Weight crushed Vi's body, the weight of a whole mountain crashing down on her. Jay stared up at her, horror filling her eyes, those crimson eyes. Run she had said, and run Jay had. With blood on her hands, the blood of a mines worth of innocents, she had run from that place, run with the people that had ruined her, that had left Vi to rot alone in that mine. Her soul was stained red now, and Vi wasn't going to be there to help her wash it off. Vi wasn't going to be there to stop that innocent little girl from becoming the monster that was inside. The Jinx she always kept locked away.
She awoke with a start, gasping slightly as Caitlyn shook her. She whipped the dribble from her cheek and said "What's up, what time is it"
"Just after nine in the morning" Caitlyn responded, wrapping her arms around the pinket. "I missed you in bed last night. I got pretty cold without you there."
Vi gulped a bit. Since the two of them had moved in together, Caitlyn had used that little trick whenever Vi was out late, drinking or otherwise. It was a dirty little bit of manipulation, but dam did it work. "Sorry Cupcake" she said, rubbing the sheriffs arm. "I was caught up in some modifications for my suit." she rubbed her eyes and yawned. "Time for work I suppose?"
Caitlyn giggled. "It's our day off you doofus" she said, spinning Vi's chair around and plopping down in her lap. "I thought we could go to a movie or something. That new slasher movie that you wanted to see is out."
Vi hugged her partner tightly, burying her face in those flowing locks of hair. "I would love nothing more" she said quietly. She pulled back, looking into the sheriffs eyes. "but I can't. I'm meeting an old friend today."
Something in the way Vi said that made Caitlyn frown. "Nothing illegal I hope" she said cautiously.
"Not strictly speaking" Vi replied, half smiling. "Unless you consider missing a date with you to be a crime."
Caitlyn pulled her in and they kissed, deeply, longingly. "Oh my dear" she whispered into Vi's ear. "It's the worst crime of all. Look's like you're just going to have to make it up to me somehow" she nibbled on the pinkets ear, sending shivers down her spine. Caitlyn swung her legs off of the woman and walked away. Vi watched her hips swing with each step, biting her lower lip. She had to tell her eventually. It would only get harder from here, it would only get worse the longer she waited.
But she couldn't do it. Caitlyn was so happy right now. She couldn't be the storm cloud that ruined it. Eventually. Not now.
The drive out of town took almost an hour. As the tall buildings shifted to open plains and tiny shacks, Vi went back to those times once more, the times she hadn't thought of in far to long. She almost passed the old run down bar that she used to frequent. She slammed on the brakes, turned sharply, and skidded into the nearly empty parking lot. The Vulgar Unicorn sign still hung limply from the post out front, making Vi smile ever so slightly. Still the same old place. She adjusted her sunglasses, finger the revolver on her hip, and walked inside.
The bartender was still the same old man, though with much more gray on his head than Vi remembered. He was polishing a dirty glass, but that didn't stop him from beaming in her direction and beckoning to her over the roar. The pinket took a seat on the a stool as the old man limped over to her. "My my you've grown!" he said happily, pulling an old bottle of whiskey off the shelf behind him. "I suppose you'll be having the usual?"
Vi laughed. "I actually don't drink anymore." she admitted. The old man's mouth fell open in mock horror.
"Then I suppose you're here to see my beautiful mug, maybe ask me out to dinner or somefing?" Vi laughed harder.
"Still the same old fart you always were" she said happily. "Not so much." she straitened up a bit, leaning a bit closer. "I need some information. Looking for an old friend. Whiskey Pete?"
The man's face fell a bit. "Why are you looking for that lout?" he said back, quietly.
"Just business." she said simply.
He glanced to Vi's right and pointed off into a corner of the bar. Vi turned around to look. A group of men sat in a corner booth, seven in all, staring across the room at her. "Which one is Pete?" she asked backwards.
"The bald one" he replied. Perfect. The one that looked like he most wanted to kill her was the man she most wanted to talk too.
"Look's like they want to make a new friend!" she exclaimed, turning back to the bartender. "Thanks man, I owe you one." she pulled her billfold out and fished a fifty out, dropping it down on the bar. The man's face went pale as he stared off somewhere behind Vi. The pinket turned slowly to see that, in the span of time it took her to pull out the money, Pete's crew had surrounded her. "Well hey there boys!" she exclaimed. "Wonderful weather we're having isn't it?"
The man directly to Vi's left grabbed her shoulder roughly. The enforcer grinned. Quick as an arrow, she gripped the mans wrist and spun it around, hearing it dislocate with a pop. He shouted in pain and fell to the floor, and the rest of his friends took a step back involuntarily. "Come on man" she said down to the man who's useless hand was in hers. "Take me to dinner first."
She kicked the man in the chest, sending him sprawling backwards. Another man charged, but Vi was ready. His punch flew high as Vi's own fist connected with his stomach. She grabbed his head and bashed it into the edge of the bar, knocking him out cold with a small spray of blood. The next ones came at her two at a time, one with a knife, one with a chain wrapped around his fist. She plucked the knife away from the first man and plunged it into the shoulder of the second. A fist to the throat sent the first man flying, and a boot in the chest made the second one useless.
There was a lull in the fight. The remaining men stood around, looking from their boss back to Vi nervously. "Get her!" Pete shouted.
"Please do!" Vi said. "I haven't filled my beating quota yet. Fuck, I haven't even killed anyone today!" she bounced up and down on the balls of her feet, cracking her knuckles in front of her. "Which one of you wants to be the first?"
The two goons took off out the door, scrambling over one another to be the first one through. Vi laughed out loud. "What pussys!" she said. "you've gotta find better help, man."
Pete gritted his teeth and drew from his back two long, menacing looking swords. "Fuck you, bitch." he said angrily.
Vi only laughed harder. "Dude" she said, holding the bar to keep from falling over. "Swords are so last year man! Jesus, you've gotta get one of these." she drew the revolver and put a bullet in his knee. The roar of the weapon silenced the bar, and Pete's scream of pain echoed throughout the small room. "Go back to your drinks, gents" Vi said, grabbing Pete's collar and pulling him out the door. "My buddy's had one to many to drink, we're just gona take him home."
Vi tossed the man out the door and onto the road, pointing her gun as she did. "Alright peetey!" she said "You've got just under half a minute to tell me exactly who this new crazy bitch criminal is, the one who calls herself Jinx, before I put one between your eyes."
The man pushed himself onto his side, clutching his bleeding knee with one hand and pleading with the other. "I'm gona bleed out if I don't get something on this" he grunted in pain.
"Not gonna matter much if you're already dead" Vi said impatiently, cocking the revolver. "You just wasted ten seconds, tell me now, Pete."
"She's a nothing!" The man shouted, shaking his head. "She just showed up, hired some equally fucked up goons and attacked the university! I don't even know how she got her resources, she just had them!"
"Not good enough petey" Vi said, shaking her head. "You've gotta give me something concrete if you want to make it out of here."
"Someone said she used to run with your old crew!" he said suddenly. Vi froze, dropping her pistol slightly. "Ya" he said, seeing the effect it had on Vi. "I think it was one of Ned Peppers crew, heard it from Little John in prison. He said Jinx used to run with your crew before she went bat shit."
The color in Vi's face drained, and her stomach tied itself in a knot instantly. "You're lying" she whispered, taking a step closer and raising the gun. "you're fucking with me." anger began to creep into her voice.
"No I swear!" he said, terrified. "One of Ned's boys, I swear! Go ask-"
He was cut off as Vi's boot connected with his jaw. He spat blood and teeth as his limp body fell to the pavement. Vi holstered her gun and grabbed the man's collar. "I swear to the God's if you're lying I'll make you wish I had killed you here you fucking..." The pinket stopped as she realized he was unconscious. She threw his useless body back down to the street and stood, her body shaking with the revelation. A few attendants were peeking their heads out of the bar, watching Vi with fear in their eyes. "What the fuck are you looking at?!" she shouted, causing them to shoot back into the building. Vi grabbed her hair, trying to calm her racing mind as the thought began to take root. Jinx was her sister. The sister she had forgotten. The sister she had given up. And now she was back with a vengeance.
Holy shit it's been way to long. Thank you all so much for putting up with my leave of absence, but I should be back for good now. For those of you that don't read the updates on my page LIKE YOU SHOULD, my mother had a stroke about a month ago and we're still picking up the pieces. As a result, you can imagine that I don't really have much time to write. To my long time readers, thank you. Really, you have no idea how much it means to me that people actually want to read my stuff consistently. I've been feeling about answering some personal questions in a later chapter, so pm me if you have any!
As always, if you want to see these keep going, please continue to Read and Review! Ask anyone; I respond to absolutely every review that I get with thanks and answers. Thank you all for sticking with me in these dark times. There's a light at the end of the tunnel, we just know it's a long way off.
Abe