++not edited oops++
"A father of Jessie's is no father of mine."
The spot where I stabbed him in the thigh was healing fast, skin growing over the wound.
Then high pitch screams channelled into my head, and I collapsed in pain, clamping my hands over my ears.
Rocking forwards on the ground, I slowly rose on two feet, startling back from this man. I knocked over a plastic chair and a fold-up table, wincing at the sound of its impact. Everything was ten times louder. "What did you just do?" I shouted.
As the man blinked, my hearing eased and things got quieter.
"Something that you can do," he responded and reached his hand out. His eyes held promise, searching my own to meet him halfway. "You've inherited the same power from me and I can teach you how to use and manipulate it."
I flinched away from his hand and sensed the sharp pocket knife on the desk behind me. I stepped backwards, his step advancing. I harshly spoke, "I'm not falling for bullshit."
The voice in my head boomed again yet this time I could withstand its aggressive screech. You can only share thoughts with those you are connected to. Isaac and I. I am your father.
His two fingers were pressed against his temple, his look hardening in concentration. I'm sorry Alice, but I can no longer stand this doubt. You must see it. You must believe me. I'm sorry for what I'm about to do.
In pain, I shook my head like a goddamn madman, covering my ears. "Stop getting into my head! Stop!"
I'm sorry. I'm sorry for what I'm about to do.
Profanity on the edge of my tongue, a breathtaking rush of wind knocked me in the head and I screamed, crouching down to the sand. The screams rushed through my mind, pushing my resistance aside and opening up the deep parts of my thoughts. I could feel myself exposed to him; naked to the cold bone, memories leaking out of this matter he revealed, and planting them in my vision. Him. He captured my visualization. Him standing beside a bed that had a beautiful woman beneath the covers, a child cradled in her caramel arms.
A child, baby girl, with big brown eyes that sparkled in wonder. Tumbling past her pink fluffy lips was a giggle that produced a warm dance of tickles across anyone's skin. She was an object of purity that the mother thought she could preserve.
The man held a look of distress, understanding this promise the mother whispered in their daughter's ear was already broken. It was broken as soon as their child was born. He knew she would never be safe. His hands tightly clutched the headboard of the bed, the black dots in his bloodstream haunting him every night.
The mother unaware of her husband's stress, pinched the tiny toes of her smiling newborn. The vision zoomed in on the baby's legs, past the layers of skin and into her bloodstream. Black dots attached themselves to the red blood cells, moving like parasites.
Suddenly the vision blurred, pieces of faces and bodies piecing together to form another moment. Pushing a little girl on the swing was the man, his face structure the same as hers. Whenever she got higher, her feet wiggled in the air and they both shared the same laugh.
The vision blurred again, and the girl was no longer little; taller with an edgier, darker look across her chiselled face. She waved goodbye to the same man, his eyes more crinkled than before and left the house in long strides to catch up with the boy running towards her. The vision zoomed in on the boy's face. Isaac.
More memories zipped ahead, filling my brain with realizations and emotions that drowned any control I had tried to gain.
Suddenly the man released his power over me, and I gasped awake, my knees buckling to slam into the ground. God—with the amount of contact happening, the floor and I should just make out already.
Violently shaking my head to regain my eyesight, I glanced up and saw the man now standing. It all made sense.
I failed to shake the nervousness off. Looking at him made my chest hurt.
"Dad," I croaked. Furiously shaking my head, I launched myself into his arms, and buried my face in his chest, arms hugging his neck. "How—"
He soothed, "I can get into your mind and you can get into mine. We're connected. We are family."
I felt his body heat transfer to mine, a grave power sinking into my skin. This strength inserted itself into my mind and muscles. The energy seemed much stronger around me, senses heightening to limits I thought couldn't be reached. I heard the clang of metal outside, sensed the skin ripping back and teeth digging into flesh.
"The Purge has no family," I whispered.
"But you're not the Purge anymore. You're stronger than that."
The fatherly role shining brighter than I wanted, triggered another wave of emotion and I buried my face deeper into his chest. "Dad."
He held me close, stroking my head with a soft whisper, "I know sweetie. I know."
Blinking back the stinging up rise in my eyes, I sniffled and he held my gaze. "What are you doing here?"
"Doing what I should've done years ago." He tucked a strand behind my ear and cupped my cheeks in his calloused hands. "To finish the Cold Bloods."
Questions fired off like alarms in my head and I became frantic, fisting his white shirt. "What about my mom? Is she okay? Aren't the Cold Bloods hunting you? Will they go after her?!"
He took my hand and ushered a quick, "C'mon" pulling us out of the tent. I quickly snatched the knife off the floor. The demon screeches were louder than before and an arrow nearly missed my face, hitting the tent beside me. I picked up my two machetes, retracting them from dead demon skin. I whirled around and saw hundreds of men, the good Cold Bloods, fighting the demons, setting fire to the tents and taking over trucks.
"Are they your men?" I asked, still holding hands with my dad.
"They're with me," he confirmed. "We are the greater good of the Cold Bloods. Not like the ones with Lord Death."
The fight instantly bringing me back to the mission, I let go of his hand and hustled beside him. Emotions weren't for me. I wasn't that human in the memory, they only have me knowledge and a drive. I was whoever I am now. "Do you know where the camp leader is?" I asked him.
My dad pointed ahead and there raged a wall of demons, protecting the large canvas made tent.
Grim and the dark angel were already trying to battle the demon guards but there were too many. The power from the tent sharpened and the presence of my father set fire to every living cell in my body. "I got this, dad," I said, and readjusted the ring on my finger. I felt the warmth of the liquid flow through my fingers, the heat seeping into my skin. Charging ahead, I allowed the heat to take over and divided myself into three bodies. The clone on the right broke a demon nose with a kick and retracted her machete, spinning to slice the skins of demons around her.
The clone on the left shoved two fingers up a demon's nose and lifted them up by their nostrils, and swung the creature around. It bowled over a row of demons, and she ducked down, an arrow skimming her brow. Stabbing a machete through a skull, she swirled her leg around and knocked a demon out.
I ran straight ahead and stepped on a demon face, flying up to spring out my machete and sliced the head off of a demon. I unclipped a bomb off of their belt, and flipped backwards, landing on a demon, one foot on each shoulder. I peeled the top of its head open—like ripping off a sticker—and shoved the bomb in its squishy brains, pink slime oozing out. Cracking open another demon's jaw, aka demon number two, I tossed the brain-squished-head into its mouth and jumped out of the way.
The liquidity heat wore off my body and I felt the clones zip back into my system, just like the bullets, and I became my one self again. Kicking up from a demon's chest, I stepped on a demon head and leaped, cutting another demon's neck in mid-air. I landed with one knee bent and the other leg out, and then bomb I had placed went off. A hot explosion full of demon screeches blasted behind me. The demons ran into our men, all with flames leeching on their skin. The smell of burning blood satisfied my inner self. I set along the clear path into the tent, whistling a nice tune.
Pushing back the curtain, I met the gun of a demon and jerked sideways, missing the flying bullet. Spinning its arm to hear a crack and shoving my heel into its back, the demon fell to his knees. I bent down, missing another arm that tried to knock me out and sent a heel into its neck, blasting them back.
"Hey!" One man sat in a red leathered chair, a shrimp in his waving hand. "What do you think you're doing—"
I punched him in the nose, and he flipped his face back.
A muffle came from behind a curtain, and I ripped it down. Isaac was tied to the chair, a ball gag in his mouth. He muffled my name under the cloth and I laughed, smacking his cheek lightly. "This is such a kinky opportunity," I joked.
He yelled my name again, and I smirked, cutting the rope off his hands.
With quick work, and fortunate enough for the captain to be a pussy, I used the rope from Isaac and tied the demon's hands to the chair.
I heard the curtain of the tent draw back and saw my dad, Grim, and Levi enter, their clothes slightly burnt.
Grim stared at me in bewilderment, and he moved his finger to me, and then beside the empty space beside, then to the ring. He was confused to how I duplicated myself. "Transferred the power of the bullets into me," I answered to Grim's shock. "You know how that gun had the ability to divide one bullet into three, then return back into one bullet at a high speed? Now I can do the same with this." Flashing him the ring that was made out of the special gun I melted, I walked past him and didn't waste any more time on keeping him up to date with my life. That's what Twitter was for. I mean—in the amount of seconds that my clones moved at, one of them might've even tweeted what just happened.
I grabbed what looked to be a toolbox and dropped it on the table. The captain quivered on the chair, screeching its foreign demon language.
My dad had other plans and put two fingers to his temple, training his gaze on the captain. "Sweetie, I think I got this."
The captain hissed and shut its eyes, wildly shaking its head. "No you don't," I sang. "Trust me." My dad strained to get into the demon's thoughts, and I turned to see his face red. "The strongest connection is only when you're connected to someone. You can try, but it won't work." Yet he kept trying, staring hard at the captain. "He won't talk, Daddy." I pulled out these monstrous set of gardening scissors and hauled them on my shoulder. "But I'll get him yapping."
"Honey, I'm not used to seeing my daughter aggressive. Violence isn't always the answer. Why do you think I didn't fight the Cold Bloods? We need a strategic plan, maybe you should talk nicely to him—"
I yanked at the captain's tied wrists and slammed them on the table. "Listen you lil'fucker, I'm not going to give you the choice between the hard way or the easy way, because that's cliché as fuck and I'm not about that life. Plus, why the hell would I give you the choice of your death? I'm the one in control—why give some to you?"
I smiled happily at the captain whose brows were furrowed deep in anger. The demon started ranting again in its language and I sighed. I grabbed its tongue and pulled it out of its mouth, bringing his face close. "We're going to this my way. The slower you answer my question, the more painful this'll get." I let go of this tongue and stared down at the sitting victim. "Every time I ask you where Lord Death is planning the attack and you refuse to answer me"—I snipped the gardening scissors—"say bye bye to your finger whingers."
Grim snorted. "How mainstream of you, Hat. Cutting the guy's fingers off."
The demon must've felt the same and made a weird, humorous cackle.
A grin danced across my lips and I felt my blood run hot. I forced the captain's hands to stay on the table and his feet to stay rooted, all with my mind. Everyone stared shocked except my dad, surprised by this new talent I had gained. The creature tried wriggling out as he was still laughing, but my mental powers were stronger. Gradually, I sauntered to the side of the demon and just as Grim and him laughed even louder, I kicked the chair under its bottom. The demon nearly fell, and I said, "Now every time I cut off a goddamn finger, it will go up your ass."
They both shut up.
I snipped the gardening scissors again and grinned at the captain. "I'm not afraid to make it look like you just ordered a combo of fries in the back. And you all know very well that the red sauce won't be ketchup."
I sat on the table, one leg crossed over the other. The captain's face was struck by fear, any humour dissolved. I lightly ran the scissors across his fingers and he tried moving them, but my mind secured them to the spot. I tilted my head to the side, capturing his frightened gaze. "How 'bout you tell us where Lord Death is hiding."
The frantic terror dropped from his face and the captain hissed, narrowing its gaze. Snip. It howled in pain and I picked up the finger, wiggled it in his face like a gummy worm. "If you don't answer me, this is going up your ass."
"Wait!"
I froze and turned to Grim. He piped, "I bet twenty dollars that Lord Death is planning his attack in New York."
"Thirty dollars says it's in Hong Kong," my dad chirped.
"Forty says it's in Manila!" Isaac uneasily laughed.
"Men," I sighed. Rolling my eyes back to the captain, his eyes were shot by fear and he kept eyeing his that finger hanged by pinky and thumb. I arched a brow. "So are you gonna answer?" He remained silent, staring me down. "Next stop, the north pole." A squish noise filled the tent followed by a scream.
The captain puffed its cheeks out and I moved my finger like a ticking clock. "If you don't answer, I'm going to have to pick off another French fry." He tried moving his mouth, but I lifted my hand, stopping any words from coming up his throat. I cooed, "Refusing again?"
The scissors hovered over a finger until a voice interrupted.
"I can't watch this!" a high voice squealed. Noticing that voice was from Isaac, we watched him turn away. He glanced over his shoulder and then looked away again.
Levi flapped his angel wings, arms crossed with a smirk.
Grim growled and flicked something off his shirt. "If you can't handle this, then leave!"
"But I don't want to!" Isaac tried looking again but cringed. "Oh my god, you actually put it up his ass!"
My dad lifted his hand towards Isaac and gave me a quizzical look. "Who isthis guy?"
"The new Purge," I said.
Isaac covered his eyes but peeked through them before withering in disgust. "I can't believe— Jesus Christ! His ass isn't a Volkswagen! It only has so much room!
My dad's eyes popped open in surprise and he weighed Isaac up and down. "You're the one that Lord Death and all the Cold Bloods want?!"
I shrugged. "It's a messed up world."
Everyone nodded in agreement except the captain who was thrashing on the spot. "I can't stand listening to your stupid human conversations!" the demon shouted in English.
I grabbed the captain's ear and ripped it off, flicking it over my shoulder. "How's that sound now?" I said in his face.
He rattled again, trying to wrestle out of my mind hold. "You're a freak!" he spat, blood trickling down his neck.
A snip and a shove later, he was howling all over the place, sweat breaking down his temple. Grim chirped, "She's got plenty more room. The sphincter can stretch over three inches."
Noticing Isaac's discomfort, I grabbed the pouch of money from the captain's waist and tossed it to him.
He missed the catch, bending over to pick it up and then frowned. "Why did you give me this?"
"Count the demon's money. I want to see if we have enough to buy some Doritos at the next vending machine. I'm getting hungry."
Isaac didn't need to be told twice, happily shuffling to a small table in the corner of the room and he emptied the pouch of coins.
As he was busy doing a pointless task, I bent to the same level as the demon and asked, "Are you going to tell us where your leader is attacking?"
Snip! Squish.
The captain screamed and Isaac's knee hit the bottom of the table, the coins jumping off.
Snip! Squuiiish.
"One finger left," I sang and sandwiched the captain's cheeks between my thumb and forefinger. "You going to speak or are we going to have to move onto the next hand?"
The single finger was quivering, it soaked in a pool of bubbling blood. The demon was a mess, quivering and murmuring with fear. "...novum Eboracum...novum...eboracum."
"That's Latin," my dad realized. "Latin for New York."
"Booyah!" Grim shouted in victory, jumping up with a fist. My dad grumbled and pulled out a ten, Grim happily pocketing it. Isaac put a tower of coins aside with a miserable mumble.
The captain whimpered and I gave him a sweet smile. "I'm glad you took the easy way."
"Easy way?!"
I smiled. "Thank you."
He started pleading, whimpering prayers to Lord Death and his faced scrunched into a tight mess of tears and wrinkles. "Oh shut up," I sighed and cut off his hand. He cried out and for a moment, I thought this was going too far. Then I remembered only good people have limits.
Yeah, I was pre-tty bad girl.
I dropped the hand on the silver plate full of shrimp, reached into the toolbox and grabbed the crowbar. The captain sobbed, "W-w-what are you—" I swung it at full force, knocking him in the forehead. His body slumped cold to the floor.
Isaac struggled to count the money, tapping each gold coin but then missed one and had to count again. He groaned in exasperation, his butt shaking as he moved the stool he sat in. "I can't count this!" he announced.
I frowned, took the silver plate off the table, and walked over. I dropped the plate in his lap and said, "Looks like you could use a hand."
"Your pun was fucking fantastic, it makes me wanna laugh," Grim drawled out with sarcasm.
"Your face is fucking fantastic, it makes me wanna laugh," I said back.
"God, you sound like Isaac the dorkbird," he replied.
I narrowed my eyes, grabbed the hand off of the table, and slapped him with it.
"Did you just hit me with a hand?!"
"Yeah, that's how high fives work."
"To my face?!"
"Who said high fives should only be for the hands? God. You're so mainstream sometimes."
+++
"Hey, Hat! Are you going to help set up the tent or what?!" called Grim.
I grabbed a duffel bag from the jeep and plonked it beside him. "It's okay. I'll set up my own tent."
Grim smiled. "Great, so you'll set up our tent?"
"I said my—"
"Our tent," Grim finished with a smile.
Isaac crashed between us, slinging his arm around both of our shoulders. "It'll be a sleepover starring the three amigos!" he said gleefully.
I was about to say something that'd probably put me in fifty different types of jails until my dad called, "Be nice, Alice!"
Roughly detaching myself off of them, I harshly unzipped the duffel bag and started mocking their despicable voices.
"Great!" Grim exclaimed and took Isaac under his arm. "I'm going to teach this kid how to use a gun."
Isaac's glasses fell off his nose and he pushed them back. "W-what?"
Grim gave his friend's hair a knuckle sandwich. "Don't worry. We'll take turns. You can play target, and I'll player shooter."
Ignoring the two, I was concentrating on this stupid tent and took out two poles. I stuck one in the ground, and it stayed for a second before falling down. Frowning, I tried sticking the other one in the sand but that fell down too. I released a groan and pieced them together, sticking them in the sand. Working hard, I draped the tarp over the poles but then they started to fall, bring the whole thing down. "What?!"
What felt like hours later, I had finally managed to set up the tent. I proudly put my hands on my hips and admired the simply shelter from the outside. Grabbing a fold open bed, I pushed the curtain aside and placed it in the corner of the room.
Bending down, my butt knocked into the support pole, and a moan followed after. Slowly standing, I turned and saw the pole start to lean. "No no," I reached for the falling pole but it was too late. The tent fell on top of me, and I screamed in frustration, running for the exit and tripped on the fabric. Scrambling out of the tent, I was welcomed by a fit of giggles and claps.
The men were matching, stifling their amusement and nudged each other's shoulders.
I ground my teeth together and advanced forward. "Beat it fuckers before I replace all the Cheerios in the box with your balls and have them for breakfast tomorrow morning."
+++
"My navigators are planning the best routes into the city. We cannot go in detected if we want to surprise Lord Death and his army." My dad held the small of my back, pushing me out of the tent.
No one had bothered to clean up the massacre of demons, everyone used the stench of death and rotting flesh. We stepped over a head and my dad continued, "As a Cold Blood father, I have been unable to teach you the secret of our people."
"It's fine," I said, sounding more understanding than I thought. "That was the past, and I'm done with that. I want to live and learn in the present now."
He smiled at ease and squeezed my shoulder. "That's my girl." We passed the infirmary that we set up an hour ago. The sun was slowly setting and the wind began to pick up, sand rolling over our feet. "It is my job to carry on the knowledge to the younger generation. It makes me proud to realize you have easily learned the power of the mind, but this next thing I am about to teach is not easy." We were distancing ourselves from the camp, heading over a dune into the dip where they couldn't see us. He took my hands, placing my open palms flat on his. "You cannot tell anyone of this one power. It holds enough to destroy Heaven, Hell and Earth combined and if not controlled carefully, can be a destruction to our past as well. The fact you are part Cold Blood and Purge makes it even more lethal."
His voice was steady, and all I could take in was this dominant presence. "This power must only be used for emergencies. Thus if all goes wrong, you this as your last resource."
His words heavy on my chest, I quietly spoke, "Dad, are you sure I'm—"
"I have no idea if you're ready. As a parent, we never know when our child is ready until they know themselves. But you must know I trust you and will always, always love you," he said.
A smile trembled on my lips and I nodded.
Noting I was ready to move on, he said, "To summon this great power, it requires sacrifice, an immense amount of energy and greater good." Before I could say anything, he asked me to promise to only use this if I must.
"Promise?"
"Promise."
Except I didn't think I could ever summon this power for if it requires the greater good, I cannot bring that to the table.
I was not part of any greater good. I was not a hero. I didn't want to be see as one either.
+++
As we walked back, I felt something different about the way I walked. Each time my foot planted into the sand, I felt electricity zip from the ground, sparking my toes and filling them with energy. I tried my best to stay collected and I couldn't help but wonder how my dad did it.
Going towards my—the tent that I was supposed to share with Isaac and Grim, I told my to have a goodnight and that we'd talk in the morning. It was going to be a big day tomorrow and there would be no room for errors. I pushed the curtain back. "Okay guys, we're heading out at dawn—"
Grim's lips were pressed against Isaac's, eyes closed with lashes brushing his cheeks.
What the—
Isaac muffled a scream and punched him in the face. Grim blasted through the curtain, breaking the support pole, and caused the tent to collapse over our heads.
"The third fucking time!" I whined.
+++
A/N:
Vote if you liked the chapter!
You have no idea about the amount of strength it took to find out how much your sphincter can stretch, without running away from my computer and crying in horror. I've never seen so much words like 'anal' and 'sex' and 'stretch' on one page. My eyes are burning—the sacrifices writers make.
After Mad as a Hatter, if I wrote a new action, thriller/gory, humour story, would you guys read it?
I want to write one once I finish Mad as a Hatter since you all love dark humour, kickass weirdos, and unexpected twists.
ANYWAY, so about Grim...Ha. Thoughts on that? Thoughts on Isaac? Do you think a ship has sailed or sunk?
Or do you not give a damn and just want the action? (Like me.)
Love the support I've been given for this story. Thank you and I'm always here for you guys! :)
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