Mike was the love of her life. Or, at least he was for this month. She, like she always did with men, fell hard and fell fast. Within weeks of knowing each other my mom was spending more time at his place than at ours, and after a few months our tiny home was packed with boxes.

I was used to the routine by now. After a while she would get bored, or he would finally show his true colors and then we would be back to where we started. Her always using me as a shoulder to cry on, and me always playing along. It wasn’t like I kept my distaste for her boyfriends to myself. I told her loud and I told her often that they were no good, but she never listened.

I was always too cynical, too young to understand. I didn’t believe that true love could be in the cards for her. And yet she found it, time and time again.

Mike wasn’t like the other guys. He didn’t smell like smoke and booze, or make her clean up his messes whenever she went over. He smiled at her, told her she was the one for him, even bought her presents. On paper he was a gentleman, the perfect boyfriend according to my mother. Maybe I was cynical. By all accounts he seemed like a good guy.

But there was something about him. When he looked at you it was like he could see right through you, a vacant but calculating look in his eyes. When I was dragged along to dinners or his house, each encounter felt off. There was nothing technically wrong, but I always had an itch in the back of my mind telling me to get the hell out of there. I only wish my mom had the same itch, maybe things would have ended differently.

It was ruled an accident. There was ice on the road and she wasn’t wearing her seatbelt. The car had just slipped right off the road and down into the ditch. But I never believed that story, my mom always wore her seatbelt. When I was young she would idle in the driveway for however long it took before each person inside was safely buckled in. It also never made sense to me how such a bad accident could result one person losing their life, while the other walked away without a scratch. Just like everything with mike, it didn’t sit right with me.

He tried to keep in contact with me after, telling me how much he missed my mom and how much I reminded him of her, but I never responded. I took this tragedy as a reminder, an omen: trust your gut and always look deeper than the surface. The mantra plays in my head often, especially on days like today.

It had happened one year ago exactly. A faint echo of a knock at the door and the blue lights flashing through the front windows remained in the atmosphere of the house. I had just finished putting away the last of the plates in the kitchen, folding up the box and stacking it with the others. The moving company would be here any minute to take these to storage. I didn’t want them anymore.

I grabbed the small box by the door, the only one I decided to keep. It held pictures, mostly, but also a few small gifts that my mom had managed to afford to give me over the years. It was the last things I had left of her, or at least the last things that mattered. With a final look around I headed out the door, determined to never look back.

“Stay back Sam, I mean it!” I shouted across the courtyard. “I don’t want to hurt you… I don’t want to hurt anyone.” The electricity zapped across my palms. I couldn’t control it. I had let the energy build too much, I should have just left before it got out of hand. But I was having too good of a time. I didn’t want to ruin our date because of my problems, I just wanted to feel like a normal girl. A girl who could go out with her boyfriend and not worry about electrocuting him every time she touches him.

I closed my eyes to concentrate. Too much more and I was going to burst. Sparks would go in every direction and I wouldn’t be able to control it. I could down a whole city block with the power in my body right now.

“Sam you need to leave. I’m sorry I didn’t tell you about this sooner, but I WILL hurt you if you don’t go. You need to get out of here before it’s too late.” I could feel my hair starting to stand up on its own. The electricity was flowing through every part of my body. Energy was roaring through my ears and I could barely hear anything. My senses were overpowered by the rush, and that’s why I didn’t hear him.

I didn’t realize that Sam had been walking closer. I couldn’t sense him until he was right in front of me, inches from my supercharged skin. My eyes flew open and in a panic I reached out to push him away, realizing too late that I was touching the boy I loved.

I choked on my scream, because instead of seeing pain in Sam’s eyes, I only saw laughter. Hundreds of volts of electricity were running from my body into his and he was laughing.

“Wha.. what?” I barely managed to whisper, unsure of if I was in a dream. Sam smiled and brought his hands to the sides of my face, cupping my cheeks so gently.

“Zena it’s ok, just take a deep breath. Try to relax and you’ll be ok.” He soothed me, like I was the one that was overreacting when he was being electrocuted by my touch. Panic once again fueled me as I realized we were still in touching. I struggled to pull away from his arms, not wanting to hurt him anymore.

“Zena! Zena, relax!” He yelled, trying to catch my gaze with his eyes, his grip now moving down to my arms to steady me. But I was too far gone, panic flooded my veins and I struggled in his grip. Finally managing to slip out of his hold I scrambled away from him, falling to the ground. I kept going, scooting farther and farther away, like he was the one with the electric hands and not me.

He sighed and held his hands up in defeat. He approached me slowly, cautiously, like you would when near a wild animal.

“Sam please, I don’t want to hurt you,” I whispered. The electricity had drained out of me. I was tired, defeated, and so confused. Sam sensed this and came over all the way over to sit with me, slumping down on the ground in the dirty courtyard we had found ourselves in when this all began.

“I don’t understand,” I continued, looking up at him. “How did I touch you?” A smirk took over his face as he looked me over, probably checking to see if I had hurt myself in all of this, or maybe it was in disgust over what he saw. I couldn’t tell.

“You really think I didn’t know about your ‘ability’ this whole time? We’ve been dating for six months… I’ve known for a while Ze,” he smiled at me. I wanted to ask more questions but he gently placed his finger on my lips before I could speak. “I know you must be confused, and probably have a lot of questions, but let me say something first, ok?” He looked at me expectedly and I quickly nodded for him to continue.

“You’re so strong Ze… and not just with your powers. I know you’re expecting me to say something like, ‘I love you Zena, but your powers are too strong… they scare me,’ But that’s a load of bullshit because they’re one of the things that I love most about you.” He smiled, fully aware that he had just told me he loved me for the first time.

“You love me?” I asked incredulously. “I almost just killed you and you want to tell me that you love me?” I could barely wrap my head around this, and I wanted to keep on yelling at him, but then it dawned on me. “Sam? How is it that I didn’t hurt you? I had enough energy running through me to power a small village and here you are totally fine.”

“Finally got that did you?” He laughed, scorching closer to me and wrapping his arm around my shoulders. “Have you seen the movie The Fantastic Four? Where the main guy can stretch himself really long?” I nodded. I think I’d seen the movie a while ago, but I didn’t understand why that mattered right now.

“Well… so can I.” He reached his arm out, stretching it farther than it should have reasonably been aloud to go until it reached the other side of the yard, dozens of feet away from where we sat. I looked at him, then his arm, then him again. Completely dumbfounded and at a loss for words. He laughed at my face and pulled his arm back. “ I used to really hate this ability. I thought it was stupid, who would want to be made of rubber? It’s such a lame power…”

“But then I met you Ze,” he looked down at me as he spoke, “I hated being made of rubber until I met the girl with sparks in her eyes, because then I knew. I could love you. My power lets me be with you, let’s me absorb your electricity and let’s me help you. Once I realized that, I knew I was one of the luckiest guys in the world.”

He sat back, a smile on his face and a wistful look in his eyes. I could tell he’s been wanting to say that for a while, but is it true? Is it really safe to be with him? To touch him? To love him?

I mustered up what little energy I had left into my pointer finger and lightly touched his side. With a jolt he sat up from his relaxed position and looked at me with humor in eyes. It wasn’t from the pain of the touch I could tell, more from the surprise that I would actually try that after everything that just happened.

“I just had to make sure,” I laughed. The tension finally draining from my body. I looked up at him and smiled, remembering what he had said to me moments ago. “I love you too Sam.”

He leaned his head down towards mine, resting his forehead against my own. Our breaths intertwined as we breathed in this moment. Never in my life had I felt this mixture of relief and happiness. Not only was I able to tell Sam I loved him, but now I know I can be with him and not hold back. I don’t have to worry about ever hurting him or hiding part of my life from the one I love.

With that thought, I raised my lips to his and finally kissed him.

“Come on!” I muttered, stabbing the enter key a few more times. These stupid old computers never seem to work when you need them too, and I really needed them to. The reports were supposed to be in by five, and by the look of my watch it was already way past nine o’clock. Damn it, I was so late.

The reports themselves weren’t really time sensitive. They’re more of a formality, a way of showing Avon that I was meeting my quarterly numbers. He liked to remind us who was in charge by assigning these asinine due dates, like Christmas Eve for instance. Avon was one of those bosses that would take any excuse to give his employees another write up.

And yes, it would be another write up. I seem to have a natural affinity for those these days, or maybe he just had it out for me. It started off by just coming in a few minutes late due to a train delay, and then a few days later a mishap with my alarm clock. But quickly it became small errors in my work, an unfortunate typo in an email to a client, and now this. If this report isn’t in the system by midnight I would be out of a job for sure.

The unmoving download bar stared up at me from the brightly lit monitor, a contrast to the dark office where I sat. The only semblance of light came from the street lights a few floors below me. They were a dim yellow glow shining from the large windows that lined the back wall. Deciding the street below would was better entertainment than my impending unemployment, I got up from my chair to look outside.

Below you could see the bustle of people as they moved in and out of shops and restaurants that lined the street. Christmas lights and wreaths hung from each lamp post and a soft flurry of snow danced across the glass. A couple walked across the street holding hands, waving ahead as they approached a group huddled in-front of a small bistro. Children danced and tilted their heads upward, hoping to catch a snowflake on their tongue. A storefront displayed a large screen that played a Christmas story, a treat for passers by to witness as they finished their last minute shopping. From far up here it seemed magical to witness.

“That’s it, this is dumb. I’m not going to sit up here and sulk on Christmas Eve.” Determination flooded my veins as I quickly turned around and marched back to my computer. Grabbing my coat off the back of my chair, I threaded one arm through the sleeve when I noticed it. There was an error message on the monitor.

Network unavailable.

I squinted my eyes to get a better look. It was definitely a new one for the old hunk of junk, but maybe it was also my salvation. Avon would see when he came into the office after the new year that the reports had been submitted on time, but there was an issue with the system. Surely he wouldn’t fault me for that. As long as I don’t touch it, I still might be able to keep my job come next quarter.

With a satisfied smile I finished shrugging on my coat and reached into the left pocket to pull out my long neglected cell phone. Another one of Avons rules was no personal phones in the office, they were for personal time only. Clicking the lock button, the bright screen momentarily blinded me in the dark room before my eyes adjusted.

Network unavailable.

Just like the computer, my phone displayed the ominous message across its Lock Screen. Tapping the screen a few times proved to be useless, not only was the network down, but the phone itself seemed to be completely frozen. I turned back to the computer to compare the messages. I had never seen something like this before. Looking closer, I noticed the font seemed to be off, it didn’t match the default of each device. However, the font on each device matched the other.

Curious, I tapped the enter key once on the computer. Nothing happened. And so, like every tech genius there was, I tried again. And then again. On the final click of the key, the building shook.

A shockwave like I’d never felt before ripped through the glass wall behind me sending glass flying in every direction. I flew forward along with the debris as landed hard against my desk, knocking the monitor to the floor and hitting my head against the cubicle wall. A bright orange glow erupted from the darkness behind me and covered every surface with its light. It was too bright to look at but the warmth touching my back told me what I couldn’t see. Fire. Blazing hot fire was crackling outside the window below.

The ringing in my ears prevented me from hearing anything at first, but as they began to recover, I heard it. The screams. Turning my head, I attempted to look out the windows. The light was bright, but more manageable than I originally thought. Pulling myself off of the desk and back to my feet, I took a few tentative steps. Holding onto my cubicle walls for support, I made my way towards the windows. My legs were still shaky from the initial shock, but every step seemed to bring them back into a semi manageable working order.

As I made my way towards the hole where the windows once were, the heat seemed to multiply. Every step brought me closer to the inferno that I could now see climbing the side of the building across the street. The fire cast moving shadows across every surface, it was almost impossible to tell what I was looking at when I reached the edge. Hot wind blew across my face, filling my nostrils with ashy smoke. Below I saw carnage.

The once decorated light posts were bent and fallen, wreaths burning. People ran screaming from the storefronts that bellowed with smoke and fire. Some lay in the street unmoving. The building across the street was easier to see now. The roof had collapsed down a few floors, shrinking the tall building to roughly half its size. Over the brick and ash was a clearer view of the city, but what I saw was chilling. Everything was burning.

The shock started to wear off, and where I used to feel numb now filled with panic. I looked back down at the street. How was I going to get down there? Was it even safe? I scanned the area, some of the shops were definitely worse off than others but I had no idea what the extent of my building entrance looked like.

Two shops down, the storefront that was playing a Christmas story was in ruin. The glass had shattered and the decorations that lined the walls were scattered across the street. Dangling from the window was the tv, screen cracked and half black, but still plugged in. In large black font it displayed a message.

Network unavailable.