Super #9 - Cursed

Three Months ago…

                She knelt over the lifeless body, her hands still cradling the young man’s head. All she could think about was the notion that she would have to move and try to start over once more. It had been almost too difficult this time, at least until she met him. But what was supposed to be the night of her life turned into yet another horrid nightmare. She hadn’t the heart to close his eye lids, and he stared at her with dead eyes that seemed to drill a question into her soul. The same word she kept repeating over and over again at moments like this.

                “Why?”

Now…

               

                “My name is Laura O’Connor, but you might know me as Katie Hunsicker. Or Ashley White. Or Bree Smith. I’ve been a lot of people in these eighteen years on this wonderful world. Let’s just stick with Laura, shall we? That way I won’t get confused. Not that I normally do, since I’ve got this game down pat by now. Five years on the road is a long time for anyone, let alone an innocent, scared little girl with no family. Ooh, poor little me.”

                Laura spat out the toothpaste into the dirty sink. The motel she was currently “renting” a room from was too disgusting for her to even bother paying for in money. Instead she choke-slammed the pimple faced dweeb at the front desk and sparred his life, getting this piece of shit room in exchange.

                She looked up and laughed at her image in the mirror. Eye-liner heavy, lipstick bright red around her full lips, cheeks perfectly pinked with blush. “Well aren’t you all dolled up. Guess it’s time to hit the streets. Maybe I can find a nice man to take me in and show me the world.”

                Her smiled died at that thought. She thought back to the young man three months ago and his cold body lying on his bedroom floor. Number fourteen, as she referred to him now, was a great guy. The best she had ever met. But he died just like the rest. They all did once they met her beautiful, green, deadly eyes.

                Laura was a metahuman. Though unlike Fist, Electric Eagle, and all those other heroes and GMA agents, her ability was truly a curse upon not only her own life, but also anyone else who got too close to her. All she had to do was lock eyes with someone and she could steal some of the very life energy that kept them going. Holding the stare would completely drain them, taking the person’s life from them and, at least this is what she thought, adding it to Laura’s. If she was right, by her count she would live to be over one hundred and fifty, as long as something doesn’t come along to end her suffering. The worst part about it for Laura was she could not control it. One second, she could be gazing into a lover’s soul, and the next, he could be convulsing on the floor, squirming as his life left his body but unable to break the stare. Once she locked eyes, she found it next to impossible to look away until the deed was done, regardless of the pain she felt with every gained year.

                Town to town, city to city, Laura traveled the US, hiding from the authorities and looking for a place that would either give her a permanent home or kill her. Both options seemed equally good to her. Tonight was the same as every first night on the new town; she would put on her best and roll out a red carpet for herself, going all out to enjoy the city. If no one died that crazy first night, then she would find a more stable living space and settle in. She was testing the waters, and as she made her way down the street, already buzzed from finishing a bottle of wine back in the motel room, she did not like the view at all.

                She had come to Hopling because it was the city to end all cities. The greatest on the eastern coast, and the most populous of the US; but all she saw was gutters filled with the homeless, the shadowy alleys hiding dark secrets, and the people tainted by the hand of sin and evil. She lived enough of that life on her own, and didn’t need the city to add to her misery. Two bars in and she called it quits. She was leaving tomorrow for more remote areas.

                “Cities just aren’t my thing,” she muttered to herself as she passed an unlit alley.

                “What was that, sweet thang?” A man stepped out of the shadows in front of her, grabbing her arm and pulling her close. “You said you want a piece of big ol’ Ralph?”

                His breath was rancid and smelled of unwashed laundry. Laura tried pulling away, but he pulled her into the alley. He was twice her size; much too big for her to physically overpower. As he pushed her up against the wall her head smacked the hard brick and she saw stars for a brief moment.

                “Let’s see what goods you got, honey,” Ralph sneered as he pulled her purse off her shoulder with one hand while pressing his other firmly on her throat, holding her in place. Laura kicked, punched, and scratched, but her attacker was completely unfazed by her assaults. He quickly thumbed through the purse before discarding it.

                “Nothing good in your lil purse. Now let’s see if there’s anything good in this dress.” His rough hands tore at her dress, trying to rip it off. Laura struggled with everything she had, but could not shake the big man off.

                “Oh stop fussing, be a good girl and I’ll show you my goods.” He slammed her head against the wall. Laura’s vision went black, but she could still feel her legs being spread open. “Come on girl, look me in the eyes while I’m doing you this favor.”

                Instantly her vision came back. She clasped her hands on the sides of Ralph’s head. “Whatever you say, dumbass.”

                Their eyes locked, and Laura felt the man’s body go rigid with surprise. He tried to back away, to throw her off, but Laura wrapped her legs around his torso and held the gaze. Ralph fell to his knees, and Laura hunched over him, still looking into his eyes.

                “What are you…doing to…me,” Ralph could barely mutter the words, his body going limp in her hands.

                “I’m showing you my goods.”

                Ralph’s eyes turned back into his head, and Laura threw his body to the side. She leaned back against the wall, not bothering to fix her dress or retrieve her purse. She coughed once, and then vomited on the ground next to her. She sunk down, letting her stomach calm down. It wasn’t the dead body in front of her that made her sick, nor was it the near rape she experienced. What churned her stomach was the sickening fact that, for the first time, she had used her powers to save her life.

                For the first time, she actually enjoyed it.

                Laura sat in the alley, ignoring the looks of the people passing by, until the first light of dawn broke. No police had showed up yet, and she didn’t think in this part of the city they would anytime soon. Slowly she got up, holding the wall for support, and took a good hard look at her previous night’s attacker.

                “This city has a virus, and no one to cure it,” she whispered at last. She wouldn’t move along this time. She tested the waters, and instead of just finding a place to live, she found a reason to as well. This wasn’t her first kill, nor, she knew for a fact, would it be her last.

But it was the one that changed her life.