Curious

Ashes.

Things get hot really quick. They lit the fire, and the house was engulfed in raging flames. 

They are forcing me out of the house, but I'm not leaving without the girls.
I don't think that the cellar will protect them from the fire, if I can't get them out, they'll probably burn or suffocate.

Social services will not appreciate that.

I can see the fire outside the window, I'm in the equivalent of An oven. I shoot the man in front of me in the leg. I don't want to kill him, I can't...

I hurry past Lettel, who is out cold on top of my table, and move the carpet from the floor.

I'm about to open it, but I'm tackled from behind.

I curse as I'm tossed down to the floor,  my arms were being tied behind me.

No. They can't die in there, I have to get them out. "You don't know what you're doing, let me go. "
I struggle, throwing myself around ungracefully trying to get free.
  They sit on my back and slam my face into the floor.

"Shut up," he said, it was the masked man again, I shouldn't have been merciful.

I feel his wet blood on my hands when he binds them together, and I feel a puddle of blood beside me.

"It's kill or be killed." He says the familiar phrase. 

There's more than those two options. We can just calmly hate each other or get a cup of coffee and chat. No killing required for a $4.38 cup of coffee.

He gets up and drags me with him, there's a gun pointed at my head. He walks me forward, grabbing my wrists.  parts of the ceiling begin to collapse and Windows begin breaking as we leave.

"You can't shoot me," I say, "Otherwise you would have done it already."

He's quiet, "I guess you're right."

I feel a sharp pain in my neck, and things get hazy, quick. They're gonna knock me out?

No. No. No. JANE. CLOVER. I can't let this happen. I throw myself towards the floor, escaping his grip, I turn around and head butt him under is chin. I hear his teeth snap together, and he curses under his breath. I try using the distance to run back to Lettel. I try shaking him, but he doesn't move.

No no no. Lettel would have saved them. Lettel would have played hero and rescued the girls from the fire.

No. No. No. My vision is blurred, and I feel tired, I feel like my eyes won't stay open.

They won't. They feel heavy and impossible to keep awake. They actually drugged me with a needle?!

My struggle to stay awake leaves me with an initial panic, like I'm going to die. Once I can't fight it anymore, I feel this odd sensation of falling and then an even odder sensation of calm.

I have moments when I'm conscious. I remember being in a vehicle, on a really bumpy road.

I remember being stopped Somewhere. Someone was talking about their wife.

It's dark, and quiet, I hear a whisper, someone called me Lucy, someone mentions regret, secrets. I don't know who, but their voice is sour and it makes me feel guilt.

I wake up again, on a feather bed, it's soft and I feel like I'm laying in a giant cloud. The velvety fabric is cold, or maybe I'm just hot.

I finally try moving my muscles, they stretch and feel as though they haven't been used in ages. I manage to roll myself over and open my eyes to look around, I still feel drowsy from the drugs they gave me.

I initially feel disorientation. I can't figure the time or the place, for a moment, I can't figure why I'm here, or distinguish dreams from reality.

It's an odd feeling... I look around the mansion like room, with high white walls, and long red curtains draped beside a bright window. The marble floor glistens in the warm sunlight.

It's a beautiful room, Stein has a lot of Class.

Who is Stein...?

when I crawl out of the queen sized bed, my bare feet touch the cold floor. I'm still in my giant pajama shirt. It's now covered in mud and blood. I have bandages on my legs, someone was taking care of me. I look around the modernized Victorian styled room. I looked at a giant redwood door, then around the room. 

There was a small wooden chair in the middle of the room, it held a crimson dress. At closer examination, It was a tent styled dress with a short wrap around cape attached to it. 

It was a little big on me, but it's style wasn't formfitting, rather wavy and light. I wasn't about to complain about being allowed to exchange my ruined clothes for some clean ones. Upon examination, I realized there was a Pendant on the dress, It was a circle with a red and white target on it....Classy....

Outside the window was a green lush field and a garden. We're in some sort of safe haven. The city is no where to be seen, neither is the desert. All that's there are miles of trees.

Even if I were to escape, I wouldn't have the slightest clue as to where to go. I don't even see any cars. 

The window has a large windowsill to sit at. My eyes adjusted to the outside light for a moment and I inhaled a breath. The sun was setting again, I was asleep for a long time. 

Odd isn't it...? I've never expected this sort of thing. I've never seen myself being involved so personally in other people's problems.

Spectator. Bystander...What ever happened to that? I've always seen myself as an adviser, someone who's seen and is unbiased. 

Bias.... I've been tainted with a bias that I'll never be able to undo. Stein....

You'll regret this. 

I've never felt my heart wrench so much, I grit my teeth and clench my fists. I should have killed him. I should have killed him, it's kill or be killed. 

Those are the options I was given. Those are the options I have. 

I wont hold back. You killed two innocent girls, Stein. They had something to live for, they didn't deserve all of this. Don't think you wont regret it. 

I feel tears run down my face. "DAMN IT ALL" I scream, I swing my fist at the window, the glass barely cracks. 

What do they want from me? If you want me to be Lucifer, that's certainly what you'll get...

"tsk tsk... What a temper..." Someone says from behind me, it's a woman. "This is what he wants."