"-one is blowing this out of proportion." I recognize Alfred's boss standing at a podium. The screen flickers and it has a very upset news anchor sitting in front of the camera.
"We have breaking news. A video of the shooting has been released to us anonymously. We ask you to clear the room of all small children as the content is very graphic and some viewers may find it extremely disturbing." As the news anchor ends his statement all heads in the room turn to Italy.
"What?" he asks, confused.
We turn our attention to the TV as the video starts. There's a man in a white shirt holding his rifle pointed to the sky. He's trying to reason with another man in a dark uniform. There's a group of monks in the middle of the courtyard area. The man in the white shirt is yelling something at the men in the dark uniforms and the one who seems to be in charge starts yelling back. One of the monks being held at gunpoint starts forward and looks as if he's about to speak.
A younger nervous looking man turns towards the monk, letters spelling out FBI in bold letters on the back of his jacket, and shouts, "He's going for the chief!" The young man shoots the monk, blood spraying outward from his head. Everything freezes for a moment. Then some of the men behind the guy in the white shirt start shooting at the men in dark uniforms. A bullet hits one of the men, spinning him. The man in the white shirt tries to help the monks, but he falls. A second later, the phone drops and someone screams, "DADDY!" Someone else picks up the phone and turns it off. I knew that place. That place was in the South. I start twitching, about to punch something. I take deep breaths trying to calm myself down. I try to shove all my anger in a box.
I turn sharply and march out of the room. I march up the stairs to America's room. I yank open his door, marching stiffly into his room. "Wake up. Now. Or else I will get my damn gun, and shoot you," I growl, leaning over my brother. At the sound of the word gun, he jerks awake. He regards me nervously.
"What's wrong…?" he starts to ask. I shake my head.
"Look up 'monk shooting.' Then you'll understand," I growl. Alfred sits up.
"'Monk shooting'? What's going on? Conner, deep breaths. Ok, don't worry, everything will be alright." I remember something.
"America, did you get my glasses fixed?" I ask, looking at him. He looks at me puzzled, shaking his head.
"No. I was going to get you a new pair but apparently someone fixed 'em for you," he replies examining my glasses. All I can do is shrug. I turn away from him and walk out the door. I flip through my thoughts, trying to put them in order. I can't believe what I saw. I just…can't. I sit on the couch in the living room, staring at the floor. I get up, feeling restless.
I walk upstairs to my bathroom. I turn on the light and examine myself in the mirror. My eyes are less clouded, my hair less dull. My hair is also shorter, like it had been trimmed in my sleep. I'm not as pale as I usually am. Why do I look like this? Is something…happening? I stare at myself in the mirror a few more minutes, scared. I tear myself away from the mirror and walk towards the door. I walk down the stairs, muttering to myself.
"Conner, I have a summons from my boss 'kay? I gotta go," I hear Alfred shout.
"Conner! Conner, where are you?" I hear Alfred shouting again. I close my eyes and sigh.
"I'm coming down," I shout back. As I keep walking towards Alfred's voice, I feel weird. Almost like…I'm gaining energy. I shake it off. I walk down the hall thinking. I shrug to myself.
"Conner? Why is my military uniform blue?" I hear Alfred ask. I look up. Alfred is standing in his uniform, but it's blue. And something about it is off. I stare at it, trying to place what's wrong. I take into account that for some reason, Alfred is fully armed. "Conner…? Why do you have your uniform on…?"
I start and look at my own outfit. My Confederate uniform. My breath catches. I slowly start to realize what's about to happen. I look up slowly, seeing the realization hit Alfred too.
He starts shaking his head rapidly, muttering, "No no no no no no no no…" I start breathing heavily. Alfred's head shoots up. "I-I have to go to the meeting. We can figure this out later."
A/N:
Oh my. Now we see what's going on. Oh, dancergeek22, you weren't as far off as you thought. One more chapter!