Chapter 13: Flight

I waited for Tony and Pepper to go to bed before I slipped out of the house to begin what I had been planning for months. As soon as they did, I slipped into black clothing and wore black Kevlar armor that was flexible and very sturdy to hide the truth that if someone tried to stab or shoot me, it wouldn't work. I got the whole idea from the "Dark Knight" movie. I crafted a mask of my own idea to hide my identity.

I tied a black cape with a hood and pulled it up. Then I slipped without a sound into the night. I ran all the way to the city and perched on top of a building. I tuned in to what would be going on. I hear the murmurs of voices on TVs, people talking to each other, couples fighting, children crying, and then I heard it. An alarm from a bank was ringing.

From the sound and the thoughts of the people in the bank, I pinpointed the location of the bank. Just a couple of blocks away. I took off jumping over rooftops and sliding down the sides of buildings. My cape flapped in the wind as I ran. I found the bank and stood in the way of the thieves. People were crowding around on the floor terrified.

The robbers stood there and pulled out a gun. They aimed it at me, but once they shot it, I moved very fast so it looked like I merely stepped out of the way. The shell of the bullet clattered on the floor as the shot rang through the building. They fired more shots, but they missed each time. They became angry and came up to me and threw punches which I easily deflected them.

As one closest to me threw another punch, I grabbed his wrist and twisted it around him until I heard a loud crack. His wrist had broken and he screamed in pain. I punched the others and they flew back crashing into the walls and fell unconscious. I heard the sirens of the police get closer and soon they were right behind me and handcuffed the thieves.

"Who are you?" One asked. I smiled underneath my mask. I turned and ran leaving them in shock. I found other places to save people. Some were being mugged in allies, others were in car crashes and I pulled them out and ran them to the hospital. Some were falling off of buildings, but I got there in plenty of time to save them. This continued until 3 in the morning. I ran back quickly to the house and sat on the roof.

I pulled my hood down and took my mask off as I watched the sun rise. The sunlight hit my skin and prisms bounced off of my skin again. That will always happen for as long as I live. It will be a curse to carry. Once the sun had risen, I slipped down into my room. It was still early enough for no one in the house to be up.

I pulled off the Kevlar armor, my cape, mask, black clothes, and pulled out and ran to the bathroom before anyone saw me. I took a shower quickly and when I was done, I hid my gear back in the secret room of my closet. The door leading to it blended in well, so it looked like it was never there in the back of my closet. I pulled out my diary from its hiding place and found a pen and wrote in it.

I got to be a hero last night. I saved many from car wrecks, thugs, robbers, and many more. I think that I might leave a mark on this. Someone like me, being different and all (literally) may have an effect on it. I wouldn't be surprised if it didn't. We're supposed to hide who we truly are and that's what I did last night. I wore a hood, but I knew that wouldn't be enough. So I also wore a mask. If the hood ever came down, no one would see who it is. I wonder if they'll come up with a name for me.

I closed it and put it back in its spot and grabbed my drawing notebook. I decided to head downstairs since it was nearly time for Pepper and Tony to be up. They would come in my room and start shaking me hard to get me up. Tony would just start a tickle attack on me. I sat on the couch and opened my book.

I smiled at the pictures I drew in the past. One was a full moon peeking through the shadows of leaves on a tree, another was a forest in the winter with snow on the ground, my favorite one was a branch of leaves touching the water, but only a drop is falling from a blade creating a ripple effect in the water distorting the reflection of the leaves.

I heard a dull thud come from my room up above me. Might be Tony looking for me. I sat my book aside and ran to my room. When I got there, I couldn't find anyone. Everything was the way I left it. Except for one thing. My diary. I found it open on my bed to this morning's entry. I flipped through it and didn't find any markings in it except for mine. I hid my diary again and ran back downstairs.

I focused my anger on drawing a picture based on my emotions. Then I found one. It took me an hour to draw it to get it exact in detail. Pepper and Tony dancing at the Benefit last night. I shaded it in black and white because I thought it looked a lot better like that than in color.

"That's a lovely picture." Tony said next to me. I looked up finding him sitting next to me and viewing my work. "Can I see?" I nodded and handed him the book. He started from the front and worked his way up. "These are amazing." He stopped on an old picture I drew months ago. It was him and me in it. I was laying my head on his shoulder and smiling up at the invisible camera. His head was tilted towards mine, but he was smiling too. "When did you draw this?"

"When you were still missing. I had it stuck in my mind forever, so I drew it." I said to him.

"I like it. It's my favorite." He smiled at me. "We should get a picture like this to hang it up somewhere. Would you like that?" I grinned and nodded. He continued flipping through the book and found more pictures he liked. The one with him and me in it was still his favorite. He handed me back my book and flipped the news on.

"A mysterious figure appeared out of nowhere last night saving dozens of people. From car wrecks to hostages in robberies. Locals are calling it the 'Night Runner' after its incredible speed. Here's some footage of what the locals had to say." The anchorman reported. I looked up and saw someone I saved last night.

"I was taking a walk last night and this man who I don't know came up and pulled me into an ally and started to mug me. I thought that I was going to die. I was so scared. Then out of nowhere, this black figure with a cape on, just appeared out of nowhere like it teleported, but it didn't. It punched the man and it knocked him out. It told me to call the police after it left. I did what it told me. Whoever you are, if you're watching this, I thank you so much. We have a guardian watching over us." The victim described last night. Tony sat next to me and his eyes were wide open with interest. They had more footage of victims reporting what happened to them last night. The story went on for an hour and Tony was fascinated.

I sat there thinking how they were thanking me for what I've done. Just after one night I already have a name. Night Runner. It's very catchy. I might keep it. "Wow." Tony broke my train of thought. "That's incredible. I mean- that's just hard to describe. Do you think Pepper knows about this yet?"

"Oh I know about it." She responded as she walked in. "I was watching it in my room. Dangerous I think to take the law into your own hands, but it's brave enough to do. Someone who cares about this place finally did something about it. They have a heart full of chivalry and compassion. That person or 'hero' as should be now called, is full of determination to help others. That's full bravery right there."

Tony wrapped his arm around my shoulder. "You know what I've noticed about you since I came back?" He asked.

"What?" I asked a bit nervously, but faked it by putting on a smile.

"Your skin is always feeling cool when I touch you every single time." He said. "Are you alright?" He looked with a curious eye.

"I'm perfectly fine. My skin's usually cooler than most people's skin. Like when it's cold outside and most people's hands are warm, my hands are cold." I explained to him. He didn't seem convinced, but he accepted it. The phone rang a few minutes later. "Hello?"

"Hey Riley it's Nicole." Nicole greeted. I felt a surge of anger wash over me.

"Hi." I said flatly.

"I wanted to apologize for how I've been acting around you. Like a stupid girl who's jealous of a famous kid who is a friend of hers." Her voice softened through the phone. She meant every word of it too. I really mean it too. I hope she forgives me.

"I forgive you." I said to her. She uttered a small gasp of surprise.

"Thank you. Do you want to hang out later today?" She responded.

"If I'm not doing anything."

"Alright. Just call me when you find out."

"Ok."

"Bye." The phone line went dead after that.

"So who was that?" Tony asked while he was chopping up ham for an omelet.

"Nicole."

"And what did she want?" He kept chopping up the slices of ham and other bits.

"She wanted to apologize for treating me like crap for the past couple of months. And she wants to know if she could make it up by hanging out with her today." I explained as I watched him chopping away.

"Well that's nice of her to call." He grinned. "Ouch." His knife slipped on his finger cutting it open and blood started oozing out of the cut. Immediately as I saw it, I forced myself to stay glued to the seat. I stiffened as the scent washed over me tempting me to run over there and drink the blood coming from his finger.

Don't lose it. Don't lose it. You have a purpose to be here. I told myself. I was straining very hard now against the seat. My fingers ended up bending the seat of the metal stool out of shape. STOP IT! I held my breath and that cut of the scent of the blood. It helped, but I still held myself against the stool. I watched Tony clean up his mess and use the first aid kit on it.

"Not deep enough for stitches." He examined. "Are you alright Riley?" He looked at me.

"I'm fine." I opened my mouth, but the scent came back in. I quickly held my breath again. "I just don't like looking at blood. It makes me woozy."

"No need to worry about that anymore. Maybe we shouldn't let you watch horror movies." He claimed. I gave a nervous chuckle.