New City Devil

• Superhero
• Part 20

An all-night convenience store clerk was killed last night during an argument with a customer. The incident occurred at the Quick Stop on 63rd at around 2:30AM this morning. Two local teens witnessed the confrontation in the store, and fled when they saw the as-yet-unknown customer stab the clerk in the head. Both teens, who wish to remain anonymous, described the suspect as odd-looking, with spikes coming out of his clothing and blood on his face.

At first I thought he was just some weird guy in a costume," one witness said. "He had spikes ripping through his shirt, in his pants, coming out from under his hat. And he had blood running down his face. I thought, that couldn't be real, you know?"

The two young men saw the clerk confront the man about eating a candy bar before purchasing it. The clerk became upset and shoved the customer. The customer then struck the clerk in the head with one of his spikes, stabbing him through the eye. When asked about the spikes, one witness replied, "They looked like big horns, like horns coming out all over his body. I don't know if it was a costume or what, but they looked real."

"He was all red. And he had a really weird look on his face. Then he looked over at us, and he looked [expletive] mad as hell," the other witness said. "He looked like the Devil or something."

The two witness fled the scene, shortly followed by the suspect. The two teens called the police and ambulance from a cell phone. When the police arrived, they found the clerk on the ground in a pool of blood. Paramedics pronounced him dead on arrival.

Unfortunately there were no video tapes recording the convenience store's security cameras. Police advise the public to be aware of an approximately six-foot-tall Caucasian male wearing dark clothing. He may be bleeding from the head, and he may or may not have actual horn-like protrusions on his appendages and head.

Alex tossed the New City Herald onto his desk. His brow furled. I think this is it, what I felt last night. He stood up and turned to look out the window of his office. Something is coming. Or is already here. "What is it?" he asked the miniature cars and tiny people scampering around the street, fifteen floors below.

Miranda finding another one of us, finding Thomas, can't have been a coincidence. Something drew her to him. And drew him to us. It's as if we were being gathered all in one place. But for what? That much good in one place means that ... something's out of balance.

Alex left the window and picked up the newspaper again. He read the young men's description of the killer. A devil in New City, he thought, I hope we're ready for this.

• Tags
• superhero
• serial