This chapter contains references and imagery of sexual abuse. Reader's discretion is advised

Storm POV

Dammit what was I thinking?! Why did I let her go, alone? WITH A GUY?!

She may have not known it herself, but I've seen her around men. Even boys like Sward and Saurus. 

The way her frame suddenly grew smaller, her legs twisting to lock that gap between them shut. We were both 10 when it ended for her. But I never asked her what happened.

But yet there I was, ENCOURAGING her to go check out some plant with that random guy who literally kicked her arse. Aw dammit his name is Kick I made a pun ARGHHGH

I obliterate the bushes that entangle me in a blast of sparks, continue my march into the woods. 

Now.. if I were some weirdo guy luring a kid to something where would I go...

Okay maybe storming off alone into the woods with no direction may not have been the best idea. But hey, at least IM doing something.

But a quiet voice at the back of my head wondered quietly, "If not, would anyone else?"

Would anyone even notice her gone?

Ugh. As usual, I, the strongest Storm and Leif's best friend, must save her from the evil forces of this world. What would she ever do without a pal like me.

I realize I still have no clue where to head to.

Aaaghhhgghggh

"Who are you?"

I stop and whirl around to see Saurus and Pax a small distance behind me. Between us is a girl.

"We were going to let you go and look for Leif alone but we spotted her following behind you." Pax explained, eyes gesturing to the strange girl.

She was standing there, frozen by our gazes. She sighed, breath muffled by her orange scarf before speaking. "I was.. wondering if you were looking for a girl with green hair, white eyes, nervous, seems like a child.."

"YES!" I exclaimed as sparks shot through my hair. "Did you see her? Where is she?!"

"She's in that old abandoned base." She answered. "Follow me and I'll take you there."

"Wait. Who are you? How do we know we can trust you?" I narrowed my eyes suspiciously.

What if she was with that Kick guy and were trying to lure us away from whatever was happening? Or..

"I'm Swift." She answers.

I roll my eyes. "Yeah, I get it, you're fast and quiet to have snuck up on me." 

"Storm, I think that's her name." Saurus mumbles loud enough for us to hear.

"Oh." 

Seriously? Who names their kid Swift? What would they call her siblings? Quick? Agile? Zippy?

Is Zippy a real name? 

"I heard her screaming." Swift interjects my thoughts. "We should get to her as soon as possible."

"RIGHT! Lead the way!" I command, before adding. "And if it turns out you're trying to direct us away from her, I'll choke you with that scarf of yours."

Is it just me or did I see a small grin play upon her lips, as if I had said some funny joke. 

Coz that ain't a joke. I will actually strangle her if she's against us in this.

"Come on." She beckons, and we follow her into the woods.

~~~

Wither POV

They're talking. Discussing my fate like butchers over a pig.

I look unfazed at what remains of Test, a corpse hollowed out from the chest and head in cube like bites. What exactly did they do to him? I heard that man, Ginn, mentioning some sort of Core. Probably some sciencey stuff I never encountered in those books.

I'm still in this glass cylindrical cage. Like some fish tank display. 

Ugh my hair is soaked and I'm dripping wet. I'm already starting to shiver in the cold. I tense and stiffen my limbs as best I can to suppress the trembling. 

I won't give them the satisfaction of seeing me as weakened.

I examine the confines of my prison for any possible escapes or at least something useful to get out of here. It's spotless, clean and smooth walls of no loose pieces to break the glass with. 

Just keep cool. 

I peer outside and notice Ginn has left the room. Sward remains lingering, probably on guard.

But is it to make sure I do not escape or to protect me from being retrieved by someone? Leif's friend, that Storm girl, does she know? Has she noticed Leif's long duration of absence and decided to come looking for her?

With what I know of her perceptions of Leif, she should be looking for us now. She always had that protective nature towards Leif, and Leif's naivety has only fuelled her distrust in Leif being safe on her own. 

That's good. At least if I can't figure a way to break out I know she'll break her way in. Considering her destructive power set that should be an easy feat for her.

I can hear and feel her cowering inside at the back of our mind. 

Let her hide then. I hid from the world for years its only fair she get a break from being out here all the time.

Don't worry. We'll get out of here. I assure her. Everything's fine.

"Test.. he's.. is he.. d..dead..?"

...

Yes.

I hear her crying again.

Let's play that game again. Just close your eyes and pretend you're a bird.

"Can I be one of those little brown ones?"

Any kind you like.

I note the button on the sets of machine controls that seems to connect to the chamber we're in.

Now you're flying across the sky, what do you see?

"Trees."

Good, trees are always a good start. Snowy leaves? Autumn trees?

"Um.. rocky trees."

Rocky trees?

Sward is standing guard near the doorway. He can't see the controls and wires.

That's interesting. What exactly do these rocky trees look like? Are they really tall and bushy? Do they have fruits?

"They're tall and spiky like pine trees." Leif starts to drift into imagination. "But some curl in pretty spirals, and hold pretty colourful pebbles."

I think she's describing one of those trees I've seen in a book in the house. Something in relation to an obese old man who invades people's homes with unmarked parcels.

However, I don't point this out. This is her own little world she's making to distract herself. I'm not going to pull her back into reality yet.

Are there any creatures about? Or more interesting trees like it? Are they also made of rocks?

"There's tall rabbit people with big big long.."

Snouts?

"Yeah! Snouts."

If this chamber is wired to those buttons.. does it require power to open or keep the door closed? Or does it need electricity to move the door at all?

If I can somehow sever this chamber's power cord am I releasing the power holding the door closed or removing the means to get it open?

What colour are they?

"Sandy yellow and cherry red. They look like pale mangos and cherries hehe."

How secure is this chamber? If I really ram at it would it shift?

Sounds interesting.. do they taste like mangoes and cherries?

"Ah! No no no don't eat them!"

I am surrounded by possibilities and ways to escape.

Haha I won't. Don't worry.

Why should I worry? I have so many ways to get out of here.

So what are you doing? Still flying? Or are you going down to meet them?

"I'm going to talk to them!"

I'm not helpless. I can get out of here any time I want..

Yeah. You go talk to them. Tell me what you guys talked about later, okay?

"Okay!"

So why am I still shaking?

I'm not trapped. I'm not stuck.. I'm not at anyone's mercy. I'm in control.

I can leave when I want.. I can.

...

I can't help it. Alan's face comes to mind. I had said the same things every day when he came did I not? The days I left doors open for me to flee into. The days I convinced myself I could fight him off when he pinned me down.

The day I held that knife, telling myself I would do it. I would cut off his weapon before he had a chance to shove it in. 

Yet.. he managed to do it. Every day. 

No matter what options I told myself I had to escape it always ended with his legs straddling me, and his hips thrusting onto mine.

No matter how much I fought or screamed into his ears I did not waver him.

...

I hate feeling helpless.

I hate.. being helpless.

Leif is counting on me to get us out of here. She depends on me. 

I hear her carrying a one sided conversation with those mango cherry rabbit people she imagined.

It may be foolish and unrealistic but it's a better world to be in than this.

~~~

Kick POV

6 years. If I had known she was still alive.. buried there..

Why didn't I search harder? She was right there! But her idiot older brother wasn't smart enough.. no. LOGICAL enough to think to look for her under the rubble?? I mean.. I did but.. 

AUGH! I can't remember!

For 2 years, she said.. she lay in a coma under all that debris. 

Which.. I immediately told her was impossible. 2 years under debris unconscious and without food? How could she have survived? And her wounds from the fire, whatever knocked her out.

I was hoping she would tell me she was joking. That she somehow escaped the house and fled.

And that's when she introduced me to her powers.

"She didn't tell me much." Sonya says after demonstrating her firing a pulsing blast from her palm. A wave of air that shoved me back and sent my heart in a rapid spin for a few moments. "But she told me she had to make me her "Chosen" to share enough of her power with me to keep me alive."

"This person.. creature you heard.." I tried to dislodge the shock from my voice. "She made you her... Chosen to share enough power with you... to keep your body alive? But what about food? How did you not starve to death?"

"I don't know the details, Kick. I was 10." I didn't expect to be sassed out by my long lost sister.

"Sorry. Go on?" I mumbled.

"Amore said she could sense someone nearby, and that she would find a way to get him over to find me." Sonya continues. "I couldn't hear Amore after that. I woke up a while later, and there was Ginn. He found me and took me to a place called Base 03, and got the man he works for to feed my body. He was a doctor I think.. a scientist."

"Why would there be a.. base and a scientist in the Lower streets?" I frowned. "Isn't that the portion of the City closed off from the public because it had a lot of rips or something?"

"I don't know exactly what they were doing." Sonya sighs. "Ginn didn't let me see anything. But sometimes he came back dripping in blood, the blood of someone else."

"I don't get it. Why would someone like him.. someone who kills people for that scientist guy.. save a little girl he found?" I wondered in suspicion. Did the scientist.. want her for some.. experimental reasons?

I felt a jolt of anger from her. I could actually feel the moment her heartbeat skyrocketed with a sound wave that made my skin feel weird and tingly.

"Whatever reasons he had, I owe him my life." Sonya stated firmly. "I don't care if you were my brother 6 years ago. He and Amore saved my life, they spent so much time and effort while you were RUNNING off somewhere, leaving your own little sister in a pile of rubble-"

"I looked for you!" I exclaimed. "I.. In my panic and grief.. I.. I didn't.."

Why had I let my emotions consume me back then? If I had been more rational... if I had searched more thoroughly..

Dammit.

She wouldn't be here. She wouldn't have been trapped in slumber for 2 years, she wouldn't have been raised by some crazy murderer who for some reason wore a pair of dumb black sunglasses. Seriously they don't even look good on him where the heck did he get those.

"Maybe if you cared enough to search for me properly you would have found that sister of yours you so claim to miss so much." She huffed. It hurt me to hear her voice begin to strain and break under her anger. "I'm glad I don't remember you." 

In all my 6 years of partaking in the tournaments, each kick, punch and attack I received from them combined, would hurt less than hearing her say that.

What hurts more is that I can't even say anything to object or convince her otherwise.

I failed her. I failed my father and mother, whose only expectation of me was to keep Zoey out of trouble.

And I had nearly let her die buried in the burning wreckage of our home.

"Am I interrupting?" Ginn enters the room, looking between a slightly flushed Sonya and my lowered head of shame.

"We just finished." Sonya muttered, pushing past me to run over to him. "How did it go?"

"We need to either find another way to power the machine, or I'll have to go with the more brutal and messy method." Ginn replied calmly, without a hint of disappointment or weight in his words. "Which would have a higher risk of failing.. so it'd best we keep looking around. We could just ask Jackson if he has any spare cores to power it. Though I highly doubt he'll spare any. Even for me."

"I could head back and ask him." Sonya offered.

"Even with your powers I rather not let you roam the Lower Streets alone." Ginn stopped her. "Besides, Jackson is a.. complex individual. I wouldn't want you alone with him any more than you have to."

They are speaking a language I'm foreign to, a world I have never known.

I realize I know nothing about her. No matter how much I manage to remember of our childhood together, she's traversed a whole different world from mine.

One full of constant danger.. lunatics and..

What can I do to include myself in her life again?

"Ginn." I cannot control the words spilling out of my mouth. "I'd like to join you."