Post by WARendfeld on Aug 29, 2012 13:17:56 GMT -6
The Choices of One
“It is the opinion of the district attorney’s office that the actions of Alexandria Masters in the deaths of the men known as Lawrence Alexander, Jason Allan Cord, Nagawe Dion and Frederick were acts of justifiable homicide, and no charges will be brought against her for her actions…”
Alex turned off the television and put her remote aside. As relieved as she’d been when the police chose to release her after a few hours in lockup, and as glad as she’d been to consult with her lawyer, she still felt like she was getting off easy. Then again, the mob of reporters and paparazzi that were parked outside of her home was probably the universe’s way of enacting some justice for her actions, no matter how justified they may have been.
“You know, I’m suddenly glad that the ‘Law and Order’ franchise is all but dead at this point; I don’t exactly like the idea of our story being turned into some overly-dramatized piece of entertainment schlock.” Cass sat down beside her sister and offered her a can of soda. “No caffeine. There’s sugar, but I figure…”
“Nothing a lot of brushing and flossing won’t help mitigate.” She accepted the can and opened it, taking a swig. She let it go down her throat before the turned to her sister and asked, “You okay?”
“Getting better, I guess.” Cass frowned as she reflected. “I don’t know how to feel about all of this though. I mean, I should feel relieved; the guy who wanted to rape me is dead and four professional killers who would’ve killed me and you and have killed Goddish knows how many other people are all dead, you aren’t in jail, I’m a little bruised but fine otherwise. At least, physically.” She sighed and said, “I’m sorry about all of this.”
Alex laid a comforting hand on her sister’s shoulder. “Cass, you’ve got nothing to apologize for. Those guys were coldhearted monsters, plain and simple. Besides, you didn’t have any options. It was either cooperate with them and maybe not die, or try to fight them off and definitely die. All things considered, you did the smart thing.”
“Still, it doesn’t change the fact that you’ve got four more deaths on your head now. I’m not proud of that.”
“Well neither am I. They aren’t wrong when they say it gets easier over time.” She took another sip of her soda before she continued, “Before I killed Canmore, I never thought I could take a life. Now I know I can, and as much as that scares me, I just have to accept what happened and move on, same as last time.”
Cass looked at her sister and asked, “Is it really that easy?”
“No. I killed all four of them. I’m not proud of it, and they’d not only killed plenty of people themselves but probably would’ve killed more in the future, me and you and Melanie and Isabelle included, and no matter how justified I might’ve been, it doesn’t change the facts.” Alex sighed and mused aloud, “And the worst part of it is, I went in there knowing I’d have to kill them, and I didn’t even consider any other options. No attempts at a peaceful resolution, no trying for something that could let us all walk away. I went in and I killed them, and I’m lucky I even managed to do that. Sure, they were monsters, but that didn’t give me the right to do what I did. All of a sudden, I wish it’d gotten taken out of my hands like with Gregor Kosda. I mean, yeah, these guys hadn’t gotten on Mewtwo’s bad side, but still…”
“It’d be nice if you didn’t have a little less guilt on your shoulders.”
A knock sounded at the door, and Alex got to her feet, striding towards the front door and hoping that the press hadn’t managed to get past their big fancy front gate. The last thing she needed was someone trying to break into the house. She opened the door and stood surprised at who was waiting for her. “Isabelle?”
“Yeah, me.” The blonde looked troubled and nervous as she quickly blurted, “Can I come in? Please? Before I change my mind or my photo gets plastered all over the Internet?”
“Sure.” Alex gestured for her old rival to step inside and closed the door behind her. “Why…?”
“Don’t interrupt me, I’m having trouble enough saying this.” Isabelle sighed and started again. “Thank you. For saving my life.” Milliseconds later, and she continued, “I can’t believe you killed those two! You were all action movie badass and me, I…! I…!” She sighed again and asked, “Why?”
Alex shrugged. “I don’t like justifying myself in cases like this. It’s bad enough that…”
“Why save me?!” The look on the blonde’s face was one of genuinely shock. “I’ve been nothing but a bitch to you for years! I talked crap about your dad, I smack-talked your mom, I’ve gone out of my way to treat you like dirt! Hell, I’m shocked you didn’t kill me! So why save me? If they’d killed me, you wouldn’t have to deal with me anymore! I’d be dead, gone, out of your life forever!”
“And I’d have one death that would always hang over my head, as opposed to four more that I’d be able to put aside and let go of.” Alex kept her eyes upon those of her rival as she elaborated. “You did all of those things, yeah, but none of that is justification enough for letting you die. Those psychos, on the other hand, all tried to kill me. That’s justification enough to defend myself. I’m just lucky I had the skills to stay alive and they all had weaknesses I could manipulate.” Regret passed over her face as she admitted, “I’m a little sad to admit it, but you and I have a lot more in common than I’m comfortable with. You poked at my weaknesses, and I did the same with them.”
“Whoa, those guys had weaknesses?” Cass poked her head in and offered, “How? They were pretty damn scary by my reckoning.”
“Yeah, they were scary, as a group. Separately, however, they could be beaten off.” Alex turned her attention back to her rival and admitted, “Which reminds me, thank you. If things had gone differently, me and Cass would probably be dead.”
“Yeah, whatever. Weaknesses?” Isabelle looked at Alex in shock. “That one guy was a telekinetic!”
“And way too out of control when it came to his anger. Dion hated the world for treating him like a freak, and instead of learning to let go, he took his rage and frustration out on everyone else. You let your anger control you, and you’ll shoot yourself in the foot.”
“And the rest of them?”
“Frederick couldn’t feel pain, some sort of nerve disorder. On the surface, that’s a good thing, but pain’s there to warn you against going past your natural limits. Get your bones in your leg broken and not only can you not walk, but you run the risk of being off-balance, falling off a building, and getting your neck broken.” She pointed towards one of her eyes and added, “And that ignores him missing an eye. Depth perception’s a useful thing. As for the other two, well, one was Zubat-scat nuts and the other had some sort of crazy ability to glimpse the future. The crazy ones are so enamored with themselves that they have to be chatty; you talk, you get distracted. And standard issue telepathy can cloud a vision of the future easily, especially when the person using the telepathy has the right amount of adrenaline in her system.”
Isabelle looked at the tall girl before her with disbelief, having a very hard time seeing her as the same little girl she’d mocked in grade school and middle school. She shook her head. “Yeah.” She then looked at Alex and added, “Anyway, thanks. And…sorry. About everything.” She turned to leave, then turned her head back to ask, “Are you dating anyone?”
“Skinny guy shorter than I am with dark hair and kind of a squeaky voice.”
“He cute?”
A smile. “Yeah.”
“Good for you.”
Isabelle departed, and Cass approached her sister and grinned. “False or no, I never thought she’d give you an apology. Think that was fear talking, or genuine remorse?”
“Probably both, but I’ll take what I can get.” Alex smiled and noted, “Sometimes the small victories are the ones most worth it.”
“Feeling better then?”
A nod, as she remembered some advice she’d heard a short time ago. “Yeah. Yeah I am.” She’d heard it before, but she found herself thinking about what she’d been told; she needed to let go.
TBC!
“It is the opinion of the district attorney’s office that the actions of Alexandria Masters in the deaths of the men known as Lawrence Alexander, Jason Allan Cord, Nagawe Dion and Frederick were acts of justifiable homicide, and no charges will be brought against her for her actions…”
Alex turned off the television and put her remote aside. As relieved as she’d been when the police chose to release her after a few hours in lockup, and as glad as she’d been to consult with her lawyer, she still felt like she was getting off easy. Then again, the mob of reporters and paparazzi that were parked outside of her home was probably the universe’s way of enacting some justice for her actions, no matter how justified they may have been.
“You know, I’m suddenly glad that the ‘Law and Order’ franchise is all but dead at this point; I don’t exactly like the idea of our story being turned into some overly-dramatized piece of entertainment schlock.” Cass sat down beside her sister and offered her a can of soda. “No caffeine. There’s sugar, but I figure…”
“Nothing a lot of brushing and flossing won’t help mitigate.” She accepted the can and opened it, taking a swig. She let it go down her throat before the turned to her sister and asked, “You okay?”
“Getting better, I guess.” Cass frowned as she reflected. “I don’t know how to feel about all of this though. I mean, I should feel relieved; the guy who wanted to rape me is dead and four professional killers who would’ve killed me and you and have killed Goddish knows how many other people are all dead, you aren’t in jail, I’m a little bruised but fine otherwise. At least, physically.” She sighed and said, “I’m sorry about all of this.”
Alex laid a comforting hand on her sister’s shoulder. “Cass, you’ve got nothing to apologize for. Those guys were coldhearted monsters, plain and simple. Besides, you didn’t have any options. It was either cooperate with them and maybe not die, or try to fight them off and definitely die. All things considered, you did the smart thing.”
“Still, it doesn’t change the fact that you’ve got four more deaths on your head now. I’m not proud of that.”
“Well neither am I. They aren’t wrong when they say it gets easier over time.” She took another sip of her soda before she continued, “Before I killed Canmore, I never thought I could take a life. Now I know I can, and as much as that scares me, I just have to accept what happened and move on, same as last time.”
Cass looked at her sister and asked, “Is it really that easy?”
“No. I killed all four of them. I’m not proud of it, and they’d not only killed plenty of people themselves but probably would’ve killed more in the future, me and you and Melanie and Isabelle included, and no matter how justified I might’ve been, it doesn’t change the facts.” Alex sighed and mused aloud, “And the worst part of it is, I went in there knowing I’d have to kill them, and I didn’t even consider any other options. No attempts at a peaceful resolution, no trying for something that could let us all walk away. I went in and I killed them, and I’m lucky I even managed to do that. Sure, they were monsters, but that didn’t give me the right to do what I did. All of a sudden, I wish it’d gotten taken out of my hands like with Gregor Kosda. I mean, yeah, these guys hadn’t gotten on Mewtwo’s bad side, but still…”
“It’d be nice if you didn’t have a little less guilt on your shoulders.”
A knock sounded at the door, and Alex got to her feet, striding towards the front door and hoping that the press hadn’t managed to get past their big fancy front gate. The last thing she needed was someone trying to break into the house. She opened the door and stood surprised at who was waiting for her. “Isabelle?”
“Yeah, me.” The blonde looked troubled and nervous as she quickly blurted, “Can I come in? Please? Before I change my mind or my photo gets plastered all over the Internet?”
“Sure.” Alex gestured for her old rival to step inside and closed the door behind her. “Why…?”
“Don’t interrupt me, I’m having trouble enough saying this.” Isabelle sighed and started again. “Thank you. For saving my life.” Milliseconds later, and she continued, “I can’t believe you killed those two! You were all action movie badass and me, I…! I…!” She sighed again and asked, “Why?”
Alex shrugged. “I don’t like justifying myself in cases like this. It’s bad enough that…”
“Why save me?!” The look on the blonde’s face was one of genuinely shock. “I’ve been nothing but a bitch to you for years! I talked crap about your dad, I smack-talked your mom, I’ve gone out of my way to treat you like dirt! Hell, I’m shocked you didn’t kill me! So why save me? If they’d killed me, you wouldn’t have to deal with me anymore! I’d be dead, gone, out of your life forever!”
“And I’d have one death that would always hang over my head, as opposed to four more that I’d be able to put aside and let go of.” Alex kept her eyes upon those of her rival as she elaborated. “You did all of those things, yeah, but none of that is justification enough for letting you die. Those psychos, on the other hand, all tried to kill me. That’s justification enough to defend myself. I’m just lucky I had the skills to stay alive and they all had weaknesses I could manipulate.” Regret passed over her face as she admitted, “I’m a little sad to admit it, but you and I have a lot more in common than I’m comfortable with. You poked at my weaknesses, and I did the same with them.”
“Whoa, those guys had weaknesses?” Cass poked her head in and offered, “How? They were pretty damn scary by my reckoning.”
“Yeah, they were scary, as a group. Separately, however, they could be beaten off.” Alex turned her attention back to her rival and admitted, “Which reminds me, thank you. If things had gone differently, me and Cass would probably be dead.”
“Yeah, whatever. Weaknesses?” Isabelle looked at Alex in shock. “That one guy was a telekinetic!”
“And way too out of control when it came to his anger. Dion hated the world for treating him like a freak, and instead of learning to let go, he took his rage and frustration out on everyone else. You let your anger control you, and you’ll shoot yourself in the foot.”
“And the rest of them?”
“Frederick couldn’t feel pain, some sort of nerve disorder. On the surface, that’s a good thing, but pain’s there to warn you against going past your natural limits. Get your bones in your leg broken and not only can you not walk, but you run the risk of being off-balance, falling off a building, and getting your neck broken.” She pointed towards one of her eyes and added, “And that ignores him missing an eye. Depth perception’s a useful thing. As for the other two, well, one was Zubat-scat nuts and the other had some sort of crazy ability to glimpse the future. The crazy ones are so enamored with themselves that they have to be chatty; you talk, you get distracted. And standard issue telepathy can cloud a vision of the future easily, especially when the person using the telepathy has the right amount of adrenaline in her system.”
Isabelle looked at the tall girl before her with disbelief, having a very hard time seeing her as the same little girl she’d mocked in grade school and middle school. She shook her head. “Yeah.” She then looked at Alex and added, “Anyway, thanks. And…sorry. About everything.” She turned to leave, then turned her head back to ask, “Are you dating anyone?”
“Skinny guy shorter than I am with dark hair and kind of a squeaky voice.”
“He cute?”
A smile. “Yeah.”
“Good for you.”
Isabelle departed, and Cass approached her sister and grinned. “False or no, I never thought she’d give you an apology. Think that was fear talking, or genuine remorse?”
“Probably both, but I’ll take what I can get.” Alex smiled and noted, “Sometimes the small victories are the ones most worth it.”
“Feeling better then?”
A nod, as she remembered some advice she’d heard a short time ago. “Yeah. Yeah I am.” She’d heard it before, but she found herself thinking about what she’d been told; she needed to let go.
TBC!