September 2028

“This just in. Emily Roberts, the most powerful deviant in the world, has been kidnapped by Rachel Moore and the Angel of Death.”

Emily's eyes are locked onto the television screen. Everyone else in the room burst into laughter when they read the footnote: Parker heir also got caught.

“Jade Harris has taken over as the interim most powerful. We'll be speaking to her in just a few minutes.”

The voices around Emily are now indistinguishable. Abigail laughs loudly with Ánh, while Alex Williams jokes with Diego Álvarez, and the Angel of Death sits next to Rachel Moore. All attention shifts to Emily as she stands up. She fakes a headache and leaves the room.

“I should-” Abigail gets up.

“Let her be,” Rachel looks at Abigail, “Alex, turn up the volume, please. Let’s hear what the new number one has to say.”

***

All cameras focus on Jade. She breathes in sharply and turns her head when her eyes connect with Madeleine's smile. Right next to Madeleine, is Jessica.

“Attention, everyone, we're going live in 3… 2… 1…”

“My fellow Americans,” she pauses, “friends. Today, I stand here with a heavy heart.” Her eyes focus on the teleprompter.

Jessica reveals the ongoing social media responses to Madeleine. Jade's dress and posture are being praised, while others criticize her. Jessica texts an unnamed contact, and seconds later, those reactions are gone.

“Being the number one deviant, the most powerful, is a responsibility.”

Responsibility. A broad smile appears on Jessica's face.

“A responsibility I will not escape.” Jade faces the camera.

Escape.

“Until our dear Emily returns,” Jade looks down, takes a deep breath, and looks up again, “my message today is to one person, Rachel Moore.”

Jessica looks at Madeleine with a questioning expression.

Across the studio, everyone’s jaws drop.

“This wasn't-” Jessica mutters under her breath.

“I know, he’ll know too,” Madeleine looks at her.

“Rachel Moore." Jade's attention is fixed on the camera, “I understand your pain.”

“If I shut it now, it’ll look bad…” Jessica looks back at Madeleine.

“I do. I recognize the unfairness of it all. Shouldn't we have equal rights? Why are we deemed unworthy of being recognized as human beings? I get it. In that aspect, I empathize with you.

Jade's sympathy for the devil sparks a flood of posts on social media. Jessica chooses not to send any texts this time.

“This path does not lead to acceptance. Your approach is destined to fail. If you want acceptance, you must first pursue peace. Enough with the abductions and killings. Show us you aren’t the same as your father.”

Some posts express solidarity with Jade, while others condemn her for her choice of words. There’s no such thing as understanding a terrorist like Rachel Moore.

“Mentioning Matthew Moore was a smart move,” Madeleine whispers to Jessica.

“Madeleine, she has to stick to her script. Does she pose a burden or a risk? Make sure she gets in line. God, I miss Emily already.”

Jade pulls her braids back, glances at Jessica and Madeleine, then turns her attention back to the camera.

“Return them safely to their homes,” she bites her lower lip, “turn yourself in,” her voice doesn’t raise at all. “Go in front of a court of justice and plead for their understanding,” Jade’s voice doesn’t break. “Face the consequences of your actions.” In the same tone as she began, “Is peace what you want? You want acceptance? If you're brave enough, go ahead and take that one step. Stop making everyone hate us,” she pauses again, “stop making people feel distrustful of us.” She takes a final deep breath.

Trying to control the twitching, Jessica curls her hands tightly.

“Do better.”

***

Once Jade finishes speaking, Alex decides to turn off the TV. All eyes focus on Rachel. She wears a smile and declares that it's time to rejoice.

Diego, Ánh, and Alex pour drinks. Megan takes a bottle of whisky for herself. Ánh offers Rachel a glass, but she refuses.

Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

How dare you, Jade Harris? I’m nothing like my father. A smile appears on Rachel's face as she locks eyes with Ánh, but it's not genuine.

Megan takes the bottle to the garden. Rachel notices, gets up and follows.

“Would you like one?” Abigail offers her a glass.

She ignores her completely and walks off without a word.

Abigail’s eyes drown a bit until Ánh shows up behind her and shouts for them to dance. As they watch her, both Diego and Alex have smiles on their faces.

Rachel sits next to Megan, looking around the garden. She envisions herself playing with Andrew as she grows up, chasing after Alex, and ultimately killing both Andrew and Matthew. It all unfolds within her mind. Rachel's memories are interrupted by the sound of the whisky bottle hitting the ground.

“Megan, is there something bothering you? You don't usually drink…” she observes, seeing that half the bottle is already consumed.

Megan's gaze wanders in every direction, purposely avoiding Rachel, her thoughts fixated solely on the events of the previous night. The woman with the red shoes was clearly buying drugs. Why?

“Megan, you can…” Rachel sighs, “talk to me, to us, we care-”

With a firm grip on the whisky bottle, she continues to empty it by taking several long sips.

“Yeah, or that…” Rachel gets up and takes several steps forward. She looks back. “Megan-”

“I’m going back.” She gets up and shuts the door.

Rachel's gaze follows her. Looking through the window, she witnesses everyone else having fun. It seems likely that Alex is drunk, judging by his dancing and smiling. While gazing at Ánh, Diego takes shots and plays with his curls. Megan is now on the couch with them, alone, and almost finished with the whisky. Abigail reenters the room. She probably went to check out on the princess.

As Rachel turns around again, she gazes up at the stars and watches as a gentle breeze rustles the leaves in the garden.

Is this how people see me? Do people think that I am him? As tears fall, she transforms them into dancing drops, turns them to ice, and makes them vanish. Catching sight of the ongoing party, she alters her path to avoid entering the room and heads straight to her own room.

It’s already three in the morning. One by one, the group goes back to their rooms. All but Abigail and Megan. They both sit on the floor, drunk. Megan already has a brand-new bottle of whisky.

I wish I had done everything differently. Zach and Vero deserved better. They must be so hurt. Thinking I’m in danger. Imagining every scenario. Mom, dad… but I had to. Aminu… I shouldn’t have left any of you… but I had to. She grabs Megan’s bottle and takes several sips.

“That’s… that’s… mi-mi-ne,” Megan slurs out.

Abigail aggressively returns her the bottle.

“I thought it would help…”

Instead of acknowledging her, Megan decides to drink.

It would help ease the pain… but their faces keep popping up. Drinking isn’t doing anything anymore. The pain is here. I should… just a bit.

The day Abigail's parents had had enough is still fresh in her memory. Her memory retains every single detail. How her mother tricked her into getting into the living room, the special room they had set up for her. How something prevented her from using her ability. The one she wanted to use now.

I can’t. For them I can’t. Tears well in Abigail's eyes as she takes the bottle from Megan again.

“Lovely.” Megan tries to get up but fails to.

Why aren’t you happy? Why are you doing drugs? Megan's head slumps onto the couch behind her.

Right as Abigail is about to return the bottle to Megan, a loud ringing noise starts. She drops the bottle on the carpet instead. She closes her eyes and grabs her head.

What? Megan looks at her.

The ringing grows louder. Abigail's head is vibrating.

Megan’s right hand turns blue, Abigail’s eyes open, and she flinches, tries to get away from Megan. With a tight grip, she widens her eyes.

“I… he-l-p,” she holds Abigail’s hand tighter, and her right hand turns blue again.

Upon seeing Abigail, she immediately senses the pain, ringing, headache, and vibration. She focuses on it and takes it all away. Her right hand goes back to normal and Abigail smiles.

“It’s… gone…” she focuses on Megan’s eyes, seeing how green they are for the first time.

Megan places her hands firmly on Abigail's shoulders.

“Gone. No more pain. Happy,” she slurs out while patting on Abigail’s shoulders.

Megan takes out her hands from Abigail’s shoulders. Just as she's about to grab the bottle, Abigail's hand lands on Megan's face. She clumsily avoids hitting the couches, turns her right hand blue and walks normally again.

Abigail grabs the bottle and empties it in a drag. There is complete silence. She is utterly alone. The memories of her loneliness are still fresh in her mind. Whenever someone played her and ended things, when Veronica moved to Eurasia, when Zachary went to South America, when her parents traveled the world, when Ánh passed away. Things always improved after, but the lingering feeling of being completely alone always was by her side.

I’m sorry. She sees the faces of everyone she misses and passes out on the carpet.

***

Jade keeps waking up. She sleeps for 30 minutes and wakes up again. She hasn’t turned on her phone since leaving the studio. Her parents were in Kenya, thankfully. Surely, they called to tell her what they thought of her speech.

You can’t hide forever. She turns on her phone and several missed calls and texts come through.

Hey, sweetie! Loved your speech, Jessica isn’t happy that you said your words instead of the one she wrote, but hey, you do you!! I support you! Let’s meet tomorrow. Sleep tight.

Go to hell, Madeleine. The thought of dealing with Madeleine and Jessica more often makes her body tense.

Jessica’s speech was terrible, Jade thought right away when she read it. Heavily forced on emotions. The emphasis was on the people's reaction to Emily's abduction rather than making a direct plea to the terrorists.

Jade was unsure when she would get the opportunity to express herself so openly. Now she could, she was mourning after all, but Jessica and probably Madeleine wouldn’t let her roam freely much longer. In an attempt to provoke Rachel Moore, she had to say this.

You want to make a name for yourself, Rachel Moore. Break free from living in your father's shadow.

She logs in on her social media. Many are commenting that she should be ashamed for prioritizing herself over Emily. That she’ll never be as powerful, that she’s an opportunist. It's clear that she is glad Emily is gone because she knows she wouldn't be number one otherwise. The majority of posts had that tone. Few defended her.

If these are still up, then I must have really angered Jessica.

She keeps reading everything. To keep the tears at bay, she pinches her skin, picks her lips. Anything that hurts her, so she’ll activate her ability.

Upon turning on her tablet, she is met with a series of old photos capturing moments between her and Emily as teenagers, when they first made an attempt at making their relationship work. These were the photos they had chosen to keep private, especially from her own family. All the first moments they shared, the second first moments, whenever they got back together. Will she return unharmed? It's unfortunate that their last conversation ended so horribly. Emily, for the first time, ended things with Jade after finding out about her intentions to have a child with another person.

Please give her back to me. She wanted to have said to Rachel Moore live on television. I beg of you.