The Starling Saviour

Chapter 10

Avoiding the SCPD some more, I made my way to the apartment. It was still 3pm, but I had nothing to do. I had planned to get a coffee at SC Jitters in the mall, but there was no hope in getting back in there.

Twirling the Vigilante's card around in my hand, I read the details listed on it. It was a business card for some Sports Centre in the Glades. Strange place for a Vigilante to be hanging about.

Putting the card away in my purse, I sighed as I thought about what had happened at the mall. Seeing all those people in danger, who could have left many more people in mourning if I or the Vigilante hadn't had stepped in, made me think about my choices. My life.

And that made me think of how harsh I had been to Laurel. Yes, she had been rude to me when initially learning that her boyfriend that cheated on her with me, but it wasn't her fault. We needed to stick together, against Tommy. We were friends, not foes.

Catching up on the newest Doctor Who series, I watched the TV until the clock turned to 6pm. Now was my chance. Now I could see Laurel and make amends with her.

---

'Aria,' Laurel said, partially shocked, as she opened the door to me. 'You came!'

'I wanted to accept your offer,' I said awkwardly, trying my best not to mess anything up. 'I've come to apologise. I was out of line. I should have realised that the biggest culprit here isn't you. It's Tommy. He hurt us both, and we need to stick together. I'm really sorry, Laurel.'

Well that went much better than I expected.

'I didn't think you'd actually come,' Laurel admitted after a long silence. 'And I accept your apology. But we were both wrong, not just you, Aria.'

'But I was the one who nearly stopped us being friends again,' I dwelled, upset. 'And, after thinking about... Things, I've come to realise that I should be giving back to people. You've all helped me this week, and so I should return the favour.'

'I'm glad we're friends,' Laurel smiled, hugging me. 'You're my best friend, Aria. When you were missing, I really, really missed you.'

'It's a good job I came back, then!' I laughed, sitting down next to Laurel.

'Did you hear about the mall?' Laurel asked me as we started to get into conversation about current affairs.

'What... Happened?' I asked awkwardly, trying to cover up my role in the scene.

But Laurel might have already known I was there. The whole of Starling might have known.

'Some members of a gang were found there,' Laurel explained. 'It was strange- they were all tied up, when the SCPD had received a call about people being held hostage! Some witnesses told the cops about what happened; apparently the Vigilante and some girl saved them.'

'The Vigilante?' I repeated, trying to seem the slightest bit surprised. 'Did he... Save people, then?'

'He saved twenty people!' Laurel exclaimed. 'But, for some reason, that girl the witnesses were talking about, she's not on any CCTV cameras, and there's no way of tracing her. It's like she disappeared.'

How had the Vigilante erased me from all the footage? I was glad of his assistance, but it just made the police suspicious. Hopefully they wouldn't be able to track it down to me.