In Bad Company (ReWriting)

Day Two

Graphic Content Ahead - be warned.

I was playing Super Smash Bros with my brother when my left leg started to twitch, and the whispering in my head started. It told me where and when something was going down – with and to many people, apparently. (And trust me, As soon as I wrote that down, I saw how insane that sounded – throw me in the asylum! I'm certifiably nuts.)

But really, it was my trigger for when something really bad was about to happen.

I ran to the kitchen, Stephen running behind me, the game still playing, but the wii controllers left behind on the couch. Nat took one look at me and Stephen, then nodded.

"Stephen, I need you to keep the cops away. We," she pointed at me, then herself, "don't need interference." He nodded, then grabbed his keys from the bowl on the table and sped out the door to his car.

Nat turned to me, saying "Do you know where we're going?" I nodded. "Good. Get us there." She gripped my forearm, and in a flash, we were at the site.

The bottom floors of the large building were on fire, and it was spreading quickly. shattered glass was scattered on the side walk, like an explosion had occurred, though I hadn't heard that in the whispering.

"Tessa, teleport us to the roof, and get us in the building. We need to check for citizens; if there are any, standard procedure." I nodded, and gripped her forearm. As soon as we landed on the roof, she handed me a mask. I looked at it, then look at her.

"Don't look at me like that! Put it on and get going. We don't have much time." As if on cue, an explosion rocked the building, stopping us in our tracks. This was more than the standard burning building.

The door on the roof wasn't locked, which was pretty surprising for (what seemed like) a high security building. Following Nat's orders, we combed the top three of the ten floors, and then saw around four people trapped on floor seven. Most of the windows were gone, and the carpet was badly burnt, and I was pretty sure it had nothing to do with the fire downstairs, since it was in a large, perfect circle. Across from the circle, the people were huddled in a corner, hysterical, for some reason. I looked for an exit - a stairwell or something - and saw most of them were blocked off. The elevator even had an "Out of Order" sign taped to it - what a day for it not to work. The only exit on this floor seemed to be through the windows, or with me.

"Nat, could you calm these people down?"

"Already on it, Tess." Instantly, everyone in the crowd was silent. A little glassy eyed, sure, but what mattered was they they were docile enough where we could get them out of here. "Can you teleport them all out of here at once?" Nat asked.

"I've never tried with this many people, but I hope so." I threw over my shoulder as I walked toward the group of sheep. In a calm voice, (that was very practiced, since I had siblings) I told them they needed to grab my clothes or arms - basically anything they could hold onto. I also asked if they knew if anyone else was in the building - one spoke up to say no; they were the only ones here for some reason. Here for a meeting with someone.

Then there was something that shot across my vision, and Natalie was thrown out a window.

"Nat!" I screamed, running away from the citizens.

Her hands were gripped on the jagged, shattered glass, blood seeping from between her fingers and onto the already ruined carpet. Her legs kicked the side of the glass building as she tried to pull herself up, but it was futile. She lost her grip on the minds of the people, who, in turn, immediately became hysterical again. One gripped my arm, pleading me to get her out of here. and holding me in place, away from my sister who was falling out the window. I think she said something about being too important, but it was fuzzy. I was stuck between the two, my sister, who was far away and a single person, or the citizens, who were way closer and also more people. But she was my sister, my family. I swatted the woman off and started to inch toward Nat, watching for signs of that thing again.

But it turned out I didn't have to make the choice - she made it for me. I remember this part in slow motion and high definition, her falling. I guess the glass cutting into her hands was too much to handle, and the wind that beat at her from the outside was too much, so she let go. Or maybe she didn't want to watch me make the choice of saving her, and disregarding the people we needed to save. I watched her fall seven stories, then hit the ground. Blood pooled. Her hand moved. Her hand moved! I saw it! I swear to god I did! But, then, another explosion, and something came off the building. debris scattered over the sidewalk, and I couldn't see her anymore. everything was grey, clouded. Tears misted over my vision and streamed down my face, my mask getting slick.

Then I was snapped into reality, and like an automaton, I gathered the four, forced them to hold on, and teleported out of there. Dusty and singed, everyone in the building made it out safe. I walked over to where she fell, the memory carved into my mind - the place right next to the tied down sapling - and saw rock. I grabbed the first one, then the next, and the next, chucking them out of my way until I could just see a glimpse of her brown hair. Or a Hand. Or something. Anything.

And then I saw it. A bloodied arm, almost flat, like a goreish pancake.

I dug the rest of my sister out, piece by piece.

And then I called my brother. 

***

I remember, through the tear filled haze, that Stephen was gripping my hand tightly. Tighter than he did at mom's funeral. Tighter than when I held Nat's. We watched the fire burn together, on the shore of the lake at 2 A.M.. We watched the fire until the sun rose and the roaring flames were nothing but embers, but even then, it was still burned onto the back of our eyelids.

Everytime I blink, I still see her gripping the glass, and then her fall. Her hand moving, and then nothing but grey.

We couldn't even give her a proper service, just a bonfire at the beach. No body, no evidence, the secret identity stays hidden.