Solar

Chapter 1: The Introduction

 I was sitting on the couch with my brother like any other day, scrolling through twitter and laughing at memes. I get a text from my friend Sophie telling me that she drove by the house and she saw me outside. One problem with that, I wasn't outside. I get my brother and go to my mom's room, telling her that someone is in the backyard. We go to the window to look out, and what we see is chilling. There's a man standing in the yard, looking down. He's wearing an all-black hooded robe, gloves, and a ring with a symbol of the sun on it. My mom tells us to stay inside as she goes to investigate, but we don't listen. When we get outside the man looks up, revealing a mask. There are two cutouts around his eyes, both having the same sun symbol on his ring around them. Is this some kind of TV show episode? My mother asks who he is, to which he replies through a pitched-down voice clearly going through a voice changer, "I am Solar, and I need to talk to your daughter, Alexa." Me? Why does he want to talk to me?  I yell out, "What do you want" and immediately get a scolding look from my mother. I can't help the fact that I want answers. My mom tells him that she'll get the gun or call the cops, and he lifts his palm in the air. "Am I supposed to be afraid of your hand?" she asks in a sassy tone. "No, you're supposed to be afraid of this", he says menacingly before a stream of fire shoots out of a nozzle on his palm over 10 feet in the air, causing our faces to light up with an orange glow. My mom freezes, in too much of a panic to do anything, and I ask again what the man wants from me.  "Last year, you decided to steal money at your job by telling tenants that their payment never came through. Some people gave you every last cent they had to stay, and some people are still homeless. You caused tons of people to lose everything they own, so you could move back into your mom's house without bills, and use the extra money for whatever you want. Your actions will have consequences, and that is why I am here." My heart sinks to my stomach. How does he know about that? What is he going to do to me? I stand perfectly still as he makes his way towards me. After getting so close that I'd feel his breath if it weren't for the mask, he speaks. "These people have lost everything, and now you will do the same. You get a choice. Your cars, your mother's house, or all of your cash. After you choose, I will burn it all." This can not be happening. I fall to my knees, trying so hard to hold back tears as I whisper, "The cars." The man asks for my keys to the two vehicles I have, drives them both down the road away from any houses,  but where we can still see them, and gets out. He stands about 15 feet away from the cars, aims his palms at them, and the fire comes out again. I can see wires going from his gloves to his back, under the robes. He built some sort of hand-sized flamethrower. I suddenly hear a loud explosion and once again have my face light up in orange, disrupting my train of thought. The man walks back over to us, and says that I have faced my punishment and can continue going about life. "I have one last message for you, Alexa. Your friend James has done plenty wrong himself, and it will not go unpunished. You may warn him that I am coming, but it changes nothing. all must face justice in one way or another, including me." James? The innocent kid I went to college with? What could he have possibly done? I panic, pull my phone out, and tell him what happened immediately. When I look up from my phone, Solar is gone. I get a text back, reading, "Really? A guy in robes with flame hands? You need to lay off of the Marvel movies, Al." Ugh. I know it sounds crazy but it's the truth. I don't know how I'll tell him that. I go inside, load up my mom's pistol, and head to James' house to stay for a few days. This man needs to face justice himself, as he said he would.