Ro (A Cyberpunk Retelling of Romeo and Juliet)

28

No, 'tis not so deep as a well, nor so wide as a

church-door; but 'tis enough, 'twill serve: ask for

me to-morrow, and you shall find me a grave man.

A plague o' both your houses!

***

RO MONTAGUE

Perhaps it's something that Lawrence gave us. I do not dream. Without it, instead, the nightmares come. Of bloody bones and my father's betrayed eyes.

"Ro, Ro." Soft hands shake me awake. "You're sweating and screaming in your sleep."

"Abuela, déjame. Es solo una pesadilla." Grandma, leave me. It's only a nightmare.

"No, Ro, it's me. It's Jules. I got to you while your gran was still sleeping."

I tear one eye open, see Jules' kind face. They sling my arm around their shoulder, carrying me into my own room. Tucking me beneath blankets like a mere child. "Here, maybe you'll rest better here."

"No!" I choke out, reaching for Jules, curls slipping through my grasp. "Stay. Please, stay with me."

A slow smile spreading across bronzed features. "Darling, I thought you'd never ask."

I lose myself then. Lose the anger, if only for a brief moment. The hurt. The sorrow. Instead, I find something else.

"If this is a dream." I murmur, caressing Jules, holding them tight. "Let it never end."

***

My eyes snap awake, still wrapped in Jules' embrace. "What was that noise?"

Jules rolls over, voice heavy with sleep. "It's only a nightingale."

"No..." I leap from the bed, shaky on my feet as I fix my clothes around myself, holster my bio-gun. "No, that was definitely a knock on the door."

Jules follows after me, wrapped in only a sheet. I check the padlock, hear the familiar, rasping voice. "Ro, it's me."

I tear the door open, find Mercy leaning on Benny's shoulder. Both of them are in civilian clothes. Mercy's cheeks are damp with sweat, eyes swollen and red hair wild. "Ro..." She croaks, so happy, before falling from Benny's grasp into my arms.

"Blood." Jules covers their mouth as they fight a shriek. I glance down, feeling the warm, salted dampness of Mercy's blood as it seeps into my shoulder.

"Gods. Viviana!" My grandmother runs into the room. "¡Ir! ¡Llame a un médico!"

Go, call a doctor!

"No, it's too late for me." Mercy clutches their body, groaning. She cracks a weak smile, holding her clammy palm against my cheek. "I was mugged walking over here. I wanted to see you one last time. To apologize."

"There's nothing to be sorry for—."

Mercy cuts off my words with a kiss and a murmur. "I hate you." She glances over my shoulder, the fondness replaced with recognition as her eyes take in Jules, covered in only a sheet. "Does the Capulet know?"

Jules steps forwards, pitying Mercy. I resent that, the pity. We all do, on these streets. Pity doesn't feed you. "Know what?"

"Mercy," I warn, holding Jules arm, but Jules pulls away from me. "Don't get into this. Save your strength for healing, not pettiness."

"No! The Capulet should know where Ro's money goes. The homeless people we feed, the beaten? That money goes to people that your family hurt. Oh, don't look at me like that." Jules shakes their head in disbelief, as though not wanting to hear. "Don't look at me like it's a shock to hear that the Capulets force people into bankruptcy to buy their land from the banks for cheap. Don't look shocked that the Capulet security force burns poor peoples' bodies, digging up their graves to buy more land. Don't look shocked that your supposedly legal money is just as bloodied as ours, if not worse." Mercy coughs. "A Montague and a Capulet. You deserve each other, Ro. And all your misery." She kisses me again. "Still, I wanted to say..."

She coughs, the sound a mere gurgle in her throat. Blood speckles her lips, and finally, she slumps. Her eyes never leave my face, her stare haunting me even as I close them.

Rage courses through me, worse than any poison I could brew.

"Benny, I hope you have your weapons on you. If not, take something from the family vault." I get to my feet, grandmother Viviana already running for a carpet to encase poor Mercy's body. "We're going to find whoever did this and slaughter them. Slowly." I go to the kitchen, packing knives and energy flares.

"No need. I knew your lackey would lead me directly to you." Another figure at the door. The gate's wedged open with a crowbar, the metal twisted beneath the pressure-hinges. A hulking man, the bodyguard from the Capulet masquerade steps through. "I'm here for Jules Capulet, you filthy Montague."

"Tibbs, no!" Jules cries, tears dribbling down their face.

"Tibbs, that's your name?" I unholster my weapons, though Tibb's filthy hands are already on his own gun. "Oh, I'm going to enjoy this."

***

Hey, it's Ro Montague here. Don't forget to vote and comment... or else.

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Vengeance is justified, if it's mine.