Kara Asher
***
[There are going to be 2 more short chapters after Kara's just so the P.O.V's don't get too confusing.]
***
His hands press against my throat with steady determination, holding me captive without exerting too much effort. Any effort, really.
The steel grey of his eyes is the only reminder, the only hint that this man is my fathers, my own flesh and blood. He's meant to protect me. He's meant to be more than this... anything but this.
The familiar feeling of light-headedness courses through my veins at pace, whipping around my body in a desperate search for oxygen, freedom, death. My face is probably a lighter shade of white by now, forcing me to become a reflection of my interior self, translucent and invisible.
"Please-" I almost don't recognise the voice as my own, it's huskier, lined with a slight richness mine lacks. Nevertheless, his eyes stay focused on my neck, predictably feeling my pulse pound under his fingertips with some sort of sadistic joy.
"Don't-" Again the voice slices through the silence, becoming more desperate than breathless. A plead rather than the inevitable panting that comes alongside being choked.
Just as his grip begins to tighten, knocking all the remaining air from my painfully contracted lungs, almost inaudible cries somehow distract me from the inevitable death presented before me. My cheeks aren't wet and my eyes are dry from the strain of keeping them open, keeping myself awake. I'm not alone.
"Sono dispiaciuto! Sono cosí dispiaciuto!"
(I'm sorry! I'm so sorry!)
Bring my body into a instinctive defensive position, it takes me longer than usual to acknowledge the change in my surroundings. The room is pitch black but familiar, a slight hint of perfume - a given when living in a box with two other girls - hangs in the air like a mist, coating my clammy skin with a refreshing sense of the present. Autumns low sleep music helps slow my racing heart rate, making the recovery from this particular nightmare quicker.
He's not here.
It was undeniably odd. I wasn't a person to find comfort in people; people leave. It's in their nature. By choice or by force, everyone leaves eventually so searching for permanence within another mortal, human companion just seems irresponsible, ineffective and most of all: weak. However, waking up to Athena and Autumn seemed eerily content, a unavoidable sense of comfort let my mind rest purely based on the fact that they were here. The first constant in my life for a long time. I had been and would continue to tell myself it was because of their skill set. I mean, who wouldn't feel comfortable around two trained assassins who's best interests it was in to keep you alive?
However, in reality as much as I don't trust anyone in this fucking hellhole, it was nice... really damn nice, to feel understood.
Suddenly, Athena's hand moves to grip the thin bedsheet, her knuckles turning pale under the tan skin, before she shakes her head, slightly at first then increasingly aggressive, muttering a string of words in unfamiliar languages.
Obviously, she was the voice in my dream. She pulled me out, it's the least I can do in return. That's how I've always done things: tit for tat. It works for me.
I'm good... excellent even at being passive aggressive. Its my thing.
Therefore it's very rare for someone to slip up and owe me because I always cash in. Rule with an iron fish and unwavering mind and you'll forever be on top.
A light sheen of sweat covers her entire body, making the first tear almost invisible, concealed by her thrashing.
It's interesting. Hell, it's very fucking interesting to watch someone so emotionless and cold as Athena Rose reveal their true emotional torment. It was something we had in common, our pasts, our own person hell revisiting us every time we close our eyes.
The most common misconception has always been that hiding your pain is strong, concealing the way your eyes sting and your throat burns at a tame reminder, makes you invincible. It doesn't. It makes you unstable. Broken from years of hiding within yourself.
I'd learnt to deal, the nightmare becoming less frequent after I took care of the issue that had previously haunted me.
But what can you do when it's not just one or two things that hurt, it's everything, every goddamn, inescapable thing?
Nothing.
And that's why Athena Rose is the most broken person I know.
But broken people, they have nothing left to lose... and that makes them inherently dangerous.
***
I watch Athena grab her keys with a immediate sense of detachment, my body swiftly adapting to hinder the feeling of loss as she deftly slips the sharpest one between her fingers, transforming a once mundane object into a weapon within seconds.
10 minutes after calming a sleeping Athena and crawling back into my designated sleeping spot, the alarms had sounded and with it, chaos had ensued.
A desperate, tangible chaos and it was calling to me.
You could have gone with her.
Shaking my head to dismiss any regrets at my refusal to join her on the hunt, I turn back to Autumn; her body shaking slightly under the pigmented glow of hidden scarlet lights. Almost mercifully, confusion at her response to the task distracts me from a wasted opportunity to kill, to hurt someone the way I hurt every goddamn day. Somewhere along the line that had become my mission in life and I was miles past the destination of redemption, the last thing I needed right now was to have more deaths, however deserving, on my conscience.
As of now, Autumn was a blessing and a curse.
However, crying people have never been my forte.
Grabbing Athena's loose bed-leg the metal snaps off easily, clearly too flexible and weak to be safe. We can kick each other's ass later, but she left and I won't apologise for using the available resources. Even if her bed now noticeably dips at one side.
Slipping the metal around the door handle, I manage to secure the metal lock, making entry hard and boring for any potential felons before turning back to a stronger looking brunette.
I know she doesn't want to be questioned. Hell, if we weren't living through the purge she'd probably throw herself out of a window to avoid answering anything too invasive.
But by nature I'm a curious person.
"So, Negative Nancy, what the holy fuck was that?"
***
Fun Fact: Kara Asher's personality is loosely based off bookara and you should follow her because she's cuter in real life.
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Adrenaline
Action"You're an enigma, Athena Rose." "Maybe I just want someone to try and understand me." "Some would say thats impossible." "That's because no-ones ever tried hard enough. No-one but him." *** On the Rose siblings 13th birthday their parents are bruta...
