Gabriel

     Gabriel dipped his hand into the blood of his latest victim. He had remained within the confines of the building; a bout of visions had kept him at bay.

     "I apologize, Dr. Wong," Gabriel muttered to the corpse lying at his feet. "But, it was your time to die..."

     Gabriel made a high stroke, using the blood to paint another image. After adding a few extra details, he stepped back from his masterpiece and looked upon it with great pride. A giggle escaped his throat and he shook his head. With his pinky finger, Gabriel added a line of detail to the samurai sword holstered upon the hooded vigilante's back.

     "The future..." Gabriel whispered to himself, licking his lips, "...is damned."

     He wiped his hand on a corpse's shirt, turning his attention to another figure he had drawn earlier. It was a figure shrouded in darkness, and two red eyes protruded from a swirling mask of evil.

     "But the Prophet has a plan," Gabriel snickered to himself. "The Prophet is the creator. Destiny has foreseen it..."

     He turned his back to the drawing and stepped over the bodies of two dead scientists. Gabriel opened up the doors and made his way out into the world. The visions terrified him, and fear clouded Gabriel's emotions. If what he saw was true, the world was going to face a grave threat in the future.

     And he was going to cause it all.

**

Ellie

     Her body trembled on the side of the road as she held her face in her hands. There was no emotion inside of her, only a sense of emptiness. It was a hollow feeling, and it echoed throughout her consciousness like an empty chamber. Her eyes stared in front of her, but they couldn't see anything. The world around Ellie was a frozen; a blurred mess of nothingness.

     People walked by, but none of them looked down on the lonesome girl. Snow began to fall, but she did not shiver; the frigid pain of winter was nothing compared to the icy emotions within her heart.  A taxi drove by, and it splashed a wave of slush onto the sidewalk. Her hair was lightly tousled by the cold air and she blinked her watery eyes closed.

     Who was she? What was she?

     Were her abilities a gift, or were they a curse? What good were they if she didn't even know how to use them? Ellie opened up her cold hands and stared at the pink skin, all-too-knowing of what they could do. They were like an alien to her; what she even stood for was beyond her comprehension.

     A mysterious woman, dressed in a black jacket and brown hair wavering in the wind, oddly approached Ellie as she stared at her hands. She stood for a moment before sitting down on the curb next to her.

     "It's going to be alright," the woman reassured her.

     Ellie, shaking because of the cold, slowly turned her head, "W-What? Who are you?"

     The woman pulled out a pair of gloves and handed them over to Ellie, "I'm a friend."

     Ellie gingerly took the gloves and pulled them over her trembling hands, "T-Thanks...."

     The woman had deep, dark contemplative eyes that analyzed Ellie. Her facial features were symmetrical but soft, and she bore an expression of weighted burdens. The icy wind tossed her hair, and she brushed it out of her face, taking a deep breath.

     "You're hurt," she observed.

     Ellie looked down at her body, remembering how the criminal's bullet had grazed her shoulder. She looked down at her arm and at the wire. A shiver ran through her body at the sight of the hours-old wound.

     "It's just a scratch," Ellie responded. "I'll heal fine."

     The woman tilted her head, "That's not what I was talking about."

     Ellie tensed.

     The woman reached out and put a hand on Ellie's shoulder, "Ms. Jobs, I know that things haven't been the same since your accident. I'm here to tell you that it's all going to be okay, and that none of what you did is your fault."

     Ellie felt another shiver go through her being, "What could you know about what I'm going through?"

     The woman's eyes flickered, and she turned away, "I've been through my fair share of...unusual events."

     The woman's hand was still on Ellie's shoulder, and out of the corner of her eye she could've been sure that she saw a spark of green. It was a quick, single, flurry that emitted itself from her fingertips but then vanished. Ellie pulled herself away.

     "Who are you?" she asked, extremely uneasy.

     "My name is Olivia," the woman cautiously answered. "I want to assure you that I'm here to help."

     "You knew my name..." Ellie whispered, distancing herself. "That means that you've been watching me..."

     "Ellie, please," Olivia held up both her hands, "I'm not the enemy."

     Ellie remembered Daniel Peters and his assault in the hospital, "You're lying!"

     Her subconscious picked up the signature of a weapon of some sort. Ellie stood up from the curb and began to back away as Olivia approached her. Adrenaline began to course through her system and the lamp a few feet from them flickered on.

     "Don't make me have to use force," Olivia begged.

     Ellie shook her head, "You're just like the rest of them! Why can't you just leave me alone!"

     The lamp above them exploded, and the surrounding people cried out and gasped as a barrage of sparks cascaded onto the pavement. In the ensuing chaos, Ellie turned and ran down the streets knowing well that Olivia was probably on her tail. She pushed through crowds of people and made her way down the block.

     "What?" someone asked.

     "Idiot!" another snarled because he spilled his coffee.

     Ellie gasped, running from her interpretation of the enemy. She sprinted through the city and into the bustling Times Square.

     "Excuse me," she mumbled, pushing past a man reading an outdated newspaper.

     Times Square was a complex, interconnected stream of energy and technology that filled Ellie with a buzz. She stopped in the middle of the storm of advertisements, looking around eagerly. Electronic billboards burst with glow and information while the buildings that supported them soared high up into the air. An infinite, constantly moving, stream of people pushed their way past each other in the imaginary highways of walking.

     Through the crowds, though, a few men began to emerge dressed in heavy combat gear. They wore thick, black, bullet-proof outfits and glossy visors that obscured their expressionless faces. Each one of them held a wooden baton and a can of, what looked like, a defense spray.

     Ellie turned and tried to run the other way but three more of the heavily-armed soldiers pushed their way through the crowd. She was sandwiched in-between two walls that were moving towards her. Within seconds, Ellie was surrounded on all sides and desperately thought of what to do. Her senses were on the fritz, and the electronic billboards around her began to sizzle as if a virus was moving through their systems.

     "Stop!" someone yelled.

     Ellie turned and saw Olivia push her way through the wall of soldiers. Her heart beat more quickly and an electronic billboard to her right exploded in a blast of sparks. Within seconds, all of the other billboards started flickering and their screens began to go blank.

     "We are only trying to protect you!" Olivia tried to explain. "You're just scared, and that's alright. I know what it feels like to be afraid!"

     Ellie shook her head, "You have no idea what I'm going through!"

     But Olivia nodded her head, "You may not believe me, but I do. If you want this to be peaceful, than you'll come with us."

     The billboards began to explode around Ellie; they were out of her control. She screamed as one, directly over her head, almost propelled itself off of the wall of a building with its blast. One of the soldiers pulled out an emergency gun and held it at Ellie's head.

     "No!" Olivia protested, ordering the gun to be put down.

     "I'm sorry," the soldier responded, preparing to disobey a direct order, "but I have to protect the citizens of this city."

     Ellie saw the gun and covered her face, terrified at what might happen.

     "You need to understand her!" Olivia countered. "She's just scared, let me handle this!"

     The soldier locked eyes with Ellie, "I'm sorry."

     "Soldier!" Olivia ordered, her voice raised to a threatening level. "I order you to stand down!"

     Ellie screamed as he pulled the trigger and the bullet wound its way through the air. It had all happened too fast for Ellie's powers to react, and once the bullet was in motion there was nothing that she could do.

     She was as good as dead.

     Olivia reached out with her hand and a wall of green energy materialized between Ellie and the bullet. The bullet collided with the wall and sent a hollow thud through Times Square, saving her life. All around, people stood in awe at the spectacle that was taking place and they gasped as Ellie became enveloped in a wavering green light. She tried to struggle, but it was as if the very energy within her was being drained.

     Ellie fell to the ground, unconscious, and the C.I.N.A. agents stormed in to collect the body. Olivia Jones let her hand fall to her side and sighed, it had been months since she'd activated her powers. It was a feeling that she'd long since forgotten, but it was another feeling to have used it on an individual similar to herself.