FANFIC: Missing Sister, the next generation (15 years after) (Chapter 2)
TITLE: Missing Sister, the next generation (15 years after)
CHAPTER: 2/?
PAIRINGS/CHARACTERS: Most of main cast feature in this. As for pairings, some you might be able to guess, others will surprise you. A lot has happened in 15 years.
RATING/WARNINGS: I'll go with PG-13, just in case.
SUMMARY/NOTES: A next generation fic. Three years ago Brady was kidnapped by the Chosen, and the Mallrats still don't know where she or the Chosen are. Now things are set in motion, bringing the Mallrats and the Chosen towards their final battle, while the next generation of Mallrats are forced to come to terms with their parents' past.
As a way to make it easier to keep track of timelines in terms of flashbacks, I'll be using Year (insert number) AV in the headings to let you know when it takes place. AV = After Virus, so s1 is year 0. S1-s5 lasted about 3 years in the timeline of this story.
CHARACTER PROFILES
(my advice is to try and read the story before looking at the profiles, they are there mainly to help avoid confusion with the amount of new characters.)
CHAPTER 2: We’re not okay
I hope my love can blind you, I hope my arms can bind you,
So you’ll never have to see what we’ve grown to be.
We need lies to make it through the day, we’re not okay.
- Perishers - Pills
YEAR 18 AV (After Virus)
At the farm another early morning had finally settled down as the farmers went back to their homes for a rest and something to eat before the rest of the work day.
The farm looked nothing like it once had. The woods surrounding it had been overtaken by the Ecos, turning the farm into a village. The farm itself had become a very productive and important part of the city, as it was the leading farm of those that provided food for just about everyone.
The old farmhouse that had belonged to Alice’s family was still her home, but it had been remodelled and rebuilt to where only a part of the house still looked like her old house.
Next to the farmhouse was a rather large hut, actually an extension of the house more than a separate building.
The hut housed four people, two parents and two kids. Now the eldest three members of the family had returned for breakfast. The youngest, a girl aged eight, had only just woken up, and was too busy playing with her dog outside to come in to eat. Her older brother, River, fixed himself some food and sat down on the bench on the small porch that had been added to their hut to watch her play, soon joined by his mother. Cloe sat in silence, chewing slowly on a piece of dried meat.
“Looks like a good harvest this year,” River commented, frowning as the big golden Labrador jumped up to place its front paws on his little sister’s shoulders. Cloe laughed loudly as her daughter fell to the ground with the big dog licking her face.
“Patsy, you’re not supposed to let him do that!” River shouted.
The girl shrieked with laugher. Hawk came outside and shook his head along with River.
“Butterfly, you’re supposed to be the pack leader. This is not being the pack leader.”
Hawk sighed defeated as his daughter only shrieked in joy again.
“Let the girl have her fun. A dog is supposed to be your best friend, not your slave,” Cloe reprimanded. Hawk narrowed his eyes, but then smiled at her.
“I’m heading back out on the fields again.” Hawk gave his wife a quick kiss, and looked at his stepson.
“You are meeting your friends?”
River nodded, his mouth full of food. Hawk patted his shoulder and walked away.
Cloe had fallen back to her silence, a serene look on her face as she looked at her little girl who was now back on her feet with the dog jumping excitedly around her.
“She reminds me so much of me at that age. Salene always says she has nothing of Hawk in her, that she looks just like me.” Cloe’s smile grew bigger.
River looked at her for a moment, chewing and swallowing the last bit.
“Who do I look like then, you or my dad?”
Cloe’s smile vanished in an instant. She closed her eyes for a moment and sighed. “Don’t, River.”
He let out a sigh and stood up. “I’m going to meet my friends.”
“River…” Cloe stopped.
“I know. Someday you’ll tell me who my dad is,” he sighed. “I’ll see you later.”
He gave her a small smile before taking off. Cloe looked after him with a wistful look on her face.
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Brady had dressed in the dullest and most comfortable robes she could find in the large closet in her bedroom. She didn’t even bother taking a look in the mirror; she had long ago given up her appearance for the sake of resistance. She found herself a book and settled down on the sofa in the main room of her suite. It wasn’t long until there was a soft knock on the door. Brady didn’t reply or move to acknowledge it. She knew who it was.
He opened the door without waiting for a reply, Martyn was used to it by now. Brady glanced up when he entered. His long black hair hung loose around his thin and pale face. His robes were black, lined with dark purple and gold, underneath he wore black pants and sandals made out of wood and string. His dark eyes fixed on her as he offered his usual polite greeting. Brady ignored him.
The routine had become almost comfortable within the past year and a half. Martyn was a creature of habit and always showed after breakfast and stayed until lunch. Occasionally he stayed in her room for lunch and extended the visit until dinnertime. His visits were pretty much all the same now, after he’d given up talking her into seeing things from the Chosen’s point of view. Martyn found himself a book and settled down in the chair opposite her. For a long time they sat in silence, only the sound of pages being turned.
There was another knock on the door, a little sharper than Martyn’s but more hesitant.
“Come in,” Brady said loudly. Soon a young woman in a tattered yellow robe walked in, a large tray holding Brady’s breakfast in her hands. She put the tray down on the table, all the while glancing nervously at Martyn. He completely ignored her.
“Thanks, Fia.” Brady gave her a wide smile.
Brady took a few pieces of the bread, some meat and fruit and wrapped it in a napkin that she handed to Fia. Now Martyn looked up, and Fia’s excited smile faded.
“Don’t worry, he won’t tell.” Brady smiled comfortingly.
Martyn made a small waving movement with his hand and returned to his book. Fia bowed clumsily and put the food in her pockets before she then quickly disappeared back outside.
Once the door was closed, Martyn turned his attention to Brady again.
“Do you always give your food away to the slaves?” There was a clear distaste in his voice, mixed with a hint of surprise.
“She has two small kids in the village. How else is she going to feed them?”
There was a slightly puzzled look on his face as he considered this. For someone who was used to having food brought to him at set times of the day, the idea of going hungry was very distant.
Martyn was a very spoiled child; that was the first thing Brady had noticed about him back when they first met. Though it wasn’t a surprise, he was as close to royalty as you could find, along with the Guardian and the Supreme Mother. And Brady herself.
“The villagers are fed,” he stated eventually.
“That very much depends,” Brady muttered, going back to her book. Martyn frowned, but seemed to get the hint and picked up his own book. Once again they fell silent for a while.
Martyn sighed suddenly, slamming the book together and placing it on the table.
“Did you know there was a riot during the night?”
That got her attention. Wide-eyed she turned away from her book.
“Some of the villagers attacked. It was pretty tame, actually, they all got captured and a few got injured. Why they sacrificed their freedom and health for that pathetic attempt is beyond me.”
Brady frowned, her eyes drifting towards the window facing in the direction of the village. Worry seeped into her mind, she knew exactly who the first rebels would be, but they would do it better than this, surely? Martyn’s next words snapped her out of her thoughts and back to her own mission.
“Could you tell me more about the Mallrats?”
Brady struggled to hide a smile as she glanced over at Martyn again. He looked slightly ashamed, but also very eager. The first time he had gotten her to talk about life at the mall she had been suspicious of it being another trick, but the truth was that Martyn was really bad at tricks. He was too sincere for that. She had noticed more and more the rising curiosity in him while faced with her, a girl who had grown up in such a different environment and with such different beliefs. He had been sheltered most of his life, and Brady was pretty sure she was the first person outside of the devoted Chosen that he had ever had a real conversation with. Carefully she placed a bookmark in the book before closing it and putting it down on the table.
“What do you want to hear about this time?”
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The calm of the forest was a welcome escape for Audrie and Charlie. Usually the entire weekends were spent camping out there, but their mother had made them stay at the mall for the birthday party. Their eyes searched the ground and the trees for signs of their friend as they were sneakily moving forward on the forest ground. Suddenly Charlie stopped, holding a finger to his lips. He pointed towards a tree in front of them. Audrie spotted what looked like the back of River’s brown leather jacket. With triumphant grins spreading on their faces they hurried closer, jumping out from behind the trees.
For a few seconds they looked confused as they saw River’s jacket hanging over a couple branches. They had only just realised he had set them up when they were tackled to the ground. River’s long dark hair, that his mother often referred to as a bird’s nest, disrupted their view before he finally let go of them.
River was rolling around on the ground and laughing loudly as the other two sat up glaring at him, but they soon joined him. It was an old game of theirs, hide-and-seek having spread from the comforts of the mall or farmhouse to the entire forest they camped in. River had always beaten them, his sneaky stealth seeming to come natural to him. Then again, he had been raised by Hawk, while the twins had been raised by Lex who preferred stomping his way around and making his presence known, so River had a clear advantage.
“I could hear you coming minutes before you reached me.”
River had finally calmed down and sat up with a smug grin on his face.
“So, how was the birthday party?”
The groans from the other two gave River another laugh.
“Parents should never be allowed to dance,” Audrie said, shaking her head.
“At least ours don’t drink,” Charlie said with a shiver, as he remembered the impromptu karaoke show by Doctor Patch and Nurse Dee, who had been joined by Jack and Jay halfway through.
“Poor Riley,” River shook his head, the smile never leaving his face.
“I don’t think I have ever seen anyone looking so depressed at their own birthday party,” Charlie said with a laugh, before his face got serious and he glanced down at his feet.
“Speaking of parties… we were thinking of going with the others to the Demon Dog party tonight.”
River’s eyes narrowed slightly, as he looked from Audrie to Charlie. Audrie was glaring at her brother, so it wasn’t hard to guess that she wasn’t really that interested. River looked back at Charlie’s hopeful eyes, and just shrugged in response.
“If that’s what you want, I’m in.”
As Audrie’s glare turned to him, he only grinned in return. Soon her glare dissolved into a smile. Charlie wasn’t the only one with a grin she couldn’t resist. Their eyes were locked together for a moment, until Charlie started whistling a short tune. As the two turned towards him he stopped whistling and raised his eyebrows at the two of them with a smirk on his face.
Audrie got to her feet quickly and looked away from the two boys.
“Where did you set up camp?” She looked at River as she brushed the dirt of her clothes, avoiding his eyes. He only nodded in the direction. The two boys took the hint as she started walking and jumped to their feet, River soon up front to lead the way.
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On the opposite side of the building from Brady’s rooms a man was sitting on a throne-like chair in a large living room. The stone walls that drowned every room had been covered in fabrics with Chinese and Japanese-inspired patterns to soften the look, and sofas, chairs and a table had been placed in a sitting area close by the throne, a large platter of fruit on the table. The room had a strong scent of incense, and candles were spread throughout every surface to lighten up the dark room.
The man took no comfort of these things now though. He looked older than his years, his hair in some lights looked more gray than blonde, and his face was lined with worry. His head rested against the back on his wooden throne, as if all his thoughts made it too heavy to keep up on his own. His wife sighed in the other end of the room, her eyes never leaving him.
“You worry too much, Guardian,” she said gently. “Zoot will let us know when the time is right. There is no hurry.”
He had no time to respond before the door opened, and Martyn walked in. The Guardian sprung to life immediately, rushing towards him and stopping right in front of him.
“Anything new to report?”
The boy shrugged and sighed, the feeling of hopelessness clear on his face. The Guardian walked over to the nearest wall and leaned his forehead against it.
Martyn turned to his mother with a worried look on his face. “Is father alright?”
Tai-San smiled gently to him as he walked over to sit next to her on the sofa.
“Are you not willing to bring power and chaos to the world, my son?” The Guardian asked suddenly. Martyn instinctively sat up straight.
“Of course I am willing,” he insisted.
“Then why does it now show in the Divine?” The Guardian finally moved away from the wall, and looked at the boy.
“They poisoned her mind too well.” Tai-San jumped in to defend her son. “It is my fault. You were right all those years ago; we should have taken her when she was younger, before they could poison her. I was wrong to suggest staying out of sight until she was old enough to take on her role…”
“It does not do to dwell on that.” The Guardian said through gritted teeth.
“It’s not so easy when she’s locked up all the time. She hates us because we’ve taken her away from her family.” Martyn said, blowing his hair out of his eyes.
“They are poisonous!” The Guardian spat out.
“Yes, but they are her family.” Martyn continued.
“What do you mean by this?” The Guardian’s eyes narrowed.
“I think he means that she needs a family,” Tai-San shot in. “We need to show her that we are her family now, instead of Martyn alone trying to show her the right path.”
The Guardian looked thoughtful, for a moment he stared into the air with his eyes wide and gleaming, before they narrowed when he in the corner of his eye saw Martyn once again blowing his hair away from his face.
“I really wish you would cut your hair.”
Martyn looked down, while Tai-San quickly started talking.
“Let’s go see her, all of us,” she suggested, “the four of us are destined for this task, it’s only right we all spend more time together. It shouldn’t be all up to Martyn.”
“You’re right!” The Guardian’s face lit up again, and he gave Tai-San a kiss. “Let us all go.”
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Charlie was chewing on the last pieces of meat left on the bone he was holding in his hands when he looked up and saw the way River was staring into the fire.
“You okay?” He asked, mouth full of food. Audrie grimaced and was about to chastise her brother when she realised what he had been saying. She turned her focus to River. He simply shrugged, snapping out of whatever he had been thinking of.
“I’m just thinking,” he explained finally. The other two waited for further explanation, and he knew there was no point leaving it at that. They knew him too well. He told them about the conversation he’d had with his mother.
“I just wish she would tell me. What is so bad that she can’t tell me who my father is?”
“Well, we know whoever it was, she got pregnant while she was a Techno prisoner,” Audrie began the same summing up of facts the three of them had done many times before.
“Meaning it was either another prisoner or a Techno at the camp she was held in.” Charlie continued for her.
“And given that this is something she doesn’t want to admit to, it’s reasonable to assume it was a Techno and that’s what she won’t tell me, that I’m the son of a Techno,” River finished the train of thought, leaving them in the same place as always.
The three fell silent, staring into the flames of their bonfire. Charlie eventually looked away, glancing at the other two before speaking again. “Maybe it’s better left alone?”
“What do you mean?” River’s voice was as calm as ever, but Charlie could tell he was not happy with the suggestion.
“Maybe she has a good reason to not tell you yet. I don’t think we always have to know everything, some things are better kept hidden.”
“How am I supposed to know who I am, if I don’t know where I come from?”
“You’re you, River. Whoever he is, he didn’t raise you. He has nothing to do with you.” Charlie insisted.
River opened his mouth, probably to start another speech on the human nature and blood, but Audrie held her hands up.
“Let’s just drop the subject, okay?” She looked from one to the other. “Arguing about it, or even talking about it won’t get us any closer to the truth. Let’s just enjoy the day? God knows we need it before the party.”
River and Charlie looked at each other. River’s sour look disappeared and turned into a smile. Charlie gave his trademark grin back at him, and within seconds the tension was gone.
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Brady was surprised to see all three of the chaos-family (as she liked to call them). At the knock on the door she had expected Martyn, it happened on occasion that he came by more than once during the day, but she hadn’t expected to see the other two enter the door to her rooms.
Brady had three rooms all to herself. Her bedroom alone was bigger than the room she had shared with Jayda and Riley back home, her bed one for a princess. She had a bathroom all on her own, and a sitting room fully furnished with a sofa and chairs and bookcases filled with books. They had given her every luxury possible to please her, but it was all just things.
Brady sat down on the window seat, away from the other three. The Guardian and Martyn took a chair each, while Tai-San sat down on the sofa. She patted the seat next to her casually.
“Come join us,” she said with a smile.
Brady didn’t move or reply, she just kept her arms and legs crossed and stared at her reflection in the full-body mirror on the opposite wall.
She used to have long soft golden brown curls all the way down her back. It had been her pride since she was old enough to grow it that long. She had spent so much time washing it, combing it, and styling it… in the mirror now her short uneven hair looked as if someone had attacked her with scissors. It was her way of fighting them. They had tried making her into some Chosen princess; they had paraded her around the old mansion and in the village nearby while speaking of the glorious times ahead. She wouldn’t go through that again. One day when they brought her food, she had taken the knife on her tray and cut of all her beautiful hair until she looked like a boy, and cut up her arms to cover her robes in blood. The Guardian had forbidden knives and scissors to be brought to her, but Brady had her ways. Some of the Chosen were so in awe of her that she could have asked them to jump of the roof and they would have. Though that was a step she wasn’t prepared to take, most of them were just kids as well. She hated taking advantage of her status, but in this case she thought it was justified. She looked at her reflection again, a small smile spreading on her face.
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Monique smoothed out the wrinkles of her top, before standing up and grabbing her leather mini-skirt. Chris leaned back, his body barely covered by the sheets, watching her.
“In a hurry?” He asked.
Monique shrugged, as she bent down to pick up her fishnet stockings.
“Need to check up on mum, haven’t been home for a couple days.”
“So you’re not going to the party tonight?”
Monique grimaced, images of loud drunk kids throwing up rushing through her head. She was not in the mood for that today, even if getting drunk with other teens often seemed the more pleasant option to being sober around her mother. “Probably not.”
Chris nodded slightly. He took the book from the bedside table while Monique turned to the mirror to fix her hair. He opened the book, but didn’t look down at it.
“How is Ebony?”
Monique froze with her hands on the knot she was tying her hair up in. “She’ll be fine. Why? Since when do we ask each other these things?”
Chris rolled his eyes and looked down at his book. “I was just wondering.”
“You’re not going all emotional on me, are you? I don’t want that, Chris, you know that. For fucks sake, that’s why I’m the closest thing you’ve ever had to a real relationship with a chick.”
Chris sighed, looking up from his book again now that Monique had finished her hair and focused completely on him again.
“I’ve been your friend since long before we even knew what sex was. It was only a question.”
“Okay, fine. Let’s drop it. I’m gonna go…”
Chris put his hand up in a still wave.
“Have fun at the party.” Monique said over her shoulder as she walked out.
A smirk appeared on Chris’ face. “Will do my best.”
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Allie wasn’t much help in the workshop, though Jack showed no sign of annoyance. He looked at her as she sat picking on the leftover food on the tray Trudy had brought down for them.
“You okay?” He asked.
“Fine.” Allie shrugged.
Jack wanted to settle with that answer, though he knew she was far from fine, just like he was nowhere near fine. He glanced over towards the picture on the wall, the same as he had enlarged and framed for the girls in their room. His kids. Only two of them were really his, if you wanted to get scientific about it. But Jack had known since he fell in love with Trudy that being a father had nothing to do with science or biology. They were just his. Even Riley, though he had no obligation even through Trudy to care for her. Jayda, even though her birth father was alive and well and living right there with them. And Brady… he’d give everything to have her back. His mind drifted off back to the days when she was a tiny little girl, when he’d fix her toys and do small experiments to make things blow up just to see the excitement on her face and hear the thrill in her laughter.
Back in reality Allie was sitting heartbroken in front of him. He knew that, he knew she was hurting as much as him. But he didn’t know what to do about it. It had been easy when they were little. When their tears could be stopped with a hug or a kiss, and their cries could be silenced with bribes of popsicles and new toys. It was the worst part of these last three years, to know that he couldn’t fix it like he had fixed their toys. To know that all his knowledge, all his inventions, were useless. He felt so helpless seeing the pain etched in his little girl’s face.
“It’s a tough day.” He decided not to let it go like he usually did. It was so easy with Allie, she had been so self-sufficient and independent since she was little. She could work for hours even as a toddler with something all by herself. It was so easy to believe that she was fine, that she could handle it on her own. Once again she shrugged, her usual response.
“You know that if you need to talk or… something, then I’m here. You know that, right?” Jack almost stuttered, for a moment feeling like he was the kid and not her.
“Don’t start.” Allie’s voice broke, and Jack thought she was close to tears. But she quickly pulled herself together and he was soon sure he had imagined it.
“Today is no tougher than every other day. It was just the same yesterday and it will be the same tomorrow. I don’t want to talk, I just want to avoid everyone who thinks today is the day we should talk about things.”
“It might help.”
Allie shook her head.
“It never does,” she mumbled so he barely heard it.
As he was trying to decide if he should keep pushing her, Jason walked in to save him from making a decision.
“Need a hand?” Jason asked brightly. Not much more was said, Jason just settled into the usual routine.
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The old apartment complex Monique and Ebony had moved to, along with three others, had been partly rebuilt and remodelled a few years earlier, to accommodate the new lifestyles of people now compared to before the virus. Monique knew very little of life then, but it was just fine for the now. She glanced up at the window belonging to their living room; it was dark. That didn’t necessarily mean anything, as Ebony could be asleep with a hangover. She found the keys in her jacket pocket, and unlocked the main door. Monique shook her head in disgust, as she usually did, when she entered the landing of the staircase that led to the apartment she shared with her mother. The door next to theirs was painted a bright pink and a large golden star had been painted on top of the pink, with the names of the inhabitants in glittery purple inside.
“Here lives Gel and Cinderella”
As if there was a need for that. There was no one else in the entire city that would paint their door like that.
She opened her own door, looking in at the empty darkness inside. As soon as she had lit the gas lamp that stood on the coffee table, her eyes surveyed the room. A large amount of bottles were spread around every surface, covering the kitchen counter, some of them empty, a few not yet opened and a couple were about half-empty. She threw her little rucksack on the floor, and gently opened the door that led to her mother’s room, half expecting, and half hoping, to see her mother passed out on the bed. It was empty.
She walked back into the living room, ending up staring out the window for a few moments while contemplating if she should go to that party after all. Eventually she decided against it, and turned to look at the mess of the living room and kitchen. With a sigh she turned away and walked to her own room. She dropped her jacket to the floor and kicked off her shoes. She lifted the mattress slightly and pulled out a brown leather jacket, many sizes too big for her. She just held it for a moment, before putting it around herself and crawling into bed. Within moments her eyes were filled with tears.