A. H. Wong

Back to the Beginning

 

June 21th, 2012

 

Early Morning

 

"Beatrix? You're fucking insane. Actually, no—you passed that. You're plain psycho, girl! What the fuck are you thinking by planning this? Do you actually intend for things to work out like this?" Veto snaps at her, his hands restlessly tossing a trio of stones up in the air. It had been a nervous habit he'd picked up ever since she showed him the newspaper articles, and finally told him her full story.

 

"I can't give up. I have to go back. I have to....I have to go back, Veto. I-I can't stay here like this," Beatrix rises to her feet, leaving him sitting cross-legged on her bed. She turns her back on him sharply, biting her lip so hard the skin tears. "I'm going back, and you're fucking coming with me."

 

"You're planning this, aren't you? You're just like Taylor was! Him and his master plan—the plan that got him killed. Don't you fucking see what this is going to lead to? If you go back there, they'll kill you on sight!"

 

She shudders suddenly at his outburst, and she turns back to face him. "No, they won't. I sincerely doubt that the Agency will be anything but abandoned when I get there."

 

He frowns at her, his mind becoming befuddled enough for the rocks to land, unheeded, upon his lap. He winces slightly, but he asks aloud nonetheless, "How do you know this?"

 

"The Plucked Feather Residents are killers, Veto. Just like me. I bet you fifty bucks that Master John's dead as we speak, and somebody's planning a hardcore breakout. And don't even bother mentioning all the Agency's defenses—we can get past them no problem. Taylor....Taylor always made sure we knew the secrets of the place, and nobody listened to him better than Sarah."

 

"Sarah? Who was she?"

 

"A friend. Never was close to her, but she was loud, and she was smart. Taylor spent some time working with her, and...."

 

"So, they were lovers?"

 

"No. They never saw each other that way. Taylor wasn't attracted to her—he saw her more as a tool than as anything else," Beatrix says, almost bitterly. "Almost like he viewed me. Or, at least, that's how I feel sometimes."

 

"Didn't he love you? Like, an absolute insane amount?" Veto rises to his feet, his movements slightly tensed. "You really told me that he loved you, Beatrix. Are you now saying that he used you?"

 

"What I'm saying is that Taylor was an incredibly intelligent man, and he made very intelligent choices. He also chose to love me greatly, and in doing so, wound up utilizing me as part of his plan. I have little doubt that his master plan, as you call it, would have been greatly based around him and I," Beatrix shakes her head quietly, not bothering to even look at Veto. "I just wish I could have seen what he intended. He never would have allowed any of this to happen."

 

"What did he even accomplish? Beatrix, I'm sorry—but all you seem to say about him was what he HOPED to do...."

 

"Veto, Master John would have gone insane with power long ago. Taylor provided him with an outlet for his intellect, and his cruelty—their games of manipulation and power kept the rest of the Agency safe. Elsewise...."

 

"Master John would have killed all of you sooner?"

 

"Yes."

 

<3 <3 <3 </3

 

Meanwhile

 

"Are you certain they will be there?"

 

"Oh, of course, my dear....Of course I'm completely certain. Why wouldn't they be there? If they have any of the brain power that we believe they do, then of course, they will be there. In fact, if Maverick, Janelle, and Beatrix aren't there already....I will be surprised."

 

"Why would you be surprised? It's not like they'd—"

 

"Be receiving the same communications that we are? Have the same amount of contact that we are? Well, of course, they are. Of course, of course they are....Maverick and Janelle are two of his best, as are we. Of course he'd want all of us to join up! Of course he'd want his precious Beatrix to come as well, because she is, after all....Hehehe, no, perhaps I won't say so easily."

 

"No, no....Please, Sir, please tell me. Tell me what's going on."

 

"Oh, you'll find out. Sarah does, after all, know the truth now...."

 

<3 <3 <3 </3

 

June 25th, 2012

 

Early Afternoon

 

The gun clicked in her hands, as she opened it expertly. She reloaded smoothly, knowing that her life relied upon the skill of her hands. Sarah stared down at the gun, thinking about all the work she had to go through to get it. Her memory flashed, going back to the paperwork, the begging, and the pleading. Her desperate conversations with Taylor, continually asking him for just this one gun, this one weapon of her own--she'd never felt safe there. Never, ever felt safe there. And, naturally, everyone went through massive searches every time they came back, so getting one through Taylor had been her only way.

 

If she had only....

 

No. She wasn't going to think about that. She wasn't...going to think about what might have happened if she had just gotten the gun out from storage back when it would have meant something. If she had....

 

If she had had the gun on her when Taylor started his revolution, if she had only not had so much faith in him, maybe things would have turned out differently?

 

Maybe things would have been better?

 

A hand landed upon her shoulder, triggering her tears. She knew without seeing that it was David who pressed up against her back, putting his arms tight around her. He nuzzled into her neck quietly, holding her against him. She sobs into his arms, and he helps her sit down onto the floor, still holding her against him.

 

A few moments later, their weeping embrace is interrupted. Darren appears, holding a butcher knife. As they had been unable to break into the weapons safe, they would be forced to do their breakout with makeshift weaponry. He smiles at them, tensed, before saying quietly, "We need to get going. They're waiting for us at the door."

 

Sarah nods, letting David haul her to her feet. Wiping her eyes, she stands up straight and tall, following them down the hallway.

 

They had spent too long inside. Too long waiting for a rescue that couldn't come. Too long dashing around outside, but being unable to find a way past the guards. They'd lost too many of their people already, and now, they were going to lose more.

 

Sarah looked at David one last time as they joined the rest at the front door. The survivors of the Agency for Unwanted Children numbered barely over a hundred and fifty, when they had begun at close to double that number.

 

Fighting back the tears, Sarah orders them to open the door.

 

Silent as ghosts, they escape into the night, splitting off into groups. They had found possible escape routes, holes in the guard's posts, and they would hit all of them at once. Maybe some would get out. Maybe some wouldn't.

 

But, they had no choice anymore. Even those not of the Plucked Feather residence had become hardened.

 

They had lost too many to make their own lives worth anything.

 

~

 

Meanwhile

 

"We have to get there faster. Sarah wouldn't have waited this long...."

 

"We won't get there until tomorrow, Beatrix. Please relax--I'm driving as fast as I can!"

 

~

 

Meanwhile

 

"Dammit, Sarah, that idiot! There's no way she's going to wait for us to get there, is she? That damned Master John probably never even told her we're alive...."

 

"We'll get there, Maverick. We'll get there."

 

~

 

Meanwhile

 

"Teehee....Looks like we're the only ones who got here on time, eh, sweetie?"

 

"Yes, Sir. Yes, it does."