Dead or Alive
Carl woke up partially naked first, afraid and scared of what she likely had done, realizing that she was obviously a cat for a moment and trying to remember all the crazy recent events. The room was destroyed and Alicia was covered in blood lying on the floor close to Mona. Mona appeared to have fallen onto a glass table and had fragments stuck into her while her blood was mixing into the blood Alicia was covered in. By the looks of it, Alicia was soaked in her father’s blood, because he was close with his neck showing a surplus of damage.
“What the fuck. What to do? Mona can heal. I should wake her up, if she can. Why did she black out? I missed something. How to wake her up? Should I get more clothes? Well, mine are torn. Ummm...” Carl walked away from the bloody horror to the hallway, grabbed a man’s overcoat, tied it in front of her and somberly walked back into the room of horrors quickly while running back.
“Mona... Mona... Can you hear me?” Carl asked. “I know you know I love you, right? Come back. I need you. We aren’t alone anymore. It’s the trio now. I need you all, too. Please come back. We need you now. Ali needs you. We may die without you. I know you are my sister and I am super dependent on you but seriously, we won’t survive without you to look out for us. We are the hermits of this century. Please, come back.You have to.”
Carl started sobbing all over Mona and her tears appeared to help wake her up as she muttered, “Damn, don’t be such a drama queen.”
“Ha. Ha. Seriously, you had me scared. Wake up, bitch face. I missed you.” Carl punched her and Mona looked at her stunned fashion.
“So endearing and painful at the same time.” She laughed as she coughed up a bit of blood. “Don’t worry. I’m ok.”
“Sure, it is how. Of course- you are strong one, you will be ok. Will I be ok? Will Ali?”
“That is funny. You know we will. We have each other” Mona smiled slighly while standing up with Carl’s assistance. “Nice wardrobe. Might want to cross your legs more.”
“It was last minute, you know. Don’t stare at the naked lady. It’s not polite.”
“We should figure something out for you. Some way for you to have clothes when you wake up.”
“Why haven’t I got to see your power yet?”
“We don’t exactly don’t go swimming all the time.” Mona hoarsely said while rubbing her throat and showing she wasn’t the best for the ware.
“Heal yourself.”
“What?”
“You’ve healed birds and what not, right? Heal yourself and then wake Alicia up.”
“I haven’t ever healed a human. I couldn’t even heal a cat. You should have seen Alicia... I mean Ophelia. Ophelia was scary as shit. I think she actually took every ounce of blood from father.”
“Wow.”
“Yeah. Like she probably won’t eat for a month or she’ll puke for a week.”
“Poor girl.”
“Anyway. Heal yourself.”
“Ok. Seriously. Not easy but I’ll try. This is going to look weird.”
“Can I have your clothes?’’
“Seriously? No. Get your own. We both need to shower and change anyway. Blood doesn’t exactly look flattering. Also, how do we clean this or explain this? Not such a good idea. There isn’t like a 1-800 witch line.”
“If there is, Alicia would know, so wake her up after you fix yourself. Just do it.”
“Ok. Fine. Geez.”
Mona placed hands on her neck and put one leg straight forward while the other one was bent to make her foot touch her knee. She then tiptoed until it appeared as she was just standing on a few toes. She started twirling in an obviously inhuman method and came out of the spin dizzy, beautiful and fully healed.
“Cool. You had the power to heal your own scars this whole time.” Carl was very proud of her sister.
“I didn’t know how I could do that. I normal just heal through my hands. It is like something was telling me to do that freak show of a dance. I have an idea.” Mona responded quickly.
“What? Do it. I trust you.”
“Lighter than air, tip on her toes and on my index finger Carl goes. Lighter than air, tip on her toes and on my index finger Carl goes. Lighter than air, tip on her toes and on my index finger Carl goes. ”
Carl started floating and appeared on Mona’s finger while she stood in the same formation. They started spinning so fast that Carl thought she was going to puke. When they stopped, Carl felt completely different.
Her skin felt lighter, as if the internal scars had completely healed. Her internal depression that haunted her for years after the rapes felt like it had finally lessened, though not completely gone.
“How? What?” Carl felt at peace for the first time since she could ever remember.
“Carl, you deserve to be beautiful too, because you are.” Mona smiled. “Now, let’s save Alicia.”
“No need. That was freaking awesome.” A third familiar voice joined the conversation.
“What? Oh no. Who... Who is awake?” Mona asked.
“C.J. actually is the one who originally woke but she let me take control because she is cool like that. I feel more whole. I also feel like I may be tapping into that Succubus thing, which yes I know about. I know everything. Every memory; the memories that Ophelia kept trying to tap into. I know so much more because as an infant, we are so powerful. No wonder mom was afraid of us. I have a serious headache but I know so much more. Our mother thought we could turn into creatures worse than our father. I also gained all of his memories and powers somehow, I can feel it. My thoughts are clear and purposeful.”
“Are you evil now then?” Carl probed, slightly scared.
“No. I’m actually quite the more neutral of beings. I am destined to be great as are you two. We need to prepare for the battle ahead.” Alicia confident in her answer.
“What battle?” Mona was now playing detective.
“We are part of something more important than ourselves. We are innocent and evil. We are the yin and yang that keeps society going. We vanquish evil that comes from other bloodlines more evil than ours, like Hades.”
“The devil?”
“Yeah... He is no myth from the stories I’ve read that correspond with events that I remember reading about. Anyway, I also remember this. Follow me.” Alicia said confidently while strutting to their fathers office.
“I remember the nursemaid whispering outside the door. She didn’t know I was listening on the other side. I eavesdropped a lot because I was bored and it turned out to be positive this time. She said there was a compartment in the desk that she thought her secret documents were in because she couldn’t open it and he never let her in the room. I also have a memory of Fathers of him actually hiding those behind a painting. Anyway, there is a secret compartment in the desk from the underground railroad days.”
“Watch this. I remember his memory on how to open it. They come in randomly in fire bursts. Quite useful. First, you have to open this top drawer to click a pin into the side entry drawer. That opens a hidden compartment that appeared to be lining that revealed a puzzle. One that one typically take days for a locksmith to undo but I have the sequence memorized. It’s the day he found mom when he was such a pedo. Sorry, but seriously, creepy man. Not our fault. We can be better than him. Anyway, about done, ok. One more. And, there.”
The back of the side drawer unlocked and she went around to unlock the final puzzle.
“Yeah, they loved puzzled.” After she was done this time, the back of the panel fully fell off into three separate pieces. They were tablets with each of their signs on them; earth, air, and water.
“A bit obvious.” Mona stated as she grabbed the water tablet.
“Hey, that makes it easier for us.” Carl confirmed while grabbing the earth tablet.
“Do you know the language?” Alicia sarcastically questioned her sisters while reading the air tablet.
“Evidently you do.” Carl was tired of her acting like a know it all.
“Sorry, here you go.” Alicia said while she waved her hand, giving her sisters equal access to her father’s memories, talents and knowledge. She didn’t give access to hers because some were rather private. Also, it appeared to quite have literally drained a lot of energy from both of them. Alicia managed to do the absorbtion so well because she also drained her father of every little drop of energy he had.
“Bizarre.” Carl almost unable to speak sat down.
“That was a bit much.” Mona confided as she did the same.
“Well, you too deserved to know what I know about our father.”
“He is truly evil. What he did to mother was worse than anything she did to us combined to eternity.”
“True that.” Carl playfully responded.
“She is still evil.” Alicia confirmed.
“What do we do?’ Mona asked.
“Well, I figure we have to fight or accept her.” Alicia was more confident with each response.
“What do you mean?” Mona and Carl almost asked in unison.
“Well, she is standing right behind you.”
“Seriously, you couldn’t have warned us sooner.” Mona asked.
“I just got here dear. No need to scold your sisters. You two look like you have been rather busy. What a shame. I hope you have memorized those tablets because that is the last time you are going to see them.” Mother smiled just as evily as their father earlier.
“No, it’s not. We are the power of three plus the heritage of the dark turning light bloodline before us. We understand our vampire heritage and powers. Although we are new, we have the knowledge to defeat you witch. Make one move to hurt my sisters and you will truly wish you were still stone.”
“Woah.” Carl was shocked by the metaphorical balls Alicia had developed.
“I know, right?” Mona was equally as stunned.
“Carl, darling. Your nethers are showing.” Mother managed to find something to make everyone look as she started to cast a disappearing spell. Carl almost forgot she was still naked, somehow. She grabbed a pillow off a chair close by to cover.
Alicia caught her in the final moments and freezed their mother before she could finish whatever she was going to do with the knife she just grabbed. It appeared as she was about to prick her hand with in order to go who knows where.
“Well, that didn’t work completely. I want you to freeze. Now. Freeze now. Freeze now!” Alicia said and her mother did.
“Wow. You are just kick-ass.”
“Yeah. You are too. You will learn. Obi-wan will teach you the ways of the force.” Alicia joked back to Carl.
“Nerd.”
“Ok, you two. What do we do now?” Mona questioned, always trying to plan ahead.
“Well, obviously she doesn’t want to go down without a fight. Father said he had to rip her heart out and do a spell. What if we could rip out her heart and you heal it Mona?”
“Seriously?”
“Yeah. You healed me in ways that I don’t think you could ever understand.”
“Cool.”
“Better than cool. Amazing. A dream come true. A nightmare killed.” Carl was speaking from a place of understanding well beyond her years.
“Who rips out her heart?” Mona asked terrified.
“I do.” Alicia said as she put her hand inside her mothers chest. “Well, I did. Here.”
“What the hell?”
“I’m part vampire, yo.” Alicia smirked in response.
“Part crazy, too.” Mona was slightly horrified.
“Watch it.”
“Sorry.”
“Get on with it. I can’t freeze her forever.” Alicia confided while starting to show her fear.
Mona once more twirled, afraid that she might puke this time, and the heart filled with black started turning a bright red and blue. She finished in one grand collapse movement, similar to disney princesses in angst, onto the floor.
“You ok?” Carl asked.
“Yeah, just a little tired. Here, give this to Alicia.” Mona muttered while holding a sticky and blood covered heart to Carl.
“Ew.” Carl barely held it for a few seconds and practically tossed it to Alicia.
“Watch it. It is a heart.”
“Whatever. Do your stuff. Put it back where it belongs. It’s creepy that it manages to beat outside her chest.”
“Yeah, it’s going to hurt her chest for awhile. Like really ow. My bad. Turn around.”
“Ok.”
“Fuck.” Mother said while rubbing her chest, unfrozen by the re-entry of her heart.
“Well, now let’s see if she is truly innocent or evil.” Alicia responded while rubbing her hands together, like that was going to help with removing the blood.
“That is the question of the day, it appears.” Mother said while taking the only upright seat left in the room.
“Where is your father? I thought I saw him dead over there? He is gone now. I take it that was Alicia’s doing.”
“It was kind of me, yeah.” Alicia responded. “What do you mean where is he? We didn’t move him?
“Oh, so it was Ophelia. She was always strong but it appears as she didn’t quite finish the job. That’s going to hurt.”
“I’m strong too, you know. But, shit. He is gone? Where did he go? Fuck.”
“Yes, dear, very strong.” Her mother said, mocking her. “Well, I’m sorry to disappoint you girls because I don’t know how I feel. My daughter just ripped my heart out of my chest after the three of them turned me into stone earlier today. My body feels like it has been bulldozed while my heart feels more alive than it has in what feels like hundreds of years.”
“We feel for you. We all understand and saw the pain that father put you through.”
“But did you experience it. Truly, experience it. You may have healed my heart but there is no way to heal my brain, dearies. He tortured me to the point of brainwashing, sure. He also tortured me into hating him enough to reflecting that hatred to my 3 beautiful daughters.”
“You do love us.” Carl felt her heart melting a bit more.
“Yes. I also want to kill you because you’re stronger than me. Conflicting emotions.”
“Not for me.” Alicia was tired of playing her game. “God of our earth, hear our plea.” She paused for a second to let the sisters join. “Make our mother solid like a tree. Unleash the power of the trinity, to make our mother stay away from our vicinity. God of our sea, make our mother only temporarily freeze. God of our earth, water and air, make our mother locked for a time that’s fair.”
Their mother turned into stone once more with a tablet that simply had her name etched on it. It didn’t have a timeline, rather just the inscribed words “When the hearts and souls have forgiven, she can truly live.”
“Apparently forever is the judgement time from whoever determines it.”
“Our ancestors and us.”
“What?”
“Well,” Alicia paused to catch her breath. “This will be the last thing I feel like explaining today. The outcome of our powers is determined by our hearts and heritage. That’s it. Crazy and Simple, all in one. I feel like the thoughts of them are disappearing though. Do you?”
“You can say crazy but I can’t?”
“I didn’t call you crazy.”
“True. True.”
“Let’s get out of here.”
“First, let’s take every bit of money we can.” Mona said, intelligently and planning ahead.
“Oh, and...” Alicia closed her eyes and chanted repeatedly until it was apparently done. “Lord of time, lord of clean space. Please forever remove our fingerprints and DNA from this place.”
“That’s good.”
“I know.”
They all laughed as each one filled pillow cases, suitcases, purses, trash bags, and anything they could find with items that appeared either monetary valuable or an item they generally wanted.
Carl filled up the massive Jeep in the garage with her desired treasures, which mainly consisted of Sports memorabilia worth more than she could imagine, random jewels she found, a box of money that was under the bed of their parents and some other odds and ends.
“Ladies, we aren’t out of the woods yet. The tablets combined show we have an evil that we must fight that make our parents look like fluffy bunnies.” Alicia stated as they rummaged for treasuries.
“Have you ever actually met a bunny? They are horribly mean.” Mona responded.
“Well, so were our parents.” Alicia smirked and hugged her sisters before continuing. “As the Deathly Triptych of Sisters, we have got a remarkable journey ahead. You both better be ready to learn more together and sometimes, we will fail. Sometimes, we will win, but ultimately we will have each other.”
“What about our father?” Alicia said, panicked again for a second.
“Well, it’ll all work out. ” Mona said as she grabbed Alicia and Carl for a big polygon tripod hug.
“I hope so. All of this will barely fit in our tiny Nissan Versa. We also need to get Bubbers soon.” Alicia was swelling with anxiety.
“Also, you need clothes. Go borrow something.”
After Carl dressed and the car was packed, they all assembled.
“Well, we don’t have to worry about escaping. I don’t want to live her either. It’s cleaned up and we won’t be in trouble. Our father may come back, since he isn’t dead obviously.”
“Obviously.”
“He doesn’t know about my boyfriend. Mother barely did and she is locked away in cement. He’ll never know. We can go back to the home we didn’t pack and start our lives there.”
“I like that. I have a feeling that the man from my dreams is close to the home we recently established. I want to meet your boyfriend.”
“I text him a bit ago. He lives with his friend and they are going to actually meet us at our new home. If it is ok, I would like for him to move in with us. I was thinking that we could get a bigger home. So, move just a little in the area. What if case father does find the connection, that’d help. They have a truck and are meeting us there to pack up to a new place they already lined up. Money talks and he is loaded.”
“Who is he already?”
“Ok. Well, he invented this app that people love. Really popular guy a while back but he sold the app. We met at a rave one day and fell in love. We go to the same school but no one really knows we date. Super genius. His name is Axil Rayner.”
“Axil. Nice. Random. Weird. Nice.” Alicia responded quickly.
“His parents love rock.”
“Cool.”
“I love him and want to marry him once it’s legal. I wish you all knew him better and you totally will. He’s one year older, so it’s not creepy or anything. His friend is really nice and may stay in the sunroom of the new house for awhile. They are staying away from less than ideal home situations, which we understand.”
“So, a new adventure with people. I love it.” Carl rejoined them dressed in a long evening gown which made everyone laugh.
“Smile, dear. We are going on a grand adventure.” Mona confirmed as they all hugged joyfully.
“I’ve always wanted to be with people. I bet we can finally get our happy ending”
They all assembled in the packed car with Bubbers and their treasures and sped off into the sunset, excited for the new life ahead of them. The boys text that the house was already packed and that they would meet them at the new place before they even got there. Apparently they must have left while they were battling the parental units. The sisters didn’t own too much, excluding what Mona had purchased and assembled earlier. Alicia almost couldn’t breathe in anticipation while petting Bubbers.
“So, you and boy unit in one room. Alicia in one room. Me in another and random guy in sunroom. Is that right?” Carl asked as they pulled up.
“Yes and random boy has a name. His name is Falcon.”
“No way.” Alicia muttered in a barely audible tone.
“What?” Carl wanted to make sure she was ok.
“It’s him.”
“Who?”
“That guy in the front lawn. I dreamt of him. The man of my dreams is standing in our new yard. Not possible.”
“You mean Falcon?” Mona asked.
“No way.” Carl was amazed at their life.
Alicia decided she didn’t want to get out of the car, despite her sister’s protests. They took Bubbers and the bags in the trunk to their new house. Alicia held her head in her hands with great fear of the future.
“You ok?”
“Yeah. I’m ok. Sorry. I’ll be out soon.”
“Ok. Just checking. You look like someone that I’ve seen before, I think. You ok?”
Alicia registered the voice was Falcons. Her dream man was checking on her through a closed window. Of course.
“What’s your name?” He asked, not relenting or leaving.
“Alicia.”
“Nice to meet you, Alicia.”
“Nice to meet you, too.”
“You ready to come in?’’ He questioned earnestly with a bit of fear.
“Ready as we’ll ever be.” Alicia said to herself as much as him.
“I’m sorry?
“Nothing. I’m sorry. Maybe another day I will tell more of my secrets. Today, I’m your future sister in law who wants to know more about you.” Alicia smiled at him.
“You’re interesting. This is going to be fun, for sure. It’ll be nice to get to know you too.”
“A fresh start is a great thing, isn’t it.” Ali said to her sisters.
Mona was holding onto her boyfriend as if she would die without him while Carl was leaning on the entryway door. Ali and Carl looked proudly at their sister with her hopefully dream come true man walk into the house. They weren’t sure how this was going to work but it obviously wouldn’t be any worse than the last time they were with a man. This proved to be either a dream come true or an adventure, but no matter what, they were all confident together. They weren’t sure if they were ready completely but for the first time, they all had hope. Bubbers was rolling in the grass as they all smiled together without any fear left between them, for now.
“So where are you from really?” Mona asked Axil.
“South.”
“South where?” She was curious.
“Hell. Your home.”
Mona froze with what she thought was fear but it wasn’t. It was him. He had also managed to lock her sisters out of the room and they sensed something was wrong. She could hear their screaming but couldn’t reply. She couldn’t hear anything but his next phrases echo in her head.
“Trusting someone so soon. I’ve been waiting for the right moment to take over and this appears the best. Hello darling, I’m here to change your future.”
