"You've been a very bad little girl, Eris," I say, feeling blood run into my mouth. But I'm not standing on that hot dusty porch anymore, watching the sun come up. Instead, I'm in the middle of a road, surrounded by glowing yellow fields of nothing. And Angel's little girl is in front of me, burning in rage.
"Go AWAY," she tries to wrench me from her mind. She's good. She'll probably be stronger than me someday. But I'm sure her daddy will have killed me by then.
"Not just yet. You were very wrong to mind control your sister. You won't be doing that anymore and I'll be making sure your mother and your father know how naughty you've been. Now let all of them go," she's been pulling people from---I don't know where, farms? Cars? I don't know but they're gathered around her. She's killing them in hopes that I stop loosing her hold on Brigit's mind. I'm not about to.
They won't believe you
"Actually they shall," I finish severing the tentacles she had around her twin's mind. There. Now Brigit is free. My work here is done. Let Aurora care for her demon child.
Eris collapses, bleeding and defeated I'm sure that hurt like hell. The thing is, I don't care.
I let go and am back, safe, on that faded porch.
"This is killing you," Vali whispers, wrapping his arms around me from behind.
"Yeah, I know," I say, leaning against him, "That's why I want you here." To die in his arms. That's all I want now, after all this time.
"Just tell me where he is."
"It doesn't matter anymore."
"I want to save you."
"I'm sorry," because he can't.
"Just come back to bed, huh?" he says, rubbing my shoulders. "You need rest."
"Okay," because I have to let him believe something will help. We both know I won't sleep. I turn around to go in but he hasn't moved. "Don't leave me again?"
"I won't," he says, kissing my forehead as he gently wipes blood from my face, "Are you gonna tell me what you were doing?"
"No," I say, smiling my innocent, shit-eating grin that I'm well aware will win him over.
"Let's go back to bed," he says, running a hand through my hair, "You need to sleep."
I do follow him back upstairs. I need to keep watch over Brigit, but the girl is very, very self-reliant. And her mother knows where she is that makes it no longer my problem to an extent, doesn't it? I think it should.
The girl's rooms are quiet. Good. I do want to go back to resting actually. Loss of blood, today and yesterday, and---everything. God, I'm dizzy.
"You're really not gonna tell me what you were doing?" he asks, as I curl back up in my spot which is sadly not still warm.
"Nope," I say, pressing my face into the pillow. Soft sheets, a thick pillow. Still a luxury even after all these years.
"Moron," Vali says, curling up next to me, his arm around me like I'll disappear from him in the night. His head on my back so that he can hear me breathing. Yes, this is how I'd like to go to sleep and never wake up. I know it probably won't happen like that. But even so.
"I sit here!" Baby catapults herself into the bed, and is very disturbed not to be eating cereal on Vali's pillow like she usually does every morning while I play head games with her in exchange for more lying here with my eyes closed.
"Wrong. I sleep here," Vali says, not overly perturbed. He likes them; he just has to pretend not to. They're fine. A few more not in cages. And these two mean no harm. A few antics, stealing the odd cake, they're no danger. Brigit either, she's a sweet child. Warps herself places like banshee, but she doesn't cause harm. She would never try to, oh I don't know, set off a nuclear warhead because she thought Russia was too cold for her sorry ass like her imbecilic sire thought he would. Just when I thought there was a limit to Angel's massive stupidity, destructiveness, and all around poor decision making.
"Where's Brigit?" Luna asks, sort of knocking and entering politely. She's decently telekinetic, but she's like Vali, she's not destructive about it. Her family turned her in when she was two. They didn't want her back. She broke things tugging at them because she was two and wanted to look at them. She sort of remembers them being cross with her. She's too afraid yet to go and look.
"She left," Baby, who narrates too much, says. Her family did not give her up. They couldn't; they were all dead. Baby had some sort inner ear infection as a small child, the end result was everyone in her apartment complex wound up with their brains draining out of their ears. She doesn't remember, which is good. The infection had gone on too long to be that painful I suspect, but even so it's not really her fault. That said, I'm not comfortable with her unsupervised by me or Vali or Brigit all of whom could stop her from doing something similar. Preferably me, because I can stop her before she actually does it.
"She and I talked last night. She decided to go and look for her family," I say, which is true.
"I told you not to lie to her," Luna says, annoyed.
"I'm aware. I also maintain that I had a good reason," I say, as someone else who doesn't like lying kicks me in the shin.
"Why? What---- we're missing one? Explain?" Vali asks.
"I thought I knew where her family was. She wasn't emotionally ready to go but she'd suspected I'm telepathic. Once she figured out that I am, she got annoyed enough to venture off," I tell Vali, then add to Luna, We are NOT telling him that I know who Brigit's parents were personally, because he also knew them personally and they're not his favorite people.
"Okay," Luna says, a little annoyed. She still doesn't think I should lie to people all the time based off of what I think they should know and it vaguely leaves her not trusting me.
"I sit here," Baby is still not comprehending that Vali won't vacate his pillow so she can sit on it eating cereal.
"If you'd been here, I wouldn't have let the baby get used to eating on your pillow," I remind him.
"Shut up----you can sit at the end of the bed and have your snack it won't kill you," Vali says, physically moving her. Well telekinetically moving her.
Baby growls at him.
"Yes, you're very frightening," my darling husband who sadly cannot be intimated by anything, says.
"She can be pretty rotten," Luna warns him.
"Oh, I'm sure," Vali for all appearances is trying to go back to sleep. I've sat up and accepted that we're up.
"What about Brigit? She's like, not coming back?" Luna is hurt she didn't say goodbye to her.
"She may. I know where she is. She's fine," I say.
"Is that why you were bleeding?" Vali asks, somewhat awake now.
"No, different reason---actually," I say, wiping my face of now crusted blood.
"Fuck," Vali mutters well aware I'm not telling him because he'd be against me doing the thing and I want to do the thing. This is why he needs to supervise me all the time and not leave me ever.
"I'll talk to Brigit and tell her she ought to say goodbye to you two properly, but she didn't leave not intending to come back," I explain.
"Okay," Luna sort of shrugs.
"Well, he looks tired, do you two girls want to go and try to raid another transport vehicle?" I offer. That would cheer me up.
"Bad," Vali sits up for real now, "I know how much crime cheers you up, but no. Bad."
"Why not?" Luna asks.
"Because there are five of us that are loose that don't need to be compromised also---oh he's probably not told you this---he is not supposed to use his powers because he's literally dying," Vali glares at me because he's aware the fact has never stopped me ever.
"What?" Luna asks.
"He's dramatic," I say, wiping my face with the back of my hand.
"He's dying. He's not supposed to use his powers, because that does not help the dying part. Also, I'm not jeopardizing you or this little one who needs a name," Vali says, fiercely.
"I have name. Baby," Baby says, past a mouthful of cereal.
"You, Luna---you and I are going to do important training today the tiny one can too. I'm gonna teach you how to use telekinesis to suppress fire. It'll be great; you'll love it and hopefully never have to use it practically," Vali says, getting up and going to pick out a shirt from the old armoire. That thing came with the house. But I like it so it stayed. All of Vali's shirts are in it. All soft, all monochrome colors. My stuff is in a jumble usually either around the room in various states of put away, or in the dresser I think I'm supposed to put it all in.
"Fire? Cause you both burned?" Luna asks.
"Yep," Vali says, pulling a shirt on over his marred torso.
"Humor him," I say, smiling a little. I expect to be dead long before I burn again.