Elementals (#Wattys2017)

Darkness

I opened my eyes.
"Ugh...ouch..."
Blood gushed from the open wound on my head. My wrists and ankles were bound so tight I could see bruises starting to show. The rope was so rough that it created gash along my hands and feet.
I pushed myself up on the palms of my hands.
The bruises reached all the way up into my palm were my weight was. I groaned in pain and fell back to the ground.
"Stop struggling. You're gonna hurt yourself more and that's my job."
I turned my head towards the voice.
The figure lurked in the shadows just out of my eyesight.
The cloak that hid their face, laid an the floor a couple yards away.
"Don't think we've had the pleasure..." I groaned.
"All in good time."
"You know you really shouldn't lurk in darkness.  It's considered rude. You wouldn't want to build a negative reputation, would you?"
I thought sarcasm was my best option but truly, I was terrified.
"You know, I don't think you're in any position to be making jokes, Lina."
Great...they know who I am.
"Oh, come on, I think I'm hilarious."
For this comment I got a swift blow to the back of the head but, the voice had never moved.
Someone else was in here.
"Must you always take my fun?" The voice said.
There was no answer.
I tried to turn to look at the second person but, I was slapped back.
"Considering you guys are gonna kill me anyways, it seems only fair that you tell me who you are."
"Oh, but I think you already know me." The voice said cunningly.
"What?"
"I'm sure you've heard about me, the one that was so powerful, the one that they loved, the one that-"
"The one that kept on talking even though the hostage wasn't listening? Sorry doesn't ring a bell."
I anticipated a blow but, it never came.
"How sweet, IT thinks it's funny. How about, the one that you replaced?"
The horrible realization came to me.
I saw in the shadows a plume of flame form in the figure's palm. Just like mine.
"Krissie..." I murmured.
I could now see her face. She was a girl maybe a little older than me. Her eyes lit up in what seemed like astonishment of some form.
"Oh, so someone has heard more about me than I thought. I'm not sure whether to be flattered or utterly offended. Tell me, was it good things?"
"You, they think you're dead! Do you know how much pain you caused them?! What you did to them?! What you did to Pi-"
She kicked me in the stomach and again I'm the face. I coughed and spat up blood.
"Oh, nah, it's good, I didn't need that tooth or my internal organs intact." I whispered to myself.
"What I did to who? Pine!?" She looked at me with a burning anger in her eyes.
"How about what they did to me?! She screamed.
"What are you talking about?"
"Of course you didn't hear this part of the story." She looked back at me know with an unknown flare in her eyes.
"Oh, you'll like this. It seems as though you've only heard their side of the story. That doesn't seem fair..."
She smirked.
"Story time!" She said.
She grabbed another rope and tied it to the one binding my hands. She strung it up on some pole attached to the ceiling. She yanked the rope and my body went flying up so that I was just barley resting on my knees. I winced in pain.
"Once upon a time, about...oh, don't know....three maybe four years ago. I was a part of your little family. I was best friends with River and Breeze and loved Pine like a brother. We saved lives, including each other's. We were happy." She looked almost sadly down at the floor but then the anger look returned to her.
"And then, they betrayed me."
"How did they betray you?" I asked, still not buying it.
"We were on a mission, it was just some bank heist we thought when we encountered some group of maniacs that wanted to destroy an entire city. We took most of them out and got all the hostages out except two. A seven year old girl who I had just told her that everything was going to be fine and that she and her mother would go home like nothing ever even happened. I shouldn't have made promises I couldn't keep. First her mother was shot right in front of her! And then I watched the girl die right in front of me. Later, Pine said there was no way to stop them. Naturally, I knew how to stop them." A smirk ran across her face.
"What did you do?" I asked carefully.
"The only thing I could do... I killed them."
I felt a horrified expression go across my face.
"Afterwards, when my team found out, they were furious and... Frightened. They said I had crossed the line and had become no better than they were. They said they could forgive me but, it would take time. And I would need to realize the wrongs I've done. So they suspended me from the team until I could prove to them I was still the same person I was before. They might as well as just killed me there. So, I enlisted the help of a friend. I ran off one night giving the illusion that I was so ridden with guilt I couldn't stand it. What I didn't expect was for Pine to follow me and try to "cheer me up" as he put it. So, it just made it more interesting to see their reactions when I faked my death. They thought it was someone from the group of maniacs I managed not to kill, had come back for revenge. They searched for months for the person who they thought did it but, to no avail. Because I had already killed them all. So this is my true punishment... To replace the evil I killed with myself."
I was dumbfounded am sat the same time confused.
"What they don't understand, what nobody understands is that it is so much easier being a villain than a hero. Did you ever think that maybe your powers destroy because that's what you're meant to do? I mean without any villains there wouldn't be any heroes. You should join me. I mean, what works better together than fire and fire?
"Never..." I hissed.
"Okay, so we're playing hard to get but, let's go over the other options, shall we?"
She grabbed my hair and pulled my face up towards hers.
" I do have a way we're you can give up all the pain associated with this curse. Just a quick, simple little thing to get rid of those pesky powers and just, give them to me instead..."
I looked at her confused.
She walked over and uncovered a machine that looked like the metal table with a bunch of needles sticking all around it and a glass tube hovering over it.
She turned and smirked back at me.
The world moved in a blur for a sec.
I felt hands pick me up and pull me to the machine. I was strapped in and the needles were jabbed into my sides, arms, legs, and neck.
I screamed with my teeth gritted.
"So, here's you're choices. Join me and help me take out the Elementals or have your powers sucked out of you along with your life. Choose."
What do I do now? Do I betray the only family I've ever had or die staying loyal to them.
"Never..." I hissed at her with gritted teeth.
"Fine, nice knowing ya kid. I almost wish I didn't have to kill you but, hey, more power for me!"
She pressed a button on the wall and sent electricity surging through the wires attached to the needles. I could feel the life draining out of me.
"No...no....no.......n-"
My world faded to black.