Bad Luck

Strangely, the ground, which should have smacked him in the face almost instantly, was getting no closer. Tim was suspended in the air, inches from gaining a broken nose on the pavement. Craning his neck, he could see Justice standing behind him, one finger pointed at him, while leaning against the frozen Vanessa like a teenager might lean against at wall.

“It seems,” came the bored voice of Luck from atop the hood of the car, “that when you push your Luck, sometimes she pushes back.”

“Since when did you get a sense of humour?” Justice asked. Tim could hear her rolling her eyes, just by the tone of her voice.

“There is no finer humour than that which Lady Fortune provides.”

“Tell that to the poor schmuck on the business end of the Chevy you’re lounging on, cow.”

“Excuse me,” Tim said, still suspended just above the hardtop, “if you don’t mind, could I get up?”

“No can do, kiddo,” Justice said, “she’s got you locked into a probability outcome. It’s a Luck thing, I can’t do much about it. In stopping time, I had to hold your position.”

“Can we still make a trade? I’d rather not spend the rest of my life frozen like this,” Tim said, “or worse, you start time and let me go.”

“I get it, squirt,” Justice said, “This isn’t my first rodeo. The right trade’ll do the trick.”

“Why do you persist in this charade?” Luck said after a yawn, sliding down the front window of the car and coming to a stop on the ground, her feet inches from Tim’s face, “You were created for greater things. Creatures like this,” she touched Tim’s face with her foot, “were made to serve us, to feed us, to sustain us.”

“What happened to you? When did you become such a vampire?” Justice said, anger rising in her voice, “You’re right for once. We are created for more than this, you bitch. All of this,” she gestured around her, “is built on us, not for us. You skanks just can’t see it. So back off my human, or you’re going to learn what the back of my hand feels like.”

“You would dare strike me?” Luck sounded astonished.

“Try me.”

There was a pause, then a metallic smell, then Luck was gone, leaving the suspended Tim alone with Old Lady Justice.

“Stupid cow,” she mumbled.

There was a few seconds as Justice continued to mutter to herself, until Tim couldn’t take it anymore.

“Hello?” He said, “Are you forgetting me down here?”

“Shit, yeah,” she said, “sorry about that. Okay. Let’s make a deal.”