[southwrestler09]

I recently put out a request for commissions, and the community delivered in a BIG way.  I am SO grateful for that.  Thanks to some generous patrons, I was able to pay an unexpected medical bill for my child in cash because a few of my patrons paid for HUGE projects in full upfront even though I never asked for that.  This community is incredible.  This story is for one of those people.  Currently, I am working on three stories simultaneously, with two more in waiting, and will be posting the pieces of each one when they are done.  For this one, I want to put a graphic violence warning upfront.  Do not read this if you do not like heavy violence and brutal deaths.  Just the intro for now, but thank you so much to the commissioner for giving me a prompt that I had NO idea I’d love so much.  Much love to you, all the other folks who have commissioned me, and every single person who enjoys my writing.  You all make this hobby so much more satisfying.  <3. (Also, wasn’t sure if this belonged in Family Fights since it’s about two sisters, or NHB because of graphic violence.  I landed here because I feel like people come to NHB for this kind of content.)


Whispers And Sins

The wad of cash thumped heavily on the desk when the young woman strolled in and dropped it in front of the man sitting behind it.  He raised an eyebrow at her, his eyes darting back and forth between the money and the girl who had put it there.

“Every dollar.  It’s there.”  The girl said.  She was beautiful.  Slender, and brunette, with bright green eyes and slightly tanned white skin.  She looked a little worse for wear tonight however.  Her short pixie cut hair was disheveled, and her lip was bleeding freely as were a few cuts on her arms and legs.  She was clutching one of the gashes on her upper arm as she looked at the man who was now counting the money. 

“You did good, Aura.”  He said, as he took a chunk of the stack of 100 dollar bills and laid it in front of her.  “What did you do to her?”  He added, almost as an afterthought.

“Dead.”  Said Aura, shrugging.  “Threw her in the river when I was done, but she put up a fight.”

The man really looked at Aura now, taking in the extent of her injuries.  “I see that…”  He paused.  “You could’ve shot the bitch and and saved yourself the trouble.”

“Needed her to talk.”  Aura said flatly.  “She couldn’t tell me where she had stashed the money with a fucking hole in her head.  Besides…She needed to die slowly for stealing from us.”

“Mmm.”  The man mused.  The conversation had a perversely casual tone to it, as if they were discussing the weather or a story from the daily news.  “So she fought you, then talked when you got the better of her, and you killed her after?”  He asked.

“Not right away.”  Aura said, shrugging again.  “Took some payback over this.”  She said, nodding at the gash she was holding onto.

“Get yourself taken care of.”  The man said, sweeping the money into a drawer.  “Take a break for a few days.  Aura nodded at this and turned, limping toward the door.  “Hold on.”  he said, thoughtfully.  Aura stopped, her hand on the doorknob.

“Hm?”  she asked, turning her head.

“That girl…she was a friend of Alina’s, you know.”  He said, raising an eyebrow at her.  Aura simply smirked back at him and opened the door.

“Come on Robert.  Why do you think I asked for the job in the first place?”  She responded, and the two of them shared a brief laugh.  Aura swept out of the room, and made her way down the hall where she knew their well paid doctor was waiting for her.  For Aura, this hadn’t just been an enforcement job for her people, it had been personal.  A labor of love really.  She was 19, and as a poor child of divorce, living in the slums of Arbor City Indiana, she had fallen quickly into the arms of The Nine Whispers.  A ruthless and practically untouchable group of violent gangbangers, who took her in and fed her.  They kept her and her mother comfortable and protected.  And in return, she did things for them.  Anything they asked.  And she enjoyed it.

Why this particular job had been so satisfying however, was a complicated matter.  Her twin sister, Alina, her equal and look alike in every way had moved with their father a couple of streets down from Aura and her mother after the divorce.  And she had followed a similar path to Aura’s, falling in with powerful people with a violent streak.  However, because she had moved just a ten minute walk away, Alina had fallen in with The Sinners; and the fact was that The Nine Whispers and The Sinners had been waging a silent but brutal war with each other for nearly ten years.  The sisters had once been inseparable friends, and now, they carried nothing but hatred for each other.  For some time, they had been content to stay out of each other’s way.  But things had eventually come to a head when, in a scuffle between a few members from the two groups, Alina had stabbed the girl who helped take Aura into The Whispers in the throat.  The girl had died in Aura’s arms as the two opposing groups scattered at the sight of her life blood flowing out, fearing the police would swoop down on them at any moment.  Aura recalled her sister looking back at her, and seeing the look of disgust on her face.

There had been a phone call between them after.  It was short, sweet and to the point.  The war between the Whispers and the Sinners was now a war between them as well.  And tonight, Aura had struck her retaliatory blow.  The little tramp who had stolen from their safe house and run back to the Sinners had been the very girl who had taken Alina into their midst.  And now she was dead.  And she had died slowly.  At Aura’s hands.

Even as Aura laid on the table in the mob doctor’s pristine office, and he began to patch her up, she grinned savagely to herself.  Her phone dinged about an hour into the work, and she couldn’t resist picking it up.  It was her.  The contact name stood out like a beacon in the brightly lit room, filling her vision, and filling her mind with sadistic glee.  Alina.  She opened the phone and read the text message.

“You’re going to regret that.”  The text said.  Aura smirked, and attached the picture she had saved for just this occasion.  It was a picture of the girl, her back slumped against the wall of the house in which Aura had found her.  Her makeup ran down her face with her tears, and her blood stained the wall.  Her neck was at a strange angle, and her face almost unrecognizable.  Aura hit send.  There was no more correspondence that night.  It wasn’t needed.

The war was in full swing.  And for the two sisters, this war wasn’t about the Whispers and the Sinners, or whatever territory they had been killing each other over for a decade.

It was about them.

[southwrestler09]

Alina swept her shoulder length hair out of her face, shaking as she clutched her phone tightly in her hand.  She had been sobbing only minutes before.  Now, however, she was shivering.  She shook with uncontrollable rage and blood lust, staring at the picture of Ana that she had just received.  Ana had been her anchor among The Sinners, and she had been a steadfast friend through all of the challenges that this life had brought her.  She couldn’t look away from the photo.  Her sister had done this.  Her own sister, who had been her best friend for 18 years had done this, and then taken a picture of Ana’s mangled body just to send it to her. She couldn’t believe it.  Alina knew that this was revenge for the death of the girl who had been Aura’s mentor.  There had been a fight almost six months ago. Alina and Aura had both been there, and as they always had, they just steered clear of each other, letting each other handle their own business while they tussled with other people in the melee.

Then, the girl who Alina was fighting had reached into her vest.  Alina remembered a flash of silver.  Then the barrel of a 9mm pistol being slammed into her forehead.  The pain.  Oh god the pain when her head hit the brick wall behind her, shoved there by the barrel of the cheap firearm.  The other girl had snarled at her and her finger had twitched on the trigger….

Alina reacted on pure instinct.  She had screamed, and slapped the gun away.  She had been vaguely aware of her sister turning toward her as the gun fell a few feet away, suddenly ignoring the boy she had been beating into a bloody pulp.  Alina had plunged her hand into her pocket, drew out her switchblade and drove it, hard and fast, into her assailant’s throat.  The girl looked shocked.  She had gurgled, and gasped, and clutched the place where the knife was still lodged in her windpipe.

Everything was chaos then.  People were running.  She ran as well, terrified by what she had done.  But then she looked back.  Aura, who had to have seen the bitch pull a gun on her was screaming as she held the girl in her arms.  She was weeping and begging for her to be okay.  Alina had given her a look of disgust which Aura had returned.  The rest….well, it wasn’t just over between the two of them.  It had fallen into complete vindictive hatred.

They hadn’t met face to face since that night, but now, it was inevitable that they eventually would, and there would be no staying out of each other’s way as they always had before.  Alina was going to make her sister pay for that.

Alina looked at the photo one last time, then screamed.  It was an unholy sound, a mixture of her shock and grief and pure, unadulterated hatred for Aura.  She pulled her arm back and threw the phone, shattering it against the brick wall of the safe house she was staying in for the night.  She had left her father’s home just a while ago when she had gotten the phone call about Ana, and had come straight here to get the news.

A young man walked into the room then.  He was Alina’s age, and was quite stricken with her, though he was smart enough not to vocalize his feelings to her.  At least not yet.

“You gonna be okay?” He asked.  Alina rounded on him and snarled.

“Don’t ask me stupid fucking questions Jared.” She hissed at him.  “Do something useful and get the car.”  He looked at her then, dumbstruck.

“Alina you aren’t going to find her tonight.  She’s got to be holed up somewhere after that.”  Jared said, shaking his head.  Alina just grumbled.  She wanted to argue, but she knew he was right.  It would have to wait….

TWO WEEKS LATER

Bethany Lindell stood at the window, looking out into the street.  Her daughter, Aura hadn’t been home in three days, and hadn’t called for more than 24 hours.  She was worried.  Aura had always checked in with her even when she wasn’t going to be home.  Bethany was more than aware of what her daughter did.  How she kept the bills paid.  She had begged her not to get mixed in with that lifestyle, but Aura was an adult who made her own decisions.  For the most part, Bethany had been happy to ignore it.  If she didn’t acknowledge it, then it wasn’t real.  It couldn’t be real.  She was biting her nails and began to pace by the door when suddenly, her phone rang.  Her heart leapt in her chest as she snatched it up, but immediately sank again.  The name on the screen was not “Aura”, it was “Mike”.

Mike was Bethany’s ex husband and the father of her two girls.  The two of them had had a particularly nasty divorce almost ten years ago, and while they had always kept things civil for the sake of their daughters, they never spoke unless absolutely necessary.  She answered the phone.

“Mike, I’m kind of busy can you-“ she started, only to be cut off by Mike’s deeper voice.

“Have you heard from Alina?  Where is Aura?  Do you have any idea what-“ he began, but Bethany cut him off in return.

“Mike slow down.  What are you talking about?”  She asked, her heart rate quickening in her chest.

“Bethany….Alina hasn’t been home.  And I just got a phone call from…from an old friend.  Bethany why didn’t you tell me Aura got in with the Nine?”  He asked indignantly.  Bethany bristled at the question, and frowned as she retorted.

“It really wasn’t any of your business Mike, if she wanted you to know she would’ve told you herself.”  She snapped.

“Bethany LISTEN to me.”  Mike shouted.  Bethany started to silently fume, but she stopped talking.  “Alina joined the Sinners a year ago.  Beth, it’s gotten bad out there.  I don’t know the whole story, but I do know that our kids…our DAUGHTERS, just put out a head claim on EACH OTHER.”  He said, spitting the words out so she understood just what he was saying.  A head claim was something that the rival gangs had begun some time ago.  Whoever put one out was letting their fellow members know that they were not to kill the person they claimed.  Because the one who put it out was going to be the one to do it.  Bethany fell silent, her heart sinking into her stomach now.  “So…” Mike continued.  “I’ll ask again.  Have you heard from either one of them?”  Bethany couldn’t speak.  She only let out a tiny stammering reply.  “FUCK!” Mike bellowed.  “I’m coming over there.  We need to figure this out.”  And with that, came the sound of the call ending.

A few blocks away from the small house that Bethany and Aura shared with each other stood an old dilapidated and abandoned sewing plant.  The place had fallen into disrepair over the years, and graffiti covered the moldy stone walls underneath a roof with numerous open holes in it.  The place provided two advantages however.  First, it was far away from the nearest residents of the city.  Second, it was considered neutral ground between the Nine Whispers and The Sinners.  In the open, dirty and littered floor at the center of the warehouse, Aura, wearing a pair of black leggings and a black tank top, stood waiting.

Her bosses didn’t know she was here, though the only thing they would’ve reprimanded her for was coming alone.  She didn’t care though.  Not today.

Finally, she heard what she was waiting for and turned around quickly.  There, walking into the building in an outfit that matched Aura’s, skin tight to reveal that she carried no weapons, was her twin sister.  She stopped ten feet away from Aura, and both were silent for some time.  They were identical twins.  Save for the fact that Alina wore her hair longer than Aura’s, it would’ve been like they were looking into a mirror.

“You’re alone?”  Aura asked.  Alina nodded.

“Weapons?” Alina asked in reply.  Aura just turned her body around, showing that she was concealing nothing in her form fitting outfit.  “Okay.” Alina sighed, glaring at her sister.

“First things first.  I didn’t call you here to fight.  We’re going to talk.  That's it.”  Aura said, holding up her arms in an open gesture.

Alina scoffed.  “What, you wanna bury the hatchet now?  Hug and make up?  You killed Ana.  You’ve spent the last three days going after the safe houses you know my friends use.  You tried to shoot a few of them.  How the fuck do you think-“ Alina snapped, and Aura cut in.

“Oh no.  We aren’t burying shit.  You’ve done the SAME things Alina.  We’re settling our claim on each otherone way or another.  I called you here so we could have a war council.  Lay down how this is going to go.”  She said, putting her hands on her hips.  Alina crossed her arms and raised her eyebrows.

“I’m listening.”  She said.

“First.” Aura started, “we leave mom and dad out of it.  They don’t need to know any of it.”

Alina nodded and said “agreed.  I want guarantees for two people.  They don’t need to get caught in the crossfire.”

“Fine.” Aura said, “but I get two names too.”

Alina nodded her agreement.  “Amy, and Bentley.  They’re kids I’ve kind of taken on.  Teaching them.  They don’t need to get hurt over this.”

“Done.  And I want Victor and Casey.  I have my reasons.”  Aura said.

“Done.” Alina said.  “Is that it?”

“No.  One more thing…I want it clear, when the time comes, and we do this…it’s just you and me.  If other people are with us, we keep them out of it.”  Aura said.

“Wouldn’t have is any other way, sis.” Alina said, spitting out the last word as if it were a vile curse.  “In the meantime, I hope you know I’m going to hurt you in every way I possibly can.”

“No worse than I’m going to do to you.”  Aura snarled.  The girls stood in silence for a moment, then as if answering a silent signal, they began to part and walk away.  “You know…” Aura stopped and looked back at Alina who turned back around to face her.  “Ana screamed for her mom when I was bashing her face against the wall.  I enjoyed it.”

Alina’s face went purple with rage.  She let out a primal, guttural scream and charged at her sister.  Aura turned to meet her head on, and as the two crashed together, they sprawled hard onto one of the old work tables in the room, screaming and cursing for all they were worth.

[southwrestler09]

The doorbell rang, and Bethany immediately opened it.  The usual wave of nausea filled her stomach as she looked at her ex husband who stormed into the house.  “I’ve called them both about a dozen times.  It goes straight to voicemail.” He said flatly, throwing up his arms in frustration.  “For fuck’s sake Bethany.  Have you not paid any attention to what Aura is doing?  At all?”  He snarled at her. “I’ve kept tabs on Alina since the first day she started with the Sinners.”   Bethany bristled, and took a step toward her ex.

Bethany was a strong woman, she had always been athletic and kept up with her gym routine.  Even now at 37, she was a beauty, her hair the same shade as that of her two daughters, and the signs of aging were very few.  Mike was a slender man, the same age as Beth, and though he had always kept himself in shape, the two of them were of a similar stature, though Bethany stood a bit shorter.

“I didn’t want Aura to start in with this.  But now that she has, shes done just fine for herself.  Fucking excuse me if I wanted to let her be an adult and not spy on her so I could relive the fucking glory days.”  She spat back at him.  Mike ran a hand over his face in frustration, and sighed, looking away from Bethany.

“I get that, but come on….”  He said through gritted teeth.  “Hold on.”  He turned back to her then.  “Does Aura….does she know about us?”  He asked, “Because we swore when we split that the girls wouldn’t ever-”

“She knows I was in the Whispers.  She doesn’t know about you.”  Bethany responded, a vindictive tone in her voice.  Mike began to turn red, the color starting at the base of his neck as it always did when he was suddenly angry about something.

“You fucking idiot.”  He mumbled, then sighed again.  “Okay fine.  That doesn’t matter.”  He sighed.  “That isn’t the point.  The point is that our daughters are out there somewhere, and they are out to kill each other.  We need to figure out where they are.”

Bethany wanted to retort.  To tell Mike exactly what she thought.  But she knew what would come of that.  It was the very reason they so seldom talked to each other these days; and while that prospect was something she didn’t think she would mind right now, she knew now was not the time.  “Okay, where do we start?”

The two parents began to plan how to figure out their daughters’ whereabouts just as, a short distance away, Aura and Alina had come together.

Aura had expected Alina to attack her after her comment about Ana.  She had prepared for it, and had turned to charge her down in return.  Alina had gotten a better running start however, and as they collided with each other and crashed onto the dusty metal sewing table, it was Alina who had gotten the better of the exchange and landed on top of her sister.  There were no coherent words between them.  Only savage, terrifying screaming as they finally got their hands on one another.

The table didn’t move as the girls landed on it, and Alina immediately wrapped both of her hands around Aura’s throat.  Aura gagged and snapped her legs around Alina’s waist to maintain some sort of control over the situation as her windpipe was completely closed off.  Alina lifted her head and slammed it down onto the hard surface, and Aura immediately felt the pain crash through her skull as stars exploded in her vision.  The shorter haired girl acted fast, reaching up and going straight for Alina’s eyes with her thumbs.  Alina screwed her eyes shut and turned her head to avoid having her eyes taken out, but the distraction was enough for Aura to roll her hips, tossing Alina off of her and sending her crashing off of the table and to the floor.  Aura was on her feet quickly, just as Alina rolled up to her hands and knees.

Aura yelled, her voice cracking as she sent her foot flying into her sister’s side.  The kick was savage, and Alina cried out as her ribs screamed in protest.  The kick had been hard enough to almost lift her off of the dusty floor.  She crashed onto her back, her eyes watering with the pain.  She braced herself as best she could, expecting Aura to straddle her, but opened her eyes just in time to see the sole of the other girl’s sneaker flying downward.  It crashed into her face, and Alina’s stomach lurched as she heard an audible snapping sound as her nose was broken.  The pain came moments after the noise, and Alina retched as blood backed up from her sinuses into her throat.  Aura’s foot was up again, and about to stomp down on her a second time.  She acted fast, operating on pure adrenaline as she managed to shove down the feeling of pain in her nose and ribs.  She rolled to the side and Aura’s foot crashed down onto the floor with a loud thump.

Alina howled again as she grasped Aura’s ankle with both hands and drove her own foot right into the side of her sister’s knee.  The howl that Aura let out filled Alina with a sick and terrible joy.  Her opponent crashed to the ground, clutching her leg, her face screwed up in pain.  Alina scrambled to get on top of her again.  The two wrestled and grasped at each other, falling into a schoolyard style catball as they grasped each other’s hair and rolled across the filthy floor, back and forth, tearing into each other and throwing punches at anything they could reach.  They weren’t interested in anything but causing the other as much pain and anguish as they could now.  Alina’s hand slipped out of Alina’s short cut hair after some time, and she cursed herself silently for not realizing just why her sister had kept her hair this way since she had joined her own gang.  Aura felt the hand slip out, and grinned savagely as she twisted her own hand into Alina’s longer hair and gave it a merciless jerk.

Alina shouted as her head was jerked back, and was almost grateful when a few of her locks were torn from the scalp.  It allowed her to slip her head out of her sister’s grip, and she responded by grasping the sides of Aura’s head with her hands and pulling her in as she drove her forehead into Aura’s face.  As Aura’s nose snapped against Alina’s head, Alina couldn’t help but let out a strange, almost insane laugh.  She saw Aura’s blood pour from her nostrils just as she managed to put herself on top of her opponent.

“Fucking hurts doesn’t it?”  Alina snarled in a voice hoarse from screaming and howling, the first coherent words either of them had actually spoken since they had made physical contact.  Even as she spoke, she drove her knee hard between her sister’s legs, and was satisfied to see Aura’s face go white, and hear her screaming go dead silent for a brief moment.

Aura knew she had to move quickly, despite the pain she was feeling as Alina reached for her face.  She picked her knees up with all the effort she could muster, and kicked at Alina’s chest, managing to send her opponent flying back onto the floor, winded from the unexpected counter.  Both girls rushed to their feet as quickly as they could, but Aura now had the advantage again as Alina was gasping to catch her breath.  Aura’s twin had landed, then stood close to one of the workshop’s walls, and Aura charged her, a plan forming in her head instantly.  She clutched Alina’s shoulders, and drove her back, crashing her into the hard surface of the wall, driving even more precious oxygen out of her opponent’s lungs.  Alina doubled over, her eyes wide with shock as she desperately gasped for air.

Aura clutched Alina’s hair again, and locked her hand into it.

The words that came out of Aura’s mouth were not a conscious choice.  She was yelling incoherent phrases as she jerked Alina’s head off of the wall and pivoted, finding one unbroken pane of glass in the window they had landed next to.  She drove her sister’s head forward, the sound of shattering glass entirely drowned as Alina let out a shriek.  Her face and head began to bleed profusely as it was slashed open by the filthy, jagged edges of the window pane. After Aura had pulled Alina’s head back, she let out an inhuman sound, made of a foreign mixture of anger, surprise, and pure glee.  She shoved forward, and Alina saw her sister’s plan, which made her stomach lurch in panic.  Alina’s neck was flying toward one of the jagged edges of broken glass still attached to the window.  Alina, not even aware that she was moving, slammed her hands against the bricks beside the window, shoving back to keep herself from being impaled on the glass.  She pushed with all of her might, even as Aura continued to try and drive her into the deadly looking edge.

Finally, with an almighty heave, Alina placed her foot against the wall and kicked out, unbalancing both of them, but putting plenty of distance between herself and the glass.  The girls sprawled in the dirt, and Alina rolled up, grabbing a handful of the gritty filth.  As Aura propped herself on her elbows, Alina slammed her hand into her sister’s face, rubbing the grit into Aura’s eyes and mouth forcefully.  Aura bellowed and Alina tackled her to the floor, straddling her waist.  As Aura tried to rub the offensive material from her eyes, Alina began to drive punches down into her face.  She plowed fist after fist into her mouth, her jaw, her burning eyes, and continued doing so until she could see the swelling imprints of her knuckles begin to appear there.

Aura, after some time struggling as her face took repetitive abuse, Aura managed to get her arms up and wrapped her hands around her throat, squeezing for all she was worth even as she took punch after punch from above. 

After a few seconds, Alina was forced to abandon her assault, and snapped her hands back to pry at the hands that were throttling her.  Suddenly, a flash of light strobed through the very  window that was now stained with blood.  The light was a heart stopping blue.

The girls froze, all thoughts of killing each other here and now suddenly abandoned as the chirp of a radio floated in on the air.

“10-4, responding now.”  A male voice hit their ears as footsteps approached the door to the room that they had made their battleground.

“Fuck.”  Alina whispered, jumping off of Aura, and looking around for the nearest escape route.  Aura leapt up as soon as she was able, and the sisters stared, wide eyed as the sound of footsteps from at least three police officers approached the door.

They looked at each other.  Both of them were bleeding heavily, clothes torn and filthy, and already looked like they would be bruised and in agony as soon as the adrenaline wore off.  The two of them curled their lips in disgust.

“You got fucking lucky.”  Alina whispered.

“Fuck that you fucking cxnt.  This isn’t over.”  Aura snarled back as the two of them began to plan their escape.  As the front and back doors to the warehouse were kicked in, the girls were already separated, diving off toward the sides of the building where they both knew that there were a couple of handy places in the walls that would allow them to slip out.  As they edged their way into the woods as quietly as they possibly could, both of them felt a sense of strange gratitude toward the officers who had almost stumbled in on them.

Neither one had wanted it to end there.  Not like that.  There was so much more they could do to each other before the end came.

[deity17313]

Wish there were more breast and crotch attacks. In my mind I see a teen Candice Swanepoel as the figurw of both twins. Nice story but plotwise could have been more added. Maybe the both have a relationship with Jared?

[southwrestler09]

Wish there were more breast and crotch attacks. In my mind I see a teen Candice Swanepoel as the figurw of both twins. Nice story but plotwise could have been more added. Maybe the both have a relationship with Jared?

Don’t worry, it’s far from over.  Though, I’m afraid I’m going to have to disappoint you on the relationship front.  This feud is about different things.  Besides, Aura wouldn’t be caught dead dating a Sinner

[southwrestler09]

Mike was on the phone when Bethany came back into the room.  She had gone into the back of the house to make some calls of her own.  “Okay.”  He said into his cell phone.  “Okay.  Yeah.  Got it.  Thanks Harper.  I owe you one….You too.”  He hung up.

“Harper huh?”  Bethany asked in a conversational tone.  Mike looked at her with a roll of his eyes.  “Oh come on, now is not the time.  Look, it’s not much to go on, but she says about twenty minutes ago that something came over her scanner about a disturbance at the old sewing plant.”  He shrugged.  “Might be nothing but whoever called it in was out jogging and heard two female voices.  Lots of screaming, and it was pretty clearly violent.  Might be worth checking out.”

Bethany didn’t respond right away, and didn’t appear to have much of a reaction to the statement.  She walked into the kitchen and leaned into the cabinet, pulling out a bottle of tequila.  She opened it and took a large swig.  “Here.”  She said, handing it to Mike.  He took a drink and sat it down on the table.  “They find anybody?”  She asked.  Mike shook his head. 

“No, but there had clearly been a fight.  It looked nasty.  Might not have been them.”  Mike shrugged.  Bethany nodded and looked out the window.

“Even if it was them, there’s probably nobody dead.”  Bethany said musingly, almost casually.

“Well. you’re suddenly awfully relaxed for someone who was so panicked thirty seconds ago.”  Mike snapped.  “Almost like you don’t care.”  He added, crossing his arms.  Bethany sighed, picked up the tequila from the coffee table and turned it back for a long moment before handing it back to Mike.

“You ready to cut the shit Mike?”  She asked.  Mike raised an eyebrow, but drank from the bottle nonetheless.  He opened his mouth to protest.  Bethany shook her head, silencing him.  “Come on.”  She said.  “Who do you think planted the idea of a war council in Aura’s head.  We did that shit all the time back in the day.  She doesn’t think I know about her and Alina.  But I told her some old stories.  I knew she liked the idea.  I knew she would take right to it.”  Bethany pulled out a pack of cigarettes and lit one between her lips.  She drew long and hard and then exhaled.

“And you,”  She continued.  “You still have your old Sinner contacts.  You know all about it.   And I know you.  “You’ve been doing the same thing.”  She raised her lips in a smirk as she took another drag of her cigarette.  “I wanted to know if Aura was alive.  I was afraid her fucking Sinner sister might have killed her.  Now that I know she hasn’t….well, it’s time to drop the act.”

Mike took a deep breath.  He didn’t say anything at first, but finally locked eyes with Bethany.  “Yeah.  Okay.”  He said, nodding.  “I wanted to know if you had heard from Aura because I thought the same thing.  If Aura had killed Alina, she might’ve come here after.  But I’ve been using what I have to help Alina under the table while she’s been in a Sinner.  And I have plenty.”  He picked up the tequila bottle and offered it to Beth.  She shook her head, and Mike shrugged, taking another swig from the bottle.  “So, what now?”  He asked.

Bethany just shrugged.  “I think we both know.”  She said with a nod toward the front door.  Mike couldn’t help but chuckle a little as he made his way for the front door, shaking his head, though he never turned his back, and kept his ex wife in his line of sight.

“So do we tell the girls?”  He said, as his hand reached the doorknob.

“Not yet.” Bethany grinned.  “I kind of like this game with Aura”  She plopped herself down on the couch.  “Same agreement for us as last time?”  She asked with a voice that sounded like she was asking Mike on a second date.  Mike only rolled his eyes.

“Yeah.  Same agreement.”  He said, walking straight out of the front door looking over his shoulder every couple of steps.

Alina ran through the trees and underbrush, panting as she tried to get deep enough that she would not be found by the police who had broken down the doors.  She only had to make it for a few minutes, then the cops would be gone, and it would be only a half mile walk to the nearest safe house.  Her face burned horribly, and her broken nose was forcing her to breath through her mouth.  As the excitement of the moment wore off, the pain set in deeper.  Every part of her hurt, and that window pane had caused her to lose a lot of blood.  Not to mention that Alina had suffered two bashes to the head.   Eventually, Alina fell into the grass and was forced to crawl into a nearby bush to hide.  She couldn’t move any further.

Aura, having gone the opposite direction, was in a similar situation.  Once her life was no longer in danger, and the thrill of the moment had worn off, the first thing that Aura realized was that hr sister had really fucked up her knee.  When they had been fighting, it had been a mild annoyance.  But now, it was complete agony to put weight on it.  Then, the pain in her eyes and face set in just as she was forced to collapse to the ground and stifle her sobs as she waited for it to be safe to emerge again.  She didn’t know how long she had waited before she pulled her phone out.  She clicked a contact and hit ‘call’.

“Listen…oh god….”  Aura said, clutching her leg and grimacing to keep from screaming.  “I’m  gonna need a lift.”

ONE WEEK LATER


In the end, neither of the girls had been permanently injured from their altercation, though it had cost them a hell of a painful stint on a doctor’s table, and a temporary relief from what their groups called ‘family duties’ until they were recovered.  For Aura, she had finally checked in with her mother after getting herself patched up, and returned home after a day or two.  She was now lying back on the bed in her room, enjoying the silence as she went over what had happened for probably the hundredth time.in her head.  The door creaked open, and her mother walked in, carrying a cheap plastic tray with a sandwich and an ice pack on it.  She handed both to Aura, who smiled at her.  She was perfectly capable of fending for herself, and though she was an adult in every way, she still appreciated the way her mom doted on her sometimes. 

“Thanks mom.”  Aura mumbled, putting the ice on her knee and setting the tray with the sandwich aside for the time being.  Bethany sat down on the edge of her bed and looked at her for a minute, appearing deep in thought about something.  “Uh…what’s up?”  Aura asked, raising an eyebrow.

“So, it’s been a week now….”  She started.  “Tell me what it was like.”

Aura had gone over her cover story for her mother a million times, but had only had to recite it once when she had come home.  “Not much to tell you mom.  Like I said before, I had a beef with another girl from the family and we settled it.  We’re good now.  That’s all.”  She shrugged, taking a bite of the sandwich and setting it aside again.  Bethany only gave her a knowing smile.

“That’s not what happened.”  She said.  “I let it go when you came home because you were banged up, and I didn’t wanna squeeze you for information.  And, I didn’t ask you what happened this time.  I asked you what it was like.”  She paused, a bit of mischief coming into her eyes as she asked.  “What was it like to fight with your sister like this?”  Aura’s eyes opened wide and her mouth dropped open a fraction in surprise.  “Yeah,”  Bethany chuckled.  “Your dad and I both know all about it.  Silly thing, you think we wouldn’t both be keeping tabs on you when you got mixed up in all this?”

Aura had always thought her mother disapproved of what she was doing, but had kept quiet and been as supportive as possible because she, Aura, was an adult.  “Dad?  Why would he-”

“I’ll get to that.”  Bethany waved a hand to cut Aura off.  “First, tell me what it was like.”  she said again, making it clear that if Aura wanted her questions answered, she’d have to answer her mom’s first.

“Well…”  Aura started.  She tried to vocalize what she had been thinking for a week.  What she had been a little afraid to admit even to herself.  “Honestly mom, it was….it was…”

“Fun” Alina said, as she sat cross legged  in her father’s favorite recliner.  He had asked her the exact same question.  “It was like…Aura was still an important part of my life, but in a different way now.”  She said, taking a sip of the cup of coffee in her hand.  “I hate the stupid bitch, and I want to watch her die in my hands…but I’m in no hurry.  This is something I think we both want to drag out.”  She shrugged.  Her father smiled.

“Okay.”  He said, “So when you’re ready, what’s your-”

“Next move?”  Bethany cocked her head in curiosity.  Aura just looked down at her bare feet and smiled.

“I don’t really know.  I might have an idea or two.”  She looked up at her mother then, a little curiously.  “You do know that Alina and I…one of us is going to end up dead, right?”  Wondering for a moment if Bethany actually understood what was at stake here.

“I know.  Just make sure it’s not you.”  She smirked at her daughter, leaving it at that.  She stood then, and began to walk out of the room.

“Hold on!”  Aura called after her.

“What happened with you and mom?”  Alina asked, as Mike laid a bottle of cheap tequila in front of her and announced he was going to bed. 

Mike sighed, and ruffled his daughter’s hair.  An affectionate gesture that she still appreciated to this day.  “I think we can talk about that-”

“Later.” Bethany smiled and stood in the doorway to Aura’s room.  She lingered there for a moment, looking at her daughter with an odd expression on her face.  “Make me proud out there Aura.  I know you will.”

ONE WEEK LATER

“Aura, where the hell you been?”  called a petite blonde girl when the short haired brunette walked in the front door  of the safe house where she and four other people were kicked back on the ratty furniture in the living room.  The girls shared a hug, then the blonde planted a kiss on her lips and shoved her tongue down Aura’s throat.  “I was beginning to worry,”  She purred, running her hands through the other girl’s short hair.  Aura raised her eyebrows and grinned.

“I’ve been around.”  Aura said, a grin plastered on her face as she reached around and grabbed the girl’s ass.  “I’ll make it up to you though.”  She winked before gently pushing the blonde away.  “Today’s catch.”  She said to the room at large, pulling a wad of cash out of the pocket of her black hoodie.  “Where do you want it?”  One of the boys sitting on the couch answered, never looking up from his video game. 

“Back bedroom, bedside table.”  he said

Aura nodded, then headed for the back room, the other girl hot on her heels.

“Go easy on her Zoe, she just got back.”  One of the other boys called.  Aura barely had time to throw the money on top of the safe deposit box in the drawer before Zoe had grabbed her by the sweater and thrown her onto the bed.  Aura just grinned up at her.

“Didn’t they say to go easy on me?”  Aura giggled.

“Fuuuuck that.”  Zoe grinned in a mocking voice as she straddled the now smiling Aura and tore at her sweater with her hands, eventually slipping it over her head as the two fell into a hot and passionate embrace.

By the time they were finished with each other, Zoe and Aura lay naked beside each other. covered in a sheen of sweat.  “Good…god.”  Zoe said, short of breath.  “You’ve NEVER made love to me like that before.”  She gasped out, rolling over and laying her naked body on top of Aura’s.  Aura only smiled and stroked the other girl’s cheek.

“Well,  I guess some things have changed.  I’m basically a different person these days.”  Aura winked, and leaned up to bite Zoe’s bottom lip.  She gently pushed Zoe aside then and stood up, stretching herself out before sliding her discarded panties off of the floor and sliding them on.

“Those are new by the way.”  Zoe giggled.  “When did you pick up the pink ones?  Didn’t think you liked pink.”  She said, leaning her head on her pillow and smiling up at Aura with an affectionate expression.  Aura didn’t answer right away.  She slid her jeans back on and grabbed the sports bra she had thrown aside, replacing that as well.  Finally, she took a deep breath and turned to face Zoe before sliding back into the bed and straddling the other girl.

“Well.”  Aura said, tracing her fingers along Zoe’s naked breasts and grinning down at her.  The blonde girl giggled and squirmed a bit at her touch.  “I actually like pink alot.  Come on…it’s like you don’t even know me.”  Aura winked and leaned down to kiss Zoe.  “Then again…”  She said as she pulled back.  “I guess you really don’t.  I mean…I don’t really think we’ve met before.”  The silence that fell between them in that moment was palpable.  Zoe’s face went from amusement, to confusion, to a blank expression, to pure horror.  Just as the comprehension dawned on the girl’s face, Alina snatched the heavy metal box from the bedside table where she had left it and slammed it with all of the force she could manage into her head.

Zoe tried to shout, but the blow had disoriented her beyond the capability to let out anything more than a whimper.  The box came down again, and again, and again, and Alina laughed as the sounds of the thudding soundtrack of the video game from the other room drowned it out.

Zoe was still alive, and she was crying, whimpering, and trying to cry for help, though nothing came out but the tiniest of squeaks.  Blood was everywhere, and Alina was still straddling her, holding the money box high.  “She had the chance to give me two names you know.  Two people I couldn’t touch.  Your name wasn’t one of them.  Guess you weren’t anything but a pathetic little fuck toy for my sister.”  She said, relishing the renewed tears that leaked from Zoe’s eyes at the proclamation.  “Don’t worry…she always was a nasty little whore.  You weren’t the first.  I’m sure by the time I kill the bitch, you won’t be the last.”  Alina grinned savagely as she brought the lockbox down again.  She didn’t stop until Zoe began convulsing and then eventually went still. 

Alina stayed straddled atop the lifeless body with her makeshift weapon held high above her head until she was certain the other girl was dead.  Once she was, she dropped the box just long enough to finish dressing herself, and gave a little laugh.  One little haircut, and she had not only been able to walk in and do what she had intended on doing…but she had gotten to fuck her twin’s girl of the week before she had killed her.  That, above everything else, had been the sweetest.  She couldn’t dwell on that at the moment however.  Her job wasn’t entirely done.

She pulled the small pistol from the boot in which she had been hiding it before slipping them on, and strolled into the other room.  One of the boys gave her a brief glance and turned back to his video game.  “You two work out the kinks yet?”  He asked, clearly thinking his joke was clever.  He only had a split second where he snapped his head back to Alina at the sight of the blood on her clothes before the POP of the small firearm discharged, and he slumped to the floor with a surprised look frozen on his face.  His friend only realized what was happening as the pistol sounded and jumped to his feet, reaching for the waistband of his jeans in panic.  It was no good however.  Alina had the jump on him, and she fired her gun once more into his chest.  The second boy slumped to the floor, gasping and clutching at the now widening pool of blood coming from him.

“Well, that was easy.”  Alina said as she leaned down and snatched the pistol from the dying boy’s jeans.  She headed for the door, the sturdy lockbox held tightly in her hand, still dripping blood from the body in the other room.  She reached into the bag she had carried with her then and pulled out the things she needed to make a quick molotov cocktail.  She assembled the explosve device with expert precision and lit it, lobbing the bottle at the curtains closest to the boy still dying on the floor.  She watched it catch fire and grinned.  “Later.”  She said in a sing song voice as she sauntered out, satisfied that the place was going to be taken down to the foundation by the time her fire was done.  She ducked into the nearest dark alley she could find as she got outside, and made a run for it, headed to where she knew Bailey was waiting with a car.

“It’s done.”  She said into her phone as she dived into the car and felt it speed down the street. “Three dead and the whole place is gonna go down.”  The person on the other end of the conversation was silent for a minute.

“Was it necessary?”  The man asked, an indifferent tone in his voice.

Alina smiled to herself.  “Oh, you have no idea Asher.”  She said with the shadow of a laugh in her voice.  Asher sighed on the other end of the line.

“You two are escalating this war a lot faster than I would’ve thought you were capable.”  He said with a slight tone of annoyance in his voice.  “But…”  He added, “I can’t pretend I don’t kind of like it.  I appreciate your drive Alina, but you and your sister need to settle this quickly.  You got it?”

“Oh, I got it.”  Alina said back to him.  “Just don’t be too mad at me before we see what’s in this box huh?”  She giggled a bit as the line went dead.

Just across town at that exact moment, the real Aura was in the backseat of a car.  They were rolling slowly down the street as Aura kept her eyes on the road.  Her information had been good, she was sure of it.  Sure enough, before long, she spotted her mark.  He was tall, slender and handsome.  Exactly what she had imagined when he had been described to her.

“Slow down.”  Aura said to the driver, who pressed her foot onto the brake.  Aura leaned out of the window, her hood pulled over her head as they drew near to the young man.  She could see comprehension dawn in his eyes as he locked eyes with her, and she couldn’t help but relish the panic she saw there.  She raised the automatic rifle and fired, peppering his chest with six bullets before he collapsed, bleeding out onto the sidewalk.  The girl in the passenger’s seat turned as if to speak as the driver stomped on the gas pedal.  Aura just shot her a look that entertained no argument.  The other girl just shrugged and settled back into her seat as the car moved down the street.

Bethany jumped for her phone as it rang.  Aura’s name shined out like a beacon on the screen.  ‘Hey baby.  Did you get him?”  She asked, her heart beating fast in her chest.

“Got him about thirty minutes ago.”  Aura said from the other end of the phone.  “Thanks for the tip mom.  I wouldn’t have taken Jared for that guy.  This is really going to crawl under that bitch’s skin.”  She said with a shadow of a grin in her voice.

Bethany’s heart gave a little skip as she prepared herself to break the news of what she had recently heard to her daughter.

“Good job baby.”  She said, letting the pride in her daughter wash over her for a second.  “Jared was somebody she cared about a lot.  But listen to me…there’s been a fire.  And it looks like it might have been Alina who did it.  Honey I need you to get somewhere safe right away okay?”

The conversation proceeded with Bethany informing Aura that she had gotten a phone call from an old contact about a house catching fire with three people inside.  She gave Aura the address and listened for her daughter’s reaction.  Unsurprisingly, Aura didn’t have words to respond with.

“Thanks mom.”  Aura finally said, taking a deep breath as she got out of the car when it had reached its destination. “I’ll…See what I can find out.”  She said before abruptly disconnecting the call.

She found out the whole truth almost immediately after walking into the safe house.  Word had gotten around about both Alina’s attack on their outpost, as well as Aura’s drive-by shooting of Jared while he was on his own territory.  “Aura, Robert is pissed.”  Said Casey as she clung onto the front of Aura’s hoodie.  “He’s talking about real, open war now.  Killing Sinners on sight.  What is going on?”  The girl asked with a trace of fear in her voice.

A few more minutes of conversation later, and Aura knew everything.  She was boiling underneath the brave face that she put on for her counterparts.  As soon as she was able to get away from them and slip into the bathroom, she pulled out her cellphone.  She scrolled through her contacts, finding Alina near the top, and clicked on the name.  Her fingers trembled as she hovered over the call button.  She was ready to call her sister and meet her somewhere right now to finish what they had started in the warehouse which seemed like months ago.  Before she could decide to do it however, she flung the phone away with a scream of frustration.  She would handle that later.  For now, she needed to make some plans of her own.