Behind the Mask

I dunked my spoon in the soggy bowl of cereal and stirred, watching the mushy pieces spin in a whirlpool.

"That looks yummy." Peter said as he sat across from me with his chocolate chip muffin.

My eyes widened. "Where did you get that?!"

He pointed with his chin. "Over there, at the end of the buffet."

I couldn't figure out how I missed the tray of muffins. "Oh." He offered his to me. "No, thank you. I'm not very hungry, anyway."

"Olivia, it's a free all-you-can-eat breakfast buffet. I'll get another one."

"No, it's really --"

Peter leaned to kiss my cheek. "Be right back."

I sighed and pushed my crappy cereal away, somewhat grateful he was kind enough to give me his muffin. When he was walking towards the tray, I noticed the subtle glance a young woman in a hooded sweatshirt made in his direction. She carefully whipped out her phone and started texting beneath the table.

I swallowed hard and convinced myself I was being paranoid. I heard the short ring tone of a message echo from the lobby. A man in a suit dug in the pocket of his coat to retrieve his phone.

Stop it, Olivia. Just because he's answering a text message doesn't mean it's from the woman.

"Sorry, hun." An older man stumbled on the leg of my chair with his walker. I almost leaped out of my seat.

Peter waited for the slow old man to pass before he sat down again. "You okay?" He asked, concerned by my pale features.

My joints were tense. "Yeah. I'm fine."

Peter picked off a portion of his muffin. The young woman shifted out of her chair and left the room.

"Peter," I started shakily.

He paused all movement to look up at me. "What is it?"

I watched her until she disappeared in the lobby. I rubbed the unsettling goosebumps on my arms. "Nothing." I picked at my own muffin as a distraction.

He raised his eyebrows but let it go.

After I finished half of my muffin we were ready to leave. Peter let me lead as we headed for the elevators.

"We can go take a walk along the water, or visit Aunt May? She lives close to here." Peter continued making a list of things to do. He wanted today to consists of average, everyday activities -- no superhero stuff. At first I thought it was for my sake, but I was sure he needed time away from it all as well.

"We'll see." I said quietly. I was still anxious and jumpy. I wasn't sure it would go away any time soon.

Peter pressed the button for the elevator and it opened right away. The man inside was the man I saw earlier, still playing with his phone. He didn't even glance up when we shuffled in beside him.

Peter reached around me to press the button for our floor. The elevator doors slipped closed. The man continued to ignore us.

The next few moments happened so fast.

I was flooded with overwhelming memories as the elevator jerked and halted to a stop. I clawed my fingers into Peter's forearm, fearful as I was that night.

The man dropped his phone on the floor. As he bent over to reach for it, he slung his arm up like a slingshot. In his fist was a switchblade.

Peter dodged the sudden attack with just a shallow scrape on his cheek. He shoved me out of the way, and I collapsed into the wall, gripping the cold railing behind me.

The man was swift, slipping out of Peter's grip and throwing punches as well as swinging his weapon. He was swift, but Peter was graceful. He made the attacker look sloppy.

In a movement too quick for my eyes, Peter elbowed the man in the nose and knocked his feet out from under him. The man collapsed in an unconscious mass on the floor.

It was so quiet. Peter huffed for a moment before he pressed his fingers to his cheek, drawing a trace of blood. He wiped it on his jeans and looked at me.

I was probably cowering helplessly in the corner. The elevator seemed to be closing in on us. We both knew what this meant. They found us when we thought we were safe.

Peter kneeled to remove the blade from the attacker's grip. He took the cell phone as well. Peter ran his eyes over the silver doors and pried his fingers between them, using his inhuman strength to pull them apart. The elevator was halfway passed the floor below ours, and there was enough space to crawl out.

Peter slipped out as smooth as butter and reached his hands through to help me. My body was numb, but I somehow made it through.

It wasn't until we made it up a flight of stairs that I stopped. I couldn't go any further without letting a terrified sob overwhelm me. Peter understood and held me tightly to his chest.

"I'm sorry," I cried. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry."

"Why are you sorry?" He asked softly. "There's no reason for you to be sorry."

"I saw them," I started to lose my knees, but he held me up steadily. "I saw the woman, and then the man in the elevator -- I didn't say anything, I'm sorry!"

"Shh," He pressed my head beneath his chin.

I leaned away and wiped my eyes. "No, we have to go. We have to get out of here."

"I know, but we have to go back to the room and get my bag --"

"No!"

He looked terribly guity as he cupped my face in his hands. "The bag has the suit in it."

I whimpered one last time and decided to pull myself together. We hurried up the rest of the steps and made it to our floor. Peter peeked sneakily through the door and established that the coast was clear.

His hands shook as he slipped the key in the door. We rushed inside and flipped on the light.

We both flinched at the occupant of the chair by the windows.

Chase rose to his feet at our arrival. "Sorry to intrude."

I couldn't think of a good enough curse word to tie to his name. "What are you doing here?!"

He basically ignored me, but I noticed a wild look in his eye. "I know I told you to run, Parker, but now you gotta turn yourself in."

Peter wasn't as surprised as I, though that may have just been his ability to stay calm. "Why's that?"

"It's gonna snowball, kid." Chase twirled his hand around. "Don't you get it? They'll never stop, and it'll only get worse until they know you're gone."

I suddenly recognized the wild look. "Don't listen to him." I said, glaring at Chase. "He's drunk."

"Liv," Chase smirked at me. "You can deny it all you want, but I'm telling the truth."

"Shut up!" I snapped at him, a strange new emotion fueling me. "We'll leave the city. We can head into Jersey or something. You don't have to turn yourself in."

"You better act fast," Chase sang. "Because you're dead either way."

I rolled my eyes and found the backpack next to the bed. I hooked my arm through the strap and turned back around to face Peter.

I wasn't just facing Peter. I was facing Chase and his wild eyes as he pointed a weapon at my head. It wasn't just any weapon, it was the same hideous weapon that killed Peter's uncle and my brother.

I was staring down the barrel of a gun.