Hard Wind and Family... Chapter 4
That night, Edith dreamt about her deceased sister.
It was cold, the sky aphotic. No birds singing, only crows, the trees completely still and silent. All she heard was the native harmony of her own footsteps in the grass as Edith approached Margo's grave.
She did not speak. All she did was slump down onto her knees and felt sadness overcome her. A few tears fell from her face as gravity caused them to plummet to the ground, and settle in the soil above her sister's coffin.
She was gone because of a brutal stab and laceration. A cut that would end anyone's life, and break their family and friend's emotions.
Out of nowhere, the sky turned a dark red and the ground beneath Edith began to shake. A dark growl surrounded Edith's ears and she turned to run. The wind picked up and birds morphed from soft cuddly animals, to dark black demons that made a high pitched concussive sound. Edith held her ears in pain and darted away from the grave as she saw a bony hand protrude from the ground. Again she heard the growl and ran faster. A skeletal figure rose from the ground. It was Margo, living in her deceased form. She chased after Edith with a knife and Edith continued to run as fast as possible.
Exhausted she fell into the grass, and faced her worst nightmare. As she used her arms and legs to push herself back, she ran into a wall with nowhere else to go. Margo's rotting corpse approached her with an intense growl that shook the ground. She threw the knife into Edith's abdomen and she screamed in pain and fear.
Edith quickly awoke in a sudden thrash of pain. She realized that she had stabbed herself on accident with the weapon she kept by her bed.
She panicked, "A.I. WAKE UP AUGUST NOW! GET ME TO MY MEDICAL STATION!"
"Yes Edith, I am detecting an object in your lower abdomen-"
"GOD DAMMIT IT'S A KNIFE! GET ME OUT OF HERE!" She interrupted her heart racing.
The floor beneath Edith separated and a platform was formed in front of her. She quickly stepped onto it, holding the knife within her, not being able to pull it out.
The platform descended into a medical station, a room with 4 windows underneath a section of the lab. The robotic snake arms gently put Edith onto the table as she was about to drift into unconsciousness.
August ran up to the window and put her hands against it. The snake arms tore off Edith's sleepwear and she was left in her undergarments.
August saw the knife in her abdomen and her heart skipped a beat, fearing the worst.
One particular snake went slowly to the knife, then grabbed it and attempted to pull it out, only to be thwarted by Edith's arms, which were as tough as no one would have known. Even though she looked skinny and weak, she was totally something different.
4 more arms came from the ceiling and held down Edith's limbs. She grunted in defense, but restraints crossed over her thrashing arms and legs, making her immobilized.
Again, she tried her hardest to not let the arms touch her. But to her attempts, her limbs were constricted by the constraints.
Another attempt was made by a snake arm, this time with some success. The arm went slowly, grabbed the knives' handle, then yanked it out.
"AAAHHH! Grnnmmmm!" Edith groaned drenched in pain. Blood began to leak from the open wound and Edith cried heavily, crying in front of August for the first time.
The throbs of pain were still there, undermining her skin. An arm descended from the ceiling with a syringe, then poked it into Edith's side. It was a sedative & anesthetic, meant to make her sleep so that she could be fixed and healed.
"August" She said from within.
Edith's voice was weak as she was about to drift into sleep.
August quickly stepped into the room and stood next to Edith, worry in her eyes.
"Edith, it'll be ok." Edith remembered those words.
Don't worry, everything will be fine, we're going to be really happy here, right?
She heard the echoes of her sister's soft and reassuring voice which made her cry harder.
"Gru? It's August."
"Yes, go ahead. How is Edith doeeng?"
"She's in pretty bad shape, stabbed herself in her sleep on accident after dreaming about Margo."
Gru was silent on the other line; no doubt he was shocked about what happened not even an hour ago.
"Is- is she goeeng to make eet?" he asked hopefully, a crack in his voice as if he were about to breakdown.
"I don't know, we'll just have to wait and see." August told him, then she hung up.
Felonious looked at her and August brought him in for a hug. "She'll be fine Felonious, you'll see her tomorrow."
That night was one of the longest August has ever had. She stayed up all night drinking copious amounts of coffee, trying to break the code within Vector's operating system. By 5:30 AM when the birds began to sing and the sun rose, she was exhausted. Getting up from the table, she stretched her arms then walked to the couch. She scratched her lower back before plopping down on the cushions, literally falling asleep 30 seconds later.
Maybe 5 minutes after she'd fallen asleep, Edith walked into the room in a dark blue robe, stitches occupying the knife wound. She leaned over the couch and noticed August sleeping, she shook her but she didn't respond.
Lazy, she thought.
Edith decided to take a look and see what August found. She looked over everything and when she accessed the file with ease, her mouth flew wide open. A long list of names filled the touch screen. There was one that Vector marked. Margo…
Edith opened the file to see her sister's profile.
Assassination target: 16 year old Margo
Reason for mark: Possible informant, needs to be neutralized based on intake of knowledge. Also a Daughter of Felonious Gru, world's 2nd greatest super villain, use caution. If Margo were to live, she'd be a dangerous villain.
Edith scrolled down to see hers next
Assassination target: 13 year old Edith
Reason for mark: Tom-boy, extreme temper, ability to use any piece of technology, very intelligent, can hack a data terminal within seconds. Daughter of Felonious Gru…
Daughter…..of…..felonious…Gru…. how do they know all this?
Edith then got up raging with temper. How could Perkins say that? She furiously traveled down into her lab and into the room where she could smash stuff. She wreaked havoc on it for at least an hour, and came out of it all sweaty and shaking.
The room was primarily for when Edith got her tempers. The minions designed it for her, a gift actually.
Then Edith traveled back upstairs to see August awake and still cracking through files. August noticed her, "Edith! I know where Vector will be a couple of days from now.." She said frantically. Edith heard her but did not respond.
"Edith are you alright?" August put a hand on her shoulder, only for it to be grabbed and twisted backwards. August fell on the ground in pain, "What the hell was that for?" She screamed at her.
Edith still didn't respond, the cold dark look on her face became her entire emotional feel. Her whole body filled with anger.
"Do not remind me about Vector until I say so… Did you look at the profiles for both Margo and I? They were planned…"
August's mouth flew open. "What? How could they have been planned?" she asked frantically looking for answers.
Edith was reluctant to tell her, "We were both "Daughters of Felonious Gru" They wanted to break Gru's heart so they broke ours, don't you get it? Margo's dead because of Gru, and because of me" Her arms fell to her sides as she started to feel guilt run through her; she looked at the ground and a tear fell from her face, "I just wish I could have saved her.."
August sighed and put both hands on Edith's shoulders, "Edith, it may have been an unfortunate circumstance while living with Gru, but none the less it was probably bound to happen. You were 13 at the time, you couldn't have stopped Vector."
Edith turned around, away from August. "Yes I could have…"
"I have to go Edith, take care." August hugged Edith from behind, then turned away to gather her coat and leave the warehouse. Edith leaned against the wall and put her hand over her face, she didn't know what to do anymore.
The screen flashed on and she saw a map, followed by a guided location mark.
The A.I. spoke, "Edith, August has left you valuable information concerning Vector, recommend tactical assessment" She explained.
Edith rubbed her temples, "Store the information until needed, if you spot Vector let me know." She commanded.
"Yes Edith, in what folder would you like to store the information?"
"Retribution, Plan A"
An orange smoke filled a line of the sky as Vector plowed through the air.
A repetitive beeping noise sounded from his central console.
"Hey Dad, what's up?"
"Have you failed me yet again son?" Perkins said in a deep and irritated voice.
"Umm…." Vector started, fearing his father's dark tone. "No…..At least I don't think s-"
"One of your assassination targets is still alive."
"Which one?" Vector asked curious.
"Edith…"
Vector gulped. She's still alive? No that's not possible, if she were alive then Gru would have taught her to become a villain by now…
"AND let's not forget that 90% of my savings has been stolen by that little brat."
Oh crap, she is a villain.
"R-r-right, I'll get o-on that"
"Do not fail me"
Ok so this one was short, I know. Anyway, please review if possible, i love feedback as you probably already know. I'm getting to a very big climax in this story so be ready for some interesting carnage ^_^