"So, an assassin infiltrated our home, almost got the job done on Mark, Sarah just happened to walk in on them, defeats the man, later that same night there was an earthquake something extremely powerful blew apart a home in the neighborhood, The children almost kidnapped, yelled and you came to help them, Now the criminals are all bedridden and no one knows when they'll wake up, did I sum it all perfectly, The head of the rose family Marco eyes squinted.
"Yes, Celia confirmed, Though they did mention the name of their group before I put them to sleep, Was it the organism? No Organe, Orange? Burrow?...she furrowed her brow as she tried remember I the name.
"It was the Ordeal, Sarah whispered.
"Oh yeah Orange!, Celia suddenly said.
"I think she said Ordeal, Bella chipped in.
"Uh? Wasn't that what I said, Orange? Celia asked confused.
"So this group, Marco Interrupted, what do you reckon they're really after, and with my family no less, he said deep in thought.
"I couldn't care less what runs in the mind of criminals, Celia sat down heavily on a sofa in his office, she stretched," bunch of simple minded freaks.
The door of the office swung open, Andrew stepping in looking grim, it had been two days after the incident and he hadn't gotten a wink of sleep, he walked towards his dad's desk as they all stared as he gave his report.
"Regarding the Men we caught, the doctors said they wouldn't be up in a while, and for the house that blew up, we don't actually know the cause, but we do know that it's incredibly powerful even now our men aren't able to approach the building and part of the ground were turned to glass due to the severe heat, that's all for now.
"Good work, Marco said curtly, his eyes landed on Sarah,"What do you make of all this? He asked.
"Why are you asking her? Celia barked, she's terrified, leave them out of this, Kids you can all go to your room, she chased them out the office instantly, the four of them stared as she closed the door of the office shut.
"Good work, Mark suddenly imitated his Dad throwing one arm around Andrew who buckled under the sudden weight, I reckon you'd want a paid leave now, he grinned, eh? Future head of the house.
"Stop it Mark, he sighed, but Mark kept pestering him as both brothers walked away.
Sarah looked at them blankly, she heard Bella shifting uneasily, she always does that when she's either terrified or nervous about something.
"What is i-
"We need to talk, she suddenly Interrupted Sarah, come with me, she grabbed Sarah by the arm despite her protest and weak attempts to get away, Bella pulled her towards her room, she noticed the door was still gone, then she proceeded to Sarah's, Sarah sat on the bed as Bella paced around, Sarah was getting anxious. She felt like she was about to be scolded.
"I should have asked back then, why did I, Bella muttered.
"About what? Sarah asked trying invain to piece what she was going on about.
"The Cannon or whatever that was, Bella scoffed, " I didn't think it'd even work at the time or you'd actually use it, I just charged it up daily for a year on your request, why didn't you tell me what it's capable off, her eyes were watery, Sarah could tell she was about to cry, but she still couldn't understand why.
"I don't under- Sarah began but was cut off.
" Of course you don't, You're not normal Sarah! Bella yelled, how can you be so calm like nothing happened, "You killed over 6 people that night, she barked, and I help you do it, am I going to be haunted now? She was freaking out, tears streamed down her face.
Sarah stared at her feet dangling from her bed, she knew Bella's reaction was valid and it's how a normal person should behave, but it wasn't the first time she had taken a life or faced this criminal group, in her past life she had a similar reaction after taking her first life, but Bella's was way worst. She stared at her underneath the hair that had fallen on her face, she felt bad.
"They're bad guys Bella, Sarah began.
"But still, she mumbled, have you even seen the corpses Sarah? Those that couldn't get away from the house in time were partially braking into black dust, It was a horrible sight.
"Yeah I know, Sarah sighed, she walked across the room opened her white drawer and pulled out a tray filled with sweets," it was either them or is, there's no other alternative, she said simply, setting down some cakes aside.
"Here have some, she said handing over some cakes to Bella.
"What? Cakes? Bella looked mad for a second, her always neatly combed hair was all over the place,"Are you serious right now? She shrieked and grabbed Sarah by the arm, her eyes were going amber.
"Bella. You're hurting me, Sarah said simply. Bella immediately let go of her wrist and jumped back as the smell of burnt fresh got into her nose, Sarah's wrist was burnt.
"I-I s-s-sorry, Sarah!, Bella was confused she didn't know what to do, Sarah was sniffing, Around the household they knew Sarah hates pain or getting hurt in any way.
"Why? Sarah asked her voice breaking, I was just trying to help, she was staring at her feet beads of tears dropped," I don't understand.
"S-Sarah, I'm sorry, Bella stammered and tried approaching, Sarah backed away a few paces, she didn't take her eyes off the floor as she bolted out the room.
"Sarah! Bella called out in the hallway, as she saw Sarah's blue hair disappear down the corridor, she looked at a suit of armor Infront of her, her Amber eyes reflected back, she bit her lip," What have I done, I forgot she's younger than me, What's wrong with me, I should be glad the enemy is gone and we won, and here I am snapping at the one person that brought us victory, Bella folded on the floor and wept silently.
"You know this isn't a good look for you, Marks voice echoed throughout the hall, Bella slowly looked up, she saw Mark and Andrew approaching.
"What did you do to Sarah? Andrew asked simply.
"I-I-I didn't me-mean to, she stammered breaking down again, I'm sorry ok, I don't know how but my powers activated when I was asking Sarah about how she could stay calm despite killing multiple people, and I accidentally burnt her.
"Bella? You know how Sarah takes pain, Andrew scoffed angrily.
" I know I'm sorry, she sobbed.
"Take it easy on her, Mark Interjected patting Bella in the back, we lose control of our powers from time to time due to stress, he sighed, I doubt she meant it, besides have you forgotten we usually bully Sarah up until recently, Andrew flinched and looked away,"Just as I thought, Mark continued, no one is exactly innocent here, but then again none of us had actually hurt her, he took deep breaths as Bella calmed down.
Andrew looked at the ceiling, Will we be able to find her this time, he asked. The Siblings looked uneasy, Sarah was a child that could not easily be found if she wanted to, the last time she was hurt it took four days for them to find her and she was 8 at the time. And the fact that she didn't have any magical energy made it even more harder, but one thing they knew for sure, she's definitely not going to hide in her lab.
"We should start looking for her immediately, Andrew said softly, I'd inform the guards and Maids, she should not have gone far, he said walking off.
"We should head out too, Mark said to Bella," are you calm enough to? I mean your eyes us still glowing, he said nervously.
Bella nodded," her eye colour fading a little, Mark pulled her to her feet, she straightened up and tried looking composed.
"We should inform Mum and Dad, that's if we're hoping to find her earlier than usual, Mark suggest, but, he looked at Bella, you'll have to tell her what you did, are you ok with that?
Bella nodded. They set off immediately.
Marco watched in silence as Bella told them what happened, has convinently left out the part about the cannon and killing and made it sound like a regular argument that she had taken too far.
"Oh no, Poor Sarah, Marco we have to find her immediately, Celia sprang up from the sofa, she walked towards her husband," this isn't the time for calculating, she pulled him from his chair, let's go, also I don't blame you Bella, we lose our cool from time to time, we should focus on finding your sister rather then me scolding you, that'll come after, she smiled sweetly as she pulled her husband out the room.
"Yeah let's join the haunt, Mark tapped Bella on the shoulder, " you'll be fine, and she will too.
Sarah sniffed, her hair and pants were covered in dust and cobwebs, she avoided touching her injured arm, She curled up like a ball crying silently in the dark environment. Rats ran around here and there, she didn't mind, she didn't mind anything at all at this particular moment.
"You're not normal!, those word kept repeating in her head like they had been hardwired into her brain, she could hear her name being called she ignored them, she drew her nose, her arm was tingling the burning sensation still fresh, she tore from her gown with her teeth and wrapped it tightly around the wound.
"Not normal uh? She muttered to herself, I know that, but what am I to do? I didn't ask to be born this way, like hell I didn't even ask to be born at all, her eyes welled up with tears.
"You're a cry baby aren't you, Carl laughed as Sarah bawled her eyes out, one of her containers had burst under pressure, Carl had shielded her from the initial blast, but some glass shards got into her arm, she cried for days and nights after that, Carl wouldn't let it go, somehow he had be unaffected by the glass or the chemical that spilled on him. She remembered him asking while dressing her wound,"Why do you do such dangerous things even though you're this fragile?
"She gave a weak ass reply about it being the only thing she could do. Carl laughed at her for being corny after that and wouldn't let it go for a month.
Sarah smiled, those moments were gone and this was her reality now, she smiled despite herself, a month after Carl had hired her, he came to check up on the Orphanage, it was running smoothly, but the moment he came into her abode, she could partially see the shock on his face, glass tubes carry large amount of angry looking liquids were going up and down, Gas were fuming, rats scurried in their cages, things exploded, he laughed long and hard and commented about how the room was dirty without ever commenting about what she was doing, as long as it doesn't hurt the kids it was good enough for him, he once said to her. Sarah stared at her injured arm smiling at the memories that were gone, she felt extremely pained and wronged, she felt angry at the people that took Carl away from her, she looked into the darkness all around her, her head bobbling slowly, her eyes closed as she fell asleep.
"It took about 2days before she was found out, a maid chased down a rat from the kitchen down the stairs, it ran into a hole just beneath the stairs, she noticed that the place could be opened, curiously she did, She found Sarah asleep folding her arms around her, she was extremely filthy and seemed to be had been crying, She bent down, cause the hole wasn't large enough for an adult to even crawl in, it wasn't that large, but it accommodated Sarah well cause of her tiny build, she carefully pulled her out, she seemed lighter if that was even possible for someone like Sarah who was already extremely light, she carried her in her arms back to her room raising alarm That she had been found, she was burning up and had caught an extremely severe fever, Sarah was taken care of and nursed by a Doctor for nearly 2 weeks before she finally woke up, her family were hurdled around her bed staring at her, she stared back weakly, she flinched and looked away terrified as she spotted Bella, Bella felt her heart ache.
"You should leave her be and let her rest, the man recommended, and judging from her reaction, though it's more of an advise and I'm being respectful as I say this, but for now Miss Bella should stay far away from her for as long as possible, he said simply. Bella bit her lip.
"Thank you Doctor, Marco said escorting the man out the room.
"Sarah I'm sorry, Bella muttered as she left the room, Andrew left too after a while, Mark and Celia stayed the longest, eventually they left too.
Sarah sat up on her bed, slowly climbed down, she looked at her wrist it was bandaged well and she barely felt any pain from it, she almost collapsed as her feet landed on the cold floor, she went to her drawer, opened it took out a tray of cakes and started down on them, tears fell from her face as she took bite after bite, she remembered when she tried giving Bella some and suddenly lost her appetite, she packed them up, lay down in her bed and dozed off.
About a week later, Sarah was finally on her feet, After being cleared by the doctor she was free to roam again. She didn't go to her lab, she barely spoke, she was occasionally seen wandering around the manor like a lost child, it was like she reverted back to a quiet normal kid, she only interacted with Mark on rare occasions, the family watched her with anticipation, she didn't have that air of the all-knowing about her anymore.
At dinner one evening, Celia brought it up,"Sarah, is everything ok? Everyone stopped eating but didn't stare directly at her, they were listening hard waiting for her response, they didn't think she'd respond at all, but she did. She had barely touched her food at all.
"Mum am I normal ? She asked in a broken voice, the silence that followed cut like a knife.
"What? Celia asked bewildered.
"Don't worry, Sarah dismissed, thank you for the meal, she got off the chair and proceeded to leave her food still they way they had served it.
Celia looked at Bella, Was that what you told her? She had her hands on her mouth.
Bella didn't deny or affrimed it, she stared down at the table, Even Andrew and Mark hadn't said anything along those lines before, they took looked shocked.
Celia dropped her fork and ran after Sarah who had long exited the room, she caught her walking up the stairs, Sarah covered her head Instinctively as if her mother had suddenly gone mad and tried attacking her, Celia pulled her Into a hug," You're normal, more so than you think, everyone has their thing, and yours is Alchemy, she said softly, you're stronger than this Sarah.
Sarah trembled, she didn't know when she grabbed her mum by her clothes and hugged her back," you're a kid, Celia muttered an awfully energetic kid, don't let words put you down. Sarah cried silently in her mother's arms, even she had forgotten that right now she was a kid and don't have the composition of an adult, if she we're grown up she was sure she could have handled that statement, but her brain and build right now couldn't and it was the simple truth.
"Bella, Marco began, You're not to be blamed for any of this, truth be told I'm more shocked you exploded rather than one of the boys, he smiled, I think it's time we start teaching you on how to control your powers, I feel they had a huge play in your outburst.
Bella nodded sadly, her body going cold, she felt like throwing up and rightly so.