Black Veins –short story

CatWaterlow

Welcome back in the Federation! We haven't finished Black Veins yet, but don't worry: this won't involve Ella Parker.

Instead of going to New Chicago, we'll pay another metropolis a visit. I assume you have never been to Second Seattle before (the name... I still don't know how I got such a gruesome idea in the first place).

This short story is related to the Chaos trilogy, but won't contain any spoilers (though there's this one thing... I'm curious whether someone sees it).

And to keep it close. The song for the book (I know it's silly, but I can't stop thinking of Ella and... and the person I won't call here due to the spoiler alert when I hear this –and belief me, I have broken the replay button).

Here's our villain: Gwen Aren, who's delighted to show the places to be in Second Seattle.

"I don't think he's the kind you save. He's the kind you stop."

One building towered over all the others and allowed me to see the suburbs of Second Seattle, where the bulb of light slowly faded into darkness. Surrounded by forests and lakes, Second Seattle could only be reached by hovercraft. That hadn't stopped me, when I had figured out that it was time to leave the small village I had destroyed.

So here I was on top of the tallest building of Second Seattle, mocking the Federation with my presence. The mere fact that I was alive was already annoying them –though I preferred to call myself a criminal.

It was all a matter of definitions –heroes, villains, criminals, there really wasn't a difference. Staring at the lights of Second Seattle, I tried to figure out whether I preferred being Gwen the villain or Gwen the criminal.

Something about the big city lured me, attracted and mesmerized me. Something in the way so many lives were started and ended here, something in the way the chaos was uncontrollable and I was most whimsical of them all.

I was restless. The flashing lights of the billboards, the crowds that filled the streets and the hovercrafts that weaved intricate patterns in the sky; they had become a place where I could delay the moment my sanity would slip and lose its grip on my soul.

Sitting on the edge of the roof, I could look at the people hurrying to their destiny more than two hundred storeys below.

A sea of umbrellas, which wouldn't stop the rain which poured down on me, soaking me until even my bones were cold. Rubbing my hands, which didn't keep the cold at bay anymore, I waited patiently, counting the seconds.

"Lift your hands," the mechanical voice didn't surprise me, though I found myself breathless for an endless moment. Slowly I scrambled to my feet, raising my hands a couple of inches.

The soldier looked at me, the rain and the mask he was wearing making it impossible to distinguish his features.

I had prepared a hundred possible snarky comments, but I couldn't find the words now that I was facing the man who had been hunting me down for days. Mere days and I had already given in.

The Federation was ruthless.

"Shame that there isn't a balcony, don't you think, flying monkey?"

"You're arrested for the crimes you have committed in the past six days," he continued imperturbably.

"These include acts of vandalism, burglary, theft and murder."

"I didn't murder anyone," I protested weakly, placing my fists on my hips.

"Raise your hands."

"But that's so tiring!"

"Raise your hands. I will not hesitate to shoot."

Huffing undignified, I kept searching for a way out, wishing I hadn't been so impulsive. But then, I wouldn't have ended up in Second Seattle in the first place.

Seven days ago, I had been living in a small village.

Now I was standing in the pouring rain, gawking at the barrel of a machine gun.

"I'm sure we can talk about this. You're a soldier after all, busy with saving people and... other important stuff," babbling had always been my first defence –every second I could delay the moment that bullet would end up in my heart was giving me a chance to escape.

I only needed to use the perfect opportunity.

"You're not worth saving," the cold response was uttered without any emotions, telling me that I wouldn't escape this trap.

"I'm not a villain," I tried, because there was a certain truth in those words. He didn't even consider reacting –I was running out of time.

"I'm sorry?"

The barrel lowered one inch, no longer pointing at my heart –though a bullet in my stomach would hurt nevertheless.

"The thing is, I have never heard a villain utter an apology," there was confusion in his voice and something that sounded... hurt. And I would purposefully use that against him. A part of me, a part that used to steer my behaviour and acts, protested. Another part that had been growing stronger over the days when my body started breaking me down couldn't care. Few things bothered me nowadays.

"I'm sorry," I repeated and there was a sincerity in my voice that surprised both of us. "I'm sorry for being who I am and sorry for not being able to control what's tearing me down. I'm sorry for what I have done and caused and sorry for..."

My breathing hitched, tears forming in my eyes when I crossed that small line between acting and reality. In that silent moment, the barrel which had been pointing at the ground for an endless moment raised again.

"You're arrested. Raise your hands... Please."

All right, I needed another strategy to win this fight. Sighing, I obeyed, approaching him cautiously. The doors slid open when we stopped in front of the elevator, leaving me with no option than walk towards my death.

When the doors closed behind us, I was most definitely in more trouble than ever.

"Where will you take me?"

"Back to the dark hell hole you escaped."

189

188

"I'm sorry?" I exclaimed, unbelief in my voice. "Dark hell hole? May I know who of us has gone crazy? Though I did have neighbours from hell, friends from hell, family from hell and..." My voice trailed off when the cold blade of a knife was placed against my throat. The sensation of metal against my throat was nerve-wracking, though it could also be the lack of oxygen in my blood that made me lightheaded for I no longer dared to breathe.

In the light of the fluorescent lamps I could see the colour of his eyes –the only features that truly belonged to him. Brown, I decided. His eyes were like melted chocolate and gold –a mix that would probably glow in the most beautiful way when the sunlight fell into them.

I knew that my thoughts were steered by incapability to think logically, but they never ceased to terrify me.

Due to the extreme proximity, I could see the smooth fabric of the mask that didn't resemble the texture of skin at all, especially now that the mask was absorbing the rain drops.

"One other word and I'll make matters easier."

"What should I do then? Kiss you?" I mocked, hurt and triumph flooding through my veins when he stepped back immediately. He kept glaring at me from the other side of the metal cell, all his weapons in the sheaths and holsters, but I knew I couldn't outrun him.

The perfect opportunity.

I just needed to wait patiently, though I wasn't patient anymore –my treacherous genes devouring all parts of me that made me human.

123

122

Weighing my options, my eyes kept returning to the red digits above the door. If I could reach the control panel, I could just press the emergency button.

87

86

Leaping at the control panel, I slammed the button, which made the elevator come to a shrieking stop. Metal protested loudly, just as my arm when my poor left arm was folded behind my back under an impossible angle. The joints screamed, telling me that they didn't appreciate the rough treatment. Sinking to my knees in an attempt to keep my arm from displacing or breaking, I could only close my eyes in acknowledgment that this hadn't been the right opportunity.

"All right. Now that we have befriended. Do you mind telling me your name? I'm called Gwen Aren" I tried to distract, hoping that he could distinguish the words I hissed through clenched teeth.

"Yes."

"So what's your name?"

He entered a code in the system of the elevator and the cell accelerated much to my discontent. Jerking me back to my feet, he let go of my arm, stepping back to his own side of the elevator while taking care of blocking the control panel with his back. Massaging my sore shoulder, I looked at the red digits, which flashed past the small screen above the door.

40

39

I supposed, I didn't have another choice than using his weakest point against him. It was either kissing him or apologizing –and regardless of how much I would like to enrage him, I needed to take into account that I wanted to escape this peril without fashionable bullet holes in my body.

"I shouldn't have done that?" I didn't sound very convincing, but it was a start.

"Have you ever been locked in a small place without a way out? When your thoughts run free? Have you ever been in a cell with your worst enemy? Because, I can tell you, I'm my own worst enemy and I won't survive this. I'm a soldier in my own way –and I won't die in a cell. Still, there doesn't seem to be a choice in the matter."

His shoulders were tense, the muscles taut under his uniform, the black fabric stretching and showing his bulging muscles. In a fight, I wouldn't stand a chance.

11

10

"You could argue that I have nothing left to lose –but I have everything to lose. I need to die on my own terms. Not in a confined space that will burn down every bit of dignity I have left"

There was one sentence, one sequence of words that would convince him and I needed to find the key word –and I needed them right now.

8

7

"Save me."

He literally froze, keeping me rooted ta my spot with a desperateness in his eyes that made my world crumble. Staring at each other, I counted the second.

3

2

1

The doors slid open again, cold wind filling the elevator, touching my damp clothes. The ice seeped into my bones, until I believed I wouldn't warm up again. Still the shivers didn't run down my spine and my hands didn't tremble.

"Go," he whispered in a rough voice, his ragged and shallow breathing echoing in the elevator. Swallowing with difficulty, I kept standing.

The villain in me yelled at me, his insanity forcing me to move.

The person I had once been begging me to support him.

"Save me," I repeated, tasting the words on my lips. "Save me," the desperate edge in my voice grew stronger. "Save me."

I was losing every part of me. I was losing Gwen Aren. I was an empty shell. I was going mad. I was falling and there was nothing –literally nothing –that could stop me from falling.

"Save me."

Finally his gaze met mine and there was a wildness in them that mirrored my own eyes.

"I'm sorry," the words startled me. He was sorry for what? He grabbed the machine gun and turned to the entrance of the elevator. An arrest team was waiting on me, blocking my way thoroughly. Six soldiers, who looked exactly like the one standing next to me, their weapons raised slightly. They were confused by what they were witnessing, uncertain of who was on whose sides. This moment could have lasted an eternity, if hadn't been for the fact that the soldier aimed and pulled the trigger.

The first soldier fell, clutching his chest, blood pooling on the carpet. He coughed, a strangled sound that awoke the other soldiers who had been staring numbly at the scene that was enrolling in front of our eyes.

"Go," the soldier ordered.

I started running, hearing a rain of bullets hit the walls, the ceiling and the metal construction of the elevator.

The soldier who had been chasing me from the moment I had passed the borders of Second Seattle had turned against his family. Because of me. Because of a treacherous and lying villain who didn't deserve this sacrifice.

Looking in the windows of the shops a girl with brown curls and big black eyes stared back, accusations in her eyes. I spun around, being faced by her –me –every time I stopped moving.

"I'm a murderer," the words slipped past my lips, making the nausea that had pooled in the bottom of my stomach take control.

I could be better.

I had to be better.

I was Gwen Aren.

I was that girl who had destroyed a small village without batting one eyelash. The girl who fled to escape the arrest team that was on her trail.

Inhaling deeply, I knew that if I was to die, I would do it on my terms.

The scream that filled the streets, echoed in the spaces created by the skyscrapers that surrounded us reached a volume that made glass shatter. Reaching for the highest notes possible, I felt my lungs protest and my throat contract. Buildings wavered when a wall of sound hits them. Closing my eyes, I forced the last litre of air to leave my lungs, taking hovercrafts down with my voice –disenabling the navigation systems on board of the hovercrafts and ships of the Federation.

Collapsing on the wet pavement, the cold stone pressing against my cheek, I could only stare at the smog and grey clouds swirling above my head.

A hand on my shoulder couldn't startle me any longer. Someone took me in his arms and carried me through the streets of Second Seattle, a broad and warm chest offering me some comfort. Closing my eyes, the rhythmic movement of this person's marching lulled me to sleep.

My hand was curled around a piece of metal, which was just as warm as my skin. Confused, I opened my eyes, looking at the blanket which covered me. I had gotten used to the cold concrete on which I was lying, but the blankets were new. As was the jack which someone had stuffed under my head. My hand had slipped in one of the pockets during the night and had found the piece of metal. Looking around, I knew I had slept before in the abandoned factory hall in the outskirts of Second Seattle. Cautiously, I pulled my hand back and looked at the object which I was holding.

The dog tag reflected the dim sunlight that fell through the broken windows.

Soldier Benedict.

A small smile pulled ta the corners of my lips, hope fluttering in my chest. Perhaps I had found someone who would stay by my side.

"You saved me," I whispered, my voice echoing in the vast hall. The edges of the dog tag cut into my hand when I clenched my fists upon hearing someone clear his throat behind me.

The soldier had gotten rid of his mask and I couldn't help studying him intently. The uneasy silence dominated the space between us.

"Thank you," my voice was still a whisper, but he heard me nonetheless.

"I have never seen a villain show any gratitude before," he stated calmly and I couldn't find any regret in his voice or eyes.

Drawing the conclusion that in daylight they were absolutely captivating, I couldn't help smiling broadly.

"If you stick around, I might surprise you with more weird behaviour."

"That's a deal, Gwen Aren, "he reacted.

"Promised, soldier Benedict," I retorted.

And if you did recognize the quotation on top of the text, do let me know who's your favourite avenger (all right, let's make that MCU-character).

I just like Flacon/ Sam Wilson so incredibly much! His wings are simply genius.

All right... I think it's best to place a SPOILER ALERT here for ALL MARVEL MOVIES.

Your comments and votes turn me into a squealing guinea-pig –something you really do want to miss –so cause the people around me some serious suffering!

Don't forget the give-away, because it's pretty awesome (just my humble opinion).

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