Under Pressure

Fight or Fright

"I just-... I mean no." I looked down and away from her. How was I supposed to tell her that I didn't want to go with her when I actually did want to be around her? 

"Don't you miss them?" April asked, taking a step forward. "They're your brothers, they care about you and want to help you."

"They don't need me and I don't need them." I didn't know how I was supposed to feel, it all felt wrong. 

"Well, yeah, you guys don't really need each other, but the point of family isn't to need someone, the point of family is to love them and want to be around them." April pointed out, she held my hand again. "C'mon, Donnie, you can't just abandon your family. Just follow me back to them, we can work things out, whatever's going on."

"No." I didn't try to take my hand back from her again, maybe she had a point? If she was working this hard just to get me to follow her back, maybe there was a good reason. But then again... who would really want to live with a traitor? Did they really even want me back? If they were leaving the room every time April brought me up, maybe it was because they just didn't want me around...

"Donnie, please! You're acting crazy and I'm getting tired of it! I just want to help you!" April sounded desperate. Why did I even think that she wanted to help me? She never even liked me, why would she suddenly care? Maybe she had some other motive, maybe she just wanted me to go with her so she could get something she wanted from me. Voice didn't want me for nothing, they wanted me so I'd get revenge on my brothers. My brothers didn't want me for nothing, they wanted me to make things for them. If anyone were to want me just for me, they'd be the one acting crazy.

"Sure you do." I gently patted her hand and gave her the best smile I could, I knew that my face barely moved. I took my hand back from her after doing that. "Bye, April." I waved to her and tried to walk away. She stepped in my way.

"Ugh, don't you get it?!" April was getting more frustrated by the moment. She pulled out her metal fan and spread it out, preparing for a fight. "If you're not gonna come with me on your own, I'm gonna have to take you by force. They aren't the same without you and there's clearly something wrong." I hadn't brought my staff, so I was without a weapon. I'd have to dodge, then get into the shadows so I could get away undetected. Sure, April was strong, but she wasn't even strong enough to beat us in normal training. Now that I wasn't going to be holding back, it would be easy to beat her. Of course, I didn't have the heart for that, so I was just going to distract her enough to escape. 

"I'm not going with you." I answered softly. Did I really want to even put in the effort to try to get away though? She was threatening to hurt me, was I as capable as I thought I was? Voice said they were going to make me stronger, what if I wasn't strong enough to fight April anymore? I did stay in bed for an entire week, and then I've done nothing but rest when I've had the time. What if I was too weak to take her on without a weapon? In training, at least I had a weapon, but now, I was unarmed and I didn't see anything that I could turn into a weapon while fighting her. There wasn't a convenient broom or anything like that this time.

"I don't care if you say that or not!" April lunged at me, not giving me the chance to continue overthinking my own abilities without my weapon. I dodged her attacks, she was quicker than she was before, maybe she'd been training too? "You're coming home, Donnie!" She grabbed me and held the blade end of the fan at my neck. I was tired from too much training, maybe that was it. That had to be it, that's why I was barely putting up a fight. "There's something wrong, I know there is! It was way to easy to take you down!"

"No..." I couldn't lose that quickly, could I? I felt exhausted, I didn't want to even fight her. Why was I fighting to begin with? I was outmatched no matter who I went up against. It wasn't that anyone was even strong anymore, it was just that I was weak. I tried to pull away, but she grabbed a nearby rope that I hadn't even seen and tied me up with it. How did she sneak that around me? Was that always there? How didn't I notice that right there?