SEVEN: Cursed Souls

CHAPTER 45: PHOENIX

From ashes they were, to ashes they will be but from their own ashes, the Phoenix shall rise again.

"We were all burning, our sins had devoured us that we became blind, but this does not mean that we'll never change. It's now our chance," Ryder thought. 

I who rebelled in fury; Lazaro who wasted his life; Logan who lived in excess; and...

Sophia who coveted what's others'.

"SoPhoenix had risen from the ashes!" said Sophia as she walked to the light. All her body is scarred, which means that she was burned when she supposedly died.

"S-She...SHE'S ALIVE?!" asked Lazaro who was in shock.

"I am," she answered, looking around. "But where is my good friend, Vian?"

It fell silent for a few seconds before James could answer, "I am sorry if I had not informed you. Too much been happening, she..."

"She sacrificed herself to save me!" Lazaro buts in.

James hid Sophia from them, even Ryder was confused to how he was able to save her. He came forward to explain.

JAMES

The day Sophia 'died'.

I can't let my girlfriend just die; I must save her! Ryder will put the letter at her room so she might die inside her house. How will she die? If only that Anonymous let me read what was written in the journal, and if only that annoying Puppeteer told me what she knew about Sophia! Think James! Think!

James tried calling her, but she wouldn't pick up. He couldn't reveal his secret yet and he can't tell her that he needs to cut her arms to truly save her. Shitty sacrifice!

He called his gang to assist him when he had the idea of just waiting for what was going to happen. Her sin is envy so he was sure that her death would not be through poison. They stayed at a blind spot near Sophia's house, but they still wore masks to hide their identities in case someone finds them.

After a few hours, men came out of Sophia's house and it happened just minutes after she arrived. "Did these men hide inside? I did not notice them coming in."

Smoke was next to come out of her house, followed by fire which spread fast. He was about to run when they saw a sniper above her neighbor's house. He tried to shoot him but missed, then the sniper pulled the trigger of his gun, shooting it towards Sophia's window. He then ran then used a rope to escape from the other side of the house. James' gang went after him.

He looked for a ladder to climb through the balcony of her room. It is suicide if  he enter through the first floor which was already ablaze.

It took him a minute or two to find a ladder and when he got to her room, it is already hot. It was a struggle moving and breathing. He searched inside the room, the bathroom, her wardrobe, but she was not there. 

He was only able to find her when he opened her room's door. She was lying at the staircase, unconscious with her skin burned to a crisp. He pulled her upstairs then he pulled the axe that he brought up to cut her arm, careful not to leave any traces of himself. Her room was filled with smoke so he could not see well and that is why he only cut a few inches above her forearm, not deep enough to dismember her. He was suffocating, but luckily, his gang came back and helped get Sophia down the ladder. He came back and threw an arm in to the staircase where he found her.

They rushed Sophia to their hide-out where she was treated by a gang member. It was hopeless, she had 2nd to 3rd degree burns and she lost too much blood through her arms. It was still a miracle that she lived.

Ryder

"If you took Sophia, then whose body did they find?" Ryder asked.

"Ryder, I don't know. I just let the gang clean up few traces, which are the ladder and CCTV from the other house. That are that I threw was also not hers, I missed but I still injured her badly." said James.

"THAT IS NOT IMPORTANT!" Sophia yelled. "Look at me! THAT LETTER ALMOST KILLED ME! LOOK AT MY FACE!" she added.

James stopped her. "Hey! It is not his fault. Look at them, Lazaro's left arm and right leg are missing, each of Logan and Hope's families are dead. Everyone suffered just as you did."

She looked at each of them, fell on her knees and started crying.

"M-my life! I felt empty!" Sophia cried more, "Everything was taken away from me, but I deserved more! Among us all, I lost more than you all did!"

"Babe," James held her hand, "Everyone's going through something, but we must never put away the good in us."

"Sophia, we must start anew! Live this life or leave it be. That's our only choice," said Lazaro.

Sophia stood up and wiped her tears. "The Phoenix will start anew. We, the Skull, will live again!"

"In peace and freedom," Hope added as she taps Sophia's shoulder. Everyone started to come around Sophia, standing while looking above, a fury of hope burst inside their heart as they get themselves ready for a battle that could change everything.

Sophia smiled, "LET'S END THIS!"