Tuesday Teaser 1/30/2024

1/30/2024

Raul darted forward so he was between Brandon and the others. Holding out both hands he spoke in a rush. “Whoa, easy, Brandon, remember me? Raul. It’s Raul. We spent a week together last year, been writing each other since.” He took a tentative step forward. “Sparky, remember that?”

“You’re done stealing children,” Brandon screamed and leaned toward Raul. The electric wave brightened and rippled faster.

Behind Raul Janey said in a soft voice, “I’ll get a rubberized blanket.” He heard her leave the room.

Raul nodded, keeping his eyes on Brandon. “I just want to get them home, to their parents. Safe. I want you safe.” He swallowed hard and continued. “I don’t want to get fried, but I’m not leaving you or these kids here.” He bit his lip and took another step toward Brandon.

Brandon didn’t lower his hands, but he didn’t power up the wave more than it was. He gulped and slowly looked at the other people.

Raul took another tentative step to Brandon. “You gotta power down, dude, or we aren’t getting anymore pitchers of sangria.” He was close enough to the wave the hair on his body stood up and he felt tingling.
“Don’t move!” One of the younger officers barked from behind Raul. He must have returned to assist with what was inside the building and probably hadn’t heard Raul’s statement about Brandon being a scintilla. Now he’d stepped into a tense scene.

Brandon glared at the Taser and his hands sparked.

He pointed his Taser at Brandon.

“Stand down,” Iva ordered.

“Crap!” Raul spat. He snatched the blanket from Janey the second she re-entered the room and holding it out like a toreador’s cape he went from a standstill to full speed in two strides.

Brandon’s demeanor changed in a split second. He’d been sliding toward placid, but that was gone. The Taser’s prongs shot through the air straight toward Brandon’s chest. As they were about to make contact he swatted at them. The back of his hand connected with the charged weapon causing tiny bolts of electricity to explode outward and ricochet around the room. There were people diving to the floor, the kids started screaming and the air all around them popped and snapped as if they were inside a thundercloud.

Raul tackled Brandon, breaking his contact with the Taser. He wrapped the blanket around Brandon and forced him to the floor, covering Brandon with his own body.