16) Forever

The gang goes shopping. We learn more of Artemis' past.

16) Forever

We peek around the door. The Satuska soldiers are still in the room opposite, they’ve left the door open. I see a man sat on a bed holding a women’s hand, the others stood around chatting.

We slip through the door, trying to be as silent as possible, whilst also trying to not make it obvious.
"Hey there baby." A voice says, at first I think he's talking to me, "Hey, im talking to you." A hand grabs Blue's shoulder, the hand, and the person connected to it go flying down the corridor. I look behind us.
"How come as soon as you put a blonde wig on, men think you're theirs? Like the hell?" She shouts pulling off the wig. The man’s friends stare at us in confusion. The Satuska soldiers poke their heads through the door to check on the commotion. They look at the men,
"Run along." One of them says brandishing a gun. The men hurriedly obey the gun wielding man. The officers turn to us. Blue has somehow managed to get her wig back on. "What happened?" The one with the gun says.
"He grabbed me, so I fought back." Blue says shielding her voice by putting on a perfect Scottish accent.
"Alright, you're free to go, don't worry, we don't care, guy was probably an a*s." He glances at the body on the floor, "Jeez, where'd you learn to fight?"
"School." Blue says swirling around.
We burst through the front doors.
"Holy hell." Blue shouts to the sky. "How did that work?" She laughs.
"I don't know, but let’s not hang around."

Getting a taxi in the middle of Santa Monica during rush hour isn’t as hard as I thought it would be. "Dumb asses." Blue giggles, as we turtle our way through traffic “I cannot believe that just happened." She pulls the wig off and throws it on the floor.  
"You just killed a person! Can you not seem so happy about it?" Dante yells. Silencing Blue.
"What's next?" I say, breaking the silence.
"I don't know." Blue says.
"Me neither." Dante says meekly, "Home I guess."
"Let's go shopping first." Blue exclaims. Dante looks back at us.
"Aren't you wanted by some International Task Force?"
"Yeah, so? What they gonna do? Attack us in the middle of a public area and draw attention to the fact that they're operating on allied territory? I think not."
"But, they have, twice before."
"Yes. But not in a public space where there'll be thousands of witnesses."
"Alright. Shopping it is." Dante exhales, he clearly isn't happy with this prospect.

Shopping. It’s one of my most hated things. That and chicken, f**k chicken. However, the prospect of shopping, and finally being able to get new clothes, appeals to me. Blue on the other hand is more than ecstatic at the idea of shopping. Dante is less than pleased.

We stop and start our way through rush hour; by the time we arrive at the shopping precinct, we had left the care home almost an hour ago.
"Why don't you get a new beanie?" I ask Blue, "That one looks like it's a hundred years old."
"No." Blue says bluntly giving me a death stare. "I need to get my hair done. The blue's fading."
"I need new clothes." I look at Dante; he doesn’t say anything, he’s probably pissed that me and Blue are so happy about shopping after killing a person.

Blue leads the way through the maze of stores, she gawps at everything, it’s almost like she’s never been shopping before. She spots a hairdressers at the end of the maze, she paints that as the end destination. We follow her into stores; she picks out an electric blue hoodie, and beams as she tries it on. She looks at me, "Still got that coin?"
"Yes." I reply, pulling out the gold coin with chunks missing.
"Sound."

When we reach the checkout, Dante has new jeans, shoes, and a handful of t-shirts, Blue has picked out the electric blue hoodie, new ripped jeans, a watch and new shoes. I’ve picked out a plain hoodie, and jeans. We plop the lot on the checkout, and the clerk looks at us. I wonder what he looks like to Dante, but to me, and to Blue, it’s a green scaled creature with pointy ears.
"A goblin." Blue whispers to me.
"Cash or card?" The clerk asks.
"Coin." Blue says handing over the gold coin. The clerk looks at is, then at us. A genuine smile appears on his face,
"Always glad to serve fellow community members." He beams. He takes a chunk from the coin; it doesn't even make a dent. "Stay safe out there, lots of Satuska."
"Thank you. You too." Blue says happily. She slips out of her hoodie and puts on the new one. "Oh my God, it's so soft." She coos.

We reach the hairdressers.
"How do we know if it takes coin?" I ask.
"Here." Blue says pointing to a tiny carving on the doorframe, barley noticeable, "It's always in the top right corner, if it accepts coin. Always. If it aint in the top corner, it's a trap."
"They must have picked up on that."
"Nope." Blue laughs. Dante seems utterly confused. Two days ago, it was just him and I, and neither of us knew what was going on, but now, it’s me and a new girl, both of whom seem to know what is going on, and have decided not to tell him. He’s not pleased about the arrival of Blue. "I dunno how long this'll take." Blue says.

Blue goes up to the counter and starts talking. Dante and I sit down on a couch.
"Sorry about Blue and stuff."
"What?"
"You know the part where you don't understand anything that's happening."
"Yeah, thanks, I would love to know."
"What do you want to know?"
"What is Satuska. What the hell is 'coin'. What was that clerk saying. What was that little picture on the door. And who the hell is Blue."
"Right."
"Arty." Blue says, I barely get a chance to look up before she's throwing her beanie at me, "Don't lose it."
I turn back to Dante, "Satuska is some sort of mega-cooperation that has a Task Force dedicated to hunting down monsters. Coin is this." I pull out the gold coin, "It's what the monster community uses as currency, the buyer hands it over, and the seller takes a chunk that represents the price. The clerk was a goblin, who told us to be safe. The picture on the door was sign saying that this shop takes coin." I look at him; he seems to be following. "Blue is... well... I don't really know, she's been following us for a while. I first saw her in the mall... and then at the cafe... then at a truck stop after The Bus."
"So, she's a stranger?"
"Yeah. But she knows about everything, from the mall, to the gods, to whatever I am."
"What do you mean, whatever you are?"
"Basically, I’m apparently not exactly human, but no one will tell me what I am.” I explain. Dante let's out a sigh.
"You aren't even joking are you?"
"No."
"Twenty-one months ago, I was normal fourteen-year old, then I was blown up. We were in a coma for two years. Then we go from New York to Missouri just by walking through a door. Blue appears killing a women and a man. Then we're arrested, then… some people attack, then we board a magic f*****g bus, then armed men attack. Then Ben dies of old age, and now we're here. And while all that's going on, people are dying all around us. And you don't seem to care, and neither does Blue."
"Yeah, I know it's a lot, and it's rather insane, hell, some days I still think im in a coma." One thing I have noticed, is that since Blue appeared, The Shadow People have been less prominent, almost as if they're hiding.
"Man. My life's screwed."
"Hey, at least im in it." I say smiling at him. He smiles weakly back. I lean my head against his shoulder.

Blue appears at the door. Her hair clean and freshly dyed. The black now blacker than ever and the blue matches her hoodie
"All done." She says smiling. "Pass us my hat. And the coin." She beams. I throw the hat and the coin at her. "Thanks a bunch."

Thirty seconds later Blue returns, she throws a bag at me. "This is from the hairdresser. When she saw the coin she was surprised as all balls, she thought we were just normal kids. Then she gave me this to give to you. Something about something. I don't remember." She shakes her head.
"What is it?" I say producing a small bottle from the bag.
"I don't know. Try it." She shrugs. I take the lid off and smell it; it doesn't smell like anything, I take a swig. Doesn't taste like anything. I pour a drop onto my hand. Doesn't feel like anything. "Well?" She says.
"I dunno, it doesn't seem to be anything."
"Has to. Community members don't just go around giving out bottles of water."
"You try." I throw the bottle at her. "Didn't you use any?" She asks.
"Of course I did."
"Well the bottles full."
"What."
"See for yourself." She throws the bottle back. She’s right, the bottle is once again full. I take the lid off and tip the bottle; I let the water cascade to the floor. And right before my eyes, the bottle refills itself. Blue gasps, "You got yourself a magic water bottle." She mocks amazement.
"Brill, just what I wanted."
"You bathe in it, idiots." A voice shouts from across the maze. All three of us turn to face it. A... a something, was across the way looking at us. "Bathe!" He yells again.
"Goddamn Elves. Prolly right though.” Blue says,
"He looks like a normal human." Dante mutters.

By the time, we get back to Shellie’s it's already gone nine o'clock.

Shellie is in the kitchen cooking, "Welcome back. Curry okay?"
"Yeah that’s good!" We all shout back in unison.
"Shoes." Dante says. We slip our shoes off. We crash down onto the couch in the lounge. Dante flips on the TV.
"Aye, put the News on." Blue orders. Dante flips it over to the News. A reporter sits behind a desk, something about Paris.
"Tragic that." Shellie says from the kitchen, "All of those lives. Gone." Her voice full of sympathy.
"fourteen days ago Paris was caught by an unprecedented explosion, levelling the entire city. No organisation has yet to claim responsibility." The reporter says.
"That's depressing." Blue says. Dante goes to change the channel, "Nah, stay on it." Blue says, I just look at Dante and shrug.
"Two months ago the small tourist attraction of Parlor Falls was rocked by a tragic event, every child disappeared." The words have no effect on me. I hear them. I understand them. But they don't make any sense. Parlor? On the main News? Every child? What. Blue looks at me. The reporter keeps speaking, "As of today, there has been no News on the location of these children." Max and James. Oh God.
"I'm going for a bath." I say standing.
"Use the magic water." Blue says quickly.

I stare at the bath. The bottle in my hand. I unscrew the cap. I tip the bottle over the bath. The water flows, and keeps flowing. By the time the bottle should have become empty for the sixth time, I’m amazed. A bottle of water has just filled a bath with warm water. I slip into it. The water laps over my shoulders. It drags me down.

I walk down the road. The Shadow People are near me, like always. Something feels wrong though. I don’t know what. Just something’s off. I glance at The Shadow People, they don’t react, they never do. I keep walking. I reach the shop. A voice rings through my head. It shatters all thoughts I had. It tears its way through my skull, it claws at my chest, at my heart, at my brain. “Chloe!” It screams. Over and over and over again. I fill with a sense of dread. I turn and run. I sprint across the road, cars honk at me as they brake to avoid me. The Shadow People run beside me. We hurdle a fence, landing softly in the grass. We dash across the pitch, a group of kids yelling at us for interrupting their game of football. “Chloe!” The voice perforates my heart. I see her house at the end of the street. “Chloe!” The voice keeps yelling, “Chloe! Chloe! Chloe! Chloe! Chloe! Chloe! Chloe!” Over. And over. And over. And over. I burst through the front door, no one yells at me to stop. I crash up the stairs. “Chloe!” The voice screams, it reverberates all around my head. I slam into her bedroom door,
“Chloe!” I scream.

The tears stream down my face, they splash against the water. I sit there, neck deep in the bath, with tears streaming down my face. I can't feel anything. I'm numb all over. I watch as the water ripples with every tear.

I slip into my new clothes. I can't feel anything. I watch the water spiral down the drain.

I stumble down the stairs. The News is still on. Dante and Blue look at me. I only catch a glimpse of what’s on TV. A picture of me, Dante, Ben, and Blue. The reporter speaks, "Be on high alert for these four individuals, they are to be considered armed and dangerous. Any sighting of any of these four are to be reported immediately. They are armed and dangerous. Avoid at all costs." As the reporter says this, the front door comes crashing in. An armoured man, flanked by more men, bursts in. I don't even get a chance to react.
"On the floor!" The man screams aiming the gun at me. In one fluid motion, Blue leaps over the chair and slides across the floor, slamming into the doorframe, she raises a hand and five bolts of lightning leap from her fingers, striking each of the men in their chests; they fly backwards. The one with the gun flies through the open door and smashes into another group of men.
"Run Artemis Run!" Blue yells as a bullet smashes into the wall above my head. I turn and face the men. "Artemis run!" She orders. I ignore her. The men stare at me; the colour drains from the faces. "Code White." I hear Blue whisper. Something slashes the men, tearing chunks from them, they fly against the wall with such force they go through it. Solid brick tumbles down onto their bodies. The rest of soldiers outside are knocked aside like bowling pins. They scream as one, and then they too are dead. Shellie screams, as a soldier appears at the kitchens French windows, he aims the gun at me, pulls the trigger. The bullet explodes from the gun. Shellie screams louder. The bullet smashes into her head. Knocking her flying. Blue points at the man and electricity crackles from her fingers, easing its way through the bullet hole and striking the man in the chest. He's dead before he hits the floor. The men at the front scream, guns go off. But they don’t stand a chance.

Within minutes of the raid, every single officer who had been involved is dead. Fried or brutally torn apart. The smell’s a mix of acidic, copper, and of Curry. Blue stares at her hoodie.
"I got blood on it." She squeals in disgust, "It'll take forever to come out." She looks down at the blood sprayed over her jumper, "Man. This was new as well!" She yells kicking a body, sending it sliding across the floor, leaving a trail of blood. She kneels down next to the corpse, "Not Satuska. They weren't prepared enough. And these guns? What are these?" She asks holding up a small gun. Dante appears in the door, his face sickly green; he looks at Blue holding the gun in thumb and forefinger. "Like what? Look's like a paintball gun." She says tossing it aside. The gun connects with the wall, and a shower of bullets leap from the barrel. "Cool." She whispers, picking up the gun again.
"Why do you need a gun?" I ask. The blood lapping at my shoes.
"I don't. But Dante needs something." She tosses the gun towards Dante. His face goes from green to white as the gun sails across the corridor. He catches it gingerly and almost drops it in his attempt not to hit the trigger.
"What about me?" I query. Blue just looks at me with that 'You can't be so naive' face. I stare at her. Crouched down surrounded by bodies and blood. She pokes another body with her foot. The corpse moans.
"We got a live one!" She shouts putting on a Texan accent. "Help me move him." She orders.
"Why?"
"Gotta know who they're working for. Unless you'd like me to just execute him?" She shoots me her best innocent eyes. "Better be quick though. Some bad stuffs coming."
"Bad?" Dante meekly asks.
"Satuska bad. They'll be here in five - ten minutes. Maybe three if we're lucky." She grabs the guy by the armpits, "Get his feet." She smiles. She clearly enjoys all the death. I grab the guys feet. We heave. The guy most weigh over ninety kilos with all the armour on. We manage to prop him against a wall. "Look at the good all that armour did." Blue kicks the guys legs. "Bloody useless don't'ya think? So, why don't you tell us who you're working for and maybe I’ll decide to save your life so you can go back to living." She stares at the guy, who gurgles in response. "What was that? Sorry can't hear ya." She kicks the guy in the ribs. "Who sent you?" A spray of blood splatters against Blue's jumper. She steps on the guys torn leg. "Who do you work for? Tell me and I’ll let you walk."
"I'm dead anyway." The guy struggles through blood soaked teeth. Blue shoots a spark onto him. The spark travels to the guys chest, duplicating itself, and then knitting the gashes together.
"Feeling better? Maybe if you would just tell me, you could walk out of here with your life." Blue glowers at him. The man looks amazed. Colour seeps back into his face. He looks down at where the cuts were.
"Who are you?" He asks, blood dribbling out his mouth.
"I ask the questions." Blue kicks him the ribs again. "Who the f**k do you work for?"
"L.A police department." The guy has decided to play ball now that he knows he could actually walk away from this.
"Kidding me?" Blue asks. The guy wasn't sure if this was a statement or a question. Blue kicks him the stomach. "Kidding me?" She asks again.
"No! We got a tip that you three had been spotted here." The man manages through gasps. I look at where Dante is. He sees me looking and walks into the kitchen. I spin on my axis, leaning on the doorframe. I watch as he crouches down next to his Aunt.
"I'm sorry." He whispers. I turn back around a face Blue and her unfortunate hostage.
"And y'all just decided to storm a house in full combat gear to arrest three teens?" Blue clearly doesn’t believe this.
"Yes! We were told you were dangerous. But we never expected this." He looks at the men littering the door.
"I believe you." Blue says. As she says this a pair of headlights appear in front of the house.
"Step out with your hands up." An amplified voice shouts.
"Well. We gotta skedaddle." She rips the handgun from the man’s leg holster, deftly tossing it to me. She sends more sparks flying towards the man, "Run along now. We got a date with the devil." She smiles. She turns to me. "Go on then, up the stairs." We reach the second floor just as armoured men swarm the front door. They surge through the ground floor.
"Clear." A chorus of voices shout. A man swaggers in through the door.
"Help me up." The police offers says stretching out his arms. The man looks at him. He points a sawn-off shotgun at the guys knees, and pulls the trigger. The officer screams as parts of his knees and legs splatter across the corridor. At that range, the bullets tore straight through the knee, completely severing it from the thigh.
"Where’d they go?" The man asks. "Answer, and I’ll call an ambulance."
"Up!" The policeman screams through the pain. The man points the gun at the mans head and shoots. Brains splatter everything. Where there was once a head, is now nothing more than a stump of a neck. The man gestures, 'up', with his head. The armed men swarm up the stairs towards us.
"Well damn." Blue says casually. I stare at her. "Lez go." She says standing. Dante and I have no other choice but to follow. "You said there was a pool?"
"Outback." Dante struggles.
"Left, right?" Blue shouts.
"Left." Dante gasps. The sound of twenty boots on marble stairs sounds like a small army. We follow Blue through a door and to the window.
"Fancy a dip?" Blue asks throwing open the windows. She climbs the rail, and jumps. She lands ungracefully in the pool, sending water everywhere. Dante looks at me. His face ghostly white. Then he too jumps. I look behind me. I see the shapes of men storming across the landing towards me. I jump.

The fall isn’t very far. And it’s over within a second. But still, falling from the second floor, maybe thirty meters up, into a pool, with no previous experience, is not advised. I smack into the water. A bullet smashes into the pool nanoseconds after me. It whizzes past my head and smashes into the side. A hailstorm of bullets follow. After a second, the bullets stop. I kick off the floor and glide towards the side. I grab the edge and heave myself out. I stare out towards the beach. I see Blue jumping up and down on the sand. A bullet hits the sand next to her, sending her leaping into the sky. She looks at the sand, then at the soldier that had shot. She flips him off. Another bullet smashes into the ground, barely a centimetre from her toes. She yelps, and sends a bolt of lightning towards the window. It thunders into the soldier, exploding, setting everything in a five-metre radius on fire. The man screams as he tumbles over the railing and collides with the concrete ground, less than a metre from the pool, where he would have been fine. I sprint across the slippery tiles towards the beach. A bullet hits the wooden steps between my legs, sending a shower of splinters up my legs. Another one hits the flower to my right, sending soil flying. Within seconds, bullets are raining down towards me; they hit everything around me.
"You must have some good bloody luck charm or something shoved up your a*s." Blue yelps as I reach her. "Poor sods can't shoot."
"Where's Dante?" I gasp.
"That way." She says pointing along the stretch of beach.
"Let's go then."
"Nah. I wanna watch this." Blue giggles. I look at her. This girl stood beside me, is a straight up psychopath. I look towards the house, wondering what she had done. I needn't wonder long. A group of soldiers run towards the pool. But as soon as they place one toe on the soaking floor, they shiver and shake, frozen in place. Then they collapse onto the floor in violent spasms. "Daft." Blue laughs as soldiers are electrocuted. The men, who hadn't set foot on the ground, stare at their friends as they spasm. "And, what's more?" Blue asks, pulling a small remote from her pocket. "Surprise." She yells flipping a switch. The shockwave smashes into me. It picks me up and launches me towards the sea. I hit the ground, hard. My vision blurs, I watch as Blue lands next to me. She smacks into the ground beside me. I hear several things snap. The house until recently had belonged to Shellie Smith, is now a giant fireball. Trees on all sides are engulfed in flames. The sound of sirens in the distance penetrate the sound of the fire and the sea. It sounds almost peaceful. The sound of the crackling fire. The water lapping at my head. The sound the waves make as they crash into the beach.

I stare at Chloe. She really is beautiful. I’ve only just started to realise just how beautiful she is. Her hair flaps in the wind, making her look like one of those models in a perfume ad.
"Jeez man, never seen a girl before?" Max asks kicking sand at me.
"What?" I stammer. I tear my eyes from Chloe and look at the shaved head looking at me.
"I can basically see the drool hanging out your mouth from here."
"What drool?" I ask, lifting my arm to wipe it away. But in doing so, I’ve also removed the only thing supporting me. My head smacks into the sand.
"You f*****g wanker." James roars. Chloe turns around a looks at us.
"What's so funny?" She asks confused by James' sudden outburst.
"Nothing." Max, James, Ellie and I say in unison. I watch as she turns back around and her t-shirt drops to the floor. A handful of sand smacks into my face.
"Look away perv." Ellie hisses. I do as she says, even though Chloe is my best friend, and had recently become quite hot, I had no intentions of seeing her topless.
"You know I have bikini on under this right Arty?" Chloe giggles. Ellie bursts into laughter, James howls even louder. "And it wouldn't be the first time you've seen me nude."
"Yeah! When we were like five!" I stammer, I realise I must be bright red. James can't control himself, he's rolling around in the sand with tears in his eyes.
"Enough." Max order slamming a fist into his stomach.
"Alright, alright. No more." James manages through deep breaths and gritted teeth. I watch as Chloe runs towards the water and leaps in effortlessly. The water grabs hold of her and pulls her in, and for a horrible moment, I think she would disappear forever. She reappears; her head breach the surface, wet hair clingy to her face.
"Come on in. It's brilliant." She shouts, splashing water at us.
"It may be summer. But this is a British summer." Ellie shivers.
"It isn't that cold!" Chloe protests.
"She's right you know. It's probably warmer in there than it is out here." Max says pulling her t-shirt over her head. James buries his head in the sand.
"Come on! A little warning next time please!" He shouts into the sand. He sits back up, spitting sand.
"Serves you right you little s**t." Max says cuffing him around the head.
"Just cause you're half an hour older doesn't mean you get to bully me."
"No. You're right. I get to bully you cause I’m stronger."
"Yeah right."
"Where's your phone?" Max asks, trying not to smile.
"There..." James says point to an IPhone sat on a towel. He doesn't clock why Max had asked, until it’s too late. Max rams her shoulder into his stomach, winding him. She picks him up and throws him over her shoulder like he's a kite. She marches towards the sea, and tosses him in. "You f*****g c**t." James screams. We all laugh as we watch James thrash about. "Right though. It is hella f*****g nice in here." He shouts angrily. Max jumps in after him. Ellie follows quickly after. And then me.

After splashing about in the sea until the sun started to dip, we finally clamber out, knackered and out of breath. We crash out next to the pile of sticks.

Within twenty-minutes, the sun has set, a small fire burns brightly, and the sea laps gently against the sand. We sit around the fire in a circle. Chloe lies with her head in my lap, I lean on my arm, whilst the other plays unconsciously with her hair. Ellie to my right. Max to my left and James opposite me. We’ve been joined by a couple of other friends. In total, there were nine of us. Chloe, Ellie, Max, James, Siobhan, Callum, Connor, Dante, and me. A group of adults sit further down the beach, enjoying a fire like us. Unlike us however, they’re surrounded by beers and champagne. And unfortunately they just happen to be our parents, who are now sharing embarrassing stories of us. The day had been great, by British terms, the sun had shone, the weather was good, and not a cloud in sight, and it had been warm. The night’s going the same way. It had been a good day. Spending a day at the beach had sounded like an awful idea when it was suggested three months ago at a barbecue. But, I’m glad we'd been dragged along. At first, it had started out as parents only, but the invitation had soon stretched to us. We had spent the entire day at a beach near Cornwall. It’s a private beach though, owned by Connor and Callum’s family. One of their dads works as a military contractor, helping create newer and deadly weaponry, whilst the other is a software engineer. So, it was safe to say, he’s fairly wealthy. When people found out he had two dads, there had been a lot of bullying. But that soon ended once Max appeared and badly beaten one of the boys who had been endlessly bullying Connor.

I stare at the fire burning in front of me. I watch as the flames crackle and smoke billows. It’s larger than I remember. And what is that noise? It’s like a whining dog. An explosion rocks my world. I watch as people are sent flying. My world shakes and I watch as a cloud of flames leap into the sky. Sirens rip through the tranquillity of the fire. A fist hits the side of my face. A girl sits on me, a beanie hangs off her head, and blood drips down one cheek. She grabs my head and screams. Pink sparks leap from her fingers as she presses them into my face. They dance across my face, playing out memories.
"Artemis!" The girl screams, "We need to go." A fist smacks into my face. "Wake the hell up." Another fist. "You lazy son-of-a-b***h" Another fist. "I didn't travel half-way around the world just to watch you die like this." A fish. No wait. A fist. No. Totally a fish. A fish sits on my lap wearing a beanie. "Tosser." It screams as its fins grab the side of my head and smash it into the ground. "Wake. The. F**k. Up." The world clears up. The blurs disappear. The fish become a girl. Her brown hair waves in the wind.
"Chloe?" I whisper, cupping her head in my hand.
"No you s**t. Blue." Chloe yells. Blue? What kind of name is Blue? Who's Blue? Blue? Blue. The name clicks. "Artemis you c**k stain."
"Blue?" I sit up, knocking her off me.
"Finally. We needa go."
"What happened?" I say staring at the flames billowing from the house.
"Long story." She giggles. A menacing little giggle. "Lez go." She grabs my arm and pulls me up.
"Dante?" I ask looking around.
"Long gone." She sees my face. "Gone to a safe-house. Don't worry, your boyfriend hasn't abandoned you."
"Boyfriend?" I say as we stumble along the beach.
"Yeah. Aren't you two together?"
"No." I shake my head.
"F**k. I owe Dawn a tenner."
"You were taking bets?"
"Everyone was. A lotta people are gonna lose money for this bullshit." She laughs. We stagger across the beach, the sand makes the journey precarious, and difficult, even on a better day I would have struggled to walk along the beach. But Blue has an even harder task, she has to support my weight and walk across a sandy beach, in the middle of the night, with nothing on her feet. We stumble our way across the beach for miles. The beach spans the entire cost, and before long the flames are invisible, the sound of sirens gone.
I notice the watch she had bought earlier,
"Your watch. It's completely wrong."
"I know." She struggles to speak.
"Why?"
She doesn't answer, she just carries on walking, forcing me to walk as well.

"How much further?" I ask as we take what must have been our thousandth step.
"Twenty-five meters. Literally right there."

We stumble into the house.
"Thank God. I thought you were dead." Dante shouts. A new head appears next to him, a pair of blue eyes with pink flecks stare out from under long red hair. Dawn.
"Dawn Artemis. Artemis Dawn." Blue gestures as she struggles with me. "Someone take this sack of s**t to the lounge."
"Blue what happened? It was meant to be a one-day thing. Not spend two days with them and then go shopping and blow up a house." Dawn says her voice full of venom.
"Dawn sweetie." Blue says staring Dawn down, "You've been in this game long enough to know that sometimes plans go to s**t."
"To s**t? Is that what you call this?" She gestures to me lying on the coach, to Dante, and to a TV playing the News, "This isn't s**t. This is a disaster. You'll be lucky if you're skinned alive."
"What they gonna do? Kick me out when I know so much? Put a bullet in me when im so damn invaluable?"
"You may invaluable, but you are not above the law. The mission was to watch and report. Not interfere and kill." Dawn is a head taller than Blue and bigger in every aspect. Electricity crackles all around Blue.
"Try it b***h. See what happens." She hisses as Dawn takes a step back. I watch the scene unfold from the safety of the couch. It’s a spectacle, Dawn’s bigger than Blue in every way, muscle, height, size, and probably strength, and Blue’s pretty damn strong. As they argue, Dante and I watch on in confusion.
"To s**t." Dawn huffs as she walks away.
"Run b***h run." Blue shouts after her, she looks at me, "Sorry about Dawn, she a b***h." She giggles, "Did you see that explosion? It was huge! Aint the biggest I’ve done though." She winks at me.
"What the f**k?" Dante screams. Blue looks at him confused, amazed and startled.
"Chill out man. Just a little C4. And some guys with a murder boner."
"You're the only one with a murder boner!" Dante yells, "You lunatic!"
"Hey. Feelings dude." She clutches her heart in mock sadness, points a finger at Dante, and zaps him. He collapses to the floor, "Feel better tomorrow." She grabs him by the ankles and drags him across the floor, when she reaches the stairs she stops, looks up them, then at Dante, "F**k it." I hear her say, follow by a thump, then another thump. Dawn walks in shaking her head.
"Sorry about little miss psychopath. I have this theory she was dropped on her head as baby, then her parents didn't show her enough love, and then was bullied in school, creating her." She looks at me, "I know she can be a bit murdery. But beneath it all she's a really nice girl." She shrugs.
"How old is she?"
"How old do you think she is?"
"She said she's sixteen, but she's too small."
"Damn right she's too small. She's fourteen."
I stare at her in horror. Dawn notices, "She was picked up young, grew up in Eden, and well, growing up with that lot, can't be good for anyone. But she's the best operative we have, been on countless missions, saved billions of lives, stopped several thousand terrorists, and destroyed just as many cults, and organisations. All of that before her thirteenth. Talented girl, but can go off the rails." Dawn steps into the kitchen, "Want a cuppa? Hear you Brits love this stuff."
"Sure."

Dawn reappears minutes later with two steaming cups of coffee.
"Thanks" I say taking a blue mug. We sit in silence. A loud thump followed by Blue shouting some obscenities breaks the silence. "What are you?" I ask,
"Me?" Dawn looks shocked that I had asked that.
"No. Eden." I notice the look on her face and realise she had been joking.
"The Children of Eden. Um. Organisation that works to save the world, by any means necessary, be it blowing up an orphanage, taking down a plane, sinking a cruise ship, or infiltrating deadly organisations."
"You said Blue grew up in Eden and that growing up with them was bad."
"Eden refers to our... campus, if you will, where members live, and missions are planned. Unfortunately, the people The Children recruit aren't exactly the kindest, or the brightest, most just like blowing stuff up. And that suits us. Sometimes kids are picked up from the streets. Sometimes it goes all right. Most the time it goes fine. And sometimes you get Blue." She didn't need to say more.
"How'd Blue get picked up?"
"Long story." Dawn says, but she realises that sitting in silence would be awkward, "Lots of people died. She was left alone and living off the streets.” A loud bang erupts from upstairs.
Blue screams something at the top of her lungs. "Dawn!" She yells. I look at Dawn who just shrugs; "Get your a*s up here now, and bring Arty."
"Better sort Miss Needy out." Dawn laughs putting her mug down.

I follow Dawn up two flights of stairs; we find Blue crouching in the middle of a room surrounded by weapons.
"I open the cupboard to get some jeans and these leap out at me." Blue gestures to the guns strewn on the floor, “What are they doing in my closet?"
"Had to do some reorganising due to our guests." Dawn said blankly.
"So you shove half the world’s weaponry in my closest?" She shouts, picking up an RPG, "Like, why the hell we ever gonna need this?"
"You never know." Dawn shrugs. Blue looks ridiculous in an electric blue hoodie, black hair with the blue tips, a dark red beanie on her head, with an RPG, almost the same size as her resting on her shoulder.
"Why not shove this into the cupboard in the hallway?" She says point the rocket launcher at Dawn.
"My clothes are in there."
"Why aren't your clothes in your room?"
"Closet’s full."
"With what? Enough condoms to supply all of North America for sixty-two years? You got the biggest room with the biggest closet, how can it possibly be full?"
"Got a lot of clothes."
"Can you put that thing down?" I say as Blue points it at me.
"It ain't loaded." Blue says, and then she turns back to Dawn, "How can you have enough clothes to fill a closet the same size as my room?" Blue screams at Dawn.
"If you read the briefing you'd remember that I work as a tailor. And sometimes I bring my work home. I can't exactly stuff the guns into a cupboard full of my work stuff."
"Dump 'em in Arty's room then. It ain't exactly like they have many clothes."
"Artemis' room doesn't have closest big enough to hold all that. Yours’s is the only one that can."
"God damn it" Blue throws the RPG down, "Where my clothes then?"
"In the spare room. Which is now your room."
Blue storms past us. "Artemis come. I have something for you." Blue gestures with her head towards the room.

I step in behind Blue.
"This may hurt. Like, a lot. But I was told to give it to you." She opens the closet and stairs at it. "Dawn where's my box?" She yells.
"In the bottom drawer!" Dawn screams back, clearly fed up with Blue. Blue reaches down and pulls open the drawer, revealing a tatty box with a carving in the top. She slides a key from around her neck and opens the box.
"Close your eyes." Blue giggles. I oblige, scared of the wrath that would befall me if I don’t. She presses something into my hand and closes my fist. "Okay. I better go." She steps towards the door, "I'm sorry." She closes the door. I open my hand.

My heart catches in my throat. I rack my brain for an explanation. I collapse onto the floor. My legs splayed out in front of me. I stare at my hand. A silver chain, with a ring attached to it. I stare at it. Tears drop from my face. I look at the ring, the same ring. Exactly. I pick it up. Exactly the same. How? I run my hand over the ring, feeling the inscription. "Forever"