• T H I R T Y • N I N E •

"You merely accepted darkness. I was born into it."

• • •

My anger isn't gone like Kitrina thinks. Not at all. It's just subdued. Managed. I'm saving it, mining it.

I haven't given up like Kitrina thinks. I still have a whole lot of fight in me.

I am Rage, and rage never ceases, never tires, and never bows down.

"Come on, Rage," The sharp voice calls. "It's time for your blood test."

Hiding a grin, I trudge out of the room. This is my chance. She's got to be close for my blood test, right?

"I thought you might want to see the results. Since you've been so well behaved, I decided to allow it."

I barely pay attention to her words. I am too busy planning.

"Then, we shall remove your powers."

That makes me pause for a moment. I continue, though, because I know that it won't matter. She'll get close with a syringe, I'll kill her and find my way out of this hell. Find my way back to the boys. Find my way home.

My hands curl into fists as I walk through an opening to a testing room.

Kitrina isn't in there, though. Abraham is.

"Abe?" I hiss, my eyes darting around. "What are you doing here? Is Kitrina trying to take your powers too?"

"No, Rage," He replies tiredly. "I'm here to show you the results of your blood test."

"What? But you don't have my blood," I say, confused and wary.

Abraham nods. "You're right, I don't have your blood. Kitrina took it while you were sleeping, though. She flooded your chamber with gas to keep you asleep when you first got here and took all the blood and samples she needed."

My heart drops at that. I was so certain I would escape...

My arms wrap around myself as his words begin to make sense. I feel so... violated. She came in while I sleeping and drew my blood and who knows what else she did.

Abraham begins to explain all the results, reading from a packet of paper. His words don't register. I am panicking far too much for that.

It's not just that she took my blood. That's minor, really.

No. The problem is that I have no clue how the hell I am supposed to escape now.

"What are you doing?!" I exclaim as I feel a prick in my arm.

My vision grows blurry.

"Rage?! Rage! I thought you were listeni—"

His voice grows distant and I can no longer hear him. Spots creep up in my vision, followed by darkness. Pure darkness. And then I am no longer there.

I am no longer there.

I am waking up in my cell. I can't test my powers because of the power dampeners. I have no way of knowing whether or not my powers are gone. I don't know what happened this time I was asleep. All I have to do is assume the worst.

My powers are gone.

And darkness overtakes me once more as I fall into a deep sleep.

• • •

I am awake again. I can't get up though. I can't seem to find the energy.

I lay there, curled up in a ball in the corner of my cell. My eyes are open but unseeing. I can't seem to feel anything. Not even my anger.

It's just gone. All of it. All of my emotion. I can't feel anything. I am just numb. My mind feels sluggish, my body heavy, and my heart frozen.

I'm not dead, but I'm as close to it as I've ever been.

Death. I may not be the girl of death that Abraham spoke of, but it's done a good job of following me.

You see, when I say that I killed my family, I am not being dramatic. I am not exaggerating. I am not lying. I literally killed my own family. That's the kind of person I am. I deserve this, all of it. A fresh wave of guilt racks me and I shrink into the corner even more.

My family certainly wasn't the best. I have the scars to attest to that. But they did not deserve to die.

Especially not the way that they did.

• • •

This is it, I thought to myself. The end.

I looked to the dark sky, searching for the moon. I've always loved the moon. If I'm going to die outside, at least I'll get to see the moon before it all ends.

My ribs were heavily bruised and at least cracked. Both bones in my left leg where snapped. A long cut to my back oozed blood and fluids with each painful movement.

The kick to my head changed that though.

I thought I was going to die.

I didn't.

I got angry.

Fury filled every bone in my body until I knew nothing more than anger.

Flames burst from me and filled the room.

I screamed in pain and fear. The fire hurt as it burst out of me. I didn't realize at the time, though, that the fire was coming from me. I thought I was dying.

The ground below me shook and the earth split open.

My fathers were shouting and trying to get to me.

"The bitch needs to be put down!" Rome screamed with fear and fury.

Water filled his lungs.

I don't know how I knew, but I knew exactly how much water was in him.

The ground shook even more as strong vines came up. They were the biggest vines I had ever seen, wider than a tree trunk, even. They surrounded the house and crushed it.

Animals swarmed the place, creating even more chaos and damage.

We were all enshrouded in darkness.

I couldn't find the moon.

The screams that pierced the night began to cut out one by one.

One by one.

A tornado swept through and tore up everything and finished off the few people that were still alive.

Not me, though.

I survived.

A dome of thick ice shielded me from all the damage.

I survived.

But my family was gone.

Gone forever.

• • •

Ahh... And you finally learned how her family died...

• • •

Q: So how many of you guys predicted that's how it happened?

A: I know that a couple of you guys were at least pretty close, but I'm a bit curious about how obvious it was.