*WARNING*
This chapter includes strong language, sexual and physical abuse. Read at your own risk.
Recap
"She is lying." Blade sighed and continued driving. Unlike Blaze, she was freaking about the whole mess. Blaze had never made a mess before. She never even slacked off. It was always Blade who played around.
"I know. I hate her." Blaze said but deep down she knew that she was lying too as she touched her cheeck for the thousandth time.
***
Blade threw her purse on the couch of her house as she advanced towards Alyssa's bedroom. She was tired from all the chaos Blaze had been creating recently. She just wanted to rest. Rest. Huh! That was not given to a person who kills people for a living. But that would never stop her from doing anything that protects herself and her loved ones. She didn't have many anyways.
She opened the door to her fifteen year old younger sister's bedroom to find her studying about some weird numbers.
She sat quitely on Alyssa's bed without calling her name. Alyssa hated to be disturbed when she focused on something and calling her name would definitely scare her.
Alyssa turned around on her chair while stretching her arms above her head. She smiled as she looked at her older sister.
"Oh hi Alison. How was your day with Britney?" Alyssa asked Blade. Blade almost laughed while listening to Alyssa call Blaze as Britney. But it wasn't her fault. Blaze often visited their place and there was no way she could use her W.I.P.E.O.U.T's code name. They didn't want Alyssa to know anything about their occupation it was against W.I.P.E.O.U.T's rules and it would have put Alyssa into a lot of danger.
Blade could still recall Blaze's expression when Alyssa had called her Britney. But that was the quickest name Blade could come up with after seeing Blaze's natural blonde hair.
"Alison." Blade's train of thoughts was broken when she heard Alyssa call her name.
"Oh yeah sorry, It was good. I met a weird dude today." She said. She was partially correct thought. She had an eye contact with a person in hoodie today. Those pitch black Black eyes brought shivers down her spine. The way those eyes reminded her of Blaze was creepy.
"Did he approach you?" Alyssa asked , tensed. Blade immediately regretted telling about it. Talking about meeting strange people reminded Alyssa of their traumatic past which changed Blade's life forever.
***
"Throw 'em properly Alison!" A man in his mid thirties with fair skin and receding hairline ordered fourteen year old Alison as she threw one knife two centimetres above the decided spot.
"I am sorry. I-I am trying dad." Alison said with tear filled eyes as she threw another knife almost on the marked area but failed.
"Alison! Focus!" Her dad screamed. Alison's tears were threatening to flow. She took a deep breath, shut her left eye and aimed for a successful throw but was immediately greeted with a sharp pain on her shoulder. She remembered how her father's leather belt came crashing at her shoulder last night and she threw the knife completely off track.
She felt a strong pull on her wrist as she was dragged by her father into the doom room, that's what she called it. Alison kept on asking to be forgiven but none came. She kept praying and shouting for help which were answered with silence.
"Do you have any idea how much practice do you have to put in?!" Her father said while greeting her back with his heavy leather belt.
"We have a show tonight and you still give me this nonsense!" Her father boomed, only concerned about his street show.
"I..am sorry. Please..." Alison stopped mid sentence as her hair was yanked back painfully. He let go of her as her head banged on the nearest wooden's table.
Her father raised his belt but was interrupted by a small girl who had bitten his other arm.
He pushed her harshly as Alison rushed to her sisters aid while calling her name, "Alyssa! Alyssa go back." She hugged her in a protective embrace. "Alyssa please go back."
"No!" Alyssa screamed as her sister was thrown away from her into a wall.
"Dad! Don't hurt her." Alison said while sounding as strong and threatening as her current state permitted her.
"Huh! You both are pathetic! Just like your mother." He said before leaving the room.
Alison limped towards her sister and wiped her tears like how their mother used to do. She was reminded of her mother who would protect them from all these harsh bruises on the body and the soul. Unfortunately, she herself couldn't take the pain for long and had to leave them behind to go to a good place forever.
"Alison. I am glad that we are like mother." Alyssa said. "We even look like her."
***
"Hey, don't worry about it. I am alright. He didn't even talk to me. I just looked at him and thought he was weird." Blade told Alyssa to calm her down. There wasn't anything she wanted Alyssa to bother with. She was just supposed to worry about school and all other things which a fifteen year old was supposed to be worried about. Things which Blade herself never ever considered.
"That's fine then I wasn't worrying about you. I know you are strong Alison. I want to become like you." Alyssa said, signing as she completed her last sentence with sparkling eyes.
Blade was met with guilt. Alyssa had no idea who she was or else she would never have said those things or would have looked at her with so much hope and respect. But no matter who thought about her what, she knew she had to be a part of W.I.P.E.O.U.T to protect the ones she loved.
She still wondered if things would have been different if she didn't do what she did four years ago. If she hadn't protected that girl and lived a normal life then would she be able to live with that.
***
"Have you seen my father?" Alison asked one of the other girls who worked with them. The girl simply shook her head.
Alison walked past all the other members who were preparing for their show under the sky full of fireworks. She kept on asking about her father but everyone ignored her or simply shook their head in denial.
She was searching for him to tell him that her show was perfect. She threw all the knifes in their exact position, even when she was blindfolded. She knew he would never encourage or appreciate her but somehow she always wanted him to acknowledge her.
She looked around and realized that she had walked farther from her group of performers. She thought she wouldn't find her father here. She could wait until he returned. She had almost turned around to walk away but that's when she heard a muffled scream and sounds of a person struggling. She knew it because she had always been a person asking for unanswered help. She didn't want someone else's prayers to go unanswered so, even though she was trembling she advanced towards the sound but freezed at the site.
She found her father standing there, facing his back at her, naked. She somehow caught a glance at someone who was struggling on the ground as her father tried silencing her and stripping her. Alison caught a whiff of the scene, she was fourteen. She knew enough to know what was going on.
Alison mustered up all the strength as she called, "Father!" She didn't know what she supposed to do. But something in her stopped her from turning her back towards someone helpless.
Her father turned around, his face showing no signs of being a human. Under other circumstances, Alison would have ran for her life but not this time. This time she had decided to fight back.
"What are you gonna do Alison? Huh? Cry?" Her father asked with a haunting smile on his face. At that moment, all of Alison's life flashed before her eyes like a movie's trailer. She could see how her mother beared all the pain for her daughters. She could see how she herself sufferred. She could see all the tears in her sister's eyes but what made her took the next step was the hope that Alyssa's eyes held.
She swiftly took out one of her knives from her knife holder which was tied on her waist and said, "No, I will end you." Her voice sounded unfamiliar to her. She never knew he held so much power and courage in her. She threw the knife as it landed perfect on his heart. She didn't even miss an inch this time. He fell against the sidewall.
Alison saw the girl grabbing her clothes and escaping. A part of her was somehow relieved but the other part of her, which she didn't know existed was screaming for revenge.
She hoped onto her father. She didn't even stop to investigate whether he was alive or not. She stabbed him on his stomach, once... Twice... Thrice...and kept on stabbing him as all her past wounds kept hurting her. She couldn't stop until she was yanked away from him.
"Easy girl, easy." A person who Alison assumed to be in twenties told her. They had an undercut on the left side of their hair and the other side was dyed red which reached just below their ear.
Alison realized what she had done and she gasped loudly turning towards her father.
"Is he?" Alison asked.
"Dead? Yeah he is dead. Good job." The stranger told her.
"Good job!" Alison screamed as she started sobbing loudly. She had killed a person. Not just any person, it was her own father. "Are you serious? Oh my God!" Alison continued with her panick filled voice as the stranger looked at her, amused.
"You know I was just walking to get some chocolates for my teammates but then I found you throwing that knife. It was awesome! I should have filmed it. You did a good job with that. You are skilled and you saved that girl too." The stranger told her as if killing a human being was no big deal.
"Who are you anyways and how did I not see you if you were walking down this street? It's a dead end here." Alison said between her sobs.
"You could have seen me if you looked above." The stranger told while pointing towards a three storey tall building's roof.
"There's no was you have jumped that height." Alison said.
"I did. I didn't name myself eagle for no reason you see." The stranger replied.
***
"You are not even listening. Why am I even talking?" Alyssa said bringing Blade back to reality.
"Oh no sorry. I zoned away. What were you talking about?" Blade asked feeling a bit guilty for not paying attention to her younger sister.
"I was asking if you could help me with my history project. It's a pair project but still I am trying to get as much help as I can since Jenny won't be able to get much help." Alyssa said. Blade was about to say that she could definitely help that's when the name Jenny striked her. She thought she had heard the name recently but she wasn't sure where?
"You are working with whom?" Blade asked as she rose from the bed.
"Jenny Williams. You know her?" Alyssa asked.
The name Williams was enough to make Blade grab her coat and head towards the exit.
"Where are you going? It's about to get dark." Alyssa asked with fear.
"I will be back in an hour. You just gave me a million dollar's information!" Blade said before shutting the door behind her.
***