by RJ Pritchett
“Give me the gloves. I have to end him. He took too much away from me to let him off the hook like that,” Rebellia said, “Faye…”
“Faye is at peace now. And plus, I’d doubt she would want you to do what you’re thinking about doing right now,” Vivian said, “the answer is no.”
“Yeah,” Rebellia said, turning to Sonia for a split second before looking back at Vivian. From where she stood, she could see the pair of gloves hanging from around a piece of rope around Vivian’s waist. “Yeah… Faye is at peace now… but I’m not. I can’t be at peace unless that motherfucker pays for what he did to me. What he did to us… he took Faye from all of us. That was not the way it was supposed to end. That’s not how we were supposed to-”
“No,” Vivian said again, pulling out her gun and aiming it at Rebellia’s forehead, “I’m not letting you go back there. We can do this the easy way and walk back to the sanctuary all together, or the hard way which is to continue dragging you there… unconscious.”
“You’ll have to shoot me again to stop me. But still, I won’t be at peace. I’m going to kill him one of these days. If not tonight, then tomorrow, if not tomorrow then the next day, or the day after that. I’m not giving up. I’ll get my hands on those gloves eventually, and when I do, I’ll obliterate that son of a bitch.”
“Do you hear yourself?” Quentin asked, “You can’t obliterate him. You’ll be sure to get obliterated right after him. If you use those gloves on him, God will probably be angry enough to obliterate you.”
“God can do whatever it wants. I’d rather get obliterated than to-” she rushed Vivian and chaos ensued. The masked group in all-black rushed over to the two squabbling women. Vivian’s body shook when Rebellia managed to get a hand inside one of the gloves around her waist, shocking her leg before snatching it.
The people in black masks proceeded to grab Rebellia.
“Get off of her!” Daphne screamed, rushing over to help Rebellia, but was stopped midway by Quentin.
“Get the fuck off of me!” Rebellia shouted, trying to fight the unidentified security guards as Vivian reached her feet, “I’ll shoot every single one of you. You all are the reason for all of this! You motherfuckers delivered us to him. I should obliterate all of you!”
“Let her go,” Vivian said, breathing heavily and wiping the side of her face with her sleeve. Her masked followers followed orders and Rebellia stumbled to the ground, “You know what, Rebellia? Here!” Vivian removed the glove Rebellia didn’t snatch from her waist and threw it down on the ground in front of Rebellia’s boots. “Take it! I’m not going to try to stop you from making the biggest mistake ever. We won, already! You and your friends escaped, and we have more people wanting to join your guild… Why do you need to do this?”
“He took everything…”
“And you’ll lose even more if you go through with this. But I’m not going to stop you. Go ahead. Just know that once you make this decision, you will never ever get into Heaven. That’s where Faye is now, you know.”
Without saying another word, Rebellia grabbed the glove off the ground and put it over her hand. She rubbed her fingers and smiled at the electric shocks that permeated between her gloved palms all while ignoring Vivian’s scowl. She turned the opposite way and sprinted as fast as she could without bidding farewell to anyone.
“Goodbye, Rebellia,” Vivian shouted, waving as she walked away, “Let’s go.”
Daphne was the last to move, Quentin was the penultimate, but his movement caused Daphne to follow behind him.
“She’ll be back,” Quentin whispered to Daphne to get rid of the sad expression she wore, “Rebellia always wins. But this is a battle she has to fight herself. But then again, who knows? Maybe her soul will finally be at peace when she’s done.”
“…” Daphne said, finding no words to say once she opened her mouth to speak.
Boom
“Courtney?” Rebellia said, her eyebrows creeping towards her eyes. “Courtney? Where-? What the heck, Courtney?”
“I got another one. He tried to run. He might be a spy,” Courtney said, jumping from atop a small tree stump.
“A spy for who?” Rebellia sighed, looking at the man that laid face down in the dirt several yards away.
“I don’t know, but he was looking at me when I turned around. And when we locked eyes, he panicked and ran,” Courtney said, “Very suspicious behavior. This guy isn’t one of us, so I took him down. We’ll bring him back to Orion and question him once he wakes up.”
“See? This is why Orion shouldn’t have given you one of those in the first place. You don’t do that, Courtney. Who the hell shoots first and then ask questions? What are you, a cop?”
“I operate the way I operate,” Courtney shrugged and zipped her pistol back into her fanny pack, “You don’t hear me asking questions about the way you run things. You take too many chances. If I operated the way you did, I would’ve probably been kidnapped by now.”
“Not with me protecting you,” Rebellia said, “Don’t shoot people unless you absolutely need to.”
“He was going to get away if I didn’t shoot him,” Courtney said.
“Aim for the legs then… if not, let them go,” Rebellia said in a monotonous voice, “I’m about to go get someone to help carry this guy to the base, so watch him. And please, Courtney, don’t shoot anybody else.”
“Don’t tell me what to do,” Courtney said with her eyebrows slanted and arms crossed, “I can do whatever I want. I’m not really killing these people and it’s a safe and effective way to put them down and ask them questions when they wake up. Orion entrusted me with this, and he knows how I operate. I’m doing nothing wrong. You’re just mad because you’re not the one in charge.”
Rebellia stopped walking. A tiny smile grew on her face contrasting the blank facial expression she wore before Courtney started speaking.
“That doesn’t bother me,” she said through her smile, “I never want to be in control. I’m no different than you, so me having control over you is redundant. I can, however, offer you guidance. You don’t understand how this way of doing things can affect your soul, Courtney. You don’t understand. You are slowly becoming a sociopath, and you don’t even recognize it. You’re not understanding the pain (though temporary) that you are inflicting on people with every bullet you fire. These people are causing no harm to you. You don’t understand the magnitude of what you’re doing. This is- what? The fourth person you’ve shot this week? You don’t see anything wrong with that?”
“I don’t know what a socio- whatever you just said is, but I don’t have to listen to you. You’re not my mother or my father, and you’re not in control. Orion told me about you, Rebellia. Always trying to undercut him to take control of whatever situation you can squeeze your way into, but I’m not going to fall for your little tricks. You can’t trick me.”
“Why is Orion so paranoid about me wanting to take control from him? Like I just said, I don’t desire control over anyone or anything. Tell him that, maybe he will finally be at ease,” Rebellia snickered and continued walking away to get help.
“We’re watching you, Rebellia!” Courtney called out.
Rebellia didn’t respond with words, only a short laugh. She soon stopped in her tracks when she heard a series of sounds. The sounds didn’t stay for long but she heard them, and they were loud enough to give her cause to pause. She stopped walking and slowly turned to look back at Courtney. Courtney unzipped and reached into her fanny pack, now pointing the gun at Rebellia with the next bullet already clicked into place.
“You ain’t laughing now, huh?” Courtney said, smiling.
“… Courtney. I’m gonna tell you this one time… put the gun down,” Rebellia said while her instincts were keeping her hands raised to show that she wasn’t posing a threat, “Remember, I can’t die. So shooting me will be a huge mistake for you. I’ll wake up, and you’ll regret it.”
“Is that a threat?” Courtney
asked.
“More like a promise,” Rebellia said, hands still in the air.
“Let’s see if you can keep it,” Courtney said.
Rebellia jumped to the side before the bullet was fired, and before her body could hit the ground, a loud thunderous sound erupted from somewhere very close by. It came and went in a matter of seconds along with the giant flash that occurred, but it felt like it stayed a little longer to Rebellia. Rebellia saw the bright flash in broad daylight, it happened so fast that she couldn’t process what she just witnessed. Confusion washed over her before she finally hit the ground, successfully dodging Courtney’s bullet.
Immediately after falling to the ground, she scrambled to her feet and looked around.
“… What the-? Courtney!” Rebellia’s voice was scratchy at first, but the second time she yelled, her voice was much clearer. “Courtney!”
Courtney was no longer there. Her presence no longer existed in that area. Her essence could no longer be felt by Rebellia at all. The only thing in place of where she once stood was the fanny pack she always wore, and the pistol she always used. The last two items she had in her possession before the lightning bolt struck her.
Rebellia removed her right glove before opening the fanny pack as she ran through the forest. She dropped the glove into the small bag around her waist and pulled out the small pistol that she always carried. As she darted out of the forest, the broken building was now in sight. She didn’t slow down the pace she was running at. If anything, she was moving faster, salivating at the moment to come.
The building was getting closer and closer, growing parallel to her anticipation. She didn’t knock once she got there, her foot did -and when it did, the wood that replaced the broken glass door swung open. The lobby of the building was much cleaner than it was when she last left this place by her own free will. The plants that filled the lobby were in brand new pots, the fallen debris from the breaking walls was cleaned up, and broken glass was no longer all over the place.
Rebellia knew exactly where she needed to go. Finding the staircase with ease, she stomped her way down the stairs, towards the basement. She wanted to yell out his name, call him, warn him of the twisted fate that awaited him, but she thought better of that. She reached the basement and walked through a room that resembled a church. Illuminated by candles, the room was brightly lit. She was able to see everything. The long rows of chairs that were lined up on both sides of the room, the podium that the chairs faced, the piano she used to despise during her time under Orion, her reflection as she walked by a mirror. She stopped and took a moment to see what she looked like before she continued her pursuit.
While walking through the giant room to a door behind the podium, the image of her remained clear in her mind. Her signature crown braid was a complete mess, her clothes were even dirtier than before, her eyes looked to be a bit red, and the angry woman that stared back at her gripped the pistol tight and almost raised it as if she was readying to shoot her.
The room was quiet, but that silence ended once Rebellia pushed herself into the next room. The door creaked loud enough for the lonely man in the corner of the next room to turn his head at the sudden sound.
Without saying a word, she closed the door behind her and stood there with her back against the wooden door. She stood in complete silence after the creaking stopped. This room was also brightened by candles that lined against the walls, so Rebellia could see everything clearly. Unlocked chains hung from the very familiar walls. She looked at the lifeless chains that confined her just hours ago before she turned to see where Faye was once trapped… her attention finally turned to Orion.
Her gun was aimed at the man in the far corner of the room, leaning against the wall motionless aside from a few blinks and his mouth moving every time he groaned.
“I knew you’d be back. What are you here for, Rebellia? Here to finish me off?”
Rebellia aimed the gun directly at Orion’s face as he spoke, moving closer and closer to him hoping for a good shot. His goggles were off, now sitting in the center of the room, broken after she stomped on them.
“I’m sorry, Rebellia. I loved Faye just as much as you did, but she had to move on, it’s her purpose. It is all of our p-”
Rebellia fired the shot that quieted him. A grin grew on her face as his body went limp when the bullet went through his forehead.
“I’m not here for your monologue,” Rebellia said to the unconscious body as she went to grab him.
“This shit is all your fucking fault!” Rebellia shouted, shoving Orion from behind. Quentin and Faye both jumped to hold her back while the rest watched on in silence and disbelief, “if you would’ve never given her that gun, she would be okay. She would still be here. But you make the decisions around here, and we all are just pawns, living and dying by your decisions.”
“You think I’m not mortified by this?” Orion said in a calm voice, contrasting the boisterous energy Rebellia was sending his way, “ I am, but it was God’s decision. God chose to cleanse this world of her spirit. God knows more than all of us. Who are we to argue against God’s decision? We don’t have that right.”
“We have every right to argue against the decisions that God makes,” Rebellia shouted, more so to the crowd of people around them than to Orion, “we’ll remain powerless if we don’t. I can’t sit here and listen to you shrug off that little girl’s obliteration like its no big deal. I can’t just sit here while you just chalk it up to God’s will. Fuck God’s decision. That little girl is someone’s daughter! What are we supposed to say to that girl’s parents if they end up here? Are we supposed to tell them that their daughter, the girl they’ve been waiting for the rest of their lives to meet again is… erased from existence? Or will God erase her from their memories when they get here? Are we all being manipulated like that, or is this an exception?”
Orion remained silent as Rebellia’s eyes moistened.
“You know what?” she continued. “I’m done. I can’t be here. I’m leaving this fucking cult. You’ve been manipulating all of us this whole time as if you were something powerful, but you’re no different than any of us. You have your fancy gloves and some weapons, but without that, who are you? Without this fake church and that prison upstairs, what do you have? An ear for God’s voice telling you how to think? You’re nothing more than a puppet, a slave- whatever you want to call yourself. Nothing more. I can’t be ‘led’ by someone like that. I’m leaving… right now.”
Orion didn’t respond with words. He just stood there, arms folded and staring into Rebellia’s eyes with his own. An unsure look rested on his face as if he was waiting for her to change her mind, or to show hesitation, but Rebellia didn’t hesitate. She turned around to address the people around them, “I’m leaving this place forever. I’m going to start my own group of people that aren’t afraid to question God’s doing. I want to help create not just a group, but a nation, a nation that America wishes it was. A nation bigger than whatever this place is. I’m leaving whether all of you come, or none of you come. This is just an open invitation to join me on making our own decisions, and not being a slave of another slave, or a slave to a higher power. Join me on making the most out of this world. Join me in making this world a better version of Heaven.”
Silence filled the room as many people exchanged confused glances. Vivian was the first to move. When she moved, she walked past Rebellia and stood next to Orion. Rebellia gave a half-hearted smile, and Vivian winked at her, tauntingly. Faye was next to choose sides...
“You know, Orion,” Rebellia said when Orion regained consciousness. He started to move, but his movement was limited. His eyes opened to see himself looking down at Rebellia while he was chained to the wall of the virtually empty room. He panicked for a split second, shaking the chains and trying to free himself with all of his strength, but he only tired himself. “I was planning on leaving your little guild before Courtney was obliterated. Vivian and I were planning on leaving toge
ther. She was just as sick of you than I was… probably even more. However, almost immediately after the whole Courtney situation, Vivian offered to stay as some sort of spy for me and my new guild. How do you think we knew about the people you and your group found in the woods? How do you think we knew about Daphne and Vincent, and where to find them? Do you think we used our own resources to destroy the entire prison? Well, the whole Daphne and Vincent thing was mostly told to me by Benny, but Vivian pretty much destroyed the prison herself… a little prematurely (she could’ve waited until we were safely out of the building first), but she did it. I only tell you this, so you can have a little peace of mind. I know your little brain was wracking, looking for the answers when they were right under that stubby little nose of yours. I’m not going to spend too much time talking to you, because the sin you did was unforgivable, and must be handled immediately,” she shocked him with one of her gloved hands but let go before he could lose consciousness, “You took everything away from me. You knew all about Faye and I’s relationship somehow… you took away our future -all for revenge. I made you look like a fool in front of the people that believed in you. I turned half of your followers away from you. You see, I always knew there was a cold war between us, but I never really paid much attention to it unless I was on a mission to protect people from you.”
“Just get it over with…” Orion yanked the chains as a last ditch effort to escape but the chains didn’t break, “or set me free.”
“It’s crazy how God works, right?” Rebellia smiled, “Just a few hours ago, we were in opposite positions and you were thought to be in control. You were never really in control until the Faye situation happened. I can’t lie, you got me to step out of character for a minute because I broke my own number one rule. A rule that she told me was pointless. But Faye is gone now, she’s happy and at peace because of you. I thought she would stick around to hear me try to justify not telling her about Quentin, but she didn’t… I thought she would stick around to hear your explanation why Daphne’s hair was that color, but she didn’t…” Rebellia rubbed the palms of her gloves together until a small spark erupted between them. “Before Vivian shot the two of us, you tried to use these gloves to obliterate me. I was kinda hoping you did to be completely honest. Obliteration always seemed like the perfect end for me. I go out like a hero, fighting for what I stand for, and not conforming to God’s will. Obliteration will make my existence a myth that everyone would love. Obliteration would drive the people around me to see my vision come to life even more because I won’t be around to see it. Obliteration is our death, and death gives legendary status to those that are loved. Maybe obliteration is still in the cards for me, who knows? But if I know one thing, it’s that the same fate you helped lead Courtney to is the one you will meet. I told you, I was going to kill you. I’m holding on to that.”