"How dramatic. You have always been such a drama queen." The harsh voice radiated over the cavern walls like silk over skin. It's dynamic tone hugged the people encased in the rocky terrain, sending chills straight through them to their hearts. Ebony sidestepped around Meryl and the handicapped rat laying on the floor. She glided like water in a circle around her rabbit, eyes never leaving the cool, somehow changed, ones of the black insurance girl.
"I'm not sure of the details myself because the only one who survived to tell the tale stands before us, filled with reluctance to share the story. All I know is that my parents brought her and her pathetic, spineless sister up to my grandfather's office. He and his head council had gathered there for a weekly meeting. I was playing in the hallway with a few dolls when all I heard was gunfire. I raced to the office and when I got there, All I saw was the little rabbit, standing in the middle of a pile of bloody, mutilated bodies. Three of those bodies were my kin, my grandfather, my mother, and my father. She told me she'd killed them all because they had killed Rosemary. I screamed, naturally. I was so young, now so tarnished. But she ran before the security guards could get there." Keeping steady eye contact with her prey, Ebony reached stealthily around her back, untucking her white shirt smoothly with little effort. Her leather tipped fingers grazed the handle of her weapon before enclosing tightly, the contrasting leathers groaning under the pressure.
"Meryl! Look out!" Vash, his sharp eye, had caught Ebony in the act, but before Meryl could react in anyway, Ebony had pulled the handle from her waistband and lashed out at her opponent. Meryl fell backwards, a pain-filled cry joining Ebony's forgotten voice in the towering cathedral ceiling of the cave. The gun fell from her hands right into those of the ivory-haired demoness whose crimson whip now hung limp and harmless in her grasp.
"Meryl!" Millie joined in Vash and Wolfwood's chorus for the short girl as Meryl slowly brought a hand up to her bleeding face.
'Add that to my list of aches and pains.' She thought wryly before standing up. Ebony sneered and cracked the whip intimidatingly.
"I had moved on, killing every last slave by my own hand. The Corporation was gone, my childhood dream, complete. But if my parents taught me one thing besides to hate them without consequence, It would be that you won't gain anything in life by having others do things for you. So I became filled with rage. It was I who should have pulled that trigger, not a lowly slave girl. I went on living here, waiting for the day until I found her and could exact my revenge.
"Then, lo and behold, my dimwitted brother was searching through my parent's file cabinet when part of the drawer became loose. We found my grandfather's diary and his will. Funny how this is all tying in, isn't it? You see, my grandfather states clearly, that to anyone, whether it be family or friend, who could bring him back his two illegitimate daughters by one of his coveted slave girls, would be rewarded with his entire life's savings. Why, living in poverty when you were raised to be nothing but an aristocrat, you'd jump at any chance for a large amount of money."
"Where are you going with this?" Meryl snapped, the stinging sensation of the facial wound and her already vibrant pains in her temples and back adding to her sour mood. She glared through one good eye at Ebony's smirking face. She once thought that she was very pretty, gorgeous even, but no longer. Time had sliced off her edges and now she was sharp and dangerous as a newly forged sword. The worst part was, Meryl had a feeling she knew exactly where Ebony was headed. She chuckled unconvincingly.
"What has this got to do with you treating Shortie like some sort of meal ticket?" Wolfwood gnashed his teeth. He was feeling particularly bitter at this time towards the corporation and their dealings. Not to mention, all this reminiscing reminded him that there were still at least seven children somewhere in this hell hole.
"You think that Rosemary and I, that we were the two illegitimate daughters? That's absurd!" She spat until Ebony silenced her once again with her whip. Expertly, Ebony curled the harsh leather of her weapon around Meryl's arm, twisting her around until the rabbit's back was to her and available for her inspection. Making sure her friends had a good view, even going as far as to nod to them to verify this fact, she dug her fingernails into Meryl's shirt and ripped a large hole in it. Directly on Meryl's spine, in between her defined shoulder blades, was a horrible scar. Still pink, it bubbled up from her otherwise perfect skin in the shape of a cursive S, the end curling into a tiny bird-like figure.
"Our brand. The Songbird Corporation's own specialized brand. There's no other like it on Gunsmoke." Ebony once again turned to Meryl's friends. They all seemed locked in horror at the scar's sudden revelation until Millie fumed and glared up at Ebony.
"And you're proud of that? You should be ashamed!" Expecting a backlash, Millie prepared herself but none came. It was if Ebony heard nothing of what Millie said. She was much more preoccupied in tracing something else beside the scar, something smaller, much smaller. Upon closer inspection, a smaller S, not as raw as the larger one, could be seen directly underneath the other.
"One practice of ours has gained much controversy, even from other slave companies. When a baby is born healthy, very rare, we use a hot needle to put our brand on them. It doesn't seem like a durable scar but it lasts. Here's proof of that."
(*)
Molly stood, or more partially stood, reaching behind her back and yanking all three knives out at once. She let out a painful gasp as she dropped the bloody weapons onto the sand beside the still body of her enemy.
But Amparo had never truly been her enemy. They may have parted on bad terms, Molly refusing to return to the Corporation and Amparo mad at her friend for abandoning her, but underneath all the layers of dust this planet left on them was their ten year-old selves, living in a cardboard box in a small alley somewhere in the annals of July. They left before its untimely destruction being picked up by the slave raiders the night before.
Taking a few steps towards Amparo was a bad idea because she could just feel the gaping holes in her back tearing at her. She finally stopped short and fell to her knees. Amparo's lavendar gaze, open but closed in a way, stared past her, out into the desert she had so wanted to explore.
"I'm sorry, old friend. I'm so sorry. It looks like life gave us both an uneven share. It never was supposed to happen this way."
"Actually, it was." Molly sniffled slightly, tears jarring out of her eyes and she turned despite the tears in her back. A shadow covered her skin from the hot sun but it was an unwelcome shadow. It was Anthony and he strode over purposefully, his slick ivory hair and calculating blue eyes gleaming maliciously.
"It's a good thing you were so hell bent on killing one another. Or it would have made my job a lot harder." He pulled a silver gun from his inside coat pocket and flipped the safety off. Molly raised her own weapon but it was too late. A single shot cut through the air, embedding itself into Molly's forehead. She fell backwards, landing on the sand beside Amparo, blood pulsing out of the clean hole.
"Shame really. You two were the best this Corporation will ever see. Clean up this mess." Anthony raised his head to one of the guards who nodded and grabbed both girls by the wrist. Their bodies left a trail in the dust and sand as the guard dragged them off towards the mansion. Anthony sighed and looked back towards the concealed opening in the rock face. Even over the wind he could hear Ebony's harsh voice.
(*)
Author's Notes: Yes, I know..I'm incredibly evil. ^_^ But I figured the rest could wait until another chapter. Consider yourselves lucky cuz I wasn't happy with the way I was writing this chapter and was gonna give up for awhile when I took a choir trip halfway across my state and spent a lonely night with myself and this story and VOILA!! ^_^ Here it is! Hope you like, and hope you review *hint hint* Ciao!
P.S.: THANK YOU SOOO MUCH FOR YOUR SUPPORT!! YOU REVIEWERS ARE ABOSULTELY WONDERFUL! THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU AND THANK YOU SOME MORE! MAY THE GODS GRANT YOU ALL THE HOT BISHIES...if you're a girl..lol THAT YOU COULD EVER WANT! And if your a boy may they grant you brains..Sorry boys but I'm just having a bad experience with men lately..They drive me CRAZY!..^_^
"I'm not sure of the details myself because the only one who survived to tell the tale stands before us, filled with reluctance to share the story. All I know is that my parents brought her and her pathetic, spineless sister up to my grandfather's office. He and his head council had gathered there for a weekly meeting. I was playing in the hallway with a few dolls when all I heard was gunfire. I raced to the office and when I got there, All I saw was the little rabbit, standing in the middle of a pile of bloody, mutilated bodies. Three of those bodies were my kin, my grandfather, my mother, and my father. She told me she'd killed them all because they had killed Rosemary. I screamed, naturally. I was so young, now so tarnished. But she ran before the security guards could get there." Keeping steady eye contact with her prey, Ebony reached stealthily around her back, untucking her white shirt smoothly with little effort. Her leather tipped fingers grazed the handle of her weapon before enclosing tightly, the contrasting leathers groaning under the pressure.
"Meryl! Look out!" Vash, his sharp eye, had caught Ebony in the act, but before Meryl could react in anyway, Ebony had pulled the handle from her waistband and lashed out at her opponent. Meryl fell backwards, a pain-filled cry joining Ebony's forgotten voice in the towering cathedral ceiling of the cave. The gun fell from her hands right into those of the ivory-haired demoness whose crimson whip now hung limp and harmless in her grasp.
"Meryl!" Millie joined in Vash and Wolfwood's chorus for the short girl as Meryl slowly brought a hand up to her bleeding face.
'Add that to my list of aches and pains.' She thought wryly before standing up. Ebony sneered and cracked the whip intimidatingly.
"I had moved on, killing every last slave by my own hand. The Corporation was gone, my childhood dream, complete. But if my parents taught me one thing besides to hate them without consequence, It would be that you won't gain anything in life by having others do things for you. So I became filled with rage. It was I who should have pulled that trigger, not a lowly slave girl. I went on living here, waiting for the day until I found her and could exact my revenge.
"Then, lo and behold, my dimwitted brother was searching through my parent's file cabinet when part of the drawer became loose. We found my grandfather's diary and his will. Funny how this is all tying in, isn't it? You see, my grandfather states clearly, that to anyone, whether it be family or friend, who could bring him back his two illegitimate daughters by one of his coveted slave girls, would be rewarded with his entire life's savings. Why, living in poverty when you were raised to be nothing but an aristocrat, you'd jump at any chance for a large amount of money."
"Where are you going with this?" Meryl snapped, the stinging sensation of the facial wound and her already vibrant pains in her temples and back adding to her sour mood. She glared through one good eye at Ebony's smirking face. She once thought that she was very pretty, gorgeous even, but no longer. Time had sliced off her edges and now she was sharp and dangerous as a newly forged sword. The worst part was, Meryl had a feeling she knew exactly where Ebony was headed. She chuckled unconvincingly.
"What has this got to do with you treating Shortie like some sort of meal ticket?" Wolfwood gnashed his teeth. He was feeling particularly bitter at this time towards the corporation and their dealings. Not to mention, all this reminiscing reminded him that there were still at least seven children somewhere in this hell hole.
"You think that Rosemary and I, that we were the two illegitimate daughters? That's absurd!" She spat until Ebony silenced her once again with her whip. Expertly, Ebony curled the harsh leather of her weapon around Meryl's arm, twisting her around until the rabbit's back was to her and available for her inspection. Making sure her friends had a good view, even going as far as to nod to them to verify this fact, she dug her fingernails into Meryl's shirt and ripped a large hole in it. Directly on Meryl's spine, in between her defined shoulder blades, was a horrible scar. Still pink, it bubbled up from her otherwise perfect skin in the shape of a cursive S, the end curling into a tiny bird-like figure.
"Our brand. The Songbird Corporation's own specialized brand. There's no other like it on Gunsmoke." Ebony once again turned to Meryl's friends. They all seemed locked in horror at the scar's sudden revelation until Millie fumed and glared up at Ebony.
"And you're proud of that? You should be ashamed!" Expecting a backlash, Millie prepared herself but none came. It was if Ebony heard nothing of what Millie said. She was much more preoccupied in tracing something else beside the scar, something smaller, much smaller. Upon closer inspection, a smaller S, not as raw as the larger one, could be seen directly underneath the other.
"One practice of ours has gained much controversy, even from other slave companies. When a baby is born healthy, very rare, we use a hot needle to put our brand on them. It doesn't seem like a durable scar but it lasts. Here's proof of that."
(*)
Molly stood, or more partially stood, reaching behind her back and yanking all three knives out at once. She let out a painful gasp as she dropped the bloody weapons onto the sand beside the still body of her enemy.
But Amparo had never truly been her enemy. They may have parted on bad terms, Molly refusing to return to the Corporation and Amparo mad at her friend for abandoning her, but underneath all the layers of dust this planet left on them was their ten year-old selves, living in a cardboard box in a small alley somewhere in the annals of July. They left before its untimely destruction being picked up by the slave raiders the night before.
Taking a few steps towards Amparo was a bad idea because she could just feel the gaping holes in her back tearing at her. She finally stopped short and fell to her knees. Amparo's lavendar gaze, open but closed in a way, stared past her, out into the desert she had so wanted to explore.
"I'm sorry, old friend. I'm so sorry. It looks like life gave us both an uneven share. It never was supposed to happen this way."
"Actually, it was." Molly sniffled slightly, tears jarring out of her eyes and she turned despite the tears in her back. A shadow covered her skin from the hot sun but it was an unwelcome shadow. It was Anthony and he strode over purposefully, his slick ivory hair and calculating blue eyes gleaming maliciously.
"It's a good thing you were so hell bent on killing one another. Or it would have made my job a lot harder." He pulled a silver gun from his inside coat pocket and flipped the safety off. Molly raised her own weapon but it was too late. A single shot cut through the air, embedding itself into Molly's forehead. She fell backwards, landing on the sand beside Amparo, blood pulsing out of the clean hole.
"Shame really. You two were the best this Corporation will ever see. Clean up this mess." Anthony raised his head to one of the guards who nodded and grabbed both girls by the wrist. Their bodies left a trail in the dust and sand as the guard dragged them off towards the mansion. Anthony sighed and looked back towards the concealed opening in the rock face. Even over the wind he could hear Ebony's harsh voice.
(*)
Author's Notes: Yes, I know..I'm incredibly evil. ^_^ But I figured the rest could wait until another chapter. Consider yourselves lucky cuz I wasn't happy with the way I was writing this chapter and was gonna give up for awhile when I took a choir trip halfway across my state and spent a lonely night with myself and this story and VOILA!! ^_^ Here it is! Hope you like, and hope you review *hint hint* Ciao!
P.S.: THANK YOU SOOO MUCH FOR YOUR SUPPORT!! YOU REVIEWERS ARE ABOSULTELY WONDERFUL! THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU AND THANK YOU SOME MORE! MAY THE GODS GRANT YOU ALL THE HOT BISHIES...if you're a girl..lol THAT YOU COULD EVER WANT! And if your a boy may they grant you brains..Sorry boys but I'm just having a bad experience with men lately..They drive me CRAZY!..^_^