The Part That Hurts The Most (October AH)

“Stay in the lounge until we land. If you so much as step out of this room I will personally ensure someone shatters your knee caps,” Sir frowned at her. He paused for a moment, letting the words sink in, before turning on his heels and heading out of the room.

If that wasn’t a threat, Vivi wasn’t sure what was. He said it so civilly too. What a gentleman.

  The violet haired girl perched on a recliner, hands on her knees and back perfectly straight. She couldn’t get herself to relax, no matter how much she tried, and her gaze continually shifted to all corners of the room as the seconds ticked by. They were on a jet to a city they had dealings with, and of course, they brought Vivi along even though no one in the organization trusted her anymore. Well, actually that was probably the reason they took her along.

  The hum of the engine seemed to reverberate in her skull, and she grit her teeth. Minutes passed by. Soon she was sure it had been half an hour and she couldn’t take it anymore. The violet haired girl stood up and began pacing back and forth. She needed to get off this airplane. Being fairly good at eavesdropping, she’d hear bits and pieces about the fact that she was tied in with some of the business that was going to take place once they landed. Were they going to sell her? It wouldn’t be the lowest thing they’d done. Perhaps they’d just abandon her in a city she didn’t know with someone who could keep her in check. Whatever the case, she couldn’t stand being in this machine any more.

  So he’d have someone break her legs? Maybe that was a figure of speech, but if he did in fact send someone to do this, she could always run away. She’d escaped being stabbed, shot and strangled by people she knew dozens of times anyway. But you know… there always came the point where your luck ran out. If they shattered her knees those suckers would probably never be the same. And she needed those… the past seven months of her life had been just running, running and more running.

  Vivi combed her bangs out of her eyes, and walked to the door way leading to a hall. Forget this. Since when did she cower under threats anyway? Yeah, leaving might be dumb but… to be old and wise you must’ve been young and stupid at some point, right? Vivi wandered into the kitchen, which was also empty. She knew for a fact there were at least five people on this jet not including attendants, body guards, and the pilots, so where was everyone? She walked past the table and peeked into the refrigerator, before stepping into the next hall way. There were several doors on either side, and a pair of metal double doors at the far end. If she remembered the layout plans accurately, that lead to the lab and armory in turn. Chances were… that’s where everyone was hanging out.

  Now she just needed to the room where she could open a door to the outside air without messing up the whole plane. Yeah, it was stupid. Yeah, it was dangerous. But so was even being on this plane, around these people. She was going to find a parachute, and she was going to jump off of this plane. From there, hopefully she’d be able to hide long enough to get them to give up on finding her. Responsibility and duty had become chains, and this family was holding her down. If they had her way, they’d gain as much as they could from her and then throw her to the wolves. They weren’t going to have their way. Not today. Not tomorrow. Not ever.

  After poking through a couple more doors, she got her hands on a parachute and tucked the pack under her arm as she made her way to the lab door. Past the lab, and past the armory, she knew there would be a chamber with a hatch where the vehicles were kept. All she had to do was find a way past them, open the hatch and jump out before anyone knew what happened. Simple! She had this all under control.

Well, it was simple when you put it that way…

But there was no such thing as having everything under control.

  Vivi walked slowly toward the doors and went up on her tip toes to peer through the small glass windows embedded in the metal. There were bright lights coming from the ceiling, holographic screens near the edges of the room, an armada of computers and other technology, and several metal tables piled high with papers and other equipment. Piper Hawthorne, her mother’s sister stood near the edge of one of the tables in the center of the room. Sir stood on the other side, apparently having a heated conversation with the woman, though it looked one sided.

  Piper scratched the back of her head in the way Vivi always did—she’d gotten that little quirk from her aunt— and raised her eye brows in effort to look interested in what the man was saying, though it was clear to Vivi she wasn’t. What did he want? One thing she knew was Piper was very knowledgable in fire arms and specialized in explosives, so if anything they were talking about something to do with that. Sir wouldn’t really have any other reason to bring the reckless woman along with them. Piper was a loose cannon, and did what she wanted. If they were somehow keeping her in check, she was either being bribed or black mailed.

  The two of them moved the left side of the room and began hunching over a computer screen and sifting through papers. Well, now was her chance to ninja her way over to the next room. Vivi pushed open the door, which thankfully swing silently on it’s hinges, and she carefully shut it behind her.

  “Don’t you think completely blowing up their factory is push’n it a bit?” Piper’s voice rang in her ears as she slipped quietly through the room and toward the other door.

“No.”

“Hmm. And neither is trading your own daughter for Mr. Cartwright, huh?”

“Velour and Valentine are my daughters. Don’t count that wild, wicked, slip of a girl as my own.”

“You really are—”

  Their voices were cut off as she slipped into the next room. This one was a small gym, the center being covered with a mat and furnished with a few punching bags, weight benches, and a treadmill. Two people suddenly emerged from around the corner and her eyes fell on a form standing just behind one of the boxing bags. How had she not noticed them before? Vivi ducked behind a stack of boxes filled with sports equipment and peered around the edge.

  Veil sat on the edge of the weight bench, his cold blue eyes shifting toward the two girls who came around the corner, who turned out to be Velour and Valentine, walking side by side.

  Velour’s long hair was braided over one shoulder, and Valentine’s was in her customary neat bun. The smaller girl’s eyes were a deep purple like her mother and aunt, unlike the other children. Vivi, Velour, and Veils, were all varying shades of blue.

  “Hey Veil, ‘you know if they bothered to handcuff Vivian in the lounge?” Velour asked as she strolled into the room.

“Not sure. Maybe,” Veil shrugged.

“Why would they need to handcuff her?” Valentine asked innocently, her voice cracking.

“She’s a wicked girl, Valentine,” Velour replied, “Do you have any idea how much trash she puts this family through?”

“I think you make her seem far worse than she is.”

  “Of course, yeah. Turn a blind eye to it,” Velour waved a hand at the girl and walked away from her, sitting on another weight bench a little ways away from Veil.

  “I don’t see why nobody’s shot her yet,” she huffed, slumping forward as she sat, “She set fire to Eponine Manor, blew up a bridge the syndicate often used, disobeys orders, tried to kill me, kidnap Valentine, leave the group on multiple occasions—”

“She wasn’t trying to kidnap me!” Valentine squeaked, “She was trying to—”

“Can it!” Velour snapped, “I can’t STAND hearing you try to defend her! Open your eyes and quit look’n at her with rose tinted glasses!”

  “I think you’re looking at her with smudged glasses, Velour,” the smaller girl murmured and walked out of the room. She passed Vivi where hid behind the boxes, and for a split second, their eyes met. However, Valentine quickly looked away and exited the room without showing any sign she had seen anyone hiding there.

“You’re hard on her,” Veil sighed, “Both of them. But at least you actually care about Val.”

Velour gave Veil a hard look.

“…I’m not hard on Vivian. She deserves to die, and I want to make sure that happens.”

Veil stood up and stretched his arms, before pacing about the room.

  “Don’t underestimate her,” he said slowly, “She knows more than she says, thinks more than she speaks, and notices a lot more than you realize.”

At this, Velour stood up abruptly and stormed off down the hallway she had come from.

  After a good thirty seconds, Vivi emerged from her hiding spot and walked quickly to the other side of the room, briefly making eye contact with her brother.

“Don’t follow me,” she said briskly, “Pretend you didn’t see me.”

  The violet haired girl eventually made her way to the chamber and found the control panel for opening up the hatch. Before she did so, however, she walked to the bullet proof glass wall that separated the chamber from the armory and locked the door. Just as she did so, she saw Veil rushing into the room with concern in his eyes. He ran to the glass wall and stopped, locking eyes with her.

“What're you doing, Vi?” he asked.

“Giving Sir a big middle finger to the face.”

“Don’t you remember what happened the last five times you did that?” he said incredulously, “Don’t you regret it at all? They hurt you so much…”

“Yeah, I regret it. Would I do it again? Most definitely.”

“Stop,” he said, his breath hitching, “Please. They’ll destroy you this time…”

“...And if I stop they’ll still try. So long, bro.”

  Vivi turned on her heels, doing her best to ignore his pounding on the glass and yelling. She messed with the control panel, and eventually, the hatch slowly began to lower outward, and the chilly winds from outside flooded in, tearing at her hair and clothes. Her eyes stung, and her heart beat fast. Was this even gonna be worth it?

To know, she’d have to actually do it.

  Just as she moved to retrieve her parachute pack, Velour burst into the armory and practically slammed herself against the glass wall, anger flashing in her eyes. She tried the door, before scrambling out of sight, likely for one of the panels that controlled the sliding glass doors.

  Vivi sprinted across the room and grabbed the pack, but just as she did so a beep sounded in her ears and the glass doors slid open. Velour punched Veil hard across the face, causing him to stumble before sprinting into the room. Vivi backed away from her and started attempting to attach the equipment.

“Ohh, you won’t be needing that,” she snarled.

  Vivi didn’t answer. Velour was stronger and faster than she was… if she tried to take it, she probably could. And try she did.
  
The other girl charged at Vivi and latched onto the pack ripping it out of her grasp before clamping a hand around Vivi’s throat.

“There’s a time and a place to die…” she hissed, “For everyone. Your’s is now.”

“VELOUR!” Veil yelled, scrambling out of the room after her.

  Velour dragged Vivi near the end of the ramp and threw her to the ground. By now, she was seeing stars and the strong air currents were tugging her body farther toward the edge. She looked up at her sister one last time.

‘Out of all the people who could’ve destroyed me… why on earth did it have to be you…?’

Her own flesh and blood. Her sister, and someone who used to be dear to her heart.

Where had she gone wrong?

  Velour slammed a heavy kick into her stomach, and the air current ripped her out of the chamber and into the empty sky. The ship receded from her so quickly it made her sick to her stomach—she’d never seen hope of escape dwindle away at such a speed. Her violet hair waved above her and her small form drew ever closer to the end. Vivi closed her eyes and found herself instinctively curling up into the fetal position, having all but given up. The idea that she was about to die young was kind of funny... she'd escaped it so many times. But here it came. She took a deep breath and uncurled her body, forcing mind to keep clear and calm. 

If she was gonna die, she wouldn't go in fear.

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