I Run For My Life

Bright light filtered in between my eyelids, slowly waking me up. I opened my eyes and blinked sleepily as my vision cleared. The place I found myself in was once again unfamiliar. But this time, it was a lot more comfortable. Instead of in a ditch, I was laying in a soft bed, covered in warm blankets. The room was small, just big enough for my bed along with a few chairs, tables, and monitors. Just about everything was white so the sunlight that shone in from the wide window on one side of the room made everything almost blindingly bright. The only thing I saw with color was a little vase on a table beside my bed with a few red flowers in it.

I was peaceful for a moment, nearly forgetting the suffering I had experienced just moments ago-- or at least it felt like moments to me. Then it all came rushing back. The blood. The cold. The pain. My hand instantly flew to where the knife had been, but nothing was there. I was dressed in new clothes. A hospital gown and pants instead of the torn, blood-soaked clothing I had been wearing before. I carefully lifted the edge of the gown, reaching up to feel my side. Big stitches weaved through the skin, holding together a slit where I assumed the knife had pierced me. It felt like it had healed a lot, surprisingly. I thought I had just gotten there the night before. How long had it been?

I didn't get long to ponder that question before a quiet cough nearby caught my attention. I turned my head and saw a woman sitting in a chair by the door that I hadn't seen earlier. Right away, I could tell that she was very tall. Even sitting down she looked tall. I wasn't quite sure to what extent her height was, but I was sure that she would tower over me. The other thing I noticed right away about her was that all of her features seemed to be pointy in some way. The gaze of her dark brown eyes pierced into mine like daggers, the corners of her mouth twisted into a smile that was almost a sneer. Her thin eyebrows looked like someone had taken a tiny pen and drawn them onto her face. She wore a white, collared blouse under a black blazer, black pants that looked painted on, and insanely high stiletto heels, her straight blonde hair pulled tightly back into a long ponytail.

Her crooked smirk widened into a sickeningly friendly smile when she saw me turn to look at her. "It's about time you woke up," she chuckled, getting to her feet. I had no idea how in the world she could stand in those shoes, especially with how skinny she was, but somehow she did so with incredible balance and elegance. If her piercing stare wasn't so terrifying, I would have said she was beautiful.

I sat up slightly as she stalked over to me, wincing at the aching pain in my body as I shifted. Admittedly, it was an improvement, but that didn't make it any more comfortable. "Who… who are you?"

She laughed, a cruel, high-pitched laugh, as she stepped up beside my bed. "Come now, Vortex. It's no use playing dumb with me." The woman leaned down, placing a finger under my chin to pull my face closer to her. I flinched as her claw-like fingernails dug into my throat. "You know full well that I know everything about you. I've been tracking you for a year, waiting for the day I get to kill you. And here you are. Weak. Helpless." Her mouth stretched into a wicked grin. "Like a lamb ready for the slaughter."

I felt my whole body begin to shake like a leaf in a hurricane. That woman legitimately wanted me dead. Not only that, but she wanted to be the one to kill me herself. And she would be able to. Easily. I could barely move, let alone run. So I tried the next best thing. Trying to talk my way out. "Why do you want to kill me? Wh-what did I do?"

She dug her fingernail deeper into my throat, squinting at me as her smile faded. I swallowed hard, sure she would slit me open with her nail and kill me on the spot. Then she burst out laughing. She released my chin, standing up straight as her high-pitched laugh grated at my ears like nails on a chalkboard. "You can't remember a thing, can you?" she said, her eyes glinting with amusement. "At full power, you're one of the most dangerous people I've ever hunted. But I bet you don't even know what you can do."

It was true. I had no idea what she was talking about. My mouth opened to speak again but suddenly she whipped an object out of her purse and held it against my forehead. It didn't take long for me to realize that the cold metal tool against my skin was a pistol. "W-woah! Take it easy, lady!" I stammered.

"Lilith," she snarled, pushing the weapon harder into my skin. "Not 'lady.'" Her smile was gone, leaving only the glint of malice in her eyes. "You're going to die, Kai Jakande. Right here, right now. There's no getting out of this." Her wicked grin returned for a split second. "Goodbye."

Kai Jakande… Is that my name? At least I would know one thing about myself before I died. Not like it mattered. I would be dead so what did it matter to me? At that point, I was resigned to my fate. I squeezed my eyes shut, waiting for the shot to come. I heard the metal creak as her finger tightened on the trigger. The world seemed to slow down. I felt a wrenching sensation in my stomach as if someone were wringing me out like a wet rag.

Bang!

The sound of the gun firing rang out around the room, bouncing off the walls at all angles. It rang in my ears, making me flinch. But I never felt contact from a bullet. In fact, it felt like the gun wasn't even against my face anymore. I cracked one eye open and frowned. How did I get on the floor? Why am I not dead?

Lilith made a sound like a cross between a growl and a hiss. "Ah, so you can still do your little trick," she snarled. Her gaze darkened as she walked around the bed to where I was sitting on the floor, still baffled at how I had gotten there. "Guess your little amnesia charade is over. Now just give up and die already. I'm tired of playing these games and wasting my time with you. You're not the only super in the world, you know. I have others to take care of." Her hand raised again, aiming the gun between my eyes. It was at that moment that I saw it.

A wisp of smoke slid across my vision. My first thought was fire. I glanced down, expecting to see that my hospital gown had caught on fire. What I found instead was much more perplexing. The smoke was a mix of dark purple, blue, and green, and shimmered in the lights of the room. It seemed to be pouring directly out from my skin, and it did not move like regular smoke. It slithered through the air like dark, glistening snakes. Was that a normal human thing to do? It certainly did not seem normal to me. Although Lilith didn't even bat an eyelid at it. I was starting to believe that maybe she really had been hunting me. But why?

There was no time to answer my questions. The woman fired the gun again, and I quickly dodged to the side, the bullet hitting the wall directly behind where my face had been. Not having any other choice, I scrambled to my feet, running for the door. Intense pain flared up all over my body, but I did my best to ignore it. I didn't have time to pay attention to it, there were bigger problems at hand. The gun clicked again and Lilith growled. She was out of bullets! I turned in time to see her pulling more bullets out of her purse and reloading her gun. Taking the opportunity, I yanked open the door and practically toppled out of the room into the hall. I landed on my knees and the door clicked shut behind me. The sound of Lilith's heels tapping towards the door emanated out from the room, so I knew I didn't have time to stop and catch my breath.

As I dragged myself back to my feet, stumbling down the hall, a young nurse ran up to me and gently grabbed my arm. "Sir, you shouldn't be out of bed!" she scolded, trying to lead me back to the room.

The pain was so intense I could barely breathe, much less speak. But I managed to choke out one word. "Gun!"

The nurse paused. "Sir, did something happen?"

I nodded and pointed behind me to my room as the door opened and Lilith walked out, pointing the gun at me once again. She fired. I dodged, but the nurse wasn't so lucky. The bullet embedded into her head, right between the eyes, and she crumpled to the floor.

Suppressing a scream, I continued running as fast as I could down the hall, taking a sharp turn where a sign pointed to the elevators. Several other nurses tried to stop me along the way, but I broke free of their grips and practically threw myself into one of the elevators. I slammed my fist on the button for the ground floor and the doors began to quickly slide shut. A bullet whizzed through the closing doors and ricocheted around the small space before embedding itself in the wall beside my head with a thunk.

The elevator lurched into motion and I slid down to the floor, taking a moment to catch my breath. My chest heaved up and down and I ran a shaking hand through my hair. I was surprised I had made it out of there alive. I thought she would have killed me for sure. And yet there I was. Still intact. Or at least, I didn't have any bullet holes anywhere.

The ride to the ground floor seemed like it lasted forever. It gave me time to think. Since I wasn't dying anymore, as far as I knew, my mind focused mainly on my memory. Or lack thereof. It felt like there should be something there. But it was like someone had taken the book of my life and ripped out every page one by one until it was just the cover and a few shreds sticking out from the binding. Flashes of images passed through my mind like the memories were trying to return, but they disappeared as soon as I tried to focus on them so I never was able to retain anything.

Finally, the elevator came to a halt. I dragged myself back to my feet as the doors slid open, and stumbled out into the lobby. As soon as my bare feet hit the linoleum floor, two security guards rushed over to me and tried to grab me by the arms. "Son, I don't think you should be out of bed," one said gently, the two of them together trying to herd me back towards the elevators.

"No, I can't!" I cried, struggling against them. Panic flooded my mind as I thought about what could happen if I went back up there. I had just barely escaped once, it wasn't likely I'd make it out again. With a sudden burst of strength, I twisted myself free of their grasps and bolted for the front doors.

A cold breeze hit me in the face as I pushed my way through the glass doors and out onto the front sidewalk. I glanced around for a moment, quickly taking in my surroundings to decide where to go next. Parking lot in front of me, packed with cars. Good hiding spots, but not a lot of cover to run. Grass lawn and a highway to the right. Bad idea. Densely packed residential area surrounded by trees to the left. Bingo.

My feet pounded against the rough sidewalk, small stones and bits of glass tearing at the bottoms of my feet. I heard shouting behind me so out of instinct I looked back. As soon as my head turned, I heard a small shriek and I barrelled straight into someone.