The power to survive

~1~

Murder. To some, a horrific and disgusting waste of life. To others,  it was an everyday thing, just as casual as eating or sleeping. To those who were born with a special gift, murder was a way to unleash everything, to evolve, to answer their true calling. 

From a young age, Pierre Draho felt this gift brewing inside of him. He had heard the stories, he had seen the powers. He had made his choice, and he remembered everything he felt as he pulled the life from another man's body. He watched the light drain from his eyes, heard his mother's mortified screams as he ran, blending into the darkness.

This is how most went about getting their abilities. They murdered somebody, whether or not they knew them, and they weren't seen again until they finally learned just what they could do. Pierre's story was a  normal one, but what he could do, hardly anybody could compare to.

It started with his visions. First, a blue-haired girl. Her left hand was missing a few fingers, and she looked to be about his age. He met her in an alley, where he learned two things; Her name was Lana, and she had a very short temper. She nearly ran him through at the simple mention of her fingers. As it turned out, she'd had the visions as well, to little surprise. 

The second was a giant of an African American man, who had just saved him from getting killed by a gang. Two for Two, this guy had the visions as well. For such a big guy, who had killed before, he seemed surprisingly jovial. He also seemed to like the idea of staying together. Lana didn't seem to like the idea of having to deal with another person who would 'just slow her down', but she begrudgingly accepted, though the two believed she was happier about this arrangement than he let on. Nick made three in the merry band of murderous misfits.

The last, Pierre found to be the most intriguing. Sure, Lana had a few missing fingers and secrets to keep, and Nick was the biggest guy he had ever seen, but Bianca left nearly everything to the imagination. The only things she let show were her blood-red hair, purple eyes that lit up in the night, and scarred hands. She hardly spoke, just in whispers to Lana. When they were forced to sleep in their van or abandoned buildings, she tried to get as far away from the others as she could. She refused to do anything that involved changing her clothes.

Alone, they could hardly do anything but blend into a crowd. Together, they could take scores on banks with little planning, as a simple thought tore the free will from anybody near them. The security cameras malfunctioned from the raw power the four held. Unfortunately, there were many ways to track a criminal, so laying low was a necessity.

"Blackjack, kiddo." Nick laid his cards down in front of Bianca, who sighed and pushed over a small stack of cash.

"You're gonna bleed her dry, you keep this up, big man. At least let her keep the vacation pay." Nick chuckled as Bianca mumbled something and glared at the dark-haired boy. "Sorry, chica, don't kill me." He grinned at her, but she continued to stare directly into his soul. "Alright, alright, no looking."

"You know that she really doesn't like when you smile, right? It scares her, makes her think you've got a bad plan or something."