(Quintiles 12, 55 / 12:43PM)

  8 years ago.

  Surrounded by a vast pin of red dirt fields and garlic crops, id the Zirardge ranch. With the mansion in the center of the property, and the barn, vineyard, and stables surrounding it in all directions, it was secured.

  They all thought it would be unbreakable to break in.

  Inside one of the rooms of the main house, on the third floor, a ten year old girl gazed out of the window, seeing the southern hill which held the rge Joshua tree. Her eyes lifeless, with dark eyebags clouding around her eyelids, she bnkly stared at it, enough for her to see her reflection against the window.

  Until a couple of guards walked up to her.

  (Zirardge Guard #1) Hey missy. Your father wants to speak to you.

  Nodding at the command, the ten year old girl walked to the other end of the hall, her wedges cttering the wood below her feet. Allowing her eyes to traverse the afternoon sun, it shone onto her, sparkling her pale skin and turquoise colored hair.

  Reaching the door, she opened it softly, entering in without uttering a decibel. Closing the door, she trailed her silent footsteps along the carpet floor, while having her eyes scan the hundred of books around her.

  (Vivy) Hello?

  On the other side of the room, was a chubby man with a bushy mustache. Having the same hair color as her, his eyes were completely devoid of energy and life, as if he pulled an all-nighter.

  His hands gripping the bottom of a paper, he lowered it to allow his dark eyes to take in his lifeless daughter.

  (Doug) Sit down Vivy.

  Vivy took a seat directly in front of him, her elbows and forearms pressuring themselves on the old oak armrests of the seat. Her back and neck straightened, she cleared her throat before settling her eyes down onto her father.

  The same did with him.

  (Doug) I heard you beat up your older brother. Mind telling me what happened?

  (Vivy) He was being zy. I saw him drawing the ranch underneath the Joshua Tree.

  (Doug) So it seems.

  Doug pulled his arms and hands from the table, clutching them firm as he had his fingers digging into his knuckles. Twitching, quivering, his right foot began to tap on the wooden floor below.

  Vivy didn’t muster out a smile or a smirk. Keeping her lips ftlined, her face showed no signs of emotion, her cheeks resting in the same position as before. This caused Doug to raise his hand to cover his mouth, pushing up his lips to the halfway point of his ears and jawline.

  (Doug) I’m proud.

  Using the heels of his feet, he pushed himself off of his chair, as his palms helped him stable the ground below. Pushing into his chair, he walked around the table until he reached his daughter from behind.

  Pcing his right hand on her shoulder, his palm was soft yet firm, his fingers loose as she looked up at him.

  (Doug) Please keep doing what you’re doing. Beat, push, I don’t care how you punish your brother as long as he works.

  (Vivy) Yes, father.

  Pulling back his hand, he pced it into his jacket’s pocket, as he helped his feet move his body toward the door. Without gncing back, without turning his head, he stopped just as his other hand gripped firmly on the door handle.

  Directing his voice to Vivy, who bnkly stared at the window in front of her, she perked her ears at the hearing of her father’s words.

  (Doug) Please be the daughter I would be proud to have.

  Opening the door wide, he entered the hallway, closing the door softly on the way out.

  Leaving Vivy to remain in the cold and dark room, she continued to bnkly stare at the window in front of her. Letting her eyes darken and sulk like an oyster, her hands rested on her knees.

  Before she trailed out a long single tear from her right eye.

  (Vivy’s thoughts) Oh, brother…

  Squeezing her kneecaps, her fingers dug deep into the bone, while the long shredded tear stalled on her jaw. Churning her lips down, she frowned, wrinkling her youthful face as if she ate a sour candy.

  (Vivy’s thoughts) I hate you … I hate you … oh I hate you …

  She smoothed out a growl.

  Rumbling every vocal in her throat, she scoured her voice box as if she were trying to puke it out. Hunching her back, hunching her head, she moved her eyes to look down at the floor that caressed her feet.

  Her thoughts mingled, jumbled, clustered like a cog, there were all linked to one boy; a boy a year older than her.

  Seeing him ze around, draw, and not care for anything and anyone, he had no responsibility to do anything. As if her parents found no use for him, he was …

  Free?

  (Vivy’s thoughts) I hate you.

  ______________________________________________________________________________

  Back to the present.

  Vivy pushed all her foot muscles off the ground, leading her to bulge the air from her command.

  Pulling back her right arm, her palms dug into her spear, before she thrusted her right hand straight to the tanned man. Dodging to the right, he turned his body so he would walk backward, his feet letting him to the center of the catwalk.

  Pushing down on the trigger, a storm of bullets rang the metal floors and stone legs of the bridge up top.

  Bringing her left arm up to her body, she used the hardened bleach to cover her body, the bullets unable to pierce through the hardened armor. Vibrating her body and bones, even her muscles flinched upon the soaring thunder of his Thompson bullets.

  Ceasing his fire, Vivy didn’t waste a single second more.

  (Christian) Take this!

  To the left side of his foot, a wooden box appeared right next to him. Letting his left calf strain and tear, he kicked the box straight at the dashing woman, making her dodge to the right.

  And Christian had already pnned her move.

  Firing the gun again, the metal trembled violently, sending the recoil to numb his knuckles and fingers like jello. Feeling his hands go cold from the ck of blood flow, he aimed the bullets that…

  Pierced her right shoulder.

  (Vivy) Gah!

  But she pushed forward.

  Surprised, Christian felt his breath freezing inside his throat, as his body startled under the wasteful cold sweat. Dodging in the knick of time, the tips of her spear grazed the ends of his cheeks and ear.

  Blood lingering from his newly formed scrapes and cuts rolled down to his neck and throat, yet he continued to remain standing. As he found her in a vulnerable state.

  Firing the st couple of bullets from his Thompson, it nded a direct pelt into her stomach, sending her to yelp out in pain. Wanting to drop, wanting to scream, she bit her lower lip to seal the pain away.

  And instead of screaming, she yelled.

  (Vivy) You can’t kill me with bullets!

  Instead of pulling back her right hand, she thrust her left, which held her hardened bleach shield. Feeling like a metal door smmed against him, he got sent back flying, soaring in the air for a few meters.

  Hitting the back of his head, his ears rang tinnitus, and his hands loosened his grip. His gun inches from the tips of his fingers, he didn’t dare look at it, once he tilted up to look at…

  Vivy spinning her javelin like a yo-yo.

  (Vivy) Oh, you’re so going to die…

  Lifting his upper body, he pushed himself back up, letting his blistered soles stabilize him. Using his left sleeve, he swiped away a trickle of blood from his lip, staining the brown with red.

  Breathing rapidly, he raised both of his hands to the height of his shoulders, curling his fingers into his palms. Trenching them deep into his skin, his knuckles were on the verge of breaking, keeping them locked in as Vivy thrust her javelin yet again.

  The spears passing by the left side of his head, he thrust his left hand straight to her left wrist.

  And by doing this, he wrapped his fingers and nails deep into her skin, reaching her bone as blood spurred like a leaky hose. Since her left hand wielded her shield, she had no choice but to thrust her javelin spear yet again.

  (Vivy) You’re going to die! You’re going to die!

  And because he had his feet glued to the metal flooring, he couldn’t dodge. Witnessing the javelin spear edging closer and closer to his stomach, he pced his right hand forward, and at the right time…

  Raised his right hand, while bringing her javelin spear to do the same. Having her spear locked down tight on his right hand, how did he do it?

  (Christian) Ah! S-Shit!

  The center spear stuck out through his hand.

  Making a massive hole, the edges of his palm barely held the spear like glue. Blood gushing out like a water faucet, he kept his arm and elbow firmed up, leading his eyes to turn crimson red from the pain.

  Groaning from within his throat, he began walking backward, bringing Vivy in tow.

  (Vivy) Do you think you stopped me?

  Enacting the stance of a linebacker, she pushed her body against Christian, plowing him straight to the other end of the catwalk. Smming him, crushing him like a bug, a hard crack pierced the orange mountain from behind.

  And his hand let loose from the jagged spear.

  Feeling his lower body go numb, he could hardly move his legs or feet at all. The annoying pain resembling that of stepping on ear-screeching nails, tinnitus boomed again and again into his delicate eardrums.

  Yet his feet continued to stabilize his body.

  (Vivy) Oh … oh … I’m going to make sure you and your brother reunite in hell…

  Raising her left hand, it cast a shadow onto the bleeding man. Looking up at the shield enacted as a guillotine, the bottom edges of it began to form spikes, making Christian pale his face the more he stared.

  Despite his fear of dying, he didn’t raise his hands or arms to cover his face.

  Instead, Christian let his hands drop, feeling the jagged edges of the rock. His face wrinkled from the injury below, and he id his head on the back of the sharp canyon’s edges.

  (Christian) Before you kill me, can I say just a few words?

  Vivy kept her shield high but lowered her javelin so that it pointed down to his stomach. Keeping some of the spears centimeters from his jacket, she arched her head back and pushed up a smirk.

  (Vivy) For who?

  (Christian) For you …

  (Vivy) If you try to flirt your way out, the only thing that’ll make me horny is your dead body.

  (Christian) No … hell no … it’s about what I have …

  Christian tried to push his right lip up to his bottom ear, but it reached the halfway point between that and his jaw. Quivering, his mouth began to prickle numb by just holding his lips hostage with his undying strength.

  Vivy only furrowed her brow the more she saw him try to shake it off, leading her to push the tip of the spear close to his stomach. Even this didn’t falter his cmmed face and body, as he began to lower his eyes.

  (Christian) You see, even though I run and gun like the rest of my friends, I have something they don’t.

  (Vivy) And that is?

  (Christian) You and I have blessings.

  Vivy lowered her shield down to her side.

  Taking a small step back, Vivy let her body feel the warm wind blow against her body, leading the ends of her skirt to ripple. Parching her skin, her grip on the javelin tightened, leading chips of hardened bleach to litter Christian’s boots.

  His eyes began to blur, and he swayed his head once, before clearing his throat.

  (Christian) It’s nothing too grand, and it’s not offensive or defensive, hell you could barely call it a support type … but …

  With his left hand, he grabbed something, a substance crafted from rubber. Squeezing it, even his fingers couldn’t trench into the material, but there was something that could…

  Slowly, he pushed his body up with his nibbling feet, feeling as if thousands of needles repeatedly pierced his heels.

  (Christian) I could alter my hearing, from picking up the faintest sound to making myself deaf, and right now.

  The object hidden in the shadows, Vivy couldn’t decipher it, leading her to automatically assume it was a weapon of some sort.

  Thrusting her javelin spear straight at him, he did the same in return, thrusting the rubbery object to block her attack. Blocking it from entering his stomach, the spears of her javelin went through the rubbery substance like—

  (Christian) This may be the st time you’ll ever hear.

  Both of their eardrums burst open.

  Feeling like they pced their ears on the side of a shotgun firing, not even tinnitus formed.

  Both of them tumbled onto the metal catwalk, the boom of the sound rippled every metal and rock of the canyon, leading pebbles to litter the bridge. Pacifica, who was far away, pced the butt of her palms to cover her ears from the sound.

  Despite protecting her eardrums, she felt like her ears began to bleed, tinnitus cwing her eardrums like a cat-human.

  (Vivy’s thoughts) What the…

  She couldn’t hear.

  Unable to hear the howling wind of the evening night, she frantically looked around her like a lost child. Her shield and javelin all crumbled like wax, her eyes widened once she noticed the specks of dynamite strapped on the legs of the bridge.

  On the center of the catwalk, Christian had already pced the match.

  (Vivy) Get back!

  She couldn’t hear her voice, but for some reason…

  Christian can.

  (Christian’s thoughts) I have to change my hearing back to normal settings.

  Without any special light glowing or shining, on his body, it was simir to how Luke’s blessing worked; without any special effects. On command, his ears opened up slowly, the blowing desert wind finally whistling and howling against his ears again.

  Sprinting with all his might, he pushed the soles of his feet toward the dder to the bridge floor, making him feel like he was running on top of va coals. Burning, freezing, every nerve in his feet and legs attacking and rebelling against him, he pushed forward.

  (Christian) Do it, Pacifica!

  (Pacifica) G-Gotcha …

  Vivy reached the center where the match was lit, seeing many other sparks of light reaching toward their respective dynamites. Seeing they had pnned to destroy the bridge, all she had to do was…

  She couldn’t.

  Feeling the metal beneath her feet, it loosened and screamed like an old dy. As if it was being eaten away by some unknown substance, Vivy’s eyes parched a crimson red once she took note of who did it…

  (Vivy) You—

  Taking one st gnce at Pacifica, the dark-complected woman didn’t smug or grin at the st ugh. Instead, her eyes narrowed, along with the corners of her lips reaching down to dispy a nasty frown.

  An act of revenge best served cold.

  Her hand already stretched out, she pulled it back, using it to help Christian climb up to escape the coming explosion. While the metal beneath Vivy’s feet…

  Crumbled and fell.

  (Vivy’s thoughts) Third time’s a charm!

  Like the st three times, she summoned her javelin and struck the edge of the battered metal, dangling her feet like a child. Using her fingernails to hold on for her life, she would get up and…

  It was too te for that.

  As soon as both her palms gripped the edge of the hole, she lifted her head, and let her breath freeze within her stomach. Like watching a bomb counting down the st few seconds before it explodes, all the sparks of dynamite…

  We’re about to mingle with the gunpowder.

  (Vivy) DAMN YOU!!

  Looking toward the two siblings, both had already turned their back on her, as they pushed their battered bodies with all their might. Swaying their hands, and their arms, letting their feet summon harsh calluses amongst their toes, they pushed.

  Pushed, pushed, pushed, all for Luke’s gamble.

  Feeling their breaths squeeze their windpipes, feeling their heartbeat pound against their chests, they looked forward without turning back.

  As the sparks of dynamite ceased.

  Bringing in an almighty fireball to engulf the bridge.

  The bst hammering onto their backs, they rode the shockwave as their feet loosened with the ground. Allowing themselves to be pushed, they felt the scorching heat from the bst, sunburning their necks as they both nded on the railroad tracks.

  Crashing their cheeks on the sharp metal, it jabbed their skin, along with their palms riddled with dirt and debris.

  Pushing up, they turned their heads to the fireball, hearing the dying screams of a bridge crumbling to the canyon below. Metal, cshing with each other on the way down, no screams of a woman scraped the canyon's edges.

  Their bodies already pushed to their limits, they id on the tracks, looking at the scorching fireball finally turning to bck.

  (Christian) Was killing Vivy … gasps … necessary?

  (Pacifica) If we kept her alive … gasps … she would’ve hunted us even in hell …

  Pushing up their upper bodies from the tracks, they let their butts feel the jagged edges of the train tracks. Their tailbones creaking, Christian looked up at the dying cloud of smoke, plummeting up as if it was trying to reach heaven.

  While Pacifica looked up at the early night sky, gazing upon the stars which rain down their light on her.

  Both gazed into their respective sights, squinting, while pushing their palms down to the Terra they were sprouted out from. Feeling the hot wind halt, their jackets unrippled, leading the sounds of cicadas to chirp around them.

  (Christian) Just hope Hope isn’t injured.

  (Pacifica) That girl will be fine, and besides…

  Pacifica pced her elbow onto her knee, colliding both bones to rub against each other. Her eyes sparkling against the never ending stars, sprouted out from their slumber, she felt her lungs free from sin.

  (Pacifica) They’ll all make it, even that scrawny boy Johnny.