Changing the Future

Chapter 6

"Hello, Sally Jackson," Smelly Gabe slurred, but the cruelty in his voice was still there. "You thought you could leave little old me without any consequences, did you? That's not how it works!"

"Mommy?" Percy asked, his voice trembling in fear.

"Mommy's right here, Percy," Sally said, doing a good job at hiding the fear in her voice, but not on her face. "Don't hurt him, Gabriel. Do what you will with me, but leave my son out of this."

"Sally, I need you to trust me on this," I said, my voice no louder than a whisper. "When I say run, you run, understand? Don't worry about Percy. I'll protect him."

I summoned my sword, and even though the blade wouldn't harm Smelly Gabe, it was enough to have him scared of me, and that's all I needed. I walked out from behind the counter and stood directly across from Smelly Gabe, causing him to shift the barrel of the gun from Percy's head to my chest.

"Stay out of this, little girl, and I'll let you live," he promised, though I knew he was lying. There was no way he would leave any witnesses that could rat him out.

"Back away from Percy," I said coolly, not afraid of the gun. Salina had taught me in every form of weapon, including guns. That meant I knew exactly how much time I had to take him out between shots.

"One last chance," Smelly Gabe said, lowering the barrel of the gun back down to Percy's head. "Or the boy gets it." Percy flinched as Smelly Gabe pressed the cold metal of the gun directly against his temple, a fatal shot.

"Close your eyes, little one," I told Percy, backing up to where the water line was. "You won't want to see this. Sally, now!"

I turned around and slashed at the water line, much to Smelly Gabe's confusion. Sally listened to me and took off for the back room, barely missing being shot in the shoulder by Smelly Gabe. Percy was now freely crying, clapping his hands over his ears after hearing the sound of the gun shot.

I waved my hand towards Percy, and like magic, the water that had started to flood the room made a protective dome over him. Now that I was positive that Percy was safe, I lifted my hands on either side of me, the water raising up like a shield.

"W-What are you?" Smelly Gabe shouted, firing off two more shots at me, but my water shield stopped the bullets dead in their tracks.

"Your worst nightmare," I answered, my voice sounding like the earth was rumbling beneath me.

I pushed my hands forward, and the water instantly wrapped around Smelly Gabe like a cocoon for a very, very ugly butterfly. I forced the water to rip the gun out of Smelly Gabe's hand, and I kicked it away from him and to the corner of the store, far out of his reach.

"Percy," I said, "please close your eyes and cover your ears. I don't want you to see this."

I checked that he had done what I asked and saw Percy curled up into a tight ball, his hands clapped tightly over his ears while his head was buried in his chest.

Then, I squeezed the water by constricting my hands, causing for Smelly Gabe's eyes to bulge out of his head as if he were one of those squishy toys. As he began to scream, I forced the water down his throat, making him thrash and scream even more, his face quickly going from red to purple. With one final wave of my hands, I encased him completely in a sphere of water, waiting until he no longer moved.

After making sure he was dead, I dropped Smelly Gabe's body to the floor, every muscle in my body aching from over exertion. The protective dome around Percy collapsed, soaking him completely.

Percy jolted up after being soaked, and ran over to me, pressing his face into my leg. "Is he dead?" he asked me, looking up at me with those big sea green eyes of him.