The Night Before The Big Day

Written by JKIJ :: [Friday, 31 August 2012 11:41] Last updated by :: [Friday, 31 August 2012 11:42]

The Night Before The Big Day

As Sarah Gilbert sat with female friends and family, she was having the best night out she’d had in ages. She was with people that she really cared about, sharing stories and having some drinks and, best of all, she hadn’t needed to think up an excuse so she could conduct some extra-curricular activities.

Seeing Sarah smile, her best friend Millicent leaned across and tapped her on the shoulder. “I said you’d enjoy this, didn’t I?” she said.

“You did, Millie, and you were right. Everybody else seems to be having fun too. What’s next?”

“Oh you know,” Millicent said, a twinkle in her eye. “A night like this needs one ingredient before it’s complete. And here it is now.” She pointed towards the door where an attractive man dressed in a reasonable copy of a fireman’s outfit was walking into the bar.

Sarah sighed and put her head in her hands. “I thought I told you I didn’t want this.”

“You did, I just ignored you. You’re the one who let me plan this party. Now watch and enjoy.”

The fireman walked over to the party’s table and said, “Excuse me ladies, is this where the fire is?” Most of the table screamed in anticipation, though Millicent grinned as she saw Sarah squirming in her seat.

Just as the fireman began to take off his clothes, Sarah stopped squirming and cocked her head as if she was trying to listen to something. Millicent knew what this meant all too well so she moved over close enough to whisper to her friend. “Really, now?”

“I’m afraid so,” Sarah replied sheepishly.

“Go on then. I’ll tell everyone that you were embarrassed. You’d better get back before the bar closes though,” Millicent said, pretending to threaten her.

“Thanks Millie.” Sarah got up and walked out of the bar. As soon as she was out of sight, she removed her shoes and dress revealing the green leotard she wore underneath. She closed her eyes and concentrated, causing an amazing transformation to occur. Her hair became perceptibly shinier, her facial features were subtly altered becoming more attractive to the average observer, she grew a few inches taller and her breasts became larger. In the blink of an eye, Sarah’s shape had changed enough that nobody would think she was the same woman. She took a pair of boots out of her bag and put them on before carefully bundling her dress up with her shoes. Sarah leapt into the sky changed into her alter-ego The Healer, pausing briefly to find a place to hang her belongings before flying off to the disturbance that she was unwillingly responding to.

***

A little while later, Sarah found herself surrounded by the prone forms of gang members who had started a small fire that would have spread through the building and to nearby buildings as well if she hadn’t intervened. They had attacked her as soon as she arrived, though their weapons had no effect and she quickly incapacitated them, inflicting a few serious injuries as she took out her frustrations over having to leave her party.

Now Sarah was confronted by an arsonist wielding a makeshift flame-thrower who sprayed fire over her. She was unharmed, but two of his comrades were slightly singed. The man didn’t care, laughing maniacally as he poured fire all around him. Sarah walked towards him, carefully shielding the fallen gang members from the flames with her body. When she was close enough, she tore the weapon from the man’s grasp. He didn’t want to let go, but the disparity between their strength meant his resistance was useless. The weapon came free from his hands and he fell to his knees, soon doubled over in pain after Sarah gave him a solid kick to the gut.

The arsonists dealt with, Sarah turned her attention to the fires, throwing her body onto them until she had completely smothered the flames. Next she moved over to the men who were in too much pain from their injuries to move. One-by-one she exposed the skin around their wounds then touched them, concentrating hard. She could feel the damage she had inflicted and she was able to repair it by pushing her own healing powers into their bodies. Skin and bone knitted together under her touch leaving no evidence that they had ever been hurt. After healing the last man, she said “Get out of here. I don’t have time to take you in tonight, but if anybody puts me on duty tomorrow I will kill them. Make sure everybody knows that.” The gang fled in disbelief allowing Sarah to head back to her party.

She made it back just before the bar closed. Millicent gave her a drink saying “Glad you got back in time,” before attracting everybody’s attention for a toast. “You all know why we’re here tonight. We’re here for our friend Sarah on her last night as a single woman. She’s been there for every one of us when we’ve needed her help and she’s not asked for anything in return. She really is the consummate nurse, giving without thought of getting anything in return. So please raise a glass in a toast. To our shy Sarah, the best friend you could have. May your wedding tomorrow be everything you deserve.” Everybody drank deeply before an embarrassed Sarah made a brief speech thanking them for being there. Finally, everybody went home, though Sarah made sure to heal each of them when they embraced her before leaving so she wouldn’t have any hung-over guests.

***

Elsewhere, a man sitting in his underground bunker watched a film showing the gang’s activities. Interesting, he thought. The Healer was more brutal than she usually is. She wasn’t bluffing about what she’d do to people attracting her attention tonight or tomorrow. I can’t worry about that though. I have a wedding to be best-man at tomorrow so I’d better rest. I can return to my plans later.