Bolt

9| Even The Captain Is Afraid.

I flicked on the light switch, but it didn't turn on. What's going on? I paid the electricity bill on time every month. I tried again multiple times, but the lights didn't come on.

Standing still, I listened to the intruder breathe. Were they watching me from the dark? Could they even see me? I doubted it since the dome took away our power.

My heart raced as I imagined the worst outcomes in this situation—death being at the top of the list. As much as I hated my life, I didn't want to die yet.

There was a lamp on the table beside the TV. I moved towards it, hands forward, in case I bumped into something. Hopefully, whoever hid in the dark was reasonable enough to wait for me to see before killing me.

What if it's someone Shiver is working with? He said they'd come for me when I was alone and tell me the truth... Something along those lines. I was in panic mode. I couldn't figure out which words Shiver had said, and which ones I made up.

I reached for the lamp's string and turned it on. A large shadow covered the wall in front of me.

"You sure took your time, convict," a deep male voice said. It lacked emotion, like that of a robot.

Convict? I didn't know who this Bastard In The Dark was, but I wasn't that. He must've mistaken me for someone else. I was a lot of things—uncaring, hateful, lazy—but convict wasn't it. I had never been arrested in my life. Ever since I was old enough to roam around the city alone, I had always walked the straight path before becoming a hero.

"You can turn and look at me. I am not here to kill you. Yet." He cleared his throat. "I came to talk." He sounded sincere and almost apologetic for how he came off earlier.

Is he playing a trick on me? There was only one way to find out. I turned towards him with my eyes closed. I feared he might've been a peculiar with telepathic powers. None of them were stronger than Mind-Thorn, but that ability was still effective on someone like me.

What are you doing, Trey? There's a power-inhibiting dome over the city. No peculiar can use their powers.

I smiled after the realization. Suddenly, I wasn't afraid of the lowlife in my apartment. If things got bad and we ended up fighting, then I'd win. I knew where all the weapons were.

Opening my eyes, my heart nearly jumped out of my mouth. "Oh, Black Jesus!" I gulped. "Captain Tombstone?"

"Yeah, yeah, yeah, it's me." He stood, his head nearly touching the ceiling. I wasn't small, standing at six-foot-three, but Captain Tombstone's six-foot-eight frame made me look up at him. The long coat he wore did a good job of hiding his muscles and making him look mundane, but he was still a giant. Shiver was the only one who came close to matching his size.

"What are you doing in my apartment?" I asked. And why did you call me a convict?

"I'm here because everything you said would happen, has happened."

"When did I say that?" I had never spoken to him before today.

He sighed. "As per our agreement, you said when the moment came, you would tell me how to take it down."

"What agreement? Take what down?" I massaged my aching forehead. I hated people who didn't get to the point. "What are you talking about?" I hated not knowing what I was supposed to know. I always believed I had a good memory, but Shiver and Captain Tombstone made me realize that wasn't true.

He continued. "The deal was for you to remember by the time Phase 2 started." He clenched his hands and gritted his teeth. "Your memories should have returned by now. Did the clairvoyant get it wrong? Otherwise, we wouldn't have given you immunity if we knew this would happen."

I knew what I was about to ask would frustrate him, but I had to. "Immunity?"

"I should have known you would do this. I should've trusted my gut and killed you."

"Kill—"

Captain Tombstone slapped my face with the back of his hand, sending me flying across the living room and into the wall.

My body ached—from my head to toes. I was in so much pain; I started crying. It had been a long time since I felt this much torment. After I lost my powers, I avoided confrontations—even when I wanted to retaliate after feeling disrespected.

There were moments when mundanes and peculiars held me at gunpoint, and I gave them whatever I had—money and clothes I wore. It was worth it compared to the pain I would've felt after being shot or hit.

I became a coward.

And all those years of ducking fights were for nothing now.

A loud buzz filled my ears. I waited a few seconds for it to pass before opening my eyes. With my vision distorted, I couldn't tell apart the floor from the ceiling.

I heard Captain Tombstone heading my way. I tried to speak, to ask him why he was doing this. But I couldn't. I wasn't man enough to stand up to him. If I did, he would crush me like a bug. And I didn't want to feel pain anymore.

"I've had it with you. I'm killing you here and now." Captain Tombstone was above the law. He could be caught on camera murdering an infant and people would say the infant had done something wrong.

He grabbed me by the neck and lifted me. My feet dangled while I looked into his glowing red eyes.

Is this how it ends? Tears ran down my face.

This was a reminder that my life could end at any moment, and I needed to appreciate it more. I had taken a lot of things for granted over the last ten years. I didn't have friends; I cut ties with relatives; I wasted my twenties drowning in drugs.

I wished I had at least adopted a cat or dog. Then maybe I'd have something that would remember me after I passed.

"Do you remember now?" Captain Tombstone asked.

I felt my soul drain from my body. People in near-death experiences spoke of seeing bright lights at the end of a tunnel. I saw those lights too, as Captain Tombstone choked me. But it wasn't as they described it. The lights showed Mom smiling and beckoning me to go to her. Her dark skin glowed from the bright light behind her. The smile on her broad lips grew, and her sunken brown eyes widened. People had said we looked alike; I saw it now.

Then I thought about Dad. I only knew him through the stories Mom used to tell me. She said he was a good man. They fell in love at a young age and were together until she gave birth to me. He left while Mom was still in the delivery room, cradling me in her arms, promising to return to us one day.

As I died slowly, something inside me awoke. It was just for a moment, but I felt it. It came from the pit of my stomach and rose to my chest. It was warm and electric.

"What are you doing?" Captain Tombstone asked. Something caught his attention. I couldn't tell what it was.

The warm feeling moved to my head, and I felt euphoric. It was like for the first time in years I knew who and what I was, and what I needed to do to stay alive.

Fixating on Captain Tombstone's eyes, the bright red glow of his laser vision was gone. Instead, shock filled his face. I grabbed his hand and pulled it away from my throat. The sudden increase in my strength surprised us both.

"You're back?" he said. "It can't be."

I knew what I needed to say. "Hello, Judas. Did you miss me?"

Captain Tombstone let go of me, and I landed on the floor. He stumbled backward. "It—It's not possible." He bumped against the wall and looked around frantically. "We removed all traces of you. How?"

"You failed." I belly laughed. "See you soon, Judas. And tell the others I'm coming for them. This time, I'll finish my mission."

I placed my right palm over my left, and a ball of electricity formed between them. Captain Tombstone hovered, about to fly away. But I would not let him get away that easily. I thrust the ball of electricity towards him, sending him through the ceiling and into the sky.

The same feeling that gave me a new lease of life left me as soon as Captain Tombstone wasn't around. My legs wobbled before I collapsed on the floor.

"I get to live another day." I smiled before losing consciousness.