Alessandra Faye

30

"What's going on Alessandra?" I ask her in my mind. If anyone knows anything that's going on then it's her.
"I need a break. After everything I do I mess everything up. How am I supposed to lead this war? I can't even lead you all and when I do I get you into things like this."
"It's not your fault. We get into things like this together." I feel a sting of sympathy for her. Everyone puts all these expectations but they don't bother to think that she's just 16 years old. She hasn't even got to experience what most kids at 16 get to experience. School, going out with friends, shopping at the mall, and doing things she will regret but not caring. Who knows if she'll ever get to experience those things? Who knows if I'll ever get to experience those things? When you fight every day to stay alive then you grow up too fast. So fast that one day you're 3 and the next you're 9.
"No, it's my fault. Stop trying to be strong. You're supposed to be 9 not 23."
I choke back a laugh. "What about you? Last time I checked you were 16 not 30."
I can hear her laugh inside my head. Her eyes twinkling and her perfect white smile branding themselves into my mind.
"Sometimes I forget that I'm still a kid."
It's almost like I can hear her sigh.
"It's sad that after all these years of being alive I can't seem to find a single minute to just relax without being yelled at."
"That's the life of a hero."
"Ha! Yeah, I'm not a hero. I just seem to be in the wrong place at the wrong time."
"Yeah, right. all these people look up to you. Elizabeth, Dylan, Ethan, even Peter looked up to you."
"Where is Elizabeth?"
I look up at the ceiling trying to remember what happened the last time Elizabeth was with us. The weird thing is that I can't remember anything.
"I don't know. When was the last time she was with us?"
Everything goes quiet in my head. A minute later I can hear her breathing.
"Last time I saw her was when I was dragged away from you guys."
"How did I not know?"
"Know what, Allie?"
"They took her of course."
"Who took her?"
"The scientists. They knew that she could harm people so they took her."
"How did we not notice it? I didn't hear a sound from her. You would think she would have made a sound when they took her away."
"Not if she knew it would happen."
"This doesn't make any sense. How would she have known that they would take her?"
"Peter, he expected her to be there at the van. I could hear it in his mind. He was anxious and was always repeating the word 'she'."
"So, she was working with him."
"Yeah."
"The people found out she was working with them and took her."
"Possibly," I tell her.
If Elizabeth was a part of this team here than that means she can't be trusted anymore. She might have been working with Peter but we don't know for sure. So, to keep everybody safe we can't go after her. It's not worth our lives.
"We're approaching the boss. So, I can't talk but I want you to be quiet and trust me I can get you out alive."
"How?"
"Just trust me."
Then my mind goes silent. I try to reach out to her again but she's gone. I don't know how she learned how to put up a wall between us but I don't like it. When it's up I can't hear or see a thing that's going on inside her mind.
"Come on." Alessandra shoves Isabelle forward.
She struggles against Alessandra. "Stop shoving me for goodness sakes!"
"Shut up!"
I can hear her bite her tongue but she's smoking mad. The heat of her face warms up the whole hallway.
"Be quiet and behave. She has a way to get us out of here."
Isabelle whips her head to face me. her eyes are giving me a long evil stare.
"I'll behave but I won't promise I won't do anything to Alessandra when we get out of here."
"Do whatever you want to her when we're out of here. Just behave while we're still in here."
"Whatever." She rolls her eyes at me, turning her head back.
She's going to be the reason why we end up dead. We're dragged into a room. I look around at the room spotting pictures of a woman. My eyes land on a man about the age of 50. His gray eyes stare at me while I'm shoved into a seat. He stands up from his chair, rolling up his sleeves.
"Nice to see you girls."
"What do you want from us?"
He looks at me with a shocked expression. "Well, that's not the way to talk to your boss."
"Let's just get this over with. I have some thinking to do and you're keeping me from it."
Dylan lands a hard kick to my stomach.
"Augh." I double over in pain, the wind taken from my lungs. That was one good kick. How did his leg even go that high?
"Thank you, Dylan."
Dylan nods silently to him and takes his position beside Alessandra. I look at them weirdly. I guess they're friends now.
"We're not friends. I just have to work with him if I want to get you all out of here."
"Wait. How did you know what I was thinking?"
"The look you just gave me said everything."
"Well, I'm not the one known as the good face concealer."
"Excuse me. Am I interrupting something?"
I hadn't notice the room had gotten quiet. Alessandra's eyes peel themselves off me and focus onto the guy's.
"No, sir."
"Are you sure? It looked like you guys were having a pretty intense staring competition."
"Just making sure the fugitive doesn't act up, sir."
"Good. Someone here needs to make sure the prisoners are being obedient."
"Sir, we need to get this over with." Ethan's voice enters my ears.
I look over at Ethan. His brown eyes stare at his dad intently. The outfit he's wearing matches Alessandra's. What is going on here?
"Oh, yes. To the punishment." He looks at the both of us. I glance over at Isabelle. She gives him a death look when his eyes pass over hers. Classic Isabelle.
"Let's see, you both have attempted escape. So, let me think. I'm pretty sure that is a level 10 punishment and if I remember correctly a level 10 punishment is death."
Death! I can't die before I turn 21.
"Sir, is that really necessary?" Alessandra looks at him nervously.
"Yes, it is. I can't have prisoners thinking they can get away with trying to escape. I believe we can take them out in the hallway and kill them there." He walks over to Dylan and hands him a pistol. "Make sure you don't get a lot of blood on my floors."
Dylan looks nervously at the pistol. "Yes, sir." His voice cracks when he says the words.
"Well, then get to it." He pats Dylan's shoulder roughly. Dylan looks at Alessandra with a nervous look.
I watch as they exchange a look of concern. Alessandra shrugs her shoulder.
"Is there a problem here?"
Dylan shakes his head. "No, sir.'
"Get them up." He nods his head towards us.
Alessandra and Ethan walk over towards us.
"Stay quiet. I'm working on a plan."
I barely nod. Making sure I don't let the guy see. Strong hands grab my arms and force me to my feet. A guy's voice whispers into my ear.
"Please tell me you have a plan."
I whisper out of the corner of my mouth, "She said she's working on it."
"Working on it! She better has it worked on soon or you guys are going to be dead meat lying in the hallway."
"I don't know."
I have learned over all my years of living with Alessandra is that she doesn't come up with plans until you're down to the second. So, who knows if she will even come up with a plan.
Ethan leads me out of the room. We're soon followed by Alessandra and Isabelle. I stare at Dylan as he passes through the door shaking.
"Dylan."
He looks up scared. "Who is this?"
"Allie."
His face goes back to normal but his body is still shaking.
"Allie, I'm sorry I have to do this."
"No, you don't."
"I do. You don't understand."
"Dylan, trust me, I know. Just because Alessandra acts like she doesn't love you anymore. Deep down she does. She just has a hard time showing it."
"How do you know that?" His voice is dripping with anger. I look over at him. He's staring at Alessandra with a death look. Alessandra is too busy talking to Ethan to notice the daggers being thrown into her back.
"She's replaced me already."
"Maybe she has but do you blame her? You questioned your all's relationship when she had put all her love into that relationship. She doesn't trust strangers but she trusted you. You messed that up and now you may never get her back."
"Why does everybody care so much that I asked a question? It was just a question."
I force back a laugh. "A question that you didn't have to ask."
"Shut up! I can't deal with you all anymore."
He brings up the gun and settles it onto my head. Alessandra looks up from her conversation.
"Dylan!"
"What?"
"Don't do this."
His hands are shaking. I look straight at Dylan trying to get back into his mind.
"Dylan, listen to me."
"Shut up! Just everybody shut up!" he places one hand to his head, shaking his head fiercely. His eyes are closed and he's mumbling.
"Dylan, please. Just listen to me." Alessandra places a hand onto his shoulder.
He jerks away. "Why should I listen to you? You don't understand how I feel. None of you do."
"Tell me what is wrong."
He looks at Alessandra. "You want to know what's wrong?"
"Yes." Alessandra nods her head.
"Fine." He throws his arms up into the air. "No one cares about me anymore. I make one stupid mistake and I get thrown into the trash. You hate me with your guts, Allie thinks I'm mentally ill," I look at him in disbelief. "I don't think that Dylan."
His laugh bounces off the walls. "Yeah, you do. Everybody here knows that you think that. Just because you can read minds doesn't mean you know everything."
"I never said that I knew everything."
"Well, you might as well have had. You sure act like it." He points at me. "Out of everyone here you are the most pathetic. You think you're so smart but really, you're just a tiny little 9-year-old. You don't know anything."
"I never said I did!" I yell at him.
"Oh, and Alessandra is so wrapped up in guys that she can't even think straight."
"What the heck does that have to do anything?"
"This world is doomed if you're the one that's supposed to save it."
"Dylan!" I yell at him. What he just said was uncalled for.
"What? Can I not say what I want now?"
"You can but what you just said to Alessandra was uncalled for."
"Whatever. No one likes you because you act like a baby. Everything must be your way, everyone needs to pay attention to you, and everywhere you go people stare at you. You want to know why? You're weird and you shouldn't have even been born that's why they stare at you."
I can feel the tears starting to creep their way into my eyes.
"Yeah, that's right. Go ahead and cry."
"I'm not crying." I choke on my words.
"Whatever. I think we need to get this over with."
"Dylan, think about what you are about to do. You're about to kill 2 innocent children for what? To prove yourself. To show me that you have moved on."
"I have moved on. I don't love you anymore."
"That's not true."
"Yes, it is. You just can't accept it."
"Dylan, just get it over with. Tell her the truth. She needs to hear it. You need to hear it."
"Why should I?"
"What?" Alessandra looks at him, confused.
"It's not like you would care anyway."
"Care about what?"
"I loved you for what seemed for like forever and to be honest I still do kind of."
"I'm sorry, Dylan, but I don't anymore."
"That's why I didn't want to tell you. No matter what I do it's just not enough to please you."
"If you wanted to please me than you should have kept that question to yourself."
"Why do you care so much about that stupid question?"
"Why do I care? You have got to be kidding me!" she laughs, her voice shaking.
"You were my boyfriend. If you had a question about our relationship than you should have asked me."
"Yeah, and what would you have told me? That everything would be fine."
"No, I would have told you the truth."
"What was that?"
"That I just wanted to be friends."
"So, I should be the one mad at you not the other way around."
"No, that's not how it's supposed to be."
"Then how is it supposed to be?"
"I'm supposed to be mad at you for going off and asking some random person about our relationship."
"The voice asked us what it could do for us. It's not like you were going to ask first."
"The voice wasn't talking about questions. At least not until you asked your stupid question."
"You know what. I can't deal with you anymore. I asked a question and if you have a problem with it then walk away."
"Maybe I will."
"Do it. It's not like we need you anymore. Not like we needed you before. We just didn't know how to tell you that we didn't want you bossing us around anymore."
"You literally just met me a few weeks ago."
"It was enough time to find out why everyone hates you so much."
"Everybody doesn't hate me."
"Are you sure about that."
"Yeah."
"Okay, how about you ask the girls what they think of you."
Alessandra turns her head towards us.
"Allie, what do you think?"
"Um," I look at Isabelle nervously. She shrugs her shoulders at me. Great advice!
"Well, you are sometimes kind of bossy."
"Okay. Isabelle, what do you think?"
"Your bossy times outnumber the fun times."
She just nods her head.
"I think I'm just going to go find a bathroom." She plays with her sword, her eyes cast down onto the ground as she leaves.
"Alessandra. Come back here, please."
"I got to go find a bathroom. I'll be back."
Something tells me that she's not coming back.
Ever.