Time to Make a Difference

Chapter 3: Playing with Fire: Sophie's POV

Sophie's heartbeat quickened as her breath came to a sudden halt.

She tried to think of something to do, but her brain was paralyzed by fear.

Think.

Sweat trickled down her back.

Think or it'll be too late.

Her eyes trailed off to a thick wooden table.

Without a second thought she thrust out her hands causing the table to float off the ground and hurl itself at the hooded figure.

The table hit them with so much force that they toppled over and crashed into the glass window behind them. The glass shattered and the table collapsed at their side.

"Take cover!" yelled the policeman throwing himself on top of his colleague to shelter them.

The hooded figure didn't move.

Sophie's heart stopped.

"Who did that?!" shouted out a deep voice.

Sophie pressed herself against the cool marble of the counter.

What had she done?

She hadn't meant to injure the hooded person. The table was only meant to shield the policemen when the cloaked figure decided to pull the trigger.

Had she killed them?

Sophie's eyes teared up.

No. No, she couldn't have.

She'd never be able to live with herself.

"Who. Did. That?" the same voice boomed.

The policemen and the cloaked people all froze waiting for someone to speak up.

Sophie didn't dare move.

She looked to her left and held in a yell as she saw a pair of piercing blue eyes staring right at her.

The hooded man began to walk towards her.

She tried to move.

To get up and run.

But her muscles were frozen in place.

Sophie felt nauseous as the man crouched down in front of her a few feet away.

She shut her eyes, readying herself for pain.

For death.

Nothing came.

"I'm not going to hurt you," the deep voice promised.

Sophie slowly opened her eyes.

The cloaked man held out his hand and a miniature neon orange flame appeared. It wasn't burning him, instead it seemed to be a part of him.

Sophie sucked in a breath.

He was a pyrokinetic.

"I'm like you," he said.

"What the-" Sophie's head snapped to the right to find a wide eyed policeman. "Why is there a kid here?!"

Sophie's ears began to ring as policemen surrounded the cloaked man ready to fight.

"You get the kid," she heard one of them whisper.

No.

Everything was going wrong.

She couldn't let them take her.

She couldn't let them find out who she was.

The hooded figures surrounded her from behind.

Both sides ready to fight.

And she was stuck in the middle of it all.

She didn't know what the cloaked figures wanted her for. The policemen probably wanted to get her out safe, but soon enough they'd realize she was the one who'd made the table float with her telekinesis. They'd reveal her identity, ruining everything, even worse they might experiment on her.

Or use her as a weapon of sorts.

Or... kill her.

Sophie stood up, her shaky legs almost making her topple over.

She had to find a way out of there. And fast.

All of a sudden a ring of fire rose up right in front of the policemen and hooded figures. They no longer could get to her.

Sophie sighed, relieved, but then stiffened when she spotted the cloaked man in front of her. Inside the ring of fire.

She had nowhere to go.

Sophie found her voice, "What do you want with me?"

The hooded man's voice responded, "Join us. You have potential. These powerless humans, these talentless fools, they fear us. They can't bear the thought of anyone being more powerful than them. They're selfish. They kill us relentlessly. They have no remorse for any of their actions".

"You-you're wrong," Sophie's shaky voice retorted.

The man sighed, "When I was young I also thought there could be harmony between people with abilities and the talentless, but I was wrong."

Sophie swallowed, "It can happen. I've seen it happen."

The man tilted his head to the side, as if studying her. He eventually said, "Join us or suffer the pain that talentless cause."

Sophie looked to the side, cloaked figures were patiently waiting for her answer, though giving occasionally glances at the police. And then to the other side where policemen were trying to find a way through the wall of flames.

Her parents, and so many others, were, and still are, outcast because of them. Because they couldn't accept people for who they truly are.

But her parents still gave up their lives for a talentless...

And they died because of it.

No, they would have still done it if they knew they were going to die. They wouldn't have cared. They hadn't cared.

"No-no you're wrong. I know you're wrong," Sophie stuttered.

"It's such a shame when they go to waste," The man shook his head, "When they can't see things for what they truly are".

He turned over to the other cloaked figures, "It's time to go. We've managed to distract them long enough".

Sophie's heart stopped.

"What do you mean you've managed to distract us long enough?!" yelled a policeman with shaggy dark hair.

The man grinned and turned his back to the policemen.

He snapped his fingers and the ring of flame disappeared just as another one surrounded all the police.

The cloaked figures all rushed outside jumping into a dark van that just pulled up. The pyrokinetic trailing behind. Just as he was about to get into the front seat of the van, someone tackled him to the ground.

The two figures wrestled each other on the damp road.

"Go!" yelled the pyrokinetic.

The van drove off with a deafening screech, leaving him behind.