Arrogance: Volume One of Ebb & Flow

If I match it to the floor plan, I’m in the second living room attached to the foyer. I crouch down and hide while watching the spectacle. The demon begins to speak, and its voice is slightly digitized. “This is what you get, Jake, you fucking monster.”

“Why are you doing this? What did we do to you?” Jake screamed.

“Yeah, what the fuck, man?” Hunter howled.

The helmet’s eyes glowed briefly before lasering a hole in Hunter’s head. His body slumps to the floor as blood gushes out of his face. I thought lasers would cauterize the wound, but the web page from earlier popped into my head. Tinkerers can create futuristic and fantastical technology that can violate the laws of physics. In front of me is a Neuvohuman, a Tinkerer in the flesh. And they’re killing my classmates. I’ve never seen a person killed before, least of all in this kind of fashion. My palms are sweating, and I can feel my teeth when I bring my hand to my face. I’m smiling involuntarily for the first time in my life.

“Holy fucking shit, that was awesome,” I said while chuckling.

The demon turns toward me. “Who said that? Who’s hiding? DON’T FUCKING LAUGH AT ME!”

I duck back down as a laser rips into the wall, slicing through it and engulfing the room in flames. Another chuckle slips out, causing him to shoot again. The room I’m trapped in is beginning to fall apart, the fire licking at the carpet and devouring the drapes. I look around for an exit, but the way I came in is blocked by flaming debris. I run across the room to hide behind some furniture. There’s a large window that I could use to escape the blistering heat, but I can’t stop watching. This is amazing. I pull my turtleneck over my mouth and nose. That should help with all the smoke I’m inhaling.

The masked man turns back to the others. “You ask what you did to me? You pretend you have no idea what you could’ve done to deserve this. Jake Deckler, you are a psychopathic bastard. YOU FUCKING TRIED TO KILL ME!” He yells as he rips his mask off.

Davis Allen was the popular kids’ punching bag until he went missing after Christmas break. The nerdy bookworm with no friends and a shit home life. His dad’s an infamous drunk, the type to start a fight over nothing. So it isn’t hard to imagine what he’s like behind closed doors. His mother died when he was younger; we have that in common. Everything pointed in the direction of eventual suicide, so when he stopped coming to school, we all assumed that he finally did it. Their house has been empty ever since. I guess it turns out he triggered and became a Neuvohuman. Based on the murder and destruction, I think he classifies as a Cowl.

The itching on my arm brings me back out of my thoughts. My sleeve is on fire. I quickly smother it out on the couch I’m hiding behind. A turtleneck isn’t the best fit when the room is over three hundred degrees. My face stings, and my eyes hurt from straining them through the smoke. Damn it. It looks like Davis killed Kyle while I wasn’t paying attention.

“For years, you assholes tormented me. Nowhere was safe. You bastards at school and my fucking dad at home. I just wanted to be left alone, to finish high school and get the fuck out of this backwoods pisswater town. But you took it too far. You fucking assholes kept dunking my head into the freezing water at Colton’s Pond. Over and over, I begged you to stop. I told you I couldn’t breathe. But Kyle and Hunter held my legs while you pushed my head underwater. And you, Hellen, just fucking laughed. WAS IT FUNNY, HELLEN? WHY AREN’T YOU LAUGHING RIGHT NOW?” Davis screamed.

Hellen is hysterically crying now. Snot and spittle are flowing out of her mouth and nose. Her hair is pressed against her face from the heat, and her makeup is running down it.

“I’m so, so, so sorry, Davis. I didn’t want to do it, but Jake made me watch. You know how he is, right?” She whimpered.

“HELLEN, YOU FUCKING BITCH! HOW DARE YOU?” Jake roared.

Davis slides his helmet back on and gouges a huge line into the floor with his laser eyes. “QUIET, BOTH OF YOU, BE QUIET!”

I’m so focused on the drama that I overlook the support beams above me creaking loudly. I manage to put my arms up as one of them falls, but now I’m pinned between the floor, the beam, and the couch. My hands sizzle when I try to move the wooden beam. I’m violently struggling as the realization of what’s happening begins to set in. I can’t die here, not like this. Not like some rat stuck in a trap, slowly roasting.

Something breaks within me as I continuously flail in an attempt to move. Suddenly, I’m in two places at once. I’m floating above myself, watching a different me or the same me, roasting alive. And then I’m in a white void, nothing around me in any direction. The white grows brighter and brighter as a pounding headache rocks me. The headache worsens until it gets to the point where I can’t take any more. What the fuck is this? My head feels like it will split open, but the pain grows until I hear what sounds like glass shattering.

I’m back from the void, my brain full of new knowledge and adrenaline coursing through my veins. I ignore the sweltering heat and smell of burning skin as I place my forearms against the beam. I push with everything I have and give a little more for good measure. My sleeves destroyed and bare flesh sizzling, I move the wood just enough to weasel out from under it. I look down at my arms, and they look like melted plastic. Charred black, I give thanks that my nerves are too fried to transmit anything to my brain. I shakily stand up and see that everyone is dead except for Jake and Davis. Hellen’s bisected at the waist, and everyone else is in various cleanly cut pieces. He must have been sweeping the laser around while I was in the, wait, where was I?

Jake Deckler is sitting in a puddle of his piss. His eyes are puffy from crying, but they are vacant and defeated. Watching your friends and lover killed in front of you can be a bummer. I’m waiting with bated breath for the moment Davis kills his tormentor; that’s when I’ll make my move.

“I have to thank you, Jake. I would never have gotten this incredible power if you hadn't almost killed me. I wouldn’t have been able to defeat my demons finally. Get it, Jake? The symbolism behind the mask? I made my dad suffer the way I suffered. Now you’ll suffer just like he did.” Davis laughed.

Davis starts fiddling with a nob on his demonic helmet. Once more, the eyes glow, but it’s fainter than before. When the laser finally comes out, it doesn’t instantly shoot a hole through Jake. Instead, his skin begins to bubble like hot chowder. With a terrible wail, Jake howls like a wolf caught in a beartrap. As I sneak behind Davis, the sound is drowning out all else, including my footsteps. I bend down and pick up a broken piece of the chandelier. A jagged piece of glass; it would hurt if I still had any feeling left in my hands. I creep closer as Jake cooks like a marshmallow in a microwave. Davis still hasn’t noticed me even though I’m right behind him. I cannot believe he is carelessly gloating when he has not even accomplished his goal. I jab the shard into the left side of his throat, underneath the helmet, and pull it all the way to the right. With my free hand, I hold his head in place.

“Thank you, Davis. You’ve shown me my way forward,” I said.

Davis’ outburst about his trigger event ended up causing my own. I wish I had gotten something more offensive, but I’ll make do. Counting in my head until the required five minutes have passed, and I can feel it deep within me. I’ve stolen Davis’ Tinkerer power, but something else came with it. I drop his corpse and carefully avoid the puddle formerly known as Jake. It is time to get out of here and seek medical attention before my adrenaline fades. Thankfully, the Deckler mansion has high ceilings and was built sturdy enough that the foyer hasn’t collapsed. I carefully step over my classmates' bodies and find Marcus. He’s missing everything past his knees. I pull my turtleneck down, showing the face of a concerned friend.

“Oh, thank God you’re still alive, Marcus. We have to get out of here while we still can.” I offer him my hand, but he looks terrified, not relieved. He scrambles backward using his elbows. My face relaxes, and my tone becomes neutral. “Damn. You witnessed everything, huh? Then I can’t let you live, buddy. Not when I finally found something to excite me. I’ve already killed one person today; what’s another?”

“Stop, Eryk, you don’t have to do this,” he said.

“Buddy, you literally just showed me that you don’t trust me. And I’m supposed to trust that you’ll keep your mouth shut? You’re the boy scout, Marcus. You’ll tell someone eventually,” I said emotionlessly.

Marcus’ hands slip in some blood, and he falls to his back, whimpering. “I’ve heard people struggle with overwhelming grief, loss, and guilt when putting down their dog. I doubt I’ll have that problem.”

I won’t be able to slit his throat as I did Davis. Marcus is typically stronger than me, and that’s without me having these third-degree burns. I need to hurry; the smoke is making me lightheaded, and the fire has spread upstairs already. I’m going to have to get creative. An idea comes to me quickly, and I return to the blazing room. The fire is everywhere, but as long as I can survive getting out of here, the injuries won’t matter. Searching the room for something I remember seeing earlier. There, off to the side against the wall, is the item. It's a fireplace tool set that’s never been used until today. My body is still high on adrenaline, and I have so much nerve damage I can’t even feel the heat anymore. I grab the poker and head back to Marcus.

I find him crawling across the floor in the opposite direction I went. He’s trying to escape and making great progress. Unfortunately for him, he’s not leaving here alive. Stopping by one of the many burning bodies to heat my poker. I wait until the warm glow of the metal becomes red-hot. I lose myself in the flames for a moment. When I look at Marcus, he’s crawled another fifteen feet.

He doesn’t see me coming, so focused on his only chance at survival. Goodbye, Marcus. I plunge the poker through the nape of his neck and into his brain. I may not have cared for you, but I can make your death painless. A slight spasm, and then his body lies still. I pull the poker out and toss it off to the side—time to leave. The front door isn’t an option; I need to find another way. I’ll have to find a room with a window to escape. I make my way through the house quickly. My barely effective turtleneck mask does not entirely block out the smoke. I finally reach the dining room, a giant table in the middle with enough seats for twenty people and beautiful stained glass windows. I’m sure it’s quite beautiful when it isn't on fire.

I grab a chair and smash it at the window with all my might. It shatters outward, and smoke begins to escape out into the night. I continue to swing the chair, knocking out the remaining window pieces. Dizzy and lightheaded, I stumble to the opening. Using my last bit of energy, I fall out the window as my consciousness fades.