This is an idea I have had for quite some time…Please don't criticize…It really gets me down on myself and lowers my self esteem. A security guard reunites Ruth and Valerie…
Morning came and went all too quickly. The prisoners were all confined to their cells like normal, and many of them had been screaming loudly today. I didn't know why. By the time I had gotten them all calmed down, only two were left shouting; and they were shouting for each other.
I remember thinking how sad it was that they couldn't at least be in a cell together; that they had to be separated by the bars and only a few feet of space. I wondered if they had been placed right across from each other so that they could be tortured further; so that it would always be a thought in their minds that they were so close to each other, yet so far away. Unable to see each other; unable to touch and yet both of them knew that each other was alive.
"Valerie!" I heard a very feminine voice shout. "I don't know how much longer I can go on…" She began to cry and fell down in her cell. Her head had been shaved like the rest of the prisoners, but I could see that she was a lovely woman, and that her only reason left for living was the thought of this Valerie.
I looked across at the cell that contained Valerie, and she was crying. There was such pain in each and every tear that rolled down her very pale white cheek. She was curled up in the corner, her face turned away from me. I had to find some way to reunite them.
As night fell, I prayed that they could both survive one more day. I would be working again in the morning, and I knew that if I could just get the security cameras to fail for a few minutes, I could get them into the same cell and let them see each other. So, I snuck in and set the security cameras to go off in the morning, which I knew would cause some chaos and panic, but for that five minutes, I could give Ruth and Valerie their moment; I could give them their chance to say good bye …
But what if there was more that I could do? What if I could get them out of here fully? I was in such support of the resistance against Creedy and his Finger Men, it wasn't even funny. I needed to get them out, because outside of here, they could at least be in charge of something greater than this. Even if it meant my life, I didn't care, I wanted them to rise up against Creedy and defeat him and his cause once and for all.
So, as morning came, my plan worked. I heard the other officers begin to scramble around and it was in that instance that I unlocked Valerie's cell and then Ruth's. They looked at me in shock, and Valerie was having a hard time standing. I scooped up her small form and Ruth followed us out of the building.
We began running as quickly as possible until we hit a field that was covered in tall, thick grass. "Why did you do it?" Ruth asked, looking into my face for an answer.
"Don't you know who I am?" I asked her. "Don't you remember me?" I asked.
"Victor?" She asked. "Is it really you?"
I nodded. It was me, her little brother, in the flesh. "I am right here sis and I am going to stay with the both of you for as long as I can. I will make sure we all get someplace safe. I have friends who work with the underground resistance, and they can get us some pretty good fake passports and stuff. We need to get out of here; otherwise they will find and kill us."
"You're all grown up. But how could you have sunk so low as to work for Creedy?" She asked me.
"It was our parents' idea." I replied, a frown on my face. "They said it would make them proud. They have completely erased you from our lives, well, their lives. I will erase them from mine now…After all, disowning you wasn't fair of them!"
"Thank you Victor, for everything." She was weak, but at this point, she was stronger than Valerie, who was still in my arms and unable to walk.
"You're welcome." I replied. "We need to get some food and clothing for both of you." I stated. "Let's hurry." We continued walking as quickly as we could until we reached a little town. It was here that I located a cave that I knew would lead me to the underground resistance.
"Who is that?" I heard a voice shout at me.
"Victor!" I shouted back.
"Ah!" The man lowered his gun. I knew him as Thomas. He had always been against Creedy and all that they had stood for, and he quickly took us deep into the cave. "Who did you bring with you?" He asked.
"My sister Ruth and her partner Valerie. But they both need food and water badly." I told him.
"I'll get right on that for ya!" He replied. He went and got me some bread, lunch meat, and water. I set Valerie down and she and Ruth quickly began to eat the food. He brought more and more and they ladies ate until they were full. Then, he led us to his house where he told Ruth and Valerie to shower, discard their clothes, and he gave them each new outfits.
They were both grateful to him and glad to have the new clothes. Valerie was much better after she had gotten food in her. I wondered if her inability to walk was due to a combination of starvation and depression. But she couldn't keep her hands off of Ruth now, and the two of them were joined at the hip the whole time we were going to be staying at Thomas's. He had told me that he had a spare room that the three of us would use, and then if any of Creedy's Finger men stopped by searching for us, he had a crawl space that we could all fit in.
That night, we all went into the spare room. Valerie and Ruth in the queen sized bed in the center and me on a palette on the ground. "What kept you both going in there?" I asked them.
"Hearing her voice every day." Valerie replied. I could tell she was snuggled in close to Ruth because they were both smack in the center of the bed.
"Yes," Ruth began. "That was it…Nothing else would have kept me going, but knowing she was alive…That did."
"You two make me believe in true love…" I told them. "I think so few people find that nowadays."
"Don't worry Victor, you will find your true love some day." Ruth told me. "And she will be kind and loving and beautiful." I knew that as she spoke those words, she was looking at Valerie, and somehow, it made them seem true to me…Somehow, I knew that one day I would meet my true love just as my sister had met hers.
I woke up with a start the next morning. Finger Men…and they were at the door. I quickly got my sister and Val up and I told them to hide in the crawl space. They complied, but I was unable to join them.
Before I knew what was happening to me, I was being dragged off to the prison I had just escaped. They didn't kill or hurt Thomas, but I knew that they were going to torture and possibly kill me. I was terrified, and yet, as long as my sister and Valerie were safe, I was going to be okay. She was going to do great things, and eventually, I would be able to join her in doing those great things.
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My name is Ruth Fairbanks, and I have always felt like an outcast. My family rejected me when I told them that I was gay, and society rejected me as well. I was taken to a prison along with my partner Valerie, and we both thought that we would die in there.
But that wasn't the case. We got out thanks to my brother Victor. I don't know what we would have done without him. He got us to safety and introduced us to all the right people.
Together, Valerie and I lead the resistance against Creedy and his Finger Men. By day, we play it off as we are friends who work near each other. By night however, we live in the same apartment and we are not just roommates.
We have been talking about having a baby at some point, but we can't decide who should carry the baby. Should I? Should Val? Should we both? There are plenty of good looking men in this little town we have relocated to that would produce nice looking children with either of us, and we have both considered it. But is this a time to raise any children? Or is it too dangerous for them in this world?
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Once the fire happened, my body was burned badly. I looked horrible. I felt horrible. At this rate, I would never find anyone to love me…
That was…Until I met Evey. I was going by V at that point in time, and Evey needed someone to look after her. Finger Men were tightening on security, and she was always in danger it seemed. Protecting her made me feel good.
After we staged my death, a surgeon came and fixed all of my burn scars to the best of his ability. It was then that I let Evey see the true me…I had never allowed anyone to see me burned, but she did. And now, she would get Victor, and he would be good looking and not wearing a mask.
And I wondered where my sister was…What had become of her since I had helped her escape? I was going to go looking for her now…
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Today, my brother Victor, who has been going by V ever since he got burned badly, freed us all from Creedy. We, Valerie and I, were contacted by him and his partner Evey after everything. He told us his whole story; of how he escaped after the fire, and all the things that had happened to him since.
We told him our story and thanked him over and over for risking his life for us. He was very gracious and kind about everything, as were we. And we showed him our children. I had a daughter named Rose and Valerie had a son named Basil. They had different fathers, and we were going to be raising them together. Now that everything was over and no one was going to be trying to kill us anymore, we could finally be that family that we had always hoped to be.
And it was after everything that we finally found a sense of peace. At least…We thought we had! Who knows what the new government will be like? I sure hope they are fair and kind and just…