Chapter Six

Chapter Six

"Are you ready?" T asks me as she hands me one her coats while fixing her earrings with the other.

"Yes," I say.

Christmas Eve has finally arrived, and T wants to go to church tonight and she asked if I would join her. I didn't care either way, but she seems to want me to go so I agreed. I didn't have any nice clothes, so she lent me a blouse and some pants that are a little too tight. Pulling the scarf and jacket closer we brace the cold and walk the ten blocks to her church.

We take a seat in the very last pew of the church and I take notice of how many people are here. I think this is a Christian church, but I am not sure. Looking around I see lots of children with cropped hair or braids with the cute little clips in them. Some mothers are rocking their natural curls and many others have their hair shaved the way I do. It puts me at ease to know I am not the only African American woman who just shaves her head. I don't have the time or money to try and take care of my natural hair.

I follow along with the service blindly, I didn't know what was going on, but I know it means a lot to T, so I listen and do as I am asked. Something sits uneasily with me as the service continues, but I can't figure out what is bothering me; maybe I didn't cook dinner well enough. Shifting in my seat I decide to run to the bathroom quickly. T gives me directions under her breath.

As I stand up and turn towards the back doors to try and make a quiet and undisruptive leave, the two doors slam open. Staring down a pale-faced man, he points his gun towards me, and I freeze as the first bullet hits my chest. The second one hits me, and I lunge towards him, still processing. My hands hit the gun, and another bullet goes into my foot. My entire foot seizes in a cramp and we continue to struggle for the gun but surprisingly I am stronger than him and I rip it from his grasp and throw it across the floor.

The blonde man looks at me in shock and I throw a punch to his face and it lands right in the bridge of his nose. I hit him again and again, driving him out of the church. I shove him through the doors, and he stumbles backward and tumbles down the stairs. Yanking the scarf over my face I jump down the stairs and grab the man by the shirt and hit him again. Police cars come to a screeching halt and I drop the man onto the ground. I think that is the quickest I have even seen them respond to a crisis.

Police officers surround me, and the people of the church start to flood out the doors and the police start questioning them. I keep my distance from T even though I know she is itching to check on me. One of the officers turns to me.

"People are saying that you took three bullets and stopped the shooter?" He asks me, looking down at his notepad.

"The shots didn't hit me, but I did stop him," I say.

"I have five different people saying that they say your body jolt as if you had been shot," he says confused.

"Do I look like I have been shot?" I ask.

He looks down at my shoes and I realize that there is a massive bullet hole in my shoe. The ones in my shirt I am covering with my jacket, but I can't exactly hide that one. I bite my lip trying to cover my tracks better.

"He missed my foot, these shoes are way too big, they're my older sisters," I say, and he gives me a skeptical look.

"Would you mind coming down to the station, so we can ask you a few more questions?" He asks me kindly and I shake my head.

"I can tell you everything you need to know right now, I need to go home and lie down," I say seriously.

"Well to start, how about a name?"

"Aj," I lie.

"Pardon?"

"I said my name is Aj," I repeat twisting the truth.

"Can you remove the scarf?"

"I'm cold,"

"What exactly happened Miss Aj," he says skeptically.

"I was getting up to use the bathroom, dinner was sitting pretty heavy. As I was halfway to the door, past the pews, the doors flew open and that man started shooting. I was frozen for a moment as a few bullets whizzed past me before I was able to realize what was going on and that's when I lunged at him. It took me a bit to wiggle the gun away from him and that's when he shot me in the shoe. Eventually, I broke his grasp on the gun, and then it was all over for him," I recount the events trying to hide my meta ability.

"And you are sure you didn't get shot? Sometimes people don't realize the damage because of the adrenaline. We should probably get you checked out by an EMT," he says turning to wave down someone.

With his back turned, I weave through the crowd and hurry down the street. I duck into an alleyway and keep making my way towards the apartment as I text T I left. The pain in my torso starts to become unbearable as I climb the stairs. I barely can put my key in the door, and I crumble onto the floor. I hear T walking down the hall, and I push myself away from the door.

"Shit," T says kneeling beside me.

"How many times did you get hit?" She asks me while helping me take my coat off.

"Twice in the torso and once in the foot," I say

"How exactly did you get your skin to unharden the last time you were shot?" She asks me carefully undoing the buttons on my shirt.

"It wasn't pretty," I say grimacing.

"Oh boy," T says, and I look down at my chest and see that half of my torso has crystalized. This keeps escalating, growing bigger and thicker every time I get hit.

"Wow that's ugly," I say looking down disgusted.

Looking at T, I can see she is slightly transfixed by the way her eyes are staring my torso down. There is a sense of awe and curiosity in her eyes. It's not the first time she has seen my skin do this. The black shards almost have a reflective quality to them, and they catch the little bit of light in the apartment and there is a dull shine to them. Her eyes follow the way they jut out of my body and curve where my body does.

"Don't say that about yourself," T says pulling me slowly to my feet.

"You are going to tell me this is pretty?" I ask running my roughed-up knuckles over my stomach.

"Its powerful," she says seriously while helping me to the couch.

"I don't feel very powerful," I say sullenly.

"You just saved a hundred people from a gruesome and unjust death, children, parents, friends. They all could have died if you didn't jump into action the way you did," T says seriously.

"You aren't scared of me getting hurt anymore," I say, and she helps me settle.

"Less scared, I think I am going to sign us up for some self-defense lessons in the meantime. If you can take multiple bullets and have nothing more than some jagged skin, then I think I can rest easy knowing it'll take a nuke to take you down," she says sliding the ruined shoes off my feet.

"Can you, even more, your toes?" She says pulling the smashed bullet out of my shoe.

"Nope, there might as well be a rock attached to my foot," I say amused.

"I'm guessing you know how to make this all go away?" T asks me.

"I will take care of it later, I'm too exhausted too right now," I admit. It is a physically intensive process and I am not mentally or physically prepared to deal with it right now.

My body aches from the impact of all the shots and the adrenaline had long since worn off. My eyelids are begging for me to close them and I want to let them. My mind is starting to fog over, and I can't resist it anymore.

"Rest Zana," T says.

"Hey T?"

"Yeah?"

"What does T stand for?"

"Thalia," she says amused.

"Goodnight Thalia," I say with a tired smile.

"Goodnight, you crazy child,"

This one is definitely on the shorter side but boy is it an intense one!! What are your thoughts on Zana? How do you feel about her in comparison to our other leading ladies like Aviva and Faith? Any guesses on how the Mavericks are going to meet Zana or start working with her? Let me know in the comments below!!!

Xx CC