Black Locust

Shopping for a Halloween costume wasn’t as much fun as it used to be. Part of it was because Laura had reached a certain age where trick-or-treating was frowned upon, but that wasn’t the whole reason. This was her second year shopping without Todd. Cutting ties had hurt, both of them, but Laura didn’t want to burden him with her secrets which had only grown as more powers manifested themselves. Laura could not only read minds, but to a small degree influence people’s actions. She could move things with her mind and change temperatures of objects, from freezing them to burning them she could even go as far as melting metal and rock if she really focused. She had also gained the ability to teleport inanimate objects between locations she knew.

All of her abilities were dependent upon her eating regular meals and getting proper rest. When she was physically weakened it weakened her nonphysical abilities too. That said, she didn’t need any more food than an average teen, and she could do with four to six hours a night without it wearing her down. The older she got, the less sleep she needed.

In short, as Laura hunted through the bargain rack at the local costume shop she and Todd always went to, she was fully equipped to live Todd’s comic book dreams. Those dreams and his blossoming relationship with Ashley had turned the knife in the corpse of their friendship. Now Laura was a gang of one, and she had no idea what to dress up as, picking their costumes had always been Todd’s job. Laura had her hand on a cheap ninja costume when she heard a scuffle near the register. Cautiously she peeked around the racks of costumes. What she saw was either the worst robber costume ever, or an actual robbery.

“Old man! Money now!”

Ted, the shopkeeper, was nervously standing with his arms in the air. Other customers had been less careful in checking out the scuffle and the thief was lining them up along the counter. Laura ducked back behind the rack. Soon she was the last customer who hadn’t been rounded up. Her heart was pounding. She could practically hear Todd egging her on. She still clutched the ninja costume. What if? Before Laura could form the intention, she was changing into the costume. She focused and teleported her clothing and purse to her bed at home.

Still without intention, Laura stepped out into the aisle covered head to toe in cheap polyester. “Why don’t you just leave before anyone gets hurt!”

The thief cocked his shotgun and aimed for Laura. She focused on the trigger mechanism and melted it so it no longer worked. She was careful not to ignite the gunpowder, freezing that area of the gun. The problem was that everyone but Laura and possibly the thief didn’t know he had been disarmed. He continued to brandish the weapon, his hostages continued to cower. Laura walked stiffly towards the thief.

“Don’t move moron, I am armed!” the thief growled, she felt him try the trigger.

“Are you?”

The thief threw the gun at Laura and pulled out a pistol. Laura should have anticipated that. He grabbed a little girl by the neck and pointed the gun at her left ear. Laura didn’t trust she had the precision or knowledge needed to disarm the pistol. She had to find another solution. She saw the VCR attached to the store’s video cameras behind the thief’s head. A plan formed. She split her telekinetic focus, and quickly jerked the VCR from the shelf into the thief’s head and she shoved pistol so it would fire harmlessly into the floor. Her timing had to be perfect. It was. The thief crumpled to the floor. The customers leaped to pin him down before he could recover. Ted grabbed both guns and emptied them of ammunition. Laura walked up to Ted.

“Everything good?”

“Is that one of my costumes?” Ted asked.

Laura nodded, wrinkling the mask, she thought about removing it but she had used her telekinesis in public and someone was bound to have noticed. “Can I wear it out?” Laura reached for her purse and remembered she had teleported it home. Retrieving it was beyond her skill level. “I… my wallet is in my other outfit, at home.”

Ted patted her firmly on the back, and whispered in her ear, “The costume is yours, you wear it well! Get out of here before someone realizes VCR’s aren’t able to fly across the room on their own.”

Laura jerked away. He had noticed. She only hoped he couldn’t identify her by process of elimination. Laura quickly left the shop and began the long walk home, her bus pass was in her purse too.