The Storm Inside

Chapter Thirty Two: Control

A/N: I've been waiting for an opportunity to make Damira go nuts so here we go

I walked out of the ruined part of the building and into the growing storm outside, hardly feeling the stinging rain against my face, hearing Beatrix calling me back but not really registering her words. I hoped she wouldn't follow me. I didn't really plan on coming back.

I could see the outskirts of the city in the very distance, and wondered vaguely when the authorities would be coming.

There was a crowd formed in front of the other building, there was even a tank, I didn't know where they had gotten that from, I saw it as I peeked around the side of the building I had come out of. A few doctors. Mostly it was an army of people in armoured suits that covered their faces. I liked that. If they didn't have faces, I could pretend they weren't people.

They were a football field away, standing in front of the building, blocking my access to it. There was something in there, or someone, that they didn't want me to get to. And I was quite sure I knew who that was.

"Damira, wait!" Beatrix called from behind me, and I could hear her running towards me. There was a crash as the hovering pieces of concrete fell down, I let go of them once she was out of harm's way. "Please stop," she begged, grabbing my hand. "If you go over there, you don't come back."

"I'm counting on it," I replied, turning away.

"Wait," she said. "Just think about you're doing. What is this going to solve? Nothing! If anything, killing all those people will make everything worse-"

"You of all people, are telling me not to kill?" I spat. "What's your body count, now?"

"Yours is over a dozen, so don't start that," she responded. "Don't do this."

"They killed Valerie!" I screamed, ripping my arm out of her grip.

She didn't flinch, just grabbed me by the shoulders and pulled me to face her. "I know," she said. "But she didn't die so you could kill yourself. She died to give us a chance to live. Damira, you can't do this to me," Beatrix whispered. "You are all I have, I need you-"

"You don't need anyone, and you never have," I responded icily. "Remember?"

"Don't use my words against me," she said angrily. "I said that to Thomas, not you."

"Was that before or after you killed him? I can't quite remember," I spat out.

Her face paled, and she stepped back. "I-"

It was so obvious, now that I thought about it. What I'd seen, it had never confirmed that she hadn't done it. What he'd said, about her rotting in prison, it could so easily mean what he'd said earlier, that he could get her thrown in there with him without lifting a finger. And why would he kill himself, if he had so much power? The way she'd attacked his body after, screaming why to anyone who was listening, and I'd of course assumed she was asking him why he would put her in this position, why he had done everything he'd done, but now it became more clear that she'd been asking him why he would make her kill him.

I'd instantly assumed that Beatrix was innocent because she'd been willing to show me her memories, and what guilty person would do that? Because there was nothing outright incriminating in them. Because of what he'd said before he pulled the trigger. And she'd known that those facts would make me believe her. But the more I thought about it, the less sense his "suicide" made.

"Because that's all you do, isn't it?" I asked. "You kill, you lie, you manipulate and play games, and you try to control me, and everyone around you."

She didn't reply, just hugged herself and shrank under my gaze.