"Hands up, Caitlyn," Jinx said, practically spitting out the name.
Caitlyn was frozen, only her eyes moving, darting around the top of her dresser for something she could use to get out of this situation, her mind racing. Her mirror betrayed her intentions, however. She heard the metallic click of Jinx's pistol, and slowly raised her hands.
"Ah, so she does have a brain," Jinx said as she moved closer. "You are going to get dressed and come with me, got it? I need you for a little surprise party I have planned. For Vi! You know Vi, right? The sister you stole from me?"
Caitlyn almost turns around, incredulity in her voice as she says, "S-stole from you? She isn't even-"
Jinx cuts her off before she can say anything. "Uh uh, get dressed. We wouldn't want your mother to come home from her precious council meeting to find that her daughter is missing and her husband is dead, would we?"
Caitlyns blood runs cold, her mind going blank as she processes what Jinx just said. "Are you... Did you-"
"Not yet! So hurry up, or I kill your sweet dad and-"
Caitlyn cuts her off this time. "Alright! I'm going," she says, hands still raised as she walks to her wardrobe, pulling out the first thing she finds; her enforcer uniform.
Jinx lets out a disgusted snort. "And the devil reveals itself," she says as Caitlyn gets dressed, watching her carefully to make sure she isn't trying anything suspicious.
Caitlyn occasionally glanced over at Jinx, seeing the signature pink glow of shimmer in her eyes, her discomfort and fear dialed up another notch. Shimmer makes people do uncharacteristically stupid and violent things, and she was already quite violent to begin with. I can't take any risks with my family's lives.
She pulls on her boots, buckling them on tight while Jinx feigns tapping a watch on her wrist, impatiently waiting. "About time. Let's go! Oh and if you were thinking of trying anything, don't. Remember my toys from the bridge? I think just one little butterfly landing on the tip of your dear fathers nose might just blow his mind!"
Jinx lets out a quick laugh at her own joke before dropping back into dead sobriety. "Let's go."
In the dead of night, the pair managed to get down to the undercity without much issue. The attack on the bridge had drawn most of the attention away from other avenues of travel. Caitlyn wasn't even sure where she was being taken, reminded of her first time going to the undercity as she followed Vi. The death-defying journey, jumping from roof to roof, sliding down poles and traversing wires, it had been exhilarating but terrifying. This time, however, the cold steel of Jinx's gun at her back made it hard to focus. She slipped, barely managing to catch herself in time while Jinx remained unapologetically insistent that she keep going.
"If I fall and die, then what will all this have been for," Caitlyn snaps, frustrated at the whole situation. First she lost Vi because of the politics of the Council, and now her psychotic sister was forcing her to retread the same dangerous path she swore to never try again, and all for... For what?
"Eh, if you die, you die. I can still just bring your body. But that wouldn't be as fun for me, so try not to fall, okay," Jinx says, roughly shoving her forward.
Caitlyn stumbles and nearly trips over the uneven rooftop they were standing on, recovering only a few feet from the edge. She turns to glare at Jinx, her eyes finding the barrel of her pistol instead. She lets out a frustrated sigh and turns back, continuing her journey downwards.
By the time they reach the bottom, Caitlyn is soaked in sweat, both from the anxiety and the exertion. She takes a few deep breaths, glad to find her feet back on solid stone, but her relief is short-lived. Jinx pushes her, guiding her towards the edge of the undercity, towards the docks. Jinx takes care to keep her out of sight as they move. Her enforcer uniform would stand out, and surely attract all the wrong kinds of attention, and Jinx didn't need any interruptions.
The already scant population thinned out as they approached their destination, an old burned down warehouse only a stone's throw from the water. Caitlyn looks at the building and asks, "What is this place?"
Jinx takes a moment, vulnerability flashing across her face before she regains her senses and glares at Caitlyn. "I'm not taking questions right now," she says, forcing Caitlyn inside. She leads her through the rubble and wreckage, down a set of miraculously intact stairs, into a large room with a massive window with a view under the water. Caitlyn would have been impressed, excited even, if it were not for what else were in the room.
Jinx pointed at the lone chair in the center of the room and said, "Sit."
Caitlyn's mind raced, knowing no good would come of sitting in that chair. The restraints on the arms and legs could be there simply to prevent escape, but based on how Jinx saw her, she had her doubts that it would be so benign. But there was no way out. She slowly crossed the room and sat down.
Jinx tilted her head slightly, a disappointed expression on her face as Caitlyn sat there. "Those aren't there for show, Officer. Tie yourself up."
Caitlyn reluctantly binds her legs and one arm, Jinx walking closer to finish the job.
"Now that I've got you all to myself... Let's get to know each other. We've got some time before I track down the girl of the hour," she says as she paces back and forth. "So first question I have... What did you want with Vi?"
Caitlyn looks a bit surprised at the question, but answers quickly, the words spilling from her like water. "I- I was trying to track down Silco. I knew someone was at the top, but it wasn't until I talked to Vi in Stillwater that I knew who exactly it was. She said she would get me evidence that he was behind the criminal enterprises in the Undercity."
Jinx taps her gun to her lips and asks, "And the gemstone? That wasn't part of it?"
"Well, it was for me. Vi didn't know anything about that. They don't exactly get to reap the benefits of our progress while in prison. She went down there to hurt Silco, and find out what happened to... to you," Caitlyn says hesitantly.
Jinx narrows her eyes at Caitlyn, her hand going to her head as a bolt of pain sears through her mind. She lets out a strangled cry, hitting her head with the handle of her pistol, shaking her head. She glares at Caitlyn, her eyes glowing with shimmer. "You think you can just come down here and change everything? Change anything? You're just a rich girl who never got told no, who wanted to be a hero, so you came down here to save the world, only it doesn't need saving. It's topside where nothing gets done without the say-so of the Council. It's topside where only the rich can attain or dole out power. Down here, all it takes is guts."
Jinx gets in close and says, "I'm going to do something big tonight, and I want you to watch. Vi too. It'll be my present to her, to celebrate her release from prison after years of being locked away by you enforcers, for no reason!"
Caitlyn tries to interject, but Jinx is too amped up, the shimmer causing her to move more erratically, talk faster.
"What are you getting her? What's your present, Officer? It has to be something good, something meaningful," she says, getting in close. "Sevika says you're a crack shot with that rifle. Maybe your trigger finger would do?"
Caitlyn's face turns paler than normal, unbelievable fear staying her tongue as her heart raced. She was tied to this chair while this psychopath was talking about cutting off body parts to give as a gift. What do I say? What do I do? "I don't think Vi would really appreciate getting my finger as a-"
"Are you right handed or left handed? I don't wanna ruin your fun just for a gift. I know how important a trigger finger is, so I'll just give her a finger from the other hand," Jinx says animatedly, nodding as if certain Caitlyn will understand.
Caitlyn stares at her for a moment, then says, "I... I really don't think this is the kind of gift Vi will want."
Jinx looks at her, incredulous, and then in a sarcastic voice she says, "Oh really... what do you think she would want, if you know her so well?"
Caitlyn wracks her mind, trying to think of what Vi would legitimately like. Why even bother? It's not like she is actually asking for serious recommendations... But maybe if I show that I do know what Vi would like, she will see that I wasn't just using her for my own agenda. Maybe she'll see that I truly do care for her?
Her eyes widen as she recalls the only thing over the past few days that made Vi truly smile, and blurts out, "There was a seafood vendor! His name was... Jericho, I think! She really enjoyed that."
Jinx reacts in the exact opposite manner as Caitlyn predicted. She glares at her and says, "How do you know Jericho... How long have you been watching us? Since we were kids? How could you know that?"
Caitlyn looks incredulous and says, "No, we went there just a couple of days ago! How could I have spied on you when I was-"
Jinx pulls out a knife from her waist, holding it to Caitlyns right hand, pressing it against the wrist joint. "Don't lie to me. Are you right handed, or left handed?"
Caitlyn's panic rises, her breathing quick and erratic as she tries to defuse the situation. "Wait! Please, I just... I don't know what you want! I didn't do anything that you think I've done!"
Jinx simply repeats, "Right or left. Tell me left, or I'll just assume right."
"Right!" Caitlyn blurts out, tears in her eyes, frustration and fear pouring out of her. "I'm right-handed! Please, if you have to, take my left finger."
Jinx pats her on the head and says, "Good to know. But we are past fingers now." She grabs Caitlyn's right hand and pulls it hard with one hand while pushing down with her knife, the blade biting through her skin and hitting the ligaments of the joint.
Caitlyn looks down in shock and horror, silent for a moment before the pain hits her and she lets out a scream, her agonized shrieks echoing around the empty room as she struggles against Jinx's shimmer enhanced strength. It only takes a few seconds for Jinx to saw through the skin, cartilage, and tendons, blood pouring onto the floor as Caitlyn screams in pain, tears pouring down her face.
Jinx holds up the hand by one finger, tossing it onto a nearby table before tightening the strap around Caitlyns wrist, stemming the flow of blood. "Don't struggle too much. I'm leaving, and if you bleed to death, you won't be able to attend the party! Don't you want to see Vi get your gift?"
Caitlyn says nothing, breathing heavily, her mouth slightly agape, jaw trembling as she feels like vomiting. She looks down at her arm, seeing nothing where her hand used to be. She blinks fresh tears out of her eyes, feeling incredibly close to passing out as Jinx walks away, humming a tune. Vi...Please help me...