Like a rope

She’s gonna die! Her chest isn't rising and the blood isn’t plopping out of her mouth. It's slowly filling up her open maw like a bathtub. That can’t be good.

I don’t have time to call anyone now. I shouldn’t have waited. I tilt her head to pour out the blood and start cpr. I never got to take any classes but I’ve watched plenty of videos. Thirty compressions and two breaths, thirty compressions and two breaths.

One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten, eleven, twelve, thirteen, fourteen, fifteen, sixteen, seventeen, eighteen, nineteen, twenty, twenty one, twenty two, twenty three, twenty four, twenty five, twenty six, twenty seven, twenty eight, twenty nine, thirty! Breath!! Breath!!!

“Woo she’s really going at it. Get a load of this Zeke. She’s making out with this chicks bloody face, pretty metal.”

“She’s performing CPR Skekz. You knocked out that bitches teeth and tore her lip to shreds.”

Is she breathing? I don’t see her moving, it's not working! AGAIN! One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten, eleven, twelve, thirteen, fourteen, fifteen, sixteen, seventeen, eighteen, nineteen, twenty, twenty one, twenty two, twenty three, twenty four, twenty five, twenty six, twenty seven, twenty eight, twenty nine, thirty! Breath!! Breath!!!

Please work. I don’t want to see you die in front of me. Not when I’m right here. Not because I tried to escape. Please lady. One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten, eleven, twelve, thirteen, fourteen, fifteen, sixteen, seventeen, eighteen, nineteen, twenty, twenty one, twenty two, twenty three, twenty four, twenty five, twenty six, twenty seven, twenty eight, twenty nine, thirty! Breath!! Breath!!!

Come on, come on! Staring a hole into her chest I can see every fiber of her shirt. Any movement and I'll see it. Any sign she’s coming back. Seconds feel like hours as I stare. My breath stops completely as I look down at her, I don’t want a stray breath to move a fiber and trick me.

Then finally I'm saved. Her chest moves up slightly and I hear her cough. She’s alive, I didn’t kill her. My breath returns as I gasp, rears in my eyes. I’ve never been so scared in my life. Is this what it’s like saving people, this terrifying?

“Look at that! Little girlie here saved the chick!”

Oh right I forgot. There were robbers here. They’re the ones who did this. Specifically the woman talking right now standing above me. Her guitar is still in her hands. Is she going to hit me with it? Am I going to end up like this woman on the ground?

“Crazy little thing! You not even afraid of us girlie?” she let out a laugh.

“Uh, no.” What? “I mean. Uh.” What am I saying!?

“Can you believe this guys, this little thing has huge balls!! Not even afraid, you looking to square up!?” her smile was huge. Along with her body. Looking at her so close I can tell she's well over 6 feet tall, and she definitely lifts weights often. Far more tone than any woman I've been near. More toned than any man I’ve met. She could beat me to death without her powers.

“I didn’t mean that. It’s just. I wasn’t thinking. She was choking so I had to.” My voice trembled like a little kid who broke a window. She’s so intimidating, I don’t stand a chance.

She laughed loudly at that “A natural born hero huh!? Don’t piss your pants. I’m not actually looking to kill the old hag or throw hands with ya.”

“Skekz! Can we get going already! We raided the register finally and the old lady is alive! Let’s get going before anything else bad happens!” the pink haired guy barked out.

“Yeah yeah Zeke. You're such a worry wort. Let’s get going.” she started walking away towards her group and then looked back “Actually wait a sec.”

“Jesus Christ Skeks!”

“I said calm down Zeke!! It’ll only take a second. Jeez that's a baby.” She chided him while squatting down towards me “I’ve always wondered what a bloody kiss was like.”

Wait, what did she just say? Her face pulled into mine and she kissed me. Not a peck on the cheek but a full blown open mouth kiss! It ended as fast as it started and she pulled away.

She stood back up and skipped to her friends. “Tastes about what you’d expect. Like licking a nickel or battery end. Kinda into it.”

“You’re such a freak Skekz, haha.” the larger lady scoffed.

“Takes one to know won you meat slab”

“Do you have to kiss everyone you meet Skekz!!”

“Don’t gotta be jealous. I only kiss people I’m into, not everyone.” She said as she pulled him in for a kiss.

“Bleh! Gross! For fucks sake Skekz! Didn’t need to taste that old ladies blood or that kids spit!”

“Whiner whiner. Be thankful you get any girls spit.”

They all walked out of the thrift store like nothing happened. Acting like friends who just finished some shopping and were heading home. Dumbfounded, I just sat there for a second.

A few seconds pass and the door opens back up. Skekz sticks her head in “ Call me.” she said while shaking her hand like a phone and bailing.

My face turned immediately red. Did I just get hit on by some random older lady? Also wait! Did I just lose my first kiss to some random lady!!? Actually not just a random lady, a full blown criminal. She robbed this store and assaulted someone, she almost killed someone. My heart feels like it's gonna tear out of my chest. I need to calm down.

Remember what happened. You went out to shop. You went to the thrift store. You found some things to buy and an annoying lady almost got killed. Oh, right. I forgot about the lady. I gotta call an ambulance and the cops or something.

I didn’t bring my Owl phone though. Can I just use my real phone and leave an anonymous tip? Won’t they track it? Should I find a payphone? What am I saying there's no payphones, this isn’t an 80’s movie. Any other phones… WAIT!

I rummage through the injured lady's purse. Eureka! Hopefully it isn't locked. Nope. Perfect. Okay okay. Deep breaths. One two three. Few, alright.

Ring ring ring “Hello this is 911 what's your emergency?”

“Hello, yes. I’m at Rebuyers on 1st and 37th street, Fort Lain. There's a robbery in progress!”

“A robbery? Is everything okay? Stay on the line.”

“Oh no, they've spotted me, hurry.”

“Remain calm, are you in danger? Are they threatening you? A patrol car is on the way.”

“Oh no, someone is hurt, we need an ambulance. Please stay away! Dont hurt me! *BWANG*!!”

“Mam!? Mam!? Is everything okay!?”

Clack, slide, click!

Okay that went pretty well I think. Using the ladies phone and impersonating the attack I think works well enough. Now just to pay for my stuff and get outta dodge. Actually, paying might be weird. If they stole all the money in the register and I put some in won’t the police look into it and finger print it… ACTUALLY WAIT! Does this place have cameras!! Holy crap.

Running to the back of the building I look for the brown door. I’m pretty sure that leads to the office. I gotta find the tapes and destroy them. But wait if I destroy them to keep myself from being found out isn’t that helping the villains… Maybe it’s digital and I can just delete everything after they show up.

Opening the door I’m greeted with the staff room. It’s small, only big enough for two people to comfortably sit at the two desks crammed in here. There's only one PC and let's check for the cameras. I don’t see anything camera related or saved on the PC, where does the recording go? Wait, isn't there a camera right outside the room.

Opening the door and looking at it the camera is hardwired and goes through the wall into this room. Looking back I see where the chord starts in the office and following iot down and behind the PC it goes to. Nowhere. The cord just ends here and isn't plugged into anything… They’re dummy cameras.

Don’t know why I'm surprised. It is just a thrift store. All of the goods are just donations with no actual loss of capital if it's stolen, makes sense I guess. Also great for me! Now I don't have to commit any crimes. Speaking of which I think I hear sirens. GOTTA GO!

Considering everything that went down today didn’t turn out that bad really. I mean I might be a bit mentally scarred from that lady almost drowning in her own blood but I did end up not having to pay for my stuff. I accidentally stole a pair of gloves though. Couldn't leave my fingerprints on that ladies phone or the office.

At least I got home within my time limit. Mom isn’t home and Mrs.Navarro has the day off. I can work on my costume in my room and get it ready for tonight. The fluff is gonna look great around my neck and maybe a little on the back of my arms like tiny wings. I don’t think I'll be able to fashion the metal cubes into anything today though. I’m gonna need some kind of tool. I wonder if Mr.Garcia, my neighbor, has anything? Should I ask him?

I’ve never really talked to him so it feels kinda weird to start by asking for a favor. I mean I’ve said hello to him a few times while he was outside and I was tending to Penelope but. Feels off still.

I don’t think he locks his garage. I wonder if I could sneak in and snag something to chop these little cubes up and return it before he notices. It feels like I've started to commit a lot of minor crimes being an illegal hero. Funny how that works.

After suping up my costume a bit and putting it away I tended to Penelope. Gave her some cracked corn and cleaned the coop a bit. Then after that I went to bed. Aside from being wide awake at night I’m also rather sleepy during the day.

I’ve been trying to fight it and keep a normal sleep schedule but I think It’s about time I give up on it. All this melatonin is getting expensive and I’m not really feeling rested anyway, I actually feel pretty gross. I’m gonna hafta start going to bed as soon as I get home. Maybe that way with just a little melatonin I can sleep from 3pm to 10 or 11 and just stay up through the night and into school.

I woke up with my alarm at 10:30. I took a normal amount of melatonin this time, luckily it seems to have worked. Now to go check the house. Gotta make sure Mom is in bed. I cock my head to the side and give a listen. Clear as day I can hear Mom breathing in her room. She actually came home at a decent time, I’m surprised. Good for her, she needs a decent sleep now and then.

Now as for me. It’s time to go out on patrol. I’ve gotten, getting ready, down to a science. It only takes me fifteen minutes to suit up. Most of that time I am climbing out of my window and not falling into the bush. The hardest part of my outfit is the face paint.

I tried an eye mask like a normal hero. But for some reason I really hated the feeling and it was really distracting. I could see it in my field of vision the entire time I was wearing it and it drove me crazy. Now I just paint my eyes and forehead black. I do it pretty sloppily and let the paint drip down my cheeks half haphazardly. I think it conceals my identity better than being neat, also looks cooler.

Three hours later and nothing at all has happened. Not a single nothing. Kind of impressive for a Saturday night really. Normally I at least find a drunk driver by now to call in. I guess I should be happy that no crimes are happening. Means all is right in the world. Kind of boring though.

Looking out at the city at night from up here on this building is really calming. I often find myself looking up towards the moon instead of down. A nice change of pace from the sidewalks and streets. Sometimes I see a plane fly by or a bat eat a moth. Other times I see a girl dressed in black leggings, a gray fury sweater with black armbands going down to the wrist, a balaclava, big black bow and a ponytail with the same banding like a raccoon's tail.

Wait what am I seeing? Is that another hero!? Or Maybe a criminal, a thief!!? What’s she doing? Watching her I can tell she's doing the same as me. Looking down at the people on the sidewalks. As I follow her eyes I see what she’s looking at specifically. A man in a hooded sweater, all black clothes. He’s following two ladies.

He picks up his pace until he's close enough to them and then full on sprints. He grabs one of the ladies purses and huffs it into an alley. As soon as he grabs the purse the raccoon girl starts moving. She follows him into the alley while staying on the roof all the while she's frantically moving her arms. It looks like she's trying to pull up a rope of some kind. One hand over the next with a quickness.

Is she doing something to the guy? A power of some kind maybe? Is he affected by it? I move on my roof so I have a line of sight down the alley he went down and see him still running as before. Looking at the raccoon, I see her still pulling and pulling and then grabbing something. Popping into existence from seemingly nowhere she has the purse in her hands! The purse that was purse snatched! She was a hero!

At least that's what I thought. She’s currently digging through the purse and pulling out the wallet. And now she's counting the cash… She's just double stealing!! How do I stop her? Do I call the cops? Are they gonna be able to find the raccoon girl on top of the building? I doubt she’ll stay there until they arrive. Maybe tonight’s the night I cross the line.

Tonight is the night where I take down a criminal. I repeat this in my head over and over as I climb down my building, rush across the street with no one looking, and start climbing up her building. It’s not gonna be like this afternoon. I’m prepared and armed.

This crook won’t see what’s coming. I have my Owl marbles, Owl Mace, and Owl Cuffs. And if things go really south I do have my Owl taser. I have all the tools I need to defeat this evil villain. Not to mention the element of surprise, superior night vision, and the fact she seems similar in build to me. No way she beats me to death like Skekz would’ve.

Wait a second now that my heads clear, am I going to unpack the whole getting kissed earlier? I was trying to avoid it since it went hand and hand with that lady almost dying and I felt super lame, but now I’m about to defeat my first villain ever. I’m in a good enough head space to think about this now I bet.

As I got to the top of the ladder though maybe it’s not the best time. I should probably wait until I actually capture them. I creep around the big metal thing on the top of city roofs. I think it's an air conditioner or heater or something. I should look up what this is when I get home.

Peering out I see the villain. I’ve been listening to her while getting into position. She’s counted up 145$ twice now. She’s currently facing this way, when she turns around I’ll toss the Owl marbles, then Owl mace her in the face. Then I just have to pin her onto her stomach while cuffing her, no sweat.

This sounds super hard now that I really think about it. What if she doesn’t slip? Do I just mace her anyway? What if the mace gets in my eyes? It’s not windy out tonight so I should be fine if I fall back for a bit. Am I strong enough to do this? Holy crap I’m getting scared now.

Oh shit she's turning around it’s time. Does she have any weapons, I should look before I do this. Nothing visible on her back, or her waist. Nothing on her thighs. Jeez, her leggings look really good, her thighs are defined and her ass is perfect. Wait, what? Stop looking at her ass you have a job to do!

I round the corner and throw the Owl marbles out. They slide across the ground and to her feet. She slips and falls down onto them. But she falls forward and her face is away from me. I stand with my mace ready and bark out.

“Give up, villain! Return the purse and I won’t have to unleash my Owl Spray!”

“Ouch! What the fuck! Holy christ what did I land on! Are these marbles! I’m gonna be covered in little bruises”

“Put your hands up, crook!”

She turns and looks at me. A pause takes place as we stare at each other. “Melody?” she asks.

“Beth!?!”