Clarke and a klaxon

Five percent of my powers were worse than I'd thought. I could only conjure something when I desperately needed it and even then I had no control of what I got, only that I'd get something suitable to provide aid in a desperate situation.

This meant that I could not train with my abilities. Since early morning when Primus visited for the last time, I'd only been able to conjure two things in two instances. The first time was late this afternoon when I called Mindy and the call refused to connect. I became panicked, wishing so greatly I had a way to reach her and know that she was alright, that something, namely Stiff, hadn't happened to her. I hadn't even been focusing on my powers, or even thinking about them, but suddenly a picture materialized in my hand. It was a picture of Mindy on a ferris wheel with her nephew and nieces. Useless in helping me find her, except I was an expert in visual literacy, but excellent in assuring me of her safety.

The second time had been when I later got a call from Mindy and in my haste to answer it dropped the phone accidentally. It would have been alright if I hadn't been on the rooftop of a high-rise building at the moment. I'd wished so much for anything to save my phone and a very deep pond appeared just before the phone fell.

At least it didn't crash and Mindy assured me she can get it back into perfect working condition in two days, so my powers did save my phone, but not in the way I'd like. I could conjure things to get out of a bind, but I had no control of how helpful said things could be. They could be harmful to me, or deal more damage to the situation. The only silver lining was that to some extent they will provide some of the aid I would desperately need and at the moment it is needed.

That, at least, provided me with a bit of comfort.

It was nearly evening now and the day was almost over so I decided to take the first step on achieving two of my goals that aligned. I could get my revenge back on Stiff and jump up a level at the same time. It was a two birds one stone mission.

And that was why five o'clock in the evening found me hiding in one of the blindspots beyond the coverage of his surveillance cameras in his mansion.

I needed a way to get into this building. I was not here to kill Stiff or even catch him in some incriminating act. No, what I came here for was to gather evidence that would convince everyone of his true nature.

I thought about his betrayal, the suffering he'd intentionally put me through, ten years I lost for him. And with that I wished for a way to get into the mansion and find the evidence that would damn him.

As I stood in that blindspot a police klaxon appeared in my hands and then went off in loud, echoing sirens.

"Shit," I whispered. "Fuck, fuck, fuck."

I heard approaching footsteps from the right and took off, towards the left, not caring about fucking blindspots anymore.

"Stupid fucking powers," I cursed aloud. "How in any way is a klaxon supposed to help me get into the mansion."

I ran and came up to the gate of the mansion only to stumble to a staggered halt because of what I was met with.

The gates were wide open.

I racked my brain to understand why the guards would do such a thing. Was this a trap? Did they know I was coming?

And then I remembered the klaxon. They must have all rushed away to investigate the noise. Well my wish did help me with getting into the mansion, now let see about that evidence, I thought.

Just as I thought that, I noticed a car just inside the house. An armored and reinforced SUV. It seemed like the car had been prepared to be driven out. I could even see the briefcase of the VIP in the backseat. It seemed like the guard on chauffeur duty had rushed out too to investigate the noise of the klaxon and left the car door open.

I looked further into the mansion then looked at the briefcase which might likely belong to Stiff. How long would it take me to get into the mansion and find any kind of evidence before the guards returned? Wouldn't it just be easier to grab the briefcase and high tail it?

Both considerations had their risks. The briefcase might not contain any documents that could be used as evidence of Stiff's crimes. Also it could be someone else's briefcase, or his and not contain any document at all. It could be money that was inside. As for breaking into the mansion, there might be burglar alarms, more guards, guard dogs, laser security, and even worse things. That's if the CCTV hadn't seen me already and the guards had already been directed to my position.

My decision was made for me when I heard the guards returning. I dashed into the house and hurried over to the car. The driver had left his door open so from there I unpinned the backseat doors, got them open and grabbed the briefcase.

Without wasting time locking the doors, I dashed back out of the mansion just as the guards rounded the corner. I didn't wait for them to recognize the reason for my flight, I just kept running.

It took them a moment to notice the briefcase in my hands and they took off after me, but by then there was already almost a hundred meters gap between us.

Enough distance and time to duck into an alleyway I was familiar with and hide the briefcase behind a secret door then duck out and continue running.

I looked back to see if the guards had noticed. Fortunately they hadn't, they all passed the alleyway without sparing it a glance, their collective attention focused on me.