Chapter 7
The old end of a new beginning
The air felt heavier now. Thicker.
I swallowed hard. My voice came out small. Thanks... Hazel."
"(So I'm guessing this is what appreciation feels like. It feels so interesting. If I judge her response from the way I'm acting, maybe I can figure out if this is what it looks like to be normal.)"
Hazel rolled her eyes immediately, though there was a glint of wetness in them. "Don't mention it. Like seriously- like seriously I will shoot you."
I let out a shaky breath, half-laughing.
Selene
"Judging by your shooting from earlier, you would miss every shot with me standing still."
Hazel snorted. "Oh, shut up and just hurry up getting ready. We got a college to get to, and Ma's never been the patient type except when it comes to waiting for those weekly old black and white TV shows honestly never thought a blind woman would be so interested in TV until meeting the hag."
Hazel
"Anyway, let me help you pack."
Selene
"Right... thanks. Thanks for everything."
Hazel
snorts "Shut up and let's just pack before we get shot at again."
(Internal - Selene):
Well this is. I don't have to kill Hazel.
it's good nonetheless Because now... now I can confirm her loyalty for now. And I've learned how to imitate pain - how it affects everyday people, how others with close bonds react to it.
No matter how close I am with someone,
no matter how long I've known them-
they'll leave.
They always do.
So the only person I'll ever have-
the only one I know will never leave-
is myself.
Because I'm the only one cursed with the ability not to.
Just one step closer to security.
I don't know jack shit about this Eleanor Academy... or what Ma and Lilith are thinking. But no matter what it is, I'll make sure I survive.
No matter what happens.
Hazel
"Hello? HELLO!!! Earth to Ginger - are you even listening?"
Selene
blinks "Oh, my bad. I was just... thinking about something."
Hazel
"Yo, girly pop, quit spacing out. The ride's here!"
Selene
"Oh shit! Just grab everything in my room and throw it in the bag!"
Hazel stands up, her boots thudding across the floor as she strides to the closet. She opens it, revealing a small stash of grenades. Reaching for one, she says casually:
Hazel: "Honestly? That would take a bit too long... and we're out of time. So..."
She pulls the pin.
Selene
eyes widen "Hazel, you crazy BITCH!!!"
Hazel laughs like a maniac as she tackles Selene through the second-floor window. Glass shatters, wind rushes past their ears, and a second later-
BOOOOM!!!
The explosion engulfs Selene's room, tearing apart most of the top half of the orphanage. The shockwave launches them through the air, heat licking at their backs as they crash-land near the getaway car.
Before Hazel can recover, Selene scrambles up, throws the car door open, and slams it shut behind her.
Hazel: grinning, dazed "Oooo, Selene~ I didn't know you could be so rough."
Selene ignores her, eyes on the driver.
Selene
"Step on it. Otherwise, we're gonna have to deal with an extremely pissed off old witch."
As the car revs and speeds off, Selene glances back at the smoldering orphanage.
Just then-
CRACK!
A bullet punches through the rear window.
She instinctively grabs Hazel's head and shoves them both down.
Selene
"你们现在完蛋了,你们这些王八蛋!"
(You motherfuckers done it now!)
Hazel: giggles "Aww, Ma came to wish us a peaceful goodbye. Maybe she wasn't all that bad. What do you think, Selene?"
Selene: "Get the hell out of here, driver!!!"
The tires squeal as the car accelerates.
But Ma wasn't finished.
Despite her age - and her blindness - she somehow pulls out a goddamn RPG and levels it at the car.
Ma: screaming from the wreckage "Ooooh girls, I have a surprise for you!!!"
Hazel
"Damn, where does she even pull that shit from?"
Selene
"Her ass, probably."
The rocket hisses toward them, slicing through the air. Hazel and Selene duck, bracing for the end.
But instead of blowing them sky-high...
...it deconstructs mid-air.
In a flash of light and swirling parts, it reshapes into a medium-sized box, which clunks harmlessly through the open window and lands directly in Hazel's lap.
Back at the orphanage, Ma - blind, tired, and standing amidst the rubble - still manages to sense the car disappearing down the road.
She doesn't chase.
She just smiles to herself, shaking her head.
Ma
softly, with a smirk "Jesus Christ, those girls were such a pain... thank God they're gone. Out of my sight... well... ears."
She exhales deeply, tapping her cane as she turns toward the smoke-stained children behind her.
Ma: whispers to herself "Wǒ huì xiǎng tāmen de..."
(I'll miss them...)
She sighs.
Then lifts her chin and barks toward the remaining kids:
Ma
"Put out the fire! Go to Home Depot, help rebuild! And someone get me a drink while you're at it! Today, we celebrate - the demons of this orphanage are GONE!"
The kids cheer in unison.
Francesca is the only one not celebrating.
She steps forward right into Ma's path chin lifted, eyes locked on hers.
Her hands move.
A sharp cut of the palm as if slicing something in half.
A jab toward the smoldering ruins behind them.
Brows knotted, shoulders thrown forward You're really letting them walk away?
Another motion follows, quicker, angrier.
A finger to her own chest, then to the surrounding kids, then a sweeping gesture across her neck.
If it were any of us, we'd be dead right now. Hunted. No mercy.
She doesn't stop.
Her hand flicks dismissively toward Hazel across the room.
Then she taps her own temple twice, incredulous.
College? That's your plan? For them? For someone who doesn't even belong here?
Ma's eyes narrow.
Francesca steps closer.
She taps two fingers against her palm the sign she uses for numbers then curls her hand downward like dragging something into mud.
Seventeen percent missing. Funding gone.
Her shoulders roll back, head tilting with vicious clarity.
A slow, exaggerated blink, the kind she uses when she's calling someone out.
Did you really embezzle money for her? For that psycho?
Then a final gesture:
A trembling hand held up like a mirror, then turned away.
Your favorites are blinding you. More than age ever did.
The room falls silent.
Ma breathes in, once, steady.
Francesca
You got some balls pressing me after my building got blown up by those idiots.
I respect that. And you do a lot for these kids, so I'll tell you what
I will give Selene and Hazel the proper punishment and hunt them down…
Under one condition.
Francesca responds by snapping her fingers and throwing a rapid motion three times.
Ma
"Okay then. All you have to do is speak, and justice will be served."
Francesca
…
She pauses, eyes narrowing.
One swift, cutting motion follows an unspeakable insult.
Not only Ma, but all the other kids stop in unison.
A chorus of gasps and shocked yelling erupts the moment they see Francesca make that sign.
All the orphans (in unison)
"Oh NAHHHHHH!!!!!"
Ma
"我的天哪…"
("My heavens…")
"I can't even say the mouth on this one—because she doesn't use it—yet so much filth still comes out of it even in silence. Go on. Walk or something. Cool your head."
Francesca huffs her chest as she marches away from the burning orphanage.
Francesca's concern is blocked out as Ma returns to her scorched rocking chair. The camera pulls back... smoke curling into the sky, the sounds of celebration echoing in the distance should take 3 or 5 days before those girls can get there Ma thoughts herself Good luck to whoever at that damn school got to deal with them.