Forever in the Past and Forever in the Future

"Shit! Don't do anything crazy, Kas. We're in the human world,” he urges me, “I already hear police

sirens, be careful, Baby. I love you.”

"Okay, nothing crazy. Got it. I love you, too,” I say nervously. I have never really spent time in the

human world except for when Bronx has taken me out. Iam not completely sure what constitutes crazy

in this specific scenario. I try to recall all the training James and Marco have given me.

"Hey! Girlie, what did you just do with yer eyes there? What kind of contacts you wearin’?" The first

man says. Referring to my eyes clouding over from the mind link.

"Sir, I-I'm just here to get my cell phone, "I say backing up as the man I assume is Jimmy approaches

me, "I don't want anyone to get hurt."

The man laughs and grabs me by the arm. I easily break the hold and punch him in the face, breaking

his nose, then chop him in the throat as hard as I can, making him fall to the floor choking and

coughing on his own blood. The other two men aim their guns directly a tme.

I feel the energy building in me letting me freeze time and run over to the store manager, pulling him

down below the counter.

"Sir, how do we get out?" I ask the man who is confused as to what is happening.

"How did you get over here?" He looks at me, confused with panic in his voice. "Please, sir. There's no

time to explain. We have about five minutes before they start moving again. How do we get out of

here?"

"The police. They will open the security gates from outside," he tries to look around the desk to see the

armed men, but I take him by the shoulders and stop him.

"Shit. Okay. You need to hide, sir. Where is the rest of your staff?" I look out from behind our hiding

spot, "you have probably three minutes to hide."

"In the panic room, but it locks behind them until the police open it. I-I suppose I can go into the lockbox

room. But Madame, what about you?”

"Don't worry, I was made for this. I have training from my personal guards. You just stay back here and

hide. If you can make it to that room safely, do it. But whatever you do, don’t look out from behind this

desk. I have to get back out there before they realize I've moved." He looks at me like I’m insane. He

probably thinks I am. I'm not worried about it, anyone he tells the story to will think he is delusional with

fear.

I go back out to the main area and stand approximately where I was before. I release my hold on time

and watch the man with a broken nose go back to writhing in pain on the floor.

"Hey, I said I didn't want anyone to get hurt,” I warn.

"Just let me shift and handle this, Kas," Lex snarls.

"No, Lex, you heard Bronx. They're human. We can't let them see you," I scold, “Trust me, I would like

nothing more than to set you loose right now. Just lend me some strength, alright? We need to get out

of this safely to get back to our mate.”

“Alright, but what about our sister?” Lex asks.

“What are you talking about, Lex? Lenora isn't here,” I ask, confused at her question.

Before she can explain herself, the second man grabs my arm and roughly pulls me into his chest. He

smells like old cheese and bacon grease. Gross. He puts the gun up under my chin. The cold metal is

uncomfortable as he presses it hard against me.

I take my raised hands and quickly reach for his wrists. I easily flip him over, grabbing the barrel of the

gun, pulling it to the left of my body in case it goes off, just like Marco taught me. The man lands hard

on the ground with a thud, releasing his grip on the gun. I kneel down and use the butt to hit him in the

face, then throw it as far away from him as I can. I can't believe it worked just like Marco showed me.

His eye swells up almost instantly as he rolls around on the ground groaning. I hear the click of the

safety being turned off on the third man's gun. I turn to face him, putting my hands back in the air. He

fires a shot and grazes my cheek. I feel Lex already starting to heal the wound. In my training, James

had shown me how to avoid flinching when being attacked by looking at the assailant directly in the

eye. It took a lot of practice, but I finally mastered it a few weeks ago. I hear banging on the security

door and Bronx's muffled shouts from the other side.

“What in heaven’s name? Didn’t you feel that?” the man asks incredulously. "Yes, I did, sir but that

doesn’t mean I need to flinch. I already told you I didn't want to hurt your friends, but they tried to grab

me. I had no choice," I say praying that he doesn’t fire again. I used most of my energy to stop time

already, I don’t know if I will be able to hold it a second time right now. I faintly hear an odd series of

metallic clicks and ticks but I can’t risk breaking eye contact to see where it is coming from or what is

causing it.

A red dot appears on the side of the man's head followed by a quiet thump sound. Blood splatters all

over. I feel it on my face and look down to see it all over my light pink dress. I look back up and see

blood gushing out of his head before he falls to the ground, staring at me with glassy eyes.

I look up to see a small window has been cut through the metal security gates. Someone in a dark

mask is pointing a gun inside the store. Just as I notice it, the person pulls the gun away and peaks in

the hole quickly, then disappears. I swear on my life, I think I saw violet eyes through the hole. I could

be wrong, but I don’t think so. I sniff the air, but all I smell is the metallic scent of blood. I look back

down and finally absorb the fact that the man who tried to shoot me is dead. I feel nauseous. Someone

just shot and killed that guy. I look back up at the little hole cut into the security gate, but suddenly the

metal slides open and it is gone from view. Police officers rush in, aiming their guns at the two robbers

still rolling on the ground. Bronx and Francis come in right behind them and pull me out of the store.