Inferno
Anxiety and anticipation were near blinding her in vision with glaring whiteness. There was a great thumping in her chest, so great that her skin was vibrating and shivering like one, unified pulse.
Her ears picked up all of their voices. Some deep, some calm, and others animated. After so long, and after everything that happened, she had naively assumed that they would suddenly disappear into thin air.
She struggled to remain composed, as this situation became more and more true until she was unable to deny that her family was feet away, completely unaware of her presence.
But they would be aware soon enough.
"What if they don't like me?" Rouhem muttered from his position. She found comfort with him standing so near to her, as though she needed protection instead of the other way around.
Her eyes briefly met his vibrant gaze. He knew just what to say in order to alleviate a peice of the tension from her muscles. "They will probably shoot you if that is so."
"Just what I need. Ten more versions of Inferno trying to shoot me!" She wanted to smile. She truly did, yet her stomach was rolling and there was a possible headache on the way. At this pace, she would be sick soon...
"I regret this," Rouhem burst out in a whisper, but she knew he was only blowing smoke.
She went dead silent as thundering footsteps approached their location. So many people, all of whom she used to call family.
Their chaos of conversation could finally be heard.
"You're not wrong. I would have crushed his skull." Her heart could have exploded from the intensification of her emotions which were running wild.
"Relax, before you get yourself worked up," another voice intervened. Inferno froze at that voice. Welcoming like heated syrup, dripping with sweetness. She knew the cadence well, even after all these years. Her mother.
They all came charging in with intent to ravage whatever food lay on the table.
Memories bombarded her thoughts for no longer than flashes...
"Jameson, where is she!" mother screamed.
Young Inferno laid her tiny palm over the wound on her stomach. Blood spilled over her small, pale fingers. She could not quite process what had taken place seconds ago. All she knew was that at one time, she was standing by the front window, and the next, she was on the floor, overwhelmed by pain.
"Jameson, get the boys!" Inferno failed to comprehend her mother's urgency. "Inferno, darling, where are you! Scream, baby, I can't find you!"
"Mama," Inferno stuttered, tasting metallic liquid on her tongue. What was happening?
"Inferno! Oh god, no, please, god, no! Not my baby!" this time, the scream was close enough to hurt her eardrums. She had never heard this terror in one's voice before. Above entered the view of her lovely mother. Sharp, reddened crystal eyes. Pale skin, like her own. Rosy cheeks. Young Inferno never believed for a moment that there was anyone more beautiful in the world.
Her lids felt heavy. She was suddenly very tired. Exhaustion was not common for a more frequently energetic child. "Mama?" the lights were beginning to dim in her vision.
"Keep those eyes open, baby, look at Mama!" Her mama was so pretty. She loved her mama.
It was too difficult for Inferno to obey. She felt calm as she closed her eyes, losing herself into a deep, healing slumber.
************************************************
Inferno did not understand why all of her brothers looked so sad. They surrounded her, creating an impenetrable sheild.
Terrance, her oldest brother, looked enraged. So did Jones and Ira. They trembled and their fists were balled up. Their eyes kept darting towards her stomach, where the stitches remained in her flesh.
"Come on, darling," her Papa called in a soft voice. She looked to her father, feeling quite uncertain. His orange eyes were pliable with melancholy Why was everybody so sad? "Mama is outside waiting."
He stepped passed the boys. Inferno was surprised when Terrance, Jones, and Ira stepped back in his path. "Boys, it must be this way."
Terrance shook his head, causing his shaggy orange waves to bounce. He was already in his teens, an age Inferno did not understand. "No Papa, we can take care of her. Nothing will ever hurt her again."
"Your mother and I came back to this business, because we knew you all could take care of yourselves. And then Inferno came. She cannot survive our world, for now. We cannot stop our business either, now that we have enemies."
"Don't do this," Ira pleaded.
Inferno heard her father's words, yet their meanings did not settle in. Her father's eyes hardened. "Do you want your sister to die?" All of the boys shook their head in response.
"This doesn't feel right," Terrance spoke up. His body, though miminal compared to father's, tensed with frustration. Inferno did not like that everyone was upset.
"It is already done," he stated. The boys parted forcefully as her papa came forward, picking up her slight figure. She was impossibly tiny, as most pixies were years after their birth.
She trusted her father and did not fight. That was until she heard her crying brothers. "They aren't coming, Papa?" She was bewildered by the turn of events.
She was startled when one of the front windows shattered, revealing a struggling Ira and Jones, who were held back by the rest of her brothers.
Papa only sighed. "No, baby. Me and Mama are taking you on vacation."
Inferno clapped her hands in excitement. "We are we going, Papa?"
"To meet your uncle, baby. He will take good care of you just fine." she saw the evenescent frown which crossed his handsome features.
"You and Mama will come with?" he did not respond. This worried her slight heart.
Inferno realized quickly that when that arrow slammed into her stomach, it not only affected her body, but her entire future.
The sound of clicking guns brought her attention back to the present.
Ten people stared at her and Rouhem in amazement with their guns raised high. The black gleamed in their pale hands. They were every bit as fierce and savage as she had expected from the pack.
All of them stood tall, reaching Rouhem's staggering height, some even beating him by some inches. She read each expression with reserve. Mostly shock. The reflection of conflicting emotions in response to her arrival was to be expected.
She knew that the moment the blood drained from their faces was the moment they comprehended her true identity.
Her heart quickly sealed shut with the toughest steel. Her emotions seeped through her pores, floating at a distance. Her cold shell held remnants of bitterness and ire. She raised the piece of bread as though to raise a toast. "Remember me?"
Her mother was the first to drop her weapon. Everyone immediately followed behind. Her eyes were latched onto Inferno's face, scrutinizing every detail. "Inferno?"
Inferno sat up with a humorless grin. "So you do remember me? That is quite fascinationg. Quite fucking fascinating indeed."
"Inferno?" hers eyes followed the voice, finding a man with orange hair held in a messy bun. A shaggy beard cloaked a good portion of his lovely face. He looked just like her father.
"Terrance." his eyes widened at her conformation.
"You are dead," her father finally spoke. She noted his extremely short hair. Underneath his right eye was a thin, curving line of ink which she could not decipher.
Inferno barked out a rough laugh. "Clearly you are wrong. I would know if I was dead, wouldn't I?"
Another lofty male spoke. "How are you here?" If her notes were correct, this man was Edwin. He always had kind eyes.
"I ask the questions here."
She noticed her mother was fast approaching. Without thought, she raised the gun in her palm and pointed it, coming to a stand. "Too close." Shock was thick in the room. "Too close," she repeated when her mother failed to move.
"I don't understand," her mother's voice was replete with the worst confusion, yet still so soothing to listen to. She moved a few steps back and Inferno immediately lowered her weapon.
"That makes two of us, Aine. Now I have got some questions which I expect you all to answer." her eyes travelled to the men who were supposed to be her brothers. Their sizes were hard to process. They were nearly giants, as most pixies turn out to be by the time their transitioning periods end.
"What the fuck," one of the twins spoke up. It had to be Kollin. Dacian was more sweet with his words, if he offered any at all.
Her grin was cold and calculated. "It appears we are family. I was thinking the exact same thing!"
"How did you get here? Where have you been?" she looked into her father's eyes and saw things she was not ready to see. Emotions she was not prepared to accept.
"Where have I been?" she registered the obserd question. Inferno now felt enraged with the passion and fury of a wild beast. "Where the fuck have you been? If I recall correctly, you are the motherfuckers who sent me away! On my own." She was just so angry.
Her mother shook her head with thick denial on her features. "We sent you with your uncle for your safety. We were coming back for you as soon as the threat was taken care of."
Inferno laughed with ugly bitterness. "Don't tell me this mission has lasted more than ten fucking years!"
Terrance intervened. "Of course not, we had come back, and Uncle Horrace told us you had drowned at sea."
Inferno nearly tumbled had Rouhem not placed a hand on her hip. He knew that she needed support more so than ever before. "Drowned? Is that what he told you? And you believed him? You didn't even bother to look for my supposed dead body in the water!"
"Of course we did!" her father claimed with passion, a desperation she hated. "We assumed the creatures of the sea had torn your body to pieces. We had remnants of your clothes... We had assumed that your clothes was all that was left."
"Well, Uncle Horrace was wrong! You were wrong!" Inferno snarled in disgust. That story could not have been farther from the truth.
"You're alive," her mother muttered before collapsing onto the ground. The men rushed to her aid, surrounding her as they once had Inferno. She struggled to remain where she was, to combat the urge to tend to someone she used to love so deeply. Used to. That is what she tried to convince herself.
Her mouth opened, prepared to wreck havoc on their hearts, prepared to tear their heads off with unrelenting words of violence and hatred. There were no other choices which she found more agreeable to her fiery spirit.
"Edwin!" a feminine voice shrieked, cracking into the commotion of the room. "Edwin!" Though Inferno's senses were waning as each day left, her hearing still managed to surpass average so far. The voice came from outside, far back past the line of trees if she were to guess.
She had a weapon in her hands as she watched Edwin's face crumble with worry. He zipped out without warning, in response to the voice. His body blurred out of the room, gone in a snap.
Because she had clearly lost her mind, Inferno was right behind, close enough to toss him aside if she desired it.
Edwin was the second youngest, and closest to Inferno's age. He had their famous orange locks cut short, crystal eyes, and athletic build. He no longer resembled a boy but a seasoned man, one strangled with desperation. A urgency for the unknown woman beyond house.
He burst past the front door, seconds away from tearing the entrance down altogether. Inferno could hear thumping steps from behind and trusted it to be Rouhem.
They were into the night within seconds. Inferno spotted the female which dashed towards them. She only caught her dark brown skin and crown of curls. The men which chased after were what caught her full attention.
They were tall and thin, so pale, though severe enough to make up for what they physically lacked. The blackness, the evil bled through their pores. These were not good creatures. They were vile.
She moved past Edwin as he snatched up his woman. Her feet firmly planted themselves in the luxuriant grass before she propelled herself towards the men who pursued the terrified girl.
"You got the second one?" she muttered to Rouhem right before angling her body and plowing ahead, bracing her body for impact.
She sucked in her breath as their bodies collided. A warm breath burst past his lips and onto her cheek. Though she felt his bones smack against hers, he still kept brawn underneath his thin muscles, providing more resistence than she expected. Inferno landed on top, careful to not hurt her back. Her hands and knees worked in quick fashion to get him pinned.
There was another tumble to the side of her. Rouhem must have gotten the other one.
The male beneath her began to buck and struggle, nearly victorious in his efforts. She brought her fist down, smashing it against his temple a few more times than appropriate. Holding her breath as she released her frustration on the poor soul. After one more good swing, and she could guarentee that his lights would be out for a little while, Inferno got off of the brunette. Other than his bruised cheek, his features were incredibly mundane.
She was still breathing normally. She was not frightened to any degree. Long fights had never been Inferno's favorite. Cruel and concise. That seemes to always work well for her.
There was a hand on her shoulder. Coolness crept past the building sweat on her skin. Inferno looked to Rouhem, finding his concern to be more consoling than anything else. She nodded in response, having the desire to shrug off his touch while also tucking herself under his arm. He was the only familiarity in her life about then, and handling it was not so simple.
"Are you alight, Pop? Look at me! Tell me, are you hurt?" Inferno twisted around at her brother's voice. There he was, on the grass, holding the girl with unbearable tenderness. His hands claimed her body. Anyone in the world would have known that these two people belonged to one another.
She was shaking and sobbing, curling into him, begging for protection from the lucid dangers which plagued her. Inferno looked to the two males with hatred. Any person worthy of Edwin's love did not deserve to be so frightened.
"Bring her inside!" Jameson barked with red seeping into his cheeks. She had not realized that most of the boys had joined her. Kollin and Dacian, the twins, were already dragging the two males away. Inferno was tempted to follow and finish them off.
Without responding, Edwin picked up his girl, taking her inside. They disappeared with seconds.
Ira, stacked with outrageous muscle, spoke without room for objection, "me and Kitt'll get their trail, see if we can minimize the track."
Inferno looked around at the flurry of people whom she never dreamed of seeing again. They operated similar to a well-oiled machine, one which she was born to be a part of, one she was taken away from. And now she was back, weighed down with dubious thoughts. Just what the hell was she doing here?
She turned to Rouhem in panic. "We should leave, this was a mistake."
His brows knitted together in a perplexed arch. "What the hell are you talking about? I have not been introduced to mommy and daddy yet..."
Inferno gritted her teeth at his banter. She was going to hypervenilate any moment, and he was joshing around. "I think we should leave, Rouhem, this isn't right."
His expression sobered. "No, we are not leaving. We came here for a reason, remember? We need answers-"
"Leaving?" Jameson barged through. She turned to look at her father, flanked by Terrance and Jones. While Terrance was clearly bursting with unsaid words, Jones was cool as always, calculating with a level head. "You are not going any where. You are going to come inside, and we are going to talk."
Her hand immediately went to reach for her weapon, only to feel a warm hand on her wrist. "Word of advice," Rouhem threw out casually, "if you want to keep your balls, I would refrain from telling Inferno what to do." Inferno nearly laughed at his graveness. He wasn't wrong...
Jameson chuckled. "I should have known. You are your mother's daughter. Please, come in, I would really appreciate it if we could talk."
Inferno nodded and marched forward, purposely jostling between the men. So what if she was dramatic?! She sure as hell had earned some sass with a shitload of flare.