Without A Trace (Open Novella Contest) [Completed]

It had been three days since my last newspaper came in. The only way I could tell days apart was the meals I had been receiving. I received breakfast and dinner now. Both subpar.

Dave had been a prick. He was making it harder to enjoy my stay in this wonderful room and a slight madness that I fully acknowledged had grown within me. It was weird kind of madness. It came and went as it pleased. It would make some of my times here harder and some of my times felt more enjoyable than they had ever felt before. I tried not to think about it.

I had only my newspapers to give me company. My only real distraction.

The last one specifically.

I stared at it a lot. Especially the picture of Catch Phrase. The more I looked at the picture, the more it pissed me off. Damien could've worn anything! ANYTHING. And he chose my suit. I was a selfish person and that suit meant a lot to me.

It was a bright yellow thing. I recognized the fact that I'd never be remembered wearing it in public. It was my attempt at being seen. Remembered. I was obsessed with the idea of someone seeing that bright yellow monstrosity and thinking about me.

I wish he'd at least been properly visible. I wanted to see my suit. I didn't like being away from it! I liked having it on me at all times. At least at most times. I liked knowing it was around. It symbolises the part of me that knows exactly what I want from life.

Damien on the other hand, didn't deserve my costume. He couldn't care for it the way it was supposed to be cared for. He enraged me because he couldn't be the person the costume required you to be. Damien was a nice guy and all, my best friend even but he had his major flaws. He didn't like being seen. He liked to hide in the shadows and create a world of chaos around him by simply being a non-essential part of it.

Just as I had come to expect from him, he wasn't in the middle of the picture. No, he was just in the corner. As if caught in the frame by accident. I knew Damien. He wasn't careless. He wouldn't be wearing that ugly thing if he didn't want to catch any attention. This wasn't normal. Not for him.

It couldn't have been a coincidence, right? Those weren't really a thing at all. If there was anything being a superhero had taught me it was that whenever anything seemed like a coincidence that's exactly what it was always supposed to look like.

You could tell a real coincidence apart from the fake kind because of its cruel, unrealistic nature. It was visible from afar.

Maybe it's a good thing I'm in here? Maybe the fact that I'm here is some sort of sign? Maybe I was always meant to find myself in this messed up situation.

I can think here. No distractions. Just my mind conjuring up likely scenarios. Figuring out how reality works, while my grip on reality remains weak. Growing weaker as time moved forward.

If I wasn't here I would have used my powers and gone back in time the moment I read that she was missing, I'd keep doing that until I found her or at least a way to make sure she was safe. A hasty unplanned decision because I knew that she's the kind of person I'd be willing to get stuck in a time loop for. I knew I'd get myself stuck in one of those nasty scenarios for her.

No, I was happy I got caught. I had to get caught to save myself from making any stupid, impulsive decisions.

Getting caught allowed me the freedom to think. I was thinking fast. My mind was working so fast, I didn't know if it would ever stop running at that painful speed.

Thinking was important, it was something I didn't do very often because I rarely I had the time.

No, thinking was for people who didn't know how to get out of a situation without it. I didn't need thinking all that much. For people who didn't get any do overs in life.