Sobriety Is Super Overrated

Broken Memories

I approach Vanya as well. Maybe if we all approach her none of us will end up hurt. Or maybe she'll feel cornered and we'll all end up getting hurt.

All of this somehow reminds me of Vietnam. For some reason everything reminds me of Vietnam. I push the thought out of my mind. I need to focus now.

I'm not quite sure if we can really do this. If it will be enough to stop Vanya. I'm not really sure what's happening even. Vanya looks almost possessed.

Suddenly I'm nauseous, I feel as though I'm about to die. I'm pretty sure it's normal to feel nauseous when you're about to die.

I can almost see my life flashing before my eyes.

Of course I have no life, therefore there is nothing to see.

Then Vanya starts playing faster and louder and I feel as though she's built up a wall of sound to prevent Allison, Five and I from getting closer to her.

"Vanya!" Five yells over the music, trying to get closer to our sister.

"Vanya we're only trying to help!" He shouts once he's closer. Vanya pays him no attention, seeming almost completely focused on the music and nothing but the music. I know I'd never really had a great relationship with anyone in my family, but there had a been a few good moments I spent with Vanya. We were both tormented by Sir Reginald, he was constantly reminding her that she was normal and constantly reminding me that I was a failure. I suppose mutual hate over our adoptive father isn't the best thing to bond over but I suppose it could be worse.

"Vanya!" I scream over the obnoxiously loud violin music. She keeps playing faster and louder. But it's not just that. It's like her playing has power, like each time she puts more and more into the notes she plays.

"Vanya don't do this!" I scream louder and she gazes at me through the corner of her eye. I can tell by the look in her icy white eyes that whatever she is, she sure isn't Vanya, she's Vanya when Vanya is angry, and Vanya is never angry. Vanya is kind and peaceful and a good person, who would never hurt anyone even if her life depended on it. This thing isn't Vanya.

"Stop!" I yell. And this time I feel a strange tingling within myself. I think I've just activated a new power, something I didn't have before. In a explosion of blue I look up to see that I've summoned Ben, who just looks at me shocked before wiping out his tentacles and thrashing quite uselessly around the place before turning into a regular ghost. Vanya stopped playing for a second, then Diego pulled out his gun, ready to shoot her any moment now.

I didn't want to look, I adverted my gaze to the ground. If this is what it took for us to save the millions of people on earth, then this is it. So many people will be saved by killing someone close to me. I wish it didn't have to be like this.

I hear a loud gunshot, but when I look up Vanya is still alive, the roof is what Diego shot at. I'm still looking out through the hole in the ceiling when I see something even stranger happen.

I white ray of light whizzes past me and shots directly into the moon.

Which then causes a huge chunk of the moon to fall off and come hurtling in a ball of smoke and fire towards earth.

Well, at least now we know what causes the apocalypse.

"Everyone! We have to time travel! It's our only hope!" Five yells in desperation. He cares about us. About his family. About this weird, totally fucked up family who have been put through hell and then sent back all by the same evil man. The same evil man who for some reason thought that we could save the world. We all rush to gather around Five, Ben follows behind me and puts a hand on my shoulder. Apparently he's coming with this time.

"Are you ready?" Five asks, yelling again over the sound of a giant rock coming towards earth.

"In three...two....one!"

In a flash of blue he teleports Luther, Allison, Diego, Vanya, Ben and me into the future. The way there is different than when I time traveled with the briefcase. Stranger. It feels more unstable, probably because Five is trying to teleport multiple people and because he isn't very good at time travel yet. My knees are shaking with fear. Time travel is dangerous. Supposedly it does strange things to the mind, this would be the second time I've time traveled. And last time things didn't really end up too well.

We arrive in the apocalypse. Surprisingly, it looks better than I imagined, I mean, there is tons of flames and destruction all around but there is still a bit of rubble to be spared and some buildings that look mostly intact. It doesn't look like the worst place to live. At least not as bad as all the places I had to sleep in when I was in Vietnam. Back in that strange and awful place they called Vietnam.

I'm thinking of Dave again. God damn fucking Dave. He meant so much to me and for some reason he wants me to let him go. I punch a already breaking brick wall beside me in frustration. Theres no damage to the wall but it causes a large bloody cut to appear on my hand. Great. We probably don't have any medical supplies or anything to clean the would with so I'm probably just going to have to rip up some of my clothes to wrap it in because who the hell knows when we'll be coming back.

I sigh.

I'm starting to think that maybe Dave was right. That maybe I should stay away from the drugs, and move on from him and everything that happened in Vietnam.

But no matter what I know that I can't let myself succumb to these broken memories.