A hard knock on my door.
With a low growl I rolled from one side of the bed to the other to grab my phone and look at the clock. It was just past 10 am. My head was hurting and my stomach felt like I had just won the World Record for most consecutive roller coaster rides.
Another hard knock. Another growl by me.
I slowly got up, concentrating on keeping my balance.
"Coming!" I shouted at the person behind the door, while picking up a white tank and a pyjama bottom from the floor and put them on.
At the door stood a women, late 20's, black hair and wearing a purple tank top underneath a black leather jacket, paired with light blue jeans.
"Rough night?" She asked with a raised eyebrow.
"Uhh... Only the morning is rough." I answered, rubbing my temples.
"Ahh, that sounds familiar. Sorry, I'm Jessica Jones. I'm a PI and I might need your help."
Jessica Jon... Why did that sound familiar?
"Do I know you?" I asked perplexed.
"No, but I have been told you could help. Uhm, Lillian sent me here?" She answered hesitantly.
Lilly. One of the few people who knew about me and she just told some stranger?
"What did she tell you about me?" I requested to know.
"May I come in first? I don't like to discuss this out in the open." She turned around and looked at one of my neighbours, who was just coming home with a plastic bag of groceries.
Although hesitating for a second I stepped aside to let her in before closing the door. Jessica Jones sat down on my couch before I could say a word and started talking.
"I know that you have... Gifts. I think you could put them to good use."
I had my back turned to her and froze. 'Gifts'? Lilly really spelled the beans about me...
When I turned around to say something, the woman went on;
"Look, you don't have to be afraid that I rat you out to anyone. In a way I'm like you. Let me show you..." She got up and reached down to the couch. Without effort she picked it up and lifted it above her head, even spinning it once before she carefully put it back down.
"As I said, I know about you. At least as much as your friend was ready to tell me. I would appreciate if you could... Elaborate on it." She demanded calmly.
I closed my eyes, I could not take the headaches a second longer. I inhaled deeply and they were gone. I inhaled once more, gave Jessica one more look before going into the kitchen to get a knife. When I came back she was close to attacking me, but I made her stop in her tracks. I shook my head in disbelief over what I was about to do, then put the knife to my forearm and grazed over my skin just enough for it to visibly bleed. One quick look up to make sure she was following, before I closed my eyes again, inhaled deeply and when I opened my eyes I could just see how the fresh wound was closing.
"In case you're wondering, no it doesn't work automatically. If I was unconscious, I couldn't heal, but yes I can heal others to some extent. And there is one more thing, but it's hard... I'm not sure if I can do it very well..." She didn't seem like she had found the right words yet, so I proceeded to show her what else I could do. I placed the small kitchen knife in the palm of my hand and reached it out so she could see clearly. I focused on the knife, tried to ignore all of what was going on around me. The sirens outside somewhere in the streets, the strange circumstances of this morning... Only the knife was important in this instant. I could feel it starting to vibrate in my hand, then it rattled visibly, before slowly taking up into the air, just barely an inch above my hand, before it fell down and slid down from my hand and dramatically got stuck in the floor.
"I'm not very good at that. It gives me a headache that I can't get rid of when I even try and as you can see it it's not really... Strong." I explained with my eyes stuck to the knife sticking straight up from the old fake wood floor.
"That is amazing... I mean, just the healing powers are incredible. And you're a telekinetic?" She exclaimed in awe.
"And how am I supposed to help you?" I finally asked, the question having been on my mind since she proposed the possibility.
"I have a friend who could really use your abilities..." She finally confessed.
I immediately shook my head.
"I am sorry, but if your friend is sick or hurt or whatever, he or she should go to a hospital." I told her while walking towards my door, planning on asking her to leave.
"That's kind of the problem. My friend can't be helped by any doctors. We've had this situation before and he barely survived. Please..." She pleaded me.
I looked at her, begging me to help some friend. I didn't even know her, let alone her friend.
"Jesus, fine. Give me five minutes to get dressed. And my morning coffee is on you."
Jessica already rushed out of the door, saying something barely audible about waiting outside.
I quickly picked up a pair of dark jeans that we're laying next to my bed and put on a pair of trainers. I grabbed my jacket and followed the strange woman with a strange sense of trust.
She was waiting outside on the street as she had said and a cab was already waiting for us to get inside. The driver already had already gotten the address from her, so we got in and left.
I asked her on the way what the deal was about her friend and why he couldn't go to a hospital. She looked at me quickly, as if to try to find out if she could really trust me, despite the fact that I had agreed to leave with her, a strange woman I had just met minutes ago.
"He has his own... Gift or whatever. His akin is unbreakable. Nothing gets through it, not a needle, not a knife and not a bullet, but a gun can hurt him. As I said, it's happened before, but I can't reach the nurse who managed to save his life by poking a giant needle through his eye and I remembered Lillian once mentioned something about you. It was a long shot but I had to take it."
Unbreakable skin. A super strong woman who could spin my couch around above her head while it took two men to even carry it into my flat. I started to hope I had drunken more alcohol the night before than I cared to admit and this was just a very vivid dream.
"So how did it happen? If you say a gun can hurt him, I suppose he was shot?" I asked her.
"Yes, that's what we suspect at least. We found him unconscious." She explained further.
"We?"
"Yeah, me and my adoptive sister. Long story, I'll tell you everything later. Could you hurry?" She shouted at the driver, who suddenly looked scared and actually started driving slightly faster. It took a few more minutes until the cap stopped, Jessica gave the driver a few crumpled up dollar bills and jolted out of the car, dragging me along. I followed her into a building and into a lift and then through a door with a busted glass panel with leftovers from letters on it.
She pushed me through a doorway into a room, seemingly the bedroom. There was a man laying on the bed. He was a little older than Jessica, muscular, black and... Unconscious. I walked up to him and knelt down at the headboard of the bed. I put a hand over the man's forehead without actually touching him. Then I lowered my hand and put it down on his forehead. It was hot and I could feel a headache come up of my own, but didn't say anything. I closed my eyes and breathed in deeply and slowly. I could feel his skin cooling under my touch and after a few second he shifted on the bed. I took my hand away and he immediately darted up and sat straight up, while I almost fainted.
"What happened?" He asked confused.
Jessica hurried in and with a movement of her head made me understand to wait in the living room so she could talk to him. I walked out of the room and sat down on the couch, leaning my arms on my upper thighs and massaged my temples again.
A few minutes later Jessica came out of the room and closed the door behind her.
"He's resting now." She explained and sat down next to me. "I know you must be confused. There just was no time for explanations. His name is Luke Cage, he has unbreakable skin and from what we could gather he was attacked and shot in the head, although we are still not sure if the attackers knew that it would not instantly kill him. He can't remember what happened yet, but let's hope that changes."
"Wait... You have no clue who did that? Was he mugged?" I asked confused.
She shook her head and breathed deeply before continuing.
"No. Or, well, probably not. There is a gang in town that seems to have it out for people like us. Last week I was attacked, but could get away. Another one was stabbed less than a week before than and is still in the hospital, barely stable. I didn't just come for you for help, I want to warn anyone I can reach to watch out." Jessica informed me with a slightly shaky voice.
That was unexpected. No one aside from Lilly knew about me and was still alive... I didn't even really know there were more like me. Of course I knew about 'heroes' from the news, but most of them had fancy gadgets, but I had no idea there were people with 'gifts' as Jessica called it, running around in the streets leading normal lives.
"Any idea how they find people like us? I mean... No one knows about me and I doubt a lot of others just scream around about what they can do."
"We have a few ideas, but nothing clear yet. Some of us don't even know how we got our powers or gifts or whatever you want to call it." A quick, careful look at me. "Do you?"
Luckily another woman entered the flat. She was blonde, well dressed but looked like she hadn't slept in ages.
"Trish... This is Elin. I told you about her." Jessica introduced us.
"Oh yes, your face is all over the city..." I mentioned.
Trish didn't seem very happy about it, as she quickly turned back to Jessica after she scrutinized me.
"How is Luke?" She asked then, obviously trying to change the subject.
"Better, I think. Elin was able to help him as it seems." Jessica replied.
Silence. Awkward silence. Silence that made my headache even worse, as I could now fully concentrate on it.
"Are you okay?" Jessica asked with a concerned look on her face.
"Me? Oh yeah..." I answered, praying that she'd believe me. She didn't, her look told that very well. "Okay no. Using whatever this is, gifts or whatever drains me. Gives me headaches I can't get rid of. Aspirin, my own powers, hot showers, cold showers, nothing. It's why the other aspect is so week. You know, the knife earlier? It's still stuck in my floor by the way."
Trish looked at me like I was a maniac, but Jessica understood and immediately had a very regretting look on her face.
"I am so sorry... I pushed you into this. I didn't even think that it might be bad for you..." She apologized.
"Please, it's okay. Your friend was in danger and there was no time. No need for apologies. I think I should get back though. I'll, uhh... Do you have a piece of paper? I'll give you my number just in case." Jessica quickly jumped and ripped a piece off some paper laying around on her desk. I scribbled down my mobile phone number before I waved them goodbye and left through the busted door.
I wished I could say that this was an especially strange morning for me in this city, but it wasn't by a long shot. I just kept telling myself that I knew what I signed up for when moving to a city like New York.