part one Honestly, I wasn’t going to make a second post, but people have asked for a part two. What a pain. Having the abilities that I do, is dangerous in itself, and although there was more that had happened, I didn’t think anyone would believe m horrifying story. But I suppose, if I’m going to tell you what happened, I should go slow. I had never known anyone but myself to walk through frozen time. I now suspected was a witch, who gave this power to me as a gift, for what reason I don’t know.
“Dude, it’s your turn.” My best friend Joshua and roommate at our dorm had said. Although we grew up together, he had no clue about my abilities. I was too scared to tell anyone what I can do, I saw way too many movies about people using those who had special powers, and it just never got brought up in a conversation that I wasn’t exactly normal.
“Oh alright, I’ll buy dinner at the cafeteria as soon as we get back on campus.” I reply back.
“Sweet. So did you get your paper done yet?” he asks curiously. Joshua is in the same exact classes as I am, somewhere in between we both decided to major in journalism. I was more into it then he was, he only did it so he can get closer to hot women until he got a girlfriend. I’m doing it because of well, I like to tell stories, whether their fake or not. I should have major in literature but instead I fell in love with journalism after a huge case blew up in our town. and the journalist on the case had solved the case by being snoopy as hell. But I knew what Joshua was really asking, he wanted me to do his paper too, although I have a super cheat code, I wrote my entire ten-page essay while I froze time. After the footsteps, which was the last time I used it, I was at my old childhood home no where near the campus. Joshua slacked off a lot, either it was because he was far too busy with his girlfriend or because he’s easily distracted. Sorry Joshua, I wasn’t going to do his homework again.
“Still working on it,” I lied to him. “You know how hard it is to keep up with all the classes this year and keep my old man out of bars.”
“you’ve been acting weird since your birthday,” he pulled his phone out and stared at the texts. His girlfriend was blowing up his phone. I flicked my eyes away from the road for a second to catch the glimpses of the texts she was sending him. and I can see the regret on his face, we were both a pair with baggage. I had family issues and he had relationship issues.
I just know he should definitely dump his girlfriend, but like I don’t like him dissing on my family, I don’t say crap about his relationship.
“What do you mean?” I ask as my grip tightened on the steering wheel. That voice haunts me every night, I’ve been having nightmares about something dark and evil swallowing me up. I’ve never had nightmares. Except that time when I got a glimpse in my dream Joshua nearly got hit buy a car when I was ten, and when reality came the next day, it was as if my reflexes happened and I used my ability to slow time down and I pulled him out of the way before he was killed. That was the only time I could slow time, since then I could only stop time. This feeling Is like that, I feel like something dark is lurking somewhere and waiting for me to mess up.
I had thought about it for years to go find the witch, but if I’m being honest with myself, I wasn’t sure if I really wanted to find her. she had to be dead by now, right? for all I knew the woman who gave me this power felt pity and moved on. but still. I thought about waiting at the well for her, but every time I try, somehow, I chicken out leaving her note for thanking her for what she gave me.
I realized I was white knuckling the steering wheel, and I took the short cut, the backroad towards the campus, I had to slow down. This road was marked unsafe by highway patrol, it wasn’t because people got hit all the time, not exactly. It was right around when I got my powers, a girl in her teenage years, had a hit and run. A girl who was trying to make it home but was killed and left to die on the side of the road. Her body wasn’t discovered until the snow melted. Since then, the legend goes, if you drive this road late at night. You’ll see a girl in a white dress flag you down and ask for a ride home and will give you the actual address to her house, and you end up at her house. her parents had to put up no trespassing signs, they didn’t believe their daughter’s spirit was still trying to go home.
“It’s like the same time when we were ten,” he said. “You got all weird on me and saved me from getting hit by a car. I’m just getting a feeling you’re not telling me something, that’s all.”
I didn’t answer him, instead, I saw a shadowy figure up ahead, it looked more or less like a human. But one of his arms were wrapped around a teenage girl’s throat. I saw her struggling. I wasn’t sure if Joshua saw what I did, but my blood ran cold. It was that same sinking feeling I had when those footsteps followed me, when he threatened to catch me. “Do you see that?” I asked trying to keep my voice even.
Joshua saw them too. “What the fuck is that? is someone trying to hurt that girl, dude we need to call the police now!” his face was a mixed of concern and distrust, for half a second I felt validated that I was not entirely going crazy. He saw what I could up ahead, in the middle of the road. But should I just keep going? Should I use my ability?
“Stop time or I’ll kill her . . .” that voice again. that haunting voice entered my head once again.
“You wouldn’t—” I started to say but was interrupted by his voice in my head again.
“She dies, and her death is on your hands.” The voice threatens.
I had a bad sinking feeling.
So, in the middle of driving, I used it. I froze time. Joshua was in the middle of calling the police with his mouth parted open. as my headlights shun on the two in front of me. I can clearly see a shadowy figure holding onto the teenage girl who struggled to get out of his arms. I wonder what this thing wanted, I mean sure I’ve seen things in the corner of my eyes before, I just ignored them. but this was different. This was terrifying. Someone was going to get hurt. And he was right, her death will be on my hands if I didn’t do as he said.
“Good. Now get out of the car.” The voice demanded.
Slowly I opened my door, unbuckled myself and stepped out on the gravel road. When I’m in frozen time there is no temperature. I wasn’t sure how to explain it, but there wasn’t. slowly I walked to the front of my car, I held my hands up to show I wasn’t carrying a weapon, and I wasn’t posing any threats like he was. I felt like a hostage negotiator at this point. “Want to tell me what this is about?”
“I wanted to see if it was you or not.” suddenly that nightmare I had the other night felt all too real.
He let the girl go. the girl ran towards the woods, but her body faded, as if she wasn’t real. And as soon as I flicked my eyes back to him, I felt the rush of air hit my face all at once. The cold caused me to freeze instantly, and I felt something hard and metal slam into me. I arced through the air and hit the ground rolling. Every hit I took, my body screamed in agonizing pain. I skidded to a stop to the other side of the road bank, and I heard the car crash into something solid, my guess was a tree.
I coughed and wheezed as my entire body shook from the pain and shock of it all. my vision doubled, as something wet slid own into my right eye. Slowly I pushed my body up, and that’s when I saw the shadowy figure grab a shard of glass from the windshield. And stabbed Joshua in the throat.
“NO!” I screamed; my voice echoed around us.
I wished I didn’t take this stupid shortcut; I wish I could rewind back time and that we never went down here. I couldn’t lose my best friend not because some paranormal asshole had the same ability as me, because he was hunting me down. I don’t want anyone to get hurt because of me. this is why I never told Joshua about my powers, because of this. everyone has their hero story; every hero has a villain I suppose.
And he’s, my villain.
I realized as I blinked, I was sitting in the car at the stop light, right before I make the turn down the short cut down the backroad. The traffic light was brightly lit green in the darkness, and Joshua was talking about how his thanksgiving went over break. Deja Vue. I can’t help but say something. “Joshua, you died.” I tell him solemnly.
Joshua’s smile was replaced with confusion and concern for me. he stared at me, and as if he understood what I meant. He cleared his throat, and suggested we take the long way around to get back to campus. I don’t know what had just happened. I don’t know if that was me, or him. that caused this time reset. But I was scared shitless. I squirmed in my seat the entire way back up to our campus. I was driving slower and keeping a caution eye open. I wasn’t sure if he was going to lurch out of the darkness like that thing did before, but my guard was up.
I kept looking in the rear-view mirror to see if I was being followed. I was acting like a paranoid lunatic, but I couldn’t help it. my adrenaline was still pumping through me, the pain of being hit by my car was permanently scarred in my brain. Hell, I feel like I was sucked through a vacuum hose and left all my sanity back at that back road. I pulled into a gas station that was a ten-minute walk away from campus. I turned the ignition off, and I turned to Joshua.
“I have superpowers.” I confessed. Was this the right thing to do? I didn’t want him to be unprepared in case something like that happens again.
“What the hell dude! One minute you’re saying I died and now you have what? Are you having a mental break down?”
I slammed my hands on the steering wheel causing the horn to blare out and echo in the empty parking low and probably down the street. “Fuck no, yes, I don’t know!” tears welled up in my eyes. “I don’t know okay, I watched you die, because of me!”
Joshua sat there quiet. He said nothing. he just stared at me with that same mixture of confusion and concern has he had done when I told him he died.
I slammed my hands a couple more times on the steering wheel out of frustration of my weird shadowy stalker and losing my best friend. After I was done, I leaned my forehead on the steering wheel, my tears didn’t dry up, they kept coming. Tears, snot, and drool. I felt his hand on the middle of my back as he rubbed my back in silence.
“You good?”
I sniffled, “no, but I think I’ll live.”
“Good,” I could hear the smirk in his voice. “Now tell me what you mean by you have a superpower.” He asked as I sat up and stared at him.
“It’s more a gift then anything. When I was six years old, I got a gift from a witch in the woods . . .” so I told him my story, I wasn’t sure if he’d believe me or not because to be honest, I don’t believe myself either. After I got done explaining to him, including telling him certain things that could have happened but didn’t because I interfered.
He took it better than I thought he would. “Okay, hypothetically, I believe this nut case store of yours. What if, just hear me out, your stalker isn’t just some normal run of the mill.”
I gave him a droll stare. “Oh, gee you don’t think?”
He chuckled, “I mean, if he is like you, or similar to you, do you think he wants you to stop using your powers, like you said you hadn’t seen him since you stopped using your powers and then he shows up because you used them again to get a paper done, and somehow you were able to rewind time, although that’s never happened before?”
“I guess.”
“What if you go find the witch then. Ask her if you are the only one that has this power.” He folded his arms across his chest.
“I don’t know how to find her, she just appeared when I was six and I haven’t seen her since.” I frowned at him.
He smirked, “tomorrow after classes we are going to go to that well and see if we can find evidence of her.”
I had never felt happy in my life like this. “So, you believe me?”
“Well, I am a man of realistic values, but I also can’t disprove what you said, and based off your reaction, I can’t ignore it either. Let’s call it curiosity and worry for you.”
I sighed, but at the back of my head I can still feel like he’s watching me from the shadows, slowly I turned around. one of the streetlamps across the way was flickering, as if the light was deciding whether to stay on or not. and suddenly the light decided to stay on, and a man was standing under the lamplight. He wore an expensive black suit with a red tie. He wore a fedora with matching colors, but it was tipped downward into the mans face, so all I could see was a sinister smile. and I could hear his laughter in my head. In a blink of an eye, he was gone. and the streetlight continued to flick again.
It’s been a long time since I’ve felt helpless not since I was a child. I had a bad sinking feeling about this.