March 26th, 2030 - 11:09 PM - Royal Woods, Michigan
And Paige Tetherby had her birthday ruined in the most ugly way possible. It all went well, and then some shooter crashed the party from the roof, sprinkling away with the ammunition from their deadly weapon, and in the end-
They took the body away, and she sat there at the kitchen table, dazed, confused and rendered morbidly silent. And while her mother and father, along with other key witnesses gave their counts to the police, Paige Tetherby was accompanied in consolation by her two best friends Stella Narvaez, of Filipino descent, and Jordan McKay, American with a faint touch of German heritage that came from her mother. They occupied the spots on her side, their hands connected, rubbing on Paige's shoulder. She hadn't stopped crying, and the tissues hadn't stopped coming. She didn't need to speak her mind, for they understood.
What they didn't pick up on just yet was that Paige had a great sense of rage that manifested, but remained hidden among the tears and her dripping snot, so not ladylike as she'd be told. Still... Grandpappy had been stripped of his life by some nut. Some nut, but for what?
All those gifts stacked lime jenga bricks weren't even touched yet. Cake- What happened to the cake? Candles? Did- Did everyone have a jolly good time before Allison Taggart carried out her assignment? Could Paige Tetherby ever comprehend the reason behind this? Could she go down and give chase to-?
"Paige," Jordan, mainly recognized as Girl Jordan by most of her peers in school, had known and home-grown a perfect bond with Paige. "Do you wanna stay over at my place? I- I think police and medics will be here for a long time, and this- This is too..." She made sure to eye Paige, hoping she got the picture.
"That shouldn't even be a choice..." Stella voiced. "We should just go... Take your phone, stay the night at hers..." Stella saw her way out. "To heck with the officers, they're taking too long in notifying our parents. That means those others out there, too. I'm not staying any longer."
"I- I'm sure they'll-" Jordan would wait until her family arrived- which only meant after the emergency call. "Oh, my God..."
Stella heard the ringing gunshots when she closed her eyes. God help her sleep tonight, it's all she would want. Right this second, she didn't truly seem fazed, but the rhythm would change when she would be alone again, to process it. To not have anyone to tell to until she was forced to do so, and she'd tell her parents and cry to them about being that much in danger. Her. Her and Jordan alike if the ginger had a soul. Ha, Stella forced a crooked smile. Jordan looked so human, acted like She With A Soul, said humorous things and had natural boy crushes as well. No soul? No, Stella didn't buy that at all. And Jordan- Girl Jordan- was more of an autumn shade, not reddish ginger.
She With A Soul noticed Stella's odd smile. "What- Hey, are you laughing?"
"No, sorry-" Stella grew embarrassed. "I just had a thought."
"Okay, please keep to yourself..."
"I'm staying," Paige decided. "This is my place. Y-you guys go..."
"Paige, you're-" She With A Soul heaved out an exasperated sigh. "This place is too depressing."
"I'll be fine-"
"You're gonna be-" Jordan took it upon herself to carry Paige, storming out through the backdoor. "Stella, get my phone from my pocket and call my mom!"
"Sure-" Stella followed her instructions. "Ew, Ken Makuro screensaver. What's your password?"
"Uh... K-E-N-M..."
Stella rolled her eyes. "You're hopeless."
"Oh hush, he's dreamy."
"Could you put me d-down?"
"Oh, I'm officially kidnapping you!" Jordan followed Stella outside, pulling near excess weight. "Oh, thank God you're a vegan."
"I'm not a vegan...?"
"Then why do you feel like a tree branch?"
"Why- Why do I-? Why do you have insane strength?"
"P.E. does me more wonders than you both notice."
"Hi, missus McKay?" Stella pressed a finger to her lips at them, holding Jordan's phone with the other hand. "It's Stella, Jordan's friend. I, um...-"
"Mom, come down here to the Tetherby mansion! There... There's been trouble!" Girl Jordan hoped she was heard through the non-speaker range. "It's awful."
March 27th, 2030
Paige's phone had died by the afternoon, leaving her with no contact or online access, but of course, with all that had happened, she put it all aside. Lord knows how many missed calls had come to her phone when she was away from it. Calls and texts, to say the least. All the while this particular trio came together after Stella rode her bike to Jordan's place. This day was a firm weekday, but they had taken it off. Them and however much kids there had been. Big party, big size.
They occupied She With A Soul's backyard, and up to now, no one had bothered to try and form a healthy conversation. It all consisted of moans and the occasional stares to one another. Swing set gone unused, shrubs and frass moving about. Wind bellowing in a hollow echo, letting them know nature and life kept going, but that was the thing. Life had been kept going, this was what had been on Paige's mind. If there was an off button, no one dared to utilize it to freeze time. Time, what she wished her grandfather had more of. She labeled it as an act of injustice. She didn't add to it, she didn't blame those up there, or fate. She just believed that it was senseless and the person responsible was just that; the person responsible, nothing more.
Had they a motive? Had there been a reason-? Paige had her stomach go churned out of her control. Were it so, it'd be inhumane. Indecent. Atrocious. "It scared me," Paige opened up, telling her friends of deeper feelings. "Who- Who does that on a birthday party? What kind of monster-?"
"Paige, please don't think about it," Jordan wholeheartedly suggested. "There might not even be logical reasoning. Those shooters are radical, you know? Last year it was the mall, how... How evil anyone can be-"
"Ahem."
Girl Jordan back-pedaled. "Mind today's paper, it made the front pa- Er, headlines."
"Doofus woman," Stella whispered to Jordan. "But yes, she's right. I can only imagine the whole town must be aware and talking about it for about a week. Ugh, not that I want that. There's... There is no respect anymore, not for the dead- victims and their families. God..."
"Stella?"
"S-sorry-" The Filipino girl's hands rotated about. It was her seeing and feeling yesterday's events. "I, um, I was talking to this guy when it happened and he panicked and-" She covered her right eye. "I have this headache-"
"Stella, do you need to go back home?" Jordan was assured she could handle Paige by herself. "You're free to leave if you're unwell."
"I know that, but what good is it being alone right now?" Stella forced out before she reviewed her words. "Oh, uh-"
"Y-you aren't...?" Jordan cocked an eyebrow. "Unless-"
Stella set her arms around her, expressing a degree of childlike guilt. "So maybe I didn't t-talk yet... I yelled. I yelled and I claimed I was fine."
"So, you lied to them..." Jordan seemed to understand, only giving Stella as far as a simple nod.
"Lied-?" Stella contemplated the course again. "No, I- I was fine, wasn't I? I was fine yesterday-"
"What do you mean you were fine yesterday?!" Jordan jumped up from the porch steps and slapped Stella without hesitation. "Excuse me but there was a shooting and people panicked and ran out the front and back with fear! I- I was afraid just like I know you were! This- This idiotic macho girl act makes me embarrassed to hang out with you!"
"M-macho?" Stella shook her head rapidly. "No, no, no! That's not even close to what I'm trying to get across!"
"Well then you had better start properly explaining it, Stella, cause-"
Paige never peeped a word.
"It- It's here, it's inside me- My mind-" Stella knocked upon her skull. "The voices, the gunshots, the- Everything. I can still see everything, hear and feel it! And I didn't g-get sleep-"
She With A Soul withdrew from another slap. "You too?"
"Too?"
Jordan sympathized with Stella; they could but only be in the same boat up to here. Jordan sent a hand to pat upon the traumatized Stella's head. "Five hours of sleep, but not consecutively... And knowing my parents, they care enough to find me professional help. You know, counseling or therapy- Whatever the terms are."
"I'm just too shaken up to-" Stella let out a grunting squeak. "Actually, I think I ought to go now... I don't feel well."
Paige's green eyes only followed Stella blankly as she took her exit with shame and mind full of trauma. Jordan had already assessed the mental damage applied to her friend to some degree, wishing she could be of more help than she was now. Now, Jordan McKay was only thirteen, a month away from hitting the great One-Four, proved to have a higher degree of intelligence derived from reading books. But there had been one genre that had interested her; the study of psychology. Which meant putting it to use now. "Hey, don't keep it inside, Stella. You... You really need to seek help," she advised with worry. "Please."
"I'll-" And then she found herself not to say anymore, and that was it.
Paige raised and dropped her hand on her lap, smacking upon it, giving up. "What am I doing? Why am I just sitting around like some fixed corpse?"
"It's still fresh, that's to be expected, Paige."
"I just want it gone-" Paige then had a better idea. "No, I wish it didn't happen. It just isn't fair, and all of it- Why can't there be a redo? Why can't it be to my- Our favor?"
"For starters, I'm sorry you lost your grandfather, and... We're lucky to be alive-"
"Y-you call this being lucky?"
"Sure, we're not dead, Paige," Jordan rationalized. "We're scarred but we're not dead, we're going to be okay. Not right now, I'm well aware, and Stella might have gotten this thing called PTSD-"
"What are you talking about?"
"It's a..." Jordan didn't know how to describe it with a sugarcoating. "No, you're right, I'm spewing nonsensical sentences. How are you feeling right now?"
"Jo, it hurts- It hurts like heck!" Paige blasted out. "And it's just like Stella described it, I feel the same way as her! And you, you just said you had a short sleep! I thought you were asleep longer than me-"
"I was wrapped in silence... Sorry."
"That part should he over, right? I'm not back there and that nut is long gone, so just why am I afraid of it? Why can I still hear those shots? You? Her? You- You meant to say that, right? You were-" She fumbled over her words. "You said counseling for yourself, so you are. You were hurt, too! Hurt in the mind..."
"I am, I can't deny that, but I'm calm and logical right now..." Jordan took deep breaths, however, that said otherwise. "It happened, it'll never happen again. Police are looking into it and we're far from where they have hurt us. You and me and everyone at the party, Paige. We're okay, we just need to-"
"And what about my grandfather? Is he okay?"
"Well... No, but-" Jordan clenched her chest. "Look, he's in a better place where he can't be hurt anymore-"
"So you're saying we're here and it's possible?! IS IT POSSIBLE THAT THERE JUST MIGHT BE SOMEONE WHO COULD BRING ABOUT HARM TO US?!"
Jordan felt her side of the argument slipping from her favor. The panic and the sense of compromised safety had settled within Paige's eyes- but nothing fiery had come to be shown. Not yet at least. "You're twisting my words. This is not an everyday tragedy, Paige. Wrong place, wrong time, this is all it was. I am sure of it."
"Not an everyday tragedy?" Paige laughed in denial. "Excuse me, but I've been doing some growing up. You're right, it's not... But do you know what an everyday occurrence is?"
"Do tell me."
"Death."
Jordan broke first, her mistake against Paige now. "Death... This is serious, Paige. Are you really-?"
"Oh, yes I am!" Paige bellowed. "You're smart so you get it, don't you? Every day, that happens. One way or another, regardless of... Well, some dang slaying! What do police call it, home-cide?"
"What's a girl like you shouting such concepts around for?" Jordan narrowed her eyes. "That happens, yes, but you're suggesting, in a manner of paranoid speaking, that someone out there will be out to get you, and that's wrong! That's paranoia! You're... You're messed up this much by yesterday! That's what I know but it's going to be fine because you're of wealth and they'll afford the best shrinks just for you!"
"It happened just yesterday!"
"It was just his time! Yes, what happened yesterday was a case of... M-murder but that doesn't mean-" She knew it was the PTSD working itself in Paige's mind, already manifesting just as fast, distorting and perverting the young girl. "It can't happen-"
"IT DID, AND IF IT DID-" She With A Soul had also gathered where Paige was going with this.
The natural response of the average human being, when in an life-threatening event, consists of a state of shock, a rendering of immobilization. They can't move, they are simply unable to make an escape. This stems from the fear cast upon the current event, exposing the helpless person or persons to-
Paige... This really did you in, didn't it? She With A Soul shook her head. "It can't happen again, I don't think that. And you shouldn't either, it is not healthy to assume that in life."
"H-how would I ever know?" Paige brought into question. "And what if- What if you're wrong?"
"We may never, Paige, but-"
Psychologically, the mind opens up a new door of perceiving, understanding the true nature of the world. These people, the victims left in the wake of such violent, senseless acts, never remain the same after that. There is a switch that just disconnects them from their mental safe haven-
Girl Jordan changed her viewpoint of Paige. Is this all it takes for you to fall? Stella? Stella, what about you?
Post-traumatic stress disorder, commonly referred to as PTSD, is a main, crucial factor that has proven to-
Jordan slammed the book shut and took to her bed. When only after she had forced herself to relax. When only after Paige was picked up, leaving the McKay residence on a morbid note. When only after understanding that nature was to run its course with Paige, not for Girl Jordan to interfere. Tough for Jordan, the girl with a long braid waving around the back of her head had a good heart, but was not exactly a professional around the sentimental angle. She was about facts, logic and statistics. If it was so that she could relate from experience, she would share and let it be known that some soul would not be alone in that which troubled, rattled their soul.
This didn't qualify, it was beyond her reach, but not out of her understanding. PTSD... Paranoia, why can't it be easier for them?
Something she had said made her delve deep into thinking. Back there, with her friends, she said these things happened, and there was no true logic behind it. These madmen were just unhinged at most, crazy and- Well, they were just crazy, no doubt about it. There was no logic. Was that true for the deconstruction of the minds of the victims? Did it just warp everyone at random on that mental state of their very being?
Was logic a concept that never existed? And when she thought about it again, she realized that it happened. And it had no real reason to. So...
Why?
She dug into the covers and adjusted her head on the pillow, taking rest. And she closed her eyes with great anticipation that she'd see the same horrible nightmare again. Only...
She turned to the side. The creatures of the dark kept her comfortable when her mom and dad would no longer partake in doing so, for she had grown up. And the world grew bigger on her. Talk of college. Talk of career. Talk of other things synonymous with the average adult. She was fated to go down that path, just like the others. Her. Paige. Stella. Millions of people she had never met.
Why can't it be easier for us all?
She could not fall asleep as fast as any other night, so naturally, she went into her phone and poked around her social media accounts. She scrolled through the regular posts that occupied her feed. There were pictures from Mollie Reinhardt, some silly troll posts and memery from Grant Evans (you'd have never guessed the cashier at Burpin' Burger could have an endless sense of humor), and then came the dreadful sharing posts of the same articles concerning yesterday's incident. That and a spam of messages passed the seventies, and lesser notifications. At no doubt had she been tagged but Girl Jordan had no issue in ignoring everything.
She considered it enough and went back to the top of her feed to refresh the page- and it showed her a brand new fact relating to the murder. It demolished her drowsiness, earning her full attention that she leaned right up and clicked on the entire post, finalizing with the long staredown at the image featuring the compiled faces of Leia Amanda Prescott, Gwendolyn Harris and Marsha Gladwell. Only, the names of Gwen and Marsha were mentioned, but no name was attached to the blonde girl as Jordan could see;
WANTED - These key individuals were seen on the premises prior to the Tetherby party, one of which had been manning a drone overhead before they took off. Sources affiliated with various police departments on the east coast have identified two of the three girls as girls from Greenwood, Pennsylvania. These three girls are believed to be a trio of thieves running across the nation. A reward of a thousand dollars is currently being offered to anyone who contains information that leads to the detainment of these three girls.
These girls were...-? Jordan zoomed in on Gwen and Marsha. And she made a faint connection; these strangers were present at Paige's party, she had come across them just the one time while she was coming back from the punch area. Gwen and Marsha were arguing, that's what it was that she noticed. It didn't seem possible, but... A drone being flown to survey the mansion? Thieves... From Pennsylvania?
It didn't add up all the way, but this was indeed an update to note, and maybe it meant something. But-
Girl Jordan smiled and saw nothing but stupidity. Okay so maybe they were involved but there is no way they're suspects in Lord Tetherby's murder. Has there ever been a case of a female shooter with such a mental capacity to do this? Ha, there is no way-
Thieves, it said. Thieves, not killers. Gwendolyn Harris. Marsha Gladwell. It made her rather curious if anything. But what intrigued her was the identity of the third, unnamed girl. Was she also from Greenwood? Or had her identity been withheld for a reason she wasn't seeing just yet? Funny... The face on Mysterious Blondie seemed rather familiar, but not to Girl Jordan's recognition yet. If anyone could find the connection, it was definitely Connor Packer, the computer geek with a fancy hard-on for technology. Why, Jordan could count on him to put a name on Mysterious Blondie, and to make countless dots connect. Maybe... Just maybe, they could uncover the mystery, crack this case. Get justice for Paige.
And it did cross her mind.
Who are you and how do you three fit into all this?
March 29th, 2030
Connor Packer adjusted his glasses, getting to work on this "conspiracy theory" Girl Jordan had presented to him. He bought it and his fancy was majestically tickled. The young black boy seemed to be too much into aliens and the inexplicable events that left the populace with confusion and mystery. That was him, when he wasn't being some silly weeaboo. But he was talented when it came to matters of the virtual aspect. He knew things Jordan didn't, some of which had amazed her, but that was more often than not.
The recent trick Connor Packer had pulled was installing as many texting apps as he could, acquired a free number with the home area code and pulled a great prank on a school bully, scaring him down. It was easier than you'd think, but the tricky part was sending all targeted texts at once. No funds to buy multiple devices, but it was always possible.
Today, he was in his room, seated, eyes locked onto the computer monitor. Two names across multiple platforms. Google, Twitter, Tumblr. You could name them all, or try to, but he'd share of another you didn't know. Or he'd take it from social media (Girl Jordan hadn't thought to rummage news articles about these female thieves) to local area. Greenwood, Pennsylvania. "Greenwood Chronicle is their paper, it might be insightful. I'm gonna try to check the missing persons cases, they would have been marked as missing before they descended to this."
"Right," She With A Soul agreed. "I didn't consider that they'd have been reported as missing, how stupid of me."
"Playing detective is not for everyone," Connor replied back with ease. "Don't be so hard on yourself."
"I'm not..."
"So you say." He never looked at her to know otherwise. "Okay, I'm doing cross-references for every keyword I can think of."
"No need to tell me, just figure it out."
"How do you think they're involved?" Connor asked again. "I mean, if they were spotted flying a drone around the mansion, they might have been paid to do so, right? They might have been working for someone. That post calls them thieves but that's also a thing that intrigues me. Why would three girls just suddenly escape their hometown and go on this supposed spree?"
"Are you suggesting something happened?"
"In Greenwood, yes. It isn't far-fetched to make a guess that some crap went down, drove them out. But there has got to be a thousand incidents happening up there weekly. For me to find a piece of this puzzle would take some time, Jordan. I don't know what I'm looking for exactly when I get there."
Jordan collapsed onto his bed. "Anything?"
"For keywords on thieves..." Connor made multiple clicks on his keyboard, scrolling the mouse's small wheel to take him down. "Just reports of B and Es, some foiled bank job- Uh?"
"What? Hey, did you find something?"
"Okay, I have a match, I think. Ahem..." He read aloud, "Three unidentified girls- Hmmm... Stolen goods, yadda yadda yadda. Took off in a black Nissan Sentra belonging to one of these girls' parents, reportedly."
"They all just up and left?"
"It doesn't sound like a kidnapping case from what I can tell."
"Three girls..." Jordan nodded.
"Date takes us six months back, that narrows down the search, but it's still-" Connor stopped, catching the last few sentences of the article he currently read. "Wait... Interviews from the families of Harris and Gladwell made it into this article, but no mention about our mystery blonde. Hmm... You know, I do believe I have seen her before."
"Her? You sure?"
"Not personally, but it's the face on her that..." Connor opened up a new tab. "I've seen. I just can't put my finger on it."
"So, did this unnamed girl just become top priority?"
"There is nothing about her I can use. Hm, no fact about her... Could it be possible-?"
"Could what be possible?" Jordan turned her face to his direction.
"She might be an orphan..." Connor deduced. "Orphan, not a foster kid. Not adopted into a family. Orphaned since recent, or had been all her life. A runaway, displaced."
"She... Has no family? Based?"
"Based." Connor cracked his knuckles. "Orphan girl comes and becomes friends with these two locals and persuades them on a quest. Her identity, yet to be uncovered by the police unless they are keeping one or several key facts of this case from the media and public. But, how does this spiral from a chain of reported small crimes to this murder?"
"Yeah, that's what I've been thinking as well. They might have made friends, that's what I think."
"Okay, but friends that would throw them under the bus?"
"Uh-" Jordan pondered her logic. "Hm, you've got a point."
"Back to it... They came to Royal Woods for a job, they're thieves, right? That explains the drone surveillance."
"Oh..." Jordan was quick to nod but her mouth went another direction. "Yes, but what's this about you saying they were being paid? Working for someone?"
"It is a possibility, yes," Connor shared with a pleasant, calm tone he had never masked off. "I run this on the fact that they've had a drone."
Jordan noticed him opening up to the Tetherby mansion through Google's mapping system. "What are you-?"
"The drone had to be flying higher than the mansion's peak height, and not too close around it."
"Uh- I see-" Connor was always a wonder of a human being. Could it have been that he wasn't one? It surely continued to impress She With A Soul.
"A drone that needed connectivity, needed Wi-Fi. Long range signal... A place close to-"
"A public place?"
Connor closed the tab. "I can confirm it for what it is. A drone that can do all that does not come cheap. Fry's Electronics, well over five hundred."
"How did-?" She then stopped and hit herself upside the head lightly. "Never mind, I give you too little credit."
"Well, when you want to buy one, you tend to look in the right store." With his hands, Connor made an explosion. "Booooooom!"
"Ha, none of this is going to get you a girlfriend," she joked.
"What do I want? A girlfriend... Or a flux capacitor?"
Jordan let out a snort drawn from laughter. "Loser you are, Connor, old boy."
"I haven't forgotten about the witness counts. You showed me that post, someone or several people let the police know about what they were doing. It's vague but this had to have been shared after the incident, right? Cops would set up a perimeter and ask questions... But here is where it gets a little hazy for me. Who brings this fact up and why? There isn't any suspects before this witnesses, or them, tell the police about the girls flying that drone."
"Yeah...?"
"In this town, there's a lot of that," Connor continued. "I know tons of people who do here. Now... Why does someone submit this as evidence when the townsfolk know that its common? Someone... Just one person who maybe had plans-"
Jordan snapped her fingers. "Ah, the witness is linked to the girls!"
"And maybe they are the ones who framed the girls as well. They were the ones who told the officers, or detectives, about that when they went asking around."
"So, this witness...?"
"All reports are logged and pinned to the investigation in one way or another. If the witness party was the one who gave a statement, it made it into the case. Doesn't matter if it's verbal or written, it gets typed up in the end. So, somewhere in the list of eye reports is our person of interest."
"I feel like I should be writing this down, you're really proving your brain skills!" Jordan complimented. "Glad I came to you."
"Oh please, anymore modesty and I'd be growing an ego like a parasite."
"That's... An interesting comparison."
"I'm only as good as the next person," Connor casually said. "Please, no praise at all. You can thank me after this is over... But what do you propose we do if we figure out what really happened here? Take it to the cops?"
"W-well-" Jordan paused for a moment. "I- I didn't think this far ahead. I mean, what was the high chance we could actually find out the killer behind this? We are just kids when it comes down to it-"
"But you came to me with this, so clearly you were thinking beyond the mind of a simple child... And last I checked, you're in your early teens, same as me. Kids? Young adults is more like it."
"Young adults..." Jordan sat up. "So what we need is in the police reports attached to this... Heh, that's funny, considering they're unaware."
"That's where the limit is reached for me, I can't break into a precinct, nor am I too advanced to hack their database. Coding isn't easy, and I need to download specific software."
"Wait, but... Surely there is something we can do? We've just come this far, we need those reports!"
"What do you suggest we do?"
She wished she had an idea, but her thoughts were easier to form than when they could be carried out, come to life. Breaking into Royal Woods Police Department, no way it could be easy, especially for a pair of young adults as he labeled her and himself. Girl Jordan had come real close to the end, the solution of this puzzle. But then, suppose they would actually find the witness, what came after? What came when they uncovered the identities of the witness and the unnamed blonde girl? What would arrive when they cracked the case?
Neither had yet considered that they could be stopped dead in their tracks before they stumbled their way to find the existence of sinister forces in play. Down this path, the fog rolled in. It was a thick atmosphere going forward, but not the only direction that could be taken. Down there, Allison Taggart and company were armed and battle ready, doing all they could to keep their agendas tucked away like a Snickers bar hidden in a 7-11 Slurpee. Closer than the two could expect. "We..."
Connor took his fingers off the keyboard. He waited for an answer, any suggestion.
"It's the only way we can figure out who killed Lord Tetherby, I owe it to Paige. She needs to get the closure. So... I'm gonna need help. I gotta get help on breaking in."
"Be careful, it's not going to be easy..." He leaned his head back and gave a heaving sigh. "I'm satisfied at this point, now we know it's shady business. Those poor girls are innocent here, they've just been framed."
"Not me, this doesn't end here for me until justice is delivered for my friend."
"I like your style, Jordan. Those are such words I rarely hear from girls."
"I don't sound cheesy, do I?"
"You do, but it's not bad to say the least." He stood up from his desk after closing all tabs. "This isn't sunshine and rainbows, Jordan, I don't think I need to remind you. Please be careful from here on out. I would try to talk you out of it but it would be folly, I know you'll see this through to its end."
"Oh, you can bet on it."
March 30th, 2030
"You know, we're going to get caught!" Stella insisted on, having quite the bad feeling on their little mission. She shivered in the cold of the night, under the moon. The dark clothes on her, to conceal her from visibility, didn't keep her at full warmth just yet. A dark blue hoodie and bagged yoga pants barely made the cut, but for Jordan, the latter girl felt just right in her black, short sweater and gray jeans, but that was the limit for them. They weren't too prepared for this. Jordan still expressed her grievance with not being able to find them some masks. "Jo, this is too much- I don't want to do this."
"I don't either, but-" She With A Soul twisted her head back against the wall and leaned again, peeking her head back onto the street side. It was just across from them, the place they'd be breaking into. Breaking into... Right... "We have to know, Stella! We just have to... D-don't we? Doesn't she?"
"We can take this to them! They have to believe us! They have to!"
"Will they?!" Jordan disagreed, could not be sold on that idea. "There is nothing they can act on, it's just all speculation but at a high chance of it all being as I believe it is! The girls are framed, someone made it look like they're the only suspects! We just have to get in there and take the-" Jordan had not told Stella what form this big lead would take. As Connor said, it would be written or typed and logged in; a sizeable list of statements or computer files. She rode in on the bet that they were on paper, easier than to tap into a computer for it. "-files and that's it. That's all that we need. That's all that I need, and I'll take them to Connor."
"You know I love you both as my best friends but this is nuts! They'll take us to juvy! I don't wanna go to juvy!"
"Oh, aren't you being just a little paranoid?"
"Are you serious?!"
"They'll give us a pass from pity, I'm sure. We were present at the shootout, they'll give us a warning, or they're heartless."
"You... You really think that?"
"I do, this won't be so bad..." Jordan formed a confident smile. "This won't be so bad. Are you ready?"
"Hell no. I'm not!"
"Good." Jordan wandered into the street, moving across the road. No cars were visible around, nor were there any pedestrian walking around. Jordan was sure the precinct was full yet. Stella's role here was to get the attention of the officers away from here. To run left or right and break car windows, house windows, a mess. So much for a clean reputation. For Paige, how justifiable. No, Stella was not in agreement. Why she was here, she'd never know.
Jordan waited, digging herself in behind the precinct, right on the side of the green, smelly dumpster. She needed to wait, listen when the sirens filled the night and echoed out until it faded. Four times, paralleling the amount of cars she saw at the front. Tight, small precinct, no back parking lot. Budget cuts? Or maybe it was this town that didn't need a bigger force. No, it did, she thought so. Since recent times and latest of crimes, it had to have been considered. And thinking about it, this shooting at the Tetherby mansion only affirmed that opinion.
Heh... You know what would be funny? She covered up her nose, eyes wincing at the burning aroma the dumpster failed to contain. I would become super cool if I get caught. I can see it now, I can see kids lining up to fanboy over me. Heck, I might just become some temporary idol for the delinquents. Yes, they'll love me for this-
The thought it had made her smile briefly, but her feet returned to ground again.
What if I...? A group I could form...?
Sirens finally broke the silence, the conformity of her mind. The thoughts were blown away just like that. Jordan thanked Stella for being as quick as possible- and for perfectly getting all four patrol units dispatched. At least she believed and hoped it was the case, she heard over two of the cars' sirens go off almost simultaneously. The grab-and-go operation well underway by the hand of Lady Luck. Jordan emerged from her hiding spot, taking soft steps forward, looking through the side windows.
She stared into a world of darkness mostly, just dimly lit sources of light filling the entire floor, but just barely. Somewhere inside there...
Allie forced Jordan's hands behind her back by brute force, shoving her right into the window. "What the fuck are you doing here?"
"Oh, God-" Jordan became scared, basically whining with her high-pitched tone of voice that never came out often. "I didn't do anything wrong-"
"What's a girl like you doing around these parts? Huh?" Allie delivered extra pain for Jordan. "Your mouth is working just fine, ginger."
"I'm trying to go home!" Jordan lied quickly. She struggled to get out of Allie's grip when it was a bad position to be in. "C-come on, why are you-? Wait, who are you?"
"A curious kitty cat." Next, Allie redirected Girl Jordan right to the floor, letting her go at long last. "Again, what are you doing here? Let's see if there are no cops inside, yeah?"
"No need, this is just a night stroll-" The pain from the impact kicked in. "Ow, my arm!"
"You're lying, I know it!"
Jordan had her eyes to the street, thought about nothing but breaking into a run. This girl, whoever she was, had proved too wise for her own good. But somehow, Allie had a miracle gift of mind-reading, suggested by her next move, which was picking Jordan back up. "Let's have a little talk with the boys in blue..."
"Huh? Wh-wh-why?" Jordan stammered, air escaping her lungs.
Allie forced her to move front side, having her lead into the department. Jordan pushed right on through and gulped hard; she was in for it now. But then-
Neither girl had come across anyone. "Huh?"
Allie circled Jordan and raced around the desks, rummaging through them, searching for some object or objects that had Jordan dazed, baffled. What- What is she doing?
Allie groaned, failed to find the physical evidence of the reports. She extracted a small square device from her pants pocket, pressing the red button at the top. "Doing it the hard way, are we?"
Jordan scratched her head at Allie. "What- what's that?"
"You can be truthful to me now," Allie restated in a calmer tone, connecting the Sprocket-4 to the computer hard drive she hovered over. "You're trying to find something, same as me."
"What- Well, uh-" Even when she hadn't seen anyone in a uniform, Jordan shot her eyes in a clockwise manner. "Y-yes! Yes I am!"
"You wanna lay it on me?" Allie conveyed her seriousness over to Jordan, scaring her with the strict face on display. "You might as well, right?"
"You- you're here for-?"
"The same reason?" Allie nodded, no smile set in place. "Yeah, there are things of interest to me."
Jordan's bottom lip twitched when she tried to respond.
"You can trust me..." Allie tried to sell. "I'm here to find information on someone through the database. This device here, it's duplicating everything in the drives and storing the copies inside."
"Then what was that with the desks?"
"Well, using this is my last resort, I simply don't have the time to find-" The device in her hand vibrated on her, letting her know the process was done. "How about that?"
"All the cops-" Jordan huffed.
"Oh, yeah, they're all gone, this place is pig-free," Allie finally laughed to herself. "Hey, you gonna stand around there or go do whatever it is you came here for?"
"Oh, right!" Jordan started going around the desks- she had no idea where to even start with her search in all honesty. Those files could have been anywhere. "I'm trying to find a possible suspect in this case I'm... Kinda working on. I know I have no business-" She went over to the second desk, "-getting involved in such matters, but this is for my friend. You know what happened four days ago, right? The tragedy at the old Tetherby place?"
"I'm familiar, yeah. That happened and those three chicks are looking awfully guilty from where I stand."
"Well, I don't think it was them," Jordan dropped to counter Allie's opinion. "In fact... It had to be the person who brought them to be suspected in the first place! I believe so, I feel like that's what's going on. They've been framed and there's someone else bigger than them behind this, and I'm eager to find out!"
"That's not what I hoped to hear..." Allie tucked away the Sprocket-4 device, exchanging it for a snub revolver and pointed it at Jordan while the girl frantically searched for the statements at her third desk. It clicked back, finger going on the trigger. Right before she pulled, after aiming to Jordan, she found herself to suddenly pause. She took a steady breath, but it wasn't enough to balance herself out. It was here that she had a dark realization that this didn't need to happen. A sad case of someone getting close to the truth, digging past the surface Allie helped built to cover and conceal the terror beneath. It had to be Leia, Gwen and Marsha to fall into law trouble, not her or her superiors. "This is never..."
"Never what?" Jordan checked the third one and faced back up to see Allie standing there, gun loaded in hand. "Whoa, what- What are you doing?"
"I hope you know, there is nothing personal about this..." Allie shakily confessed. "Just know that I'm... I'm sorry."
"...It's you-" Jordan deduced right before Allie fired the kill shot, the bullet striking against Jordan's left eye. Whether her soul had left her body before or after she fell was beyond Allie; there was no way of knowing if Heaven or Hell truly existed, but her soul, she knew, was far from clean, pure and innocent. Had been, always would be.
"I'm sorry, I'll do better next time!" Allie begged Lincoln Loud when it was her turn to meet her maker. And it was all very ironic and poetic in the end of it. Him, with a revolver, staring down at her in a silent environment. Just the one shot that she knew would end her and- Oh, God, is this-? Is this how Jordan McKay felt in those final moments?! Oh, God, I'm sorry... I'm so sorry... "I'll reform!"
The Ungodly Stormbringer clicked on the gun and pulled the trigger.
"I'll-"
And in a twisted turn of events, he shot her in the same place she shot Jordan. And she would then know the question she wondered in her mind. Did Heaven and Hell exist in absolute? But then, as she understood dying, she just had to ask another simpler question. Right has he picked her up. Right as he tossed her over the edge. Right as she soared down with the waterfall. Do you feel the same way as I did back then? Are you guilty? Are you guilty now?! I need to know! I NEED TO-!
And the water below would prove to wash away her sins, her troubled soul off the face of the earth. It was the end of Allison Valeria Taggart. You'll feel what I feel, now and forever. Now and forever...
What if I...? A group I could form...? Jordan laid down there, sprawled on the floor. Surrounded by a lake of her own blood. We'd- We'd call ourselves... The Black Belles... I like that. I like that.
Allie looked to the body with pity, tragedy, pain. Who knows just how she felt? Damned be Allie for-
Troy Lindemann entered through the front and saw Allie standing over the body. "Alliecat? Did you get it?"
"Uh- Oh, y-yeah-"
"Why are you-?" And then, the older man had noticed Jordan McKay's body. "Oh."
Allie shook her head in disbelief, speeding over to him. "It's so different when it's someone who didn't-"
He consoled her, leading her away to not see the ugliness of their duties. "I know... It's not ideal but they'll tell us it's all for them, to protect them until the end." He hugged her, removing the revolver out of her hands. "It's over, I'm going to see about a transfer. I know you've not been ready for this."
Allie kept herself from crying, trying to be as strong as him. As strong as- "I can do anything, but not this... Not this, Troy- Please, don't let them put me on this again."
"I won't," he promised, soothing her with his calm, methodical voice. "You'll do differently next time."
Act VII: Revolution, Chapter III: The Black Belles
August 7th, 2030
"She wasn't cut out for that, so I asked the Supervisor to give her missions that don't mess with her moral compass that way. She could not harm innocents, I applaud her for that. Most of us, we know what might be when it comes down to it, but Allie..." Troy stopped and ran his hands down his face.
Leven, on the other hand, was calm and understanding of it. He nodded and gave, "Sounds like you truly care for this girl, even when she just so happens to be affiliated with the Prime Federation."
"I'd be checking in on her but in her current operation, she's to be radio silent. Only contact she checks in with is to our comms unit Allan Crudensky and only him."
"Did you want her to be spared or something?" Leven asked, getting to the point. "You told me their Justice Teens roster are the only ones not onboard with the genocide agenda. Four and you, but no one else."
"Allie has unquestionable loyalty to her uncle," Troy sighed. "She'll follow him without a second thought, but I can't guarantee she'll be spared for the changing."
"Don't bring her into this just yet," Leven instructed. "The less in this circle of Primers, the better."
"I'll finally get to see Allie later today, we're rounding back our assets to the Federation. Her and whoever she was working on or with, they'll come too."
"Busy day, huh?"
Troy nodded and smiled. "Today is beneficial and thrilling. I can't wait for my star pupil to return to me."
"Hm, pupil?"
"And they say you're the genius clone... Don't you know?" Troy shared a hearty laugh. "I taught Allie everything she knows, turned her from a crybaby into a fighter."
"She means this much to you, doesn't she?"
"Friend..." Troy slapped his flat hand over his heart. "She is like a little sister to me."
Leven flinched at the words. "I understand," he let out softly, thinking of Linka. "I understand what you mean."
"Of course you do, we're in the same boat, keeping the closest around us in the dark until the cards are placed on the table. I just pray I won't be discovered prematurely."
"You've covered your tracks well up to here, Troy, you're doing well and so are they. Just a few moves left and we finish this." Leven closed his eyes and crossed his arms. "Wake me up when we're there."
"Sure thing, friend," Troy agreed. "Sure thing."