Avenge Me

Accidental Bathroom Break In

The Storm Headquarters came into view on the horizon and Aria mentally prepared herself for the events to occur inside. The group walked in and were stood on a balcony. Hundreds of Thunders bussied themselves in the large room. But all of the fast-paced commotion was instantly brought to a stand still when Blood Moon grabbed a megahorn attached to the wall and announced Aria's arrival. All of the Thunders' attention was brought to her. She noticed that most of them had unnatural hair colours, many had tattoos and all of them wore unique, colourful clothes. "Jet, Rain, Melody and Lyric. I want you four to pull the ropes for Riot while the Lightnings and I discuss matters. Four girls in the crowd walked towards the balcony she was currently standing on. Those women led Aria down a hallway away from the rest. She took a last look at Kid who gave her an encouraging thumbs up.

Jet, Rain, Melody and Lyric each introduced themselves. Melody and Lyric were sisters and they both had bright yellow hair. Jet's hair was jet black, fitting, and Rain's hair was a deep blue. Lyric and Jet both had tattoos, but none of Jet's were colourful. Melody had a nose piercing, while Jet had a lip piercing.

"Okay! So, what are we doing today?" Lyric said excitedly. They had brought Aria to another room after telling her the basic rules and procedures of The Storm. "What do you mean?" Aria asked.

"Hair, tattoos, piercings, etc."

"Wait, let's hold on a second."

"Well, this is just the way of The Storm. The Persistence is obsessed with ordinary, plain and regular, so, naturally, as rebels, we advocate for the opposite."

"So, do I have to get a makeover?"

"It would be highly recommended."

"I... I don't know."

"It's fine! We'll only do your hair today and I promise you'll like it. And if you don't like it we can dye it back to its normal colour or just wait it out."

"Okay, but can you choose the colour?"

"Of course! And don't worry you'll be very satisfied with the results."

Aria nodded with determination, but had to force herself to swallow the lump rising in her throat.

Two hours later and Aria still wasn't allowed to look in the mirror. She nervously wiggled in the chair against the girls' cautions. Every once in awhile they would pause their hair salon chatter to give her an update of how much longer she needed to wait along with an overly perky compliment. "One more minute, girly." Jet said. Jet never added the compliment and rarely even followed along with the conversation. "Thank you." Aria said in response.

Melody was painfully slowly taking the tinfoil and plastic wrap off of her head. And the closer she got to the big reveal, the more anxious Aria felt. Eventually, Aria's head was free from anything besides hair and she was left with a red to blonde hair ombre. Neither of the colours were natural and any remnants of Aria's brunette head was diminished. "Ya look good," Jet said. Aria barely noticed her voice and continued curiously feeling her hair.

"Okay, that's all for today. You'll need to freshen up your roots regularly and report back to us if you want anything else." Lyric said.

"Thanks!" Aria exclaimed. She stood up and enveloped them all in a group hug. At first, everyone seemed surprised, but they all warmed up quickly and smiled, even Jet. "Okay, okay, now let's get you back on the train tracks." Jet said ushering them all out of the door. Rain pulled out a slip of paper from her pocket that Blood Moon had given her. Her eyes jumped across the page as she read it over and then pushed it back into her pocket and said her interpretation of the note. "Blood Moon wants us to just give her a tour of the place, show her our room and then tell her the rules and daily procedures of The Storm."

"The let's get started!" Melody said clapping her hands together.

The group had been walking for about ten minutes now and Aria was already bored. The other girls could sense it and attempted to bring her back to reality. They walked past a few more doors before Aria asked, "Can I go to the bathroom?" They all replied with multiple variations of yes and led her towards a toilet. The toilet was just outside the cafeteria so they agreed to meet there once she was done and set her off on her way.

Aria stood in the small room for a few minutes before walking out without using any of the facilities. She opened the door and contemplated returning to her assigned group. That was the best idea. But Aria had just broken out of the current safest place in America with no plan whatsoever. Aria was no longer known for her good ideas.

She had felt watched ever since she arrived and was not going to trust any strangers just because of a good hair cut. Aria walked in the opposite direction of the cafeteria and decided to explore the building on her own terms in case her new acquaintances weren't giving her the whole blueprint.

After a few minutes, Aria was officially lost. The place was harder to navigate through than The Persistence main base. She was now attempting to retrace any steps she assumed she had taken. Aria was carefully deciding which turn to take when she heard a familiar voice. "Come on, Kid! You've been in the place! Don't tell us you don't know anything."

Kid? Aria thought. Is he near? Maybe he can help me.

"I've told you various times already! I don't know anything! The only time I saw anything, but the bars of my cell was when Aria broke me out and we ran like madmen through it!"

That was definitely Kid's voice, but he sounded very frustrated. Aria second guessed herself if she should ask him for directions.

"Ah yes, Aria. The random girl you ran into who saved you for no apparent reason and has very strong connections with The Persistence."

"She's not just a random girl."

"Then what would you categorize her as? A supposed spy! We can't trust her!"

"Why not?"

"That's enough! We're sending her home tomorrow. I don't care if she dies. She has absolutely no use to us and I will not be digging my own grave or hers."

Silence followed the outburst.

Aria stopped in her tracks. Is that what they thought of her? She felt embarrassed and suddenly weak. She leaned against the wall for support, but quickly slid down it. She sat there for a few moments before a determined gush of emotion overcame her. Well, I guess I'll just have to prove it to them. I can help them, and they need me.