Fury

Chapter One

There is an incessant amount of crying. Adah can barely stand it. It's bad enough that her usually petite form is burdened down once again with baby weight. She puts a hand to her bulging stomach and groans. The baby isn't liking the crying either. She approaches her eldest daughter crying in the corner of her room, all her new luxuries thrown about.

"Enough, Java." She commands, absolutely irritated. The toddler has her hair wild and messy, her intricate braids all undone. She has torn the ribbons from her dress and her white tights are dark and ripped at the knee.

"Home." She whispers out through her tears, her little hands wiping at her face. Her mother rolls her hazel eyes.

"I thought we were over this, darling. We don't live with Daddy any more. This," She says with a flick of her wrist, "Is home now."

The toddler continues to cry and Adah begins to get a headache. She grabs the girl's wrist and forces her to look her in the eyes.

"Now listen here, my darling. If you want to continue to play with your nice new toys and do things like see the ponies, you need to stop right now." She commands. "You will wear your dresses, you will smile, and you will call your new step-father 'Papa', just like we talked about."

"I miss Daddy." She cries out desperately. Adah slaps the back of her hand. Java yelps, but is cowed into silence by her Mother's eyes.

"I said enough. You are giving yourself wrinkles. Calm yourself and go back to Nanny and your sister in the nursery." Adah lets her go and leaves the room. The toddler stays behind and hides under her bed, quietly sobbing. She falls asleep dreaming of her Father.

The first thing Java feels is a terrible pressure. It's all around her and she can't stand it. Her body is heavy, her mind disoriented. Her limbs can barely move and it takes considerable effort for her to shake and fight to free herself. She knows she's in danger; that if she doesn't get out she will die here. The air is almost nonexistent in the weak box she resides in. She raises her arms the best she can and finds herself pushing through cardboard, earth, and then rock, struggling to push it all away. For a moment she feels as if the dirt and tightness will never end. Then she's able to rip through her coverings and she can see the night sky above her. She can feel the filth on her and she begins to try and rise. She breathes in deep and is rewarded with hurt. Her chest is sore and she would be cursing if her throat wasn't so damn dry. Her knuckles are scrapped and stained crimson and black. About half her fake nails have come off in her efforts. She sits up fully and takes a hard look around her.

She's sitting in her own grave.

She shakes her head as she looks at the makeshift cross that her name is scribbled on. She'd laugh if she could manage it without hurting herself. There are flowers, little ornaments resembling her hair, and offerings. She notices a bottle in the bunch and picks it up. The weight suggests liquid so she pulls off the top and takes a swig. As expected, it's something vaguely alcoholic. She downs it anyway. She has a deep pain in her chest she recognizes as laser fire. She puts pressure on it and a streak of pain jerks her towards conscious.

That's when she notices her grave has a partner. She begins to get flashes of memory, or part of a memory. She was angry, so angry. Her white hot temper striking again. She closes her eyes and she can see Ebony, she can remember taunting her, setting her laser to kill, and then...

"No No No." She mumbles out as she begins crawling over to the other grave. Her legs scramble over the dirt and stone. It bares her sister's name, but not the one she tried to kill. For a moment she wonders if she could also be alive and choking on dirt and she starts moving the rocks away. Then she remembers her laser and purposely setting it to kill. She remembers aiming and her sister jumping in the way. Java closes her eyes tight as her chest feels sunken and dead, like a boulder has fallen on her. She stops digging and angrily hits the ground instead. After she exhausts herself she leans on her sister's grave marker and embraces it as she feels the tears pour down her face. She whispers apologies over and over again to the wind.

"Siva. I am so sorry." There was nothing else to say.

She doesn't know how long she stays there in her quiet despair and weeps. Java bitterly realizes she will never see her sister again. Her one constant through the world ending. The sweet girl who always forgave after every tantrum and every painful smack and every screaming match. The one person she can now never beg forgiveness of again.

Eventually, she finds herself walking awkwardly back towards civilization. She is sure she's close to the weird saloon everyone was staying at. She strays to the side of it, afraid of the reception she will get if she comes through the front. She couldn't handle dealing with all of them right now anyway. She finds a small reserve of water and downs handfuls of it, not caring about the dirt on her hands or if the water is even fresh. Her stomach feels sour, most likely due to her injuries and the mystery booze. There's a slight incline she takes so she can figure out where Ram is and sneak in that way. From her vantage point she can see most of the back rooms with their lights on. She watches the occupants, many of whom she recognizes, for several minutes.

What she sees infuriates her.

Her first instinct is to grab a rock and go to town on all the windows. She goes so far as to try to lean down and pick up a rock, but the pain stops her in her tracks. The battle in her stomach intensifies and she ends up on her knees puking her guts out. Even sick, Java shakes with rage. Her fake nails that haven't fallen off dig into the skin of her palm and make ugly little marks. Her knuckles are still bruised and bleeding. Her hands look like raw burger. When she feels she can move again, she gets up and immediately walks away from the saloon. She returns to her makeshift grave and moves everything back. She is tired and hurt, but she can't stand the idea of ever facing any of these people again. She angrily works through the pain and shoves the dirt and rocks back into place.

When the grave looks more or less covered, she focuses on her sister's grave once more. She steals some of the flowers from her grave and gives them to Siva. After a lifetime of causing her pain and using her as a punching bag, it was the least Java could do.

"I'm so sorry, little sister. I love you so much. " She whispers, hoping her sister knew because she can't remember the last time she had said it. "I hope you're somewhere beautiful with Dad and everyone else."

She kisses the tips of her fingers and puts them to Siva's cross. She lingers for one moment to steel herself before she marches off into the night, trying to get as far away as she can get.

Notes: Every chapter should begin with a flash back. Expecting this piece to be about ten to twelve chapters. Takes place in same universe as my other stories so anyone interested in Ebony may want to check in for backstory. Thank you for reading.