Peppermint And Gunpowder

Chapter Twelve: Dead

"Here," Kobra hands a yellowed book to Bandit. "This anything?"

"One of Mama's books." She eyes the books with frayed pages longingly. "She had many books. I wonder how many survived."

As of now, we stand knee deep in soot and charred remains of what once was Bandit and Helena's rooming area, searching for anything salvageable. A photograph, a book, an article of clothing.

"I think this is another one." Ghoul blows ash off the cover of another book as easily as if blowing dust. As if we were simply spring cleaning and not looking through charred rubble of the only home Bandit's ever known.

I keep looking, wood crumbling in my hands and falling to the ground.

"Mercury?" Poison says, a good distance away. I shift through debris over to him, gripping his shoulder for balance.

"Yeah?" I look over his shoulder, a small, singed piece of paper is clasped in his hands. "What is that?"

"I don't know," He looks over my shoulder and calls out to Bandit.

"What is that?" Confusion covers her face. "Where did you find this?"

Poison points to a pile of ash. "I was just sifting through it and found this. Do you know what it is?" She looks at him for a long while.

"No." She breaks the silence. "I've never seen it."

"Could it have been your mother's?"

"No. She never hide anything. We both knew this room like the back of our hands. I swear I've never seen that paper before in my life"

"What does it say?" Ghoul leans on Kobra's shoulder, wiping sweat off his brow. Poison reads first, face contorting in a combination of confusion and anger.

"This wasn't an accident." He says abruptly. He clutches the paper in his left hand and rubs his temple with the right. He shoves the paper in my direction.

Ghoul grabs it before I have a chance to react. We read over his shoulder.

The girl, the girl. What's so special about the girl?

"You're right." Kobra whispers, reaching out to touch Bandit's shoulder in a comforting way as tears brim in her eyes. "This wasn't an accident."

* * * *

"Yes, but how will we prove it?" Ghoul slams his hands down on the table. Gracie flinches as she and Bandit play on the floor. Though Bandit turned eighteen recently, she still always makes time to play with Gracie.

"Does it matter?" Bandit murmurs under her breath, walking a small doll next to Gracie. "I mean, really? It's over, it happened, they're gone. I would rather just forget everything happened. Allow me to mourn alone."

"Yes, it matters!" Ghoul shakes his head. "What if they come back?"

"And what if they don't?" She counters. Ghoul leans back in the wooden chair, closing his mouth.

"Bee, what if they do? Whoever did this is reckless, they're dangerous. We have to stop them."

She no longer speaks, just sends occasional glares.

"Bee?" Poison whispers. She stands and storms out of the room, the doll she once danced around Gracie lays abandoned and unmoving. Gracie watches her walk out, sorrow in her expression.

"Bandit--" Ghoul calls after, but I put my hand out to stop him. I shake my head.

"I'll go, girl to girl." I stand and start after Bandit. Gracie drops Kitty, red dress and all, onto the floor and scampers after me. I turn back, stopping her.

"No, baby, you have to stay here." I pick her up, cradling her on my hip and grabbing Kitty off the floor. "Why don't you go sit with Poison or Kobra? Why don't you take Bee's doll and ask them to play with you." I set her down and she grabs the other doll bound in blue fabric and black dress shoes, red hair falling in many directions. She climbs into Kobra's lap and hands him the blue bound doll. He smiles.

In search of Bandit, I pass the threshold. Empty halls and soulless corridors, Bandit is nowhere in sight.

Sounds of silent weeping leads me to the room of the fire.

She stands in the center of the room, hand over her mouth and tears dripping down her cheeks, absorbing the scene of nothing before her.

"Bandit?" I step inside wearily.

"What?"

"Are you alright?" I walk up behind her, placing a hand on her shoulder. She doesn't look at me, just at the wall where flames licked up and consumed everything.

"No, I'm not. You know why?" She looks at me, no longer is there any sorrow or confusion in her green eyes--nothing but anger. "Because I lost everything. My mother is dead. The only person in the world who actually cared for me, who actually loved me, is in the ground with nothing more than a wooden cross to mark the site. I have nowhere to go, no one to go to."

"Bandit, you have--" She shoots daggers with her eyes.

"No. Please, don't..." Tears fall from her eyes again. "I know, there are people here. People who care. Poison, Kobra, Ghoul, Gracie, you... it's just different."

"I know." I say, but she continues.

"My mama is dead. I could care less about the house or the things inside, but my mama is dead. Someone killed her, but I don't know who." She turns to me and I pull her into an embrace. "And I don't know if I want to know."

"I know." She continues still.

"I know they mean well, but could they even find out? Could anyone?" She buries her head in my shoulder.

"Yes." I say, holding her tightly. "Someone will."

"Please," She chokes through silent weepings. "Please find who did."

"I will."

"Mercury..." She pulls away, wiping tears away. "Will you pray with me?"