Have you ever woke up and had that three seconds or so where you don't remember who you are, or where you are? That's what this was like. When I opened my eyes, I didn't have the foggiest idea where I was. I tried to get up, only to realize that I couldn't. Maybe the rest of me was still asleep.
"Ah, so your finally up, Mr. Taves," a voice said from the left. I lifted my head to see, just realizing now that I was sitting in a chair.
"Who are you, and what are you doing in my house?" I asked, utterly confused as to what was going on. Why the heck had I slept in a chair? And why the heck couldn't I move yet?
"Ah, you don't remember do you? I'm told that the drug has quite the effect on you lot when you first wake up afterwards. Oh well. Maybe this'll help," he said, stepping forward, and bending over so that his face was directly in my line of site. That's when the events of the past 24 hours all came rushing back.
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After the worship service at the church, I went out for coffee with Katelyn. We talked about the old times at Short Stop, about what we'd both been doing since, and talked about what exactly we wanted to do with our lives. Eventually, we got to talking about relationships. Neither of us had really had much luck it seemed.
"You know, I used to have a crush on you?" she said, blushing abit at the confession.
"Used too?" I asked, letting a coy smile cross my lips, "Does that mean you no longer do? Well, that's a shame. And here I thought we might be onto something here."
"Don't be smart there, mister," Katelynn said, laughing as she spoke. "You know what I mean."
"Ya, ya. I know. Too be honest, I had no clue. But then again, I had a girlfriend, and was old enough to be your grandfather"
"Oh shut up! Three years isn't that much. Heck it's practically normal," she said, her cute smile growing, almost in relation to how red her face was getting.
"Well, now it isn't, but back then, it might aswell have been centuries. Clearly, now I don't think it's a big deal. It definitely wouldn't stop me from dating you." The words came out before I knew what I was saying, and suddening it was my turn to blush.
"Dating, eh?" she said, now her own coy smile crossing her lips, "well, I don't know about that yet, but I definitely think we should hang out more often."
The rest of the evening was more jokes, especially when she had to drop me off at home. We hugged right before I got out of the car, and I went inside, a plopped down on my bed, truely and fully content with life.
I woke up the next morning at 9, which is early for me, and showered right before Sarah came over. Once she showed up, we spent the next 4 hours going over sowing tips. Plenty of jokes were made at my expense for suddenly wanting to learn how to sow properly, but a bruised ego wasn't going to knock me down one bit. After having a late lunch at Subway with Sarah, I thanked her for her help, and went back home to start working on the costume.
In the end, it didn't look too different then most clothes, but put together, I thought it looked bitching. Basically, it consisted of a black long sleeve shirt, which had been sowed to have a path of white running down that ran from the neck, over the heart, and to the bottom of the shirt; black jeans, with a black belt; black sneakers; a black duster jacket; black gloves with cutoff fingers; and the final touch, a small black mask which took me 5 tries just to get right. It was made from a very thin material, so as it wouldn't affect my vision at all. I spent the next 2 hours testing out how the costume felt around the house as I performed my powers, and did what I considered to be difficult fighting maneuvers. I found that the duster didn’t get in the way at all, and added just the right visual touch to the costume. All-in-all it was entire a practical costume, that just happened to look cool. The mask was the coolest touch, as it made me feel like more of a superhero just wearing it.
I called in sick to work, explaining that I had the flu, and I went out for dinner with Katelyn. I won't bore you all with the wonderfully amazing details, but it was a wonderfully fun evening again. Explain I had other plans later though, we parted company afterwards with a kiss. How different my life had become in the week and a half since I had learned that I had this wonderful new power. It seemed that everything in my life was going amazingly well. I should have known better. I've read enough comics to know that it's usually at this point that the hero's life comes crashing down around him, with everyone he knows getting hurt in the process. It's the third law of being a hero.
I 'flashed' back home and changed into my costume, and 'flashed' my way into Waterloo. It was faster then driving, and saved me the gas money. Better yet, it didn't seem to tire me out at all, or make me sweat. I sat in the dark of Victoria Park, listening to the scanner. At about 9:40, I heard the police say a woman had just called in saying she was mugged two blocks from where I was. I 'flashed' over the two blocks, till I stood across the street from the woman on the phone with the police. I then drew in a bunch of the light around me, and I projected it out as a steady glow as I walked over to her. "I believe I might be able to help ma'am," I said, changing my voice to give it a little more bravado, and to make it sound a little less like Greg Taves, and more like 'Uriel'. That was the name I had chosen for my costumed self. It meant 'Light of God' or 'God is my light', which I thought was appropriate enough for me. Uriel was also an archangel in many texts, and was specifically named by Gregory the Great, forebearer of my name. I thought there was something awesome and clever about naming myself after an archangel.
Anyhow, this is when things get weird. The lady smiled at me as she hung up her phone. It was a smile that didn't look like it had pleasant thoughts behind it. Still grinning that creepy grin, she said "We knew you'd come." I heard the sound of something buzzing through the air from behind me, and tried to turn into light, but before I could react I felt a sharp pain in my back. Every part of my body felt instantly heavy, especially my eyes. I tried to ’flash’ away, but I couldn’t do anything it seemed. I dropped to the ground, and fought with all my will to stay awake, but this was like when your put under for surgery. No matter how hard you try to stay awake, you're going under. The last thing I remember before I passed out completely was the sound of approaching feet, and then a face right in front of my eyes. He was a balding man, wearing thick black glasses. Then things went dark. And that brings us back to the start.
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