Swarley - Issue 5: Questions

The coffee helped keep me awake. I was sitting in a Williams, the sun having just risen after a long and sleepless night, wondering if this would be one of the last times I would be able to do this. I knew I'd chosen my fate when I left Aimee untouched last night, free to be able to tell the world that Ryan Swartz had killed - that Ryan Swartz was Vengeance. I didn't have a choice though, there was no way I could have done anything to my Aimee. A killer I was, but cold hearted I was not. I could still see her face, her blonde hair a mess as she smiled her perfect smile at me making me smile in kind as I brought the cup of coffee to my lips again. It pained me every time I realized I would never see it again.

Life was too short for regrets though, that was a lesson I'd learned a long time ago. You could wallow in your own sadness for an eternity and accomplish nothing, or you could just move on. It was hard, but I was choosing the latter. What faced me now however was daunting. When news hit today, I would be a rogue, running from the law with no place to go. Sure, I had power on my side, but I didn't want to have to do anything unneccessary. I deemed fighting the police unneccessary. I had to be crafty, but that was hard to do without some source of inspiration. I could read some comic books, but hell, I wasn't that hard up for ideas.

I'd had some of my own though when I met Lyle earlier that morning and decided to have a meeting in 3 days time with all of us "freaks". The outcome of the it all would prove very important for me - I didn't need opposition, but there was a potential to make some there. I honestly wondered if they would be interested in what I had to offer. I was convinced that I could swing Lyle to my side, at least for a little while, but after that it was anyone's guess. Greg on the other hand would prove difficult, and he posed my biggest challenge for my proposal. I knew I would be able to count on Seguin, but I hadn't been able to reach him lately, so I had my doubts that he would even get my email. We would see when the time came I guessed. I mulled over some potential outcomes of the meeting for a couple more minutes until another thought dawned on me. I had left my costume in my car at my house.

"Fuck," I swore openly, the two other patrons inside the williams not paying me any attention. I couldn't just leave it there, I loved that outfit. I would have to go get it, and that meant doing something rash. I could wager that police would still be on the scene, I just had to hope that they hadn't hauled it down to the station yet. attacking a few lone officers was preferable to storming a station. I grabbed my cup of coffee, stood up and walked outside to find a pay phone where I could call a cab. In 10 minutes I was on my way.

I ordered the cabby to drop me off at the entrance to my subdivision, paid him and hopped out of the car. I walked the short distance I needed to until I could see the scene, then slipped into the backyard of some of the neighbours across the street. I levitated myself and hid behind the rooftop where I could observe the men below. The police were still there doing their whole investigation routine, which was great, but much to my dismay, I couldn't tell if Aimee was still around. I would assume they would have taken her down to the station for hours upon hours of explaination, but I had no way of knowing. I felt bad for her, but I had a bigger problem. There was no way I could storm down there with even the slightest possibility that she might be around - I didn't want to see how she would look at me. I would have to wait until they confiscated my costume from my car, and then ambush theirs when it went to leave. Luckily for me, it seemed those were the next two things on their agenda. A rather chubby looking officer walked up to my car and opened the back door. After poking his head in and rummaging around for a moment or two, he emerged with the bag that contained my costume. He mouthed some words I couldn't make out to a fellow officer, who took the bag from him, marked it with something and placed it in the backseat of their own car. It was only a matter of time now.

Roughly twenty minutes passed and still nothing had happened. It wasn't snowing, but it sure as hell was cold, and if not for my ability to shield myself from the wind, I'd have been frozen solid. There were only 4 officers still walking about below, and they had all ceased doing anything but talking. I could vagely make out the one who seemed to be in charge - a tall man with a thick mustache who the others seemed to be pretty fond of. I felt like going down there and ripping that stupid mustache off his face for taking so long. Before I did anything rash however, he decided to send two of his officers back to the station. As they got in their car, I readied myself for what was to come. I dropped down to the ground and started walking towards the road that they would reach in only a moment's time.

I nodded to the car as they passed me by en route to the stop sign not 20 feet more ahead of them. I arched right and headed towards them. As they hit the stop sign, I lifted my arm and used my power to ensure that the car wouldn't be moving from that spot. I laughed a little as I saw their wheels spinning in place when they tried to accelerate into the intersection. I waited until the chubby one in the passenger seat got out of the car before walking right up. I lowered my arm to look less conspicuous, using my mind to keep the block up now.

"Having some troubles, Officer?" I questioned, knowing full well what the problem was.

"Yea, we seem to be stuck," he said, looking rather confused as he examined the car.

"I know," I said as I looked into the backseat of the car, spotting my bag sitting neatly in the middle. The officer looked at me with a blank expression for a moment, obviously trying to figure out what I'd meant and what I was doing before responding.

"We can handle ourselves, why don't you step away from the vehicle."

"No, that just won't do," I mocked, "you've got something I want."

The officer reached for his gun, but I was ahead of him. I grabbed it from it's holster and brought it over to my hand in the blink of an eye. I heard the driver getting out of the car, and when he pointed his gun at me over the top of the car yelling, "Freeze," I took his too. I was now holding the guns of both officers in my hands, watching as they stared back at me dumbfounded. I loved that look.

"Listen," I continued, "I'm not here to hurt anyone, I just want my things. Cooperate, and it'll all go smoothly. Open the back door or I'll open it for you," I motioned to the chubby one in front of me. He looked over at the driver who nodded, and then tossed him his keys. He opened the door and stepped aside.

"Thank you," I said as I pulled the bag from inside out to me with TK and hung it over my shoulder. "One last thing gentlemen, I'll be needing those keys. Can't have you following me after all." They seemed to be getting a little sour over all the demands now, what with the other officers only a block away and completely unaware, but the chubby one still obeyed. He tossed the keys to me and I caught them mid air with TK and dropped them into my pocket.

"Excellent," I concluded, "now, I have no use for these things myself, so I'll leave them at the base of the stop sign at the entrance to this subdivision. I wouldn't advise following me for now, I wouldn't want to have to do anything rash."

I winked for effect as they stood there uneasily.

"Alright Gentlemen, it was a pleasure doing business."

With that, I levitated and took off at the fastest speed I could go towards the entrance to the subdivision, probably only 100 feet away from where we were standing. When I reached it, I dropped the goods and looked back at the officers, who were now running back towards the others at my house. I doubted they would be so bold to come after me after what had just happened, but you can bet chief mustache would be getting an earful for the next 5 minutes. I laughed a little at that thought before taking off and flying away from the roads in order to keep under the radar, my costume secured safely at my side. I wondered how much of a habit this kind of thing would become for me soon, but I knew only the meeting in 3 days could answer that for me. In 3 days I would decide my fate.