The Stolen Bride

6 - The Five

This was a bad idea. Kira knew it in every fiber of her being, yet she didn't stop. She was making her way towards the white rocks that same night, where she was to meet the rest of the Five.

She did not like this. She was terrified of being seen, and every sound she heard made her jump in alarm. What if they were not there? What if something had happened to the other girls?

She glanced over her shoulder, making out the shape of Drev's home behind her. She could always turn back. It was not too late. 

She frowned, forcing herself to keep going instead. She owed this to herself and to her family. She tried not to think of Drev as she moved soundlessly towards the rocks. She snuck behind them, and found four other girls sitting there, waiting for her.

Derri stood up, sighing heavily as she put her arms around Kira. She rubbed Kira's back, murmuring something that was supposed to be of comfort. Jemma was the youngest among them, while Derri and Reya were the oldest at eighteen. 

"How are you, Kira?" Derri asked her. They were all so worried for each other, especially after Nia had taken her own life.

"I'm alright."

"You don't have to act brave for us."

She shrugged, not really knowing what they wanted to hear. "How's Sylar?"

Derri made a face at that name, as did the other girls. "He'll live."

"He must be furious with me."

"He's really more furious at the dog. Try to keep him out of sight."

"I don't know what got into me." She paused, frowning angrily. "Wait, yes, I do. Sylar's a bully and a murderer. I wish Lobo had torn him to shreds."

"All in good time, Kira," Derri said. "Sooner than you think. Now, this may be our only chance to speak to each other, so we must make a pact now."

"What sort of pact?"

"We're going to run away."

"How? We don't know the way."

"We'll find a way. We can't stay here, Kira. Anything's better than this."

"What do you have planned?"

"The girls and I were talking about it before you came. We're going to need some time to prepare, but we've agreed to do it in exactly one week."

"Why can't we run away now?"

"We need food, supplies, weapons if we want to survive out there."

"And we can't have our husbands coming after us," Reya added.

"Exactly," Derri seconded, her eyes gleaming in the dark. "They're going to pay for what they did to us, every one of them."

"How do you mean?"

Derri extended a hand, and one by one, the other girls placed their palms atop each other until only Kira was left. "In seven nights, they will pay with their lives," Derri murmured. "We will have our revenge. For Nia. And for us."

Kira swallowed as she realized what they were saying. They weren't just planning an escape. They were going to kill their husbands. And they wanted Kira to be a part of it.

"Kira," one of the other girls said her name. "You can do it. Remember what they did to us."

She did remember. She remembered that fateful night her father was killed before her eyes, and how she was wrenched from her home. But she also remembered Drev's letting her keep her name and promising not to mark her. Remembered the look in his eyes as he'd apologized for the pain he'd caused her.