Chapter 6: R for Robbery
I stared at the flickering light of a gas station. The moon was high in the sky and it shown with the light of a full moon. Through the partially clouded windows of the gas station I spotted a cashier, or worker, cleaning the floor.
The station itself looked slightly run down, weathered and eroded by time. The gas station's sign was even destroyed, something being smashed straight through it. However, despite this, it apparently had just enough business to stay in business.
The Siberian flowed out of my body, I spent an instant to look at myself as I left. I looked absolutely horrible for an eighteen year old. The white of one eye was red, I hypothesized internal bleeding of some sort, and it hurt something awful. That side of face was also covered in a massive bruise and intense dark circles lingered under both of my vessel's ocular organs. My nose was thankfully still healed from my onetime escorts healing, but a headache was steadily increasing.
Under the daylight I had spared a look for the wound I had sutured about a day ago. It did not look good at all. It was with no small amount of worry I realized that I had attempted to sterilize my wound but forgotten to sterilize the needle and thread used to sew the wound shut.
It had begun to look rather bad this evening and sharp stabbing pain was still radiating from my abdomen. This pain as in addition to the increasingly inflamed appearance of the injury.
My periodic and near religious use of fires had amazingly prevented frost bite on my exposed limbs. I was lucky that I had been so successful in starting numerous blazes that warmed me. However, the lighter fuel was almost gone. Within a day that to would be gone.
That being said I was understandingly elated when I discovered a road, roughly paved as it was and began following it. I had discovered by following the curse of the sun that the way I was traveling was south, which was exactly the way I wanted to go. Obviously America was both warmer and more American then Canada.
I racked my mind on what I was supposed to do once I got into the United States but drew a blank. Not much would change. I still had no idea on whether a masquerade was being carried out by abnormal and peculiar forces. If so I wouldn't be able to use powers at all in public sight. There was also the possibility that the ordinary individuals would not even be capable of seeing anything unusual.
However, I also did not disregard the chance that the peculiar and abnormal were normal here. Perhaps if I whipped out my awesome Siberian nobody would bat an eye. Or they could end up worshiping me as exalted! Or of course they could be required by an asinine religion to sacrifice my flesh to an evil god, named Nolij, that abhorred people with powers and demanded monthly sacrifices.
I shook my head at my spiraling thoughts and directed the Siberian down the slope. Halfway down I wheeled the Siberian about and bounded back up the slope, Briefly I had considered sending the Siberian into the gas station without clothing but on further introspection that was clearly a stupid idea.
Quickly I stripped the heavy winter coat from my waif like human form and slipped the Siberian into its warm folds. I shivered at the sudden divestment but shouldered on. I had work to do. The Siberian didn't really look any better, especially since the heavy coat only covered the top half of my/her body. Both bodies arched our brows, and the Siberian buttoned up the coat and again I considered parting with another piece of clothing but ultimately decided against the dude in the gas station wouldn't notice.
A quarter of a minute later I stepped into the deep shadow of the roof over the gas pumps and quickly crossed the pavement towards the front door of the station. I had to ease up slightly when I realized I was leaving perfect replications of my footprint in the concrete.
I bounded then for the door, crossing twenty feet in half a millisecond and reached for the door handle of the glass door. With a jingle the door opened and I swept in and closed the door behind me.
The cashier/worker looked up and froze his gaze stuck on my chest. For a second I thought of calling the kid off with a warning to keep his eyes on my face but I risked glancing down. Did I miss something?
Evidently I had. Visible in the fluorescent light of the store was an enormous brownish red smear across the front of my coat. Yeah, that was blood. The boy's eyes rose, meeting my face and the two stripes that adorned the side of my face before his eyes widened and he blinked and took in my whole figure.
"Cape!" He half gurgled / half whispered, staring at me in shock.
Cape? That was an unfamiliar term, but I think I remember hearing it before. Did Heartbreaker or one of his offspring say something about that? Well, I don't remember and I am on a mission. I quickly turned in a circle and skimmed the store's content before striding over towards a few items.
I grabbed another two lighters, and what looked like one of those emergency blankets that look kind of silvery. I scanned the store again and then darted over too a shelf with a liquid gel alcohol based hand sanitizer. Would this work on wounds?
I turned towards the station worker and spoke, the words flowing nicely, and sounding musical. Yes, the Siberian wasn't supposed to talk but my other body couldn't talk at all and that would have to satisfy that.
"Do you carry first aid supplies?"
The young male nodded jerkily, shaking like a leaf, and pointed to the back of the store. He opened his mouth as if to speak or retort but I caught off his sudden urge to communicate by leaping towards the back of the store. I clipped the side of a shelf and it was annihilated, leaving empty space after I passed.
I immediately noticed numerous bottles of cleaning alcohol and scooped them up, I moved my blood stained coat around to use it as an impromptu basket and started dropping medical stuff in. I hastily grabbed a nice little first aid kit and flicked it open, my fingers slicing through the packaging effortlessly. The kit contained a couple bandages in numerous sizes, two gauze pads, sterile wipes, adhesive bandages and few other knick knacks.
I turned from my position and scrutinized the store again, now perhaps I should look for food? I moved over towards the counter, taking into account the various junk foods. None of it had any lasting nutritional value. I grabbed three small bags of beef jerky and some vitamin energy water drink thing.
Finally I arrived at the counter a looked at the youth, who had dropped his mop, it seemed, and looked rather pale. There was only one thing I still needed… I looked the cashier over before speaking again, commanding, "Give me your clothes."
