you were everything

I 18 I

☂ life is short ☂ 

I must have dozed off, because when I wake up, Five's still gone, and the clock reads 7:30.

'Is anyone here?' I ask, yawning.

No one answers me.

I push the covers off, quickly pulling up my shirt to check the wound. Still looks red, but there's no sign of infection.

Sighing, I place my feet gingerly on the ground, testing out the weight. After what feels like three hours of that, I stand up, limping across the room to the window. It's dark outside, and the van is gone, which means Five is still out somewhere.

I walk downstairs, just as loud voices break out in the entryway.

'-we need to wait,' Alison says.

'We can't afford to-' Luther gets cut off.

'What's going on?' I ask, entering the room.

'They want to turn Mom off,' Diego points at Luther and Alison.

Alison glares at Diego. 'That's not what's happening.'

I raise my eyebrows.

'We think that Grace killed Dad,' Luther explains. 'Alison and I both saw her on a tape, poisoning Dad with tea.'

With tea?

'Okay....' I trail off. 'And this is important because....'

'Her system is degrading,' Luther says. 'It's not safe for her to remain active.'

'She's not just an object!' Diego argues. 'She's our Mom.'

Alison taps her foot. 'We're voting on it. Klaus, Diego and Vanya want Mom to stay on, but Luther and I think she should be deactivated.'

'Uh.' I start.

Mom and I never really met properly. Like I said, I got the prototype robot, which I destroyed upon meeting.

I was only ever allowed to interact with the Grace they know, when I was on pills.

'Well, what about Five's vote?' I sit down on the couch. 'Shouldn't we wait for him?'

'That's what I was saying,' Alison says.

'Knowing Five, he won't be back until tomorrow,' Diego rolls his eyes. 'Just give your vote already.'

'I vote that you can do whatever the hell you want,' I sigh. 'I couldn't care less.'

Diego shrugs. 'I'll take it.'

'Hold on a second,' Luther interrupts. 'She never said she voted in your favour.'

'She didn't vote in yours either.'

Alison gives them an exasperated expression. 'Will you two please give it a rest?'

'I'm going to take a bath,' Klaus stands to his feet, slumping over slightly. 'Because nobody loves me.'

Of course, no one responds.

A few minutes later, Vanya and I are the only ones still sitting downstairs.

Luther and Alison left to do who knows what-Klaus is drowning in self pity, Diego went to talk to Mom, and Five was never even here.

I open my mouth to say something when the sound of gunshots catch my attention.

'Is that-' Vanya cuts herself off. 'It's coming from the bedrooms.'

'Stay here,' I say, half limping over to the stairs.

'Wait!'

I turn down the hallway to see two figures in creepy masks firing at Diego. 

The same assassins that attacked Five and I at the store are now at our house, for some reason. I wave my hand, sending them flying at the wall. They smack into the plaster, causing a couple of photographs to f momentarily stunned. Unfortunately, these guys seem to be better trained than I would've liked.

It takes all my focus to stop the bullets from piercing me again, and in any case, I can't do this forever.

Diego's back on his feet in no time, throwing punches at the bigger guy. The two tussle on the ground until creepy mask man gets the upper hand and points the gun at Diego's head. 

'Hey!' I shout, ripping the gun out of his hand and forcing it down the stairwell. It lands at the bottom with a clunk, and the two invaders race off in the other direction. 

'Who the hell are these people?' Diego yells, as he ducks behind the sofa. I slide in beside him, whipping a random lampshade in the enemy's direction. 

'I don't know!' 

In all the chaos, Alison and Luther return to the room. One of the assassins grabs Alison by the throat, but before I can do anything to help, Luther pulls him off her and chucks the guy at the wall.

'Who are they?' Alison shouts.

We all shrug.

'You're welcome,' Luther says, looking at Diego.

'I was doing fine,' Diego argues.

'Oh yeah, you really had it under-'

'Look out, morons!' I use my powers to rip the guns out of their hands, breaking them into pieces on the floor.

For a moment, I thought they'd given up. The house was silent.

'Hello?' Vanya's voice asks. 'Is everyone okay?'

'Vanya duck!' I scream as the man wields a mace. It grazes her head, and she falls to the floor. 'Okay idiot, I don't know what you're playing at-'

I gasp as pain radiates down my chest.

Stupid, stupid gunshot.