The Villain Academy- Chapter 14: Blood, Blood, Gallons of the Stuff
Hi, everyone!
Mainly at Kyra's insistence, here's Chapter 14 of "The Villain Academy," yay! Yeah, I've become too lazy to link back to the last chapter. I'm tired. Watch someone get all offended.
Anyway, this chapter is one I fear will get me killed for. Even more than with the sinkage of the Tune ship. Not for the faint of heart, I was making faces writing a part of it. This chapter has mean deceptive puddles, a dead man walking, observations through broken windows, the commencement of an evil plan, better acting skills (unfortunately), the truth coming out, coarse language, transformations, a back-up plan, a scene that proves I watch way too many crime shows and zombie movies, a mainly useless little scene, and an unexpected visitor. Enjoy!
14. Blood, Blood, Gallons of the Stuff
Charlie was driving. The route to the Villain Academy was not an easy one, and he got lost all too frequently for his liking. Especially because he was so worried for Torianne.
He hoped she had managed to stay out of trouble. She said she would, and he hoped he could believe her.
Talking to himself, he said, “Well, she managed to keep herself undetected for two weeks now. What’s one more day?” He tried to reassure himself, but in the pit of his stomach, he had this feeling of trepidation, of worry, a feeling he couldn’t shake no matter what he did.
He couldn’t wait to get the both of them back home safe.
He had a distress signal in one of his inside pockets; he felt the bump it made in his jacket to reassurance. He hoped things wouldn’t get ugly. He hoped he wouldn’t have to use this thing. Maybe he ought to give it to Torianne, so she’d be safer. But then again, she could morph into something and hide; he couldn’t.
Charlie thought back at what Torianne had said before. She found a lab in the basement of the Villain Academy, she had said. He wondered where this place was. He wondered if she would be able to meet him on the grounds; he didn’t want to go wandering around the Villain Academy and jeopardize the mission.
The road was rocky and uneven as he remembered it. The car was old and loud, clanking over every pebble. When Charlie could see the ominous looking building, he pulled over, parked the car, and went to walk the rest of the way.
The walk was difficult. He was attacked by a swarm of bats, low-hanging tree limbs, and deceptively shallow looking puddles.
“Yuck.” he said, staring at his newly muddied shoes. “Stupid puddle.”
It was raining and lightning was flashing every few moments. It was not a good night for a walk. But Charlie had no choice. He couldn’t turn back. Not only did he have an obligation to all that was good and just in the world, but he had an obligation to Torianne, to his sister and brother-in-law. It was too late to turn back. If he wanted to turn back, he should have done so weeks ago and never sent Torianne to the Villain Academy in the first place.
More and more he was beginning to regret sending her on this mission.
Finally Charlie reached the gates of the Villain Academy. They could use a little oil and a good cleaning.
One gate was hanging open, swinging back and forth in the wind, creaking every time it moved an inch. He walked through the open gate to the front door.
The wind was violent, the rain was coming down fast, and Charlie looked around the dark night for Torianne. He wondered where they were going to meet.
Several floors above, five kid villains observed their visitor through the broken window. They had taken care of Truculent’s body. It had been thrown into a few dying bushes, but in the dark night to someone who wasn’t looking, it was as good as invisible.
Tori-Aimee watched her uncle, her fake uncle, that is, the man she had once loved so much. Now, as she watched him, all she could feel was a pulsing hatred. Everything he ever told her was a lie. He probably didn’t care at all about her. Why should he? She was no relative of his. He’d wiped her memory with so little empathy; how could he possibly care about her? He ignored her cries as a little girl, her cries for her real family, her sisters, and all her life since then he’d only played a part in keeping the lie.
The Villain Academy wasn’t going to fall. She wouldn’t let him do it.
“I’m ready,” she said, turning to her sisters. They nodded. “We’ll be waiting for you in the lab,” one said solemnly. “We love you, Aimee,” the other added.
She nodded, regarded the others with a look that really said nothing, and flipped up her hoodie over her head. She left the library with the others following. They took different paths, and she was left alone. She had to act like nothing was wrong. She had to act like she was still playing along to the lie, like she still thought he was her uncle and she loved him.
She made a face just thinking about it. It seemed impossible, but she had to do it.
Tori-Aimee (she still wasn’t sure who she was, but her inclination was toward Aimee) swung open one of the old front doors and went out into the pouring rain. She passed the bushes that concealed Truculent’s body across the lawn to her false uncle.
“Torianne!” he exclaimed, his face bursting into a smile.
Liar, she thought as she smiled back and rushed towards him.
“I’m so glad you came for me! This place is awful,” she said, sounding genuine. She was pleased with her acting skills.
“I’m going to get you out of here, I promise. Just show me the lab and I’ll be able to call in back-up.” Charlie paused a minute, then drew something out of one of his pockets. He handed her his distress signal. It looked like a pen, with a red button on one end of the thin silver tube.
She took it, hardly daring to believe her luck. This was getting far too easy. She took the distress signal and said, “Why are you giving me this?”
“Just in case. I want you to be safe,” he said, hugging her.
No, you don’t. You don’t care about me at all, she thought furiously as she hugged him back, fighting her urge to recoil.
“Come on, we have to be quick. I think they’re starting to suspect me, I’m not all that good at acting like a villain,” she said, beginning to lead him back to the front door.
The thunder rumbled, sounding as though the sky was shattering into pieces, broken by fiery white hot tongues of lightning.
She led Charlie through the hallways of the Villain Academy. She knew the way to the basement lab. She led him down the metallic stairs, past the archway, and said, “This is it.”
He looked around; it didn’t look like much. “This is it?” he asked.
“I didn’t get to explore, but there’s a door back there and I think that’s where the important stuff is,” she said, pointing to the door. She was standing behind him by the archway. He started to wander around until he was in the middle of the room. It was now or never.
Tori-Aimee narrowed her eyes, all her anger, fury, and feelings of betrayal manifesting themselves within her. All these years of lies, lies and more lies were coming to a close. No more, not anymore, she wouldn’t take it. She would never let herself be lied to again.
“I know the truth,” she said through gritted teeth, her hands clenching into fists.
He heard her. Oddly, she sounded angry. Charlie’s face contorted in confusion. He turned around to face her.
“What was that, Torianne?” he asked, puzzled.
“Don’t act like you don’t know! You were there! You did it!” she yelled at him, her face flushing with anger.
“What are you talking about?” Charlie asked. His mind flashed back to two weeks earlier, when Torianne described the two girls in her age bracket here. The twins, identical twins, with white blonde hair and big blue gray eyes.
No…it can’t possibly be…the odds are astronomical…there’s no chance! It can’t be! he thought.
“I am talking about my entire life being a lie! My name’s not Torianne, it’s Aimee! My parents aren’t superheroes, they were mad scientists and they’re dead! I’m not an only child, I have two sisters named Gemelle and Tamsyn! And all these years you kept it from me!” she screamed, taking a furious step closer to him. He recoiled.
“Torianne, please, you have to understand--!” Charlie began pleadingly.
“Understand what? That you blocked out my memories? I understand perfectly fine! My sisters were coming back for me, but no, your sister couldn’t have kids so she stole someone else’s!” she interrupted angrily.
“We wanted to save you! We wanted you to be a hero!” Charlie said indignantly. No one insulted his sister while he was around.
“Oh, yeah, it’s very heroic to lie to a child!” she scoffed, hands on hips.
“Look, Torianne, we have to discuss this later. We have villains to bring down, remember?” Charlie said.
“Oh no. The Academy won’t fall. I’ll make sure of that,” she replied coldly, crossing her arms.
Charlie’s eyes widened in disbelief. “You…you’re changing sides?” he asked quietly.
“Well, you know, blood is thicker than water,” she said with a smirk. All at once Charlie was hovering in midair, and then falling hard to the ground.
From behind Tori-Aimee came her sisters, arms outstretched, smug smiles matching. Charlie sat up blearily, clearing his head as fast as he could.
“Have you met my sisters?” Tori-Aimee asked, pointing to them.
“I haven’t had the pleasure,” he replied dazedly.
The Snowflakes stepped forward.
“You took our sister from us,” they hissed, walking over to him slowly across the gray floor of the basement laboratory.
“You left her,” Charlie fired back.
“We had to; the people at the asylum were going to kill us.” they answered coldly.
“I believe that place was run by your kind of people?” they asked, standing right at his feet.
Charlie bit his lip. “Yes.” he answered quietly.
“The heroes authorized torture at their asylums?!” Tori-Aimee asked incredulously. The crescent shaped scar on her arm throbbed, and she saw her sisters flinch involuntarily.
Charlie looked down at the floor. “We were trying to figure out how someone was born with super powers, how exactly it happened, and you were the only test subjects we had left. We were so close,” he said, sounding hopeful.
With a glare, the Snowflakes replied, “Our parents did that. That’s how we were born. They did it without hurting anyone.”
“Yeah. Care to explain?” Tori-Aimee added, adopting a glare as well.
“They were dangerous! We had to get rid of them somehow,” Charlie said.
It was as if the entire world halted on its axis and everything froze for a minute.
“You…your people killed our parents,” the Snowflakes breathed, looking horrified.
Charlie looked as horrified as they. “You didn’t know?” he asked.
“How could you?! What the hell kind of heroes are you people?!” Tori-Aimee yelled.
“Why did you kill them? What were they doing?!” the Snowflakes demanded to know.
“We didn’t know, but it was big and we thought it was dangerous. Do you know what they were doing up in their attic that day, by any chance?” Charlie asked.
Tori-Aimee cried out and tears began to stream down her face.
“It was her birthday!” one Snowflake said, pointing to her sister.
“They were making her a gift!” the other cried, her own face twisting into an expression of sadness.
Charlie’s eyes widened, and he looked tremendously guilty. “I’m sorry.”
“An apology won’t fix anything!” the Snowflakes yelled together before going over to their sister.
“It’s all m-my fault!” she sobbed, feeling awful, like she was unclean in some way.
“No, no, Aimee, hush. It wasn’t your fault,” one of the Snowflakes comforted her.
“It was theirs,” the other said venomously.
Tori-Aimee’s sobbing slowed and ceased. She straightened herself, pure fury alight in her eyes.
“You call yourselves heroes,” she said in a low voice. “You killed a couple making their daughter a birthday present. You sentenced three little girls to a life of torture at an asylum, testing for something that had already been accomplished. You created a false life for me, lying about everything and blocking my memories of my real family.
“And I only have one thing to say,” she said spitefully, “what the fuck is wrong with you?”
“It was a misunderstanding. We wanted to help you, we were trying to do what was best! We got you out of the asylum!” Charlie said, afraid of her anger.
“You put me in it! I was going to be rescued anyway!” she yelled back at him.
“Look, I know you’re feeling angry and hurt, but we can talk this out. Once we do, you’ll understand, and we’ll go home and be a happy family again, okay?” Charlie proposed.
“Who do you think I am?” she said softly, taking a step closer to him.
“You’re my niece, Torianne, even if not by blood. You’re a good person, you’re just upset. Someday you will be a great hero, and that someday begins today as you help me make the Villain Academy fall,” he said with a weak smile.
She shook her head.
“No. Never again. My name is Aimee, and I…”
She smirked. The smile faded from Charlie’s face.
“…I am a villain.” Aimee finished, her transformation complete. She began to laugh, cackle really, a laugh that was free of mirth and tainted with bloodlust and a liking for seeing others in pain.
“No, no, no! It can’t be! You’re not a villain, Torianne, you can’t be! You’re good, I know it!” Charlie said, getting up and reaching for her.
“I am. I chose to be. I know where my loyalties lie, and it’s not to you anymore,” she hissed, shoving him away from her.
“All my life I’ve tried to please you, my fake parents, and all the heroes. It was my goal to make you all happy with me because I believed my parents were great heroes. All my life I’ve been pressured to be like them; by you, by others, and by myself. But that desire, that dream, all came from the belief that they’re my parents, and that heroes always do the right thing. But now I know that both are complete and utter lies. You and the other heroes killed my real parents, you and the other heroes have done nothing good that I can tell. All you’ve done is lie, kill, steal, and torment. So I don’t want to be you anymore. My sisters…I know I can rely on them. Now that the memory block is undone, I can remember that they were always there for me, that they always had my best interests at heart. I will follow them. They’re my role models now, not you. And they say I’ll make a lovely villain,” Aimee said. The Snowflakes came up behind her and they all interlocked arms, with Aimee in the middle.
Something happened when they united like this; a weak, silvery white glow encased them, moving from Gemelle and Tamsyn and converging in Aimee. The light was gentle and Aimee felt a tingling in her very bones.
All of a sudden, she felt herself changing. She flashed back to the memory of being changed in the glass tube of the machine in her fake parents’ house. Only this time, the light was much less harsh and it felt good.
Aimee felt herself shrinking a bit; her clothes became a bit too loose. Her scalp was tingling as long white-blonde hair flowed down her back, reaching midway down her spine. She felt her facial features be molded and changed, and her face became more delicate, with a little nose and big eyes. The irises were changing, the tingling feeling spreading to them as well. Her mismatched eyes faded to identical shades of pale blue gray.
She saw her skin fade to a shade a bit paler than what it had been five minutes ago. The crescent shaped scar faded slightly as her skin lightened.
The tingling dissipated slowly, leaving her head first and her toes last.
“What happened?” Aimee asked. Her voice was different. It was more like the Snowflakes’, light, high, and melodic.
“You’re back to normal, darling Aimee,” they answered, unclasping their arms from hers.
“No,” Charlie breathed, staring at the little girl they had taken from the asylum all those years ago, grown up into a thirteen year old. Why couldn’t he stop this? They’d tried so hard over the years to make sure Torianne stayed how she was supposed to. He’d promised his sister Torianne would be her little girl forever. But now, she was a villain.
He knew he could get her back.
“Please…please don’t do this,” he pleaded, getting up slowly. He was sore from being thrown to the floor and from the heartache of all this. “I know who you really are. Torianne…”
“Don’t call me that!” Aimee screamed violently. “You’re too late! You’re just a liar and a faker and you don’t care, how could you if you lie to my face so easily?!”
He shook his head desperately. “No, it’s not like that, I was just doing what I thought was best!”
“You have no idea what’s best then,” she said, sounding as though she didn’t want to discuss this any further. She turned her back on him.
He shook his head. It was over. There was no hope for her anymore. She was too angry, she was hurting too badly to listen to reason.
“I didn’t want to have to do this, but you’ve left me no choice,” he said to her back. He reached into his other inside pocket and pulled out a distress signal, identical to the one he had given Torianne only a few minutes ago.
He clicked the red button. It emitted a loud beep. Aimee froze and spun around to see him with it.
“But…what?! You gave that to me!” she screeched, pulling out the distress signal he had given her.
“I had a spare,” he shrugged. “I had a feeling something would go wrong.”
The Snowflakes looked venomous and Aimee was furious. He tricked her. And there he was, saying she could trust him! She knew he was a liar.
Aimee yelled out in frustration and tackled him angrily. “Undo it! Now! Call it off!” she yelled in his face.
“I can’t,” he said coolly.
“You’re never leaving this place,” she whispered maliciously.
“You wouldn’t kill me,” he retorted, but deep down he wasn’t so sure.
“Oh, really?” she growled. She closed her eyes and focused intensely on the form of a steak knife, like the one in the kitchen of the home of her fake parents.
Slowly she began to melt, molding into a new shape. Charlie’s breath came fast; he was terrified and rooted to the spot.
Aimee’s form solidified into a bright, shining, multi-colored steak knife, gleaming in the harsh light of the basement. She knew she had to get her position just right.
For a moment the knife hovered there ominously. And then, with a glint of light off its blade, it fell to earth and met its mark.
Charlie gasped as blood spurted out all over from his throat. The knife stuck for a moment, and then began to melt again. Aimee was soon herself, stained with her false uncle’s blood in places. She got up and didn’t look back.
He stuttered and tried to breathe, finding it was becoming increasingly difficult. He reached out toward her departing ankle, hoping to grab on. He hoped she would turn back to him, feel compassion, and save his life; and if not, renounce the villainous ways she declared her allegiance to.
“T-T-Torianne…” he choked out, his fingertips just out of reach of her feet.
She turned back to face him as blood pooled around him, staining his face and clothes. She looked down at him without a flicker of empathy in her eyes. She was unapologetic. She had no compassion. She hated him.
“My name is Aimee,” was the only thing she said. She turned heel as he choked out his dying breath and finally lay still.
“There’s a team of heroes coming?” the Snowflakes asked. Their sister did not seem at all troubled by this turn of events: the fact that Charlie had called for backup.
“I doubt it,” Aimee said, examining the blood stains on her shirt. “There wasn’t much support for what I was doing here before. I’d be surprised if anyone showed up, and if they do, well, we’ll just introduce them to Rex.”
The three sisters left the basement lab. Someone else would pick up the body.
The Villain Academy had a tower, a very tall one, with an open air landing at the very top. The six villains all headed up there, watching the storm.
Angie, Altair, and Rune made it there first. The Snowflakes and Aimee came up fast behind. They all stared quizzically at Aimee’s blood stained shirt.
“Um, you got a little something on your shirt…and your arms…and stuff.” Altair pointed out awkwardly.
“Thanks for telling me,” Aimee said dryly. “I couldn’t tell.”
Everyone laughed. The storm rumbled above them.
“So, what do we do now?” Angie asked.
“Dunno. Enjoy the night sky, I suppose,” Rune said.
“Very vampire like,” the Snowflakes commented. Rune rolled his eyes. “Do you have any suggestions, then?” he asked.
“Oh, I dunno,” Altair said, lazily draping an arm over Angie’s shoulders. She rolled her eyes at him, but smiled as well.
“Oh my God, I knew it!” Aimee exclaimed, starting to laugh.
“What?” everyone asked, a bit weirded out by her sudden giggle fit.
“One day I was at lunch and I was thinking about how I hadn’t seen Altair or Angie all day, so my first thought was that they were together, and I was actually right!” Aimee explained, quieting her giggles a bit.
Altair and Angie gave each other a lovey dovey look and Aimee noticed a little flame lighting up on the tip of Angie’s finger. She thought it was rather sweet. Even though she had no empathy for her fake family, the people that had betrayed her, she wasn’t a complete monster.
“You know, Rune, there’s bunches I’d like to know about vampires,” Aimee said, leaving Angie and Altair in their own little world. “For example, do vampires glitter in sunlight?”
Rune snorted and rolled his eyes. “Cut back on the bad supernatural romance novels, please. Vampires and dhampyrs burn in sunlight. And mortals aren’t all that appealing, anyway, so you should all stop flattering yourselves.”
Aimee was thinking of another question when she heard a noise.
“Did you guys hear that?” she asked. Everyone stopped and listened.
The noise came again. It sounded like someone walking across the grounds. They all peered over the edge of the tower.
There was definitely someone there. Someone who had answered Charlie’s distress signal.
“You said no one would come!” the Snowflakes whispered to Aimee, turning to her.
“I didn’t think anyone would!” she whispered back, upset. She had been so sure all this was over.
“How do we know she’s still not a spy?” Angie said suspiciously, regarding Aimee through narrowed eyes. “Just because she’s your baby sister doesn’t mean she’s loyal to us.”
“Are you kidding me? I’m not a hero anymore, Angie!” Aimee said, her voice hushed but with a very obvious edge.
“Fighting won’t get us anywhere,” Rune said, coming between them. “We have a serious problem right now. Why are they here again?”
“Our sister’s false mother had a brother,” one Snowflake began, “and he activated a distress signal before we could stop him.” the other finished.
“Where is he now?” Altair asked.
“Dead,” the Snowflakes answered.
“Yeah, that explains the blood on my shirt,” Aimee said, examining the blood stains again.
Everyone flinched a bit, their imaginations running wild.
“The body’s still in the basement lab, and the hero’s going to find it soon enough. We have to make sure they never leave this place under any circumstances.” Aimee said, taking charge once again. “I need all of you; you know this place better than I do. So let’s go.”
The others nodded and they hurried down the spiral staircase in the tower, back to the basement lab.
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...
I am sooooooo dead, aren't I? Better get used to death in any event...
Quote of the Day: "PLEASE LEARN GRAMMAR."
~June
Mainly at Kyra's insistence, here's Chapter 14 of "The Villain Academy," yay! Yeah, I've become too lazy to link back to the last chapter. I'm tired. Watch someone get all offended.
Anyway, this chapter is one I fear will get me killed for. Even more than with the sinkage of the Tune ship. Not for the faint of heart, I was making faces writing a part of it. This chapter has mean deceptive puddles, a dead man walking, observations through broken windows, the commencement of an evil plan, better acting skills (unfortunately), the truth coming out, coarse language, transformations, a back-up plan, a scene that proves I watch way too many crime shows and zombie movies, a mainly useless little scene, and an unexpected visitor. Enjoy!
14. Blood, Blood, Gallons of the Stuff
Charlie was driving. The route to the Villain Academy was not an easy one, and he got lost all too frequently for his liking. Especially because he was so worried for Torianne.
He hoped she had managed to stay out of trouble. She said she would, and he hoped he could believe her.
Talking to himself, he said, “Well, she managed to keep herself undetected for two weeks now. What’s one more day?” He tried to reassure himself, but in the pit of his stomach, he had this feeling of trepidation, of worry, a feeling he couldn’t shake no matter what he did.
He couldn’t wait to get the both of them back home safe.
He had a distress signal in one of his inside pockets; he felt the bump it made in his jacket to reassurance. He hoped things wouldn’t get ugly. He hoped he wouldn’t have to use this thing. Maybe he ought to give it to Torianne, so she’d be safer. But then again, she could morph into something and hide; he couldn’t.
Charlie thought back at what Torianne had said before. She found a lab in the basement of the Villain Academy, she had said. He wondered where this place was. He wondered if she would be able to meet him on the grounds; he didn’t want to go wandering around the Villain Academy and jeopardize the mission.
The road was rocky and uneven as he remembered it. The car was old and loud, clanking over every pebble. When Charlie could see the ominous looking building, he pulled over, parked the car, and went to walk the rest of the way.
The walk was difficult. He was attacked by a swarm of bats, low-hanging tree limbs, and deceptively shallow looking puddles.
“Yuck.” he said, staring at his newly muddied shoes. “Stupid puddle.”
It was raining and lightning was flashing every few moments. It was not a good night for a walk. But Charlie had no choice. He couldn’t turn back. Not only did he have an obligation to all that was good and just in the world, but he had an obligation to Torianne, to his sister and brother-in-law. It was too late to turn back. If he wanted to turn back, he should have done so weeks ago and never sent Torianne to the Villain Academy in the first place.
More and more he was beginning to regret sending her on this mission.
Finally Charlie reached the gates of the Villain Academy. They could use a little oil and a good cleaning.
One gate was hanging open, swinging back and forth in the wind, creaking every time it moved an inch. He walked through the open gate to the front door.
The wind was violent, the rain was coming down fast, and Charlie looked around the dark night for Torianne. He wondered where they were going to meet.
Several floors above, five kid villains observed their visitor through the broken window. They had taken care of Truculent’s body. It had been thrown into a few dying bushes, but in the dark night to someone who wasn’t looking, it was as good as invisible.
Tori-Aimee watched her uncle, her fake uncle, that is, the man she had once loved so much. Now, as she watched him, all she could feel was a pulsing hatred. Everything he ever told her was a lie. He probably didn’t care at all about her. Why should he? She was no relative of his. He’d wiped her memory with so little empathy; how could he possibly care about her? He ignored her cries as a little girl, her cries for her real family, her sisters, and all her life since then he’d only played a part in keeping the lie.
The Villain Academy wasn’t going to fall. She wouldn’t let him do it.
“I’m ready,” she said, turning to her sisters. They nodded. “We’ll be waiting for you in the lab,” one said solemnly. “We love you, Aimee,” the other added.
She nodded, regarded the others with a look that really said nothing, and flipped up her hoodie over her head. She left the library with the others following. They took different paths, and she was left alone. She had to act like nothing was wrong. She had to act like she was still playing along to the lie, like she still thought he was her uncle and she loved him.
She made a face just thinking about it. It seemed impossible, but she had to do it.
Tori-Aimee (she still wasn’t sure who she was, but her inclination was toward Aimee) swung open one of the old front doors and went out into the pouring rain. She passed the bushes that concealed Truculent’s body across the lawn to her false uncle.
“Torianne!” he exclaimed, his face bursting into a smile.
Liar, she thought as she smiled back and rushed towards him.
“I’m so glad you came for me! This place is awful,” she said, sounding genuine. She was pleased with her acting skills.
“I’m going to get you out of here, I promise. Just show me the lab and I’ll be able to call in back-up.” Charlie paused a minute, then drew something out of one of his pockets. He handed her his distress signal. It looked like a pen, with a red button on one end of the thin silver tube.
She took it, hardly daring to believe her luck. This was getting far too easy. She took the distress signal and said, “Why are you giving me this?”
“Just in case. I want you to be safe,” he said, hugging her.
No, you don’t. You don’t care about me at all, she thought furiously as she hugged him back, fighting her urge to recoil.
“Come on, we have to be quick. I think they’re starting to suspect me, I’m not all that good at acting like a villain,” she said, beginning to lead him back to the front door.
The thunder rumbled, sounding as though the sky was shattering into pieces, broken by fiery white hot tongues of lightning.
She led Charlie through the hallways of the Villain Academy. She knew the way to the basement lab. She led him down the metallic stairs, past the archway, and said, “This is it.”
He looked around; it didn’t look like much. “This is it?” he asked.
“I didn’t get to explore, but there’s a door back there and I think that’s where the important stuff is,” she said, pointing to the door. She was standing behind him by the archway. He started to wander around until he was in the middle of the room. It was now or never.
Tori-Aimee narrowed her eyes, all her anger, fury, and feelings of betrayal manifesting themselves within her. All these years of lies, lies and more lies were coming to a close. No more, not anymore, she wouldn’t take it. She would never let herself be lied to again.
“I know the truth,” she said through gritted teeth, her hands clenching into fists.
He heard her. Oddly, she sounded angry. Charlie’s face contorted in confusion. He turned around to face her.
“What was that, Torianne?” he asked, puzzled.
“Don’t act like you don’t know! You were there! You did it!” she yelled at him, her face flushing with anger.
“What are you talking about?” Charlie asked. His mind flashed back to two weeks earlier, when Torianne described the two girls in her age bracket here. The twins, identical twins, with white blonde hair and big blue gray eyes.
No…it can’t possibly be…the odds are astronomical…there’s no chance! It can’t be! he thought.
“I am talking about my entire life being a lie! My name’s not Torianne, it’s Aimee! My parents aren’t superheroes, they were mad scientists and they’re dead! I’m not an only child, I have two sisters named Gemelle and Tamsyn! And all these years you kept it from me!” she screamed, taking a furious step closer to him. He recoiled.
“Torianne, please, you have to understand--!” Charlie began pleadingly.
“Understand what? That you blocked out my memories? I understand perfectly fine! My sisters were coming back for me, but no, your sister couldn’t have kids so she stole someone else’s!” she interrupted angrily.
“We wanted to save you! We wanted you to be a hero!” Charlie said indignantly. No one insulted his sister while he was around.
“Oh, yeah, it’s very heroic to lie to a child!” she scoffed, hands on hips.
“Look, Torianne, we have to discuss this later. We have villains to bring down, remember?” Charlie said.
“Oh no. The Academy won’t fall. I’ll make sure of that,” she replied coldly, crossing her arms.
Charlie’s eyes widened in disbelief. “You…you’re changing sides?” he asked quietly.
“Well, you know, blood is thicker than water,” she said with a smirk. All at once Charlie was hovering in midair, and then falling hard to the ground.
From behind Tori-Aimee came her sisters, arms outstretched, smug smiles matching. Charlie sat up blearily, clearing his head as fast as he could.
“Have you met my sisters?” Tori-Aimee asked, pointing to them.
“I haven’t had the pleasure,” he replied dazedly.
The Snowflakes stepped forward.
“You took our sister from us,” they hissed, walking over to him slowly across the gray floor of the basement laboratory.
“You left her,” Charlie fired back.
“We had to; the people at the asylum were going to kill us.” they answered coldly.
“I believe that place was run by your kind of people?” they asked, standing right at his feet.
Charlie bit his lip. “Yes.” he answered quietly.
“The heroes authorized torture at their asylums?!” Tori-Aimee asked incredulously. The crescent shaped scar on her arm throbbed, and she saw her sisters flinch involuntarily.
Charlie looked down at the floor. “We were trying to figure out how someone was born with super powers, how exactly it happened, and you were the only test subjects we had left. We were so close,” he said, sounding hopeful.
With a glare, the Snowflakes replied, “Our parents did that. That’s how we were born. They did it without hurting anyone.”
“Yeah. Care to explain?” Tori-Aimee added, adopting a glare as well.
“They were dangerous! We had to get rid of them somehow,” Charlie said.
It was as if the entire world halted on its axis and everything froze for a minute.
“You…your people killed our parents,” the Snowflakes breathed, looking horrified.
Charlie looked as horrified as they. “You didn’t know?” he asked.
“How could you?! What the hell kind of heroes are you people?!” Tori-Aimee yelled.
“Why did you kill them? What were they doing?!” the Snowflakes demanded to know.
“We didn’t know, but it was big and we thought it was dangerous. Do you know what they were doing up in their attic that day, by any chance?” Charlie asked.
Tori-Aimee cried out and tears began to stream down her face.
“It was her birthday!” one Snowflake said, pointing to her sister.
“They were making her a gift!” the other cried, her own face twisting into an expression of sadness.
Charlie’s eyes widened, and he looked tremendously guilty. “I’m sorry.”
“An apology won’t fix anything!” the Snowflakes yelled together before going over to their sister.
“It’s all m-my fault!” she sobbed, feeling awful, like she was unclean in some way.
“No, no, Aimee, hush. It wasn’t your fault,” one of the Snowflakes comforted her.
“It was theirs,” the other said venomously.
Tori-Aimee’s sobbing slowed and ceased. She straightened herself, pure fury alight in her eyes.
“You call yourselves heroes,” she said in a low voice. “You killed a couple making their daughter a birthday present. You sentenced three little girls to a life of torture at an asylum, testing for something that had already been accomplished. You created a false life for me, lying about everything and blocking my memories of my real family.
“And I only have one thing to say,” she said spitefully, “what the fuck is wrong with you?”
“It was a misunderstanding. We wanted to help you, we were trying to do what was best! We got you out of the asylum!” Charlie said, afraid of her anger.
“You put me in it! I was going to be rescued anyway!” she yelled back at him.
“Look, I know you’re feeling angry and hurt, but we can talk this out. Once we do, you’ll understand, and we’ll go home and be a happy family again, okay?” Charlie proposed.
“Who do you think I am?” she said softly, taking a step closer to him.
“You’re my niece, Torianne, even if not by blood. You’re a good person, you’re just upset. Someday you will be a great hero, and that someday begins today as you help me make the Villain Academy fall,” he said with a weak smile.
She shook her head.
“No. Never again. My name is Aimee, and I…”
She smirked. The smile faded from Charlie’s face.
“…I am a villain.” Aimee finished, her transformation complete. She began to laugh, cackle really, a laugh that was free of mirth and tainted with bloodlust and a liking for seeing others in pain.
“No, no, no! It can’t be! You’re not a villain, Torianne, you can’t be! You’re good, I know it!” Charlie said, getting up and reaching for her.
“I am. I chose to be. I know where my loyalties lie, and it’s not to you anymore,” she hissed, shoving him away from her.
“All my life I’ve tried to please you, my fake parents, and all the heroes. It was my goal to make you all happy with me because I believed my parents were great heroes. All my life I’ve been pressured to be like them; by you, by others, and by myself. But that desire, that dream, all came from the belief that they’re my parents, and that heroes always do the right thing. But now I know that both are complete and utter lies. You and the other heroes killed my real parents, you and the other heroes have done nothing good that I can tell. All you’ve done is lie, kill, steal, and torment. So I don’t want to be you anymore. My sisters…I know I can rely on them. Now that the memory block is undone, I can remember that they were always there for me, that they always had my best interests at heart. I will follow them. They’re my role models now, not you. And they say I’ll make a lovely villain,” Aimee said. The Snowflakes came up behind her and they all interlocked arms, with Aimee in the middle.
Something happened when they united like this; a weak, silvery white glow encased them, moving from Gemelle and Tamsyn and converging in Aimee. The light was gentle and Aimee felt a tingling in her very bones.
All of a sudden, she felt herself changing. She flashed back to the memory of being changed in the glass tube of the machine in her fake parents’ house. Only this time, the light was much less harsh and it felt good.
Aimee felt herself shrinking a bit; her clothes became a bit too loose. Her scalp was tingling as long white-blonde hair flowed down her back, reaching midway down her spine. She felt her facial features be molded and changed, and her face became more delicate, with a little nose and big eyes. The irises were changing, the tingling feeling spreading to them as well. Her mismatched eyes faded to identical shades of pale blue gray.
She saw her skin fade to a shade a bit paler than what it had been five minutes ago. The crescent shaped scar faded slightly as her skin lightened.
The tingling dissipated slowly, leaving her head first and her toes last.
“What happened?” Aimee asked. Her voice was different. It was more like the Snowflakes’, light, high, and melodic.
“You’re back to normal, darling Aimee,” they answered, unclasping their arms from hers.
“No,” Charlie breathed, staring at the little girl they had taken from the asylum all those years ago, grown up into a thirteen year old. Why couldn’t he stop this? They’d tried so hard over the years to make sure Torianne stayed how she was supposed to. He’d promised his sister Torianne would be her little girl forever. But now, she was a villain.
He knew he could get her back.
“Please…please don’t do this,” he pleaded, getting up slowly. He was sore from being thrown to the floor and from the heartache of all this. “I know who you really are. Torianne…”
“Don’t call me that!” Aimee screamed violently. “You’re too late! You’re just a liar and a faker and you don’t care, how could you if you lie to my face so easily?!”
He shook his head desperately. “No, it’s not like that, I was just doing what I thought was best!”
“You have no idea what’s best then,” she said, sounding as though she didn’t want to discuss this any further. She turned her back on him.
He shook his head. It was over. There was no hope for her anymore. She was too angry, she was hurting too badly to listen to reason.
“I didn’t want to have to do this, but you’ve left me no choice,” he said to her back. He reached into his other inside pocket and pulled out a distress signal, identical to the one he had given Torianne only a few minutes ago.
He clicked the red button. It emitted a loud beep. Aimee froze and spun around to see him with it.
“But…what?! You gave that to me!” she screeched, pulling out the distress signal he had given her.
“I had a spare,” he shrugged. “I had a feeling something would go wrong.”
The Snowflakes looked venomous and Aimee was furious. He tricked her. And there he was, saying she could trust him! She knew he was a liar.
Aimee yelled out in frustration and tackled him angrily. “Undo it! Now! Call it off!” she yelled in his face.
“I can’t,” he said coolly.
“You’re never leaving this place,” she whispered maliciously.
“You wouldn’t kill me,” he retorted, but deep down he wasn’t so sure.
“Oh, really?” she growled. She closed her eyes and focused intensely on the form of a steak knife, like the one in the kitchen of the home of her fake parents.
Slowly she began to melt, molding into a new shape. Charlie’s breath came fast; he was terrified and rooted to the spot.
Aimee’s form solidified into a bright, shining, multi-colored steak knife, gleaming in the harsh light of the basement. She knew she had to get her position just right.
For a moment the knife hovered there ominously. And then, with a glint of light off its blade, it fell to earth and met its mark.
Charlie gasped as blood spurted out all over from his throat. The knife stuck for a moment, and then began to melt again. Aimee was soon herself, stained with her false uncle’s blood in places. She got up and didn’t look back.
He stuttered and tried to breathe, finding it was becoming increasingly difficult. He reached out toward her departing ankle, hoping to grab on. He hoped she would turn back to him, feel compassion, and save his life; and if not, renounce the villainous ways she declared her allegiance to.
“T-T-Torianne…” he choked out, his fingertips just out of reach of her feet.
She turned back to face him as blood pooled around him, staining his face and clothes. She looked down at him without a flicker of empathy in her eyes. She was unapologetic. She had no compassion. She hated him.
“My name is Aimee,” was the only thing she said. She turned heel as he choked out his dying breath and finally lay still.
“There’s a team of heroes coming?” the Snowflakes asked. Their sister did not seem at all troubled by this turn of events: the fact that Charlie had called for backup.
“I doubt it,” Aimee said, examining the blood stains on her shirt. “There wasn’t much support for what I was doing here before. I’d be surprised if anyone showed up, and if they do, well, we’ll just introduce them to Rex.”
The three sisters left the basement lab. Someone else would pick up the body.
The Villain Academy had a tower, a very tall one, with an open air landing at the very top. The six villains all headed up there, watching the storm.
Angie, Altair, and Rune made it there first. The Snowflakes and Aimee came up fast behind. They all stared quizzically at Aimee’s blood stained shirt.
“Um, you got a little something on your shirt…and your arms…and stuff.” Altair pointed out awkwardly.
“Thanks for telling me,” Aimee said dryly. “I couldn’t tell.”
Everyone laughed. The storm rumbled above them.
“So, what do we do now?” Angie asked.
“Dunno. Enjoy the night sky, I suppose,” Rune said.
“Very vampire like,” the Snowflakes commented. Rune rolled his eyes. “Do you have any suggestions, then?” he asked.
“Oh, I dunno,” Altair said, lazily draping an arm over Angie’s shoulders. She rolled her eyes at him, but smiled as well.
“Oh my God, I knew it!” Aimee exclaimed, starting to laugh.
“What?” everyone asked, a bit weirded out by her sudden giggle fit.
“One day I was at lunch and I was thinking about how I hadn’t seen Altair or Angie all day, so my first thought was that they were together, and I was actually right!” Aimee explained, quieting her giggles a bit.
Altair and Angie gave each other a lovey dovey look and Aimee noticed a little flame lighting up on the tip of Angie’s finger. She thought it was rather sweet. Even though she had no empathy for her fake family, the people that had betrayed her, she wasn’t a complete monster.
“You know, Rune, there’s bunches I’d like to know about vampires,” Aimee said, leaving Angie and Altair in their own little world. “For example, do vampires glitter in sunlight?”
Rune snorted and rolled his eyes. “Cut back on the bad supernatural romance novels, please. Vampires and dhampyrs burn in sunlight. And mortals aren’t all that appealing, anyway, so you should all stop flattering yourselves.”
Aimee was thinking of another question when she heard a noise.
“Did you guys hear that?” she asked. Everyone stopped and listened.
The noise came again. It sounded like someone walking across the grounds. They all peered over the edge of the tower.
There was definitely someone there. Someone who had answered Charlie’s distress signal.
“You said no one would come!” the Snowflakes whispered to Aimee, turning to her.
“I didn’t think anyone would!” she whispered back, upset. She had been so sure all this was over.
“How do we know she’s still not a spy?” Angie said suspiciously, regarding Aimee through narrowed eyes. “Just because she’s your baby sister doesn’t mean she’s loyal to us.”
“Are you kidding me? I’m not a hero anymore, Angie!” Aimee said, her voice hushed but with a very obvious edge.
“Fighting won’t get us anywhere,” Rune said, coming between them. “We have a serious problem right now. Why are they here again?”
“Our sister’s false mother had a brother,” one Snowflake began, “and he activated a distress signal before we could stop him.” the other finished.
“Where is he now?” Altair asked.
“Dead,” the Snowflakes answered.
“Yeah, that explains the blood on my shirt,” Aimee said, examining the blood stains again.
Everyone flinched a bit, their imaginations running wild.
“The body’s still in the basement lab, and the hero’s going to find it soon enough. We have to make sure they never leave this place under any circumstances.” Aimee said, taking charge once again. “I need all of you; you know this place better than I do. So let’s go.”
The others nodded and they hurried down the spiral staircase in the tower, back to the basement lab.
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...
I am sooooooo dead, aren't I? Better get used to death in any event...
Quote of the Day: "PLEASE LEARN GRAMMAR."
~June