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DΣᄂƬΛ
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WHEN DELTA'S EYES OPENED SHE WAS MET WITH THE GRAFFITI LINING THE CEILING OF HER ROOM. The back of her head felt like it had been split down the middle and the metallic tang in her mouth was thick like glue, it sticking to every inch of her mouth until the urge to vomit was overwhelming. Delta clutched her throat before tipping over and spilling her guts onto the crudely painted concrete floor, the noise of her door opening muffled by the feeling of sickness that washed over her. Warm hands pounded on her back and when her senses cleared she was left gasping on her back, vision swirling.
Vi watched the brunette as the vomit left her mouth, a red streak evident in the mess. Her steel eyes widened before narrowing and her hands going on the girls back to assist her, fists gently pounding while she watched the slightly younger girl dry heave. With Vander gone and Benzo dead, Violet was at a loss. Her, Claggor, and Mylo were leaving soon and as much as she wanted Delta to remain by her side she knew it just wasn't possible with the condition the girl was in.
Vi admired Delta once more. Her lips were chapped and pale with a blood smear on the left of her chin, her teeth a pale pink and stained with the aftermath of liquid crimson. Her eyes were lifeless and cold, the skin beneath them sunken in and a dark bruising purple. The dark brunette that was previously always worn in a ponytail was flush against her forehead and the nape of her neck. Vi didn't know whether it stuck to the skin with sweat or blood, or perhaps it was a mixture of the two. Delta looked like death had drug her through the doors already yet all Violet could focus on was how beautiful Delta looked. She would always be stunning to Vi, and being at the brink of death wouldn't change that.
Delta coughed before finally inhaling fresh oxygen into her lungs. Her eyes were watering and she squeezed them shut tightly, the images she had witnessed only an hour beforehand flashing behind her eyelids in violent displays of red. Red was a color that would now never look the same and Delta cursed the universe for the outcome as it used to be one of her favorites. Painting the town used to be a dream but now that she witnessed what crimson looked like coated on concrete she never wanted to see the damned image again.
Red was bad. Red was a curse.
"Hey bite-size, how ya feeling?" The question was aimed at Delta but she didn't know how to answer it truthfully. How was she feeling? Well her mouth tasted like another persons blood and she just watched half of her family die. Again.
"I'm feeling golly-fucking-merry." Vi snorted before pushing a metal can of water towards the girl. Delta sniffed the liquid before throwing it back, guzzling like it was her last time drinking water. She let out a burp before throwing the can to the floor and turning her attention to Vi. Tear tracks stained her cheeks and her cheekbones looked hollower. Delta's eyes welled up with tears, sniffling before turning away. "I'm guessing you saw it too." Vi nodded silently, taking a quiet shaky breath. The room filled with a thick tension, the pair only staring at each other.
Delta opened her arms up and Vi all but jumped into them, the girls desperately hugging each other. All through the years they had been each other's solace, each other's home. Fingers dug into clothing and tears sprung from eyes like fresh water wells, snot dripping trails down ones coat while the other let out silent screams. They clung to each other in a display of agony and desperation, a painting of pinks and reds and browns and silvers. The canvas tore at the corners and revealed the late nights where their lips touched curiously, where fingers griped at hair, and where arms wrapped around one another. Their misery was an art and together they created a masterpiece of tragedy.
The Lanes didn't allow for the feeling that Delta felt for Vi so she said 'fuck the Lanes' and felt them anyways. She wanted to know and see every nook and cranny that made up Violet. Every brush stroke, every layer. She wanted to know and see the Violet that nobody else did, the one that Vi let loose once she knew that no one was watching. Delta wanted to know that version of the girl and she did. She knew that she favored her right hand, how the bandages lining her knuckles were only there for looks, and that Violet's hair was a tragic accident with Vander's buzzer. Delta knew what Vi smelt like- vanilla with pine and musk. Delta knew what Violet felt like- home. And best of all, Delta knew what Violet tasted like as the taste of her lips was like no other. 'Teenage Love' , Vander had called it. Thats what Delta felt for Violet. Love.
A knock at the door left Delta feeling heavy with need: she needed Violet to stay with her, she couldn't do this alone. But said girl only sniffed before backing away and towards the door, opening it to reveal Claggor and Mylo. The two were dressed in their gear and both held weapons. Delta raised an eyebrow at that and Violet smiled bitterly. "We know where they're taking Vander. We're getting him back and we're going to kick their ass." Delta gasped. "Vander? You know where Silco took him? Let me help!" She went to raise herself before Violet pushed her back onto the bed, shaking her head in dismissal.
"You're not going anywhere. You're hurt and that infection on your face is getting worse, making you sicker. You'll only slow us down." Delta flinched at the harsh words before nodding in understanding. Vi had a point- Delta could barely walk and would only slow the team down. It would be a safety hazard.
"Promise me, Violet."
"It's Vi to you, you never call me Violet."
"Listen, please just promise me that you'll be careful...that you'll come back." Delta watched as Violet let out a soft laugh before her hands messed up Delta's hair, eyes sparkling with admiration."You couldn't get rid of me if you wanted to. I'll come back, wait for me right here."
Delta nodded before watching the pink-haired girl sprint away with Mylo and Claggor. She would wait for Vi. Delta only prayed that while she waited her family would make it out safely- that's all she would ask for.
Delta's feet carried her to Powder's room, knuckles rapping on the door before a quiet 'come in' let Delta know to open the door. Powder sat on her bed with her face flushed and tears streaming down her face. Delta only kneeled by the younger girls side before wiping the tears with her thumbs. "Why are you crying, Pow-Pow?" The girl only shook her head in disdain before her hiding her face in her hands, quiet sobs coming wracking her body. "Violet said I wasn't ready. She-she wouldn't let me go." Delta hushed the girl before picking a brush up off the floor and brushing through the kids hair. "Do you know why Vi said that, Pow-Pow?" The girl lightly shook her head no and Delta sighed. "You're all she's got left. You...you didn't see what happened out there." Delta paused to tie Powder's fresh braid off with an elastic before moving onto the other side of her head. "She only wants to protect you. Protect us."
Powder sniffled before curling up and resting her head on her knees. "She left me behind." Delta tsked before tying off the second braid and turning to face Powder. "She left us for our safety but she didn't leave us forever. Vi wouldn't do that." Delta's eyes sparkled before she reached into the bag resting on her shoulders, digging before finally producing a thinly braided chord bracelet. Each leather chord was stained a color to match each of the three girls; pink for Vi, blue for Powder, and gold for Delta. She gestured for the kid to give her her wrist and tied the bracelet on the thin wrist. It hung loosely but Powder marveled at it. Delta cupped Powder's cheeks before kissing her forehead. "Family protects each other, Powder. No matter what."
Delta rose but stopped near the door, looking back to Powder. "I'm going to shower. Braid my hair when I'm out?" The child nodded silently and Delta let a soft smile grace her lips.
She hummed while making her way to the shower, unaware of the glittering eyes and a pair of boots hastily following her.
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THE HOT WATER FELT GOOD AGAINST THE BRUISING ON DELTA'S BACK AND SHE SIGHED IN RELIEF. She scrubbed hastily at the crimson coating her skin and she had to bite back tears when she saw the water beneath her stain red. The heat caused the bathroom to fill with steam and as Delta went to get out she noted the odd markings made with the condensation on the mirror. 'Bye bye, Pow-Pow'. Her throat constricted before she rushed to put her clothes on and all put sprinted to Powder's room only to see that the girl was indeed gone.
"Powder? Powder!" She raced through the underground home and when she found no trace of the blue-haired child she swiftly ran up the stairs towards the bar. The door flew open and the bar was eerily empty, the only sound behind an old song emitting from the disk player in the back. Delta's eyes scanned the bar for any trace of the girl only to find none. What she did find was Sevika sitting at the bar- alone. She raised an eyebrow before approaching the woman hesitantly. "Sevika...? What are you doing here?"
The woman blew smoke out of her nose before turning to face the girl, a cold smirk painted onto her face. "Why haven't you heard? Vander's outta town for good and this bar is abandoned." Delta felt her face pale. "For good...?" Sevika grinned before standing up, towering over Delta. She cracked her knuckles and neck before sending the girl a bone-chilling smile. "For good. Silco's taking real good care of him...him and poor Pow-Pow."
Delta growled. "What the fuck did you do with Powder." Sevika shrugged mockingly before circling Delta, like a predator would do prey. "Oh, nothing....yet. I'm here for you." Delta's face contorted in shock. "Me? What could you possibly want with me." "Well I, for one, want you dead." She made a throat-slitting gesture before rolling her eyes. "But boss needs you alive for some experiments. Got it all in his head that you're like him." Delta snarled, beginning to back away towards the door. "I am nothing like him so tell that crazy son of a bitch to go eat shit!"
Her feet moved swiftly towards the door but just her luck that she'd come face to face with Sevika's goons. "Fuck, fuck, fuck!" Delta raced down the alleyways, the goons firing shots that narrowly missed her feet while Sevika's cold laughter echoed down the walls. Delta could feel her lungs gasping for oxygen and her heart was racing out of her chest. She skidded to a stop at a wall, a fucking wall. Fabulous. Her back met the grimy bricks and her eyes met Sevikas and for a moment everything stopped.
And then her head was getting bashed in by a metal pipe.
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that's the last you've seen of younger vi and delta :)) delta has her own storyline that will take place in the next chap so b ready!