"Mercy? Why hasn't Mama moved?"
They looked at the unmoving woman, young eyes questioning as the raven haired sister stepped away from the fair haired one to take their mothers hand. Why did she feel so cold to the touch? Why were her eyes glazed and turning milky... Why did she smell funny?
She bit her lip as panic began to take hold of her heart. It had been a few days since their mama had closed her eyes, a sad smile on her lips as she drifted into a sleep that seemed it would never end. Before then, she'd noticed mama coughing a lot, red blotches marring the little handkerchief that seemed fixed to her mouth.
"We have to go Hope... Mama has gone to the angels"
Tears filled the fair haired child's eyes as she shook her head in denial, clutching to Mercy's hand as she tried to argue what had been said, fight against the truth.
"She can't be! Mama wouldn't leave us like papa did... She promised!"
"It will be alright Hope, we still have each other. Mama wasn't well, you know that, she's safe with God now... She can be happy"
That night had been their last in the little house, cries of despair filling the air as they grieved for their loss and packed what little possessions they could before turning to the streets of London. The slamming door ringing in their ears, an invisible wall slowly beginning to build around both their hearts.
Mercy scowled a little at the memory as she chucked back her tequila shot before licking the salt from her fist and biting hard into the lemon the barman offered to her. What good were such memories now? Their mother was long gone, along with their faith that God held her safe in his embrace, watching over them from above.
Mercy snorted as she turned to where her sister sat, head bent as she sniffed another key of coke into her system, surrounded by a group of guys that cheered on her endurance, never assuming that it was simply that she couldn't OD herself. If there really was a God, he had abandoned them long ago. What God would love them anyway?
"Mercy! C'mon outside with me, these guys are lightweight pussy fucks anyway and I need a smoke!"
Hope was laughing uncontrollably as she stood from her seat, not even attempting to pass the guys as she simply stepped over the small table that held their drinks and the dusty remnants of her addiction. The guys were shouting their own abuse, failing to hit the mark as Hope simply laughed harder, flipping the bird at the group before attempting to walk away, only to feel one take a firm grasp of her wrist.
"Where the fuck do you think you're going whore?"
The bar seemed to go silent as Mercy sighed and everyone seemed to back away slightly from the three. What a fool. Hope's face became deranged as she turned to him once more, not registering that his friends had begun to cower, seeming to read the deadly aura that radiated from her as she ploughed her fist into his face and sending him to the floor.
Mercy didn't even attempt to interrupt, knowing that even trying would only make the situation worse. The worst thing to do when Hope was in any form of inebriated state was to touch her without permission. She turned, noticing that the bouncers seemed to be trying to edge closer, none really wanting to get involved with the pair or their fight but knowing that their job demanded it.
"Fuck off"
Mercy's voice dripped with venom, her eyes filled with seething rage and hate as she focused her gift upon their legs, a loud cracking sound filling the room as she snapped their tibia bones and their screams mixed in with the sound of Hope beating the life out of the other man.
"I'll kill you! No one calls me a whore! No one touches me without permission!"
She was in full swing, blood dripping from her fist as it became obvious that she was now punching nothing more than the remnants of a corpses face. The club watching on in horror as Mercy finally chose to intervene, simply touching her sister's shoulder and pointing towards the pack of Marlboro gold cigarettes in her jacket pocket.
"You've made your point Hope, time to go for that smoke and find another bar"
She led the fair haired woman out of the door, helping to spark the cigarette as whispers filled the air behind them.
'Someone call an ambulance... and the police. This guy's dead'
'What did she do to the bouncers? Their legs are broken'
'What are they?'
'They're monsters"
Mercy had to smile as the final whisper caught her ear, moving her wasted sister away from the club and down an alley to calm down, watching as she drew heavily on the cigarette. With each passing day, she realised more and more that they truly had abandoned all of their humanity in favour of their shared insanity. But perhaps that was for the best she thought, no one would try to hurt them if they lost themselves to their inner monster.
"You need to stop doing things like that Hope"
"Why? They bring it on themselves; I only finish what they started. And anyway, it's not like they can harm or kill me"
Mercy heard the touch of bitterness in her sister's voice, frowning as she pulled her own cigarettes from her pocket.
"Do you resent what I did? Altering our state and stopping us from joining mother?"
"Like I really care anymore. Even if we could die, if there is a heaven and mother is there, then we sure as hell aren't going to it"
Hope felt a strange sense of sadness wash over her suddenly at her own words. Perhaps that was what she wanted? She felt drained by the life they led, nothing like what she had wanted when they had been children. Like Mercy had wanted to be a mid-wife, Hope had always wanted a family of her own. But, in their frozen state, pregnancy was impossible for either woman and Hope had long since discovered that her heart held no love for others beyond her sister so finding a long term lover was out of the question.
Their dreams were dead. And so were they.
"Hope and Mercy Sinclair. By order of the Volturi, you are to accompany us willingly or we shall take you by force"
Their eyes snapped to the end of the alleyway, four shadows blocking the exit as Mercy stepped forward to speak, not trusting Hope to take control of the situation right now.
"Oh? Do you even understand who you're dealing with here? If you think that only four of you can take us on then you better guess again"
Mercy saw the outline of a smile twist upon the faces of the shadows, each one slowly stepping into the light as something quickly dawned upon the two sisters. Red eyes, skin too pale to be healthy and overly sharp teeth poking through the gaps of their smiles. She sent Hope a brief glance as she spoke.
"Can you summon any of your clones?"
"Why should I? I can take on these four without breaking a sweat"
Mercy couldn't quite catch her sister quick enough as the blonde barrelled towards their attackers, her cocaine addled brain failing to register the danger that Mercy had sensed or see the ecstatic grin that spread across one of their faces. He had been hoping for a fight, simply to see what would happen.
"Try to play nicely Felix. The masters want them retrieved in one piece"
"Sure thing Jane"
Hope continued to thunder forward, undeterred by the giant of a man that came hurtling towards her, both preparing fists as they collided and a scream of agony tore through the air. Mercy felt her eyes widen in horror as Hope was sent flying backwards and towards her, convinced that she had heard a number of bones break from the contact as she watched the other land with a thud.
"That does it!"
Mercy prided herself on being the calmer of the two, never allowing herself to be as hot headed as her sister. But, as she watched her sister force herself from the ground, bones cracking back into place and bloody scrapes beginning to heal as she threw herself forward once more, Mercy began to feel genuine panic. She felt helpless as she took a moment to look into the bodies of the strangers, horrified to find that their own hearts failed to beat also. She could alter that, revert them back to life with her gift but it would take time. And time really wasn't something she had as she listened to Hope scream in pain once more, snarling like a wild beast before splitting her being and summoning six of her clones.
She was pissed, pissed beyond belief as she felt her energy drain. Normally, summoning this many of her creations would have been child's play, nothing compared to what she was capable of. But she was drunk and high, neither a good mix for her gift as the clones struggled to fight past their own intoxication, all suffering from the substance abuse she had put herself through. But that wasn't what Hope was worrying about as she sent a quick glance to mercy, silently telling the other to run.
Mercy shook her head, refusing the others requests. She couldn't leave her, she didn't want too. If she did then she'd be completely alone. Neither truly had a reason to live anymore without the other. Hope groaned, knowing that Mercy wouldn't leave to save her own skin, eyeing her clones for a split moment before turning tail and gripping her sisters hand, forcing her to run alongside the blonde as the clones were left behind as a distraction.
"We need to get away Merc, whatever the hell they are, it sure ain't human"
They ran as fast as they could, Hope wincing in pain as she felt her clones being destroyed, one after the other, their existence being ripped from her own and leaving an emptiness within her soul. She prided herself on her creations, and knowing that six of them had just died for the sake of she and Mercy was like a knife to the remnants of her heart.
"Can you still run after all that? You've used too much energy on your clones and you're in no state to summon more with all the shit you consumed before... You're starting to look like you'll drop any minute"
Hope knew Mercy was right, knew that her sister could sense her dwindling energy from over-exertion and abuse. Fate had really picked a bad day for them to run into this level of trouble. The last thing either of them needed was Hope passing out anytime soon.
"I don't know. My heads starting to feel heavy and my eyes are blurring... I don't think I can stay with it much longer"
Great. Just bloody fantastic. Mercy sighed in annoyance as she hooked her sisters arm around her shoulder, helping the other to keep up as she struggled to keep up her own momentum with the added weight.
"Leaving so soon?"
Mercy screamed blue murder as she came to a halt, the sudden dead weight on her left side proving that Hope had fallen unconscious, most likely from the added surprise of being caught up too. They were screwed. Royally.
"What do you want?! We don't even know you"
A chorus of laughter followed Mercy's words, pulling her sister a little closer as the four attackers drew closer. With the closeness, Mercy could better see their features, they looked like Botticelli angels, especially the smaller and seemingly younger of the group; she believed one was known as Jane, their pale skin flawless, their hair glossy and their eyes like perfect rubies. Mercy felt a shiver run through her spine, a sudden realisation dawning upon her. No, they were certainly not human.
"Ah, but we know you. Have followed you through the years, waiting for our kings to give the word to bring you both in... How convenient that your sister should make it so easy for us"
Mercy would have bitten back in Hope's defence, would have lashed back if she could but, as a body moved forward with a speed beyond what she had ever thought possible and a fist collided with her right temple, the world went dark around her and she joined Hope in unconsciousness.
