Don't Kill Your Heroes

Chapter 5

When the door closes behind Maya she lets out a long, deep sigh. Finally away from the demons that live in the outside world, only to be greeted by the ones that live inside. The form, the competition, she knew she had to enter. For Jade, for Aiden, for her mom, she had promised her that she would keep them all safe and she wasn't about to break such an important promise just because she was scared.

Maya walks up the stairs to her room and walks over to the plain, white paper that laid on her dresser. She was about to pick it up before realizing it was smudged with dirt, which she was sure wasn't there before she had left. A small sniff behind Maya made her turn around instantly.

Jade stood in the cracked doorway, old tears stained her face and a few new ones start to fall. Maya's heart broke a little at the sight over her normally happy, little sister, crying infront of her.

Maya walks over to her quickly and kneels in front of her so they are face to face. She holds out her arms for Jade to come and hug her. Jade sinks to her knees in tears.

"You can't do it!" Jade tells Maya, her voice louder then Maya liked but she didn't comment. Jade leans forward to hug her tightly. "I won't let you!"  

"Sh, it's okay, Jade." Maya says to Jade, in hopes of comforting her, but she also wasn't sure what else to say.

"No it's not! Dad got another job today, we don't need anymore money!" Jade tells Maya, tears spilling faster down her face.

"No, Jade. Aiden needs more money to keep our family going, and even with two jobs it's not enough. He doesn't have the training he needs to get the type of job to save our family." Maya explains to her, hugging her even tighter. "You know I'm right, you just don't want to believe it."

"Can't you get a job too?" Jade asks, her voice cracking slightly as she looks up into Maya's eyes.

"There aren't any around her right for me. None that would give us any good income. I've checked." Maya tells her, pulling her to her feet so they were face to face. "It's the only way Jade. I just need you to promise me you won't tell Aiden, okay?"

Jade looks down at her feet and doesn't say anything.

Maya takes her hand and lightly pulls Jade's chin back up so they are eye to eye. "Please Jade." She says, her tone coming off as a begging plea.

Finally, to a great relief, Jade nods slightly. "I promise." She tells Maya, her face still sad and tear stained.

Maya looks at her and puts a slight smile on her face. She lifts her hands to Jade's face and wipes the tears from her eyes, then she kisses her forhead as she stands up.

"Now, can you go and help Aiden with dinner?" Maya asks Jade quietly.

Jade nods again and walks out just as silently as she had walked in. The normal, cheery, skip in her step had vanished as she dragged her feet, sadness pouring off of her.

Maya sighs deeply and walks over and sits on her bed, leaning back against the wall, and letting out a frustrated sigh that ended up turning into more of a choking sob.

After a minute, Maya takes a deep breath in attempt of pushing that weak moment past. She stands up and grabs the form from the dresser, along with a small pencil from her broken night stand.

The form had many things she was to fill out. Name, age, gender, height, weight, strengths, weaknesses, fears, weapon of choice. etc. She filled in each answer truthfully.

Name, Maya Rayas Destina. Age, 16. Gender, Female. Height, 5'4. Weight, 115 IBS. Strengths, Quick, Quiet, Speedy, ____. Weaknesses, Doesn't like to hurt anyone, doesn't know how to use weapons, ____. Fears, Abandonment, Tight spaces. Weapon of Choice, knife?