2: Mercury

Listen to The Blinding Lights, by The Weekend.

Fear.

It was this distressing, unpleasant emotion that overwhelmed you, and seeped through every of your insides, making you feel tensed. During this time, you would be unable to think straight, because when it takes full charge of your mind, it controls the parts of your body. Most times, you could find yourself struggling to open an unlocked door with you heart in your throat, and you panting heavily.

Fear was what I saw in the eyes of everyone at the grocery store, when four thieves with black masks bursted in and started firing shots into the air, with their guns.

"Everybody, get down on the floor!" One of the criminal bellowed at the top of his lungs, then raised his hand up to fire a shot into the air.

This was followed by screams that sounded all around the grocery store, and people began laying flat on the floor. With their hands above their heads.

Some were shivering unendingly, while most had their legs dancing out of fear.

Half an hour ago, the atmosphere was calm with people rolling their carts and shopping. Suddenly these guys showed up and turned a peaceful atmosphere into a tensed filled one. Because they had guns.

I bit down on my buttom lip when I saw a security guard being pushed to the floor, and kicked on the ribs by one of these masked thieves.

They didn't look professional enough, they looked rather hungry. Like they were badly in need of cash. But that didn't justify stealing.

Elijah, my twelve old brother clutched tightly unto my shirt, as he began weeping bitterly. He was really scared, and wished he hadn't agreed to accompany me to the grocery store. I knew. I had bribe him into coming with me, and now this was happening. Elijah got easily emotional despite being a boy. He was a cry baby.

I took a hard dry gulp, then clamped my hand tightly over his mouth, so his wails wouldn't be heard by these thieves.

We were hiding behind a book shelf as we watched these thieves move around, stealing from people.

I narrowed my eyes as I looked at these thieves, calculating the next move I would make, so I could be able to remove those guns from their hands.

One of the thief was pointing his gun at the cashier lady to bring out all the money, she had stuck in the drawer of her counter.

Another was shoving cakes and muffins into a backpack and singing mentally, I assume. Because he was shaking his head, and doing some kind of dance with his feet. He then paused to eat out from one of the muffins, even had the audacity to moan out of pleasure.

While the rest two thieves were taking all the valuables people had. Kicking men like football, stomping on their backs, pulling women by their hair, something which erupted screams.

What triggered me, was when I saw one of these thieves slapping and elderly lady by the face. The woman outcried in pain, and began crawling to reach for her glasses that had fallen of her face, from the impact of being slapped by the criminal who had no respect for the elderly.

He pulled her by the legs, stomped on her willowy wrinkled fingers that were almost grabbing hold of her medicated glasses, and this made her outcried in pain. As if that wasn't enough, he crashed the glasses into pieces, with his foot and began laughing malevolently. Then began smacking the gum loudly in his mouth, like some prostitute.

I curled my free hand into fist, and clenched it hard as I grinded teeth until my jaw hurt.

My anger caused a potency from me to ripe all his clothes apart, that he suddenly became nude. Well except for his boots that he still had on his feet.

People's jaw dropped in shock at this, someone was even laughing. And the idiot who didn't know what had happened to him squeezed his face in confusion.

"Now what's so funny?" He inquired in a suspicious manner, looking around him to the faces of people who were probably dying from holding back their laughter. Then his eyes stared at his physical frame and he stilled like a statue at the museum for sometime.

Then let out a loud squeal like a girl.

Elijah took my hand off his mouth, and began guffawing in laughter like a donkey.

People began laughing and pointing fingers at him, while mother's were covering the gazes of their kids from the sight of the man's nudeness.

He fired a shot in the air, making the laughter to suddenly die down.

I hurriedly searched for something I could use in hitting him with my eyes, and saw a baseball bat.

I raised the baseball bat up with my eyes, and hit him hard at the back of his head, that he began running then missed his step and fell face flat on the floor.

People crawled towards where he was, and began hitting him with whatever they could find. A silent chuckle escaped my lips when the old lady who he had been torturing, stomped hard on his stomach with all her might.

People were hitting his head with pots, pans and wiping his bum with spatular until his bum became red.

The groans and screams from the naked thief on the floor, who was being beaten terribly made his companions to rush into the scene.

They pulled their triggers and fired gun shots at the people who intended running away.

I pushed Elijah to the floor and slowed down these bullets with my eyes. Before I began twirling them together and threw them out of an open window.

People were surprised, even the thieves casted glances of shock at their guns.

I could feel a self confident smirk tugging at the corners of my mouth, as I controlled the guns out of their hands and threw them out of the window.

"Shit!"

"What the fuck just happened!?"

They exclaimed in unison, eyes huge as saucers, as then panted and puffed out big breaths, completely baffled. Every one was.

I closed my eyes shut, then examined every part of the grocery store for a rope. Until I did see it and pulled it out.

"What the fuck is going on, man?" One man asked, looking like he wanted to shit on his pants.

"I have no idea." Another said, staring around him in fear.

"We should go with plan B." The third provided.

And they gave each other a knowing look at this.

"Run!" They chorused when they saw the rope twirling in the air, and approaching them with full force.

They tried running, completely ditching their naked companion on the floor. But it was all too late.

With my index finger, I began drawing a circle continually on the air in front of me, and the rope tied these three thieves together.

I quickly put my finger down, before Elijah could snap his head at me. Because I had sensed he was going to do that.

"Woah." He exclaimed with his eyes widening in their sockets. "Did you see that, Mer? The thief's clothes ripping apart, bullets and guns flying out of the window. And then the rest thieves getting tied with a rope. That is just unbelievable."

"Crazy things happen." I signed, then ruffled his hair and hugged him to my side.

Then I fished out my phone from my pants pocket, to text Dad who was a cop.

* * *

"Dad!" Elijah yelled, running towards a coming forth dad who just hopped out from the cop's car.

Elijah wrapped his arms around him, in a tight hug.

Sirens were still sounding from the cars, and these four thieves were being handcuffed and taken into the cars. The earlier nude one, had a huge white towel wrapped around his waist.

They had bruises on their faces and arms. Something which they had sustained from being beaten thoroughly, from the people in the grocery store.

Dad gently disengaged himself from the hug with Elijah, just to hug me.

He pressed a kiss to my head, then asked quietly.

"Are you okay?"

Tipping my head up to look at him, I signed.

"I'm fine, dad."

He nodded, and then pulled Elijah closed to him as well.

                              * * *

"We've got new neighbors." Mom announced cheerfully, settling a plate off

food on the dining table, as we sat down for dinner that evening.

"That's not bad at all, I just hope they aren't like the meddling old couple, Mr and Mrs Percival." Dad said, then let out a sweet sigh when mom pressed a kiss to his lips.

"Uh, that's gross." Elijah groaned, looking away as he put his head phones around his neck.

"Can you guys not do this now? I'm beginning to think you're getting too old for this." I signed after shaking my head at them in displeasure.

They let out chuckles, and mom walked away to go grab the jug of water from the kitchen.

"So who are these people?" Dad questioned, his gaze serious on us with his two index fingers joint together, and his chin propped on them. He always looked at us this way. A look I knew he had spent a long time practising on the mirror, to probably scare thieves off.

"A man and his son. I saw them through the window this afternoon. They don't look really pleased to be here. I guess this is their first time in this city. So a warm welcome would do." Mom provided.

"You know, I think we should invite them for dinner tomorrow evening." Dad suggested.

"Yeah, dinner would be great. I would prepare Mac and cheese." Mom slapped her fingers together with glee, then pulled a chair back so she could sit down.

"Totally boring. I don't think there would be anything interesting about that." Elijah shrugged, chewing on his pasta.

He was eating when we hadn't even pray.

"Ow!" He groaned, then began rubbing the back of his head, with a frown on his face.

I knew mom had stretch her hand to smack him at the back of his head.

"How many times have I warned you to not eat, when we haven't prayed?" She shot him a glare.

Dad cleared his throat before anymore words could be spoken. Then he said. "Let's pray."

After the prayer, we began eating. Until Elijah broke the silence.

"Uh, mom. There's this calculus assignment I have to submit tomorrow. And I'm finding it difficult to get done with."

"Mercury would help you." Mom said uselessly, making me to shake my head before I forked some pasta in to my mouth.

Elijah kept his fork down on his plate with a loud thud, then chuckled, with his face squeezed in mockery as he looked at me. "Fuck, no. She sucks at calculus." He announced this to my parents.

"Language, Eli." Dad warned sternly.

And mom gave me a look. I guess she finally remembered that I wasn't good at calculus, and felt bad for making that suggestion earlier.

Elijah was right, though. I did suck at calculus. I got straight As in other subjects, but was still struggling to get a Distinction in calculus. It sucked that I couldn't help him.

It sucked even more that he was mocking me.

                             * * *

A tingling sensation on my body, woke me up in the dead of the night. It was my powers alerting me that a fiendish presence was around.

I snapped my head at my window, there and then I saw a giant owl that was making heavy fluttering sounds from it's feathers.

Yesterday evening, I had taken my binds off, while studying and had forgotten to put them back.

This owl which was a big as my house, was whistling instead of hooting, something which was totally a different sound vocalization.

It's eyes were growing bigger and bigger, as it continued whistling. And this started making me go deaf gradually, with my eyes creasing right into their sockets, spinning my world and making everything go blurry. I was suddenly rendered weak, and felt a huge itchy lump stuck in my throat.

I blocked my ears, because the more I heard the whistling of this evil owl who had come to attack me, the less my ears could make out any sounds.

Panting because my throat was growing hot from the fire that was reflecting from the owls eyes, I rolled an invisible ball with my hands then threw it at the owl who immediately screamed and flew away.

Thank Christ, it was gone. I closed my eyes in relief, then grabbed hold of my burning throat.

"Cole, did you hear that?" I could hear my mom's whisper.

"God! What in the hell was that?" Dad asked this question to no one in particular. And I knew he was putting the bedside lamp on. Although their room was far away from mine, but I had extraordinarily keen ears that could detect sounds from afar, whenever I was awake.

The scream from the owl must have woken them up.

Still too weak to stand to my feet, I crawled my way towards my studying desk, and stretched my hand up to grab the bottle water there.

I couldn't find it for a while, until my fingers finally touched it, and I grabbed the bottle with full force.

I was still panting, but no sounds could be heard. Even my pants and puffs were silent.

One could only see me pant and puff, with my mouth moving, and my chest rising and falling.

I flicked the lid off the water bottle opened, then sucked the water hungrily.

What just happened between me and the giant owl, was one of the disadvantage of being me. I had experienced worse. They always came to attack me.