[ WP ] You have the ability to stop time for a period of six hours , the only catch is that it requires you to take a human life each time . Today the government has taken interest .

I did n't know. 
 
 I *swear* I did n't know. If I had known the price, I never would have stopped time. I would have just forgotten about it, and moved on with my life. But I was selfish. 
 
 The first time it happened was in a parking lot the night after Christmas. I was putting away groceries, when out of nowhere, a truck swerved around the corner and came barreling right towards me. I could have rolled out of the way, but instead I stood there, dumbfounded. This guy must have been drunk and decided to joyride through the parking lot. In that moment, I knew I was going to die. I thought of my sad life; no family, no real friends, my shitty job inputting data at an office job. I closed my eyes and braced for the worst. 
 
 It felt like ages, but in reality it was likely only a few seconds. I opened my eyes to find the truck had come to a complete stop a few inches in front of me. I was so stunned, I forgot to breathe. I walked around the truck that I was sure would be the end of me. The man was slouched over in the drivers seat, unconscious, a half empty beer bottle in the cupholder. 
 
 I walked past the truck and looked around. There were a few people in the parking lot along with me, but none of them were moving. I shouted at a lady exiting the store. No reply. I looked into the sky, and saw a group of birds frozen mid-air. That was when it hit me: *I did this. * Somehow, I had stopped time. I spent the next six hours exploring the world, and found that everything was frozen absolutely still. A man on the sidewalk was dropping his phone, so I picked it up and placed it back in his pocket. A small child riding his scooter was about to crash into a wall, so I turned his scooter around. I was entirely amazed by what was happening, it all felt so surreal. As I was walking through the store, debating whether or not I should take a Flatscreen TV, time began to return to normal. *The truck, * I thought. I immediately dropped everything I was holding and ran to my car. I needed to get out of the way before my car got hit. I got in, pulled out of the parking lot, and drove off. 
 
 I never bothered to check if the truck driver was okay. 
 
 After that night, life became so much easier. I learned how to control my power, and was able to use it to rob a bank, steal any item I desired, get a new car, and break into buildings and houses where I did not belong. It was all very juvenile, but my life had been so boring before. This was the most fun I have had in 15 years. 
 
 Then, one day, it all caught up to me. It was the one year anniversary of the day I had discovered my ability. I turned on the news on my fancy TV, where a reporter stood in the very parking lot in which I had almost been killed. I turned up the volume. 
 
 `` The holidays can be a rough time for a lot of people. Last year, on this very day, a local veteran drove his truck straight into this pole in what was believed to be a suicide attempt. A local charity aims to raise funds to help people like Eric Stone, to prevent tragic incidents such as this one.'' 
 
 I sat in stunned silence. They were talking about the man who almost killed me! But it could n't have been a suicide attempt. He was driving drunk. I remembered the beer bottle in the cupholder of his car. 
 
 That night, I went out to test a theory that I hoped to god was wrong. I walked into the local convenience store, scanning the shop. The only other person there was a sad-looking employee, drooped over texting. I concentrated on the subtle movements in the room; the air currents, the sound of thumbs tapping on a phone, a slight creak in the ceiling, and silenced them. When I opened my eyes time was frozen. 
 
 I used up my time wandering the city looking for trouble that I could stop. I saw a mugging taking place, and stole the knives from the perpetrators. I moved their victim far away, and handcuffed the muggers to a pole in front of the police station. I helped a waitress in a restaurant who had accidentally tipped her trays of food. Soon enough, the movements began to return, slowly but surely. There was a slight breeze. A bird flapped its wings in super-slow motion. I sprinted back to the convenience store, but I was too late. A car drove past me down the road at a normal speed. 
 
 I rounded the corner, and ran into the store. Just as I arrived, I heard a creaking in the ceiling, the same one I had heard as I was stopping time. Before I could do anything, the ceiling collapsed over the head of the employee. He did n't even have time to look up from his phone before his head was crushed. 
 
 *Oh god Oh god Oh god, * I screamed in my head as I backed away from the scene. *I killed him. It's my fault that he's dead. * I turned and ran. 
 
 I did n't even get as far as my neighborhood before a black SUV pulled up next to me on the quiet road. Two large men grabbed me by my arms, and jabbed my neck with a needle. I felt drowsy, and before I could react, I fell asleep. 
 
 
 I awoke in a small room with concrete walls, my wrists cuffed tightly to a metal table. Across from me sat a large man wearing a generals uniform. 
 
 He looked at me with cold, piercing eyes. `` Do n't even think about trying to stop time.'' 
 
 I gave an incredulous look. `` I do n't know what you're talking about.'' 
 
 The General did n't flinch. `` We have you cuffed to the table tighter than anyone could escape, and even if you did, the only way out of this room is if someone on the outside allows it. Even if you did stop time, you ca n't escape here.'' 
 
 `` I did n't mean to.'' I muttered, frightened. What did they want from me? Were they here to punish me for killing those people? 
 
 `` What did n't you mean to do?'' The General gave me an icy stare. 
 
 `` Kill those people.'' 
 
 He seemed to hesitate at this, as though I was saying something unexpected. `` We do not care about anyone you may have killed. We want you for a different reason.'' 
 
 I thought for a moment. They knew I could freeze time. They kidnapped me in a black SUV. The man in front of me was a General, or at least pretending to be. 
 
 `` You work for the government. You want me to stop time for you.'' 
 
 He smiled joylessly. `` There you go. We want to use your talents to keep this country safe. Are you going to help us, or do we have to force you?'' He pulled out a combat knife, and set it on the table. In that moment, I knew what I had to do. 
 
 I closed my eyes, and felt the presence of the General in front of me. I heard his breath, felt his heat, smelled his odor. I snuffed it all out, and opened my eyes. 
 
 He sat motionless before me. I tried the cuffs; he was right, there was no way I was getting out of these. But that was not the plan. 
 
 I reached for the knife. When I was unable to grasp it, I rotated my body in my chair, and used my leg to move it towards me. I sat back down, now holding the knife in both hands, point up. 
 
 I knew what I had to do. My power only lasted for a few hours. In order for the government to use me as a weapon, I would have to freeze time over and over and over again, killing thousands of people in the process. That was n't a burden I could live with. 
 
 I positioned my head above the blade, so as to allow it the path of least resistance up through my eye and into my brain. In a few hours, the General would find a dead man sitting across from him. He would probably have to buy a new table. 
 
 
 I bought my head down.
