CHAPTER SIXTEEN
— kill it —

jonathan set up empty cans of beer that he found around the plain on a stand outside. he's been trying to shoot at least one of them down for the past half an hour of waiting for amelia and nancy. he finally chose to give up, putting the gun down and sighing deeply.

"shoot another one!" amelia shouted.

jonathan snapped his head to see her walking with nancy, who was holding the bat she said she'd bring. "i suck at this, you know!" he shouted back. amelia chuckled, throwing her head back.

he raised his gun and tried to do to his best to aim at his targeted beer can. when he pulled the trigger, the bullet stopped in the air just as amelia lifted her hand.

"holy shit," nancy gasped.

amelia continued walking, standing right by the floating bullet. "thing is," the teenager twitched her fingers, trying to find the focus on what to do next. "i'm having trouble with how to not make it keep going."

she spoke with a struggling, compressed murmur. nancy walked and stood by jonathan. both wore astonishing expressions as they watched amelia focus her hardest on the floating bullet.

"you're supposed to hit the cans, right?" nancy asked, leaning to jonathan's side.

"no, actually, you see the spaces in between the cans? i'm aiming for those."

"ah." nancy nodded.

amelia groaned as she gave up. she let the bullet go, it shooting between cans. she stomped to a small hill and sat on it with a pout.

"you ever shot a gun before?" jonathan asked amelia. she darted her eyes at a can, it started to levitate but quickly dropped it when he asked. "yeah," she let out a small sigh. "looks like you haven't though."

jonathan chuckled and shook his head. "you?" he turned to nancy. "have you met my parents?" she scoffed.

jonathan shook his head. "yeah, i haven't shot one since i was ten." he began. "my dad took me hunting on my birthday." amelia tuned in on the story. "he made me kill a rabbit."

"a rabbit?" amelia muttered. "yeah, i guess he thought it would make me into more of a man or something." jonathan laughed lightly, "i cried for a week."

"jesus." nancy said softly. jonathan continued to chuckle. "what? i'm a fan of thumper." he shrugged and aimed his gun to another can. "i meant your dad." nancy corrected herself.

"yeah, i guess he and my mother loved each other at some point, but" he cocked the gun. "i wasn't around for that part."

nancy held her hand out for the gun, asking for jonathan to hand it over. amelia sat up from her slum, impressed that nancy wanted a shot at it. "um, yeah." jonathan gave her the gun. "just, uh, point and shoot."

"keep your feet planted and shoulders back." amelia advised. "when you pull the trigger, try not to jump. you might accidentally shoot someone's face off."

both nancy and jonathan stayed quiet at the last part. amelia tried her best to keep her expression serious, but ended up bursting in a giggle. "i'm kidding! i didn't kill someone!"

nancy snickered and shook her head. she looked to the can she was aiming at. "i don't think my parents ever loved each other." nancy said.

"they must've married for some reason." jonathan shrugged. nancy shook her head. "my mom was young. my dad was older, but he had a cushy job, money, came from a good family." amelia felt this certain anger rise from nancy. she kept her brows furrowed as she focused more on what she felt.

"so they bought a nice house at the end of the cul-de-sac." her voice trailed as she looked at her target. "and started their nuclear family."

"screw that." jonathan mused. amelia nodded. "yeah," nancy muttered. "screw that."

she pulled the trigger and shot right through a can. the three smiled cheerfully and shortly celebrated the successful shot. "nice!" amelia applauded.

nancy's smile faded as she looked down the gun. she had a lingering question but was too scared to ask. so instead, she offered amelia the gun.

"show us what you got?"

amelia raised a brow. she was hesitant to grab the weapon, knowing herself a little too well. she's been using the minimum of her power and she was scared something was bound to fluke.

"sure," lia fretted. she grabbed the gun delicately. "i wish i had problems like you guys." amelia thought aloud. nancy and jonathan glanced at each other.

"i don't know shit about my folks." the nervous noirette grabbed rocks from the ground and shook them in her fist. when she opened her palm, fresh bullets came out.

"how do you do that?" jonathan uttered in amazement. amelia snickered. "serums and practice."

again, nancy and jonathan glanced at each other. they'd throw each other nervous gazes, both curious with what happened with amelia. they knew she never wanted to dwell into the past too early into the present, but curiosity took the best out of nancy.

"what happened in there?" nancy puzzled. jonathan nudged her arm and shook his head when nancy turned to him.

"stuff," amelia bluntly replied. she had a distant stare. "just stuff."

it was a routine. every 8 hours of sleep, she was woken up to armed guards rushing in her room. she was given an apple and a glass of milk. two if she felt confident enough to ask.

her day started with an exam. a physical test on endurance, speed, strength. amelia was beat when it ended.

from there, she was given different tasks. at times, scenarios of what she was was expected to do in the real world. that's right. she was expecting to leave some time soon, but she knew she wasn't.

she read their minds.

"what kind of stuff?" nancy piled on. amelia tore her gaze and looked at her. she glanced at jonathan, who gulped.

amelia stepped up to the two and picked up her sleeves. the familiar purple bruises and scratches pattered on her skin showed. "jonathan has seen these," amelia said, her lips barely moving. when he did, the bruises have barely started to go away. now, they're for sure starting to fade. as for the trail marks, they still rode on her arms.

amelia looked up to nancy, reading her expression and trying to comprehend her thoughts. "they're scary, i know." amelia cracked a smile.

nancy nodded as she pulled her hair back. "would they ever hurt you?" she asked.

"no," amelia pulled her sleeve down. "i wouldn't let them if they tried."

"then where did you get those bruises from?" jonathan quickly spoke. amelia glared at them. "from.." she licked her lips, hesitant to answer. but from one of the things she learned about friendships, is that honesty is a thing. "from trying to do stuff that was inhuman."

amelia held the gun up and aimed at a beer can. "they gave me supplements on the daily. you know, tablets, shots." she pulled the trigger just as she spoke the last word, a bullet shooting right through the center of a can. "explains the crap on my arms."

she sniffled and aimed at another can. "i was a special science experiment."

˚⁎⁺˳✧༚

it was night. every night amelia has been out, something bad has happened. it's like negativity was always around her. she had a crawling feeling that she tried her best to ignore.

but like i said, it was always around her.

the trio continued walking in circles and in silence. tensions spiked between nancy and jonathan as they fought earlier. amelia was sure to stay quiet the whole time, too scared to say anything that would egg on their arguments.

abruptly, nancy stopped walking, making them stop too. "what, are you tired?" jonathan moved the bat off his shoulder. "shut up."

amelia arched a brow. "what?" jonathan murmured. "i heard something." nancy whispered. "it was probably just the wind." jonathan justified as he turned.

"iT wAS PrOBaBlY THe wINd." amelia mocked. "shut up, lia."

"hey!" nancy held her finger up as she heard the noise again. this time, the two other teenagers stayed quiet until they did, too. it was a faint whimper.

the three walked to where it was coming from, not really knowing what to expect. but to their surprise, it was a deer.

"oh, god." nancy sighed. both her and amelia squat down to it. it's neck was scraped badly and ended up looking pretty bloody.

"it's been hit by a car." nancy stated. amelia shook her head slightly. "we can't just leave it."

they all looked down to the gun nancy held, all thinking the same thing.

the teenage girls stood up with their sad eyes on the dying deer. nancy aimed the gun to the animal, but couldn't even set her finger on the trigger.

"i'll do it." jonathan volunteered. it caught both girls by surprise as he reached for the gun from nancy's hand. nancy had a confused expression. "i thought you said–"

"i'm not nine anymore." jonathan took the gun from her. amelia raised a brow at the power move and sighed deeply as they drew their eyes back to the deer.

jonathan cocked the gun, the deer still whimpering. nancy turned to look away. amelia was barely phased by this all, which made jonathan and nancy wonder why in the back of their minds.

just as jonathan aimed, the deer slid on the ground. jumping, jonathan shot the ground. they all gasped but stepped away from where they stood.

"what was that?" nancy shouted, her breath shaking. amelia felt goosebumps ride up her arms. she held up the stick and twirled it between her fingers. with the simple twirl, the stick turned into a gun. she stood by jonathan and nancy, who were circling on their backs and looking for whatever took the deer. "where'd it go?"

"i don't know." amelia cocked her gun, which made nancy look to her and see the weapon in her hands.

"did you see anymore blood?" amelia asked. "no." jonathan answered. eventually, the fear from the moment started to fade. they continued searching though, splitting up and looking for something unknown.

amelia's only thought was to 'kill it'.
that is her mission.

her mind drew away from her task when she heard a faint scream. she snapped her attention to jonathan, who was only a few yards away.

"nancy!" he shouted. they kept on calling her name, but there wasn't a single response. they were looking for her, but little did the two know that she wasn't with them at all.