A/N: Hey guys! So, I know it's been a little bit since I've posted anything. I really am writing and keeping up with the story. But I have a few chapter queued up so you'll be able to continue reading. Hope you're enjoying it, thank you for reading!
26 March 2016
Between New Forest and Canterbury, England
Wren
Viper's blood was already growing cold on my skin. With each breath, it moved my hand just slightly. Enough so that a portion of blood dripped into the already small puddle onto the floor. My eyes were frozen on not only the blood on my hand, but also on the hilt of the knife that rose from the woman's temple. I had killed her; I had killed my sister's lover. And I had every reason to...so why did I feel this way? What was happening?
I don't know how long it was until I felt warm, soft hands on my wrists. I looked up to see Echo's blue eyes looking into mine. Her face...it was different. The coldness, the bloodlust, the anger that I had become accustomed to, it was gone. There was a softness, and worry in those shining eyes, that hadn't been there before. I was so startled that I didn't resist and rose to my feet as she guided me. Her hands were still on my skin as she asked, "Wren, can you hear me?"
"Yeah," my voice was barely audible. I cleared my throat and said, "Yeah, I...I killed her."
"You did." Echo pursed her lips, "I'm sorry, I didn't want you to do that."
"Why? She killed my sister," I said softly.
"You're not a killer; maybe punched her in the face, but that was all you should've done." Echo replied, just as quietly.
"She killed my sister," I repeated, insisting. It had to have been justified. What I did.
Echo seemed to understand and she nodded, "She did. She deserved what she got."
That was when I remembered the snakes covering Echo head to toe, and all that blood. "Echo, the venom..."
"It's still in me," Echo was shaking, "But it won't kill me, Viper is dead. I'll be sick as fuck, but I'll live."
I touched her cheek gently. I had come to care about this woman, and I wanted her to be okay. When she held my gaze intently without flinching, I nodded and let her help me stand. I swayed slightly on my feet, but I shook my head and continued forward. Howl and Aurora were on either of Echo, helping her we walked towards the door. It was terrifying to see her covered in blood and wounds. But I knew that she wouldn't accept any sort of help. Echo was exceedingly stubborn like that.
I opened the door and stood at the entrance, waiting for Howl and Echo. But something was off. I frowned. Paiute wasn't curled around Echo like he usually was. No, he was sitting over near the edge of the room. By what looked like a door that was in the floor. My eyes flicked to Echo, she didn't look like someone who had finally won. No, her eyes were still burning with that blue fire. And when they caught my brown eyes, they became wicked. I didn't even have time to warn Howl what was about to happen when Echo yanked herself from his grip. She grabbed him and promptly threw him through the door and right into me. We toppled to the floor in a tangled mess of limbs.
Howl shoved me away to get to his feet but the air was ripped apart by a gun firing. I straightened to see Howl frozen; Echo had her gun pointed right at him. She must have fired it, so close to him that it had made him freeze and think twice. Because otherwise he would've tried to go towards her. After a moment where no one dared to breathe, Aurora walked forward to squeeze between Howl and I so that she could stand behind us. I got to my feet and stared at Echo, "Why?"
"Because I need to finish this." Echo replied simply.
"Viper is dead," I said.
"But ALDAR is still alive. She may have been the one to create all of this, but she is no longer the only head. Even the demise of her brothers won't kill it entirely," Echo explained.
A muscle ticked in Howl's jaw, "But neither will burning this place and all those children."
"No, but this is the home base. This is where the future is being created. And while burning this small portion of ALDAR won't ruin it, nor will it completely destroy it, it will take away the future that was promised. And they will crumple without anyone to guide them. It will be a slow painful death for ALDAR." Echo was smiling. She walked towards them, swaying slightly due to blood loss and pain. But I knew better than to try and use that against her. She cocked her head at us, "Try and figure out how to live in this fucked up world, why don't you?"
"You could join us," I tried, just once.
Something akin to pity crossed Echo's features and I knew she thought of me as desperate. But I didn't care. I wanted her to stay in my life, no matter how fucked up she was. She wouldn't though. She didn't reply, simply stared at both of us before closing the door and bolting it shut. I raised my hand and rested it on the door. Almost imagining that I could feel her on the other side, doing the same. I closed my eyes. Please don't die, I wanted to tell her. Please come back with me, and start over. You can start over with me. I can help you try to figure out this fucked up world. Please.
It was a lost cause. It was why I didn't resist as Howl grabbed my arm and pulled me away from the door. I didn't say anything even as we slid back into the fake cottage and escaped outside. The air bit through our clothes, but before we could enter the forest to head towards the car, I stopped. Howl got a few steps ahead of me before stopping himself. He kept his back towards me. "It's something she has to do."
"I know, but let's stay here. Let's stay here until she doesn't need us anymore." I said.
Howl's blue eyes found me. Echo might've acted as though she didn't need us, but in some way, she had. And he understood that. Aurora nuzzled me. Howl nodded, "Let's stay here with her. Until the end."
"And then after?" I asked, I couldn't help myself.
"Try to figure out what normal is," Howl said simply.
"Can we go back to normal?" How could we, after this?
"We can try," Howl stared at the setting sun, which cast the cabin in an eerie light. "Doesn't everybody try?"
"We're not everybody. Not anymore," I pointed out.
Howl looked at me, "Aren't we? Just because we have a slightly stranger past than most and we've gone through things that most can't even dream of...we're still like everyone else. Trying to figure out what the hell to do next."
What to do next?
It was a question that would never be answered.
26 March 2016
Between New Forest and Canterbury, England
Echo
They were children.
They were killers.
They were innocent.
And they were covered in blood.
Despite their training, and despite the fact that all of them were some sort of supernatural creature, they couldn't stand against Echo. She and Paiute made quick work of the nearly sixty children that polluted the space underground. Blood covered the floor and the walls, and had climbed with greedy fingers to the ceiling.
Shouldn't she have felt something? Something like joy, or triumph, or something other than this nothingness? It was almost terrifying that all there was was this void that had stolen any and all feeling from her. She didn't even feel any sadness over the fact that she would never see Wren or Howl again. Paiute leaped onto her throbbing shoulders. God, Echo felt so weakened and drained. The poison was still coursing through her veins. And it was dragging her down. Similar to wading through water for hours with no reprieve.
But she just had a little more to do and she would be done. The entire place was filled with the scent of gasoline. Echo felt slightly light-headed. This probably hadn't been the smartest of ideas, but it was also the most effective way to destroy everything. After all, she wanted to burn down the world.
And so she dropped the third empty gas can, kicking it aside so it wasn't in her way. She stared at the hall filled with blood and gasoline and the bodies of children with their familiars. This had been her home, or at least as close to her home as she could possibly get. Once upon a time, she had thought she had been happy. She had fallen in love; she had had a good father figure. She had found something that she was actually good at, and she excelled at it. Echo had found her confidence here. It had been home.
And now she would burn it down.
Echo glanced at Paiute on her shoulder. His eyes were so very blue and so very round. They were filled with the emotion that was currently void in her own heart. She raised a bloodied hand to touch his muzzle softly. His fur was so soft. She closed her eyes and allowed the barrier around her heart to fall, And Paiute's wave of sadness washed over her. He wanted the revenge as much as her, but he also remembered the good times, and he mourned them.
She opened her eyes and flicked the match across the box in her hand. It lit with flame; she stared at it for a moment and watched as the hallway flared into an inferno. It was beautiful.
"Thorn told you not only where Viper was, but he also told you that Viper had recently succumbed to addiction. He told you that she had been shooting herself up with heroin, didn't he? That's why you didn't go after Viper yourself. Why you trusted Wren and Howl to be able to finish the job if you became too injured to. You knew that once Viper was dead, the venom in your veins wouldn't kill you. And that you would have eight minutes before your heart stopped. And so you dropped the extra knife near Wren's foot so that when he saw you dying, he would grab it and kill Viper himself. You planned everything out." Echo turned to see R, her face bright and young. And breathtakingly stunning.
"Annie...am I dreaming right now?" Echo asked quietly.
R took her hands. "No. But neither are you awake. You know you could have killed Viper yourself and taken over ALDAR, right? You could have made it grand. You could have made it better than Viper ever could."
"I could have, but I didn't want to," Echo shook her head, "I know how much my life, my being was destroyed by being in ALDAR. I didn't want to take the responsibility of doing the same to hundreds of others."
R's eyes were shining with unshed tears, "Even in this horrible place, you were always so good."
The ground underneath their feet vibrated as the fire hit the gas tanks and it exploded into several bombs. One after the other. Echo rested her hand on R's cheek. The other woman ran her hand through Echo's hair a tender smile touched her lips. Echo choked on a sob, "I'm sorry."
"Shh," R said quietly, her lips so near Echo's. "Don't be. Thank you."
Echo smiled back and R gently pulled on her hair. Together, they leaned forward, their bodies flushed against one another. As their lips pressed together for the last time. The flames engulfed them. And at last, Echo was free. Where her soul went was a question for those afraid of death. But for those who were not afraid, all that mattered was that Echo had no only lived her last few moments with her lover, but had broken the shackles that had kept her from spreading her wings.
Xa