Villainous Veera

.twenty one.

"Holy shit!"

That cry came from Vincent, as Veera tardily realized. His arms wrapped around her waist and pulled her away from the crumbling wall before it toppled over her. They slammed into the buffet table, sending the food crashing to the ground and unintentionally tripping a few of the guests as they ran away. 

"What the fuck is going on?" Veera heard Vincent exclaim to her, his dark eyes searching through the dust for the culprit of the attack.

"I have no idea!" Veera replied, equally shocked. She balled her hands, summoning the shadows around her into her palms. "But, um, we should probably run, shouldn't we?"

"Right about that." Vincent lifted her up and took her hand tightly. "Can you run?"

"I can try." Veera was absolutely lying; she couldn't run to save her life, not since she'd gotten her back fixed when she was eleven. Vincent's narrowed eyes seemed to be sifting through her lie, but when more rubble and a roar shattered through the capitol building, he dismissed his curiosity and pulled Veera into a run that could only rival an Olympic racer. 

Damn it! Why the hell does he run so fast? How the hell does he run so fast? Veera cursed, struggling to keep up with Vincent in her long skirt and flats that skidded against the shiny white ground. 

"Ahh!"

The ear-shattering scream that could have only come from a combined strength of Tamar and Jordan shocked Veera into stopping, unintentionally pulling Vincent back with her. Her quick eyes darted from the stage, where an open-mouthed Izayah was being dragged away by his bodyguards, to the group of kids stuck under a cave of rubble, Jordan and Tamar included. 

"Spotlight will save them," Vincent yelled at her when he saw where she was looking at. "Come on, Veera. We have to keep going. The whole place is going to collapse."

"The rubble will collapse on them!" Veera shouted back. Vincent began to pull her again, but Veera summoned a shadow to stumble him, effectively helping her release herself from his warm grasp. 

"Veera!" Vincent's faded voice desperately called out to her, but Veera turned a deaf ear to him. Was she being foolish? Yes. Was she inviting her death?... Yes. Did she care? Absolutely not. The only thing on her mind was saving the kids. She'd deal with the rampaging villain later. 

Funny. I'm turning on my own kind. Veera found a moment of amusement. Stopping to rip the ends of her skirt off, she, without a care if anyone saw her or not, lifted her hands above her head to create a dark dome above her head, protecting herself from the falling rubble. 

"Miss. Solace! Help!" Tamar didn't even question why Veera was at the ball. Her hands reached out towards the older girl as Veera made her way to them, using the shadows underneath her to balance her legs. 

"Come on guys!" Veera strained her voice over the crashing and screaming around her. "Let's go. Hurry! Hurry!"

One by one, Veera grabbed their hands and used her shadows to pull their feet out. The children clung to her like sloths on a tree, sobbing with fright evident in their small, teary eyes. Seeing them made Veera's heartache with the reminder that she was once one of those children, buried amongst the rubble, scared and alone. 

The cave collapsed as soon as Veera had gotten the last child out, causing Veera's heart to spike. God, that was close, she thought. 

"Let's go, Miss. Solace!" Jordan and Tamar each took Veera's hand just like they had seen her friend do and tugged her towards the exit. "Hurry up!"

"I'm coming, guys!" Veera's heart thrummed rapidly in her chest. Smoke filled her lungs and a coughing fit took hold of her. The diversion of her attention from her legs to her heart confused the shadows. They let go of her lower body to try and help her upper body, even though if they went inside her Veera knew they'd hinder her more than help her.