Vigilante (Under Construction! Please Excuse the Dust!)

Chapter 10: when i knock on death's door.

Giliana:

        There was another Talon-damned Power brawl on the street in front of my home. From what I could see in the pitch black, it was an Energy Conductor, also know as a Socket. Who they were fighting, I couldn't tell.

        Sockets were dangerous and almost unheard of in the Inner and Outer Provinces. In Kital, the city north of us, they had more than we did, but there was always few of them. They were a Regal Power.

        Let's just say that on the Levels of Power, they were somewhere near the top. They were like miniature reactors and could produce their own energy. It made them semi-unstoppable, but a bullet to the head solved that problem. The hook to that Power was that they produced terrible pollutants with each use of their skill, contaminating the very ground and air around them.

        A boom of energy is what alerted me to the clash and, seconds later, a surge of electricty popped every lightbulb in the house, as well as the streetlights outside. I had been attempting to get some rest before I headed for work at seven, but the hopes of a quick nap had quickly been dashed.

        "Gil!" my grandmother yowled from downstairs. I bolted upright out of my bed, flying to my feet and stomping down the staircase to see Grandma pressed into the couch, clutching the embroidered throw pillows for her life. She stared out the open window beside the television, which had exploded outward.

        "Abuelita?" I rushed to her side, checking over her for injuries. A deep cut marred her leg, most likely from a shard of glass from the destroyed TV. "You're bleeding. Where's abuelo?"

        She pressed her thin lips together in a tight line and shook her head.

        "I don't know, mi todo," she coughed. "Outside, there's-there's a fight. It's a Socket." Grandma looked at me, her eyes big and terrified. It physically pained me to see her so afraid.

        "Leave me alone!" a voice screamed, filtering over the sound of the Socket's crackling energy.

        "Someone's out there!" Grandma yelled, voice tight with panic. "Someone's caught in the middle of that fight!"

        She looked to me, expression pleading. I ignored her stare, investigating the slash on her leg. It looked deep enough for stitches and was bleeding profusely. In a rush, I tore off my sweatshirt, pressing it hard against the wound. Grandma hissed through her teeth and groaned.

        "Giliana," she said in a breath. "You have to help them."

        "What? No! Are you crazy?" I objected, tying the sleeves of the sweatshirt tight around her leg and pressing on it as firmly as I dared without causing her any more pain.

        "Mi todo, please," she urged, her voice practically begging now. "Imagine if you were out there and no one dared to help."

        I nearly rolled my eyes at her. If I went out there, I would die. That Socket would blow me to pieces without a second thought. The more compassionate and reckless side of me sided with Grandma and I bit down on my lip hard.

        "No! Please!" the same voice cried through the shattered window. Their desperation made my chest ache and I stood from my crouched position, making probably the stupidest-and likely the last- decision of my life.

        In nothing more than my sweatpants and a grimy tee, I ran out the front door.

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