With Her Wrist I Tremble Ch 1
Myka turned toward her lover, pain etched on her face. “You are lying to yourself. You never wanted this. If you wanted to kill Pete and me, you would have done it in Warehouse 2 or in Paris and Artie, you would have let him die in Russia, but you didn’t.”
Helena gripped the trident so tight; her knuckles turned white and spoke through gritted teeth. “I needed you to trust me.”
“No.” Myka shook her head. “You needed us to stop you! You wanted us to follow you and stop you! That is why you called Pete this morning! Think Helena! You are so filled with grief and anger. There is a part of you, I know there is, some small part of your soul that knows that this is wrong and that part is still alive and.. and .. and it’s just pushing to get through. Yes. That’s the part that refuses to kill the very people who can stop you.”
Helena flinched as Myka approached her. “ No! Stay away from me!” She grabbed Myka’s wrist and held her away.
Myka twisted in Helena’s grasp and replaced it with cold steel. “Alright.” She took the gun, now in Helena’s hand and pointed it to her forehead. “If I am wrong, then kill me. Do it! Kill me now!” Myka seemed crazed and would not let Helena move her arm. “I mean we’re all gonna die anyway right, so what’s the difference. So shoot me! Shoot me now. Kill me. But not like that, not like a coward. I want you to look me in the eyes and take my life.” Myka’s voice was no more then a whisper when she spoke now. “Come on. Do it.”
Helena’s grip tightened around the trigger. For a second and only a second, she thought she could do it. She could take the life of beautiful, innocent Myka. She needed to be released from this world as well, but then Helena looked into Myka’s eyes and her composure melted.
“DO IT!” Myka just wanted it to be over with. One way or another, it just needed to be over.
Helena shrieked and fell to her knees; hiding her face from the person she hurt the most.
Chapter One
Myka’s eyes snapped open and her hand immediately went to her forehead. Even after a month of being away from the warehouse, she still felt the cool barrel of the gun seared against her skin. She ran her fingers through her frazzled hair and dangled her legs over the side of the bed. The cold night air formed goose bumps on her bare arms and legs. She wiped the sleep from her eyes and pushed herself off the bed. It did not matter that it is three in the morning, there was work to be done and she wouldn’t have been able to get back to sleep anyway, not with her nightmares. Always the same.
Myka glanced at herself in the mirror and saw herself withering away to nothing. Her eyes were blood shot from weeks of crying, but she was done with that. She told herself no more crying, no more sitting around in an apartment filled with boxes. She went to the first box and began unpacking, when a ping sounded on her computer. She sat down in the swivel chair and turned it on. An alert popped up on the screen. “Artifact disturbance.”
******
Olive had always wanted to be a superhero. She was just waiting for her Xavier to show up and take her away to the mutant academy. That was why, when a dark sedan pulled up beside her and a woman with dark curly brown hair said, “Come with me if you want to live,” Olive couldn’t help but think, this was her chance. Her heart sped up as the woman pulled her into the car and stomped on the accelerator.
“Who are you? Wha…” Olive was cut off by a loud ‘boom’ behind them. She looked back and her eyes grew wide. There was a huge crater indented in the Earth, where her house once stood. “What the fu….” The blast expanded and blew up from underneath the car sending it spinning and flipping across the road.
Olive screamed as the car shrieked across the pavement. She heard the crack of her head against the glass and felt the warm trickle of blood down her cheek. She saw the woman wrestle with the steering wheel trying to get control of the car and failing. Black dots appeared in Olive’s vision, that grew until she was finally unconscious.
******
Myka blinked the dust out of her eyes. She was upside down with her arms dangling towards the roof of the car. She looked over at her passenger, who had not had enough time to put on her seatbelt and was lying sprawled outside of the car. Myka reached up and unbuckled her seatbelt, forgetting to prepare herself for the sudden drop back to earth. She moaned into her hair and pushed herself up on all fours, crawling out of the window. Her exposed skin was covered in glass cuts and her lip was split down the middle. She had the metallic taste of blood in her mouth.
She slowly stood up and wobbled on her feet towards the girl she had rescued. She didn’t even know her name. If she still worked for the Warehouse she would have a full background, down to what she ate that morning. Her primitive tracking software only gave her the location of an artifact within 24 hours of its first use. Myka knelt down beside the girl and swept her dark red hair off her neck to check her pulse. Myka then whipped her head around, trying to see where the assailant went, but he was long gone, along with Marie Curie’s gloves.
Myka felt the girl’s steady pulse beneath her fingertips. She didn’t want to move her, the girl that reminded her so much of young Claudia, for fear that her spine was injured. Myka’s head snapped up at the sound of a car speeding down the road. She recognized that car; it was one she had ridden in many times before.
“Pete.” Myka got to her feet and ran as fast as she could into the trees.
The car swerved to a stop in front of the young girl. Pete and Claudia jumped from the car and checked on the girl. She saw Claudia dial 911. Tears welled in Myka’s eyes at the sight of her friends. She was so tempted to just reach out to them. Only a few steps forward and they would be able to see her. She knew Claudia would rush towards her and bury herself in her. Pete would wait for her to come to him and envelope her in a hug. So tempted, but then her mind strayed to why she ran away in the first place, Helena, and she held firm. She needed to stay away to protect them.
******
Myka left when the ambulance arrived. She was sure that the young girl would be well taken care of. She planned to check on her later. She made her way back to the motel and let herself into the tiny room. She walked to the bathroom and flicked the light on. After a few seconds the fluorescents blinked to life, showering Myka with a sickly, yellow light. She turned on the faucet and let the water sputter for a few seconds until the rust was washed out of the pipes. Splashing cool water on her face, she watched the blood and dirt circle down the drain. Carefully she tugged her black t-shirt over her head and was shocked at the state of her body. Her entire torso was covered in deep purple bruises. Her skin puckered where the glass had sliced through. The bleeding had stopped, but her whole body was throbbing in pain.
Myka slowly removed the rest of her clothing, staying aware of her many injuries. She got into the shower and allowed the boiling water to wash away the grit caked onto her skin. She sunk to the floor of the time-cracked tub and wrapped her arms around her knees, hugging them to her chest and cried. She didn’t realize it would be this hard to be alone.
******
The room was entirely dark, save for a light shining in the center of the room. There sat a woman, with long dark hair cascading around her face. Her hands were twisted behind her back, held by handcuffs. Her eyes were closed, awaiting judgment. She didn’t care anymore, she would take her punishment. She had hurt people, who she had thought of as family, who she had loved. Trying to end the pain had only caused more. She was trying to save them, that is what she had told herself, when she struck the ground with the Minoan Trident. Now she didn’t know what she believed.
“Helena.”
Her eyes snapped open and her gaze reached into the darkness for the person who had called her name. A man stepped into the light, she recognized him as Mr. Kosan, the man who made the decisions.
“So it is you, who is to decide my fate. Are you a god now?” Helena held her voice steady.
Mr. Kosan sneered. “No. I am just a man. A man with power.” He pulled a small pen out of his pocket and held it by a purple-gloved hand.
Helena smirked in recognition of the object. “Isn’t that how gods are formed?”
Helena gripped the trident so tight; her knuckles turned white and spoke through gritted teeth. “I needed you to trust me.”
“No.” Myka shook her head. “You needed us to stop you! You wanted us to follow you and stop you! That is why you called Pete this morning! Think Helena! You are so filled with grief and anger. There is a part of you, I know there is, some small part of your soul that knows that this is wrong and that part is still alive and.. and .. and it’s just pushing to get through. Yes. That’s the part that refuses to kill the very people who can stop you.”
Helena flinched as Myka approached her. “ No! Stay away from me!” She grabbed Myka’s wrist and held her away.
Myka twisted in Helena’s grasp and replaced it with cold steel. “Alright.” She took the gun, now in Helena’s hand and pointed it to her forehead. “If I am wrong, then kill me. Do it! Kill me now!” Myka seemed crazed and would not let Helena move her arm. “I mean we’re all gonna die anyway right, so what’s the difference. So shoot me! Shoot me now. Kill me. But not like that, not like a coward. I want you to look me in the eyes and take my life.” Myka’s voice was no more then a whisper when she spoke now. “Come on. Do it.”
Helena’s grip tightened around the trigger. For a second and only a second, she thought she could do it. She could take the life of beautiful, innocent Myka. She needed to be released from this world as well, but then Helena looked into Myka’s eyes and her composure melted.
“DO IT!” Myka just wanted it to be over with. One way or another, it just needed to be over.
Helena shrieked and fell to her knees; hiding her face from the person she hurt the most.
Chapter One
Myka’s eyes snapped open and her hand immediately went to her forehead. Even after a month of being away from the warehouse, she still felt the cool barrel of the gun seared against her skin. She ran her fingers through her frazzled hair and dangled her legs over the side of the bed. The cold night air formed goose bumps on her bare arms and legs. She wiped the sleep from her eyes and pushed herself off the bed. It did not matter that it is three in the morning, there was work to be done and she wouldn’t have been able to get back to sleep anyway, not with her nightmares. Always the same.
Myka glanced at herself in the mirror and saw herself withering away to nothing. Her eyes were blood shot from weeks of crying, but she was done with that. She told herself no more crying, no more sitting around in an apartment filled with boxes. She went to the first box and began unpacking, when a ping sounded on her computer. She sat down in the swivel chair and turned it on. An alert popped up on the screen. “Artifact disturbance.”
******
Olive had always wanted to be a superhero. She was just waiting for her Xavier to show up and take her away to the mutant academy. That was why, when a dark sedan pulled up beside her and a woman with dark curly brown hair said, “Come with me if you want to live,” Olive couldn’t help but think, this was her chance. Her heart sped up as the woman pulled her into the car and stomped on the accelerator.
“Who are you? Wha…” Olive was cut off by a loud ‘boom’ behind them. She looked back and her eyes grew wide. There was a huge crater indented in the Earth, where her house once stood. “What the fu….” The blast expanded and blew up from underneath the car sending it spinning and flipping across the road.
Olive screamed as the car shrieked across the pavement. She heard the crack of her head against the glass and felt the warm trickle of blood down her cheek. She saw the woman wrestle with the steering wheel trying to get control of the car and failing. Black dots appeared in Olive’s vision, that grew until she was finally unconscious.
******
Myka blinked the dust out of her eyes. She was upside down with her arms dangling towards the roof of the car. She looked over at her passenger, who had not had enough time to put on her seatbelt and was lying sprawled outside of the car. Myka reached up and unbuckled her seatbelt, forgetting to prepare herself for the sudden drop back to earth. She moaned into her hair and pushed herself up on all fours, crawling out of the window. Her exposed skin was covered in glass cuts and her lip was split down the middle. She had the metallic taste of blood in her mouth.
She slowly stood up and wobbled on her feet towards the girl she had rescued. She didn’t even know her name. If she still worked for the Warehouse she would have a full background, down to what she ate that morning. Her primitive tracking software only gave her the location of an artifact within 24 hours of its first use. Myka knelt down beside the girl and swept her dark red hair off her neck to check her pulse. Myka then whipped her head around, trying to see where the assailant went, but he was long gone, along with Marie Curie’s gloves.
Myka felt the girl’s steady pulse beneath her fingertips. She didn’t want to move her, the girl that reminded her so much of young Claudia, for fear that her spine was injured. Myka’s head snapped up at the sound of a car speeding down the road. She recognized that car; it was one she had ridden in many times before.
“Pete.” Myka got to her feet and ran as fast as she could into the trees.
The car swerved to a stop in front of the young girl. Pete and Claudia jumped from the car and checked on the girl. She saw Claudia dial 911. Tears welled in Myka’s eyes at the sight of her friends. She was so tempted to just reach out to them. Only a few steps forward and they would be able to see her. She knew Claudia would rush towards her and bury herself in her. Pete would wait for her to come to him and envelope her in a hug. So tempted, but then her mind strayed to why she ran away in the first place, Helena, and she held firm. She needed to stay away to protect them.
******
Myka left when the ambulance arrived. She was sure that the young girl would be well taken care of. She planned to check on her later. She made her way back to the motel and let herself into the tiny room. She walked to the bathroom and flicked the light on. After a few seconds the fluorescents blinked to life, showering Myka with a sickly, yellow light. She turned on the faucet and let the water sputter for a few seconds until the rust was washed out of the pipes. Splashing cool water on her face, she watched the blood and dirt circle down the drain. Carefully she tugged her black t-shirt over her head and was shocked at the state of her body. Her entire torso was covered in deep purple bruises. Her skin puckered where the glass had sliced through. The bleeding had stopped, but her whole body was throbbing in pain.
Myka slowly removed the rest of her clothing, staying aware of her many injuries. She got into the shower and allowed the boiling water to wash away the grit caked onto her skin. She sunk to the floor of the time-cracked tub and wrapped her arms around her knees, hugging them to her chest and cried. She didn’t realize it would be this hard to be alone.
******
The room was entirely dark, save for a light shining in the center of the room. There sat a woman, with long dark hair cascading around her face. Her hands were twisted behind her back, held by handcuffs. Her eyes were closed, awaiting judgment. She didn’t care anymore, she would take her punishment. She had hurt people, who she had thought of as family, who she had loved. Trying to end the pain had only caused more. She was trying to save them, that is what she had told herself, when she struck the ground with the Minoan Trident. Now she didn’t know what she believed.
“Helena.”
Her eyes snapped open and her gaze reached into the darkness for the person who had called her name. A man stepped into the light, she recognized him as Mr. Kosan, the man who made the decisions.
“So it is you, who is to decide my fate. Are you a god now?” Helena held her voice steady.
Mr. Kosan sneered. “No. I am just a man. A man with power.” He pulled a small pen out of his pocket and held it by a purple-gloved hand.
Helena smirked in recognition of the object. “Isn’t that how gods are formed?”