Pretty Lies, Ugly Truth -- Part 2 || [self para]
There was screaming everywhere on the street as Eleanor continued on her roaring rampage of revenge, Veronica still huddled in a corner holding her dead aunt. Her head was pounding so intensely that it felt as if it would split open any second now. It really didn't help matters at all that she could feel her other side coming up to the surface, drawn to the terrified bystanders who desperately attempted to evade Eleanor's wrath. The girl was losing herself in the midst of the mass hysteria and no one could help her.
Wiping her eyes with her sleeve, Veronica attempted to stand up, but found herself overwhelmed by the headache, the world spinning around her. Within seconds she lost consciousness, still holding on to her aunt Lily's hand.
“You’re trying to bring order to those who do not wish to be opposed. Death is always an outcome, even if you do not mean or wish it to be. It will come. It always does.”
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Veronica's eyelids flickered open and she struggled to lift her head, the throbbing pain still present. Slowly, she took in her surroundings. She seemed to be in an unfamiliar house, lying on a cot. The hostile voice appeared to be coming from her right, and she turned gingerly, eyes seeking another figure. They instantly fell upon her aunt Eleanor whose bloodshot eyes met hers. She looked disheveled and exhausted, but that fierce determination in her green eyes still lingered.
"W-Where are we?" Veronica asked in a hoarse whisper.
"It doesn't matter where we are. What matters is that the owners are dead and this is where we'll be staying from now on." Eleanor replied briskly. Her hands, Veronica noticed, were bleeding and her shoes were stained with dirt. In her left hand she held a shovel. She had been digging a hole outside, Veronica presumed. But for what?
Gulping, Veronica rubbed her temple and sat up in the cot. "I'm so sorry, aunt Ellie--"
"Save it. And call me 'Ellie' one more time, and I'll rip your fucking throat out." Eleanor snapped, propping up the shovel against the wall. "We're going to do things my way now, Veronica. You want justice for superhumans? You're not going to get it. What you can get is total reign over the disgusting human race. A world where superhumans don't have to worry about getting killed for speaking their minds."
"H-How are we going to accomplish that?"
"It's simple. We put on a show, grab everyone's attention, make a statement. We kill them, Veronica. The humans. When there's enough bloodshed, anyone will listen."
"No," Veronica said sternly. "No. I promised no bloodshed, no death--"
"No death?" Eleanor asked in a shrill voice. She barked out a laugh. "Your aunt, my sister, was killed today, in case you hadn't noticed. There is no room for lenience with these people."
"NO!" Eleanor roared, sending objects to crash against the wall in fury. "They killed Lilith, Veronica! They took my son! They're the cause of everything that goes wrong for us. They must be eradicated, don't you understand?!" She slammed her fist against the wall and leaned on it, breathing heavily for a few minutes.
"...Your son?" Veronica asked quietly. She had never heard of either of her aunts having given birth. Then again, after Phoebe's accident, they hadn't kept in touch much.
Eleanor let out a strangled sob, still pressed to the wall. "...Two years ago I gave birth to a son. I suppose one of the nurses must've recognized me as a superhuman. I wasn't very discreet with my ability. ...When it was time to leave, he was nowhere to be found. The nurse had run off with him, presumably to save him from the 'horror' of growing up with a superhuman as a parent. I never...I never even got to name him."
She punched the wall again, and it was in that moment that Veronica realized why her aunt had become so cold, so bitter, so willing to join the cause against humans. She was a mother with a broken heart.
"The human race is despicable, Veronica. And don't let anyone else tell you any differently." Eleanor mumbled.
The pain and agony of having lost her aunt seemed to hit her in that instance as anger began fueling her thoughts. She had told Cain that there would be no killing on her behalf, no bloodshed. But circumstances had changed. She wouldn't allow anyone else to suffer the way she and Eleanor had.
There was going to be hell to pay.
