Hawk Point *ON HOLD*

Chapter Twenty One: The Descent to Hell

There was darkness and now there is light.

The sun slowly makes her ascension, peaking above the horizon and painting the sky with the colors of morning: gold and pink and blue, with dark wispy clouds as the only remainder of night.

Cif stands on the edge of the lake, watching as the tiny ripples fade away with the wind. A form joins her side and Cif can see Aven with her peripheral vision, stiff and rigid, his lips drawn together into a tight line.

"Why do you care so much about Hansen?" He inquires. Cif turns to him and sees him shake his head. "That's not what I mean. What I meant was why did it hurt you so much to find out that he had a twin brother?"

Cif frowns, her teeth biting into her bottom lip. Why did it matter that much to her? After all, it didn't affect her in any way and he didn't tell her because his brother is dead and that is understandable. The silence begins to unsettle her.

"I don't know," she says at last, her words cutting the tension like a hot knife through butter, "I think it's because I never knew my father and he was always there for me, supporting me like a father should. He was someone I could talk to when I had a problem, someone who used to pick me up from kindergarten in his old yellow van. He took me and Luke trick-or-treating when Luke was old enough to walk. My father was never around but Christopher was, and knowing that he doesn't trust me enough to tell me when I told him things I couldn't even tell my mom just really hurts and..." Her voice trails off and a troubled sigh escapes her lips.

"I'm going to get him." She states and she can see Aven wince, as if her words were individual blades digging into his flesh.

"I know," he replies, "And that's fine with me." He doesn't sound fine; his voice is as taut and as tight as a violin string.

Cif twists her head in his direction, her brows furrowing together. "And you're not going to stop me?"

"Of course I am!" The taut string is broken, snapped in half. Aven turns to her and Cif can see a dark fear in his eyes, and something else...sadness? In the entire time she knew him Cif had never seen Aven truly frightened or upset, and seeing it now causes cold pin pricks of ice to attack her joints and lock them in place. "Do you actually think that I will let you do something this incredibly stupid and reckless?"

"Stupid?" Cif echoes dimly, "I'm here trying to save the people I love; the people I care about! How dare you call that stupid? How dare you?" She can hear her own words, distant and dethatched to her own ears, taking a slow crescendo in volume, "All you seem to care about is yourself! Never once have you shown that you gave a shit about anyone who tried to care for you! You constantly fight with Emily! You hate Dustin! What do you know about sacrificing for the ones you love?" She spins around so her back is to him, "Of course you don't know anything. You're a strange kid who buries himself in stupid secrets while trying to act all arrogant. You don't even bother to let your real self show through that dumb façade you have."

"But don't you see how ridiculous this is?" Aven inquires, "Going to save a man's life while killing many others in the process? Cif, please think about this before jumping to irrational decisions. I know things must be happening in way too fast of a pace for you to keep up with and I know everything here is strange and foreign to you and your brother but---"

Cif can feel herself hesitate to say, "I'm going to save him."

"Then I'll tie you to a chair and sit on you until this insane whim of yours passes."

"And there you go again," Cif throws Aven a glance over her shoulder. The rising sun basks him with soft light, streaking his hair with golden threads and sharpening his facial structure, "You act like you don't know how to feel emotions---"