A/N: Warning, this chapter is dark but I won't try anything too dark.
August 1999
North Carolina
"Eric, are you awake?"
Eric looks up to the person on the top bunk peering down at him. "What does it look like?"
Vasily jumps out of bed. "Sorry, it's hard to tell upside-down."
"I'll take your word for it." Eric pushes himself out of bed. "What do you want?"
"It's time to get up," Vasily urges, "if we don't get up, the nuns will be mad at us."
"Oh, they'll be mad at us… again. Good to know." He quickly dresses out of his pajamas and into some casual clothing before meeting with Vasily and the two of them walk out of the room together.
The morning was coming and there were still some kids that were sleeping. If they didn't wake up soon, the nuns were going to give them the belt. Eric and Vasily hustle down to the girls' dormitory and knock on one of the doors. When they didn't receive an answer, they quickly went in and woke up one of the girls sleeping on a bottom bunk.
"Alexa," Eric shakes her, "it is time to get up. We must be going now."
Alexa stirred in her bed but eventually got up. "Yes, I am on my way. What is the hurry?"
"Ask Vasily," Eric tells her.
"Today, we get to shoot the guns for the first time. I'm excited."
Eric smiles. "Yeah, it should be fun. Let's do this."
"I don't like guns," Alexa whines, "they're so loud and I don't like the smell."
"Don't worry, there is nothing to fear," Vasily assures her, "but if we do not report to the rec room, the nuns will get mad at us."
The two turn away as Alexa changes before the three of them walk into the hallway together and head down to the rec room. They open the door to the small rec room to find that they were the only children present."
They wait for five minutes and keep themselves distracted by playing with a harmonica and an Etch-a-Sketch. When two nuns and a pastor walk in, the three children silence themselves and lick their lips in anticipation.
Sister Bishop speaks first and says, "Hello, my three favorite children, are you guys ready to go shooting today?"
"Yes," Vasily nods eagerly, "what are we shooting?"
"That's a surprise," Sister Queen tells them, "and we don't want to spoil surprises now, do we?"
Pastor Castle reads from a book. "Sisters, you seem to place a high value on these three young children. We should treat all children equally. And as much as I don't want to, if one child has to get the belt, then everyone has to get the belt."
"But can't we just spare these three?" Queen begs.
"I'm afraid not. Go wake the children and then we'll get the belting out the way."
Eric, Alexa, and Vasily stiffen and go quiet. They wait patiently as Queen and Bishop return with the rest of the children. The nuns brought the children in front of two doors, one for boys and the other for girls. One by one, children were called in with the nuns holding belts. One loud smack of the belt and the child comes out of the bathroom but there are no marks to indicate the child had been hit in any way, nor was his emotional state in anguish.
When Eric is called in, he stands in front of a mirror with his back to Sister Bishop. She holds a belt out, raises it high above his head, and brings it down on her forearm.
Eric nearly jumps out of his skin but turns when he sees the mark on Bishop's forearm.
"We do not believe in child abuse, young man, but don't think we're above physical discipline when we need to be. We will give you a warning but if you fail to follow our orders or do what we say, then I will paint your ass red with this belt, understand?"
Eric quickly nods.
She shows him the marks on her forearm. "This is what your skin will look like, boy. Follow my orders. If I tell kids to wake up at a certain time, then wake up. You're supposed to be a team so you should've woken up all of your fellow orphans, boy." She rolls her sleeve up. "Okay then, get out of here, young man."
Eric nods and runs out of the room where the last boy is sent in. Eric looks at Vasily and Alexa, neither one having bruises on any parts of their body.
"We're a team," Vasily tells him, "that's what she told us, and…"
"We're all unwanted and unloved together," Alexa recites, "so let's be unwanted and unloved together."
Eric shakes his head. "I love you guys and want you." He pulls them in for a hug. "I love you guys."
When the belting threat was over, the thirty children were taken to the courtyard of the orphanage where a gun range was set up. Bullets had been replaced with blanks to prevent collateral damage but this wasn't about target practice. And the children didn't need to know that the bullets were blank. Not yet, at least.
"Noel," Pastor Castle calls out, "I need you to step to the shooting range."
An eleven-year-old girl steps in front of the shooting range and turns to the kids.
"Eric," Castle calls out, "step forward and pick up a gun." Eric obeys his orders. "Eric, aim that gun at Noel." Eric aims the gun. "Now then, are you going to pull the trigger or are you going to spare her?"
Eric's eyes widen. "W-what? But, Pastor Castle, I can't kill Noel."
"And why not?"
"I don't want to kill her."
"And what if I told you that you couldn't even if you tried?"
Eric looks at him. "What?"
"There are blanks in that gun. Trust me. Pull the trigger and find out for yourself."
"But…"
Castle stomps his foot twice. "Do you want to find out what happens when you disobey my orders?"
Eric closes his eyes. "Please…" he begs, "blanks." He shifts his aim slightly to the right so Noel isn't in his sights.
He fires and Noel is still standing.
"Good," Castle praises, "thank you for following my orders and trusting me." He closes in on Eric and leans in his ear. "Do you know why I chose Noel for this experiment? Because she has been stealing candy out of the rec room. Eric, when you have soldiers, you can't have them going behind your back. You can kill them… but it would be impractical. After all, how many people would want to join a group that will kill you for breaking the rules? This means… Noel couldn't leave this orphanage, even if she had a choice."
Eric looks away. "What are you going to do to her?"
Castle smiles. "Code: Black."
25 Years Later
October 25th, 2024
The day that Eric had been waiting for finally arrived. The day he officially retires from Task Force: Irphans. The man is now free of the influences of Castle, Bishop, and Queen, and Eric dances in his bedroom with no rhyme or rhythm. A split second later, he breaks down, sobbing on his knees, and looks over to the trophy wall. Well, he wouldn't consider it to be a trophy wall but a trauma wall.
A newspaper article with the headline; 'Bombing attack in Giza leaves 23 dead'. Eric grabs the newspaper and rips it up. Then he grabs one with the headline: 'Task Force Orphans: Suspected culprits in a mass shooting in Canberra, Australia.' There were too many newspaper articles with too many headlines he didn't want to bother to remember.
'Monarch Family of Oil-Rich Country Killed', 'Several Employees Go Missing From Orphanage', 'Unknown Culprits Assassinate The -'
Eric tears up all the newspapers and sinks to the ground once more, continuing to sob. He punches a hole in the wall and winces. He pulls his hand out and goes to the fridge to pull a pack of ice out.
Someone knocks on his door. Without looking, he invites them in.
"Eric," Vasily's voice came through, "what's with all the ruckus?"
Alexa spots a wound on his knuckles. "Oh my god, Eric..."
"I'm fine," Eric said, wiping tears away.
"Here, let me see." Vasily walks over and looks at the wound. Nothing too damaging.
Alexa looks over to the wall. "Too many bad memories?"
"It's nothing, Alexa.'
"If it's not nothing then why did you punch a hole in the wall?"
"Maybe I didn't like the wall. Maybe I'm upset the paint job for the wall didn't come in today."
Vasily chuckles. "You can't fool us, Eric. Was it about our task force?"
"What difference does it make?" He snatches his hand back. "It doesn't matter if we're discharged or retired; we can never repay this world or make up for everything we've done."
Alexa heads to the bathroom and returns with some antiseptic and cotton swabs. She leads him to the bed and sits him down. She begins dressing his wounds.
"Don't think about it," Vasily urges, "not for another second. Don't think about anything. Just... retreat. Retreat to a place in your mind completely free of all this trauma. You won't feel better but escapism is the only pain reliever to this cruel world."
"Pain reliever, not cure."
"Our answer is the same: if you want to talk to us then you can talk to us."
"As if talking will do anything."
"It will do something," Alexa argues, "it'll help us figure things out."
Eric sneers before he sighs heavily and relents. "How could those bastards make us do that shit? What did we do to deserve a fate worse than death?"
"We didn't do anything," Vasily answers. "We were innocent kids, taken in by those pieces of shits, trained to be... what we are."
"We're terrorists... mass murderers."
"We're kids," Alexa reminds them, "we're still kids. We may be thirty-five but we're still kids."
"The minute we were abandoned by our parents and left in that orphanage, we lost whatever innocence we had." Eric's eyes open. "But... we have a chance to make things right."
"What do you mean?"
Eric feels Alexa putting bandages on his wound but pays no attention. "That bastard, Pastor Castle, he's still running the orphanage, right?"
Vasily gasps. "You're going to go through with it?"
"Nothing would satisfy me more. Then to put a bullet in that man's skull. And those other two nuns too." He stands up and walks over to his drawer. He grabs a book on the history of pirates and moves it aside. He pulls out a Beretta 92FS. He cocks the hammer. "I'm going back to that orphanage and I'm going to kill that man."
"Are you sure you want to do this?" Vasily asks, "If you do this -"
"I've already murdered people before; it's not like things could get worse for me by adding one more body to my kill count."
"No, I was going to say, if you're going to do this, you're going to need us." Vasily waits for Eric to look at him before he smiles. "We know where Pastor Castle is. He's not at the orphanage at this hour but I know where his personal home is."
Alexa smiles. "And luckily for both of you..." She pulls out a paperclip, "I've done us the honor of unlocking every door in his mansion."
Eric takes out a bullet and loads it into the chamber. "Well then, I underestimated the rate at which you guys work." He tucks his gun in the back of his pants. "Well then, let's go make a pastor say his prayers now."
Unidentified Mansion Located in Undisclosed Location in North Carolina
The Same Night
This is going to be the biggest slap of dark humor of the century. Pastor Castle trained us to infiltrate mansions like this and it will be his undoing that causes his downfall. Oh man, I can't WAIT to meet my old pastor. I'm going to show him that I'm a great chef. I can cook a live grenade into his mouth or introduce him to the breathing-taking dish of a bullet. And the finest cutlery ever offered: knives.
Alexa opens the front door and looks around. The three of them were dressed in an all-black uniform that concealed them in the shadows.
The mansion that this pastor owns looks like it hasn't been touched in years. That was Eric's first thought before noticing a set of recent footprints on the hardwood floors.
Eric looks at his two companions and makes a shushing gesture. They nod and take off in different directions. They don't use flashlights and instead rely on the heightened senses they honed over the years of navigating in the dark.
Eric cuts a corner and heads into a laundry room. He picks up a pair of briefs before dropping them in the basket. "Medieval laundry room, nice." He turns around and steps outside. He makes it to the kitchen where he finds the smell of turkey left in the oven. He opens the oven and pulls out the pot. Removing one of his gloves, he takes a fingerful of the turkey and gulps it down his mouth.
So so long since I've had a proper turkey meal. Well, just a turkey meal.
He returns the dish to the oven before turning on the water and quickly washing his hands. He dries his hands before tossing the paper towel in the garbage. He grabs his gun once more and heads to the dining room.
Inside, Alexa was sitting on the table, pulling the string on the end of the tablecloth. She rips the string and wraps it around her fingers. She pockets the string before heading into the living room and coming back with an Etch-a-Sketch. She sits down at the kitchen table and begins doodling on the Etch-a-Sketch.
"What are you making?" Eric laughs and walks over.
Alexa closes her eyes. "I don't know; I'm letting the power of my mind take over." She turns and rotates the dials in rapid succession before she draws a circle. "I want to draw a bullseye."
"Good, and when we're done, we'll play some darts."
"Yeah, I like darts."
Eric pats her head. "Of course."
Eric walks out into the living room where Vasily is standing in front of a statue of a knife riding a horse and pretends to have a duel with it. Vasily pockets his gun before whipping it out and aiming at the statue. He pretends to fire and blows at the barrel.
"Dead and gone, bitches."
"No cursing or you'll get in trouble, Vasily." Eric looks at the statue. "Holy shit."
Vasily looks at him. "Now who's in trouble, meanie?"
"Holy crap, this is Sir Lancelot."
"Heh?"
"You know, Sir Lancelot, knight of King Arthur?"
"He was a real person? I thought the whole knight thing was fake."
"No, King Arthur was real, and so was Sir Lancelot. Some people believe that King Arthur was a myth but I believe that he was real."
"What makes him so famous?"
"King Arthur is a legendary figure in Britain legends. He is said to have waged war against the Anglo-Saxons singlehandedly and won. There are other stories where King Arthur is something of a god or all-powerful man, a man who ruled with a righteous hand. And there is a sword called Excalibur that is stuck in a stone. Well, some versions of the story say that the sword in the stone was a different sword from Excalibur and Excalibur was given to him by the Lady of the Lake but the story is always the same. Many have tried to grab the sword and yank it free of the stone but the sword can only be freed by one who is worthy and guess what?"
"King Arthur was worthy?"
"Yes," Eric says in an excited voice, "can you imagine, wielding the legendary Excalibur sword? I could only dream of doing it because I know deep in my heart I am not worthy."
"How do you know this is King Arthur's Sir Lancelot?"
Eric points to the crest on the statue's armor. "This is King Arthur's symbol, worn by knights serving his majesty himself." He smiles. "Man, I would love to become someone like King Arthur but..."
"Guys," Alexa bursts into the living room. "I did it; I drew a head." She tosses the Etch-a-Sketch to Eric. "I'm awesome, aren't I?"
Eric looks down at the picture, which is a simple circle with no features. "Yeah, you are."
"Oh, and check this out." She holds something out. "A blutetooth speaker. We can listen to music."
"Yeah," Vasily nods, "can we listen to music?"
"Later," Eric answers, "but for now, we got to find Pastor Castle and kill him."
"Yeah," Vasily nods. He makes an X across his chest with both arms. "Serious mode."
Eric laughs. "Yeah, serious mode." He copies his gesture and looks at Alexa. "Come on, Aly, copy us."
"Aww, but I don't want to."
"Please, it'll make me happy."
"Aww, alright." She copies their gesture. "Serious mode."
"Serious mode," the three say in unison.
The three friends laugh before they continue looking around and checking the second-story floor. Eric checks his watch. Even with his enhanced night vision, he still could not read his watch correctly so he pressed the glowing button to see the time. "Nine o'clock."
"He's on this floor," Alexa tells the others, "he's sleeping. Should we put him down sleeping?"
"No," Vasily shakes his head, "I think killing someone in their sleep is inhumane. They should at least be aware that they're going to die."
"Is that why you never killed the young prince in his sleep during that one mission?"
"Yes, and I don't regret it. I regret killing him but I don't regret making sure he is aware that he is about to die. That is what I would want to happen to me." He shivers. "The idea of going to bed and never waking up just horrifies me."
"We're going to wake him up," Eric says firmly. "He has to know why he's being killed. He needs to know that this is personal and that he needs to be confronted. Plus, I have a few questions to ask him and a corpse can't talk."
They make it to the end of the hallway on the second floor and they try to open the door, only to find it locked. Alexa comes in and quickly unlocks the door. Eric moves her aside and opens the door. He draws his gun, slowly pushes the door open, and aims inside.
The door opens to reveal a bedroom with bookshelves in the corner, a television set, and several baseball posters hanging on the wall. On one of the desks was a computer with a solver Rubik's cube sitting next to it. There was a crack in the computer, looking like someone punched the screen in rage, or perhaps shot it.
Eric takes his first step into the bedroom and -
A baseball bat strikes Eric in the temple and knocks him back. The door closes shut behind him, locking, and Eric points at the figure. The figure knocks the gun out of Eric's hand before stabbing him in the chest. Eric punches the figure back and knocks him to the ground with one punch. Looking down at the knife in his chest, Eric rips the knife out of his chest and tosses it away like it was nothing.
Eric flips the switch and lights the room up. The figure he punches turns over on his side and spits two front teeth out along with a spittle of blood.
"Castle," Eric hisses.
The old man looks up at Eric and smiles, despite his lip being bruised, busted, and bleeding.
"Eric," Castle smiles and licks the back of his teeth. "That was a hell of a punch."
"Well, I learned from the best." Eric unlocks the door and allows Vasily and Alexa in.
"Ahh, it's a family reunion." Castle picks himself up, heads over to a lounge chair, and sits in it. "You should've told me you were coming; I wouldn't have had to beat you over the head with a baseball bat." His smile remains. "But... it looks like all that endurance training paid off."
"You swing like an old man."
"I guess the glorious baseball days playing Triple-A are behind me." Castle settles into the chair and sighs. "So, to what do I owe the pleasure?" Eric puts up his gun and releases the magazine. "Oh, so my day of reckoning has come. Finally, my days of paranoia are finally over."
Eric loads the magazine back into the gun. "You knew that someone would come to kill you? That's nice, at least we'll spare ourselves the trouble of telling you you're going to die."
"I'm sixty as of yesterday; death is my roommate. I always predicted that one of my kids would come to kill me."
"We are not your kids." Eric approaches Castle and stops a few feet short of him, looking down at the old geezer.
"Then whose kids are you? Your parents? That orphanage was meant for children who were unloved, unplanned, and most of all, unwanted." He sinks into his chair. "That is what it was advertised as but... I beg to differ. I loved all of you... and I wanted all of you."
"You wanted us to be soldiers. You didn't treat us as children; you trained us to be killers."
"Orphans such as yourself existed because you were unwanted by your parents. I couldn't stand that feeling. I wanted to give you guys the kind of childhood that you wanted but I couldn't. That's why.. I decided to do something more... worthwhile with you kids. Do you know why I train you to be soldiers? So you can attack the real enemy."
"And what enemy is that?"
"Society. They created you."
"No, you created us. You were the ones who made us commit all those atrocities; I still have nightmares to this day."
"But the rewards were worth it. The sites I had you attacked were places connected to orphanages... bad orphanages. Because of all your hard work, the bad people who run those horrible places are no more. Those kids get to have a better chance of having a better childhood."
Eric clutches the gun. "You slimy bastard. No, you didn't want those kids to be free; you wanted a private army. You wanted power and you obtained it through children. Children are the most impressionable and you took advantage of that."
"It was your destiny." Castle closes his mouth his smile remains. "We all have a destiny."
"No, this was not my destiny. No, I refuse to believe it. I don't know what my destiny was but because of what you've done... you denied me the chance to realize or fulfill my destiny. You destroyed me and every single child in that orphanage. You took away our innocence." He turns the safety off. "You and those two other bitches."
"Bishop and Queen are both dead." Castle sighs. "They both passed away of a heart attack." Castle reaches over and grabs two urns from behind the chair. "Would you like to say hi?"
Eric smashes both urns out of his hand and spills the ashes all over the carpet.
Castle laughs. "You saved me some time in dumping their ashes."
"I'm going to dump your body in a dumpster." He aims the gun at the old man, right between the eyes.
"Are you really going to shoot me? Me, an old man?"
"You're not that old."
"I've got twenty-five years on you, kid."
Eric cocks the hammer.
"I'll die happy, knowing I saved all those children from a far worse fate." He looks down the barrel. "Aren't you afraid you'll miss at this distance? Maybe you should put more bullets in."
"Una glans opus est."
Bang.
Eric collects the knife with his blood before walking out. Alexa closes the door behind them and locks it.
After vacating the house, the three of them jump into their car and drive off. When they were a good distance away from the mansion, they decided to take a drive into the woods far away from civilization. They drive for about twenty minutes through the forest, going somewhere far away where there would be no cell reception or wifi. They drive until they go completely off the grid.
"How long are we going to be driving for?" Alexa asks in the backseat.
Sitting in the passenger seat, Vasily reaches into the glove compartment and pulls out a map. "Alexa, why don't you take this map and look up places you want to go on vacation."
"Oh, okay." She smiles like a happy child and takes the map. "I want to go to Siberia."
"Serbia?" Eric asks.
"No, Siberia."
"Huh, I've always wanted to go to Serbia."
"Russia," Vasily smiles, "I'm Russian. Я хочу вернуться домой в Россию." Though Vasily can speak the language, he lacks the dialect and accent native to his country, making him sound like a Western speaking a well-pronounced Russian language with a slight southern accent.
"Τώρα μπορείς να πας σπίτι, Βασίλι," Alexa speaks up.
"We all can go home," Eric tells the others.
After a few more minutes of driving, he pulls up to the side of the trail and puts the car in park. He climbs out and leans against the hood. He waits for the others to get out before finally saying what's on his mind.
"The moment I've waited for has finally come. Pastor Castle is dead."
"And..." Vasily stutters, "Are you going to tell us that this is the part where you say you fill -"
"Empty? No, never." He smiles. "In fact, I feel like I can breathe for the first time in a long time. I feel like... I finally lifted a burden off my shoulders. That I can smile without regret anymore." He puts his hand on his heart. "For the first time in a long time, I can actually feel the soft beating of my heart." He sobs silently. "I'm finally free."
"We're free," Alexa corrects, "all of us are."
"We are," Vasily nods, "but... I can't help but think back to what Castle said."
"What do you mean?" Eric questions.
"Well, I know what he did to us was wrong and everything but I can't stop thinking about what he said. He said that the places we attacked were connected to bad orphanages and that our work helped free it or at least undo the work." He rests his arms on the hood. "When we were driving here, I was looking up the orphanages in the countries we did our operations on, and... I've seen news reports on the orphanages. Several news articles are saying that orphanages are being rebuilt, more funding is coming their way, and there's been a slight increase in the adoption rate. While I won't ever approve of what Castle did to us, I can't ignore that the orphanages are doing better because of us."
"I don't care about those other orphanages," Eric snaps.
Alexa looks down. "Well, when you put it that way... it makes me feel good knowing that some kids are being adopted right now because of us. Maybe it's my maternal instincts kicking in but... I don't know."
"Guys," Eric turns to them, "how could you be happy for them? That pastor and nuns took away our freedom and gave it to kids we didn't even know about. You should not be praising this man for everything he's done. How could you guys do that?"
"I'm just trying to look on the bright side," Vasily justifies.
"No, there is no bright side in this scenario."
"Yes, there is: we finally get a choice. For the first time in a long time, we get a choice to choose for ourselves." Vasily closes his eyes and sighs heavily, deeply contemplating something in his head. "We can't change what happened to us but... we have a choice to save other kids now. Other people. As what we've been doing."
"No, we were being hitmen for someone with a grudge against the world."
"It's wrong what happened to us; I hate having to repeat it, but don't you think we have a chance to do what's right? I mean, we're experienced soldiers; we can take on entire armies and win. What if we use this to save people?"
"Kids?" Alexa asks.
"Yeah, that."
"How could you?" Eric growls, "You want to be just like that man who made us killers?"
"No, I want to be a man who saves people. I want to be a man who helps people. I may be doing what I was being trained to do but this time, I have a choice and I'm doing it because I want to; not to follow orders."
"We have a chance to be free and you're going to throw it away?"
"I'm not going to force you into this, Eric, but if you want... you don't have to join."
"Do you have a plan?" Alexa asks.
"I figured I'd call our old teammates, tell them that Castle is dead and we have a chance to do some right with our skills."
Eric clenches his fist, "And how many people do you think are going to join up with your group?"
"I'm not sure how many... but I'm sure some of them will join."
"Do you have a plan?" Alexa asks, stroking her chin. "Like, to finance your little group? Do you have a name picked out?"
"No, and I was thinking of the name of this group: Orphans. You know, we take the meaning of Task Force: Oprhans and give it a new meaning."
"No," Eric hisses, "I utterly hate that name. If you want me to join your group, you're going to need to pick a better name. Please, for the lord over and above us, pick a different name."
Vasily narrows his eyes. "Lord over us?" His eyes widen. "How about Overlord?"
"It's better than 'Orphans' but still shit."
"Whatever." Vasily puts his hands up. "Look, Eric, I'm not going to force you to join this group and if you want to walk off and live a free life, then you're free to do it. But that is the point of Or- Overlord: we are free to decide."
Eric feels his heart drop to his stomach. "But... I wanted to live a free life with the two of you, and you want to go back to this life?"
Vasily nods. "I'm sorry, but I don't think I can enjoy myself knowing that others are suffering when I could've saved them."
"Yeah," Alexa nods, "the idea of more kids suffering just... hurts my heart."
"You're both leaving?" Eric looks at them both. "But... we've always been together and we had plans together. We were going to go to the carnival. And Disneyworld. And see the Statue of Liberty."
"It's not like it's goodbye forever," Alexa reassures, "we promise we're still going to be friends. Family. We're just going to put our talents to good use. We promise to visit every now and then."
"And you get to make plans for yourself," Vasily nods, "and if you ever change your mind, there will always be a spot available for you at Overlord. And who knows, maybe in a few years or so, Overlord will be famous."
Eric clenches his lips. "Famous. Famous for what?"
"Saving people."
Eric chuckles without humor. "The day you become famous is the day I'll join Overlord."
"No, you don't have to do anything. But we won't forget you."
"Yeah," Alexa confirms.
Both friends grab Eric's hands and hold them.
"Enjoy your life, Eric," Vasily tells him.
"Yeah," Alexa nods once more, "go out there, meet someone, fall in love, have kids, and live a great life."
Eric looks between his two best friends and feels the tears building up. These two friends who had been by his side for so long, his first best friends in the orphanage, and now he was going to leave them? They say the first to be independent is always the scariest, especially when the people closest to you aren't there anymore but was he brave he enough to take his first step?
I will be... for them.
Present
August 2042
Maui, Hawaii
Even though she technically wasn't in prison, Cassie Drake was forced to wear the orange jumpsuit
Strange, the last time I was in jail was when I was being questioned for that museum heist ten years ago and I didn't wear a prison jumpsuit.
A guard escorts Cassie in handcuffs to the visitor center. When Cassie is pushed to a station, she sits down and grabs a phone before looking at the other side of the glass.
Derek was sitting in front of her with Evan on his lap. He grabs the phone.
"Cassie," Derek smiles, "how are you doing?"
Derek... oh how I've missed your smile. "As well as can be expected. How are things going for you?"
"I got the best lawyer in the state. And he's very reputable; wins almost every case he takes."
"Nice, how much is he charging?"
"Oh, he's not charging us anything unless we win." Derek smiles. "In fact, he's even suggesting we countersue Marcus Cote for everything he's got."
"How can we sue someone who's dead?"
"Through his parents." Derek laughs. "Our lawyer is a big fan of yours and will do whatever he can to get you out of jail."
"Thank you." Her smile vanishes. "I'm sorry. I'm sorry that you had to see me like this."
"Don't worry, Cassie, last time you were in jail, I helped you out. I promise... I will get you out of here. We will be a family." Derek looks down. "Evan wants to talk to you." Derek hands Evan the phone.
"Mommy," Evan speaks softly, "when are you coming home?"
Cassie sobs silently before lowering her head. She looks down at her feet and the dam of tears breaks. She looks up at Evan before curling into herself and sobbing silently. She puts her hand on the glass, trying to reach out for him, and would've grabbed him had it not been for the pane of glass. Her lips quiver and her breath hitches.
"Mommy, please don't cry."
"I'm so sorry, Evan..." she sobs and shakes her head, "I'm so sorry."
The End of Chapter 21
A/N: I do NOT like sad endings. I don't mind giving sad or bittersweet endings to individual installments of a series but I will never give a bittersweet ending or sad ending to a series. I don't want to spoil things but I understand that this story is starting to take a dark turn in some territories so to avoid making things too bleak for everyone, I'm just going to come out and say it: There WILL be a happy ending. There may be pain and anguish along the way but there WILL be a happy ending. Not a sad ending, not a bittersweet ending, a HAPPY ending.
