Gyrus

Chapter Twelve: Greek Gifts

I could see the four of us reflected in one of the concave mirrored doors of the three industrial size washing machines stacked side by side. The old man was a sea of calm, his arms steady as they pushed his sawed off shot gun through my matted hair, and pressed its double nozzle against my head. His eyes were set with a quiet grim determination; he'd made peace with the fact that it was a very distinct possibility that three teenagers would die by his hand. Zoe's hands were balled into fists by her side and her brow was furrowed, she'd focus on her telekinetic powers and awakened them again, and she was likely holding a whip of telekinetic rage in her balled fist, coiled and read to lash out as soon as she saw an opening. Wong on the hand just stood there slack jawed. It was like a game of chess with a cornered king, we were at an impasse. I nodded imperceptibly at Zoe, giving her the go-ahead to try and hit the manager.

I gave Zoe a signal and she moved her arm forward in a swift motion that pulled the edge of the shotgun from my head. I ducked quickly and delivered a forceful kick to the old man's belly, which led to the creation of a deafening shot that left a ringing sound in my ears. I heard Zoe scream and I looked around. Wong's body stood, battered, bloody and studded with pellets, and he slumped to the floor. I felt a numbing shock at the sight and looked back to the man, who seemed considerably surprised at the turn of events. But the shotgun was still in his hands. I flew towards him to take the gun and prevent any other damage, but then I saw the barrel tilt to face me.

Suddenly I felt a shudder run through me. It wasn't exactly a shudder; it was much more than that. It felt like someone had dunked me into a pool of ice cold water and taken me out almost instantaneously. I shook visibly as I blinked and noticed that Zoe had not moved from her position. Wong was still standing and staring at the motel owner. The motel owner himself still had the gun nudging my head. I let out a sigh of relief as Zoe's brow sank into a confused frown. Then I realized what the thing that had just happened was, a premonition. A view of what would happen if I gave Zoe the permission to attack.

I gave the situation a quick once-over and cringed. I had been so stupid, so so stupid. This wasn't in our favor in any way; if things had played out the way they were about to, at least one of us would be dead before Zoe could marshal enough telekinetic energy to do any damage to the hotel manager. I don't know how it had skipped me before but she didn't seem all that firm on her feet, the amount of energy she'd expended opening the hydraulic doors must have been severely draining. There was one other route to go. Slowly I raised my hands high over my head. Zoe raised an eyebrow as if to say, 'I can take him' but I ignored it.

"Good boy." The manager said, and jabbed me with his gun. "Your friends should follow your example. Hands in the air."

Wong's arms shot up faster than I could blink, but Zoe took her time, slowly raising hers in mock defiance while using the lag to dissipate the telekinetic energy that was still balled up in her fists. She spread her hands slowly to show the manager that there was nothing hidden inside. He put his foot in the small of my back and kicked me forward to join my friends. He kept the gun on me until he was safely out of my hitting range and then he trained the gun on a still scowling Zoe.

"Been ten years since Betulla done given me them hydraulic doors. Ten years and not once has any pilferer made it past them. But y'all just waltz in and your girl here does some hocus-pocus and my door comes sliding open like a puppy with a Frisbee. You're gon' tell me what you did girl, or someone's gonna get hurt."

I felt stupid. Of course he had security cameras all around the premises. He must have been watching us from the get-go and only considered us a threat when we, against all logical odds, got the door to open. Zoe bristled beside me. I grabbed her hand and squeezed tightly. She took the hint and grudgingly held her tongue. Suddenly Wong coughed loudly, attracting the attention of gun toting owner who raised an eyebrow in response.