A hero's journey

Hero's journey

It was a cold winter morning.  In the bustling streets of the city, the strong winds lifted litter out of their bins and pushed it around the ground. Cars raced across the road making it dangerous to cross but to some, they didn't care just as long as they could get to work faster. These kind of people were the one's who caused car accidents never getting to their destination in the end.

 An animation of a green man walking was shown on a set of LEDs as the citizens of the city hurried across somewhere unknown. The litter that lay on the street was trampled on, never getting a single glance. Though it finally did as a girl's ears perked up as she heard the crunch of something under her shoe.

Her pearl white scarf hung down as she bent down to pick up what looked like a piece of scrunched up paper. Xavier's hands had a slight tint of purple on them because of the freezing cold and her lack of gloves. She uncrumpled the paper she noticed letters written in black ink. It read. 'Today - Karen Avenue 157B.' It was the address of the bank she was going to.

 An unsettling feeling of unease enveloped her; despite it just looking like an innocent note. She didn't feel like going there now. Xavier gnawed on her lip. But she had to meet her friend, Michel, besides that note could have been written any other day. Xavier's hands hesitated as they hovered above the trashcan before she ultimately decided to stuff it in the pockets of her jeans. Xavier's eyes scanned the trash can for any other pieces of paper before she continued walking.

She let out a long breath which condensed into a white fog. Xavier opened the door and waved to Michel, he waved back smiling. They had agreed to meet at the bank, so they could use the ATM machine. Using cash was their way of keeping a budget, Xavier also didn't like how people could keep track of her purchases if she used her card. A gust of warm air came from inside hitting Xavier. It seemed she wasn't paying attention because she heard a shout directed at her.

"Could you please close the door, you're letting cold air in here!" The elderly receptionist's face wore a scowl as Xavier gave tried to give an apologetic look but in actuality, to everyone else it looked like she was sending her a mocking look. Michel had an exasperated look knowing that Xavier didn't know what her facial expressions seemed to look like.

Her eyes had a glint of excitement.

"Are we getting the money now?" If you listened carefully, you could hear a little difference in her usual monotone tone. It was a bit more upbeat.

"Yeah, ok..." Michel replied.

The air was suddenly rent by the sound of breaking glass. The ice-cold air rushed in as glass shards lay on the ground. Men in black that wore masks came in, holding guns. The click of a gun was heard before it was put to the receptionist's head. The warm atmosphere between Xavier and Michel had broken like the shattered glass and had now turned cold.

 What was happening? They stared in horror; they were too distracted to notice another man from the group approaching them from behind as shouts of orders resounded in the bank. The arms of the man moved swiftly as he grabbed Michel from behind. His eyes snapped open wider in shock and surprise as he was picked up in a strong grip.

Xavier's eyes squinted as her head had suddenly started to throb with a pain that felt like someone had taken a knife to her skull. She squeezed her eyes shut, willing the pain to go away. Though the pain only grew more intense. The rest of the world became detached, all she could concentrate on was the increasing pain in her head. Time slowed down the moment she resolutely resisted the pain and forced her eyes open. The pain prevented her from fully grasping the fact that time had actually slowed down.

As she looked at the struggling Michel in the arms of the man she only had one thought in her mind to 'Save Michel from this stranger's arms,'. With time so slow Xavier could see all the openings in him she hit him several times before time sped up again and the man let Michel out of his grasp as he collapsed to the ground from the sudden pain.