A Crow's Odium

PUNCTURED BALLOON

JAY/ACE
My phone vibrates in my back pocket, who the hell's trying to call me? I'm in the middle of an important case right now!

It's not even like I have that many contacts either... no one ever calls me.
I glance down at my phone to check the number, it's a number I recognise and don't particularly want to pick up.
But knowing I'll probably get fired if I don't pick up, I press the green button and hold the phone to my ear.

"Agent Thompson? What the hell do you want?"

"Is that how you speak to your superior rookie?"

"My apologies sir.."
I find myself scowling down my phone at my least favourite slacker on the force. "Well, I thought you might wanna know this... ya know with your strange obsession with RedCrow and all..."

Something about RedCrow? It better not be another fake fan murder. "It's not an obsession, it's my job to keep track of her. But go on."

"In short, the government sent some small missals to obliterate the building they suspected she was hiding out in. The building's kissing the dirt right now and they told the FBI not to get involved... oh yeah and that I shouldn't tell anyone about this classified info but meh."

"WHAT?!"
I can't believe this. The government sent weapons of mass destruction to a building they suspected one criminal was located; that's insane!
Why the hell would they want her gone so badly? Because she's an S listed criminal? No...

She knows something we don't...

................................................................
KYLIE/REDCROW
Cough...          cough...
I can't breathe...
My lungs are filled with smoke and dust. How did they find me?
I escaped just in time, with only a dislocated knee and a few gashes here and there.

I slouched, leaning my head on the black bin bags, against the dumpster behind the Chinese fast food place directly next to the collapsed building I was hiding in. Not even an hour of sleep... I swear, is that too much to ask?

My eyes droop, the sound of whimpering filling my ears like the soundtrack of a discarded angel... a puppy... a puppy? Why? What...

My eyes shoot open and my broken body moves simultaneously, pure instinct, towards the corner of the collapsed building... a small part of it was still standing.
A wall of fire illuminated my worn face, dancing in the deadliest of ballets, consuming everything in its wake.

The whimpering echoed from a vent directly ahead of me... there's no way around the fire. No way.
The whimpering got louder and more violent as the vent heated, it would roast the puppy alive like a cheese toasty.
It's in pain, I can hear it.
So much pain...
What did it do to deserve this torment?
What did it do?
TELL ME

WHAT THE HELL DID IT DO?!

I sprint through the fire wall, the fire scraping and burning my skin, removing layers of muscle and fat.
Agony. Being burned alive. It's agony.
Every flick of flame felt like a blazing knife stabbing every part of your body...

The metal vent burned though my fingers as I ripped it off the remaining bricks that hadn't been disintegrated with the explosion. It was a puppy.
A puppy with the most pained, but innocent, look on its face. Alone.

I grabbed it, even though it whimpered when I picked it up from its seemingly broken ribs, anythings better than being burned alive... and dying alone.
Poor thing. I'll do everything that I can for it; but at this stage that is probably keeping it company when it...
Being a friend, a friend that will stick by your side until the very end.

Back at the dumpster already? Wow... my legs move fast. I can't feel anything, the adrenaline pumps through my veins and fuels my mind.
I rip the edge of my shirt and tie it tightly round a large gash in the puppy's back leg.

It was a very cute puppy, with floppy brown ears and a kind of spaniel vibe about him. The light chocolate colour he should be was charred and shrouded in soot and debris.

He whined. He cried. There was nothing to ease the pain that we felt at that moment. Agony.
And yet, an opportunity...
An opportunity for us both to sleep.
Just close our tired eyes and be welcomed into the abyss, embraced by the shadowy walls of peace and ignorance. Is ignorance truly bliss?

Is death really an escape?
I can feel the puppy's unsteady panting  as his chest slowly inflates and deflates like a punctured balloon.
I stroke his soft head with my burnt, melted hands.

My eyes close... is it time now?
How long I've waited for this moment... can I finally sleep now?
An image flashes across my mind.
It's sterile.
It's bright.
Surreal.
Syringes...
They're all crazy!
I won't let them do that... I won't watch! Not again! They won't!
They can't!
They can't... not again...
NOT EVER AGAIN!

I guess I can't sleep yet huh.

................................................................
{author's note}
I'm sorry for the long wait :(
The draft of this chapter didn't save and then I went camping with no service for a bit... sooo it's been a long weekend.

I hope you enjoy the story (if you can call it that) anyway :)))

Have fun xx