Nightmare of a Dead God

Chapter 4: Rainmaker

I remember a time when I was in high school where I got into a fight with the rotten apples in my batch.

This humongous guy with spiky hair was trying to get me into an illegal gambling gig. By then I already built up a reputation as the high school's four leaf clover. As enticing as it was, I declined. It would've ended there, but he wouldn't take no for an answer.

A few days later he comes back with an entire posse. He told me it wouldn't end well if I were to refuse him again. He was right. It didn't end well. For him.

I was ambushed later that same day. They surrounded me and they were ready to turn me into a bloody smear on the street. I was certain I wasn't going to survive it. See, in spite of my height I'm not really built for physical labor. Heck I was even a bit overweight at the time. I only lost weight in college because I barely ate anything. Scarcity of money and the insane prices of college cafeteria food does that.

As my luck would have it we got caught in the middle of a gang war between two opposing mafia groups. I say mafia because they were wearing nice clothes. That, and they had guns.

It turned into a real shoot out between the two groups. I had the good sense to hide behind a nearby dumpster. Big guy and his posse? Not so lucky. Several of them died on the spot while the rest expired at the hospital. I walked away with a few bruises.

Less than a week after, the entire school mourned the deaths of several students and even held a memorial service for them. I didn't go. Not because I was traumatized as everybody else assumed, but because classes were suspended. Honestly, I couldn't care any less for those bastards.

And now here I am, about to get clobbered by a celebrity's doped up boyfriend. Makes me wonder if he'll also die a horrible death.

"Geoff, don't!" Screams Simi as she tries to stop hostilities one more time.

Unfortunately he's already too angry to calm himself down. I, on the other hand stand my ground.

"If you cause any more trouble I'll..." She says, her voice trembling as her tears build up. "I-I'll break up with you!"

Holy crap woman! As if that will solve everything!

The gravity of her words is made apparent as the onlookers divert their attention to her. I can feel Geoff's grip falter for a moment before tightening it even more. He then gives her a look of absolute rage and confusion.

Geoff releases his grip and slowly walks towards Simi, who is still on the ground. Huh, I guess that did diffuse the situation. How lucky for-

"YOU HAVE NO RIGHT TO BREAK UP WITH ME!"

Geoff suddenly raises his hand with an open palm. No... he wouldn't dare.

"Hey, that's enough!" I shout.

It only took a split second for his hand to slam across Simi's face. The sound was so loud that everybody in the area was taken aback.

He continues his assault on Simi; her screams of shock and agony drowned by Geoff's incessant cursing. I can't believe what I'm seeing honestly. I can't believe this huge guy is beating his girlfriend. I can't believe everybody else is just watching as a girl is helplessly being attacked right in front of them.

I hate this. I hate him. I hate them. Most of all, I hate myself for being just like the rest of the onlookers. I call out to him again asking him to stop, but to no avail.

The flurry of emotions and sudden rush of adrenaline blurs my vision for a moment making me feel light headed. Time suddenly slows to a crawl, as if this horrific scene needed more emphasis. This continues for what seems like an eternity-

-I must take action. This is unforgivable.

-Whoa, what the heck was that... I-was that me? Y-yeah that must've been me. Must be the adrenaline getting to me. I don't know what I can do, but I've got to do something.

I take a deep breath as I step forward. Suddenly things are going back to normal. My vision is getting clearer and time slowly returns to its regular tempo with each step. I focus on stopping Geoff's assault. I focus on his arm as it slowly rises in preparation for another attack. I focus on his palm as it slowly descends onto Simi's tear-drenched and swollen face.

"ENOUGH!"

I hear a loud sound like the crash of thunder immediately after uttering my command. Again, time slows to a crawl. Must be the adrenaline again. I lower my center of gravity and put myself into a fighting stance as I slowly raise my arm and clench my fist.

I stop midway when I realize that everything has stopped except for me. It's like an out-of-body experience except I'm still in control. I'm beginning to think this isn't adrenaline anymore. I blink several times clearing my vision in the process, but I realize I'm still locked in the moment. I look at my surroundings as they lay still, frozen in time.

All of the onlookers nearest the scene are on the ground as if they were all pushed down simultaneously. As I look further, the more distant people are in mid-air with a look of surprise on their faces. Looking at them more closely, I can see a bluish light radiating outwards in a circular shape which appears to originate from my position.

I redirect my observation to check on Simi. She's flat on the ground just like the rest of the onlookers. Her face obscured by her long black hair which appears to have been thrown violently into the air.

As I look at her I catch a glimpse of Geoff's feet a few inches off the ground. His arms are outstretched and his face distorted in pain as if he just comically slipped on an invisible banana peel.

What I saw next was hardly comical though. I scan across his extended arm only to see his hand disconnected a few inches away with blobs of blood scattered in mid-air. Looking at the gruesome scene I spot a thin blue line blanketed by his blood. Just like the blue circle, this line seems to have come from my position.

Without warning, time suddenly returns to normal and the chaos of the scene I had just observed comes into play. People are thrown away by a sudden force that was exerted on them. As they were just about to get up to regain their bearings, one of them screams at the sight of Geoff writhing in pain and wailing violently as he clutches the bloody stump where his hand used to be.

Even though I observed it for several minutes, that split-second event remains as mysterious to me as the rest of the people who experienced it. In fact, I think I'm even more bewildered as I experienced the event in a completely different manner.

I suddenly felt nervous as people begin to notice that I was the only one standing through it all. I'm generally unscathed as compared to everyone else. I hear the words "grenade", "flash bang", and "terrorist" being thrown in my direction. Simi then awakens to the horror of the incident as if she woke up from one nightmare and into another.

She screams at the sight of her boyfriend's severed hand, diverting the attention of everyone in the immediate vicinity. I take this opportunity to escape. I know I'll be placed under even more suspicion, but I have to ascertain what just happened.

My lungs burn as I sprint in some random direction, ignoring the faceless crowds that converge toward the epicenter of the confusion. I stop in a secluded corner behind two buildings heavily panting. I slump forward and clasp my knees, trying to make sense of it all amidst the chaos.

I wait for my vision to clear itself of the red haze. I feel my blood slowly circulate evenly throughout my body like a warm thorny wire traveling through my veins.

I suddenly feel light headed once again. My thoughts slowly leaving me as I focus on keeping myself conscious... I blink hard between breaths. Blink, breathe, blink, breathe, blink... breathe... bl-ink...

- Heh... That felt good.