Scarred

Her sidekick, Flash, stood behind, one black-nailed hand on her shoulder. Jagged emo haircut plastered to one cheek, dark eyes aglitter. He didn't laugh. Just stared, empty. So Sophron was the master in this little love story, was she? And Flash was just the faithful dog?

Glimmer darted forwards, flinging out one hand. A hemispherical shimmer of confusion erupted, sheeting silently towards the forest like a dome of rippled glass. Discombobulate! I wanted to cry out, like a magic word of power. Would it affect Sophron? The stronger your own augment, the more likely you'll be resistant to attack. She seemed pretty powerful. I guess we'd see.

Beside me, Harriet gripped Glimmer's hand to help direct her aim. I covered my ears, just in case she hadn't improved, and Harriet opened her mouth to scream.

Ka-BOOM! A lightning fork stabbed the earth. The ground quaked. Radiant heat sizzled my cheeks, and the tips of my fingers singed and stung. Fuck, that was close…

Oh, shit.

Harriet staggered back, whimpering, clutching her sensitive ears. Blood oozed on her fingers. Glimmer was on his knees, slapping at his burning hair. Mike lay in the dirt. Not bleeding. Not breathing. Hard to do either, when…

I choked on the stink of carnage. Visions of charred flesh and bones. Holy Jesus.

Mike hadn't fired that lightning bolt. Sophron had. And Mike wasn't moving. Or, should I say, what was left of Mike.

Harriet shrieked, unfettered.

My eardrums stretched, a spike of agony jamming crosswise through my skull. I yowled, grabbing at my temples. Sounds were muffled, distant, bleeding. Like some erratic silent movie, I saw Adonis—who hadn't even had the chance to do his love-me thing—shake Harriet, yell at her, force a hand wreathed with golden sparkles of persuasion over her mouth.

Sophron laughed again. I could feel it in my bones, a serpent roiling beneath the earth, ready to burst out and swallow us. Frantic, I tried to crack off my shellshock, force my legs to move, run for her and give her what she deserved… but I just staggered, reeling like a drunken sailor.

My brother cursed, blistering, and unleashed, a fury-blackened cloud of emotional fuck-you-up that swarmed through the trees, searching for prey.

But too late. Sophron grabbed Flash's hand, and they vanished. Ker-snap! Just empty space and fire.

Well, fuckity do-dah.

Dizzy, I wilted. My muscles were unwilling, my guts shriveling with grief and ultrasonic nausea. Time stretched like lumpy rubber, disjointed. Adonis had Harriet under control, and now she wept in his embrace. Firelight flickered, monstrous shadows danced, the sun seemed far away and gone.

Ebenezer hobbled up, his face sheet-white. He scrambled into the dirt beside Glimmer, who knelt at Mike's side, hands everywhere, trying to do something, anything. Eb's lips moved, imploring his father to stay with him, breathe, open his eyes.

But Mike was gone. One of the few truly good people I knew, who never harmed an innocent or let a villain go unpunished, and never made me feel lower than a worm because I'd failed to do the same.

My eyes burned. I wanted to howl. Sophron had killed him, as easily as she'd swat a mosquito. And then she'd fled, snickering like a naughty little girl… or a coward. Fight unfinished. Score unsettled. Rage unsatisfied.

And somehow, it would be my fault. I was certain of it. My culpability was inevitable, like a storm or an earthquake or the sun one day going supernova. I was responsible for this. And I'd not let it go unanswered. No, I most definitely would not.

My vision swam. Somehow I’d fallen to my knees in the wet soil. I’d been sick. I didn’t remember it. I clawed the dirt, forcing it under my nails until they stung and bled. Tilted my face to the uncaring sky, and vowed ugly vengeance.

~ 8 ~ (#u63e7c8ce-943b-5dfe-abee-c0561b1a1f92)

"Verity."

I didn't listen. Didn't want to hear their accusations. The wet ground had soaked into my trousers. My ears rang. Had I been slumped here a minute? An hour?

"Verity." Insistent, a bloodstained hand on my shoulder. "Gotta go."

Dully, I shrugged Glimmer off. "How did she even do that? The lightning, I mean. I've never seen anyone but Mike do that. And the other one can smash concrete. Brilliant."

Acid guilt bubbled and smoked inside my chest. Vincent said he didn't know them. He said so. So what did I do? Did I argue, keep it above the waist, think for myself for a change?

No, I went right ahead and believed him. Christ on a cheesy cracker, I'm so fucking stupid. And now Mike's dead.

"An electric bad guy." Numbly, I giggled, salt and bubbles. "Awesome. Razorfire will be so pleased. Because, y'know, I would be, if I was a lying archvillain son of a bitch."

"Keep it quiet," Glimmer hissed. He pulled me to my feet, shook my shoulders. "Get it together. They're back. Can't you hear?"

"Wha…?" The crush of concrete filtered in, dragging me back to my senses. The ground vibrated. Sophron and Flash were pummeling our building again. Crash! Another wall fell, coughing up a dust cloud. "Shit. More?"

Adonis strode over. "C'mon, ladies. We can't stay here."

He'd handed Harriet over to Ebenezer, who held his twin's hand, bafflement blanking his pimply face. Eb was wet, I noticed dimly, his clothes stained like he'd sweated a river or tripped over into a puddle. He looked green. Perhaps he'd been sick. Harriet's chin trembled, her eyes dark pools of despair and disbelief. My heart ached, and I wanted to hug her. Cactus. FREE HUGS. Damn it.

Together, we stumbled for cover, one fewer than we'd been when we came out.

We halted at the asylum's far end, beneath low-hanging branches that hid us from view, at least for now. Harriet and Eb leaned on each other, foreheads and fingertips touching, lank dark hair mingling with blond. A single tear shone on Eb's cheek. The twins weren't close. Didn't seem to matter right now.

Behind us, thunder rolled, and another wall exploded, a rain of rubble. Hot metal stink assaulted me, and Sophron's monstrous laughter slithered through the trees, a venomous asp aiming to kill us all.

They weren't gone. Just hiding.

I pulled my hungry mindmuscle taut and ready. "What now, Ad?"

My brother yanked his hair with both hands, smearing it with black dust. "We'll find Peg and the others."

"But this is our home," I argued. I'd been eager for battle before. Now, I thirsted for it. My flesh itched uncontrollably. I wanted to rake my face, scratch my skin raw, let my talent explode. "We can't just let that vicious cow—"