Chapter 2: Firstheart

Stephanie Glider

"Hey lady, get the hell out of the way!" Yelled a man from the rolled down window of his truck. 

"Ah! I'm really sorry sir, I'll move right away. Just please give me a moment!" I squeak back at him while frantically picking up the papers and files I had dropped in the middle of the crosswalk.

With a few resounding honks from him and some others, I dash to the edge of the sidewalk while tightly grasping my backpack to my chest. I clumsily make my way to the bench next to the bus stop I would wait at.

I readjust my glasses and surf through the messy insides of my large backpack to make sure I wasn't missing anything. I could only grit my teeth and hope I had lost my wallet instead of these oh so very, very and very important medical records.

"In today's news, we once again revisit the ongoing investigation of the city's missing mayor." The man next to me was on his phone watching a broadcast on a topic I took interest in. 

"Alice King, former mayor of the city of Los Angeles, has been missing for nearly a year now. Some have started to speculate the nature of her disappearance, claiming the footage of the incident to be nothing but a hoax. Others say the way her body vanished into thin air is tied to demonic beliefs and satanic rituals." Said the old, thin man on the screen. 

"What do you think Christy? You think of this as a serious situation? Or just an exaggerated prank by someone who no longer wished to be in Office?"

"Well Mr. Jones, with all the crazy happening around here I certainly wouldn't doubt the magical nature of this incident. Speaking of crazy and magic..."

Lady Luck sure liked to play favorites, I thought.

I had really liked Mayor King. She had implemented some rather minor reforms, yet made progress on some major issues in the big city. Creating infrastructure jobs in the more poverty stricken neighborhoods reduced homelessness and crime rates. Reformation of the laws regarding rent and housing had helped a countless number of people. Sure helped me out a ton. 

If her magical disappearance was real, I just wish she had taken me with her.

Just a few days on an exotic beach in the Bahamas would be enough for me. 

My bus arrives at its stop. I quickly get on and rest my head in between my backpack and the window to have a quick nap. 

In the blink of an eye, I arrive at the UCLA Medical Center with the most joyous smile plastered on my face. 

I'm Happy. I am very much okay with this.

I keep the same expression for the rest of my time at the facility. Screaming directors, arrogant seniors, and even my spineless peers all built up bone popping stress. 

I kept it in. Just a little longer, I weakly told myself. 

"Thank you very much dear." said a soft spoken old woman. She looked real mean, so her sweet voice and words were a comforting end to my shift.

"You're very welcome mam. Now, don't go around doing any flips or the bandages will go flying off!" I said to her with a soft giggle. 

"Hoho! Don't tempt me now miss." 

With the freshly changed bandages done, I leave with a respectful nod and make my way to my salvation. 

Oh. Big, beautiful red sign. How I yearn to follow your commands. 

I tightly grip a stack of random papers I pulled from my backpack under my arm, and fix my bangs a bit. I stride forward confidently but also quietly, looking like a woman with a place to be. 

Without making eye contact or bumping into anyone, I make it mere feet away from my haven.

Just one mor-

"Hey Steph!" I heard along with the quick steps of someone fast walking.

With a sharp intake of breath, I turn around while adding a slight crouch to my posture. 

"Hey Chris. I was just about to head out, did you need something?" He was a fairly handsome man with bright brown eye and long black hair. He was only one year older than me and one inch shorter, but I didn't have the patience to deal with anyone right now. 

"Well I was just thinking that if by some miracle you had some time on your hands, I thought maybe you'd like to go out for dinner with me tonight." He said in a hopeless tone.

"Sorry, but I've got a paper due tonight" It was the truth, but he gave me a face of disbelief. "Maybe some other time during the weekend or something?"

With a joking frown he asked, "Would you go out with me out of love?"

"No." I flatly said. 

"How about just out of courtesy?"

"Double no."

"At least out of pity?"

"Better luck next time Chris" I left the scene behind with a man whose face had seen at least a thousand wars. 

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I had finally gotten a few steps out of the exit, taking a deep breath of the delectably fresh Los Angeles air. So full of chemicals, the greyness almost thick enough to be visible.

I was about to sit down to wait for my bus, when I suddenly felt something. It felt like something nestled deep in my chest lightly hummed. 

Dropping to my knees, I grab my chest with both arms while taking deep breaths as I felt the humming turning into violent vibrations while the world began to change. My vision tilted, the light of the afternoon sun suddenly cooking me alive and melting my eyes. The vibrations in my chest seem to influence the world, beating in unison to the rampant bursts of primordial energy gushing out of the ground.

Seeping from under ground, the energy comes into contact and clings to everything it touches. From the cold metal of the bus sign to the beating hearts of the street pests. The water, the ground, every element in the air, all of it seemed to regain a new sheen of color. 

No differently than to the trash littering the streets, the energy clings to me as well, almost forcing its way through the pores of my skin. I could see -no, feel- the blood circulating my body, powering its every movement and thought. 

I was aware of myself. I could close my eyes and accurately count the number of hairs I had from head to toe.  I wanted to keep going, to explore what was happening with me. With a little time, I felt as if I could dissect every aspect of the human DNA. I felt capable of destroying myself and building myself anew. Stronger, faster, better than before. 

Just as quickly as it came, everything snapped back to normal. The sun a comfortable orange glow and my eyes properly in place. 

I was still on my knees, shaking with a cold sweat drenching my clothes. Nobody else in the crowds and traffic seemed to notice anything. The only proof to the validity of what had just happened was people looking at me like some drug addicted middle school dropout.

Yet I barely paid attention to their stares. The unmistakable core of primordial power was still there, a feeble flame slowly pulsing without rhythm. 

What the hell is going on? The thing in my chest... was I just chosen for an alien experiment? 

I was dumbfounded. I raised my head towards the sky, half expecting to see a UFO race away from the clouds, hurtling into space. 

But somehow, what I actually saw was even more brain numbing. 

A colossal white circle that was growing by the second was directly above the skyscrapers of downtown L.A. Humongous emerald green clouds were gathering at the edges of the circle, speeding around it like a blazing flame. 

There was no turbulent winds nor a sudden change in temperature, yet for a brief instance I felt the core in my chest beat in resonance with the strange phenomenon. It went away just as quickly, leaving me with a sense of longing. 

In less than a minute since I had looked up, the white circle had stopped growing. It looked like the eye of a storm with the emerald flame-like clouds still circling around its circumference. 

Do I run? Do I hide? Do I raise my fists and get ready to tussle?

In response to what came out of the circle, the right answer would have been to kneel.

Though I didn't. 

A creature with the body of a snow white tiger with intricate, almost mesmerizing glowing golden stripes. It had the menacing head and front limbs of a harpy eagle. The white feathers of the mane around the base of the neck, contrasting with the radiant glow of the picture perfect, nearly angelic golden wings. 

As if designed by the ramblings of a drunk Greek soldier, the creature was, simply put, massive. It eclipsed the city and cast a shadow on the nearby mountains. Even of what could only be miles above the tallest of buildings, its whale sized claws seemed capable of reaching down and casually swiping city blocks clean. 

It seemed docile, yet with each breath the beast seemed to take, it felt like I was being sucked in. From the air in my lungs to the fleeting power of my core. 

Hovering right under the quickly shrinking white circle and dissipating emerald clouds, the fantasy-like beast stilled for a few seconds.

With a moment of concentration and a quick flash of golden light, its towering form shrunk down into what I could only describe as s speck. It shot down to the helicopter landing pad of one of the tallest buildings in the immediate vicinity. 

In mere minutes there are nearly ten helicopters in the air, circling the roof of the skyscraper. 

It had only been around five minutes since I had walked out of the medical center, and for the first time ever I felt like returning. 

Slapping myself out of my hypnotized stupor, I finally noticed the hysteria people were in. Crashed cars, crying adults, and even some folk straight up groveling on all fours.

"Jesus fucking CHRIST!!?! Get down here and explain the absolute madness I just witnessed!" Yelled out a middle age man with a guttural roar. 

"Oh God almighty, oh great heavens! If its' my time to go, please at least give me enough time to delete my browser history! Please! Its my only plead!!" The young man yelling seemed at bit out of it. Even my untrained eye could tell the difference in muscle mass of his right and left arm.

Ughh.

"Dawg" In the midst of everything, this one seemed... well at least he was calm. "Dawg, that was a pretty big cat man. Shit was white as fuck, beeeaaach."

Already inside before he could finish slurring his words, I take notice of everyone looking towards the waiting room TV.

Caught in a crisp and colorful 4k, surrounded by news reporters and law enforcers alike stood a golden haired women of envious proportions. 

White dress shirt, dark blue waist coat and pants, she looked exactly as she did before she disappeared. 

Though when the camera panned over to her face, her new set of glowing silver eyes was anything but human.

Alice King had returned to her city with a bit of a commotion.

Dawg. What the fuck is going on today. 

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