(JEANINE)
Ever since I sent Lawrence off with Lily, I couldn't believe I finally got her back.
Yet I felt a tinge of guilt rush through my bloodstream. I literally forced her to join my side and that is not how I should have done it.
But it was the only way to get her away from Anne before anything crucial happened to her.
But it was the wrong decision.
She had found her.
Now she is looking for her once more.
I told Cillian but he didn't care. He told me to continue with my job...
And so I did.
We march out in our groups, single file. I can sense that Lawrence is fueled with confidence but I am quite scared.
Not because of the war but because what if I lose Lawrence or Viola in this fight.
The night wind brushes against our faces. All of us are wearing black with a stripe of crimson red down our right arm sleeve, onto our right leg of our trousers. Some have a red strip of leather for a sling (for their weapons) to wrap around their shoulder.
I held my gun close to me, ready to fire when it is time to attack.
I didn't think we'd get this far.
Viola walks up to us and smiles at us. In her hand, she is holding a pocket lighter, thumb on the trigger.
"I want to thank you all for accompanying me through this journey. I want to congratulate the Descendants who agreed to the terms for negotiation and all. Especially Toboni who arranged for Lawrence and Adam to join in."
Lawrence gives me a look which indicates that she doesn't know what's going on and I agree with her too.
"But with group five, only two people are together. But Lawrence pretty much adds up to being two people because of her strength and power. So we shall bid each other the best of luck and may the Phoenix guide you." Viola walks over to her brother and hugs him."I love you..."
"So do I... If I go... Remember that I'm always with you..."
Davy slips away from his sister and joins in with Nicholas and the new guy, Jonathan.
We stare at the night sky and the stars sparkles softly in the blackness and the moon along them is blood red.
The lunar eclipse...
The war is about to begin.
I frown at the morbid thought of losing my sister and my girlfriend. They are the reason why I want to survive.
Not for the civilians but for them two.
They matter to me the most.
She nods and together, we charge down the road, splitting into different directions in Central Elizabeth. I see Lawrence follow the crowd so I pull her in by her collar... A bit too far. We turn and my back is pressed against a building wall and she is supporting her body by the wall.... And her hands. She is in front of me. She is so close.
She pulls away and looks around. "Seems like everyone are going to surround the Shard. No one is gonna go in so... It's just us."
Lawrence peers out of the alleyway and then a flash of orange bursts onto her now-stunned face.
I look at her and she whispers, "Oh no..."
"What? What's happened?"
She turns to me and shakes her head. "The Faction... It's gone..."
I stand there, stunned by what we just witnessed. But then she grabs my wrist. "That was a genius idea. The information is lost. Now we can finally go in."
I didn't even think of that.
I acknowledge it and we sprint alongside each other and we enter the monument.
The walls are aligned with steel among with steel, the windows weren't exactly the type of windows you would see. They are bars of metal in a row, located close together, letting the air seethe through the building freely.
"This must be it." Lawrence says as she analyses the room. She grabs her pistol which she somehow carried with her and attached a silencer to the barrel.
We storm up the stairs, follow the winding corridors - sometimes getting lost - and the heaving stairs. I didn't think that infiltration would be so tiring.
I guide my partner around the building and analyse the structure. But then she tells me that I should carry on and so we do, only to encounter two people we highly recognise.
"Hello." Anne says and that's when everything goes black and quiet.
{LAWRENCE}
I wake up and scan the room. But not the way I used to do. I am restrained to this bed, metal cuffs fixed to the bed. What's surrounding me is glass, arching over me. Right next to me is...
Jeanine.
She is in the same situation as me... She can't get out. But she isn't calling for help, only gritting her teeth with aggression.
Cillian and Anne observe over us two and she just smiles. She leans close to me and smirks. "I finally got you: trapped like an animal, wanting to break free from this cage but the ball of chain weighs you down... I like watching it-"
"How would you feel if you were in this situation?!" I snarl and I thrust forward with anger but she doesn't even flinch. She only leans closer and grins.
"I would feel fantastic."
And that leaves me in silence but a thousand of thoughts buzzing through my head, busting to get back at my mother.
But Jeanine takes one.
"You are sadistic! You didn't want us! You didn't want Cillian; you used him as a tool... You care for nothing but yourself! You are arrogant, anti-charismatic and no one would pity you if you died!"
Anne thrusts her hand out and Jeanine arches with agony. She begins to scream and I can't help but watch her cry in pain. Tears stream down my face.
I can't leave Jeanine like this-
"Leave her alone!!!" I howl, swallowing the sobs and all that. My lip is soaking wet with my tears, my eyes sting, my throat is sore and there is nothing I can do other than soak it up.
Anne turns her head towards me slowly and chuckles to herself, drops Jeanine who is pale white with fear, her muscles has somehow stiffened with pain.
Anne walks over, saying to me, "You really want to be the hero, don't you?"
Her evil smile gives me chills down my spine. I don't like it but I have to withstand it.
"If I am the hero then I am doing the right thing. Because I looked in the mirror and I saw nothing but a confident girl who would take on all evil. That's what I am."
I can see Cillian's face, dreading this; seeing his two daughters get tortured by his wife. His eye which has a scar running down it produces a small drop from with water banks in his eyes and whispers: "My daughters..."
I snarl at Anne.
"You're doing this so you can see how angry I can be before I erupt. But you can't do that because I have learnt to tame it. In my dreams, I have bonded with the Phoenix you wanted and we are pretty much one person as a whole." my smirk increases into a confident smile. "So this war has won."
"But Lawrence, my darling... The war has only begun." and instantly, I feel my back arch, the swarm of YOU'RE WORTHLESSes in my head. I press my hands against the container and they slowly clench into a fist and then claw the glass, dragging my nails down it; creating an ear-piercing screech.
I will not lose.
I close my eyes and I relax.
I feel it there...
The Phoenix...
I feel it reach out to me and embrace me and every tense muscle relaxes.
And that leaves Anne and Cillian. And Jeanine surprised.
"That's why I need you!" Anne yells. "Why is it in YOU but not me?!!!!" and she storms out, screaming with anger, leaving me with my sister and my father.