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“Help!” Maybe a hero exiting the club had super hearing. I only needed one person to jump in and give me time to run away.
I rounded the corner, ducking into the entrance of a shop. With the door pressed against my back, I prayed they ran past without giving me a second glance. I expected to see hooligans, maybe hooligans with capes, but nobody rounded the corner and ran past.
Perhaps it had been—
Glass shattered as hands grabbed my shoulders, pulling me through the front door of the shop. I barely noticed the wedding dress in the window before being tossed across the floor. Shielding my eyes, I didn’t dare risk the broken glass in my face as the attacker pulled me to my feet by my tie.
“What were you hiding from? Me?”
I recognized the voice. Yet again, the leader of the Nocturnals treated me as his personal plaything. He lifted me off my feet, plowing me backward until he had me pinned between two white dresses. With a swift kick to his gut, he hardly flinched. My back ached as he slammed me against the wall again. Being buried alive had left plenty of bruises, and now this jerk was filling in the gaps with new ones.
“Feisty, aren’t we?”
“What do you want? No little old ladies to pick on?” It probably wasn’t smart to antagonize a man capable of breaking me in half, but some lessons took longer to sink in.
The featureless white mask came in close, like he was sniffing me. I had been around enough heroes to know some of them enjoyed their scents. Who am I to judge? But right now was not the time for fetish play.
“Self-doubt.”
“Great, you stated the obvious. Is that your power?” I reached into my pocket, trying to grab my phone. If I could hit the volume button enough, it’d signal the HeroApp™ that something was amiss. I only needed to—
“No heroes are saving you.” He pulled my hand out of my pants and pinned it to the wall. “You’re not worthy of being saved. Even Sentinel thought so. He’d have left you to rot if not for the kids.”
How did he— Wait, was that anxiety attack earlier not real? Could it have been…
“Eclipse.”
The mask melted away from his skin. I didn’t recognize the man until the smile formed under his mustache, teeth bared, almost as white as his suit. I wouldn’t have thought the man stupid enough to show up at Midnight Alley in a white suit and then terrorize the city in an identical color. The pattern on his chest and arms had changed, but it didn’t require a genius to figure it out. Though, in a city where skimpy masks hid a person’s identity, he had done more than most. Worst off, it worked. From now on, I’d start paying more attention.
“You’re one of the Nocturnals?”
“If I made it any more obvious, I’d have a name tag. It’s only a matter of time before we achieve our goal and the city rests under the heel of my boot.”
In the bar, that hadn’t been me, not entirely. Eclipse could draw out fear to manifest it until it consumed his victim. Even now, he attempted to get in my head. The doubts and insecurities attempted to push past my common sense. Sentinel, annoyed as he hovered above the fallen building, flashed across my mind. I wouldn’t let it take hold. Instead, I focused on the image of a burly man sitting in his living room, texting with me. Ha, try again Eclipse. His powers would not get their claws in me again.
“Bravado?” Had I surprised the man? I might not be faster than a speeding train, but I’d resist his prodding with every ounce of energy I could muster.
“You’re just as bad a villain as you are a hero.” It all made sense now, the immaculate uniform, elbowing it with the heroes at the club. He wasn’t trying to climb the social ladder. He and his crew were gathering intel.
“I let you have the first hit free. But next time, it’s going to cost you. And with your track record, there isn’t going to be anybody left to save you from the big bad wolf.”
“Sentinel will—“
“No, EO? Did you already burn that bridge?”
The shop turned black like it had in the subway. Eclipse was about to use his powers to pull at my worst fears. How do you protect yourself against fear? No amount of self-confidence could bat away the insecurities lying just beneath the surface.
“Oh, I see.” He feigned sympathy, driving the dagger deeper into my heart. “He got bored with his distraction? Found somebody better? More deserving? I can’t say I blame him. I hear you’re fun…” He leaned in, his lips grazing my ear. “For an evening.”
With a flick of the wrist, he released his grip, tossing me into a row of mannequins. I scurried away, trying to reach the door before Eclipse pulled at my ankles and hurled me into the street.
“I suppose I should take my cue from EO. You’re not worth the effort. You’ll self-destruct all on your own.”
I climbed to my feet, prepared to run before daring to glance over my shoulder. The shop was still, and there was no man in white to be found. It shouldn’t surprise me that Eclipse wanted to terrorize me, especially after I clocked him.
But he wasn’t wrong. It wasn’t his powers that had shaken me. My issues with Theo had started before Eclipse got involved. Could he really create fear? Or did it have to be grounded in reality? Not knowing was the most unnerving part of it. I tried to blame the pain in my chest on the arrogant prick. And yet, I couldn’t help imagining Theo silencing his phone when my message came in, placing me at the bottom of his priorities.
“I can’t do this,” I mumbled. The phone was in my hand, and before I knew it, I was staring at the text message I had sent earlier. Part of me hoped I missed his reply, anything to give me pause. With a simple, “Got tied up,” I’d be able to scream at Eclipse that he lost. But it had been hours and still no word from Theo. On its own, it wouldn’t have been a big deal, but after dinner, and him mistaking a plea for help as overreacting… I didn’t like the man I had become. Worse than that, I didn’t like the sinking feeling threatening to swallow me whole.
