Where The Wind Blows

4

(JEANINE)

I hold the pump-up shotgun close to my breast just like in those action films which I used to watch before I got abandoned. I snarl at Anne and Cillian.

"Toboni, take Adam and Lawrence to a safe destination," Viola says to her and she obeys and escorts them out of Buckingham Palace - leaving me with Viola, Anne and Cillian.

I make eye-contact with her and her eyes meet mine. I smile and look at my old parents who I despised since the start - making my smile fade.

"So it was you who caused the civilians to evacuate then?" Anne questions.

"You traitor..." Viola says. "I commanded a few of my comrades to escort every last citizen to safety as Central Elizabeth is now a war-zone. This is a war which you have just created and there's no treaty which you can sign to call it off. You fight or you'll die among the others."

Anne purses her lips and slowly raises her hand, coiling her fingers as I see that Viola's twitching like she's trying to resist pain but failing. Panic fills me inside and I glance over to Anne and she raises her head a little bit.

I can see her struggling to breathe as her feet elevate from the floor like the Darth Vader Force Choke-

Oh God.

I aim my weapon at Anne's hand and I fire, pellet piercing the palm of her hand - resulting in a shriek of agony and crimson blood pouring onto the floor.

Viola falls to the floor, hand close to her throat, brows furrowing, twitching with fear. I run over to support her, hand underneath her head and other to her back.

"I can heal it... but it'll take a while..." she smiles as she tries to catch her breath.

I rest her onto the floor and I straighten my shoulders.

COME AT ME THEN!

I charge at them both, blocking the words which Anne holds in and blows at me with her might but I run through them like they are paper and I'm ripping the sheets piece-by-piece but slowly getting paper cuts; but I bandaging the wounds up quickly.

"How comes?!" Anne exclaims as I step closer to her and I hit her with the butt of my shotgun, causing all the noise to stop floating in my head and her falling to the floor.

As I kneel down to strike her again but I get stopped from doing it by an irresistible force. It's not like the force which I could tear through easily but now I feel like I am restrained.

"Say it," Cillian spits at me - standing above me.

His silhouette above me makes me feel intimidated, robust figure looming over me, arms folded.

"Say what?" I question, voice gritting through my teeth.

"You're weak."

My body feels like it's gonna break down on me, bones slowly bending and snapping into pieces.

I want to shake my head but I can't.

"I'm... Weak." I gasp out, holding a scream inside.

I can hear Cillian laugh above me.

"You're pathetic."

"I'm pathetic..." I refer to myself.

"You're nothing."

"I'm nothing."

"You're worthless."

"I'm worthless."

Then another laugh - only this time to be power-hungry.

"I'M WORTHLESS!" I scream at the top of my lungs, letting them - everyone - know what I really am with tears streaming down my face in pain, agony, sadness... REGRET.

Anne moves out of the way, stands up and brushes herself off.

"Say it again... only more... powerful this time." Cillian says.

"I'M WORTHLESS!!!" I howl again, voice screaming for me to stop crying and shrieking. Then there goes my shoulder-

Dislocating-

Then the other-

Cracking-

Snapping-

Then the pain stops as I collapse onto the floor, fingers digging into the rubble of Buckingham Palace.

I can't...

I feel pathetic...

Yet innocent.

"Let's go," Anne says, staring down at me in disgust. "Leave her there."

"Surely we should finish her off..." Cillian says in a mild-moan.

"No. She will die anyway."

And they depart, leaving Viola and I trying to bring our souls back onto Earth like warriors.

We will beat them. We will win this war. A nice voice in my head says passively.

We will.

And we promise that to the world which is crumbling at our fingertips.