XXX.
WAKE ME UP WHEN SEPTEMBER ENDS
The waiting game had commenced. It was all she could do now, in her current condition it really was her only option at hand. And as much as she rather hide away in some rundown motel and lick her wounds she was now trapped in the very same household she had been trying to distance herself from. Locked in the same house with the very same people she wants nothing to do with anymore, not because of hate, but pure guilt and shame.Only a day had passed since her discharge from the hospital and already she felt overwhelmed by all the awkwardness of the people around her. Their positive energy was too hard of a pill to swallow. This was not the family she remembered leaving behind, where is all the fighting, shouting and lack of attention to most? Everyone was being too nice to her, too nice to the deranged monster they have willingly invited back home.
While everyone else is moving about around the house, Lyra stays in her room away from their presence.
Sitting on the floor cross-legged she gently played with Lemy's guitar, silently stroking the strings and producing low somber chords that perfectly reflected her inner turmoil. She missed playing her instruments, missed the sound of the music as it echoed around her; a melody of peaceful reassurance for the otherwise homicidal young teenage girl.
Every once in a while one of her sisters or aunt's would knock on the door and ask for her well-being. They were being respectful at not entering and Lyra appreciated that. A simple 'okay' or 'I'm still here' would be her main responses to ease their worries.
The one person she did take notice of that never once has come up to her since arriving back home was Lupa. Even if Lyra hated to be back here, there still was a desire to see her little sister and hopefully at the very least apologize if she could muster the courage to say those exact words.
"This fucking sucks…" Lyra sighed while pulling on the strings of her brother's guitar.
Outside she can go wild and let loose with her anger and twisted desire to kill everybody that gets in her way to vengeance, but locked here she felt lost and deeply alone.
Being in solitary had forced her to think and only think and after multiple murderous scenarios playing in her head on the ones that took Lemy away from her the other side of the coin began to show its face. Sorrow and emptiness had taken center stage and she now dwelled in her own immense depression. Truth be told she was fucking miserable and hated how fucking horrible she was starting to feel.
Lyra was feeling the immense emotions of loss suffocating her the longer she allowed herself to meddle in absolute silence.
All the bad things that have happened so far we're all piling up on her. Lemy's death, Luna's return and Lupa's rejection; all different pains mixing into a new lethal poison that was slowly killing her from the inside. Her heart had grown heavy in pain the longer she thought about it.
"Fuck... everything." She put down the guitar and I folded her legs, dejectedly staring at the ground, staring at her hands and envisioning them drenched in blood.
"I can't stay here...I can't stay here." She continued saying to herself as the imaginary blood dripped on the ground, spreading out as she watched with empty eyes.
A knock on her door snapped her back to her room and away from her deteriorating mindset.
"Lyra? Terry is here to see you? She's downstairs waiting." Lincoln's voice spoke up.
"I'll be there in a minute." Lyra said back, surprised at her friend's sudden arrival.
Leaving her room Lyra descended down the stairs, unaware of the pair of eyes spying on her from the barely opened door at the room at the end of the hallway. Both girls had yet to speak to each other and now being in such close proximity was even more insecure for them both. There was so much to talk about but that time had yet to come.
Reaching the bottom of the stairs Terry stood by the doorway next to Lincoln and Lynn. Lyra how's her breath as all three look at her, still unsure on how to interact with her family. Not saying anything she approached them and allowed Terry to hug her with a strong grip. Lyra didn't hug back but did give her longtime friend a gentle tap on the shoulder to show her gratitude for sticking by her through all this crazy troubles.
"If you want to go out by all means, but you better be back this time." Lincoln eyes her daughter seriously.
"Maybe we should lock her up until she's capable of being trusted again." Lynn added with a mean stare.
"Don't worry mister Loud, Lyra is not leaving my sights at all. The other will also be here to stop her if she tries to bail." Terry assured them as Lyra wondered who these 'others' were.
"Lyra please just...be careful. I beg you please don't do anything stupid out there." Lincoln hugged her much to Lyra's utter discomfort.
"Yeah…" Lyra didn't say much back.
"I got something planned for you tomorrow so you better sleep early, niece. Trust me it will help you out a lot." Lynn said as she eyed her up and down, leaving Lyra unsure of what she was talking about too.
"Well we can't keep the others waiting. I'll bring her back before sundown. I promise!" Terry grabbed Lyra by the hand and pulled her out of the house as the two adults looked on.
Getting in the car Terry waved at them as Lyra did the same albeit half-heartedly still uncomfortable with being back home with the people she had wronged. Driving away, both girls remained silent for a while, but once making a turn leading down a hill towards main street Lyra let out a loud groan that she had been holding all day since waking up. Her muscles finally relaxed and her chest seized feeling so tensed up and squeezed up from all the emotional pressure of being trapped inside that house.
"Thank the fuck you came for me." Lyra deeply exhaled, rubbing her eyes tiresomely, "I was literally suffocating in my own mind being around them."
"That bad?" Terry asked.
"It's not them. It's me. I don't want them to be anywhere around me at all." Lyra sadly stared out the window.
"We all have our demons. You should give reconciliation a chance once this is all over." Terry told her as they stopped at a red light.
"My demons want me to murder every motherfucker I see in the streets that are doing evil shit in my eyes. I don't have time to battle a lost cause." Lyra scoffed back.
"Nice to see your vendetta is still unshaken." Terry murmured as she pressed on the gas once the light turned green.
"Where are we going by the way?" Terry looked at her and back at the road, not really wanting to answer her. Lyra rolled her eyes at her secrecy and asked again, "Are we going to see this Frank guy? If that's the case then why the fuck did he give me a bunch of numbers if you already know where to find him?"
"No, he said that he would wait for you. That is all. We're going to see the others." Terry said.
Lyra thought for a minute and it finally clicked on who she was talking about, "Please no...not Panther and Sonette, they're going to beat me up. Panther is going to beat me up!"
"Yeah she might, you deserve it however. Very reckless as of late." Terry grinned at her friend's mortified face.
Driving for a few more minutes around town they reached their destination. Peering out the window Lyra sees that they are in their old after school hangout. Seeing the diner again after so long made her stomach churn as she felt an all too familiar feeling creeping up on her. Getting out of the car both stand together and watch the building in silence. Before Lyra could even protest or get a single syllable out the entrance doors of the diner got pushed open and out came Panther followed closely by Sonette.
"...Fuck." Lyra muttered as her close friends approached her with clear intentions.
Taking a step forward Lyra tries to speak her mind and ease the unnecessary tension that was about to build up between them all. Lucky for her Panther cuts her off with a single slap across the face.
"What the actual fuck were you thinking?!" Panther yelled out as Lyra winced in pain, massaging her cheek.
"Is this why you left the house? To go out and get hurt like this? What the hell were you thinking prowling the streets at night looking for trouble in such a way?" Panther continued her rant as the other girls said nothing and only listened, any bystanders nearby were welcomed to listen too.
"I…" Lyra got cut off again as Panther continued to fume at her.
"Don't you fucking ever do stupid stuff like that ever again! I was horrified when Terry told me what had happened to you, I couldn't sleep at all! I just kept thinking about how I shouldn't have let you go off on your own. How I should have tried harder to help you and prevent this sort of stupid fucking shit from happening at all. How could you do such a thing? Don't you care about your well-being, about our feelings?" Panther was at this point gasping for air, red in the face and eyes ready to burst out into a pair of waterfalls.
It was at this point that Lyra felt beyond devastated. If she wasn't already feeling horrible before with her family now she was burning in fire as the heartache increased tenfold. Once Panther finished spilling her tirade of emotions everybody said nothing in return. Lyra kept her hand to her reddened cheek while Terry and Sonette looked on with guilt in their eyes.
"... I'm sorry." Lyra mumbled, avoiding making eye contact with her closest friend since elementary school.
Panther replied with a massive hug. Fingers piercing her shirt and gripping them hard to stop her from pulling away, for right now she just wanted to be there for Lyra in these turbulent times.
"You selfish idiot...I love you too much to see you hurting yourself like this." Lyra could hear her sniffling, trying her absolute best to maintain any civil composure despite having already lost it upon meeting, "We all love you so much. I will always feel sorry for what happened to Lemy, but this...this rampage you're currently on is not the way to heal yourself. Attacking dangerous criminals isn't rehabilitation, it's a death-wish."
For a moment there Lyra panicked at the words she had just said. Did Terry spill the beans on her vigilantism? But she immediately rules it out, if that was the case then knowing Panther she would have called the cops on her. Yeah, she would do that indeed, the only way Panther would know how to protect her would be to stop her in her tracks by any means necessary. Thankfully her secret remained safe and no-one else would know just how high her body count had accumulated this summer alone.
"I'm just so...angry." Lyra confessed.
"I know you are. So are we, but stop it from building up by having each other close and together." Panther responded.
"Lyra-San, we missed you. Let go of all this unwanted miserable anger and be our old fun loving friend again." Sonette spoke up.
She was hating every single moment of this conversation. Everywhere she went people would appear before her and air their grievances at her, pleas and resolutions to fix this damaged mind of hers, how she wished they would just give up already. All they were only really doing was adding more burden to her already overfilled baggage, too much pain and hate on her; no more available space for anything else at this point.
Alas they were still her longtime friends, might as well entertain them while at it. Doc did say to relax...even if she'd much rather be carving up a drug dealer's face for answers or simply cause fuck him overall.
After a quick lunch and catching up to old times it was time to head back home.
"Please take care, I mean it Lyra." Panther hugged her friend warmly.
"Sayonara Lyra-chan!" Sonette jumped Lyra and hugged her as well.
"See ya guys." Lyra smiled back, a faux smile to be precise, it's been many a full moon since she last genuinely gave one out.
Once back in Terry's car Lyra let out a deep sight of relief, allowing her body muscles to get loose once more This was a long day and she just wanted to go back to her room and not have anymore interactions for the remainder of the day and the ones to follow.
"I've seen depressed people with more personality that that back there." Terry ignited the engine and turned on the air conditioner.
Lyra gave her a mean side long glance for the remark.
"Fuck I didn't mean it like that, I'm sorry. Fuck!" Terry quickly apologized upon realizing how insensitive her comment had actually come out.
"Whatever." Lyra muttered, clearly exhausted on a mental level. This routines of acting normal for the family and others were seriously weighting her down multiple notches.
"When are you planning to resume?" Lyra looked at Terry and wondered that herself too. Her wound was still stiched up and hurting when little force was applied in the area around it. Plus now being trapped back home she had to deal with her father and rest of the family directly, no doubt they would be keeping close tabs on her from now on. Ditching or avoiding their watchful eyes was going to be a bitch to accomplish. And now there was Mr. Frank and his note requesting her to heal up before appropriately meeting face to face; too many variables moving at once.
"One thing at a time, Terry." Lyra put on the seatbelt, "Still too fucked up to even jog a few meters, I have to wait out this fucking stab wound to naturally heal. Fuck this."
"Are you going to meet him? He kept all your stuff. The guns and money are with him, I hope this isn't a damn set up. " Terry drove out the parking lot and to the street leading back to 1216 Franklin Avenue.
"I've thought about that too. Cops or the assholes I've been hunting down, who really knows? Then again maybe I'm just getting paranoid." Lyra chucked at her own self-psychoanalysis.
Yeah. This was going to be a long wait and the young vigilante was going to despise every single second of it. Patience used to be a virtue, but the urge to kill was an incredible itch that was eating at her on a daily basis.
A Few Days Later…
Lyra had been working on the coordinates given by Frank to her. Using the power of the internet got her the location she was meant to visit and much to her surprise it was a place she had previously visited in the past not too long ago.
"Are you fucking kidding me?" Lyra astoundingly stared at the computer screen.
It was the same exact gun store that she had visited for revolver ammunition. Maverick: Shop and Gun Range; it was the exact place no doubt about it. She was stumped with multiple answers revolving around her mind. Was the gun owner her savior and would-be ally or was the gun store just a rendezvous point for the two to meet? Terry did say that Frank was a big middle aged man in great shape, if she remembered correctly the owner of the store had the same appearance, only until she went there would she truly know the truth however.
"That's one objective marked out. Still many more to go." Lyra leaned back on her chair as she clicked on the website of the store in hand. This place had it all. Too bad her money is gone and is still technically underage to even purchase any of these fine high caliber weapons. Who knows maybe the guy sells under the table, she could only hope.
Her stomach grumbled, gaining her attention. It had been a whole day since she last ate. Getting up from her desk she approached the door and walked out. Most of the family was out for the day; Lincoln and Lynn at work, Leni and Liens who had returned were visiting a friend. That only left her two sisters: Lupa and Loan. She would rather not have that interaction with either.
The house was fairly quiet for a summer morning. Lyra silently reached the stairs and took a step down when the door to the bathroom was pushed open.
Like a deer petrified by oncoming headlights, both sisters stood frozen in place, staring directly at each other with wide anxious eyes. Lupa didn't look like her usual self, she lacked a whole lot of everything to better summarize her current state of being. Wearing a simple long white t-shirt that reached to her knees and black socks, it gave her the appearance that Loan typically claimed as her own. Had she become an utter shut-in?
"Lu…" Lyra shifted her entire body to better look at her younger sister.
Lupa glanced away from her and crossed her arms into her chest, clearly uncomfortable to be in the presence of Lyra. The air was thick and so we're their hearts as they slowed down and clotted up the blood reaching their heads. When was the last time they had even spoken to each other? Oh right, she remembered and it only made her feel even worse about it having her in full view.
"...hey…" Lupa's voice was meek, not like her at all, "Feeling better?"
"A little." Lyra rubbed her hand on her shoulder feeling the awkwardness take over.
"Cool. I…" Lupa still refused to look directly at her and Lyra figured it was her way of saying she was still mad at her which she didn't fault at all.
"No, I...I messed up." Lyra yelped, the need to apologise for her behavior now flared up within her, "I was...I am...an idiot. I'm a stupid uncaring idiot. You're alright, it's me who's all messed up in the head."
Not exactly how she wanted to phrase it, but it was the best that could come out of her mouth without freezing up with fear and extreme self-loathing. Lupa turned her eyes to quickly look at her before staring away again, both remained painfully quiet once more. Lyra had no idea what to say next other than to get on her knees and deeply apologize for her mistreatment, luckily Lupa spared her the idea.
"No. We're both messed up in the head right now…it's all just... different perspectives." Lupa said.
"..." The older girl stayed quiet, thinking of her words.
"W-what are you going to do now?" Lupa asked her.
"What do you mean?" Lyra raised an eyebrow, unsure of what she exactly meant.
"Well...are you planning on going out again? Find them...hurt them?" Lupa bit on her lip as the words came out timidly.
It finally hit Lyra as she double-checked her hearing of what she had just said, "I...Lupa...I...that was stupid of me. I was just...mad, I've learned my lesson now." Lyra lied through her teeth to ease the suspicious looks her younger sister was giving her.
"Oh...my bad then."
Lupa headed for her room and locked the door behind her without making a sound or further comments. Lyra stayed in place unsure whether to follow her and speak more openly or leave and get some fresh air for the breath she had been holding in for the entire moot conversation. There was something about Lupa that told her there was more to be said and speak between the two but right now she had no energy or willpower to confront the issue. She may be a wrecking ball against the criminals of the streets, but when it came to her own family she was weaker than a newborn; different perspectives indeed.
Walking down the stairs she turned to the dining room to get to the kitchen when another figure stopped her dead in her tracks.
Right across from her at the other end of the table sat the sleeping form of her mother lying fast asleep. How long had she been there that was for her to guess, but here she was with her daughter in the same room together. By looks alone, Luna was worse for wear bags under her eyes and hair all frizzled up and unkempt, she had not been getting the appropriate amounts of sleep until right about now.
Seeing her deep asleep, Lyra quietly walked towards her. Unsure of herself as she stood right next to her mother.
Naturally she would scoff at her and walk away immediately or allow her bitterness to get the best of her and kick Luna right off her chair, but at the moment she only looked at her with wonder. Here was her mother in the flesh, drained of all energy standing watch or was supposed to of the house and most specifically of her. She must have pulled an all-nighter, making sure Lyra didn't slip into the night or at the very least get the chance to speak to her directly.
Whatever the case may be, Lyra couldn't stop wondering why she persisted so much to enter her life again after so much time had been lost between them both.
"...Hey?" Lyra spoke, but not loud enough to awake her, she got no response back, just peaceful breathing from Luna.
Reaching out with one hand, Lyra carefully hovered her hand over Luna, unsure of what exactly she was even doing. Her body was moving on its own while her mind had many outcomes forming by the seconds. Honestly she wanted to pull back and avoid actually punching her awake, she had long lost control over her basic instincts and feared that that was what she was going for.
Instead after a full minute of hesitation she lightly placed her hand on Luna's head, feeling her hair against her skin as she very carefully brushed her fingers against them.
Luna didn't wake up, but did stir a little from Lyra's gentle touch, the sleep too strong to break out of. Seeing her so peaceful was rare for the teenager, as if late she only saw her mother's devastated and heartbroken stance when thinking of her. Did she look like that herself when sleeping too she wondered? Despite the recurring nightmares from time to time she must at least look somewhat similar when not awake and killing motherless bastards with blood soaked hands.
As she continued on petting her mother, feeling her smooth hair and in a way giving her a sweet lullaby with her touch an old feeling caught fire inside her stone heart. Letting go of her, Lyra's face morphed to a sorrowful expression as she held in an incoming sobbing choke from her throat. Putting her hands in her pockets she backed away from Luna and slowly returned back upstairs with her appetite no longer active. She turned one last time to see her mother and unbeknownst to herself a single tear drop escaped her eye as old memories of the two resurfaced to mind.
Two Weeks Later…
Life had not changed much. The family continued to be supportive in every way possible and Lyra on her part continued to keep her distance from them all. She now attended dinner with the others, but never spoke a word. Everybody now prayed before eating, an act that Lincoln heavily encouraged. Ironic that she had been trying so hard for most of her life to get them to do just that, alas she no longer cared for it at all. Her and Lupa still remained on thin ice, occasionally and simple greetings were as much that either would get from each other and even though there was more to be said it could never be brought forward.
Luna would visit often with Sam tagging along most times, but Lyra kept herself hidden away whenever she did show up.
Only Sam would enter her room and speak with her, Luna no thought waiting by the door hoping to be invited in one of these days. Lyra had seen her family change and she liked what she saw. Forget her condemned life, she was actually happy to see her entire family move on or at the very least repair themselves from the grief that had damaged them all. Loan was more outgoing and helpful around the house, Lincoln gave his time of day to everybody and was always on stand by for her and Lupa.
Lyra had spoken to Lacy via webcam and the energetic kid was happy to see her sister safe and sound. Lyra couldn't help herself but smile at Lacy's positive nature. Liby would also come by the house and talk to her, strangely she had stopped talking to her about Lemy's case and her personal investigation into the matter, always changing the subject when something led down that route.
Everyone was trying so hard to protect her and it only made her sadder to see them wasting their time and energy on her. She made a promise and it would only be fulfilled once enough blood had been spilled.
Around this time Lyra was feeling much better. Physical therapy was working wonders on her and by therapy she meant Lynn's personal fitness routine she had created for her. Why waste over a hundred dollars or so on a professional when your aunt was just as skilled and qualified to look after your recovery herself right? Another thing that caught Lyra by surprise was Lynn's persistence for the young girl to take self defense classes with her.
"If you want to kick ass the right way then meet me in the garage every morning, got it?" The woman with multiple black belts in different fighting styles told her one day.
So it was during one of these lessons that Terry showed up to the Loud residence per Lyra's request that said teen saw her best friend laced up hitting the bag with keen focus and concentration. Drenched in sweat and red from the exhaustion, Lyra gave out multiple combinations to the heavy bag as Terry looked on impressed.
"Not bad, you sure are building up that thin frame of yours." Lyra stopped as Terry walked closer.
"Just...a warm...up." Lyra said, controlling her breathing to avoid any chest pains.
"Anyway, what's up? I'm here as you texted." Terry asked. Lyra grabbed a towel and wiped away all the sweat in her face. She had been waiting as promised and now that she was in much better condition it was time.
"I think...my meeting is... long overdue." Lyra replied as she took a drink.
Arriving at the gun store both teens exited the vehicle and walked inside. It was rather empty, but again who was purchasing a weapon at nine in the morning? Walking up to the cash register Lyra wore her leather coat and kept a pocket knife hidden in one pocket. She was still unsure what she was getting herself into and had gone over with Terry on what to do if this was all a set up of any kind. The man behind the counter was young, but athletic looking and too focused reading a sport illustrator magazine to notice the teenage girl in front of him.
Tapping on the call bell got his attention.
"Sorry about that, how can I assist you today?" He politely asked.
"Where's Frank?" Lyra said.
"Frank?" He worded his name in confusion as if it was the first time hearing said name, maybe she got it all wrong and it wasn't the same person as she had suspected.
"He's in the back having lunch, I suppose he should know someone's hear to speak to him I'll be right back." Nevermind she was right on the money as the guy left the counter and entered a different door to the back.
Both Lyra and Terry waited around until the man appeared again, "He said to meet him by the shooting range out back he'll be there in a minute."
"I got this." Lyra mouthed to Terry.
"Guess I'll get busy then. So are you in college? Any sports you play? I mean with that body you got you have to right?" Terry waited no time in flirting with the cashier as Lyra headed out to the back.
The back of the gun range was a large desolated warehouse; many cardboard targets splattered with bullet holes stood tall in different parts as every booth was empty. Standing around the place made her remember those dreams of her running around in a warehouse. A warehouse full of dead people and everywhere she walked his face always appeared, angering her as the bastard and his cronies mocked her. In her dream she eventually corners Dice, slits his throat wide open with her knife and watches him bleed out like a little bitch on the floor.
Just a dream after all.
"You look better than the last time I found ya." An older voice broke her from her imagination.
Turning around she saw the shop owner she had met many weeks ago. Exactly as she remembered him; old, greying, tall and astoundingly big in a muscular way for his age. Wearing green cargo boots with combat boots and an old dirty USMC grey t-shirt, he was the spitting image of an old school veteran. Lyra looked him up and down, making sure he wasn't armed or meant her any harm whatsoever.
"Calm down girl, I'm retired." He crossed his arms, allowing his forearms to take shape.
' This guy has to be on steroids, right?' She thought as he walked to a chair and took a seat, extending one hand to another empty chair next to him. Cautiously sitting down, Frank leaned back and made himself comfortable as Lyra eyed him carefully. He was being very casual and that was odd for her.
"How's your wound doing? It's been two weeks since the incident, hasn't it?" He asked her.
"I'm recovering fast." Lyra crossed her arms, "Thanks...for saving my life."
"Just doing my duty, just like I told your mother." He nodded.
"What do you want with me?" Lyra finally asked the question that had been lingering for the longest with her.
"I knew it was you the day you first stepped foot in my store. Lost, unsure and very naive as you entered a place not meant for people like yourself. When I saw your ID card and read your name I knew at that moment who you were and why you were searching for ammo." Frank began to explain.
"You lost your brother to a group of soulless thugs and with that, lost your faith in humanity too. We all lose our paths, most find their way back, the rest of us get lost forever." He said.
"Is that it?" Lyra looked at him incredulously, "All this so you can stir me away from the wrong path? Some preaching words about letting it go and not seek fucking vengeance is that why you got me all the way out here?
"You sure are quick to jump the gun Lyra." Frank smiled at her heated expression, seeing the fire in her eyes at the thought of having to give it all up just like that.
"Why do you think I gave you a set of coordinates instead of a simple address?" Lyra shrugged, wondering about that herself too.
"I wanted to see how determined you were to come see me. See if you would put in the work. Kinda silly given the carnage you have caused out in the streets. Also I wanted to see if you trusted your gut, you knew nothing and chose to come, why? Because your desire for revenge has led you to take whatever opportunity presented to you, you are one hundred percent determined to see this through to the end. Problem is...you lack the strength to carry out this mission at hand." The more Frank spoke the more Lyra started to understand the older man.
"See Lyra, you ain't the first person to lose someone precious to you. We all carry our demons and they have guided us to commit acts that go against the laws of society out of hatred and love. I see the exact same damage in you that I once had in me long ago. I've been paying very close attention to your brother's case and keeping tabs on your nightly endeavors, I see you and I want you to know that I got your back Lyra." Frank concluded as Lyra remained silent in her seat having consumed all that information in a single go.
"...Am I being pranked right now?" She felt dumbfounded.
"Shit, the look on your face would be a fucking riot if I was." He gave out a hearty laugh.
"Who are you?" That was Lyra's only question to this mysterious man that just came into her life and was here offering his full support to her cause.
"Staff Sergeant Francisco Castillo, United States Marine Corps Force Reconnaissance at your service and too old and bored of civilian life if I may add." Frank saluted.
"Okay." Lyra simply said, not expecting a mouthful from her newly discovered ally. This felt like a game changer, shit it was a game changer. Forget scavenging for bullets or weapons, this guy had a whole warehouse of the latest tech with him and the fact that he was a Marine meant better planning and strategizing to reach her end goals. What a blessed gold mine she had just acquired. She was almost grateful to have been stabbed by that shit head or else still be running around in circles.
Looking away from him Lyra got startled by the image of Lemy standing in front of them both, same blood tainted clothes and such.
"Not bad sis." Lemy smiled at her.
"You okay? Come now, don't start freaking out on me." Frank asked as he saw Lyra almost falling off her chair for no apparent reason.
"I'm fine!" She closed her eyes, clearing her mind and looked back at him, "What now?"
"Now? You wait a bit longer." He said.
"...What?"
"Probably until the end of September, then we commence this newly clandestine operation of ours." Frank confirmed much to her confusion.
"September?" She said confused.
"Yeah, September. Let's be honest you need some proper fucking training before going back on the field again. Let's use this time to not just regain your strength but train you to the best of your abilities. I'm going to treat you like any other marine and just as bad as my old Gunny did to me and the boys. Are you ready for that kind of hell? Frank smirked at her, waiting for the obvious answer from the teenager.
"Hell? I already have a first class reservation down there. I'm ready." Lyra grinned back, feeling more determined than ever before. Her revenge is finally closer than ever before. Strange how life operates when plans go off the rails isn't it?
Over in the city limits of Detroit two familiar individuals argued with a different person by the side of the road for their own plans had been derailed as well.
"If we find out you're holding out on the gang you're in deep shit Donnie! Wise Dog's patience is dropping by the day." The African-American threatened the other before getting back in his car and driving off back to the city.
"Fuck you, Trayvon!" Dice yelled out at the car as it sped away.
Keith waited by their own car as Dice angrily cursed out at the heated exchange that had just occurred between the two gang members. He took out a cigarette and lit it as Dice stomped to the driver's side.
"Keith, we need to recover that fucking money or that fucking bitch yes man won't let me breath at all. How come no one has found out anything at all about the fucking bitch that was with Francis that night?!" Dice barked as Keith raised his hands in fear from his boss and mentor.
Here comes the rain again
Falling from the stars
Drenched in my pain again
Becoming who we are
As my memory rests
But never forgets what I lost
Wake me up when September ends