XXII.

HEART-SHAPED BOX

The alarm went off again. And again she ignored it, silencing it just like the last two times before. She had never been a morning person at all, since her youth she had always despised waking up early, thank god she no longer attended school. Her personality had always resonated towards the night life, much like her younger sister, albeit for entirely different lifestyles and reasons. Her sleep was gone, but she still refused to open her eyes or get up from bed. She had a much better time sleeping away her heartache, for in her dreams she still had everything, a family, a brother, a daughter's love and most importantly a son who was still alive and full of that contagious love and energy he would constantly release from his heart and soul. Only in her dreams did she find a happiness that no longer existed in the real world.

The motel where she had been spending her many sleepless nights at was the most decent one in all of town. Located near the middle of town and at least half a mile from her childhood home, the closest she could ever be to them.

Eventually she gave in to the annoyance of her own mind, getting up and sitting on the edge of the bed's mattress she stared into the wall with no particular interest in mind, deep in a trance as she couldn't figure out what to do next. She wasn't feeling hungry, energetic or motivated, she felt nothing, as it had been for every day of the past couple of weeks. Her face was drained of joy and the area around her eyes, covered in dark circles due to the extreme lack of sleep and constant rubbing to wipe away the many tears she has shed for her children.

The door to the room opened up allowing a blinding bright light to infest the darkness of the room and sting the rocker's eyes shut.

"Luna, I left to get some breakfast. This is the earliest you've woken up in a long time." Sam walked in and placed a bag of takeout on the nearby table.

"Got us some waffles!" She smiled at her girlfriend.

Luna said nothing in return and begrudgingly stood up from bed. Walking over to the bathroom, she closed the door. Sam dropped her smile, she was trying her best to heal Luna, but it would take more than just herself to accomplish such a hard task. Grabbing her plate she set up the table while figuring out any others methods to tame the relentless heartache, Luna was going through. Ever since the news broke out, Sam fought tooth and nail to prevent Luna from mentally relapsing back to some ugly habits that she had miraculous convinced her to swear off. Even more, she was far more mortified of what she would find one of these days inside this motel room, fearing to see police and paramedics outside in the parking lot, that was her worst fear.

"Lord give me strength." She prayed to the big man in the sky. Lyra would know how to proceed with such needs, but it appears that the little girl she equally loves as her own, that loved to preach her heart out to the world, has embraced the hatred and now values nothing in return.

Luna joined Sam for breakfast and while lacking an appetite she still ate slowly to appease her girlfriend. She didn't want to worry her anymore than what she already was, even though it was hard to fake her emotions overall, she has always worn her heart on her sleeve.

"Thanks for the meal." Luna spoke, she meant it, despite the gloom in her voice.

"Anything for you." Sam replied back.

They ate in silence.

Nothing was planned for that day. Luna wanted to show change, but the process was downright... miserable. She had no idea whatsoever on how to advance, the commitment to finally settle down has always been foreign to her. She loved traveling, loved performing on stage, the feeling of absolute greatness as she rocked her soul out in front of a sold out concert was the best high than any drug she had ever taken. It was all meaningless to her now. She lost her passion the moment she lost her youngest child.

Giving up something she loved since childhood for something she shouldn't have ran away from was the equivalent of being stranded at sea; either starve to death or take a dive and drown to death. Luna had told Lincoln she wanted to be more active in their daughter's life moving forward, easier said than done apparently. Lyra hated her, she deeply despised her and would rather strangle her to death than sit down and have an honest conversation amongst them both.

The punishment was worth the price she supposed, a bloody price she had to pay up front in disgrace.

"I want to see her Sam..." Luna silently spoke up.

"But... I'm scared." Sam sorrowfully eyed her with sympathy, "I... don't know how to approach her. Lemy, I...will never...hug him again, never...h-hear his v-v-voice, his...smile, those...b-beautiful eyes..."

Luna let out a deep sob, covering her face with both hands. Sam got up and walked up to her, kneeling down and embracing her with all the supportive love she could give out, "I lost them! Both my kids are gone!"

"She's hurt, despite her feelings and words, she still needs her parents, even if she publicly denies it. She still needs her mother and you need your daughter." Sam allowed the small tears to slide down her face as she continued to hug Luna.

The other night, Luna had attempted to call Lyra, but lost her nerve. Instead she wrote a quick and simple message to her daughter and even then she struggled for minutes to press the "sent" icon in her phone. To her relief the message was read and nothing else afterwards, at least Lyra had acknowledged her that much. She still had a long way to go, a long lonely road to reach her now, only child again. Music can wait, it can take a backseat, right now she wants her family back.

Lyra felt much more drowsier than last night and sensed an incoming headache as well. Maybe she shouldn't had swallowed that many aspirins to subdue the aching pain in her left arm. She could had easily overdosed and be on her one way ticket to the hell, or be strapped to a hospital bed under suicide watch, due to the circumstances, not to mention her inaugural battle wounds would have added to the staff's suspicion.

Whatever the pain, she had to endure it.

Only until they were all dead would she allow her body to crumble in exhaustion and peace. One thing was certain, things were going to get much dangerous moving forward. So far she's had lady luck on her side or maybe, just maybe, God was still looking out for her, despite her rejection of the All Mighty. Getting up from bed she carefully massaged her bandaged wounds, feeling the soft cotton with her fingertips. Thanks to her thick jacket, the switchblade didn't penetrate all the way through, no major muscle or bone was damaged, just the skin surface got cut open. She felt more at ease after a combined total of sixteen stitches to close both wounds and a bottle of hydrogen peroxide to disinfect too. She was genuinely surprised at how good of a treatment she had administered on herself, maybe she could had worked at the local clinic while still pursuing a classical musical career.

That was all out the window now. Just another dead dream.

"Shit." Lyra hissed as the pain in her shoulder jolted up for using said arm to lift herself up from bed.

Gently putting on her trademark purple jacket on to avoid anybody noticing her bandages, Lyra mentally replayed last night's quick interrogation. The dead bastard had revealed his supplier's location, now she had to go find him. It would be best to strike at night, too many eyes during the daytime and she can easily run and hide amongst the shadows if the situation got out of control. The only other thing on her mind was whether to begin this night or wait until her arm was properly healed enough?

"Still hurts..." Lyra moved her injured arm around, checking it's physical capabilities, "The guy can easily overpower me if he gets a lock on it."

Her inner contemplating lasted less than a few seconds as she chose to move ahead with the current schedule. She couldn't back down now, the longer she stalled the longer her vengeance would take, the possibility of the guy disappearing for good would happen and the worse her already damaged psyche would get. Lyra had finally tasted progress, she had to continue. The drug dealer could be one of them and that would be a tally on her list and even if he's not, he would have to be connected in some way, that's what she wanted to believe the most.

Checking her phone, she had a couple of unopened text messages. One was of Lacy, opening it, it showed a picture of her younger sister in a red and white baseball uniform, a baseball bat in hand and her iconic heartwarming smile. Below the attachment were the following words, I miss you.

A soft smile stretched on Lyra's face as she quickly downloaded her sister's image to the phone gallery. She dearly missed them all, but it was better for them to be away from this suffocating atmosphere of misery she and the others were trapped in. They did the right thing to get away, get away and search for a peace that she herself would never locate. This was her personal hell and she would keep on living it for the remainder of her life.

The other message was unknown, either way she read it regardless.

Lyra, it's Sam, would you be okay to meet up? Just you and I.

Lyra was surprised, she hadn't talked to Sam in a long time. Her relationship with the woman had never been properly established. She didn't hate her or held her in a negative light, Sam had always been kind and generous to her and Lemy. Perhaps the only reason she kept her distance was due to her previous, idiotic religious fanaticism, her own impure love for her own brother made her realize just how much of a hypocrite she truly was.

When?

She texted back and waited for a reply.

It didn't take long.

How about later tonight?

Lyra bit her bottom lip in uncertainty. She wanted to hit the place as soon as possible, she could not waste valuable time. It just won't do.

I'm busy tonight. How about tomorrow? Lunch?

Lyra had no idea what she was doing, did she really want to meet up with her? Was this a trap to get her and Luna alone together? Whatever was the case, she had responded and couldn't back out now. She would had prayed, but that was in the past, now she simply hoped that no funny business would occur.

Sounds great. See ya soon.

"Ah crap, what did I do?" Lyra groaned, not entirely sure if she did the right thing to accept Sam's offer. As previously stated she had always been cool towards her, so maybe it wouldn't be as bad and awkward as she was imagining it, just her head messing with her is all.

After waving Panther goodbye as she headed out to buy some groceries, Lyra walked to the backyard, she approached the tool shed that Panther's stepfather had built and funny enough rarely used at all. Inside was a heap of open space, just a lawnmower and various gardening tools hanging from a wooden hanger installed on the wall. The area that attracted her the most was the work bench where she kept her duffle bag underneath.

Placing it on the table, she started pulling out her gear one by one.

Her chest protector for extreme motor cross was the biggest and bulkiest to wear. Her paintball mask was still in good condition, but the lenses would need cleaning and her various weapons she has collected thus far were all still usable. Turning on the small lamp that resided on the table, Lyra grabbed her two guns and cleaned them with a cloth. She would need to purchase a cleaning kit, didn't want rust to build up inside the barrel, then again would she become a horder of weapons or toss away the ones that could no longer assist her? For now she would stick with what's she's got. Done with both handguns she grabbed the baseball bat and with some chloroform began to wipe away the dried up blood that got attached to it after destroying that dead junkie's face.

Grabbing her knife, Lyra wiped it clean, memories from last night coming to view. The first strike was deflected thanks to her chest protector, but her entire arm despite the cloth in between had been exposed to a fully piercing attack. She needed to get extra armor for her shoulders and arms. The remaining cash she had left could do, but she had chosen to save it up for a more urgent emergency.

"Need to find something..." Lyra placed the knife down and searched around the various plastic containers littered with junk.

Not much was found. Nothing of use at all. Just books, tools, scraps of metal and other useless junk. Actually, Lyra peaked on the last container and found something of deep interest. Removing all the other junk on top, she looked in confusion as she held up in her hands an actual tomahawk axe. It was a modern version with a slick militaristic design to boost it's appearance. Why was this here she had no clue, maybe it had been bought, won or gifted and then stashed away, to be forgotten. Worry not, it had acquired a new owner, one who was now eager to test it out.

"...Cool." Lyra grinned, carefully swinging it with her one good arm, testing it's weight and handling.

Placing her new weapon down she grabbed the utility belt she had purchased at a local garage sale, it wasn't high quality and traditional like the one's police officers used, it had pouches but they were small in comparison, only pepper spray and shotgun shells could properly fit tightly to them. On each side were the hips would be located were the larger holsters found, both her guns had made a perfect match. The revolver was empty and wouldn't be of use anytime soon, she wondered if it could be used for her new tool instead.

"Gotta cut the bottom now."

Lyra reached for her knife, but realized it was to large. She grabbed a box cutter laying on the table and slowly, but carefully cut around the bottom of the left holster. After some seconds she had completely removed the fabric and it now had a gaping hole from underneath.

"Bingo." Lyra smiled as the tomahawk slid right in, reaching all the way to the main blade.

She tried it on, with both hunting knife and still loaded pistol included. Handle sticking out didn't cause much discomfort to her thighs and would easily follow the motion of her leg movements, evading unnecessary collision. She liked it, very much she did.

"Yeah, all of this is fine and dandy." Lyra boasted as she held both axe and hunting knife on each hand, visualizing herself in combat against the scum of the night. Putting the knife back in place she grabbed her Glock and shadow trained with the combo of a gun and axe. Granted she had no idea what she was doing, only in her head did her imaginary combat made sense, she'd seen it in the video games that Loan and Lemy loved to play, but in real life these combatic maneuvers were far more trickier to pull off and avoid ending up dead due to a slip up. No, she'll leave the fancy dual combat for last, she wasn't here to earn experience points, she was here to simply murder everyone responsible and anyone else that foolishly chose to intervene with violence.

Packing everything away. She exited the shed and went inside for a drink. Not having much to do at the moment she turned on the television to see if anything interesting was happening; spoken to soon.

Four motorists attacked last night. One killed.

Possible relation to previous slayings?

Detroit gang violence on the rise?

Eyewitness comes forward.

Those were all the main headlines appearing on screen as the news anchor spoke about the recent spike in violence around Royal Woods. Lyra read it all, her eyes slowly widening in realization. The teenager slumped hard on the couch and covered up her troubled face with both hands as she let out a deep exasperated groan.

"Fuck me."

"Fuck! Yes, harder Lincoln!"

Lynn pleaded as her lust reached a feverish climax. Her hips aggressively grinding into her brother as she proudly rode him as the wild animal she knew he could transform himself into. She could feel his solid member thrusting much harder than before, he was close and she was impatient and wanted his seed exploding inside her now. Lincoln for his part gripped both hands to her ass and happily continued this rough lovemaking that both siblings deeply enjoyed from each other.

They never got the chance to cut loose, with so many people and kids to be precise in the house it was impossible to get any decent privacy. Now that almost everybody was gone, they could release all their pent up emotions on each other. For Lynn it was the much needed pleasures of sex, but for Lincoln, this was his stress reliever. All the pain, anger, anguish and fear got washed away when it was just him and any of his beloved sisters. After all that he has suffered in the past month, he really needed this.

"Fuck Lynn!" Lincoln grunted.

"Don't hold back Linc!" Lynn reached down to passionately kiss him, "Just, ugh! Let it...all out."

"It's okay."

Lynn, too understood that this was more than just wild sex, her brother was in pain and by God as their witness she would gift him any sense of peace, no matter how small the timeframe may be. He needed this more than she did and she loved him too much to see him fall down an empty dark hole of misery and self loathing.

"Ahhh, Yes!" Lynn couldn't hold it anymore for the end was near.

At that moment both lovers climaxed together. Finally giving in, Lynn slumped her entire body on top of Lincoln whom started playing with her messy hair. Neither spoke, only their deep tiresome breathing echoed around the room. Lynn who was laying on his chest shifted her head to look at him, placing a hand on his shoulder.

"Great workout." She grinned joyfully.

"Yeah..." Lincoln casually caressed her soft, yet very moist cheek.

Both held on to each other, enjoying the afterglow. Lynn rolled off Lincoln and laid by his side, still in deep bliss of their amorous actions. As much as she would normally boast about her stamina and compliment Lincoln on his toned body and endurance, she chose the peaceful silence that surrounded them both at the moment. Glancing at him, he felt at ease, but at the same time she could see it in his eyes as he stared at the ceiling; he was deep in thought, troubling thoughts that have been plaguing him.

"Don't... please, just relax." Lynn placed her hand on his chest, "Don't dwell on it... it's hard, but you still have us."

"I know." He sighed.

Yet, the dark brewing thoughts would not leave him be, even during this time of physical relief. He appreciated Lynn's intentions and believe him he will always enjoy her and any of the others sexual escapades, but they were nothing more than a temporary painkiller, only useful to numb the pain away for a small fraction of time.

He had them all in his thoughts as well his heart; Lyra, Lemy and surprisingly Luna herself included. He was worried, grieving and confused for each of them respectively. He knew Lyra was safe and had no idea when she would return home. How long her anger would last was a mystery to him, but he only hoped to see her back in their living room one of these days. He didn't care for her atrocious attitude or spiteful words she had dished out to everyone close to her, he would welcome her with open arms and cry his heart out, telling her how much he honest to God loves her, how much she means to him and promising to be by her side then and forever. Lincoln wanted his little girl back safe and sound, other than Lupa's mental well-being, nothing else mattered to him.

"She'll be back."

Lynn laid on her side resting most of her body on his, her head in between the pillow and his shoulder. Now solely focused on him, her face was of concern yet managed to squeeze out some optimism for his sake alone. She too was worried for her niece, despite her tough, sports junkie attitude Lynn was always on the lookout for her kid and the others. Never great with words other than with Lincoln alone, she chose to leave it to her other more charismatic siblings, an issue she wished to improve on. The night Lyra ran away from home she had gotten her workout clothes and hit the sidewalk, running at full speed on various directions, different streets searching far and wide for her. She kept it up until the clock had gone past midnight, refusing to give up, the fear and determination pushing her forward. Only until she bothered to check her phone that Lincoln had messaged her that Lyra was at a friend's did she finally relaxed and calmly walked back home. It was very late and even if she could easily beat up multiple men at once she wasn't going to risk a knife or gun coming into play, she had heard a distant gunshot that night, not gonna risk it indeed.

"Give her time. She will come home." Lynn repeated her words.

Lincoln kept quiet, too entranced with the ceiling, watching it morph into a swirling vortex the longer his eyes maintained focus. A vortex that represented his current predicament. One that he had no hopes of escaping, but finally acknowledged to be there.

"If you want may-"

"You think she's lying?" Lincoln cut her off.

"Lyra?" Lynn raised her eyebrow at the confusion.

"Luna." Lincoln sighed, relocating his arm around her and resting his hand on her smooth back, "Do you believe her? About giving it all up for us?"

Lynn scowled at the mention of her name, someone she had not spoken to in a very long time, "She's all talk. Always has been."

"It had to take this... unwanted event to happen for her to come back. That's just fucking pathetic, should had let Lyra tear into her instead of restraining her." Lynn spoke honestly.

Lynn just like Luan couldn't forgive Luna for abandoning her children that easily. Guess she forgot that being a mother meant placing her dream profession on hold or simply giving it up entirely. Lynn realized that she would never make it to the Olympics or even become a professional athlete in that regard, no medals, no media coverage, no sports hall of fame. It was a hard pill to swallow, she was great don't get her wrong, but the day she almost miscarriage her only child for attempting to prove her worth to a visiting college recruiter did she finally acknowledged her own personal issues.

Her daughter Lacy was far more important than some shiny metal with her name on it.

She didn't fully give up on sports thought. She stood as the proud coach of the local high school basketball and soccer teams, having already lead both to state semi-finals once. They didn't win, but she had proven to be capable enough to lead them up a second time and this time win for sure. But the greatest part of her job was having Lacy on both teams and not just coach her to be a great athlete, but simply have the opportunity to be by her side at all times.

Something Lynn was disgusted at Luna for not cherishing at all.

"I feel sorry for her, Linc, I'm not a heartless monster. Lemy was her son and I genuinely feel horrible for the two of you...but she... settling down was never in her nature." Lynn continued on her views on Luna as Lincoln seldom listened, "Lyra wants nothing to do with her, you want nothing to do with her. Luna will be gone by the end of the month, she won't change."

Lincoln took all her words in and she spoke truths, Luna had a bad habit of bailing when things didn't go her way. Rock n Roll had consumed her entirely, she was borderline addicted to that lifestyle, a true rebel without a cause. Yet when he last spoke with her, those eyes of hers, they spoke a complete different story. One of defeat and misery.

"What if she means it?"

Lynn shifted her body weight and raised her head up to meet his eyes, "You have to be joking right? Lincoln?"

"I... it's just a what if, Lynn."

"Son of a bitch, Linc, did her pretty blue eyes hypnotized you again? She already hurt you once!" Lynn huffed, displeased with her brother's unclear thinking.

"It's not like that!" He groaned, covering his eyes with his other forearm.

"Yeah, yeah, you big softie, that's all you really are. Don't even go down that route, it's closed, leave it be." Lynn said back.

"She has so much to atone for, but Lyra needs us, both of us, whether she wants it or not. I lost my son... I lost the opportunity to fix things between us. I lost the... chance to...be a r-real... father to him, I...can't ask him for...f-forgiveness now. Lincoln allowed his broken heart to speak on his behalf. Lynn hearing him out and slowly understanding.

"I don't want them both...I don't want Luna and Lyra to fall on the same wrongful path. They... need each other, I want them to love each other again."

Lynn hugged him back, feeling his warm body as Lincoln fought back tears of pain, having to remember all his terrible misfortunes. Lynn herself began to feel his emotional torment and let a single tear run down her face. She too would be so deeply lost if Lacy had suffered a similar fate, she would not want to live anymore. Despite her strong bravado, Lacy was her greatest treasure and losing said treasure was enough for the athletic brunette to ever contemplate suicide. Lynn held a strong resentment towards Luna, but gave out her entire heart to her older sister. The greatest pain a parent should never experience, was all she was feeling now.

"Time heals everything bro, if you want this then I support you all the way." Lynn kissed his cheek, laying her head back down, "Never really thought you would ever give her a second chance."

"For our daughter's sake." Lincoln responded, feeling the sleep come to him, "The Lord is very patient with our errors, why can't we?"

"Oh?" Lynn didn't expect that type of answer from him.

"Lyra left her Bible behind. It's a good read, who knew, huh?"

"Dinner is ready!"

"I'm coming!"

She gathered all her paperwork and neatly placed it all in a folder. She had gathered enough information to help the police department in their ongoing investigation. She just needed to go see them in person and deliver her findings, it would be a great boost for sure.

"Liby, your plate will get cold!"

"I'm coming mom!" Liby shouted back.

She packed everything on a briefcase and placed it underneath her bed. Tomorrow morning she would go. She would give everything she had to help bring justice in her late brother's memory. She was so excited to tell Lyra all about it, but then her shady attitude came back to memory. Liby paused, wondering if she should even have such bizarre thoughts about her older sister. Lately Lyra has not been herself at all, she heard about the fight and her running away from home. Lemy was her little brother, it was rational enough for her to have a crisis of faith and blame everyone within her radius. Those were the steps of grief after all.

But the way she wanted to personally head down to the mark locations on her own. It was almost like she was searching for trouble or wanting to cause trouble. Liby worried for her, she was not on the right mental state. She should be joining Lupa for therapy sessions, they both badly need it. In the end she waved away those pesky thoughts, Lyra was no vigilante, that was too silly, she was honest and fair, the same ol' big sister she has always looked up to. She was just hurting right now, they all were.

"Young lady, if you're not at the table in ten seconds I'm taking away your computer for a week!" Luan shouted from the dining room.

"Oh my gosh mom! I'm going, I'm going!" Liby shouted.

The clock struck 9 o'clock. The sun had set and the moon emerged into full view. Lyra stood on the entrance to the trailer park, light beams turned off, radio turned off, blending amongst the shadows and waiting.

She had been real lucky to still find the car she had "illegally borrowed" still parked in the exact spot she had hidden it the prior night. Thank god the local business that owned the parking lot wasn't opened this day or else a tow truck would had been called in. Right after Panther left for work at around 4 in the afternoon, Lyra had walked back to the spot and drove it to the house. Being a stolen car, she hid it inside the garage to avoid unnecessary problems. Until night time came did she took it back out on the streets. She should get rid of the license plates and place some fake ones instead, or was that only a trick that worked in the movies?

Check her out, already thinking like a common crook. However, the only crimes she's guilty of are the ones that will lead her to vengeance, everything else doesn't matter.

Driving around the trailer park, she chose to settle down on the outskirts and proceed on foot. Grabbing her equipment and double checking it all, she noticed the small drizzle pouring from the darkened clouds above. The forecast had said to expect some downpour later in the evening. She didn't mind the mud at the moment, but it would be a hassle either way. She remained sited, radio turned off, listening to the soft specks of raindrops hitting the entire car. A preferable sound that was helping her get in tune with her swirling emotions, she wasn't going to lie and say that she wasn't nervous at all. Which was a weird thing to feel after having already ranked up a death tally.

"If it's him, one down." Lyra told herself, focused on calming her nerves, "If not...one less drug dealer on this godforsaken earth."

Before the rain could come in full force she pumped herself up, covered up the area around her eyes with grease paint and exited the vehicle. Slowly and silently making her way to the fence, she hoped that no one in the many trailer homes had noticed her car or a moving shadow from their widows. Crouching as low as she could she sprinted ahead and reached the wooden fence and hoisted herself up just enough to get a clear view of the area around.

No one in sight, jus as she wanted.

The trailer she was after wasn't around to be seen. She began to move across the park, sticking to the shadows and using the many trailers as cover. The drizzling rain was starting to pick up, mud was beginning to form, she did not want to get completely wet, so she quickened her search.

"Come on, where are you?" Lyra whispered, sneaking past two women enjoying a drink under a roof.

Five trailers later she found it.

The white and blue trailer home was in her sights and even better the red truck was parked next to it; he was home. Her heart skipped a beat as she reached for her gun by instinct alone. She was itching to pull the trigger, impatient to avenge her brother. Checking the only road that separate them both, Lyra marched ahead, hands in pockets. There wasn't much activity going about, she could thank the rain for that, still she shouldn't linger about in the open for too long and risk the neighbors getting curious and suspicious. Walking by the truck she saw nothing of interest, no useful items for her. The bed of the pick up was mostly empty, except for a few beer cans scattered about, nothing useful at all. It was a nice truck though, wonder how much dope this idiot had to sell to afford it? That thought was only making her madder by the seconds.

A flash of lightning illuminated the dark sky, soon followed by thunder cracking the silence of the night. Lyra was standing exposed to wandering eyes as she pushed her body back against the trailer's wall. Only about ten feet away from the door, she pulled out her gun and began to formulate a plan to silently subdue his target and evade alerting the entire area. That was the plan, until she felt an object pressed against her skull.

"Don't even think about it!" The male voice behind Lyra calmly warned her.

'Son of a bitch...' Lyra mentally cursed herself as the man placed a firm grip on her still injured shoulder.

"Pass it over, or your life ends here mate." He ordered.

Doing as told Lyra begrudgingly handed over her pistol at the man who now possessed it in his other hand. This could not be happening! This shouldn't be happening at all, she was suppose to get the drop on him! Now her life was in this asshole's hands, she had no choice now, but to obey his every command.

"Let's get out of this bloody rain okay?" He pushed her towards the door, gun still aimed to her head, "Walk."

Lyra obeyed and both entered the trailer home as another crack of lightning and thunder came to be.

Inside the trailer home Lyra was stripped of all her weapons; hunting knife, pepper spray, the baseball bat and her tomahawk. She was ordered to sit on the couch and got tossed a cable zip tie for her to tie up her own hands. Lyra was fucking hating every moment as the man she presumed to be Francis sat on a chair opposite of her aiming both guns at her. Her mind was accelerating for options, opportunities and possible counter attacks, whatever she could come up with to escape this compromised situation.

With both hands tied up together, Francis as she believed got up from his seat and approached her, leaving her gun on the kitchen counter. With one hand he pulled back the hoodie and removed her face mask. Her identity was now compromised as well. He raised an eyebrow in confusion, guess he never expected a girl to whack him that night. Even if she was a woman he didn't stop aiming his gun at her and in return Lyra did not stop glaring at him with pure hatred, her face paint adding more rage to her icy blue eyes.

"Got a name?" Francis asked Lyra who continued to give him the death stare with no reply.

"Since when does Dice employ female assassins?" Francis remarked.

"Who the fuck is Dice?" Lyra growled back, both in sincerity and annoyance.

"Don't act stupid, bitch."

"Fuck you." Lyra spat back the urge to launch herself at him was very high, ready to use her own teeth to tear out his flesh if needed to.

"Start talking." He waved his gun around, taking his seat again.

"I'm here to kill you." Lyra hissed.

"That much is obvious." Francis snorted.

"... I'm here to kill everybody. You all deserve to burn in hell, killing the innocent for greed and pride! I'll fucking send you all down there myself!" Lyra jumped up from her seat as she yelled out her pure intentions.

"Sit down!" He hit her on the side of the head with the gun.

Lyra fell back down, a throbbing pain on the left side. Hissing in pain and anger, she remained adamant with hurting him completely. She tested her strength, but these cable ties were very effective, she remained helpless and defenseless. She wanted to murder him, didn't matter how, she was going to spill his blood all across this wooden floor. Decorate this fucking trailer home with the color red and hack his body to pieces with her tomahawk.

"Are you...who are you?" Francis repeated the same question, but this time with actual confusion.

"Someone who lost it all." Lyra's voice hardened as her eyes buried sharp daggers into his own, "I'm an angel turned devil."

Francis took up all her words, trying his best to decipher them. Her rant was clear indication enough that she had not been sent by Dice to finish him off. She did not fit a gangster's description at all, her choice of wardrobe were hand picked for obvious intentions as well. Her entire presence screamed bloody murder, she was practically a teenager. What other reason could some random teenage girl be given to start preaching and performing vigilantism?

It finally clicked.

"You're that kid's sister ain't ya?" Francis finally remembered the town's big tragic news from earlier that month.

Lyra's eyes burned with absolute rage as he had finally pieced it together. Before getting the chance to yell at him again, both were rudely interrupted by a hail of gun fire.

"Fuck!" Francis and Lyra hit the floor as bullets penetrated the walls and struck everything in sight.

The gunfire had ended while both inhabitants laid motionless on the floor, Francis laid on his back, a bloody hand grabbing the right side of his ribs where he just got shot. Lyra had curled up, but as soon as the gunfire had ended she quickly got back to her senses and looked around. Seeing Francis immobile, she grabbed her gun from the table, got on one knee and shoved the barrel of the handgun into his face.

"Francis! You backstabbing motherfucker! You better be dead!" A loud voice spoke from outside.

Lyra was trapped, she had no idea how many of them where out there, she had only two handguns at her disposal to use, but a straight up fire fight was not on her to do list. At least this moron was ready to be taken care off anyhow, kill him and escape through one of the back windows, easy as it can be.

"W-wait, your brother...I know." Francis pleaded to Lyra who pressed the gun harder into his eye. She eyed him intently, what had he just said?

"Get me, out of h-here... I'll tell y-you, who k-killed him!" Francis gave out his ultimatum to the teenage vigilante.

"Don't fucking lie to me!" Lyra growled back as she heard the screams of the several people outside, the other trailer home owners for sure.

"I know all three of them!"

"Mac, Hov, cover the sides! Bronze with me!" The same voice outside was yelling out orders.

Lyra looked around frantically, she was all out of options. She was surrounded and eventually they would break in and shoot her dead. She can't die, she refuses to admit defeat, her adrenaline was keeping her up, this is the closest to death she has felt since that first time in the alleyway. Lyra's fear was present, but she wasn't scared of dying, she was scared of dying and not completing her mission, her life had no meaning after Lemy's death. She welcomed death, but not until she full field her blood oath. She now had this man promising her the one thing she's been after. His word against hers, he can easily be lying to save his ass, but still...

Lyra pulled him up and placed the gun under his chin aggressively, "Let's get the fuck out of here then."

She eyes me like a Pisces when I am weak

I've been locked inside your heart-shaped box for weeks

I've been drawn into your magnet tar pit trap

I wish I could eat your cancer when you turn black

Hey! Wait!

I've got a new complaint

Forever in debt to your priceless advice