Antiheroes 20

Maggie was gone.
She had stayed visible on the way to the hospital, and for long enough to ask the hot red-headed nurse for help, but then that guy with the gun had walked in.
She didn’t even have to look down at her hands, this time. She could feel it in her body, an odd — something like lightness? No, that wasn’t it. It was the sensation of being present and not-present all at once. The sensation of being ignored, unnoticed.
They couldn’t see her, but she could see everything from where she stood, near the reception desk. She had stumbled back a few steps, in shock, when the man had started towards them. But she certainly hadn’t gone as far as she should have. Not far enough to be safe.
So she had seen the fire emerge from the nurse’s hands, seen the other girl pick up her friend, and then tackle the gunman, who was twice her size, with the ease of a pro footballer.
They had both gone down, disappeared into the flames, but those dissipated as quickly as they had appeared, revealing the girl, a little scorched but already hauling herself up, and the guy, who wasn’t moving.
The room was silent. Everyone had cleared out except the four of them, run to safety or maybe to get the cops.

“What the fuck…” Maggie said, more to herself than anything else.

The nurse turned around, panic in her eyes.

“Who said that?” She said, her gaze darting around Maggie’s general vicinity. “Where are you?”

“Oh, shit. Um,” Maggie tried to will herself back to visibility. It didn’t work. “I’m right here. Sorry, it might take a minute before you can see me.”

“What?”

Maggie wanted to explain further, but the nurse had already shifted her attention to something else. The gunman still hadn’t moved, so she had raced around to check on him. She checked his pulse, and evidently finding one, was now examining the worst of his burns.

The other girl was on her feet now, leaning heavily against the desk. Her hair looked like it had burnt in more than a few places, and there were dark, dirty smudges on her face. Maggie hurried over towards her.

“Hey, are you OK?”

The girl looked up, and glanced around. “Oh. I guess so. Are you? I can’t see you.”

“Uh. Yeah. It should wear off soon, I think.”

The nurse looked so panicked and angry Maggie was surprised she hadn’t combusted herself. “What the fuck is going on?” She said, voice strangled with emotion. “I just, I don’t, I… Someone, tell me.”

“Right,” Maggie said, turning to face her. “What’s your name?”

“What?

“Your name.”

“George.”

“George.” Maggie grabbed the woman’s shoulder. George flinched, but didn’t pull away. “I’m Maggie. I’m invisible, but I’m pretty sure it’s temporary. Nice to meet you.”

“You’re the girl who was in here before, aren’t you?”

“Yep. This is what I wanted to talk to someone about. Frankly, I’m glad to find out it’s real. I thought I was losing it.”

George shook her head. “This is ridiculous,” she said.

Maggie turned back to the other girl. “And who are you?”

“Aurora,” she said, and waved slightly in Maggie’s direction.

“Great. Now, I think we should get out of here before the cops arrive.”

“I can’t leave him,” George said. Both of them turned to stare at her.

“What?” Maggie asked.

“Him.” She nodded at the unconscious gunman.

“The guy who tried to shoot you?”

“He’s my boyfriend.”

“Who tried to shoot you.”

“But he’s hurt. I need to stay with him, until help arrives. You two go.”

“George, don’t be-” She stopped, suddenly, as Aurora’s friend emerged from the other room.

“Aur!” He yelled, running across the room towards them. “Are you OK? What happened?”

Aurora frowned. “Too hard to explain now. Come on. We’re getting out of the way.”

She started towards the corridor, back to the relative safety of her room. He looked around, baffled, then followed her. Maggie waited, watching George, who couldn’t seem to take her eyes off the figure on the ground.

“We should talk about this.”

“No.” George wouldn’t look at her.

“Something’s happening. You can’t just ignore it.”

“I have to stay with him.”

Maggie rolled her eyes. “Fine. Suit yourself.”

George didn’t respond, so she turned and followed the others out of the room.