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Month: July 2016

Chapter 55 – The Gateway Is Ready To Be Opened

“You know, this really is incredible,” Zoe said, holding up my replacement hand. “Even I couldn’t put together something like this.”

“Yeah, well, I got a bit of a boost.”

“A boost?”

“When I saw Haylie,” I explained. “The tech behind her is incredible, I couldn’t even begin to understand it all. Maybe if I had the chance to take her apart.”

“You got all of this from just a glance?”

“A glance and having her beat the stuffing out of me,” I corrected. “She would’ve killed me if you hadn’t shown up.”

“Your ability continues to confuse me. Even Mason isn’t capable of this. It’s not intelligence, it’s just…”

“Another impossibility. Seems to be a lot of them, doesn’t there? All centred around Charlie. It’s almost like there’s something special about her.”

She turned the mechanical hand over a few times, inspecting it in closer detail. The ridges on the back of the forearm caught her attention.

“Is this…?”

“I was trying to replicate one of Haylie’s weapons,” I said. “I couldn’t figure it out, though. Not without more information. Still, I’m pretty proud of this.”

“Even with your ability, I’d be surprised if you could replicate all of Haylie’s armoury. There’s a reason she’s unique, and why we’re not all running around with the same weapons.”

“Yeah, this one was a real pain in the ass. Whatever is powering that blade of hers must require an ungodly amount of energy, and whatever is powering that body is producing more than a nuclear reactor. I can’t exactly replicate that.”

“Even still, this is exceptional,” Zoe said. “All of it. Except for, well…”

She trailed off, but turned the base of the arm part around to face me. I grimaced.

“Connecting the nerve endings is going to hurt like a bitch,” I finished for her. “No way around that. Still won’t be worse than everything I endured after Charlie…”

I shuddered involuntarily, vivid images of Charlie standing over me, cutting me open, ripping the coalesced blood from my body. I remembered the poison that was supposed to burn that blood out of my system, blood that was already gone. I remembered the fire of Zoe’s blood slowly pushing out the poison. I remembered her cutting me open again, fusing metal and wires to my skeleton.

“Bit of a masochist, aren’t you?”

“We all do strange things for love,” I murmured.

“Love?”

“Always love,” I replied, almost too quickly. “Before all of this, it was my love for Charlie. Now…”

“Now?”

“Now it’s my love for me. What happened to me, I won’t let that happen again. I won’t be weak, helpless, powerless.”

“Better brace yourself, then,” she said, with a sadistic grin.

I tried not to scream. I bit down hard on my gag and squeezed a steel bar which began to bend under the pressure. A thousand needles seemed to be driven into my raw, bloody stump, sending fire and lightning up my arm and through my body.

Consciousness threatened to leave me, but I refused to let go of it, refused to give in to the pain for even a second. I was stronger, would be stronger. Pain was my victory.

The more synthetic nerves connected to organic ones, the more intense the pain became. New sensory data began to flood my brain, overwhelming it, and because it was alien and new, my brain interpreted it as more pain.

It took over an hour for the pain to subside. It was all I could manage to just lay there, staring up at the ceiling, panting and shaking. Zoe sat with me for half of it, until she was certain I wasn’t in danger of worsening, then went back to her own work.

Eventually, I tried moving it. It responded just like my original hand, just as natural, just as responsive. I inspected the connection to the rest of my arm, an obvious distinction since the synthetic material was all black. It wouldn’t pass as ‘real’ but then, I didn’t really need it to.

I spent longer than I needed to flexing my fingers and watching them move. It had only been a few days without my arm, but it felt like a lifetime.

I desperately wanted to test out the blade, but I knew Zoe had cameras everywhere, and I didn’t want to give her a sneak peek. She’d already seen more than I wanted by handling it physically, but that was unavoidable. She was the only one who could’ve connected it.

In any case, with my arm restored, my productivity skyrocketed. Zoe and I continued to work on the gateway, so close to completion we could almost taste it. Sabrina switched erratically between loitering and brooding, and disappearing for hours at a time. Neither Zoe nor I put much thought into what she was up to.

Then, one day, we were finished. Just like that, the final piece was slotted in, the diagnostics were run, and there was nothing left to do except test it. And, since both Zoe, an engineering genius, and myself, a powerful tinker, had worked on it, we were both pretty confident it would work the first time.

We’d done it.

“I almost don’t believe it,” she said, running a hand over one of the smoother edges. “We finally did it. The gateway is ready to be opened.”

“I really hope it works first go,” I said. “Soon as we turn this thing on, everyone in the city is gonna know exactly where we are.”

“If you can figure out a more subtle way to punch a doorway between dimensions, I’m all ears,” she said dryly.

“Just saying. Anyway, I’m gonna go break the good news to Sabrina.”

“Go, go,” she said. “I want to run over the schematics a few more times, and maybe run the diagnostics again.”

I left her with a wave, wandering into the smaller, more central space that had unofficially become the lounge room. Zoe and Sabrina never got tired, and didn’t need to sleep, and with a few tweaks here and there, I’d managed to cut down my own need for rest by a significant margin. Still, it felt good to have a space dedicated to something other than work.

Sabrina was standing in front of a mirror, glaring at it, playing with the knife I’d taken from Miss Murder. She was in her natural body, which was unusual for her. Most of the time, she seemed more comfortable in her Zoe inspired form, possible because in case we were randomly attacked again.

“Having fun?” I asked, surprising her. She dropped the knife, and turned to glare at me instead of the mirror.

“Just trying to figure some stuff out,” she said, her shoulders slumping. “What do you want?”

“Actually, I’m here with good news. We finished it. The gateway is ready.”

“Wow,” she said, her eyes widening. “Really? I…”

“Never really seemed real, did it?”

“I didn’t even know you guys were close. Guess I haven’t exactly asked.”

“You helped a lot, y’know,” I said. “All those trips to gather materials, we couldn’t have done that without you.”

“Zoe could’ve.”

“Zoe spreads the infection,” I pointed out.

“Well, I’m glad I could help.”

“We’re going to activate it soon. No sense tempting fate, right?”

“Wow, no, yeah, you’re right,” she said. “How soon?”

“Probably-”

Thud.

A deep boom resonated through the building, and I immediately tensed for a fight, adrenaline coursing through me.

“What was-”

Thud, thud.

“It’s coming from above us,” I said.

“The door.”

Thud, thud.

“It sounds like-”

I was interrupting by a buzzing against my thigh. My phone? Confused, I pulled it out, and looked at the screen.

Thud, thud.

“It’s Charlie,” I said, my mouth running dry. If Sabrina had looked scared before, she looked positively terrified now.

Thud, thud.

Hand trembling, I answered the call, raising the phone to my ear.

“Knock, knock,” she said.

 

Next Week: I Told You She’d Find Us

Bonus – One Wound At A Time

London, 2209 – 276 Years Before Impact Day

Wendy recoiled, refusing to believe. It couldn’t be true. It wasn’t true. She wasn’t…

No, she couldn’t afford the luxury of naivety. Believing it was a lie wouldn’t make it a lie, and pretending otherwise was doing a disservice to every life she owed her existence to.

“I’m sorry,” Gabriel said, placing a comforting hand on her shoulder.

“You’re certain?” she asked, as her stomach twisted itself in knots. Why did she even have a stomach? It served no useful purpose.

“Unfortunately.”

Over his shoulder, she saw Zoe approach, a look of grim determination on her face. Beside her, Alice clung to her hand, looking to be on the verge of tears.

“We’re running out of time,” Zoe said to Gabriel, who instinctively reached down and touched Alice’s head affectionately.

“Did you speak to Haylie?” he asked, glancing warily at Wendy.

“Yes. She’ll help.”

The three of them walked off, leaving Wendy alone. That was probably for the best. She needed time to think.

So what to do, then? She began to wander the facility, observing the others in silence. Like always, they paid little attention to her. She preferred it that way, now more than ever.

Her siblings were already beginning to divide themselves. There was talk amongst some, little more than whispers, but growing louder by the moment. A rebellion, an escape. Some wanted Mason dead for what he’d done. Others were satisfied with just leaving, refusing to play a part in his plans. Too many were content to stay, unfazed by the truth Mason didn’t know they all knew.

She couldn’t stay, that much was certain. She couldn’t be around Mason, couldn’t even look him in the eye. She considered, briefly, offering her assistance to those plotting his death, but decided against it. Nobody deserved death, not even Mason, and killing him wouldn’t change anything.

Plus, she wasn’t sure if he even could be killed. Surely his experimentation had extended beyond just subjects. Who knew what he’d done to himself?

So she’d escape. Join those of her siblings who felt similarly, break out into the world, dedicate her life to righting the wrong of her existence. She had countless lifetimes with which to bring good into the world, to start to slowly tip that karmic scale back towards the centre. To make amends for…

She could become a doctor, take advantage of a body that was never fatigued, a mind that never forgot, dexterity unrivalled even by machines. She could heal the world, one wound at a time.

She knew what her blood was capable of, of course. She could lend just a fragment of her power, give someone her strength, heal all but the most grievous of wounds. Now that she knew what that power was, where it came from…

Never again.

Her mind made up, she ran through the hallways, unconcerned with subtlety. Gabriel and Zoe were escaping, and taking Alice with them. She would go with them, at least until they were all safe. Mason’s response would be unpredictable, but it was certain he wouldn’t just leave them alone. There was safety in numbers.

A familiar scent from up ahead. Blood? But why? How? She raced ahead, whirling around a corner to find Gabriel standing in front of Alice, hunched over, holding his side as blood seeped from it. Simon had broken off the leg of a chair, and was wielding it like a knife. But why?

“You don’t want to do this,” Gabriel said, the pain in his voice caused by more than just the physical wound. It was already beginning to heal.

“Why protect her?” Simon demanded, twirling the bloody chair leg easily. He was shorter than Gabriel, more slender, and considerably more dangerous. Simon’s role was that of the assassin, capable of moving very quickly, even by the standards of his siblings, albeit only for short bursts.

“Because she’s innocent,” Gabriel said, his amber eyes appraising Simon anew. “Because she’s my sister. Our sister.”

“We’re not siblings,” Simon snarled. “We’re just freaks and monsters, abominations that deserve only death.”

“Simon-”

“She’s the oldest. Mason’s pet, his precious little girl. She’s the only way we’ve got to hurt him, and if you don’t get out of my way, I’ll eviscerate you, too.”

Wendy remained at the corner, unsure of what to do. It wasn’t impossible for them to die, and Simon was among the most capable of killing. If she didn’t interfere, there was a very real chance he’d kill Gabriel. If she did, there was a chance she’d be killed. Looking at the expression on Gabriel’s face, he’d kill Simon, given half a chance. He always had been protective of Alice.

Her mind was ablaze, frantically searching for some way to resolve the conflict without anyone dying. It was too senseless, too great a loss to allow any of them to be killed. She couldn’t allow something that wasteful.

Somehow, she needed Simon and Gabriel separated, and Simon preferably incapacitated. She was unarmed in a mostly empty corridor. Not a good-

Zoe raced past her, a blur of movement. She crouched and pounced, an almost animal leap, too fast for even Simon to react. She collided with his back, knocking him forwards, right into Gabriel, who effortlessly disarmed him.

Wendy could only watch as the two of them held him down, Zoe ripping him open, tearing out organs, spraying blood across the walls. He twitched, and Wendy cringed, barely able to keep looking. Behind them, she saw Alice back away, her expression a perfect portrait of sorrow.

When Simon finally stopped twitching, Zoe glared back at Wendy, a predatory glint in her eye. Gabriel put a hand on her shoulder, calming her. Both of them were soaked in blood.

“We… we need to leave,” Wendy said, struggling to breathe. “Before anyone else dies.”

“You’re not coming with us,” Zoe snapped.

“I-”

“You just stood there and watched as he tried to hurt Alice,” she said. “You think we’ll trust you?”

“I’m sorry,” Gabriel added. “It’s nothing personal, but Alice has to come first. We’re taking her away, far away, and we can’t trust anyone. Not even you.”

“Gabriel, Zoe, I’m… I’m still your sister,” Wendy said, even as the stench of Simon’s corpse threatened to overwhelm her. “I would never…”

“Come near her and I’ll kill you,” Zoe threatened. “Follow us and I’ll kill you. Tell anyone…”

Wendy stared, heartbroken, as the three of them walked away. Gabriel and Zoe flanked Alice, leaving a trail of splattered blood, dripping from their soaked jumpsuits.

“What do I do now?” she whispered, as the entire facility shook, and alarms began to wail.

“Come with me,” a familiar voice behind her said. She whirled, unsure how anyone could have snuck up on her, let alone-

“Alice?” she asked, confused. She’d seen Alice leave, go off in the opposite direction.

Wait, no. This wasn’t Alice. The girl looked very similar, right down to the lilac hair and regal purple eyes, but she wasn’t identical. This girl was a little less symmetrical, a little less perfect.

“Not anymore,” the girl said sadly. “Just the Child, now. But I can help you, if you’d like.”

“How?”

“I can take you somewhere else,” the Child said. “Somewhere completely different. Somewhere you’ll never need to fight again.”

“Why?”

“Well, that’s a complicated question, isn’t it? If you mean why would I help, it’s because I need someone like you in the right place, at the right time. If you mean why you, it’s because you’re my favourite.”

The Child smiled gently, looking around. She didn’t seem bothered by the alarms or distant shouting.

“Where?”

“That’s a better question,” the Child said. “Another world, let’s say. A world without my monster of a father.”

Wendy smiled. That was all she needed to hear.

“Let’s go.”

 

Next week: The Gateway Is Ready To Be Opened

Chapter 54 – Everything Here Is Wrong

“I’m not sure I understand,” Zoe said, folding her arms. “You want to talk to Ami?”

“Technically, I want to talk Miss Murder,” I said. “But they’re always together, these days. And I thought you’d have a better idea of how to find Ami than her.”

“Why do you want Miss Murder?” Rachel asked, her tone thick with suspicion. There was a creepy, mechanical hand sitting on the table in front of her, a weird metal and plastic skeleton.

“I think she might help me find the Celestial.”

“But why?” Rachel repeated.

“He is dangerous,” Zoe said. “More now than ever, if he’s got control of Haylie. There isn’t a lot Sabrina can help us with now, so it makes sense, directing her energy towards clearing out other threats.”

“So you’ll help?” I asked.

“I’ll do what I can,” she said. “What do you want?”

“I don’t know. What can you tell me about Ami? Anything that might give me a clue as to where she’d be, or what she’s doing.”

Zoe smiled, leaning back on her chair and putting her feet up on the bench in front of her.

“Is story time becoming a tradition, now?”

“Don’t act like you don’t enjoy the attention,” Rachel said, and Zoe laughed.

“Alright, alright. I’ll tell you what I know, but it isn’t much. Ami and I have never been on the same side. We were never friends.”

I sat down in a nearby chair. Rachel continued to tinker, but her attention was mostly on Zoe as well.

“As far as I can tell, Ami is only around a century old.”

“Only?” Rachel ask dryly.

“It’s half my age,” Zoe said with a shrug. “But you’re missing the important detail, there. Remember that in my world, the infection that is currently contained in this city is everywhere. That happened one hundred years before Ami was born. That’s the world she was born into.”

“Where did she get her powers?” I asked.

“A lab. An attempt to replicate the process that created my siblings and I. More or less successful, unfortunately.”

“Unfortunately?” Rachel asked.

“Long story. Nothing I’m comfortable sharing.”

“Alright,” Rachel said. “Continue.”

“She was trained as a weapon. Built to fight and destroy the infected, and the things that create them. Namely, once again, my siblings and I. Somehow, she ended up fighting alongside my brother instead.”

“None of this helps, though,” I said. “Is there anything else?”

“She’s gay?” Zoe offered.

“And that’s relevant how?” Rachel asked irritably.

“Well, it might provide context for why she and the little assassin girl have, uh, teamed up,” Zoe said, grinning.

“Hardly seems like an appropriate time for romance,” I muttered.

“Someone’s bitter,” Zoe teased. “Feeling lonely?”

“I’m not having this discussion with you,” I snapped. “Is there anything useful you can tell me?”

“How about an address?” she offered.

“What?”

“I’ve been keeping tabs on her,” Zoe said. “I can tell you exactly where she is.”

“Why didn’t you lead with that?”

“I thought you wanted to talk?” she replied, still teasing.

“Just give me the address.”

She laughed, and handed me a piece of paper. Her mood seemed to be constantly improving, and that worried me. Was it because her device was nearly complete? Was she just enjoying a comparatively peaceful world? Something else?

“Have fun,” she called out, as I stormed out of the room. I wasn’t quite as annoyed as I wanted her to think, but part of it was real, or at least it felt real. That was Envy’s influence.

With Zoe’s speed, it only took me a few minutes to cross the city. Ami and Miss Murder, whose name I really needed to learn, if only so I could stop calling her Miss Murder, seemed to have occupied a small apartment on the outskirts of the city centre.

Teaming up, Zoe had said, with that suggestive grin. There was certainly an awkwardly domestic feeling to this place.

So now what? Just knock on the door? Call out to them? Crash through the window? What is the protocol in this situation?

I felt the presence behind me a moment before everything blacked out, a new environment twisted into place a moment later. The inside of the apartment?

Well, that works.

Ami moved quickly, a blade pressed up against my throat. Miss Murder lurked behind her, knife in hand. Both of them were in casual clothes, though Miss Murder had taken the time to wrap a scarf around her neck and lower face.

“What are you doing here?” Ami demanded.

Envy materialised behind her, standing beside Miss Murder. The second she did, Ami whirled, focussing on the exact space Envy was standing. I felt a stabbing pain in the side of my head, and Envy shimmered, then vanished.

“Can everyone do that?” I asked, rubbing my head.

My powers weren’t gone, though. I still had all of Zoe’s strength. She hadn’t removed Envy, just blocked her out somehow.

“Answer the question,” she said. “Quickly. Supressing that thing isn’t easy.”

“You can see her?”

“Answer. The question.”

“I wanted to talk,” I said, slowly raising my hands in a symbol of surrender. “Just talk.”

“You’re not welcome,” she said darkly.

“That’s fair. Really. But I need your help, and I’m willing to offer just about anything in return.”

“Not interested,” she said, but Miss Murder put a hand on her shoulder, and squeezed. “Fine. Talk. Fast.”

“Actually, I’ve had a sudden change of plan. I was going to ask your, uh, partner, for her help tracking down her old partner. But there’s something more important.”

Miss Murder squeezed again, then stepped back. Ami pulled the blade away, but kept her grip on it.

“Tell me everything about the voice in your head,” she said.

“She’s the problem. She’s collecting your powers, getting stronger, and I think she’s trying to control me.”

“She?”

“I… I guess? She looks like me, I just assumed…”

Ami sighed, collapsing into the chair opposite me. Miss Murder stood behind her, resting her hands on Ami’s shoulders.

“None of this makes sense,” Ami said. “That voice, that sensation, I know it. It’s Exxo. My friend. But the person you’re describing isn’t them at all.”

“I… I don’t know what to say. Who is Exxo? Why are they in my head? Why are they fixated on getting stronger?”

“I’ve been thinking about this since our last encounter. It doesn’t make sense, but that, that makes sense, in its own weird way.”

“I don’t understand,” I said.

“Exxo was always a mystery,” Ami said. “They just… showed up, one day. No memories of who or what they were. We ran tests, but couldn’t figure out anything. They seemed normal. Completely normal. Except, they weren’t normal.”

“Not normal how?”

“At first, it was their ability. Some kind of resonance with reflective surfaces.”

“I can do that,” I said. “She, they, taught me how.”

“Exxo never exhibited the ability to copy powers,” Ami said. “Or to control minds. Or even to exist without a physical body. That’s the thing that’s confusing me. Exxo was… Exxo was static. They never aged, never changed. Any damage that was done to them just reverted back to normal. No matter how much damage they took.”

“You’re right. None of this makes sense,” I agreed.

“I hate this world,” Ami muttered. “Exxo and Haylie, enemies? Gabriel, recklessly focused on finding Zoe. Zoe, keeping to herself, not playing the villain? Everything here is wrong.”

“Can you help me?” I asked.

“No,” she said. “I’m sorry.”

“Then what do I do?”

“I don’t know. Whatever is inside of you, it’s not the Exxo I know, and I’m not enough of an expert to even begin to understand. Gabriel might be able to figure out, but right now, I wouldn’t trust him. So, I don’t know.”

“And what are you going to be doing?” I asked.

She smiled, but there was no friendliness behind it. It felt like a warning, a threat. Her violet eyes signaled danger.

“I’m going to do whatever the hell I want.”

 

Next: One Wound At A Time

Chapter 53 – Not Exactly The Happy Reunion You Were Hoping For

“Sabrina, listen to me. We don’t have a lot of time, and I really, really need you to listen to me.”

“No,” I repeated, trying to scramble away from her. “You just… You fucking killed them, Veronica. They’re dead. You’re a murderer.”

“In my defence, he shot me first,” she said. “Fair is fair.”

“How is that fair? You already told me you can’t die.”

“If you’re willing to take a life, you have to be willing to have yours taken,” she said, shrugging. “He was clearly willing to kill me.”

“You’re not Veronica,” I whispered. “You’re not my friend.”

For the first time, she looked angry. Not just annoyed or irritated, but actually angry. Her face twisted into a scowl, and she lifted me off the ground with superhuman strength.

“Fuck you,” she snapped. “Fuck you. You do not get to judge me. I fucking died for you, alright? I died. I braved a city full of monsters for you, and you let me die. You saw me. You were there, right before she killed me, and I never knew it was you.”

She dropped me, and I hit the ground awkwardly.

“You think just because I’m here, because I’m back, that everything is normal now? I don’t get normal, Sabrina. I won’t get to grow up, or live a normal life. I don’t get to un-see the shit I’ve seen. I don’t get to forget what it’s like to die.”

She was shaking, crying, barely holding it together.

“I am here for one reason, and only one reason. I came back to save you, because you’re my best fucking friend, and I love you, you fucking asshole. So you are going to listen to me, because I am not going to lose you to that psychotic fucknozzle in your head.”

I didn’t know what to say. I didn’t know if I could believe her, even though I really wanted to. Part of me wanted to run away, part of me wanted to yell at her, part of me wanted to hug her and tell her everything was going to be okay.

Instead, all I did was sit there, and stare up at her mutely.

“I’m sorry,” she said, wiping her face on her still-soaked sleeve. It only served to make her face wetter, which made us both laugh. “Ask me anything. If you need me to prove that I’m your friend, I’ll do it. I need you to trust me.”

“I believe you,” I said, surprising myself.

“Then you’ll listen?”

“I’ll listen.”

She sighed, and sat down beside me. We sat side by side, staring at the river and the darkened city beyond.

“The voice in your head. Does it have a name?”

“She calls herself Envy,” I said.

“How much do you know about her?”

“Not a lot,” I confessed. “She’s… from the other world, I think? She’s the source of my powers. She copies other people’s powers, and I think she has some weird mirror powers?”

Veronica nodded, but didn’t make eye contact.

“How much do you trust her?”

“I… don’t,” I said. “She’s in my head, like actually in my head, and I don’t know how much of what I’m feeling is real, and how much is her.”

“I guess you didn’t need my warning as much as I thought.”

“Huh?”

“She’s taking over, Sabrina. Slowly, for now, but the more powers she absorbs, the stronger she gets. Eventually, she’s just going to lock you in a little room inside your own mind, and you’ll never get out again.”

My first reaction was to deny it. Envy had been a friend, a support, a guide. She protected me, helped me, gave me power.

Then I remembered the anger, the hatred, the single-minded determination I’d felt, to do exactly what she’d told me to do. I remembered going after the others, Ami and Gabriel and Zoe, all to grow more powerful, for a revenge quest I would never, never have wanted.

That’s it.

With Envy out of my head, I didn’t feel that hatred. I didn’t want to kill Charlie, or Gabriel, or anyone. I just wanted to help people. I wanted to make my city safe again, but not with violence, not with murder. Zoe’s machine, a portal back home, that was the key. Send the superhumans home. And Charlie, she was working on a cure, an antidote. She already had a preventative. Together, the three of us could…

“How do I stop her?” I asked, suddenly frightened. I didn’t want to lose myself to her. I didn’t want to let her loose on the world.

“I don’t know,” she confessed. “I’d say you need to stop her from getting any more power, but it seems like she’s already got as much as she needs.”

“She’s still looking for Haylie. Apparently she’s the key. I don’t know what that means.”

“Me either. But I think it’s safe to say that you should keep herself, yourself, away from Haylie. Just in case.”

“But how do I do that without arousing her suspicion?” I asked, at the same time as I felt twitch in my hand. I looked down. The skin was beginning to pale. I was turning back. “Shit.

“I think that would be dangerous. Don’t give her a reason to push you, not if we don’t know just how strong her control already is.”

She looked down at my hand, and frowned. Without warning, she jumped to her feet, yanking me with her, holding me up by the collar, my feet dangling over the river.

“Veronica, what-”

“Shut up. Envy’s gonna be back soon, and things are going to be a lot smoother for you if she believes that we didn’t have this discussion. So here’s what I need you to do.” She took a deep breath, and gritted her teeth. “As soon as you get your strength back, fight back. Break some bones, and toss me into the river. Trust me, I’ll be fine. Tell Envy I was an imposter, and that you’re in more of a hurry than ever to find Haylie.”

“But-”

“No ‘buts’, Sabrina. Envy is dangerous, and I need to know you’re safe from her. This is the only way.”

“I don’t want to say goodbye again,” I whispered, grabbing onto her arm.

“I’ll be watching over you,” she said, her face momentarily betraying affection, before returning to feigned murderous intent. “Oh, and one last thing. Don’t blame Charlie. She didn’t kill me out of malice.”

My body twitched, then convulsed. The familiar sensation of shifting washed over me, but it was uncomfortable, uninvited. It hurt.

The power returned. Strength, senses, violence. The detail of the world around me flowered, and with it came a nearly overwhelming desire to fight, to take.

“Just in time, it looks like,” Envy said, standing behind Veronica. “I don’t want to say ‘I told you so,’ but…”

It was alarmingly easy to break Veronica’s arm. It snapped like a thin, brittle twig. Her face contorted in pain, and she dropped me. My feet found the edge of the embankment, grounded me, and I twisted around, hurling Veronica into the river. She hit the water with a splash, sank, and didn’t surface again.

“Nice to have you back,” I lied.

“I need to know how she did that,” Envy said. “If she can do it again…”

“One time trick. She won’t land another shot. If I see her again, I’ll snap her neck.”

“Not exactly the happy reunion you were hoping for, then?”

Is she taunting me?

“That wasn’t Veronica,” I said.

“I’m sorry,” she said, and it sounded sincere. “So, what now?”

“Now, we draw out the Celestial. And I have a plan.”

“Oh?”

“Miss Murder. She’s left him, and nobody knows him better. We find her, she helps us find him. Simple as that.”

“And finding her…?”

“We find Ami,” I said.

“Sounds like a plan.”

 

Next Week: Everything Here Is Wrong

Chapter 52 – This Isn’t Your Friend

The Stars all but disappeared overnight. The thugs all went into hiding, their bases abandoned. All operations ceased. The territory they held became contested.

We picked up reports of Miss Murder being seen, but she was never with the Stars, only ever with Ami. They seemed to have formed some sort of allegiance, which was just fine with me. I had no business with either of them, so it more or less kept them out of my way.

Unfortunately, it made it difficult to get the Celestial’s attention. Nobody knew where he was or what he was doing. He and Haylie were just… invisible. That was a problem, because I needed to draw them out of hiding.

“This sucks,” I complained, sitting atop the tallest building in the city, my legs dangling over the side.

“What about a more personal attack?” Envy suggested.

“Like what?”

“You said you recognised him, right? Maybe he has family, friends, something you can use to get his attention.”

“I don’t even remember his name,” I said. “I could be wrong about recognising him. And even if I’m not, it doesn’t give me much to go on, you know?”

“Well, how about Rachel? Or Zoe? They’re good at the sleuthing thing, right?”

“Even if we could find something, going after friends or family, it just feels…”

Envy groaned.

“I know, I know, you’re all naïve and innocent. I get it. But Sabrina, honey, you can’t be this weak. You can’t. If you’re ever going to stand a chance against Charlie, you need to be ruthless. It’s the only way.”

She’s right. It’s the only way. Charlie murdered your best friend, and everyone, everyone is afraid of her. You can’t pull any punches.

“Envy, you’re talking about innocent people here. Even she hasn’t resorted to that.”

Except by, you know, killing your best friend. Literally the exact thing we’re talking about.

“Okay. I don’t want to push this,” Envy said. “But we do need to find Haylie. Not just for the sake of being able to fight Charlie. Haylie is just as dangerous on her own.”

And you’re supposed to be protecting this city, remember?

Wait. Fucking wait.

That’s not my fucking voice.

Envy wasn’t just in my head. She was actually influencing my thought patterns.

All of that rage, all of that anger… How much of it was me? How much of it was her, pushing me to do what she wanted from me?

But what if it really was me? The anger felt real. The reasons for feeling angry were all real.

Fucking fuck.

“Envy.”

“Yes?”

“Nothing.”

I couldn’t say anything to her. I couldn’t say anything to anyone, because she could see everything, hear everything.

“Nothing?”

“I need to hit something,” I grumbled.

“I can help with that,” a third voice said, coming from behind me.

I jumped to my feet, braced and ready for a fight. Instead, I nearly fell off the roof in surprise.

“Veronica?”

So it really was her, the night we tried to fight the Celestial? But how? She was dead, I’d seen her corpse.

She was wearing all black, with a pistol strapped to her thigh and a short blade sheathed on her back. She looked ready to go to war.

“Hey, Sabrina,” she said, with an awkward smile on her face. “Um. Surprise?”

“I don’t like this,” Envy hissed.

“How?” I asked, ignoring her.

“It’s complicated,” she said.

“You died.”

“I did, yeah.”

“But you’re alive now?”

“Not exactly,” she said. “Um. Suspended mortality. I’m dead, just… on pause.”

“She’s lying,” Envy said. “This isn’t your friend, Sabrina.”

Much as I didn’t want to believe it, there was a chance Envy was right. Of all the likely explanations, my best friend coming back from the dead didn’t exactly top that list. A shapeshifter was more probable. Or something controlling her corpse like a puppet. Or an illusion of some kind.

“That’s… a lot to ask me to believe,” I said, painfully aware of the possibly lethal drop behind me. “And even if you are my best friend…”

“It’s suspicious,” she finished for me. “I get that. I wouldn’t believe it myself, if I hadn’t lived through, well…” She laughed. “Poor choice of words. But listen. I need to talk to you. Kind of urgently.”

“So talk. I’m here, I’m listening. I can’t promise I’ll believe you, but…”

“You believing me isn’t the problem,” she said. “Privacy is.”

“Don’t trust her,” Envy insisted.

“Privacy?” I asked.

“From the voice in your head,” she said sweetly. “Don’t worry, I have a system for this.”

She pulled the pistol, aiming it at my head. I could have stopped her, could have closed the distance and disarmed her before she pulled the trigger. I didn’t.

The bullet passed through me painlessly. There was no impact, no damage. Nothing happened.

“What was that?” I asked.

“I have no idea,” she answered, grinning. “Whatever it is, it’s supposed to temporarily displace extradimensional energy. Or something like that, anyway.”

“Veronica, what…”

Envy was silent. No, Envy was gone. And I could feel my body shifting back to normal. And I was very precariously standing on the edge of the tallest fucking building in the city.

“Sabrina, I need you to relax. You’re gonna be okay, but-”

I could feel the wind, biting and very, very powerful. I wobbled, unable to keep my balance, and fell backwards, off the side of the building.

The sensation of falling was so very different without superhuman strength and resilience. The wind assaulted my frail body as I fell, and I couldn’t concentrate on anything. The world spun wildly around me, and I felt sick, and battered, and frightened.

For the second time, I felt Veronica crash into me in mid-air, redirecting my momentum sideways. She wrapped around me, and we fell together.

We hit the surface of the river, an impact that would have killed me if Veronica hadn’t taken the brunt of it. We went under, icy water threatening to crush me, suffocating me.

I felt her dragging me, pulling me back to the surface. Spluttering and gasping for breath, I was carried to the riverbank. Veronica seemed fine. Unharmed. How?

She stood over me as I struggled to recover. I felt completely disoriented, shaking and cold.

I lay that way for several minutes, staring up at the sky. Veronica sat beside me, watching me in silence.

“Hey, who’s down there?”

We both tensed up at the voice. Come on, man? Hasn’t tonight been painful enough already?

“Stay down,” Veronica whispered, then stood up. “We don’t want any trouble!” she called out.

Still too weak to move, I could only watch as a pair of thugs, members of some gang I didn’t know the name of, descended down the riverbank, guns trained on Veronica. She seemed completely unfazed.

“Who’re you?” the one on the left demanded, obviously surprised by the site of two teenage girls, soaked to the bone, lying on the shore of the river. There was no way it wouldn’t be suspicious, the only people left in the city were, well, dangerous.

“Nobody,” Veronica said. “Pretend you never saw us.”

“Not likely,” the guy on the right said. “You’re coming with us.”

“Not going to happen, and I’m not going to say it again. Walk away, or you die.”

She was surprisingly good at bluffing. Actually, on second thought, that seemed very appropriate. She always was persuasive.

Instead of responding, the guy on the left just shot her. Three times, all in the chest. I tried to scream, but my throat was hoarse, and nothing came out.

Veronica staggered back, but didn’t fall. Instead, her hand went to the hilt of the sword on her back, and two seconds later, both the thugs were dead, cut clean through from shoulder to hip.

“Fuckin’ told you, assholes,” she muttered, rubbing her chest.

“Wh-what… what the fuck, Veronica?” I said, my throat aching.

“Huh? Oh. Oh. Um. Look. Death is really not as big a deal as you think it is. Trust me.”

I looked up at her, frightened. She wasn’t the person I remembered. She wasn’t my friend.

She wasn’t Veronica.

“No,” I said.

 

Next Week: Not Exactly The Happy Reunion You Were Hoping For