Hugo had really done it this time. As he ran, he tried to come up with as many creative ways to curse himself for his stupidity as he could. The frat guys were clambering up the stairs of the dorm building. Hugo didn't even know where he was going.
"Idiot!" he yelled out loud. And it was the truth. Why did he constantly get himself into these situations? Why didn't he just ignore the party instead of trying to force himself in. Why didn't he have the sense to leave the carton of eggs at home instead of looking for trouble. He could be in his dorm room safely finishing his ten page paper for English 115. But, no. When had he ever listening to reason?
He burst onto the roof of the building. Where now? Where the hell was he going from here? Late autumn rain was pouring down from the black sky. No stars, just flashes of lightning and rolling peals of thunder. Tiny raindrops and hail stones pelted his face as he searched desperately for a fire escape or some way down.
The door burst open again. Hugo dove behind a rusty air conditioning unit. The frat guys were pissed off, now. Not only had some freshman punk showed up at their party without an invitation, the little prick had started throwing eggs at people. The leader wiped the last strings of yolk off his face. He told his boys to spread out and find the kid so that he could personally kill him.
Hugo tried to make a break for the door, but one of the guys, probably a linebacker, tackled him from behind. Hugo was instantly flattened to the ground. He thought he felt the cell phone in his pocket snap in half, but it could've been a bone. The leader stormed over and grabbed Hugo by the hair, pulling his head off the ground. He glared at Hugo.
"Nobody...does that to one of my parties...and gets away with it," he yelled over the thunder. It was getting closer now, and the storm was getting worse. One of the frat guys jumped when another clap of thunder shook the old dormitory building to its foundation. Hugo took the opportunity to spit at the leader. The wind blew it back in his face. Always the little hothead, he chastised himself.
The linebacker pulled Hugo up and held him so the leader could take a few swings at him before letting his muscle do the dirty work. Before he had a chance, Hugo elbowed the linebacker in the side. He was released and ran for the door back into the building, but another guy blocked his path. They were converging on him, determined not to let their prey escape.
Hugo jumped up on top of one of the old air conditioning units, which was slick with rain water and hail. The frat guys rushed to climb up and drag him down, but before they got within a few feet of it, there was a flash of light, accompanied by an ear-piercing blast. Time seemed to slow to a crawl. Hugo could feel the electricity frying his brain, spreading down his spinal cord, causing his arms and legs to spasm and writhe. He could see flashes of light erupt from his finger tips and streams of blinding electricity pouring out his feet into the a/c unit. He could feel the rain on his face boil off. He could feel his feet lift off the ground. He could hear distant screaming, probably his own. And then, there was nothing...
Hugo groaned. He felt as if his whole body was on fire, inside and out. Light came streaming into his eyes. There were blurred shapes around him. Slowly - too slowly - they shifted into focus. There was an IV bag hanging above his head, dripping steadily into a clear tube that ran all the way down to his arm.
"Hey," a soft voice, said. Hugo rolled his head over to the other side of the hospital bed. A young woman, about his age, was sitting next to him, holding his hand. Dark brown hair fell in curls around her face. Her pale face was beautiful and kind. Her eyes were sharp and intelligent, but they were red from hours of crying. She frowned and did her best to keep from weeping as she spoke. "Don't you ever do that to me again."
Hugo just stared at her, studying her face for several second before he remembered who she was and why she was here. Rachel - the only girl he had ever known who could put up with him. He remembered her, now. He wasn't quite sure why he was in a hospital, though.
"Rachel," he said. It hurt to speak. His neck had been badly burned and moving any of the muscles in his head was painful. "Rachel, what happened?"
She tried to stem the flow of tears. "Oh, baby...the doctors...they say you were struck by lightning." Lightning? What were the odds of that? How on earth had he been struck by lightning? Suddenly, she looked angry again. "What the hell were you doing on that roof last night?"
Why had he been on the roof? Wasn't there a party there? No, the party was downstairs. He had gone in, armed to the teeth with eggs and water balloons... Then, he remembered the fight, the escape, being cornered on the roof.
"Well, I was...I went to that party," he started. "And, well, I wasn't too popular there. So, I had to make a hasty get away...and I ended up on the roof..."
She hit him in the arm. He cringed. He was sore all over. "You idiot! Goddammit, Hugo! When will you ever learn to think before you do something stupid?" She got up and stormed out.
"Rachel! Wait!" he called after her. His neck hurt and his shoulder, and most of his face, but he didn't want her to blame him for this. She had threatened to break up with him if he didn't learn to keep his cool. He didn't want to lose her. He couldn't. "Wait!"
He stopped. Something here was out of place. The remote to call the nurse with was hovering an inch off the bed. Just hanging in space. Then, it dropped to the ground. He held his hand over it again, but it didn't move. Instead, a Get Well card on the table next to the bed inexplicably slid off the table, hung in the air for a second and then clattered to the floor.
Hugo looked at his hands. They were unharmed, unblemished by the searing lightning bolt. He wasn't a believer in telekinesis, but this was hard to explain away. What on earth was going on?
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