iMprint II

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Words couldn't describe what I had felt for my brother.
"Jack, what the hell are you doing here?"

His eyes barely even glance at me, as he was eyed down Andy with intense hatred and anger.

"I'm here for him," He roars, stomping his way over toward the Strucker boy.

Jack jumped up, ready to spike Andy down with a lightning bolt in his hand, but my ice created an equal spike, and as they hit each other, a force boomed through the air, knocking all of us to the ground.

If Jack and I were to fight, it would cause mayhem. We haven't even tried our powers at a combative level, and yet we are already causing a scene.
I would always protect Andy, even if I had to fight Jack, but I also knew that fighting would only do more damage.

"Jack," I say, walking toward my brother, "you need to calm down. Fighting isn't going to help. Please, tell me what do you want with Andy?"

The blonde man got up, sighing over himself, his actions.
"Andy... when were you ever going to tell her?"

Andy looked at him, beyond confused. "What are you talking about?"

"Stop playing games, Strucker. She needs to know! She needs to know what you did."

I turn to my boyfriend, furrowing my eyebrows. "Andy, what is he talking about?"

"I don't know!" He claimed, "Tell me, Jack, what did I do? What could you have possibly have on me?"

"How about you and Rebecca?"

I felt my heart stop for a moment.
There would be no way in hell he would do this to me. Andy would never...

"Andy, baby, what is he talking about?"

I could see in his eyes, all the walls were closing in on him. There was panic and fear, but most of all he was desperate.

He remained silent.

All I could hear was a chuckle.
A low chuckle that meant 'checkmate', Jack knew what he was doing; he was trapping Andy.

"Oh, Andy. Andy, Andy, Andy... you son of a bitch." My brother got out his phone and showed me what was playing on the screen.

My heart shattered to a million pieces. I refused to breathe and my body stiffened like a board, I could feel my pain engulf me whole.
There the video played of the elevator, the day when Andy and Rebecca went out, exposing how Rebecca went in a kissed Andy, with him not stopping her.

They didn't kiss long, but it seemed to be years rather than seconds. All that my mind was scarred with was just the constant played image.

My eyes were filled with water, threatening to fall. "You're lying... Jack, you have to be lying to me."

"Lux, this isn't fake."

By the sound of his voice, I knew that he was letting the truth.
It was a mixture of justice and sympathy, toward me.

I turn to Andy, shoving the phone to his chest, as the water trickled down. "Please, please, Andy. Swear to me that this isn't real. Swear to me on your sister's life that this video is a fake!"

No matter how hard I pushed, he only met with the same shameful eyes, that filled with the water of apologies and regrets, the eyes that gave me the answer I refused to believe.
Once looking at them, I knew my denial had lost the fight.

I started to cry.
I couldn't help it, I couldn't help myself but to so.
For a person that was so close to you to do this, to rip your heart into dust, to have that kind of betrayal stabbed into your back... it seemed to be almost unforgivable.

I wanted to fight him.
I wanted to beat this boy into a pulp and destroy everything in his life. I could've iced him into a statue and broken it, just so he could feel the tiny percentage of how I was hurting.

But I couldn't.
All I could do when looking at him was see him with her. Hear their laughter, see the smiles, the goddamn happiness they do dearly had for one another.

I quickly left the scene before I would do something I would regret.
I didn't care if Jack were to beat Andy, I didn't care if the two fought each other to death.

I couldn't help but leave myself into isolation, for the best protection of my broken heart.

❅ ❅ ❅

I decided to stay in my room for days. I didn't dare go outside to eat, train, or socialize, I kept on cooping myself in the room.

The triplets would try and get myself to get myself sorted out, but a broken heart can't heal overnight, especially if you had stayed with that someone for a year and a half.

My bedroom became cold.
My emotions ended up icing the entire room, the walls and windows had frost over them, barely any snow fell from the ceiling, and the flooring was only covered in light ice.

To keep me busy I ended up making living snow animals.
It started small, with tiny horses and butterflies in the sky, then I started to go bigger, like cats and dogs; I managed to make a Lynx.
Of course, they weren't real and was under in my control, when it comes to small things, it didn't take much effort, but the bigger animals were more challenging, they were like a puppet and I was the puppeteer.

I knew this could heal what Andy broke, it was just a bandaid to an open wound.

The day went on as I liked them to be until I heard a single knock at the door.
"Hey, Lux. It's me."

I rolled my eyes to hear my brother's voice, I swiftly left my bed and opened the door.
He gave me an awkward smile, handing me a plate for lunch.

"Listen, we need to talk——"

"I don't want to hear it, right now, but thanks for the meal."

Before I could close the door, Jack stopped it with his foot.
"Come on, Lux. You haven't spoken to me in weeks, I know that you are hurting, but are you mad at me?"

I hesitated to answer him. I left my door to set at my desk, as Jack closed the door behind him, curious for an answer.

"Why did you not like Andy?" I ask.

He gave a dry chuckle. "Why? Why? Lux, he cheated on you. You honestly think I would want to be best friends with some messed up boy?"

"No, no. Not now, not recently. I mean like a year ago when you first met him. When you almost hit him with lighting on the roof of the building."

"I already told you this. I didn't want you to get hurt, hurt like how mom traumatized us. I mean, heartbreaks can be terrible, unbearable even. I can't watch that happen to you——"

"Well, it did, but I don't think you understand what I'm trying to tell you."

"Tell me what?"

My patience wore thin.
I roughly got out of the chair and stalked toward him. "When I asked you to spy on Andy, did you do it for me?"

"W-What?" He stammered.

"Did you find that shit on Andy out for me, or you? Were your intentions all that you say they were?"

All he did was stare in stunned shock. In his face, I could tell he was conflicted. He certainly didn't have the good motives that I thought he had — he did it so I could see the bad that Andy was, the way that Jack sees him so.

"And you wonder why I'm mad," I scoff, "Get out of my room."

"But Lu——"

"Get out of my room, Jack! Before I make you."

Already my hands glowed, ready to attack him if he even tried to stand his ground.
I saw that in his eyes, he was scared. It didn't take long for him to leave before I start to shed tears for myself.

❅ ❅ ❅

I could hear Rebecca's laugher in the hallway of my room. It was as if to haunt me out, fight her to get a rise out of me; trust me it was working quite well.

Andy seemed to realize that space was what I needed, so he stopped coming to my room.
It was bittersweet on my end.
No matter how much I was hurting because of him, I still wanted to see him. I wanted to hug him so that he could hug me back.

But he made his choice. He kissed Rebecca on that elevator. He didn't pull away or even stop her... that scene will be scarred to my head.

My room seemed to get better from the lack of frost in the room. There was still some here and there, but ice would laminate the room a cold blue, which I didn't mind all.

As I was just sitting on my chair, staring into the floor as my mind zoned out, a soft knock came on my door.

Knowing that it wasn't Andy nor Jack, I got up and opened the door to see my favorite green-haired woman.

"Hey Lorna," I greet, with dryness to my voice.

"Lux," She smiles at me, in a comforting way, "Do you mind if we talked?"

The two of us ended up sitting down on my bed, in silence as Lorna had to find the words to say.

"I... I talked to Andy. He told me everything," She explained, "I'm really sorry, kid. You didn't deserve that."

"I just——I don't know why, you know?"

The Dane woman wrapped her arm around me, pulling me in close to her. I didn't hesitate to lean my head on her shoulder, already having water in my eyes.

"I just want things to stop. I want to stop crying. I want to stop Andy. I want to stop everything."

Lorna didn't say anything and that was okay. All I needed was someone that didn't have any motives. No motive to ruin, no motive to destroy. All I needed was someone to just be there.

The moment was broken when another knock came to the door, Lorna let them in and it turned out to be Reeva.

I had put myself together as fast as I could for her, as her emotionless face stared at me.
She motioned me to stop myself.

"You know what I realized when it comes to you, Lux?" The powerful woman asked me, "You and your powers are connected. The good thing about you is that you know this, which means you've tried to control them."

Lorna stood to the side as Reeva was face to face with me.
My heartbeats were quick out of confusion and panic, I gulped with anxiety down my body.

"Your heartbreak can be used for more things than just.... this." She motioned to my room. "You need to learn how to use your weakness to an advantage because heartbreak isn't just sadness, it's also rage, an intense rage."

Weakness into advantage...

The more she talked about rage in heartbreak, the more my soul burned for Rebecca. She does anger me, she does push my buttons. I have never had this bad of a feeling toward someone.

"I want you to train today," She states.

"But I thought——"
"You will be battling Rebecca."

My mouth stopped speaking, only having my jaw drop slightly.
She had to have been joking, she has to be kidding me.

"Reeva, that's a bad idea. Those two will kill each other when push comes to shove," warns Lorna.

"That I intent to see."

I shake my head. "But that's not right."

"Was it not right when she kissed Andy? Was it not right when Andy choice a girl he met for only weeks compared to a girl he had known his whole life?"

"Reeva!" exclaimed the metal woman.

I knew Reeva was cherry-picking her words to manipulate, it was obvious, but I couldn't help but fall to her words, despite me knowing.

I wanted to beat Rebecca. I wanted some justice, some revenge. This was a perfect opportunity, this was a golf gate, once in a lifetime gift.

I had to take this opportunity.

❅ ❅ ❅

Both Rebecca and I stared down each other in the training room, filling the air with mutual feelings for one another — pure hatred.

In all honestly, I didn't know if Andy was going to watch and who for. All I knew was that I can finally release this pit of anger out of me, out of my head.

"Lux, Rebecca. Your goal is to fight until one of you disarms the other. I want a fair fight, yet I don't want any broken bones for our mission. Do you two understand me?" Reeva speaks in the intercom.

I nodded my head, knowing that my power would have to be for a limit, but staring into my opponent's eyes, it seemed she wanted other plans.

"Rebecca, do you understand?"

"Yes, yes. I get it. Guess I'm not killing you today," She grumbled, muttering her last snarky sentence.

"Oh, like you even had a shot," I fire back.

The buzzer counted down to three. Each other is prepared, we weren't dumb, we both knew that each of us had power. d
As her palms and fingers stretched, my hands already had frost-covered.

When the last buzzer hit, Rebecca quickly aimed for me, but I moved away, messing up her aim.
I took the chance and I used my ice, but only hit one of the right hand, from her moving out.

She squeals as the touch of pure coldness lingered on her skin. She tried to move but it was no use, she was left with one hand only.

I stomped my foot, releasing the ice to hit her general area. Her shoes slipped and her body hit the floor, head first. This made her, even more, angrier than ever.

With her free hand, I felt my body start to contort. It was as if my entire organs flipped one at a time, I roared as I realized what she was doing.
Once at first, I thought I was on the floor, within a second, I was falling from the highest point of the training room, which was a mighty fall.

Before I could try to do anything to help, my body collapsed on the floor, my body was limp.

I didn't need an intercom to know that the people watching us were worried, hell, I did hear a crack in my body when I fell.
I knew the only way I can win this was to pretend, pretend that Rebecca had won.

As I let my body 'die', I heard the footsteps of the Hoover girl, slowly coming up to see me.
My eyes were closed, I even held my breath to mimic a corpse even.

I could feel her presence next to me. Her panted breath in a close range, her quietly calling my name to wake up.
As I was ready to go, my body stopped, as my heart dropped when hearing her victorious laugher.

God, it was brutal.
It was as if killing me would grant her so much in the world. As if I was her last target to destroy, to get her happily ever after.
It sickened me to the core.

I had enough of her games.

I snapped my head in her direction, as she was cheering herself on.
Once she just notices my state, my hand grabbed onto hers. I froze her other hand, with the other, together. She shrieks out of fear and from the sudden ice.

As she looked at me, I knew she was looking to the icy glow in my eyes, seeing what power I actually held; the power she underestimated.

I got up and kicked her down to the ground, having her land on her back.
With my right hand, I raised a thick ice wall, and with the left, I pushed her right to it, as I followed in suit, despite my hurt back saying otherwise.

She screams as she was being pushed to the wall, her back hitting the ice, and her body having to be frozen down to it.

I stopped myself to see what I've done: Rebecca Hoover was iced down to a wall, disarmed of her abilities and vulnerable.

I couldn't help but smile to myself.
I stopped her. I am proved to be more powerful than her.

Before I could do anything, the girl screams in fright. When looking at her, she was frantic. She tried to break out of the ice but it was no use, she screamed for help, she shouted Andy's name. I thought it was an act until I saw the tears fall down her face, tears of true terror.

I then realized what I've done:
The restraints, the helplessness, the cold.

She was having an attack.

Without any hesitation, I had to take back all of my abilities.
I took in the wall, her restraints, even the frost on the wall. All had to circle back to me. As ice and frost came into my system, I refused to scream or even cry, I held back any pain and sharp cut I felt. The more I held back, the faster the ice came.

I stopped as Rebecca was lying on the floor, sobbing to herself and turning herself into a ball.

All the adults and Andy came, most rushed to Rebecca as a few came to me, in help of stabilizing me. My body needed rest and my back felt as if my spine did a double-take.

When looking at Rebecca, my heart ached as Andy comforted her. He hugged her, held her hand...

The two got up and left, not before the girl spitting, "You're a monster" to me; I admit in deserving that, after all, I did cause her attack, which I did feel bad for.

No matter how much I could hate a person, I would never want or do anything to cause this.

"Congratulations, Lux. You are officially classified as Omega," Reeva says, "Let's send you to the nurse. You took quite a hit."

I didn't even say anything, only let Lorna and the triplets guide me to the nurse.
The four of them complimented me and praised me for my strategy, but I couldn't stop thinking about Andy and Rebecca.

The two were still together.
Hurting Rebecca didn't do anything for me, she is still here and with Andy, I am stilling angry, and all I did was do more damage than anything less.

All I could ask myself, how could I find my happiness, my comfort, my love when he's gone from me?

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