side to side, marveling at the device in front of him. The old man looked Zeke up and down with one eyebrow raised and a curious look on his face. In all his days he’d never seen such a strange looking Super; Zeke was dressed in black pants and black combat boots but wore no shirt, proudly displaying the mosaic of crimson-red tribal tattoos that marked his body. His hands were covered by black wraps that ran over his wrist and a small portion of his muscled forearm. The red Mohawk on top of his head matched the color of his tattoos, or perhaps it was the other way around, but what really intrigued the old man was the cloak the blue skinned Super wore. Draping over his shoulders and connected by sturdy ringlets was a thick, black cloak that fell down below his feet as he hovered in the air; the top of the cloak had also been redesigned to wrap around the Super’s lower face, covering his neck, mouth and nose like mask.

“No, I really don’t think you could, son.” The old man said and walked closer to the glass with his worn-out, steel-blue eyes locked onto Zeke’s which glowed with pale yellow light and cracked with electric power. Zeke kept himself hovering above the ground, his cloak ruffling beneath him. “What do you call yer self?”

“The newspapers are calling me the Winter Wraith,” Zeke said as he stared back at the old man.

“Aaah,” The old man sighed with a smile, “you’re the one who’s got the dragon’s scales all ruffed up then.”

“Glad you’ve heard of me, though you don’t seem like you get out much.” Zeke remarked with barely a smirk beneath his mask.

“Oh I’ve heard of you, Wraith. I know what you’re doing and I’m gonna tell you right now I think your nuts.” The old man chuckled and Zeke responded by clenching his fists. The entire room rapidly dropped thirty degrees and snow began to billow around and freeze the metal encasing the generator. “Oh, but I do like your style, son. You wanna destroy this place so bad? I know how.” Zeke tilted his head curiously and unclenched, the snow ceased to fall.

“You seem to be connected to this place; why? What is the purpose of this facility?” Zeke asked and crossed his arms.

“I am.”

“I don’t follow…”

“This place was built to harvest my powers. I act as a constant flow of energy to the Tower and to all the other research facilities here.”

“So you’re a Super, then?” Zeke’s right eyebrow popped up as he examined the man closer. Why would Vladimir use just any old geezer to power his entire operations? Unless… “No, you’re a Paragon!” Zeke exclaimed.

“Correction: I was a Paragon. At one time the people of this city called me Ion; I could absorb a whole lightning storm and spit it out wherever I wanted. I could also transport myself through electrical circuitry; never could explain that one but it was damn fun, ha-ha!”

“What brought you here?” Zeke wondered. Ion hung his head, shamefully, and sighed.

“The Dragon happened. He convinced me to work for his company, way back in the day when Draco Industries was just starting. Said he was going to help the States fight off enemy Supers so that our boys overseas wouldn’t be totally helpless against’em. Next thing I remember I’m hooked up to this device and inside this dome. He found a way to harness my power by constantly funneling electric energy into me and then back out to his other facilities.” Ion looked around and almost let out a laugh.

“This isn’t the generator then…” Zeke said, looking down at the device below them. “You’re the generator!”

“Yup. I haven’t been outside in… hell, what year is it?” Ion asked while rubbing his head.

“Its 2018,” Zeke said and shook his head, “how are you even alive if you don’t leave this dome? What do they feed you?”

“Hah, they don’t. I never needed food, my body has always, somehow, been nourished by electricity, and my metabolism is so damned fast I barely have any body-fat on me. Oh I ate but that was for pleasure. God, I miss bacon… do they still make bacon?”

“When did they put you in here?” Zeke asked.

“1988. So its… Hell I’ve been down here for thirty years… Hah, I’m almost eighty!” Ion let out a loud, boisterous guffaw as if he’d just gotten a joke he’d heard forever ago. When the laughing died down he wiped a tear from his cheek and looked back at Zeke.

“I’m sorry… You said you know how to destroy this place?” Zeke inquired and pressed his hands to the glass.

“Yeah,” Ion said and wiped another tear away, “you have the same powers as me I think, with some others added on apparently. But you can absorb electric energy, right?” Zeke nodded. “Right, so I’m assumin’ you got some kinda sense that lets you see where electricity is that you can pull from?” Again Zeke affirmed by nodding. “Alright, open that sense then.”

So Zeke closed his eyes and opened his extra sense and searched for electrical energy. The whole room lit up with orange light; Zeke winced and turned to see the entire room with his sense. There was enough energy in this room to power a small country.

“What am I looking for?” Zeke asked as he turned his whole body, seeing only orange light.

“You’re lookin’ for me,” Ion said and closed his own eyes and started to polarize his body. It took effort; more effort than he truly had, but urgency was on his side. Zeke turned back to look inside the dome and for the first time in his life he saw energy in a different color. Ion’s body was lit up with green energy that pulsed healthily against his form.

“What… You’re… You’re made of electricity!” Zeke yelled and closed his senses, popping his eyes open and staring back at the old Paragon.

“Somewhat. I can’t get out of here, Wraith. It took a lot of my energy just to polarize my body so you could see that. If you really want to damage the Dragon’s resources, you have to consume this place and cut off his source of energy.” Ion muttered with a lonely look on his face.

“You want me to absorb the energy of his entire network?”

“No. I want you to absorb me.”

“That can’t even be possible.”

“It is with me, son. It is with me. If you absorb me, not only will you add to the incredible amount of power you have, but you’ll also cut him off at his knees and cripple all his operations.” The old Paragon walked back to the center of the dome and stared out the other side of the glass. “I been in here thirty years, I’m surprised I’m not insane. I ain’t seen the sun in thirty years, Wraith. I don’t even know if, at this point, I’ll survive being disconnected from this thing. What I do know is that you can absorb the energy inside of me and the rest of this horrid place and make yourself stronger. You can end this damnation of mine, Wraith. You can end it.”

Zeke didn’t know what to say. His body tensed with anger and frustration. Here was yet another victim of Vladimir’s ruthlessness and there was nothing he was able to do to help except to put the old man out of his misery. Yet he was once a hero to this city; he was a Paragon. He deserved better than this, but Zeke didn’t have the answers and for all he knew the Paragon was right: disconnecting him might kill him anyways since the massive generator below them had been his only source of electric nourishment for thirty years.

“Before I do anything, I want to ask you some things.”

“Seems fair, ask away then.” The Paragon kept his back to Zeke and interlocked his hands behind his back as he stared out the glass dome.

“You said I’d gotten the Dragon’s scales ruffled up, how would you know that?” Zeke asked, crossing his arms.

“You recall I used to be able to transport between electric currents and such?”

“I do.”

“Well I can’t do that anymore. Something about constantly being drained and reloaded has prevented me from using most of my powers, so I can’t break out and I can’t just flat out siphon energy in order to power myself enough to get out. What I am sometimes able to do, if I’m feeling strong enough, is project some of my senses through the currents to the other facilities.” Ion scratched his head and turned back to face Zeke. “Sometimes I hear things, sometimes I see the Dragon talkin’ to himself and sayin’ shit. Past couple weeks it’s been a royal hoot to watch him fume about you.”

“Why is that so interesting?”

“You don’t understand, Wraith; the Dragon don’t get angry at just anyone. Takes a special sort. He’s calculated, careful, controlled. He controls everything and he tries to make sure everything stays in his control. So, to see him get so riled up over one little Super is the closest thing I get to television… do they still have television?”

“Interesting… this facility does more than just use you though, doesn’t it?” Zeke asked. “There’s an entire hospital wing for surgeries and laboratories for experiments just like the other facilities.”

“Yeah, used to be like the others; conducting experiments and sorts. But a few months ago the Dragon sent the researchers from this base to another one and left a pair of tools here to monitor me and any Supers that were left alive.”

“Any idea what they were studying here?” Zeke inquired but the Paragon just shook his head.

“I’m sorry, son. I don’t know much more than that.” The old Paragon shook his head and looked up to Zeke expectantly. “I don’t know what else you could wanna know, Wraith. Like you said, I don’t get out much.” He smirked lightly and then heaved a large sigh.

“You want me to kill you, to end your life. I’ve tried to make a habit of saving Supers.” Zeke said, looking away.

“You would be saving me, Wraith. More than you can know.” The old Paragon looked into Zeke’s glowing yellow eyes and, even though his irises were not visible, Zeke stared straight back. There was sorrow in the old man’s eyes; misery and exhaustion flooded Ion’s face and he looked to be done with everything. He saw escape in Zeke.

“I can’t imagine this will feel good… or that I’ll even be able to do it correctly.” Zeke said with an affirming nod. “But I will honor your request, Paragon.”

“Thank you…” The old man whispered and a tear fell from his cheek which he quickly wiped away. “It’s going to be more difficult than siphoning power from your usual outlets. You can’t be gentle, Wraith, and you cannot stop. You need to make this place, and me, dead. I mean dead, son. Otherwise power will start moving through the circuits again if there’s any left whatsoever.”

“I could explode if I absorb that much…” Zeke paused. The idea had occurred to him in the past that if he took in too much energy at one time he might literally pop like a balloon with too much air. What the Paragon was asking him to do was to siphon the electrical energy of a massive generator that powered over a dozen research facilities and the Draco Industries headquarters itself. But then again, he’d powered himself with a massive thunderstorm two weeks ago and it had brought him to a new level of consciousness almost. He could now feel the static in the air, he could see the electricity that powered brainwaves. What would this do to him?

Perhaps he’s right, Zeke thought as he battled with the idea some more, this might make me powerful enough to take on the dragon… I can avenge Kira, Mary, Brida, Tony and Jason. I can end this. Zeke nodded to the Paragon and then closed his eyes and opened his senses. He focused on closing out as much of the surrounding light as he could and focused on the green-glowing form of the Paragon’s energy.

“You won’t explode, son.” Zeke heard Ion say as he drew in his will and prepared himself to siphon away the Paragon’s life force. “Paragons don’t have limits like normal Supers do. You just gotta push, son. You just gotta push.”

Zeke took a deep breath and reached out his hand with his fingers outstretched. Then he focused his will and started to drain the energy he saw in front of him. At first there was resistance; he heard the old Paragon cry out and groan.

Don’t stop, he said in his mind as he continued to draw in energy, don’t stop. Just keep pushing. Zeke let out a cry of his own and pulled the energy with all the will he could muster. The floodgate of electrical energy was opened and it poured into him and surged through his body. Electricity shrieked around him and struck the metal panels and circuits around him turning them into melted slag. Zeke continued to pull and felt the energy coursing through him and fill him to the brim. He felt like he was going to burst.

“Don’t… Stop…” He heard the Paragon say, “please,” there were tears in his eyes. Tears of pain and joy and relief all at once, “please don’t stop. Finish it, Wraith. Finish it!” Zeke roared like a thunderous crack of the sky being split and somehow the floodgate of power opened wider and funneled into him with tremendous weight. He felt a thousand pounds heavier, his muscles ached, his head felt like it was being torn open; every inch of Zeke’s body wanted to stop and take respite but he pressed forward.

Zeke saw with his senses the light draining and fading around him. What was once blinding circuits of electricity coursing around him now dimmed to full darkness and Zeke was blind. His eyes were squeezed shut; he could hear himself panting, almost wheezing, but he was no longer tired.

Zeke’s muscles no longer hurt, in fact, they felt stronger. He opened his eyes and saw that the generator room was lifeless and pitch black. The only source of light came from his glowing eyes and the lightning that arced from his body to the metal around him like giant spider legs. He looked inside the dome and saw the old man lying on his side; the hollow gaze of lifelessness in his eyes, a tear on his cheek and a smile on his face. It was the face of relief. For a moment Zeke stared at the Paragon and tried to imagine what his life had been like before this. Had he children? A wife? Brothers?

I promise you, old man, Zeke thought, I will find your family and tell them of your sacrifice. I will make sure the Dragon pays for his cruelty. I promise you. Zeke’s rage rose again and he felt the wrath of the storm building deep inside.

Once outside the facility and above ground, Zeke scoured the skyline. The wind caused his cloak to blow to his right side as he floated in the air. It was snowing outside and he wasn’t even using his will; the air was cold and the wind howled against his body. It felt nice to feel the wind against his bare skin. It felt natural.

Where to next? He wondered, no more facilities… just the Tower. Zeke turned his eyes to the large building that stood almost in the center of the skyscrapers around it. At the top of it, in large, glowing white letters, were the words “DRACO INDUSTRIES” that had been designed to illuminate the skyline, but tonight they were only blocks on a building. The lights all over the structure were barren. He couldn’t help but smile at his success. He looked around him and discovered that much of the city was suffering a blackout; the generator that used the Paragon Ion’s power apparently powered much more than the man had originally thought.

Where to next? He thought again. Part of him wanted to go and see Jon to see how his old friend was doing. Part of him just wanted to go back to his apartment and pray that Kira would be waiting there for him, but he knew it would only bring him sadness. He reached up to the chain that held his cloak around his shoulders and touched the ring that hung at the center of it; it was Kira’s engagement ring. He took it off of her that night he discovered her body because he knew that he’d never get it once police arrived. Now it was all he had to remember her by. It was the token he kept that reminded him why he was on this path. It was the token that fueled his vengeance.

Intermission

Janice Slayt, Chief of Police for the past seven years in Glacier City, bears a smile on her face. She gets off of work and is proud of the men and women under her command, both those who belong to nullifier units and the normal boys in blue. Despite her hardy appearance and natural frown, she always rewards dedication and never turns away one of her men. She grabs her coat and walks out of the police station, waving as she goes to the men on night duty.

“G’night, Chief!” Many of them say as she passes them. She flashes them a smile and a quick response and hurries out. She is stopped by a burly black man with a thick smile on his face.

“Headed home already?” Damian Williams says to her.

“Yep, I’ma get some shut-eye after I fry up a steak or something,” says Janice.

“Mm, jealous; get on home then, I’ll see that the place doesn’t burn down, Chief.” Willaims flashes his winter-white smile at her and heads off to his desk to work on his case. Janice smiles back at him and makes her way outside.

Janice fidgets with her keys a moment; the air is colder than usual, even for Glacier City and her fingers are stiff despite the fact she’s only been outside for the few minutes it took her to get to her car. She slips inside once the key unlocks her driver’s side door and smiles again upon seeing a familiar manila envelope in her passenger seat.

She snatches up the envelope and rips the seal away. She drops her hand into the envelope and draws out several wads of one-hundred dollar bills held together by paper seals. She smiles and briefly sniffs the money and flips through it with a satisfactory grin on her scarred face. It paid well to turn the other way when it came to the Supers they arrest. Why Draco Industries was so interested in having Supers carted off she didn’t care. She cares even less that they sometimes took rowdy prisoners off her hands as well. The compensation was more than worth it and Janice was happy to turn a blind eye to some of the machinations of the company. Nobody but Supers and criminals got hurt, one way or another, and it left plenty of room in their cells for other arrests. Life is easy for Chief of Police, Janice Slayt.

She drives home with her phone plugged into her car so she can listen to some music on her way back to her apartment. She keeps the apartment to keep up appearances; the things she could buy with this money would raise suspicions as to how she afforded it on her salary. She stops at a store on her way home to get some groceries.

She is hungry as hell and wants to fry up some kind of meat.

Home; she already parked her car in the complex and carried her bags up to the third floor where she lived. She struggles to hold both of the paper bags in one hand as she moves her stiff fingers to the keys. She pushes the key inside the deadbolt and the door opens before she even turns the key. Something is wrong.

Janice gently pockets her keys and draws her sidearm; a Smith & Wesson 9mm pistol that she has owned for five years and keeps in very good condition. She loves guns. With the gun pointed forward she pushes the door open farther. Her entire apartment is flooded with fog so thick she can’t see the floor.

Janice Slayt spits out a curse. She knows who has come to see her.

Doesn’t matter, she thinks, a bullet in the head will kill the Wraith before he touches me. I’ll end this tonight and get another promotion. She steps carefully into her apartment and closes the door quietly. She feels his eyes burning into her from somewhere into the room; she knows she is being watched. She hears a scuffle to her right and turns with her gun forward. Nothing; from what she’s heard from the reports the only thing she’ll be able to see are his eyes and that is all she needs. One shot, BOOM, right between the two dots. He won’t be the first Super she put down, and he won’t be the last.

“Come now, officer,” a voice says to her left, “surely you don’t think that’s going to work on a wraith do you?” The voice laughs, highly amused.

It’s a head game, she thinks, he wants me to be skittish and jumpy.

“Put that down before you hurt someone.” The voice says to her right. She turns and points the gun in the direction of the sound and takes a step. Her foot slips and she falls back. Her hand clenches from shock and a bullet fires from the barrel of her gun straight into the ceiling. She tries to scramble to her feet but slips again, her floor is frozen and covered in rime. She continues pulling herself up and finds that her legs are stuck.

Nothing fell on me, why the fuck can’t I move? She wonders and tries to reach her hand down to her feet only to find that her left hand is also stuck and very cold. She looks down and sees that her feet are encased in ice that is anchored to the floor, as is her left arm. She holds her gun in her right hand and aims it around, waiting for those two eyes to come into sight.

Suddenly her hand is kicked and her sidearm flies away. Her right arm hits the ground and is immediately frozen to the floor. She lays on her back with her arms and legs splayed and anchored very firmly to the ground. Blocks of ice imprison her arms and legs and start to numb her skin. The fog lifts and she sees his. Bare chested, red tattoos, red Mohawk, glowing yellow eyes; he stands above her staring down. His mouth is covered by black cloth that flows down into a long cape. Her eyes widen at the sight of him. Electricity hisses and jumps around his body and even strikes the wall and ground around her leaving tiny singes where they land.

“What are you?” She whispers; she meant to say it in her head but her mouth forms the words anyways. They escape her lips and feel heavy on her tongue as she stares up into the glowing yellow eyes that stare down at her with malicious intent.

“I think it’s time we had a little chat, Chief.”