I open the fridge, and carefully move the cream cheese away from the remaining Coke bottles. Then I take one of them out, open it carefully, and sit down to drink it. The painkillers are beginning to work, and the Coke calms the nausea. But slowly I get more and more afraid. After half an hour I make a promise to myself. I stand up, and speak it aloud, as if somehow that would make it more binding.
"I will remember what happened today for the rest of my life, but never tell my friends about it. I solemnly swear that I will never again touch party drugs or any other kind of drugs. And I swear that if the hallucinations come back, I will see a doctor." Then I sit down on my chair, and cry.
Maybe half an hour passes, and I feel a bit better. I still need a bath, so I return to my bedroom, and remove my pajamas. I hesitate, then I remove my panties and stand naked on the bedroom floor. The curtains are drawn, and I stare at them, attempting to see what is outside. No X-ray vision. Then I spread out my arms, jump a bit and try to fly. Nothing. I stare intensely at the pillow, but it does not catch fire. Ah well, I was never really believing it, and I am only slightly disappointed.
I live on the sixth floor, and the buildings on the other side of the road are only two stories high, so no-one can look in through my window. But still, I never go around naked, keeping at least my panties on as I walk around the apartment. I consider putting the panties back on before going to the bathroom, but realize that it is silly, crossing the line between habit and OCD. So I walk rapidly through my small living room and into the bathroom. I look at my naked body in the mirror. I like my tits, they are big and shapely. No wonder that my classmates always tried to get a peek at them. I look at my face. The glasses make me look nerdy, and the strong lenses make my eyes appear smaller. Not for the first time do I wish that I could use contact lenses - perhaps that should have been my wish!
Finally, I remove my glasses and step into the shower cabin. Something is not quite right... I reach up to my face, to remove my glasses, but I already did that. I look at the wall, I see it perfectly. I step out of the shower, and look at my reflection in the mirror. I certainly look much better without glasses, but why do I see myself so sharply? As I stare at my reflection I begin seeing the kitchen behind the wall. I focus on it, and see it perfectly. I look at the floor, and see the apartment below. X-ray vision!
With a grin, I spread out my arms and try to fly. Something hits me really hard in the head, I fall sideways and smash the side of my head into the toilet bowl, then the back of my head hits the hard floor. It hurts, but only momentarily. I touch the spot on my head where I hit the toilet, expecting to find blood and fragments of skull. Nothing, not even a sore spot, but the toilet bowl has cracked. Then I see the circular hole in the ceiling, and understand what hit me.
I stand up again, spread my arms, and look into the mirror. Then very carefully I float half a foot into the air. Wow! I forget about taking a shower, and go back to the living room. With some hesitation, I open the door to the balcony. It is a cool autumn day, windy and overcast. As long as I stay inside, no-one can see my naked body, but if I go out on the balcony I will be visible from the street - at least if anybody looks up.
I make up my mind. I rapidly step out on the balcony, place one foot on a chair, then the other foot on the railing. Then I jump. I immediately realize my terrible mistake. I am having a second round of hallucinations! Is there any more embarrassing way to die than to lose your mind and jump naked from your sixth floor balcony?
But I do not fall. Instead I soar upwards, faster and faster. I quickly reach the low clouds, and am hidden from below. I had never realized how wet a cloud is inside! I rapidly pass through it, above the clouds the sun shines brightly. With loud shouts of joy, I make somersaults, loops and pirouettes in the air. Then I see a contrail far above me, the plane is halfway to the horizon north of me. I fly upwards to the contrail. The air gets freezing cold, probably minus fifty or more, but the cold cannot harm me, nor can the lack of oxygen. I begin to follow the contrail, chasing the plane, imagining how it would feel to sit on the wing of a flying airplane. Then I realize I cannot do that. I am naked, and will be exposing myself to the passengers! In any case, the pilot might see me and get a heart attack, crashing the plane. I am supposed to be a superhero, not a plane-crashing super-villain.
I stop chasing the plane, and look around. Below and to the east I see a smaller plane. I focus on it with my supervision, it is a private jet with a pilot and two passengers, a guy in a business suit and a girl in a bikini. Further away, another commercial jet. And two more approaching from the south. And far below me, the clouds over the city are breaking up. There are still clouds over the part of the city where I live, but elsewhere I can see the buildings. It is time for this superhero to return to her lair.
I fold my arms along my side, and drop head down towards the clouds far below me. I use my x-ray vision to make sure that I will not hit a hidden plane or a helicopter. Once I reach the safety of the clouds, I spread out my arms and fly sideways, homeward bound. Once I am above my apartment, I drop head first again until right before I reach my balcony. I flip over, land on my feet, and rush into my living room, collapsing in the sofa with my heart racing.
A minute later I go into the bedroom to get dressed. Then I turn on the TV. They are showing a program about food, it reminds me that I have neither had breakfast nor lunch. I mute the TV, and go to the kitchen to get myself a sandwich. Once my stomach is full, I remember that I never got a shower. The TV is still showing the food program as I go into the bathroom to strip and shower.
When I come back out, a yellow "Breaking News" is running over the screen. I turn the sound back on.
"... nine hostages, eight college students and their modern art teacher. But Caroline has now arrived at the site. What is happening, Caroline?"
The TV now shows a building with a lot of police in front of it. A reporter, presumably Caroline, is standing in front of the camera.
"I was just told by the head of police that three unknown men have taken nine or ten people hostage in a building owned by the university. One of the students should be lightly wounded. Fortunately only a few people were present in the building on a Sunday. I have also been told that a professional hostage negotiator is on his way to the site. Other than that, I cannot tell much. I have seen motion behind a window a minute ago, but cannot see much from here, and the police does not let anyone close to the building."
I consider stripping and flying in to save the hostages. But I am reluctant to show up naked, and anyway who knows how the criminals will react. I may have superpowers, but I have never used them before - a single mistake and a hostage will be dead. Better leave it to the professional negotiator. I sit down in front of the TV.
"Now back to the studio," the news anchor says. "It appears that we have just received an email from the terrorists. They claim to be Benjamin Branson's team. Branson was the bank robber who killed three policemen and an old lady when he and his gang robbed a bank two months ago. He was caught and is now in jail, but his gang was never apprehended. Apparently they have now shown up."
The anchor looks gravely at the camera. "They have also send us their demands. They demand that Benjamin Branson is released from prison. They also want five million dollars in cash, and a private airplane with enough fuel to reach Venezuela. Finally, they demand that the President pardons them all, including Branson."
The anchor discusses the possibilities of meeting these terms with an expert, apparently just another journalist who knows a little bit about criminal law. They do not reach a conclusion. Then Caroline is back on the screen, but has nothing important to tell us. Suddenly the anchor is back again.
"We just got a second email, they demand that we read it verbatim. It says 'The so-called professional hostage negotiator should stay away, we will shoot him on sight. We are not here to negotiate, we expect our demands to be met quickly, and in full. To show you that we are serious, we will rape, torture and kill a hostage every hour on the hour, starting at 3 PM.'"
I look at my phone, it is 2:41. No time to lose, the superhero must act! I quickly remove my clothes (and my glasses), open the door to the balcony, and take off. I ascend high above the city, and quickly find the building surrounded by police. My x-ray vision allows me to see what goes on inside, even from this altitude. There are only two hostage-takers, and they are in a big hall on the second floor with all the hostages. They are both heavily armed, and outside the police is preparing to storm the building. It will become a bloodbath.
There is a backdoor, mostly shielded by a garage. The police is observing it, of course, but the press is not. I drop like a rock, and land in front of the door. I hear a surprised shout behind me as I reach out for the door handle. The door is locked, but I quickly yank the handle, pulling the entire lock out of the door. I enter the building before anybody reacts, the sight of a naked woman dropping from the sky must have stunned them.
