I opened my eyes to the sound of shuffling. Waves of pain shot through me and I lurched upwards, only to be hit by more pain. I grabbed my side curling up into a ball as I groaned. I was going to be sick. I hopped up and rushed to the bathroom ignoring the waves of pain. I grabbed the sides of the toilet and hurled. I took a second to breathe deeply my whole body shaking. The insides of the toilet were a reddish-brown mixture of stuff I didn’t want to even look at. I wiped my mouth and flushed the toilet.
The pain was fading now. My body throbbed, my ribs and shoulder still hot with pain, but more bearably now. I was still in my shirt. Crap, I’d forgotten to change. What day was it today? Thursday? Friday? I didn’t know. Crap. That was bad. I stood up and trudged back into the bedroom. I fell back into bed staring at the ceiling.
Yesterday had been an absolute shit show. I hope Amy was ok. I paused. Would it be ok to call her? She’d be angry, I could already tell, but I needed to know she was fine. I reached over the side of my bed, ignoring the pain in my ribs and shoulder for the umpteenth time. I grabbed my bag and fished around for the burner phone. I grabbed it and went straight to contacts. I glanced at the time. It was probably best if I shot a text first. I sent a text and waited a few minutes. Nothing.
Crap.
I let my finger hover over the dial button. If she really didn’t want to talk to me, she’d hang up. I pressed call and it instantly went to an answering machine.
“The number you’re trying to call is currently unavailable”
I let my phone fall by my side a sinking feeling in my chest. She was probably just asleep, or maybe her phone was off. It was fine. I’d just call her later. It was ok. She was ok. I brought my knees to my chest, wincing, and lay in the foetal position.
-
I came to being shaken awake. I glanced up to see Eric, wincing slightly as I moved. My side throbbed, but I felt more ready for the pain this time. I grit my teeth and sat up.
“The cafeteria’s going to close soon” he said.
“Huh?”
“If we want to get breakfast we have to go the cafeteria. I…” he hesitated looking over me with a concerned expression.
“I… what time is it?” I asked.
“10:21” he said.
“Huh? What day is it today?” I asked wheezing.
“It’s Saturday” he said. I sighed laying back down. I really was out of it.
“Do you want me to bring you something back?” he asked.
“No, I’ll come too” I said, sitting up again. I pulled myself off the bed and stood up. I grabbed a set of clothes from the drawer and went into the bathroom. I slowly and painfully took off my school uniform. Every move I made hurt my side and shoulder, draining me of energy and leaving me struggling to breath. Getting everything off gave me a good look at the Spider-man suit.
The shoulder was hard to look at. With parts of the suit charred and indistinguishable from the burned flesh underneath. The entire left side of my suit was covered in holes, with red scraped skin beneath them. I could see through one of the holes a large dark purple patch sat around my rib area, no doubt a serious bruise. I reached to take the suit off but paused at the white-hot pain that shot through my shoulder as I pulled at it. I stared at the mirror and sighed. This thing wasn’t coming off anytime soon.
I struggled through the pain putting my clothes over the top of the costume before stepping out of the bathroom. I grabbed a hoodie and threw it on to cover the sleeves.
“Let’s go” I said. We left together and walked mostly in silence; my attention focused on ignoring the pain in my side.
“I- Can I ask what happened?” Eric said suddenly. I shot him a glance.
“No” I said.
“Ok. Sorry” he replied.
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We made it to the cafeteria and sat down in one of the corners. The cafeteria was mostly empty now and the breakfast caterers had started packing up. I stared aimlessly. I needed to talk to Amy. If I couldn’t call her, I’d go to her house. I couldn’t believe I’d just gone back to school. Sure, I’d panicked, but Amy must’ve been worried sick. I paused. If she had been, why hadn’t she called me? I hadn’t had any missed calls or anything like that. I felt my side start to throb harder. No, I was thinking too much. Her phone was probably dead or broken. She took it with her everywhere, so it made the most sense. That meant I couldn’t call her. No wonder she hadn’t answered my texts. I’d just head over to her house to make sure she was ok.
Eric nudged me and I glanced up. He was looking at the TV on the wall next to us. I glanced up at it and felt my body tense up. A young reporter stood in front of the remains of the burning building, with police officers and a few firemen.
“-eports say that as of now we have 31 injured, 2 with life threating injuries and 12 dead. The fire was believed to be started by Ariana Boscovich, a metahuman with links the Bears, an organised crime syndicate based in Harlem. It’s believed the perpetrator attacked the building in an attempt to kill the prolific criminal, Shocker, who was revealed to be Herman Schultz, former cop, though no motive had been discovered at this time. Currently both are being held in custody, and police are hard at work to uncover the mysteries behind this tragedy. We’ll update you on the situation when more comes in, but all I can say is this really is a sad day for New York”
The screen cut to a news anchor in the studio, and I looked away, my heart hammering in my chest. 12 dead. Twelve people had died. I brought my hand over my mouth. I was going to be sick. I got up and rushed to the toilet. I threw up, my vomit still a reddish brown. I needed to talk to Amy. I needed to talk to Amy now.
-
I walked down the street, nervously tapping my fingers against my leg. I’d had to sneak out of school. Because of my recent behaviour they hadn’t given me permission to leave, so I’d told Eric to cover for me and left out the window. I’d walked most of the way to Amy’s house. It had taken me a bit longer to figure out where I was, but I hadn’t wanted to put on my mask. It just didn’t feel right.
I turned a corner and saw the building. Crap. I made my way across the street and then into the alley. I glanced up to the window, my hands sweaty. I just had to apologise. She’d be angry at me, but she had every right. I’d froze and she’d had to save me. I’d been too afraid and I’d screwed up any chance we’d had at saving people. I had to let her know the deaths weren’t her fault. They were mine.
I looked down the alley and into the street. It was clear. I rushed up the side wall, the pain in my side and shoulder an afterthought to the anxiety I felt. I hopped up onto the fire escape and peered inside. I froze. Amy’s room was a mess. Her stuff was strewn everywhere, and her chair was broken, shattered into pieces that lay on the floor. A lump lay in her bed, unmoving. No. No, no, no. I went to open the window and hesitated. I knocked lightly and the lump shifted. A head popped out and my heart leapt as I saw Amy, a bruise on the side of her head and bloodshot eyes staring back at me.
I gave a small wave and her expression instantly shifted to anger. She hopped out of bed in a flash and threw open her window.
“What the hell do you want?” she said accusatorily.
“I- I’m sorry” I said my voice breaking.
“Just go. I don’t want to see your face again.” she said, her hostility evident.
“Amy, let me-” I said reaching out to her. My spider sense buzzed and she slapped my hand away.
“I said GO!” she shouted loudly. We stared as she breathed heavily, her breaths ragged as though she was on the edge of tears. My heart thumped loudly in my chest. I’d expected this, but it hurt more now that I was experiencing it.
“Amy please. Let me explain” I said. My spider sense buzzed, and I ducked as she threw her Icon action figure at me.
“Just leave me alone!” she shouted, slamming the window shut. I stared at her as she got back into bad. This couldn’t be it right? I couldn’t just let it end like this. I grabbed the window and opened it again.
“Amy! I’m sorry. I should have gone straight to the fire with you! I wasn’t thinking properly and I’m sorry. I know I should’ve tried harder to save the people in the fire and I’m sorry I was so afraid. I’m sorry you got hurt saving me. I’m… I’m sorry for everything. I’m so sorry” I said breaking into tears.
“I don’t care how sorry you are! People died and it’s your fault! You’re a fucking coward! Y-you ruined everything!” she shouted with heaving sobs. My world seemed to shatter around me, the walls of comfort I’d constructed in my mind crumbling to dust.
I couldn’t be here. This wasn’t real. It was all a bad dream. Amy would get angry at me, but not like this. She’d gotten upset but she’d never shouted at me. Never insulted me before. I suddenly felt keenly aware of everything around me. The stinging of pain throughout my body. The tightness of the costume. The prickly feeling of my clothes against my skin. Every twitch. Hitched breath. Even the wetness of tears welling up in my eyes. I felt my insides start to shrivel and twist up into knots. I couldn’t breathe. I couldn’t breathe.
Amy was still shouting at me, but I wasn’t, a white noise permeating my brain, drowning out all sounds. She stumbled and fell, catching herself on the windowsill. She trembled, crying as she leant on her arms resting across the frame. She looked up at me with hatred in her tear-stricken eyes and carried on shouting. Fear gripped me and I felt my body seize up. My spider sense buzzed, and Amy reached out grabbing my wrist. I wrenched my hand from her grip and stumbled backwards. My spider sense was still buzzing. It wasn’t safe here. Before I realised what was happening, I’d leapt off the fire escape. I landed on the wall opposite and sprinted up the side. I reached the roof and carried on running, leaping between buildings as my heart hammered in my chest.
I slipped and fell rolling across a roof before falling off the edge, slamming into a wall and then hitting the floor. I writhed in pain before curling up into a ball and clutching my legs. Tears streamed down my face. My heart raced and my breathing grew faster and more frantic. I couldn’t calm down. I shook with fear unable to control my body.
“Help. Somebody. I need help” I croaked my vision blurry. No one responded. I was alone. No. I still had some hope. Ricardo and Lindon. They could right this for good. They could take away these powers and fix everything. I forced myself to stand up, struggling slightly. With this new hope I’d regained some control over my body. I fought against the pain using the wall of the alley to walk. It grew more difficult with every step, but one thought kept me going. I was finally going to be done with this mess.