Changed by Time ✔

thirty.

2352 hours

Wendy really wasn't sure what to do either. They'd set the dynamite up and they knew that Andrea and Abigail were somewhere within the cave. It was a large cave, but not large enough for them to have to acquire a search party to have to find two full grown women.

"Wendy," Nolan began, regaining her attention as he reached into his jacket, "I wasn't sure where to place this third stick so I still have it."

"Okay, we can figure that out later. Let's just focus on finding my mom and Abigail—"

"Wendy!" Andrea's voice echoed throughout the cave, louder and more core-shaking than anything else that echoed within the cave. It spooked Wendy more than the first gunshots did. "Wendy! Where are you, darling?"

Wendy put back on the mask, securing it within her messy hair. She and Nolan peeked from behind one of the rocks, looking outward upward from the golden pool they were only a couple rocks in front of. On top of one of the larger rocks was Andrea with a large knife that Wendy knew she didn't bring down there. In her grip was Abigail, bound tightly with a gag in her mouth as she visibly squirmed in her binds and under Andrea's grip.

"Oh!" Andrea exclaimed as she spotted them. "Are you wearing my mask? Huh. You look better in it than I ever did. Guess I can call you Fox now. Right?"

Wendy wasn't even sure how to respond to that. Everything about Andrea made her extremely uneasy. Abigail may have been the one to hold a gun to her temple, but Andrea was the one who could take a life.

"Well, we can discuss the name later." Andrea shrugged. She pushed Abigail forward slightly, as if she were showing off something she created in her free time. "I think we can finally take in the substance and take on my plan, Wendy!"

"'We'?" Wendy repeated, fully standing up from her crouched position as she spoke to her mother. "I thought you were just going to be the one who was going to take in the substance in its purest form? I never agreed to anything."

"Come on, Wendy! Haven't you ever thought about gaining more power than you already have? You can't tell me that you haven't ever dreamed of that."

"Of course I've thought about it. I thought about it when I was a child first learning about my own abilities. I've grown with them and learned that I don't need immeasurable power that I can wield at any given moment if I already have all the power I could ever want." Wendy stepped around the rock, beginning to make her way up to her mother.

"Not even if that power could give you the closure you need for what was taken from you?" Andrea held up the knife, pointing it towards Abigail. "It's clear that you really haven't experienced the loss of another like I did with Mark." She looked past Wendy, a slight smile crossing her lips. "Is that Nolan? My, he is quite handsome. I can see why you were so eager to get back to him."

"Don't change the subject, Mom," Wendy said, attempting to keep her tone steady and calm as she approached Andrea. She tried to keep herself steady, her body begging for her to just let go and let her tremble and collapse. "We're talking about you and me, not Nolan. Definitely not Abigail. Why don't you just let her go and we can take care of this another way..."

Wendy could feel her abilities returning to half-strength, her body catching up with the strain she originally put on it. It certainly didn't help with all the tension just dousing the air around them, her body filled with exhaustion.

"If you were to watch Nolan be torn to shreds and all you could do was watch, I bet you'd feel the same way I do." Andrea twisted the knife between her fingers. She flipped it around as if she were playing with a pencil while bored in class. "No, I know you would. You're so much like me in so many ways. Especially in your love language – Acts of Service. You'll do anything to make sure he's safe and happy. Wouldn't you? Even avenging him after watching him die just to save you."

All of Wendy's nerves and fear just snapped out of existence in that moment. 

Wendy clenched her fists, digging her broken nails into her palms as she threatened to tear apart the fabric. There was no more negotiating or simple reasoning. All of that went out the window the second those words poured from Andrea's lips.

Wendy understood.

"If you lay a finger on him, you can be certain that I will rip you apart limb from limb," Wendy threatened, her words more murderous than any person could ever be. "I can promise you that, Mom."

Andrea tilted her head, gripping the knife in her hand as she halted its twisting. "I thought so, Fox."

Wendy partially turned back to Nolan. "You need to go hide."

"I'm not leaving you—"

"That was not a suggestion." She fully turned back to him. Wendy was definitely an intimidating person, there was no doubt about that. In that moment, she was more frightening than any horror movie or threat could ever be.

Nolan swallowed the lump in his throat and nodded. "Okay... Don't get yourself killed."

"You too."

2358 hours

Nolan ran off, ducking behind rocks and boulders until he eventually disappeared within the cave. This just left Wendy facing Andrea all on her own. Abigail stopped struggling and squirming, simply watching as the interactions unfolded. It was hard to tell if she was entertained or simply on edge from her current situation.

"Will he not be joining us anymore?" Andrea questioned, looking back to Wendy as soon as Nolan fell from her view. "Too bad, I wanted to chat with him a bit more."

"You're losing it, Mom," Wendy stated. "You need to put the knife down and let Abigail go. We're going to figure this out. You're going to get the help you need one way or another."

"You know, power isn't just in what you wield. No, true power is what you do with it," Andrea said, pulling Abigail closer to her. She pressed the knife against Abigail's side. "True power is a combination of what you already wield with the fear you create and respect you gain."

"Then why are you here if that's true power?"

Andrea's phony smile and softness fell within an instant. "True power won't give me the satisfaction of watching the life pour out of that bastard's eyes. Hell, I think I might start off the plan with a little rearranging."

Andrea pulled back the knife, preparing to dive it into Abigail's side. Wendy swept down against the ground, her fingertips brushing against the gravel as she snatched up one of the larger rocks. It was the perfect size for skipping over a crystal-clear lake, but Wendy had other plans.

She flicked it at Andrea's hand, hitting her in the soft spot between her pointer finger and thumb. Andrea hissed as she dropped the knife, waving her hand around as an obvious red spot began to form.

Wendy leapt onto one of the rocks, pushing off of it as she pulled herself onto another. There was a large gap between where Wendy and Andrea stood. Abigail looked between the two, her eyes flicking towards the knife as it slid off the rock and into the gap.

"What's the plan, Wendy?" Andrea practically mocked. "I know you don't exactly want to save this piece of work." She held up Abigail as her feet threatened to slip off the edge of the rock just as the knife did. "But you have too much of a conscience to let her die."

Wendy kept a hard stare with Andrea, not speaking another word. It didn't seem to faze Andrea as she tapped her chin, acting as if she were in deep thought. She then pointed her finger upward as she exclaimed, "Here's an idea: I give you Abigail and you and Nolan get a two-minute head start."

"What are you going to do?"

"Well, I'll take in the substance and see what ends up happening to me. If it's bad, then I'll just let myself die down here. If it's good," she gave Wendy a toothy smile, "then I'll come after you."