See You in the Storm

19

There is an intense ringing in my ears. I am aware of Irvan stepping around the desk. I am aware of my lightning zipping down my body. The hum of electricity and the bright blue glow it gives off. The corners of my vision grown hazy. I see Irvan from behind a fogging glass. From miles away.Dark matter crowds the atmosphere, pushing Irvan away from me.

I take a step back and trip on the rug, stumbling and dropping the newspaper. It falls to my feet. I see my brother's eyes. 

"You're a liar." 

Irvan laughs. He fucking laughs. 

I scream and I realize I sound like Dick. "You killed him!"

"Well, I couldn't risk you trying to break him out before I got my end of the deal. You naive, little bitch. Did you really think you were smarter than me? Did you really believe you could make a deal with me and come out on top? I knew you weren't smart enough to find out who the heroes are." 

Ethan. Ethan. Ethan.

Not a deal. Not a deal, my brother. My brother. My everything. My world. 

Everything I have worked for is gone in an instant. Doomed from the start, nothing I've done has ever been worth it.

My life, the last remaining family I had, gone. Killed. And it was my fault. If I had broken him out and ran, if I hadn't put my trust in the world's worst person, Ethan would still be alive.

Naive, little bitch. Monster. Slut. Loser. Whore. Killer. Murderer. 

I can't breathe.

I love you. I'm proud of you.

Ethan told me that once in a letter. I told him that once in a letter he would never get a chance to read. 

I take a step forward, mind hazy, hands reaching for Irvan. I manage one hand around his neck before something pushes me backward. 

Irvan pulls away.

I look down, gasping.

A knife.

Embedded in my side. I don't feel it yet but I will. I feel the blood dripping down my stomach, soaking my shirt. My mouth opens, but no air enters. No sound escapes. I fall forward, grabbing the edge of the desk. 

I cannot die. I have to kill them first. For Ethan. 

I have to make them pay.

Energy courses through my body, but it isn't the lightning that attacks Irvan, it's the darkness. Shadows leech from the air like poison and swarm him. He screams, blood sprays, then his body falls to the floor with a thud. 

I force myself off the desk and move forward, through the house. 

Everything is a blur.

There is smoke and fire behind me. Someone else's or maybe my lightning. Screams echo in my ears, I feel nothing. Not even as I slaughter every mob member I can find. Men scatter in all different directions, bullets spray. 

Shadows eat the metal alive, chunks of wall and furniture combusts in my path. The darkness is violent, vengeful, and hungry. People are ripped apart and thrown into the air, bodies squelching and sobbing. 

One man lunges for me, gun empty though he swings it like a club. Lightning strikes his eyes and they burn right out of his sockets, dripping goo down his cheeks. He screams, pressing his hands to his face and they char. His veins blacken from fire and the sheer strength of the voltage. 

I step over him and towards the front door.

On the steps of the porch, the house crumbles behind me. Fire licks over the wooden stairs as I stumble down them and the heat stings.