It's already dark outside. Abigail spent her day mostly by the gym, avoiding everyone. Rachel shows up there.

“Come with me,” she says.

“Leave me alone, Rachel, I’m not in the mood, I won’t be a good company,” she drops the weights and her voice breaks.

“That’s up to me to decide. Come,” Rachel looks at her and Abigail gives in, follows her to the backdoor, and they walk a bit further on the garden.

Rachel puts her hands on the floor and creates a floor made of ice in the grass, she makes a bubble of air surrounding it, making sure it keeps it cool, she goes near Abigail, and creates two blades of steel in her shoes, helping her to get into the improvised ice ring.

Is this… because I mentioned how much I loved going to Canada as a child? Ice skating with my family… one of my happiest memories? You… remembered? I told you that for a microsecond on a morning at the gym.

“All yours.” Rachel sits on the outside and creates small fires making light inside the bubble of air.

“What about… your side effects? This is too much,” Abigail looks around, seeing the ice, the fire, the steel on her shoes, the air that keeps it all contained.

Rachel looks at Abigail. Matthew and Amanda stand behind her, shaking their heads.

“It takes more than this for my side effects to show. World’s… most… powerful… deviant. Time for you to admit it,” she laughs and looks away.

“Join me, come on!”

“No… have fun.”

“Come on!” Abigail smiles.

“I don’t know how to…” Rachel sighs and looks down, “skate…”

“You can always heal if you fall, I mean, after you fall… which you will!”

Rachel goes nearer and forms blades out of steel on her shoes as well. Abigail helps her get inside the ring and slowly skating. Rachel loses her balance several times, and eventually falls. Abigail helps her up and they both laugh.

Emily gets up to shut even more of the already drawn curtain when she sees Rachel and Abigail laughing on the improvised ice ring.

Oh, Abigail… how can you fall for such an act? The devil is playing you and you just don’t see it. Don’t worry, I’ll take care of it. What would you do without me?

After Rachel and Abigail leave the garden, Abigail goes to her room and notices that Emily isn’t around. Probably taking a shower, thankfully, or avoiding her, which was for the best.

But instead, Emily stood by in the living room, watching them. Shaking her head, seeing the smiles on their eyes and the awkwardness of it all. She hid when they walked inside, heard Abigail thank Rachel once more. Rachel mentions going to the gym and Emily waits for a bit. She waits for Abigail to go upstairs, hear how the gym door opens and closes, take another look around before slowly and silently walking through the entire hallway.

She smiles before activating her ability. Without much noise turns the doorknob and slowly closes the door behind her. Rachel runs on the treadmill, unaware of Emily’s presence.

“Rachel Moore,” Emily softly says. Inaudible.

She smiles once more, time slows down for her, Rachel’s feet stepping are now merely walking. On her left, dumbbells, one to the head, would be enough. The thought crosses her head, but she isn’t a killer. A monster.

Rachel keeps running, placing her fingers on her throat, checking her heartbeat. Her right foot slips and she falls off the treadmill onto the ground. She grabs her right shoulder and groans.

How…

Her head raises, and she sees Emily.

“Rachel Moore,” Emily’s voice echoes.

Rachel’s eyebrows lift. She raises her left hand. Don’t.

Emily smiles once again and sends Rachel across the room against the wall. Keeping her there.

“Come on, devil. Use your ability. Give me a reason to kill you.”

Rachel tries to get out of the wall, but an unshakable force doesn’t let her. Matthew and Amanda stand behind Emily, smirking.

“You keep proving how weak you are, my dearest. The humiliation of having my own daughter. My own blood. Be so easily overpowered. Refusing to fight back. You’ll be the death of deviants,” Matthew laughs.

The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.

“Devil,” Emily slowly approaches her.

Rachel focuses on Emily, ignoring her parents. No.

“You used your powers to kill us, daughter, but you won’t use them against your enemy.” Amanda shakes her head.

A bar with weights attached to it raises in the air. Emily sends them against Rachel’s throat. Pressing it.

“Come on, Rachel Moore. Do it.”

“What… why…” Rachel struggles to breathe.

“Stay the hell away from Abigail, devil. I won’t tell you twice.”

Rachel gasps for air, her face turns paler.

A loud bang comes from the door. Emily looks over her shoulder and sees Megan.

“Let her go, child.”

“Or what, Angel of Death?” Emily turns around while laughing.

Megan’s right hand turns blue, her face remains the same, her eyes focused on Emily’s. A shiver runs through Emily’s spine, but she pretends it doesn’t and laughs again.

“You can’t use your ability anymore. You are in no position to make any demand.”

“Is that what your government told ya? Should we test that little theory?” Megan says without a single elevation.

Emily smiles and lets Rachel go. The girl falls to the floor, gasping for air.

“Stay the hell away from her, devil!” she starts walking and stands in front of Megan, “and I’d watch your back, Angel, if I were you.”

Emily slams the door shut and Megan goes near Rachel, sits next to her, feeling every part of her body that needs healing, focusing on each one and making the pain go away.

“She could’ve killed ya, Rachel.”

“She didn’t.”

“Why did ya let her?”

Rachel sits and faces Megan.

“What was I supposed to do? Fight back, hurt her?”

“Defend yourself. Use your power to counter hers.”

“Megan, the choice was between defending myself or the movement. I’ll always choose the latter.”

“If you’re gone, Rachel,” Megan faces her, “there’s no movement to defend.”

“I’m not my father,” she looks at him, “the movement isn’t one person…” She sighs, “You were against them coming here. Weren’t you? You think she’s a problem. Don’t you?”

“I wonder…” Megan crosses her arms.

“What?”

“If I hadn’t showed up. Would ya do something? Would she had stopped?”

“Megan,” Rachel’s voice breaks.

“She wants her memory erased. It’s easier that way. To live ignorant,” I wish I did.

“She doesn’t. She’s just having a hard time dealing with everything. Can we blame her? Her entire existence turned upside down.”

“We’re already struggling with everything that we have. We can’t have liabilities. What was this fight about?”

“How would I know?”

Megan gets up and walks toward the door. She turns around and faces Rachel once more.

“I wouldn’t put it past me. Killing. If that meant saving you.”

“Megan,” Rachel gets up and stops the tears from coming down, “you made me promise you, remember? That if you ever tried to kill someone, that I’d have to kill you instead.”

“Let’s hope that day never comes, then.”

Megan turns her back and shuts the door behind her. Tears fall from Rachel’s eyes.

***

When Emily enters the bedroom, Abigail is taking a shower, thankfully. Her lips still tremble, and her heartbeat doesn’t slow down. She sits on her bed, trying to calm her nerves.

That bright blue hand. Death. Can she still use it? She remembers the video, of course, but more than that, when she saw Megan’s blue hand tonight, she remembers everything she felt when she saw the video for the first time. How afraid she was that her parents, all her friends, her, how they would all die if the Angel of Death decided to.

That day, she promised she would be more powerful, the most powerful. That she would kill the Angel of Death. That no one would suffer such a loss again. That no one would know what the fear of deviants was.

Abigail opens the door and pretends not to see Emily. She walks to her bed instead.

“It always ended badly,” Emily says after several minutes of silence.

“Emily, I’m not in the mood. Leave me alone.” Abigail scoffs.

“At the Institute, Abigail,” Emily gets up and stands in front of her, “every single time. Every. Single. Time. Someone showed a bare minimum of interest in you. What did I warn you of?”

“Go to hell.”

“No, really. What did I say? ‘Abigail, please, don’t fall head over heels. Wait it out. People…’”

People aren’t what they seem. Abigail remembers younger Emily saying it countless times.

“People aren’t what they seem! And was I ever wrong? No, I wasn’t. Not with every single of them. And when they… obviously… showed their true colors and broke your heart. I went after them. Every. Single. One.”

“What are you on and on about?”

“Abigail, you pretended that it didn’t bother you. It was weird, really. But I knew that it did. And when we got older it did bother you, but you didn’t talk to me. You had Ánh… and when Ánh died, you had Aminu. But every single time. Every. Single. Time. I went after those people. Talked to them.”

“That’s why they all apologized. All. Telling me that I deserved better.”

“Abigail, you are my best friend, and today, even after we fought… I still took care of you.”

“What did you do, Emily?!” Abigail grabs her.

“We have been friends for over twenty years. You know her for what? A month? Trust me on this.”

“What did you do?” Abigail’s voice breaks.

“In this case… talking wouldn’t get us anywhere. I had to make my point come across more… clearly,” Emily smiles.

Abigail runs to the gym and when she enters, Rachel is stretching. Her top is slightly above her backend, and it shows a massive scar.

“Did she do that to you?!” Abigail comes closer and sits next to her.

“This one?” Rachel pulls up a bit more of her top and Abigail sees the full extent of the scars, a massive one, other smaller ones there. “No, that wasn’t Emily, that was Matthew Moore.”

“When was this?”

“I was seven, eight, I think. My aunt had left for a mission. There was a massive fight when she came back and found out what they’d done.”

“Why haven’t you healed it?”

“Completely forgetting about the past is dangerous. I just feel like I’ll unconsciously repeat it if I don’t have these reminders.”

“You’re not them.”

“In a way, I can be sometimes. Whenever me and Alex fight, it’s very easy for me to use Amy’s death. He feels responsible for it and Amanda and Matthew used it against him. They said it was his fault she died. When I say it to him today, I hear their voice saying it, not mine. So I do feel like I am always one slip away from turning into them.”

“What did Emily do?” Abigail sighs.

“Just some demonstration of power, nothing important. She’s going through a hard time. Things aren’t easy for her.”

“Why are you defending her?”

“This is all too much for her. You see how she is, barely making it through the day. Her father, her brother, everything she knows is a lie. It’s normal to act out. Instead of punishing her, try to be understanding with her.”