Escalation

There were three of them standing outlined by the doorway. Two guys and one girl. Of the guys, one of them was muscular and powerful looking, with thick, dark hair, and dressed in jeans and a shirt which stretched only barely to cover his muscular chest. The other guy was blond, with a thin build, he had grown his hair long, and tied it into a ponytail which hung behind him. Standing between the two guys, there was the girl. she looked to be about twenty five or so, with red hair cut short, and a lithe build.

As soon as she saw them, Natalie knew there would be trouble. Well, actually, she knew ahead of time because she could sense their intent, but as soon as she saw them, she knew just how much trouble they could actually cause. One of them, the girl, was holding a pistol in her hand, sleek and deadly looking, she was waving it towards the counter, where Jake was standing with his eyes wide.

"Everyone to the centre of the shop!" She shouted. "Where I can see you! Don't think I don't know how many people work here! Move now before someone gets hurt!"

To drive in the point, she turned the gun upwards, firing a single shot into the ceiling. one of the lights on the ceiling flashed out as a cloud of debris rained down around her. Natalie was already working, reaching out with her mind, she could sense the hostile intentions of all three of the robbers, their minds were full of thoughts of money, of gain, though they didn't seem to be in it to shoot someone, Natalie realised that they were marinating in adrenaline, so it was very possible it could happen anyway.

"Front of the room!" The woman shouted again. "Behind the counter! No one presses any buttons because if the cops show, I promise you that you'll all wish they hadn't!"

A trembling figure emerged from the aisles. Lyra. she was pale skinned with blond hair that flowed down her back, dressed in the female uniform of the store - a dark blue blouse and skirt, under which she was wearing black tights, the same uniform Natalie herself was clad in. The gun waved in her direction, and she raised her hands.

"Please don't shoot! I-I'll do what you want!"

"Good, go and stand beside your friend there! Where's the other girl? I know there are three of you." The female thief snarled.

"I don't know!"

"I'm here." Natalie said, walking out of the corner in which she had been concealed, the gun turned to her in a moment, and she felt her whole body flinch, the dark barrel seemed to draw her eyes, promising oblivion and an end to all things. But unlike poor Lyra, Natalie wasn't powerless, and she knew that there was no way that the robber would ever be able to pull that trigger.

Natalie wouldn't let her.

Natalie felt her heart beating in her chest, pounding away as she was slowly drawn towards the others. Jake and Lyra looked to her helplessly, but said nothing, even if they had, Natalie probably wouldn't have heard them. She felt a tiny flicker of excitement worming its way into her heart, even as the gun threatened her with a **** it could not deliver. She knew she could end this now, if she only wanted to, she could make these thieves turn around, and forget that they had even come here. And she would, at the end of it all...

But she realised this was her chance to have some fun first. A glance at the terrified faces of her companions made her feel a flash of guilt at this thought, but she reassured herself that she wouldn't let anyone be really hurt, and besides, she hadn't had a chance to cut loose in a while, so surely all was well that ended well?