The People with Useless Power

Chapter Ten

"But she was gone."

"That's it?" Mara scoffed. "Of course you can see Lavender."

The tension released as everyone sighed of relief. Emily finally looked up and back at Emma.

"Why do you want to, anyway?"

"Broken sanities fascinate me," he shrugged. "That's why I married your mother."

"Lavender Array doesn't have a broken sanity. She didn't have one to begin with," a cold feminine voice said from behind them. They all spun around- well, those that needed to- and peered at the strange woman holding a briefcase to her chest. She had blue hair that was styled as a messy bob, pale skin, big, narrowed grey eyes, and was wearing perfectly-applied black lipstick with her model-like features. She held a hand out to Mara, ignoring the stunned, transfixed look on Lucifer's face. "Rain Willow. Ph.D. in psychology, the study of human behavior. Author of four books, specializing in the treatment of childhood trauma. Pleasure to meet you."

"Oh, you must be the person I hired. How is she?" Mara asked politely, nudging her father, who snapped his mouth shut.

"If it wasn't for her power, Mara, she'd be normal, but since she can lower sanities..," Rain confessed, trailing off, but making her point glaringly clear: Lav's power was malfunctioning.

"Apparently her parents were abusive-" Vincent looked away. "-which most likely contributed to the downfall of her rational thinking and reasoning skills, not to mention the foundation of her power's strength. Childhood bullies and bipolar disorder played a big role from what I've gathered also."

"Oh, I get that. My parents weren't the kindest, either," Mara said, trying to bring empathy into her tone, but failing miserably. Luci's eyes narrowed angrily at her, but he kept quiet.

"She also requested that she meet with someone with the name of..." she peered at her wrist, "...Emily. Do you know of an Emily?"

Emily sucked air in through her gritted teeth, feeling her heart stop beating for a moment before pounding against her rib cage mercilessly. "I-I'm E-Emily," she stuttered.

"Oh, that's great. Please come with me."

...

Emily sat down across from Lavender on the padded floor of her cell, gathering the courage to look up. When she finally did, the glare of her glowing eyes sent her gaze down again.

"Emily," Lav whispered. "Emily, look up." She did as she was told and furrowed her eyebrows. "I'm sorry," she muttered, "I've acted... psychotic the past few days. I was jealous and angry..."

"You've obviously been through a lot," Emily said gently, kneading the padding on the floor. "It's just... Emma was so kind to me, and-"

"You don't have to explain yourself," she interrupted, and Emily looked back down at the floor.

"Okay, my turn!" Luci squealed, grabbing Emily's arm and throwing her back. She scrambled to the door and gave Mara a questioning look; Mara just shrugged in response. Lavender stared at him blankly at him.

"Who're you?" she growled.

"I don't think that's any of your business," he snapped back. He turned to everyone gathered at the door- Mara, Emma, Emily, Vincent, Grayson, and Rain- and hissed at them, "Get out."

They all turned and left, and Mara glanced back, worry filling her empty eyes. Luci stared her down as the door slammed shut.

She leaned against the door, still maintaining perfect posture somehow, and sighed. "He seems rather... ...eager, huh?"

"It's probably just excitement about meeting a crazy person," Vincent shrugged.

"Vincent, that's your sister," Grayson said, crossing his arms angrily. He shrugged and raised his hand, and Grayson winced. "That was unnecessary."

"What'd he do?" Emily asked shyly.

"I can make people irritated," Vincent explained, putting his hand down.

"Well, we know that, I think she means to ask about your power," Emma smirked.

"Ha. Ha. Very funny. Ha. Ha," Vincent said dryly. Emma's smirk grew. "I can activate peoples' pet peeves from up to a mile away. Only for a split second, though. A full second if I'm strong and lucky."

"Wow. That's..."

"Useless, I know."

Emma turned to Mara. "If you're worried, Unknown, we can all... you know... get massages, your treat."

She smiled, a genuine smile, with her cheeks turning a slight shade of pink. "Fine. But, as co-owner, you're splitting the cost."

Emma looked discouraged, but Emily gave her puppy eyes, and her shoulders slumped. "Deal..."

...

Emily yawned and stretched, her muscles feeling heavy and comfortable. Mara walked into the room, wrapped in a robe, and her hair finally messy for once. "We're going back to check up on their meeting, my father's and Lavender's," she said in her usual business-like tone.

"Why can't we go home and take a nap?" she muttered, rubbing the fluff of her own robe against her cheek. Mara rolled her eyes and took her wrist, dragging her out of the room and into the hallway, where all of the others sat on the floor lazily in their own robes, except for Vincent and Grayson, who were furiously making out in the corner. Emily turned away and saw Emma laying on a bench outside the door, her robe slightly undone and her hair framing her face perfectly...

Emily just stared at the ground.

Mara didn't.

"Come on, guys, we've got to go," Mara demanded after a minute, grabbing Vincent's arm and yanking him away from Gray.

"Fine," Emma groaned, and she sat up and stood. "Shouldn't we change first, though?"

"Yeah. Probably."

...

Rain had told her, when they left, that she'd wait outside the door. But she was gone.

Mara looked at the others, and their faces reflected her confusion back to her, except for Emily, who was clueless as always. She pressed a fingertip against the door handle, and a small beep sounded. Mara opened the door with a pop, and slammed it all the way back.

Her breath left her.

Lavender was gone.

And so was her father.

[A/N: Thank you. 147 votes, 120 comments... well, at least, the last time I checked. You guys are... just... amazing. I can't even describe... well, actually, I can. A few days ago, when I was reviewing the comments at this center I go to, I screamed and skipped up and down the hall. My friend was yelling at me to sit down, and telling me that she had a story to tell me, though she never finishes them.

You know who you are, anonymous friend.

This chapter was a bit shorter, but I've rewritten it 3 times already. I'm just afraid of losing the plot, like my last story. I'll make the next chapter longer, just as a compromise.

And as always, thank you so much for reading.

Also, you know chocolate syrup and water? Yeah, don't mix them together. Surprisingly, it's bitter and cold, like Mara's heart.

Thanks for reading!

~Personally, Personality~]