Side Effects

4 - Aftermath/Warning

Miretti woke up on the couch with a soggy towel resting on his head. He frowned and remembered.

The whole night, struggling to sleep, the memories playing in his head like a broken record. Near-death, the masked man; the ground giving way. The fear of standing up again for an age until finally rising to his feet and stumbling home. Relief at the sight of Cherie's face.

He did not dare to touch the wooden cane in the corner of the room, still stained with his own blood.

Peeling the towel off his head, the presence of another person entering the room alerted him. Carrying a bucket of icy water was Mickey, one of the workers that boarded his house.

Neither of them spoke when he took the towel from Miretti's head and dipped it in the water, squeezed any access from it and placed it back on his boss' head.

"Thank you." Miretti groaned as his head was met with the arctic towel.
"Sorry if I woke you." Mickey apologised sincerely. There was another silence before he spoke again.

"If it's okay with you, we made Benji the head chef today. You need some rest."
Tiredly, Miretti nodded.
"Very well."
Mickey left him to recover.

For a while, the room was silent. Over and over the memories replayed, his head spinning every time he thought of the smoke explosion and the hole that appeared after. He had already tried brushing off every remembrance, but his mind was too weak to protect itself, and his lungs gave way to trauma.

Loud knocking on the front door caused Miretti to jump out of his skin.
"I'll get it!" The voice of Cherie announced, and the sound of the door opening was heard. In seconds, a woman wearing a police uniform entered the room.

"Mr Miretti?"
Miretti nodded.
"My name is Lieutenant Reidle of the New Orbis Police Force. I know this is sudden, but we have been addressed that you were a victim of an attack last night."

Miretti glanced at Cherie, who mouthed the words "I had to tell them". Miretti lifted his shaking body up, and allowed the policewoman to take a seat.

***

Mayor Cermentia Grates sat at her desk of mahogany, typing away at emails to the local businesses that pleaded for her help. She loved that feeling of power when anyone grovelled to her. It was maybe one of the reasons she enjoyed having such a high authority. Still, if there was something she loved all the same, it was her ways of helping the community.

This office was what she called her second home - a home containing the most confidential documents in the lone city.

"Ms Grates." A smartly-dressed man handed her a formal letter and was calmly dismissed. Carefully, Cermentia opened it.

'Dear Ms Cermentia Grates,

There has been growing concern following the escape of the code-red ranked prisoners at the Periculum Prison of Dangerous Individuals.

As you know, Tina Petrenko possesses a highly dangerous power of pure destruction, which has resulted in the death of an unknown man just last night. Petrenko's ability caused a deep, gaping hole on Saint Cody's Street which is currently being investigated as well as the identity of the victim.

As a member of the City's body, I urge you to tighten your laws and the standing of the Periculum Prison. The Police Force have more on our hands as the days get shorter and the nights get darker. Not only are we dealing with over one hundred escapees, but the city's crime rate is at it's highest in the five years in which this city has stood.