1. The Vigilante
Taylor observed Emma Barnes and some of her friends shopping through a camera's lens. She followed them across the shop through the security cameras, sometimes taking advantage of somebody's phone. Their talk was simply chit chat, so having to heard it was unbearable. But she had patience.
She was doing all of this from outside the shopping center, sitting down a bench, dressed so that they could not recognize her, unless they looked too closely. Just a normal girl fiddling with her phone. They wouldn't find out she had accessed the cameras, let alone trace it back to her. She was too good to be foiled by such a simple security system.
As a child, she had done that with Emma. She hadn't never be comfortable in places like that, even though back them she hadn't been conscious of her appearance. But she went anyway, because Emma had been her best friend, and she made everything fun. Those images fueled her resentment. She didn't want to take back the friendship she had destroyed with her own hands, of course. Not anymore. But she still thought that none of it should have happened.
Finally, with all the shopping done, they headed outside and went their separate ways. She pulled up her neck-warmer scarf, covering half of her face. Then, she did the same with the hood of her trench coat and started to follow her, hands jammed into her pockets.
She stayed close to her, but not too much, so she wouldn't give herself away.
Taylor had been preparing for nearly a month, using the idea of making her pay for everything she had done to her as a way of protecting her sanity. She had made her house's basement-which hadn't been in use-her lair. She had placed all her equipment there: her old computer upgraded with spare parts, several monitors connected to it, expandable batons and piled up diagrams of the gadgets she thought she could build, all of them hand draw.
She had placed cameras in Emma's house and observed her every move from the basement, studying her schedule, the people that were now close to her, every piece of information that she could get hands on. She had told herself that it could wait, that preparation was important. It was the truth, almost, but it reached a certain point where she became aware that she was just putting it off, afraid of what could happen. What could she do.
No more. They, all three of them, certainly hadn't hesitated even for a moment. They didn't deserve mercy.
Taylor had been waiting for a chance and she saw it. She took out her phone from her pocket, hacked into a nearby security camera and manipulated it. She replaced what it was recording with footage it had recorded earlier today.
Emma was waiting for the traffic light to turn green to cross the road. She approached her for behind, covered her mouth with one hand and dragged her into a nearby ally. She yelled, struggled and kicked her. Her calls for help were muffled by her hand.
While dragging her, she turned the corner and slammed Emma against the wall of the alley. She couldn't deny she enjoyed the fear in her eyes.
"Shut up." she said, her voice distorted. It had been one of the first things she had built, a measure intended to protect her identity and to intimidate her enemies. "If you do as you're told, this doesn't have to get ugly."
Emma punched her in the face. She had to admit that caught her off guard. She grabbed one of her arms and twisted it, to the point she heard the bone pop. Her power had given her an instinctual understanding and knowledge of fighting. If she applied a bit of pressure, she could break her arm. She was tented to do it, but held back.
"Didn't I make myself clear?"
"Please." Emma begged her. "D-don't do this. My family… we aren't rich, but we have a lot of money. They will give you whatever amount you want if you let me go, safe and sound. Don't touch me."
She hadn't recognized her and she was assuming 'he' intended to rape her. Which was normal, now that she thought about it. But what she saw in her eyes was different that the fear every person had for it, it was like… she had already experienced that pain before. Because of that, she made a quick decision. She pulled down her scarf and moved the device away from her mouth.
"I'm not interested in your body." Taylor said.
"Taylor..." fear had paralyzed her. Anger that she was the one doing this to her, somebody she considered a shit-stain, gave back her energy. She thrashed, struggling to get away from her. She bit her hand, even.
"Okay. That's far enough."
Taylor subdued her, maybe using more force that was strictly necessary. She went down, with her on the top. She punched her repeatedly and fend off her weak attempts at defending herself. It was difficult to keep control, when finding yourself in a position of power over your aggressor, having been powerless for so long. The rush she had when looking at Emma's tear stained face and her body, which was shaking with fear, made her felt dirty.
This was supposed to be about justice, not revenge.
"We were friends, once." Taylor said. "What happened? Start talking."
And she obediently did. While about halfway done with her story, she saw in her face that she hoped for pity, that she would back down. Emma had been attacked by gangbangers, nearly raped and Shadow Stalker, which was now one of the Wards, had saved her.
Her disbelief at that this was the only reason she had destroyed her friendship, made her suffer, disappeared and was replaced by a dark fury when she told her who was behind the mask of her savior.
"Shadow Stalker is Sophia Hess..." her hands gripped Emma's shoulder's more tightly, to the point she grimaced in pain.
"Yes, she is. Let me go, please."
Her eyes were hollow. It seemed that having to relieve the events by retelling them had sucked out her soul and there was nothing left in her body.
Taylor stood up. Emma had seen her face, so she could get her in trouble with the authorizes. Or get the support of Shadow Stalker in order to take revenge of her.
Was it really wise to let her go, knowing what she knew?
She always carried three things with her when she went out: her phone, an extendable baton… and a pistol with a silencer. She took it out, turned the safety off and pointed it at Emma.
"Please, no! Don't!" she raised her hands to the level of her head, as if her arms could shield her from a bullet. "You're not a killer, Taylor."
More that a year and half was a long time. People changed. At this point, she didn't really know her. Her scream might have attracted some attention, but she could get away before anybody came.
Taylor pulled the trigger.
The bulled embedded itself on the ground, inches away from Emma's head. She trembled, sobbing. She had gotten the message.
"Don't tell Sophia about this, and feign normality. If you don't, I will know. I always have eyes on you. And the next bullet will be between your eyes." her voice trembled. Her hands too, a little. She holstered the gun and put the microphone and the scarf into place, slipping fully back into the role she had built for herself.
"I will, I promise. T-thank you."
Taylor walked out of the alley relaxed, like nothing had happened. When she was out of sight, she returned the hacked camera back to normal, using another camera to access it from afar.
Shadow Stalker, Sophia…
She would be the next one to face justice.
