Liberté Foncée

CHAPTER FOUR: SOME TIES ARE MEANT TO BE BROKEN

"I understand you wanted to see me, sir?" Her voice quivered.

"Yes, I do. It is a matter of some importance."

"Such as...? I really should have been home an hour ago, and -"

"Well, if you do not consider your life to be of importance you may leave, and I'll get to work on finding your replacement."

"My life, sir?"

"You are in danger."

"How?"

The superior snorted. "Do you not realize who would want to harm you? Who would want you dead? You must know. You're a relatively intelligent girl. There are precious few people who know of your position with this organization, to my knowledge."

"But... you can't mean... she's my sister! She wouldn't -"

"Your sister has not proven herself trustworthy, ever. It is common knowledge she betrayed us long ago. I assure you, she would, and she did."

"But -"

"There are no buts about it!" He pounded his fist on the desk. "You can not argue on this."

"It's my life," she said defiantly.

"And whether I like it or not, it is this association's job to protect that life. And as much as I hate to admit it, you have made a great difference in our progress."

Has he always been such a bastard? she wondered silently.

"Now. We have some matters to discuss for your own safety."

She sighed. "Of course."

*

YEAR 2112

Ayden was in the woods before any of the others. He had spent his day thinking, more about his friends then about Mark.

He wondered whether that was wrong. His mind had been spinning, spitting out random thoughts at him since - well, he didn't know when.

Lord, what was wrong with him? He couldn't concentrate on anything.

He sighed, and check his watch.

Nine-o-four.

Suddenly, he heard a rustling in the bushes. He turned just in time to see Alena trip over a tree root and into the clearing. She landed on the ground, earning herself grass stains on both knees.

"Damn tree," she said bitterly. Ayden didn't reply. "I can't see," Alena grumbled, trying to make conversation.

"I would have brought a lighter or matches, but I thought Shane would have already started the fire. Where is he, anyway?" He's always here early."

"I don't know. Rayne said she might have some trouble sneaking out, though."

"What day is today?" Ayden asked, frowning.

"Sunday. Ayden, are you -"

"I'm fine. It's Sunday? Jack shouldn't be giving Shane any trouble tonight unless something happened."

"What? Why?"

"Sunday is that bastard's night to go out with his friends and get drunk some place besides home. Usually, Shane gets some peace on those days. I don't know why his mother doesn't just kick Jack out. I can't believe she hasn't notice some of the things he's done to -" He stopped abruptly. "Never mind."

He chanced a glance at Alena. Too late. She knew what he would have said.

"Ayden -"

"Listen," he said, lowering his voice. "Forget what I just said."

"But -"

"Forget it."

Alena would have argued, but Ayden shot her a look, and she stopped herself.

Perfect timing.

They heard footfalls, the rustling of dead leaves, and the snapping of dry twigs. A split second later, Shane appeared. He was panting, as if he'd been running.

"Hey," he said, once he'd caught his breath, still gasping for air occasionally. "What'd I miss?"

Ayden glanced at Alena, and kept his eyes on her as he quickly replied, "Nothing. We were just waiting. Why the devil are you running?"

Shane looked at Alena for a brief instant, then grabbed Ayden's arm and without a word dragged him off to the side.

"Ayden, he's gone mad. Absolutely mad."

"Who?"

"Who do you think? Jack. He caught me trying to get out and went insane. Ranting and raving."

"Didn't your mum do anything?"

Shane snorted. "Right."

"Are you going home tonight?"

"Maybe." He kicked a pebble by his foot, watching it bounce off into the darkness.

"Maybe?"

"Yeah, maybe." He didn't look up.

"Are you two all right? What's going on?" Alena took a tentative step towards them.

"Nothing." They replied in hurried unison. There was no way she would believe them, but it didn't matter.

Alena didn't say anything.

There was a nasty pause, which Shane finally broke. "Right-o, then. Let's get that fire started, what do you say?"

"Maybe Rayne won't have to nearly break her neck like I did," Alena said, shaking off the silence, and gave them a nervous smile.

"Nah, let her suffer like the rest of us," Ayden said off-handedly.

Shane offered them a crooked grin. "To be evil, or not to be evil... That, my dear friends, is the question."

Just then, they heard a voice. "I can't see a blasted thing. You couldn't have started that fire yet, I suppose..."

*

When he returned home, Ayden found the flat dark and quiet. He walked to the window and glanced outside. It was a clear night, unlike that before. The streetlights doused the sidewalk with golden pools of light that sharply cut apart the night, like a reflection of the moon in the sky above.

He watched the street for a few minutes, motionless, and watched as a breeze made the bare twigs and branches of the trees outside tremble. As he watched, he felt a shiver start on his own spine.

He took a shuddering breath, and glanced at that photograph; that picture of him and Mark, truly looking like brothers. How few photographs of the two of them like that were there? No more than three or four at the most, that he was sure of.

Something outside the window caught his eye, and he snapped around to watch a dark silhouette moving quickly down the walk and up the steps of the apartment building. Ayden knew without looking that it was Violet. He glanced at his watch.

Half past midnight. What the devil was Violet doing getting home after midnight?

He heard her key in the lock and less than a second later, it opened. She moved cautiously, as if afraid to wake him. Ayden watched her in silence as she walked to his door and peered in, and he watched the look of confusion form on her face.

"Ayden?" she whispered. Her voice sounded nervous. "Ayden?"

He jerked back to life. "I'm right here, Vi."

Violet spun around. "What are you doing?" she asked, the look on her face surprised and relived at the same time.

"Nothing. I... couldn't sleep." He knew she wouldn't approve of the idea of his meeting friends in the middle of the night; especially not in the middle of the woods.

"You worried me."

Pause.

"Where were you, Vi?"

"I... Well, you see... nowhere, Ayden. I had to finish some things and drop by home. I didn't think you'd be awake."

Pause.

"I think we should both try and get some sleep," she said finally.

"Right. I'll see you tomorrow. 'Night, Vi."

"Good night, Ayden."

Ayden walked to his room, opened the door, stepped inside, and then locked it behind himself. He didn't want to lie to her. Was it better to lie or worry her? Was it possible for him to do only one of the two?

*

"I hate you." His voice was shaking with fear and anger. He was several years younger than Adrienne, eighteen, maybe. He was suspected of passing information from the Death Eaters to the Fighters. He was here to be killed, though he hadn't quite known it a few moments before. Adrienne's job here had been to gain his trust and get him to admit his crimes, or possibly turn up proof of his guilt.

Adrienne smirked. "That," she said, "is expected. Though it certainly doesn't match what you have been saying to me lately, now does it?" Her words were mocking, clearly adding insult to injury. She raised her wand and calmly, lazily, spoke a curse. A red flash, and then the victim was screaming.

"Who - who are you? Re-really?" he gasped, as after what seemed an eternity, she raised the curse.

"I," Adrienne said quietly, "am the biggest mistake you have ever made in a life that is just about to end." She was smiling, her lips curved just so. Her eyes sparkled with amusement. She was enjoying causing him pain and watching him as she prepared to kill him.

"You're loving this, aren't you." It wasn't a question. He was getting angry, now. His voice didn't shake so much anymore. He was glaring, and his anger was making him stronger. He grunted slightly as he pushed himself off the ground, using the stone wall behind his back to steady himself as he dragged his way up it, trying to stand.

Adrienne watched him, still smiling. "You're stronger than some others," she said, clearly impressed.

"How many people have you killed like this?" he spat.

"More than you could count. And yes, I am loving this."

"How can you?" He sounded disbelieving.

"That is quite simple." She replied. She watched him silently for a moment, then laughed softly. She cocked her head to one side, as if analyzing the situation. With a wave of her wand, he was suddenly thrown back sharply, closing the small distance between the wall and his back. He hit the stones hard and cursed. "Such language," Adrienne chided sarcastically. He groaned and his vision blurred.

He closed his eyes, blocking out her laughing eyes and cruel smile as she thrived in his pain and self disgust.

Michael Devry felt weak and sick with the knowledge that he knew he'd been fooled and beaten. And Adrienne Cassada was the winner.

"Why?" he asked. "Why do you do this? What purpose is there in hurting and destroying those around you?"

Adrienne was quiet while she pondered the question. She never had considered it. It had always just been something she did. Always something she assumed was her job; killing those who were inferior and having a spot of fun along the way. When had she started doing this anyway? When had she joined the Death Eaters and taken this life - a life where the only reason she existed was to destroy others?

She never had thought about it. She had always just enjoyed it. She couldn't remember when it had started, and she had no idea when it would end.

Suddenly, she snapped away from her reverie. She glanced up, catching his eyes on her. There was a glimmer behind them. A glimmer she recognized. She had seen it on many faces. And every time she saw it, she only found it more amusing. It was hope.

Hope was something they always seemed to feel. Something they always seemed to cling to. It was a string of their life, being dangled before them, and just as they reached out, she would yank it away.

"Because," she said, beginning the answer to his question, "I can."

She raised her wand. "Goodbye, Michael. I won't miss you, don't worry."

He flinched as she opened her mouth, but in his last moment, a strange feeling gripped him. "You," he said in a low tone, "are pathetic."

She was silent for a moment, contemplating this strangely calm outburst. "Or maybe," she replied, "I just don't give a damn." He didn't have time to reply as she spoke two simple and different words, and he saw a flash of bright green light before there was darkness and silence and Michael Devry was no more.

Adrienne left the body where it was. There was no need in bothering to get rid of it. It would be found eventually, but that mattered not. These days, it was common for people to turn up dead with no explanation or murder suspect. It was the way the world worked, currently, and Adrienne loved it.

As she rounded the corner, humming off-key, the only light above her was the moon high above her head, blood red and full.

*

Once she arrived home, Adrienne quickly learned that she couldn't count on rest after a hard night of killing and torturing. In fact, she now had her hands full saving another from that fate.

"You'll be killed!"

"Adrienne, calm down."

"Calm down? Calm down?!" Clearly, this was not in the cards. "Braeden, think logically! You leave them, you die! It's that simple!"

It was obvious. Braeden McKay had, in Adrienne eyes, undoubtedly gone mad. He smiled at her now. "Adrienne, come on. I'll be fine. Believe me. I've made a choice here, and I'm sticking with it."

"But you can't switch now! You already got the mark, and-"

"Adrienne, it's not for me. I can't get behind a dictator leader whose primary goal is world domination and destroying all Muggles for the rest of my life. And I was never officially brought into his service. You know that. The mark itself isn't much more than a tattoo, love."

"Braeden, they'll kill you! They'll find you and-"

"Adrienne." Braeden cupped her chin in one hand and leaned forward to kiss her. She jerked away. He sighed, and shook his head. "Adrienne, listen to me when I tell you I'm not doing it."

"But-"

"Shhh..." He put a hand over her mouth and gently kissed her forehead.

Adrienne closed her eyes for a moment, opening them to reveal tears.

"Braeden, don't you understand? They'll change you! You won't be the same person anymore! You won't care what you gave up, what you left behind..."

"I'm not leaving you behind, and I won't change. Calm down. Who I'm working for isn't going to change too many things."

"You say that now! You won't think so when they're done with you! I've lost people I care for to them before!"

"Who?" His voice was gentle. Not mocking, not telling her to prove anything. Just asking. Just curious.

She was quiet for a moment. "My sister. She made the same mistake you're about to. Thought about joining us, then backed out at the last moment. Went to work for them instead. They let it slide, because she was one of the first. But it's happened more than once since then. He's growing tired of it, Braeden. Trust me, if they find you, they'll kill you."

Her voice was spiteful, angry... betrayed. She didn't often sound like that, and Braeden knew it was definitely not a good sign if she did.

He hesitated for a moment. For the first time, uncertainty crossed his face. "Adrienne, come on. It's just political preference."

Wrong thing to say. Extremely wrong.

"Just political preference? Are you crazy? Just? You know that this issue is the main concern nowadays. You know if you go to them, you're leaving me behind too, whether you like it or not."

"How so?"

"How so? Good God, how can you -"

He cut her off suddenly. "Adrienne, listen. Part of living in the world today is knowing what you want..." He trailed off and Adrienne knew there was a hidden meaning behind his words. She looked up at him, meeting his eyes, as well as a familiar look. Determination mixed with lust and a hunger that couldn't be described with words.

She swallowed hard. For goodbye... one more night... it couldn't hurt, right?

Right?

*

The next morning she woke alone. He was already gone.

Less than a month later, Adrienne Cassada, age twenty-one, was found dead in her apartment.

No suspects were ever named.

Braeden McKay heard about her death the day after it happened. All he could do was laugh.