Black as Night | P. Parker

Chapter One

"Show me the monster that you really are."
"I'll show you what I can do."

Heart pounding, a dark haired girl sat up in a sleeping bag, firelight casting patterns across her face and in her emerald eyes, making them look harsher than they already did. She runs a hand over her face, and lays back down. Her sleeping nights had been plagued by that for five years. The same dream, over and over again until she wakes in a cold sweat.

She rolls onto her stomach to warm her right side, stares at the fire as she thinks about that night. Her eleven year old self had been drastically less terrified of the drunken woman than she should have been, but it had been a long time since she had felt things like fear. Death has a way of wrapping around your heart and making it cold. In the morning she would push away these memories, but the nights were hers to dwell on the past.

"Get up!" A sharp voice commanded in a whisper. "Onyx, get up!"

The dark-haired girl opened her eyes to see the fire being snuffed out. "Hannah? What's going on?" she asked.

"There's someone outside the building," her friend answered.

"Putting out the fire is not going dissuade them of someone inside," the black-haired girl responded easily.

"But without light, they won't be able to see us. Quick, pack up your stuff and hide." And then Hannah was gone, leaving Onyx alone. With a curse, she pulled herself out of her sleeping bag and gathered it in her arms, along with the few other material belongings she had and left the dying embers behind for the cupboard under the stairs. The hiding spot was less than ideal, but it was a hiding spot nonetheless, and that was all that Onyx needed right now.

Through the crack where she had left the door slightly open, the young girl could see the fire and watched as a figure dropped from the ceiling and landed right where she had been sleeping not five minutes before. The embers didn't cast much light, but combined with the moonlight, she could see a red and blue suit, with a matching mask and large white eyes. Onyx recognized the figure from somewhere, but it was difficult to say where exactly. New York was a big city, there were lots of weirdos running around.

For no other reason than it made her feel better if the figure found her with her hood up and her face was covered, she pulled the hood of her sweater up over her face and continued to watch. He looked around, but the remaining light was being snuffed out as each curtain fell closed. Hannah, Onyx cursed. She just couldn't stay hidden could she?

"Hello?" called out the figure, and it was definitely a male voice, young, definitely, but male. "I'm not going to hurt you, just come out."

"I won't hurt you, either."

Hannah dropped down behind the figure and he straightened. Onyx couldn't tell if that was on his own or if it was Hannah's will. Her blood-red hair like a candle in a dark room, Onyx was able to watch her movements easily. One curtain was left open, directly in front of the figure and when Hannah walked around in front of him, her face was masked by the darkness. Clever tactic.

"Walk out of here and never come back, or I'll make you, and I've heard that isn't a pleasant experience." Onyx didn't have to see Hannah's face to see the deadly smirk on her face.

"Who are you?" The figure asked.

"Now why would I tell you that?" There was a pause. "Now go, I won't repeat myself."

"I can help you," he said.

Hannah sighed, "I was really hoping that I didn't have to do this."

The figure turned around sharply, and started moving towards the staircase down to the first level. He went easy, but it was always easy when Hannah was in control. In a matter of minutes, he was out the front door. When Hannah relaxed, the figure didn't reappear, so Onyx pushed open the door and approached her friend.

"There are so many freaks in New York," she muttered.

"You didn't recognize him?" Hannah asked.

"Should I have?"

"Look, Nyx, I know we're homeless and all, but you should still recognize Spider-Man when you see him. Especially when he comes into your home."

"That was Spider-Man?"

"You didn't see the red and blue suit?"

"No, I saw it, I just... I guess I didn't see more than red and blue."

"What other superhero wears red and blue?" Hannah questioned.

"I don't know, Captain America?" Onyx offered.

Her friend laughed. "Right, Captain America is going to break into our home and drop from the ceiling."

"It isn't technically our home, Han."

"Not the point," she countered.

"Kind of was the point," Onyx replied.

"No- the point was that it obviously wasn't Captain America. He wasn't beefy enough for that. Spider-Man is the lanky and awkward one. Captain America is the super soldier."

Onyx laughed as she laid out her sleeping bag, and Hannah started to get the fire going again so they didn't freeze over night. "We've got to meet with a client tomorrow, so we should probably get some sleep."

"Yeah, alright. I'll just get this going. We'll grab some grub at the diner before we meet up with them," Hannah agreed. "Hopefully it'll be a worthy pay-out this time."

"It never really is, though, is it?" Onyx mused. "We still won't be able to buy an apartment and be able to afford the rent. We'll still have to live on the streets, we'll still have to sleep in sleeping bags and we'll still have to buy our stuff from second hand stores."

"Maybe this time we'll get enough to buy a good mattress. Rent a U-Haul and bring them here. Get a few other pieces of furniture, spruce the place up. You can drive, right?" Hannah asked.

"I'm sure we could figure it out. How much do mattresses cost?"

"We could do some research at the library before we meet the client. What time is the meeting anyway?"

Onyx rolled over and grabbed the envelope. "Two thirty," she supplied.

"Ah, plenty of time. We can grab some breakfast at eight or nine, head over to the library after that and then deduce how much we need from the client. Do we have enough to pay for the PO Box this month?"

"I think so," Onyx thought over the finances. "We got a little more than we needed at the thrift store last week, but we were under budget for food. I think we'll be fine."

"Good, we need that thing. How else are we gonna get our contracts? We certainly can't send them here." Hannah laid down in her sleeping bag. "It certainly would be nice not to have to worry about these things..."

"Sixteen year olds shouldn't have to, I agree."

"Maybe someday we'll get lucky."

"Maybe someday..."

"Night, Onyx."

"Night, Hannah."