Guys I lost my Grammarly streak :(
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Kali had been hunting Martin Brenner down for two years.
The bastard certainly didn't make it easy. He had sunk into the shadows like the slimy coward he was, far out of her reach in Chicago. And unfortunately, she didn't possess Jane's ability of being able to find anyone she wanted. Kali was unique among the other children; she was the only one who could create illusions. That was the only way she had been able to escape; the guards were trained to deal with telekinesis, not her hallucinations.
She reveled in her power, but couldn't deny the functionality of her sister's.
Her heart ached whenever she thought of Jane. She had been heartbroken when her sister chose her new family and friends. Though, Kali didn't hold it against her; they had both formed close connections to the people around them.
Though, that didn't mean that she didn't miss the younger girl terribly. But life went on and she still had her mission. Once Brenner was dead, she and Jane would be free.
It had taken tracking down and torturing an inordinate amount of former lab employees, but Kali had finally gotten the lead she needed. The Nina Project.
What it was meant to do, Kali had no idea. Her last hostages had croaked before she could figure that out. But she did know that it was located in Nevada, in the literal middle of nowhere. Tacky, but not surprising for Brenner.
"You sure you don't need backup?" asked Funshine from the driver's seat of their van. They had stopped a good few hundred feet before the entrance to a bunker.
Initially, Kali had wanted to storm the base with her team. However, she remembered her time at the lab all too well. The pain, the horror. On the off chance that they failed, she never wanted her friends to be subjected to that. Besides, it was better for them to remain behind.
This was her fight.
Kali smiled, taking two guns from the van's interior. "Positive," she answered. "If you don't hear from me within three days, assume I'm dead."
Funshine grimaced, but nodded. "Be careful, then," he warned. "Watch your back." She nodded. Kali waited until Funshine drove off before advancing forward.
It was time to end this once and for all.
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El ran.
Her shoes thudded against the floor, the sight of Papa forcing old memories to the front of her mind. Every cruel test and punishment he put her through flashed in front of her eyes. 'Not him. Anything but him.' Owens hadn't told her he would be here.
It was a trick, he had tricked her. They were going to hurt her.
Anger and despair clawed at her, but El tried to ignore it. She had to keep going, she had to get out of here.
Two guards blocked her path. They stared her down, weapons hesitantly raised. They didn't want to hurt her. But they would if they had to. They were her enemies.
Everyone in this bunker was her enemy.
Suddenly, the guards went rigid. One, dropped his gun as if it was one fire. The other began to pull at his own face for reasons she couldn't decipher. El furrowed her eyebrows in confusion. What was happening?
"Did you think I wouldn't find you?"
El flinched. The voice that filtered through the air was angry. More than angry, it was hateful. She couldn't think of a time she had heard so much contempt from a person. A comforting hand settled atop her shoulder, though there was no one next to her. But something about the touch seemed familiar, safe.
El turned around, watching Papa tense as his eyes darted wildly around the room. His usual calm, self-assured composure was wiped away. "Who-?"
Then, she saw it. A mane of dark hair materialized in front of her. The person standing before her was dressed in all black. El couldn't see their face, but she suddenly recognized the touch of illusion in her mind.
008. Kali. Her sister.
Relief flooded her chest and El wanted to cry. Her sister was here she was here and El wasn't alone. Kali would help her, Kali wouldn't let them hurt her.
She was safe.
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Kali was pissed.
Granted, she was always angry. But to find her little sister here with Brenner and these... scientists. She hated anyone who wore those lab coats. They weren't people to them, just experiments; things they could poke and prod and dissect. She would kill every last one of them, this Kali swore. Then she would take Jane and escape.
Kali took out her gun, ready to shoot her lifelong tormentor dead. But another man next to him raised his hands placatingly. "W-Wait," he pleaded. The guards were still busy dealing with her illusions; no one could stop her from killing everyone here. The man must have known that.
"Why should I?" she demanded, her thumb gliding over the trigger. She could end this all right now. Why was she hesitating? "You kidnapped my sister, trying to force her to be your lab rat."
But the man shook his head. "We didn't kidnap her," he insisted. "She came with willingly. Eleven has lost her powers."
Kali's stomach twisted as she looked at her sister for confirmation. "You lost your powers?" she asked. "How?"
Brenner slowly approached them. "Eight if you would listen-"
She shot him in the arm.
The man who called himself their father yelled in agony, dropping to the floor as he clutched his appendage. The man who had spoken before flinched, shaking slightly.
Kali glared daggers at both of them. "My name is not Eight," she hissed. She would never go by that number again. "It's Kali. And I wasn't talking to you." She nodded to her sister. "Jane, speak."
"Used them too much," huffed Jane, probably from exhaustion. "Last year."
Kali scowled. "Nonsense," she responded curtly. She had used her powers for days at a time before. Sure, it was overtaxing. Yes, she had fallen into small comas in the past. But never once had her abilities fizzled out on her. There was something more going on. And she had a pretty good idea of what it was.
Jane frowned. "It's true," she insisted. "They said they could help."
The older girl gave the men in front of her a look of daggers. "Can you not see how these people ogle you?" she demanded, gesturing to the scientists around them. "Your powers may come back in the process, but here you're nothing more than a test monkey. Is that what you want? After you won your freedom and built a life for yourself?"
"My friends," her sister said miserably. "They're in danger."
Kali rolled her eyes; why Jane was so attached to that shithole of a town she would never know. "Well, staying in this bunker won't help them," she decided.
"Kali," Brenner dared to speak again. "We don't have a lot of time. Eleven's powers-"
"Jane's powers," she hissed, detesting the use of her sister's number. "just need work. I strengthened them once before, I can do it again. And I can do it without trapping her in a deprivation tank and poking at her with a cattle prod."
Jane flinched. Kali dared to cast her a sympathetic look.
The other man bravely stepped in front of her. "We aren't trying to hurt her-"
"Bullshit," she interrupted, wiping her nose with her sleeve. She had to wait to use her powers or else Brenner would know what she was planning. "You think I don't know how men like you operate? You approach us under the guise of being fatherly and kind, but you don't care about us. You care about what we can do for you."
Kali sent the man a venomous look, her grip tightening on her gun. "If you truly cared, you'd send your men into Hawkins and deal with the threat your damn self. But no, you rely on the strength of children. Children with good hearts who don't know any better, like Jane."
"Kali-"
Now. Blood poured down Kali's face like a reservoir, but it served its purpose. Within seconds everyone around her and her sister was crumbling to their knees, gripping their heads. Though thoroughly exhausted, she couldn't help but smirk.
It was satisfying to see people like this suffer.
Jane frowned. "What are they seeing?" she asked softly.
Kali shrugged. "Stuff of nightmares," she answered cryptically. Their own flesh melting off their bones, spiders pouring out of one another's eyes. But she would spare her sister the gruesome details. She tugged the smaller girl's arm. "Come, we have to leave."
But Jane hesitated. "But... my powers," she pointed out.
Kali sighed impatiently. "We'll fix them," she promised. Blood dribbled onto her lips, but she ignored it. "I helped you once before, don't you remember?"
"...Yes," answered Jane hesitantly.
The older girl held out her hand. "You trusted me once," she said gently. "I'm asking you to do it again."
Truthfully, she wasn't quite sure what was wrong with Jane. But if she had to guess, she doubted her powers were truly gone. Their abilities depended solely upon their mental states, an extension of their thoughts. Their emotions could be a help or a hindrance. Something in her sister must have been acting as a mental or emotional barrier.
Kali could fix that, she was sure of it.
Indecision clouded Jane's eyes before it cleared up. "I trust you," she promised. Kali beamed, squeezing the tiny, delicate hand in her larger one.
"Thank you, Jane."
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I guess I'm the only one in the world who actually liked Kali. I really wanted her to save El from Brenner. Oh well. I hope she comes back in volume two, idc what anyone says she's amazing. Anyway, I hope you liked it and please review!
