Nevada stood outside Minneapolis's door, staring at a strange drawing of the Native-American-themed girl frowning with a sign underneath saying "Do not disturb".
"What a joke." Nevada frowned, the music coming from the room was almost deafening.
She banged on the door now, waiting for someone to answer, her patience running thin. It wasn't the first time her sister had gone out without telling her, but she had never been away this long. Nevada frowned. Finally, the door cracked open, and the tall blonde heaved a momentary sign of relief, before instantly regretting it...
South Dakota's hard, golden eyes stared back at Nevada as she peered out from the doorway. Smoke rose from above the tall, dark-haired girl's head. A strange odor filled Nevada's nose as heavy metal music made her head spin.
Lost for words, Nevada simply croaked out, "How," before SoDak slammed the door in her face. Nevada couldn't help but think how foolish she must have looked...I can't think about that now, I need to get Okie back to our dorm.
The music suddenly lowered and hushed voices could be heard bickering and a few moments later the door opened again. SoDak held the door open this time as the tanned blonde stepped into the smokey room.
"Thanks," she murmured, as the Indian girl-Minneapolis, was it?-pushed silently by her and headed into the living room. Nevada could hear more voices talking and laughing ahead of her, and swallowed deeply, trying to stave off some of the tension and fear.. Waving her hand to try to clear some of the smoke, Nevada was able to get some idea of this place's layout.
Tucked into a far corner was a small wood stove, the faint glow of itsdying fire peering through from the fogged-over glass door. The rusty, old stove-pipe leading into the wall had was emitting smoke from a few small cracks, although the amount of smoke already in the room made it hard to tell where smoke was exactly coming from. Next to the stove was an old fridge and next to that, a table, covered with dust and several empty shot glasses. Opposite the stove, on a well-worn bedside table sat a large flat screen TV hooked up to a game system. Battered floorboards creaked beneath Nevada's boots, as she eyed the threadbare sofa in the middle of the room, unsure if she trusted it enough to sit down. Nevada caught a wiff of smoke she didn't recognize, turned around to see where it was from, and her eyes went wide. Sitting with West Virginia, dressed in Indian garb, laughing hysterically, was her sister.
The two were passing a long pipe back and forth as smoke rolled from her sister's lips and into the air. South Dakota drops down next to them, picking up her controller and continued her video game wordlessly.
Okie didn't even notice Nevada's arrival and a strange sensation completely unrelated to the smoky atmosphere entered the older sister's chest. She knelt down in front of Oklahoma, and pulled the pipe out of her hands.
"Hey... Nevada..." The white-haired sister looked up with a chuckle; she was completely stoned as West leaned against her, an unfocused gaze in goth-styled battleship's red eyes.
"It's time to go, Okie." Nevada whispered in a soft, yet firm tone. The silly smile on Okie's face vanished, and she frowned instantly.
"Where? To the dock so I can relive that nightmare like before in Pearl?" The venom in her younger sister's voice took Nevada aback at first, but she quickly countered.
"Don't talk about Pearl Harbor like you were the only one there!" Nevada now had everyone's attention, and the anger and bitterness in her voice ensured it was kept.
"Oh?! Do you mean the attack?!" Oklahoma laughed darkly, staggering to her feet. "That was the greatest thing that ever happened to me in my whole life! I had never been so scared and excited to fight for my life after years and years of peace! I was a WARSHIP! WE! WERE WARSHIPS!"
Nevada opened her mouth to argue back, but Oklahoma was already going. "No, no... It started when they raised me, when they turned me over from being ass up in Battleship row is when the real nightmare started. By the time I came through everyone had left, gone on fighting but West, and she too was soon underway...I was left alone with only Ari lying unconscious at the bottom of Battleship Row, and it wasn't like she was much comfort. I was mostly intact, even if I did hit my head. But when I tried to keep my rig, it was stripped from me."
Nevada rocked back on her heels, and had to put out a hand against the floor to steady herself. Okie still wasn't finished.
"A warship without weapons? OK you're a fucking barge now! I begged and pleaded to be a transport or anything to get back into the fight and was told no. Soon I wasn't even allowed to circle Pearl Harbor or Ford anymore as I was moored in place and became a gangplank to the new warships arriving in Pearl Harbor."
Her dark voice, heavy and tired, suddenly lightened and became almost cheerful. Nevada shivered with the drastic change in Okie's tone. Voice cracking, Oklahoma went on, "You could never imagine the embarrassment and humiliation I felt as I saw these brand new battleships sail into Pearl. I was a Yardie, soon everything was taken from me, no longer a mighty warship, but a simple storage unit for US it was decided I be sent stateside, not it to be fix of course, but to be broke down." Okie then laughed, and even SoDak and West, despite having been with her the whole time, shivered and sat up as she laughed. A hollow, humourless, almost sick laugh.
"...Truthfully, I used to think about you and the others..., out there fighting the war... but by the end I hated every one of you..." Tears were running down Okie's face, and Nevada felt her heart crack and her chest became tight.
"Then I ran into that storm, and I just wanted to sink and finally be forgotten by everyone...allowed to rest in peace, to have some dignity in death."
Unable to listen any longer, Nevada fractically grabbed Okie and pulled her tightly into her arms, burying her face in her little sister's neck. Okie was having none of it, and suddenly pushed the older back roughly.
"So no, I'm not going back to the dorm with you, in fact..." Okie's sad face suddenly morphed into a haunting grin one as she lifted her left arm up and twisted her hand outward. She snapped her fingers twice.
The smoke, once floating loosely around the room, now clumped together around Nevada and Oklahoma. It grew denser, and Nevada reached out a hand and realised the smoke had become jelly-like, although she could not break it into pieces.
Horrified, Nevada could only watch as her sister began to change before her eyes. Her white hair seemed to retract into her head, and grew shorter and spiked. Black and red highlights grew out, and continued growing until her hair reached her knees. Okie's pale skin grew deathly white and, and her eyes, once a beautiful shade of sky blue, became pitch-black balls of glass, with a red pit at the center. Her hands, once smooth and innocent, now looked weathered and worn, as if she'd seen many years of hard physical labor. "I'm leaving. Tonight. Sorry you won't be coming. I won't miss you." Her voice, usually high pitched and light, had become heavier, darker, almost weary.
Oklahoma snapped her fingers again, and the fog, which had surrounded her, now dissipated and curled itself around Nevada. Before she could think to hold her breath, Nevada had inhaled some of the smoke, and suddenly she staggered forward onto the couch. Memories crashed through Nevada's mind, images. Oklahoma had forced Nevada to feel and experience the pain she felt on a daily basis, and it was causing the normally tough, gung-ho girl to lose it. She curled into a ball on the old couch, the fog still wrapped around her, clutching her head. Tears came to Nevada's eyes as she realised that her teases and little comments, which she had were simple sisterly jokes, were actually a major source of Oklahoma's pain. Nevada thrashed in agony, nearly tearing her clothes off and hair out in an attempt to rid herself of it. Okie strode across the room and stood over her, horrid face indifferent. She strode over to her sister, stillwrithing in pain, and shook her hand, forcing her to look Okie in the eyes.
Suddenly Okie's eyes were burning into Nevada's soul, her voice distorted through the air as she suddenly slapped her older sister several times on the cheek, hard. When Nevada, drenched in sweat and shaking uncontrollably, found her sister's face, a voice spoke, a familiar one. It sounded far away, but getting closer, louder.
"WAKE UP NEVADA!"