Protected by the HERO (5 page)

Another shot sounded from the front and the van thudded to a halt as the front of the van took a sudden plunge.

I flew against the wall of the van and hit my head in a way that I knew would leave a bruise. But, it had taken me to the side door.

If I could reach it, I might not need to free my hands. I might, just might, be able to grab hold of the door and open it with my hands still tied.

As I turned my back to the door and pushed against the ropes to reach for the handle, the side door slid open and I nearly fell onto the pavement.

A strong arm grabbed me and lifted me bodily.

My heart leaped for a moment, hoping to see Mike. Instead, McBride’s face was looking down at me.

He hoisted me to my feet and immediately placed me in front of him. Before I could take in the sight in front of me, I felt the metal barrel of a gun pointing at my temple.

Shaking, I moved my eyes to take in my surroundings. Mike was indeed there. Zach, Tom, and Dave were all standing beside him, guns drawn and pointed directly at McBride.

“Make one more move and I’ll blow her brains out,” McBride said pulling one arm around me so that I was flush against him. He pushed the gun barrel against my head.

“James, you don’t have to do this,” said Mike, who was directly in front of us. “It’s me you want. She doesn’t have anything to do with it. Just let her go.”

McBride seemed to hesitate for a moment. That was when my overwrought brain finally came up with a plan.

“Drop your guns,” McBride said after a moment’s silence.

Mike kneeled and put his gun on the ground. He signaled for the three men around him to do the same.

He came up with his hands raised in a sign of surrender. I felt McBride relax slightly behind me.

That was when I kicked my leg backward as hard as I could forcing my heel to connect with McBride’s groin.

He cried out in pain as he released me and his gun clattered to the pavement. Hastily, I ran forward and grabbed it awkwardly, my hands still tied at the wrists.

All the same, my fingers were just barely able to reach the trigger. I pointed the gun shakily at McBride.

For a moment, I thought it was over. That he would stay where he was until the police arrived.

Then, I saw his face change from a grimace of pain to a malicious and angry glower.

He lunged towards me and without thinking I pulled twice on the trigger. I heard a thud as McBride slumped to the ground.

When I lowered my shaking hands, I moved forward towards his still body.

I saw two bullet holes in his chest. One just at his heart.

His eyes seemed to be wide with surprise though I knew that he could no longer see, could no longer breath.

He was dead.

*****

The police arrived at the scene only two minutes after I shot McBride. Of course, I along with Mike and his buddies had to go down to the police office and give a statement.

We sat there for nearly two hours. Me with a blanket around my shoulders and Mike sitting beside me on the bench while he waited for Zach, Tom and Greg’s interviews to finish.

We didn’t talk when we were at the police station. We didn’t talk when Mike walked me home to the apartment building either. Though, I noticed just as we reached the door, Mike held it open for me, then took my hand in his as we walked up the stairs.

I smiled. But still, not a word was spoken until we were safely inside with the door firmly locked.

“So, what did they say?” he asked me referring to the statement I’d had to give the police.

.

“They said it looks like a pretty clear-cut case of self-defense,” I answered, “still, I’m not supposed to leave the city for the next couple of days.”

“Mom and Fred won’t like that,” Mike said.

Mike had called them as soon as we’d arrived at the police station. When I went in for my interview. Dad, apparently, was trying to insist that I come home immediately. And, while I didn’t want to admit it to anyone, that didn’t sound like a bad idea to me either.

“Yeah,” I said, “well, I’ve still got finals.”

“I can’t believe you still want to go through with your school stuff after all this,” Mike said, “I’m sure if you just explained to them what happened, they’d let you postpone it or something.”

I shook my head.

“I’ve worked too hard to let some asshole take this away from me,” I answered. “I need to finish.”

“If you say so,” Mike answered.

I stood by my table and Mike remained just inside the front door. I looked down at the chair next to me every once in awhile, wondering if I should sit down in it. I didn’t in the end.

Instead, I stayed stupidly standing just as Mike did. Wondering if this was as good a time as any to talk about what I’d wanted to discuss with Mike all day.

Despite everything that had happened, I had a feeling that, if we didn’t get it all out now, we never would. So, steeling myself I moved from the table towards him.

“So,” I began hesitantly, “weren’t we going to have a chat about what happened last night?”

I didn’t get the chance to finish because, the next thing I knew Mike had crossed the room in two strides. I barely had time to register his hands firmly on my waist before he was kissing me.

His tongue insistently explored my mouth as he moved me across the room and finally. pushed me up against the wall just beside my bed. I reached around his neck and clung to his shoulders for dear life. I feared if I didn’t, I would lose my balance.

His mouth left my lips only to move to my neck, biting and sucking at it in a way that made me gasp. His hands slipped quickly all down and along my body.

It would have been easy, so very easy not to talk anymore. To give into this incredible pleasure, even without knowing what it meant.

But, I knew I couldn’t do that.

With a sigh I forced words out of my mouth.

“Mike, we...oh god…” his hand had moved between my legs and I had to try and close them to get out the next words, “we really need to talk”

Slowly, he pulled his hand out from the space between my thighs, moved his lips from my neck and looked me in the eyes.

There was something there I had never seen in Mike before. It was a sort of desperate vulnerability. Almost as if he was terrified of something. I told myself that was silly. After all, the terror had passed.

All the same, here he was, looking at me thoroughly fearful.

“I almost lost you,” he said finally, “I...I almost couldn’t protect you and I…”

“You didn’t lose me,” I said gently, moving my hands to cup the side of his face, “I’m right here.”

“Sabrina,” he began, that terrified look still present in his eyes, “Sabrina, I love you.”

My heart skipped a beat. I could almost feel my breathing slow. I blinked twice, unable to believe what I had just heard.

“I love you,” Mike said again more quickly, “I’ve known that for a while now. I tried not to. I told myself it wouldn’t work but now I...I don’t think I can help it. It’s not something I can-”

This time, it was me who interrupted him with a kiss. It was soft, gentle and quick.

“I love you too,” I said beaming at him as I pulled away.

I was rewarded with another desperate searing kiss. His hand returned to the place where it had stopped before.

Soon, he had pulled my underwear down to my knees and was touching me desperately. Touching me as if I was the only thing standing between him and a long, slow, painful death.

I leaned my head back and emitted another moan as he kneaded my breasts through my shirt.

It was not long before he had ripped that off of me as well. My skirt came next. As soon as that hit the floor, he grabbed me from behind and picked me fully so that I had to wrap my legs around his waist.

He threw me onto the bed. As my head hit the plush pillows, he quickly began to remove his own clothing. I moved up to help him.

“No,” he said quietly but firmly, “stay right where you are. I just want to look at you while I do this. I just want to remember how incredibly lucky I am to be in love with such a beautiful woman.”

I smiled and did exactly as he asked. I did exactly as he asked the rest of the night too.

My little apartment was soon filled with moans and gasps from me and gently but commanding orders from him.

Phrases like “say my name,” “touch yourself” and “come for me, Sabrina” were what pushed me over the edge more than anything else he did.

Finally, with a last shout, we both fell back onto my too cold mattress. Utterly spent.

We were quiet for several moments before he spoke up.

“Does this mean you’ll wait for me while I’m off with my unit?” he asked.

“What do you think?” I asked with a sly smile.

“Okay then,” he answered, “that only leaves one question.”

“What’s that?” I asked.

He lifted his arm and put it around my shoulders, I moved close to him on the bench and snuggled into his side.

“What are we going to tell our parents?” he asked.

“I’m sure we’ll think of something,” I answered.

And that was that. That was how I managed, somehow, to fall in love with my stepbrother. And, no matter what anyone else says, no matter how weird anyone thinks it is, I couldn’t be happier.

THE END

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Bonus Story 1 of 20

The drunk guy next to me leaned over to blow his beer-laced question in my face. “So who do you think’ll win, huh? Nets or Celtics?”

I scrunched up my nose and leaned away slightly while he wobbled in his seat. He had a leathery face from many days working out in the sun. His eyes were an unfocused soupy green color and pointed in my general direction. He wore a black trench coat over a blue work shirt and jeans. His muddy boots kept slipping from the ledge under the bar. I chuckled and then pointed to the flat screen directly in front of us, hanging over the bar.

“The Nets man. All day,” I said. A few New Yorkers within earshot cheered, and the drunk guy grinned.

“Nah. So what they’re up this quarter, all the Celtics have to do is catch up in the last two minutes and they’ve got this,” the guy said, slurring his words. The Brooklyn crowd at the bar heard him, and he got booed and pelted with peanuts. I chuckled again.

“They’re going to catch up twenty points in two minutes?” I said. “Not a chance.”

“I got a huge bet ridin’ on this, I can’t afford to lose it,” said the drunk. I shook my head apologetically.

“You shouldn’t have bet on the Celtics man. The
Celtics
? Really?” I said in disbelief. The guy groaned while he gulped down the rest of his fifth beer.

“Guy is gonna get iced,” the man on my left said with a laugh. I patted the drunk on his back.

“I suggest you start running now guy, maybe you’ll be able to hide from your bookie,” I suggested. The drunk guy looked up with wide eyes that were surprisingly alert and he slapped two twenties on the bar top before he bolted out of the door. Three seconds later three huge guys ran out after him. Half the bar was loud with laughter.

I snorted and then paid attention to the screen once more as I brought the bottle of lager to my lips. Got to love this city, there was a never ending supply of entertainment if you knew where to look. With the life I had, I’d just about seen it all.

I’ve been nearly everywhere on the globe, but had no frequent flier miles to show for my kind of travel. I had the ability to teleport. Create my own wormholes and jump through them to any point on the globe. Often the cracks I created in space and time close right up after I travel through, but sometimes I create large pathways that lead not only to a different place, but a different time. I’ve sometimes gone full years back and forward in time; it was wild. Of course I used my gift with as pure intentions as possible. After I set myself up financially I only jump for largely recreational reasons or if I see that someone truly needs help. Like the drunk guy who made the wrong bet.

I haven’t done a good Samaritan act for the week yet, so I figured I’d let him get his beating and then jump back in time to stop him from at least making the
wrong
bet. He left his wallet in his seat before he bolted from the bar and as I looked through it I found his address. It wouldn’t be difficult to fix that guy’s mistake. I’d leave a note on his refrigerator telling him to bet on the Nets or don’t bet at all. I sat and watched the rest of the game and celebrated with the bar as the owner came out and bought every patron a beer when the Nets won.

I left the bar and stepped out into the cold New York night. The city was never quiet that was for sure. I walked around to the side of the building and leaned against the brick façade as I pulled a cigarette and lighter out of my pocket. I lit the cigarette and inhaled the bittersweet taste of tobacco smoke. I watched people walk by on the busy sidewalks as I savored my cigarette. I only allowed myself one per week to keep the cravings at bay.

As I blew out a plume of smoke I caught sight of a shock of red hair. She stood out, like in one of those cheesy romance films; caught under the moonlight all ethereal in her pale-faced beauty as the background melted into indistinct watercolors. She had a small smile on her lips as she walked along the sidewalk, seemingly lost in a sweet memory. She wore a long red pea coat and had a cream colored scarf wrapped loosely around her neck. One strong winter wind and the thing would fly away. Then, as if I had summoned it, a sudden cold breeze swept the scarf from her shoulders and blew it into the empty street. She looked up, her bright blue eyes startled and she went after it. Even I stepped forward to help her get the scarf. Because hell, I needed to find out who she was.

Before I could step out into the street I saw the huge semi turn the corner. It was going just as fast any other city driver, and the woman had no chance to get out of the way. I froze and watched the macabre scene in slow motion.  She skipped out into the middle of the road and bent to pick up her scarf and looked up just in time to see the grill of the semi before it slammed into her, sent her flying twenty feet into the air before she landed on the street with a thud. All traffic stopped. The entire block stopped all movement as everyone looked at the horrible scene and took it in. After the two seconds of tense silence, people started screaming and yelling at the driver who wasn’t paying attention to the road.

I could faintly hear the sound of sirens and that’s when my body burst into motion. I could save her; I
would
save her. I’d simply go back and stop her from ever stepping out onto the road. I’d change her future for the better. I ran over to her fallen, broken body. I moved faster than the other bystanders and was by her side in the blink of an eye. I wasn’t aware of having jumped the space until I was holding her head in my lap. She was still alive, but just barely.

“Wh-what’s your name?” I asked her, and her eyes fluttered open. She looked at me as if she knew she was dying and was resigned to her fate. I had to jump back before she actually died or I’d change things too drastically, and only disasters would amount from that. The woman’s body was twisted at an extremely odd angle and before she answered she coughed up blood and it trickled down her chin.

“Melina…” she whispered. I nodded and then gently laid her down on the ground once more.

“I’m going to save you Melina,” I said before I ran and disappeared into the crowd that was forming around her. I sprinted to a nearby alley and then took several deep breaths before I held out my palm and summoned the familiar resonating power that started with my pulse and quickened into a sort of magnetic pull. The air in front of me wavered as if vapor was rising from the cold ground. The familiar thundering sound echoed through the alley as the wrinkle in space gained too much energy and ripped through time to create a pathway into the past. The thunder sounded once more and I felt the air charge as a flash of lightning nearly touched down right next to me. That was my cue to step through. I took a step, and was sucked into the other side of the rip I had created.

*****

Three Weeks Before…

The bright sun pierced my eyes and I squinted as I let my body recover from the jarring feeling of being sucked through a really narrow tunnel. I took a few deep breaths to stretch my lungs and then opened my eyes. I was back in the alley I hid in to jump back. I looked up and saw the sun directly overhead. I knew it was midday. I needed to know the exact time and date. I hadn’t been focusing and I didn’t time how long I let the rip in created charge up. The longer the charge, the farther back or forward I jump. It was an inexact measure but I was much better now at it than I had been in the past.

It was still cold so I couldn’t have gone that far back. I jogged up to the street and rounded the corner. The sports bar was just opening. One of the bartenders was wiping down the storefront outside. I walked up to him and smiled politely.

“Hey, can you tell me the time and date?” I asked him plainly and he glanced at me before he pulled his phone from his pocket.

“Yeah it’s noon on the dot, November eleventh.” The bartender went back to wiping down the glass and I wondered how I would ask him the year without freaking him out.

“Hey uh, you guys gonna show the Nets—Celtic game here?” I asked innocently enough and the bartender looked at me as if I was stupid.

“Of course we are man. We’re in the heart of Brooklyn. But that game is like three weeks away. What, did you place a bet on it or something? My boss don’t like to have bookies in the bar.”

I held my hands up innocently. I said, “Just wondering is all. You have a nice day.” I nodded my head to him before I walked off down the street. Great, how was I going to find Melina in a city as huge as this one with nothing but her first name? It wasn’t like I could jump forward again because I might overshoot and she could be dead in that instance. I just had to wait it out and hope for the best. If worst came to worst, I’d simply camp out on that damn sidewalk and wait for her to happen by again. I sighed heavily. For the time being I would simply come by that spot where the accident took place every day around the time I saw her that night, and wait until I found her again.

I started walking towards the nearest subway. I had an apartment in the city for when I time jumped, so that I wouldn’t bump into myself, and I kept careful document of the times that I stayed in each one so I wouldn’t overlap.

I took the C train to Fourth Street and then caught a cab into Midtown, where my apartment building was. There I’d sync my phone with the date and time and I’d be able to regroup. Gathering that much energy to break through time wiped me out more than simple jumping through a shortcut in space did. I hardly remembered the doorman greeting me or the elevator ride up to the top floor. All I remembered was finally collapsing onto the soft couch cushions in my living room and knocking out.

* * *

When I opened my eyes the room was dark. I bolted upright and hurried into the kitchen to look at the time on the stove. I sighed with relief, as it was only six in the evening. I still had time to get to the bar in Brooklyn and wait for Melina to walk by. I shrugged off my coat and tossed it over the back of the couch. I went over to the clipboard on the fridge. My last visit was a month ago; there hadn’t been any recent entries so I was clear to stay.

I quickly showered and then dressed in a green turtleneck and jeans with a pair of brown boots. As I combed through my curly hair while in the closet I quickly changed the date and time on my phone. Since it was difficult to jump back considerable lengths of time in the past I usually kept it recent. I had houses and apartments all over the globe and only just thought to dedicate a few to when I time traveled. Especially after what happened that one time…I couldn’t chance messing with the whole butterfly effect thing too much. I checked myself in the mirror. My hair was the same shoulder length curly brown locks that they always were. My jaw just as square, brow just as intense. My nose had that familiar little crook in it from when I got into a bar fight in Istanbul.

I ran my hand over the day-old stubble on my jaw and chin and decided to shave the next day. I needed to find Melina.

*****

I didn’t go into the bar, I simply stood outside and leaned against the brick wall. My eyes met the face of every person that passed by and they were especially sensitive to any hint of fiery red hair. It was already nearing midnight and I was losing confidence that I would find her that way. Just as I was getting ready to turn tail and head home, I saw her. She was crossing the street and heading towards me. Her head was down so she didn’t notice me staring at her.

“Excuse me…is your name Melina?” I asked when she got close enough to hear me. Melina’s head snapped up and her eyes widened as if she recognized me. They were so much bluer up close.

“Yes…who are you?” she asked suspiciously, though her voice was beautiful and musical sounding. After all I
was
the stranger who knew her name and approached her on the street.

“I’m Caleb. We, ah, met briefly at the…” my mind moved at a thousand miles an hour as I tried like hell to think of a general venue where we could have met. Melina captured her bottom lip in between her teeth and she studied me a moment. I had become completely distracted by the small gesture.

“I think I’ve seen you before, yeah. You always get coffee at the bagel shop on Madison right?” my eyes widened. She was
right
. I always went to get bagels at O’s, they had the best damn lox in Manhattan.

“Yeah, yeah I do. You go all the way out to Madison for bagels?” I asked her and she smiled.

“I work at the Lincoln Center so I pass by it every morning on the way to work.” I rocked back on my heels as I slipped my hands into my pockets. I tried to appear causal.

“So what brings you all the way out to Brooklyn?” I asked her conversationally and she smirked.

“Visiting a friend, what about you?” I wondered if this
friend
was a guy.

“I’m kind of fond of this sports bar so I come here for a drink every so often,” I said, evasively. Melina nodded and she looked like she was getting ready to make up some excuse to leave. “Um, so I know you’re going to visit a friend and stuff. I’d really like to…maybe go out with you sometime?” I asked hopefully. Melina kept chewing on her lip and then she shrugged as if to say, ‘why not.’

“Sure, that would be great. Let me give you my number and then we can set something up,” I handed her my phone and she quickly programmed her number. I couldn’t believe this was already turning out to be an easy save. I must have jumped back to the past just in time before she died in the present. The cycle wouldn’t repeat itself, I could still save her! She handed me back my phone. She registered the glee in my eyes, and gave me a lopsided smile. She even had a dimple in her left cheek.