Unlike Loki

Chapter 70

(Loki)

She decided to sit up again and turned so that she was facing me, crossing her legs under her. I sat up too, doing the same with my legs so that our knees touched and we were holding hands in between us.

She took another deep breath, her shoulders heaving up and then down again. She looked lighter somehow, as if telling me the darkness if her past lifted some of the weight that was pushing her down off.

She looked down at our hands and began again, "One day, I was just going about my business, as usual. Then, I saw those boots. Those same boots that had killed my family the previous year. You think I'd hide, run away as fast as I could. But I didn't. I remember the feeling of revenge surge through me. There was so much anger and so much hate. Instead of striking then, I decided to wait. I followed the man. He was tall and built. But he was gross-looking. And I wanted to wipe every smug look off his face that I saw."

"I followed him, and he never realized it. Soon, I found out where his base of operations was. Where all of them stationed theirselves. There were about a dozen or so of them, dressed like a biker gang, only instead of bikes, they had weapons."

"That night, while they were deep in their sleep, I snuck in and took apart every single fire alarm. And then I lit the place up. I watched the place burn to the ground, not a single monster getting out alive. And I was happy about it, Loki." she looked up at me, shame in her eyes. "How could I be happy? I should have just left it alone."

She looked back down. "I didn't realize that not every member was in that base. So, one day, I was in an alley and I was met by three guys cutting me off, liking for a fight. When I turned, there were a few more blocking my path. I was trapped. I remember one of the guys asking me if I liked to play with fire. And it was at that point that I knew I had messed up. That I had made enemies."

"They underestimated me, my powers. I got out of there, fighting my way out, bloody and bruised. I ran as fast as I could, I was scared and I felt like an idiot, thinking I could wage a war against who knows what. I found a place to hide in an abandoned cellar and stayed there for a solid three days. I had been cut up pretty bad when I left the fight, but that's how I realized how quickly my body healed, how the pain was quick and then disappeared, leaving no trace that I had ever been touched, except for the dirt that covered my body."

"Once I thought it was safe, I went on the move again. I experimented with my powers when I could, seeing what I was truly capable of. Eventually, it turned into a game of cat and mouse with the gang. Me being the mouse of course. They tried so hard to hunt me down, but were never quite successful. I always knew where they were, was always watching. I was like Robin Hood, only I wasn't helping the poor."

"Who?" I asked. I didn't mean to interrupt.

She laughed. "Robin Hood was an outlaw. No one could ever catch him." She smiled at me, tilting her head.

But then her smile faded. "I resorted to playing simple pranks on them, blowing their shit up, ruining their weapons. Anything I could do to stop them with out physically hurting them. I was hoping they would eventually get tired of it and just quit. But it never worked."

Her mouth went hard with anger. "One day, I went outside, deciding to play another prank, but they were ready for me. They found me, cornered me, but when they didn't come closer, I knew something was off. I remember turning around to the sound of a whistle, to be confronted by what was clearly the leader. It was him. The guy I went after."

My mind flashed back to our attempt to get to Asgard, her running towards a man with blood lust in her veins. The man who she screamed at me had been there when she was captured, who had betrayed the people he'd been with.

"He had a small girl in his grasp. Younger than me, with a knife to her throat. She looked as if she had just come from church, or a wedding or something, dressed in a pretty white dress and had little socks with ruffles on them. I remember the look in his eyes, pure insanity. 'I'll make you a deal.' he said. 'I'll let little Lyla go unharmed, back to her precious little family, if you agree to come with us, no struggle.' I remember it perfectly. I remember being more scared for the little girl more than anything else. I remember talking to her, saying 'Lyla? Lyla, it's going to be alright. Nothing bad is going to happen alright? They are after me. And I'm going to go with them so that you can go back to your family. Don't speak a word of this to them, ok? That way these guys won't come back for you, do you understand?' I remember my eyes flicking between Lyla and the man. I remember her crying, trying to be strong. She reminded me so much of myself, it was eerie. I told them that I would go with them peacefully and willingly. But they had to let the girl go, unharmed and never touch her again."

"I remember the look on his face, telling me that they would let her go when I was safely in the van at the end of the alley. I told them I would go, so they took me, cautiously. I didn't dare do anything. Lyla's life was more important to me than my own. My life was already ruined, she still had one to live. I got in the van, letting them put plastic handcuffs on me, and putting my hands behind my back."

She let go of my hands and rubbed her face, tears filling her eyes. I almost couldn't handle it when she looked at me, but I didn't dare look away. She needed me.

"The moment I looked out the window, at the other end of the alley, he-" she stopped trying to keep composure. "He slit Lyla's throat. Right there in the alley, he slit her open, letting the blood drain from her, into her beautiful white dress, staining it red. He killed her, after I went with them." Tears were falling down her cheeks. "I remember screaming and kicking, anger and hate pulsing through me, and I killed every single person in that van. I burned them, or stabbed their eyes out with ice picks, or I jammed metal into their hearts. I didn't hesitate, didn't feel any remorse. The plastic melted off my wrists and I remember scrambling out of the van, and down the alley. I remember stopping when I reached Lyla, still bleeding, but long dead. I remember closing her eyes for her, telling her I was sorry over and over again."

"And that's when the real hunt began."