Untimely

- III -

Mara could still feel the burning sensation of the dust and smoke as she sat still on the cold floor even after all the fighting had receded.

She shouldn't be feeling this worried and anxious for a group of strangers. She was trained better than this.

She saw her two brothers, Leon and Alvi, walk up towards her, and she quickly picked herself up, shutting away her anxious thoughts and putting on her façade.

"What happened to you?" Leon held up a hand for her to take, "We barely saw you in the fight."

"We thought they took you or something." said Alvi, almost too nonchalantly for her liking, and continued to walk past her.

Mara paused, unsure if they would believe what she saw. Hell, even she doesn't believe it.

"I got occupied." she replied instead, grabbing her brother's hand and standing up. "Another terror flash."

Leon's expression softened.

"You're our only sister, Mara. You can't be strong all the time or you will get yourself killed." He rested a hand on her shoulder, "I wish you would tell us when your powers are acting up. We just want you safe."

"I know, Lee." Mara looked down, "I promise I'll tell you next time."

The older sibling exhaled heavily through his nose. He patted her shoulder a few times before walking away, trusting that she will look after herself more.

Mara slumped. She felt exhausted. The boy was more than she bargained for and the flash she received had taken a toll on her just as the other times she had touched someone.

Mara reached inside her jacket pocket and pulled out her gloves. She traced the linings with her thumb before putting them on, feeling the walls she had put up grow taller. The gloves made her feel more confident and sure of her actions, rather than always worrying where they were.

Matthew passed by her whilst eating an apple, "I thought you said no one can beat your ass."

Mara scoffed and tackled her brother to the ground as soon as he turned his back towards her. She pulled his arm back and firmly held his head in place in the floor where it belonged, the apple rolling a few feet away.

"I still am the best." Mara pulled tighter at his arm and moved closer to his ear, "Or at the very least, better than you."

"Number 0."

Mara heard the loud thump of her father's cane and she slowly stood up.

"I assume you have a good reason for pummeling your brother to the ground." Mr. Hargreeves began to stride towards her, his cane hitting the floor with a loud sound in every step. Intimidation was his strongest suit, and he wore it well. 

If Mara felt uneasy, she didn't show it.

"He questioned my skill as a Sparrow." Her brown orbs turned into a flash of red and it burned into her father's own furnace.

"Did he now?" Her father raised an eyebrow and tore his eyes away to look at Matthew, who took a step a back.

Mr. Hargreeves clicked his tongue. His reached up towards her face and took hold of her jaw, slightly squeezing her face together and making the cut on her lip bleed a bit more.

But Mara did not falter. She tried not to squirm in his hold and still managed to fire her burning gaze into his own.

Then he simply let go and turned away, the sound of his cane following along as is nothing even happened. "I hope to see that it never happens again."