Of Solar And Dark (2018)

27 [E]

"Get in!" The strong hum of the vehicle comes to life as Martha revs the engine and I race towards the passenger's seat, climbing inside speedily with the knowledge that I have no other choice.

Kirk and Ellie leap into the backseat just in time, slamming the doors shut as Martha backs the vehicle up and begins to ster it through the exit.

The silence begins to magnify and grow defeaning as the four of us stare out into the night and as I look to the stars, I grieve for the fifth person who should be here with us.

☆ ☆ ☆

"We're here." Martha pulls the vehicle into an empty space beside a squat house.

"This is the lab?" I demand as Martha shuts down the engine and shoves open the door on her side. Shooting me a toxic stare, Martha returns my question with a sniff of annoyance, "Why do you think I stopped here?"

"Not so fast, you two." Ellie hops out of the truck as we slide out, her hands positioned along her hips in a defensive gesture.

"What do you want, Ellie?" Martha sighs, rolling her eyes.

"I think that you owe Kirk and I an explanation. A reasonable nswer s to why we are here and all this nonsense that the two of you have been up two."

"Not me. Just her." I mutter under my breath, allowing my shoes to rasp along a few loose pebbles scattered along the cracked ground.

"We came to save the two of you, which you should be grateful for." Martha replies, her tone soaked with acid and her hands curling into clenched fists.

"No." Ellie vindicates, "You came and made a mess. You can't lie and pretend that none of us saw the fight that broke out- that wasn't a bloody distraction. That was a massacre and you knew it."

"I saved you! Saved you and Kirk!" Martha's words are perforated with annoyabce as she wrungs her hands about, forcing an emphasis on her point.

"You didn't save Teddy. Or Sebestian." I mumbl darkly, rubbing the sole of my shoes against the dirt.

"That is enough! I have had enough with the lot of you. Can't any of you see that I'm trying to do the good thing here? While everybody pretended that Fighters were unnecessary, I took the liberty to gather those who agreed with my terms and look at what good it did us! Caused a distraction that saved the two of you!"

"No." I hiss, the fear trickling away from my body, replaced with anger, "Sebestian's breach already served as a good enough distraction. You chose to send those people onto the battlefield and engage in war."

"When the Fighters win, everyone will know that it was a reasonable choice!" Martha says cruelly, fire dancing in her eyes.

"But at what expense? The Resistance didn't initiate the fight! You started it and you attacked them!" Kirk argued, banging his hand against the side of the truck, the action creating a low echo of a hollow bang.

"Okay, you know what? This needs to stop right now. I'm trying to be the good guy here. Edward and I- one of us are going to die and I don't plan on having my last conversation ruined by you two. So leave now or come with us." Martha slams her foot against the ground, her face distorted by anger and hatred.

"W-what do you mean? Why will one of you die?" Kirk stammers nervously but I can hear the sound of my heart beating against my lungs furiously and it drives all other noise away.

Martha heaves a sigh, her face alight with an unreadable emotion, shredding the irritation that previously ignited her features into pieces that ceased to exist.

"We pose a danger to the whole of Atlanta. We were biologically engineered to be able to affect solar and dark energy. That is what has been causing Atlanta to do crazy things." She explained and I look away, trying to ignore the lump in my throat.

"Like the moon cycle and the fissure in the earth?" Kirk suggests. Martha nods in response, "This is our father's lab. There are notes and equipment for neutralisation which is the process of one of us eradicating the other's inffluence on the energy."

"Wait, so one of you gets his/her powers stripped and the other must die?" Kirk's eyes grow round and the mass wedged in my airways starts to burn.

"That's the gist of it." Martha replies curtly as she starts towards the house. Sitting squarely in a plot of dry land, the house looks nearly untouched with quaint windows that gleam under the moonlight, bragging a well maintained, polished sheen. Heavy curtains are drawn along behind the glass so it's impossible to see what's inside.

"This doesn't look like a lab." I say.

"Yeah. It has a greater resemblance to an old lady's house." Kirk fidgets uneasily as the hap between us and the house begins to grow small. Too soon, we approach the doorsteps that lead to the entrance.

"There's no way he's home. He's too busy reporting to his boss." Martha lowers herself into a squatting position and lifts the floor mat up to reveal a hidden house key.

"He trusted me enough to tell me about this," Martha says, noticing the look on our faces, "But he's going to find out about what I have done soon enough and return to make sure that I haven't done something like this."

"Why is he going to find out?" Ellie crosses her arms over her chest firmly, eyes glowing with warning.

Drawing out a sigh with reluctance, Martha slides the key through the keyhole to allow the door to click open before she answers.

"Because he works for the Resistance. He's their weapons specialist."

Word Count: 1618 Words

A/N: Hope you like this chapter. I'm just going to go a little off topic in this author's note so flip ahead if you're not interested. Here goes....

I watched Crimes of Grindewald today and I honestly can't stop thinking about it. It's affecting my writing (notice the last part of the chapter is a little wobbly) and I'm just exploding in all my fangirl glory. So anyone who wants to discuss it with me- spoilers included, drop me a message! (: