CHAPTER TWENTY FOUR: LISTEN

Lila broke out in laughter, watching her with amused eyes. Lotus didn't break her stare, she felt so panicked she was running on fight mode. She wasn't thinking anything through, all she knew was Five was still buried under a ton of bricks and there was still no movement— and that a woman that Diego had found in a nuthouse wanted to kill him.

"You think I won't kill you?" She scoffed, brows furrowed with the lack of reaction. "Fine, I'll kill you in front of your little boyfriend and call it a day."

Lotus lunged first, but Lila was quick, she grabbed her arm and twisted, pulling her against her body. "I heard a rumour—"

Lotus could feel her words wash over her, before she even finished her sentence. Lotus kicked out, hitting her shin. Lila grunted, disappearing and popping up right behind her.

"You're a little slow." Lotus huffed, doing the same. She appeared on the other side of the room, watching as Lila eyed her with confusion. "I can do that too."

If she could only reach Lila, get a good grip and change, she'd be able to do anything she could do, which seemed to be a lot.

Luther came up behind the woman, throwing a punch but she spun and caught it, Lotus watched in wonder as Luther struggled against it. Within a blink of an eye Luther was flung to the wall, crashing through the brick and outside.

Lotus dashed at Lila, gripping her shoulder as she felt the change course through her. Lila elbowed her in the stomach and shoved her off, out of the corner of her eye she could see the pile of bricks move. Lotus ducked and dodged all the other woman's punches, leading her away from Five.

"That's a fancy little trick." Lila spat, blinking out. Lotus felt a kick to her back, she went scrambling. It was always hard changing into someone new. She wasn't used to the height difference or the balance of Lila, of her long legs and rage she felt that carried over. Lotus rolled to the side, avoiding a stomp to her chest. She scrambled up, grabbing a chunk of wall that had crumbled down and threw it. Lila snorted, crossing her arms. "You're useless compared to the others."

Lila was quick, light on her feet, it was clear she'd been raised a fighter. Lotus dived as the woman grabbed a fire poker from the floor and swung it. She waved it around, jabbing at her as she scrambled to her feet. Lotus reached a hand out and caught mid swing, catching Lila by surprise. The woman's eyes widened as she stared at the poker, Lotus gasped as it smouldered under her touch and raced to Lila's side, she dropped it with a curse. Lotus reached down and scooped it up, blinking out behind and appearing behind Lila, bringing the burning metal down against her knee. She buckled, stumbling away.

"Lucky break." Lila hissed, "You're still pathetic."

Lotus sighed, in the back of her mind she knew the woman was right. Why was she given all these loopholes to her power— why was she given this power anyways? If she had time to practice, figure out how to use each one the correct way she'd be a force to be reckoned with. But she didn't have time. And they were running out of it.

"I heard a rumour you killed your mother." Lotus glared, watching as a white glaze coated her brown eyes, but Lila blinked and it was gone. "Jesus Christ, of course."

"You can't use my own shit against me, kid." Lila vanished, and Lotus spun to catch a glimpse as a hand came over her mouth and gripped her hair. Lotus yelped as she was shoved to the ground, Lila's grip reminded her of Luther's strength, and the way she tossed him through the wall, she tried not to look panicked. Lila kneeled over her, pressing her knee into her back. "You're a terrible fighter. Even with your abilities. It's a shame, really."

Lila flipped her over, a cold metal jabbed her throat. "It's weird, looking at myself as I kill you. Don't you think?"

"You're a bitch."

"And you're weak." The knife pressed deeper, it was Diego's. Lila felt like a anvil as her knee dug on her chest, it was getting hard to breath. Lila looked insane, "I'll never know what that little prick ever saw in you."

Lotus struggled, trying to use Lila's power to throw her off. But it seemed she was right, she couldn't use anything the woman could do against her.

"Get off of her!" Five's voice strained, Lotus whipped her head to the pile of bricks and winced as the knife sliced a thin line.

"You're in way over your head." Lila whispered at her, "You lost."

"I heard a—"

"You're pathetic."

"Listen to me—"

She laughed, raising her other hand and clipped her nose. Lotus groaned, nose flaring in pain. "Listen—"

Lotus didn't have to be a genius to know the Handler didn't care for Lila, she didn't have to be a genius to know that no matter how many times she yelled it at the girls face, she would never believe it.

"Listen to me— you crazy nutcase!" She seethed, "She doesn't love you, the Handler—"

Lotus blinked, the knife slid from her throat. She glanced over to see Five watching with wide eyes, looking just as confused as she did. Lila shook her head, gazing around before focusing back on her. The woman sent a glare, "What did you do?"

"The words." Five mumbled, "Say them again!"

Lila reached for the knife, "Listen to—"

A hand gripped her throat, and she was lifted off the ground. Lila gave a sly smile, holding her up above her. Maybe super strength wasn't as dull as she thought it was.

"What were you saying?"

Lotus clawed at her hands, her chest raised in eager pumps for air, but there was lack of that. Fear and panic and anger and sadness bubbled, she wanted to scream out at the world, at everything that had ever went wrong in her life. The walls shook around them, whatever glass was left intact seemed to shatter as she screamed in anger, tears rolling down her face. She didn't care how it looked, she was sick of it.

"Let her go." Five's voice sounded again, this time regal. He was behind Lila now, glaring. "Weren't you here for me?"

Lila's hand relaxed and Lotus fell to the ground, holding her neck as she heaved for air. She could hear them lunging at each other, of the angry curses and back talk, of energy buzzing as they both jumped in and around. Lotus felt useless, yet another thing she couldn't do. What was the point of having her around if she couldn't even fight for herself?

The house still shook, her nerves on fire.

The words. Five's voice echoed in her mind as she pulled herself up, Say them again.

Lotus was confused to why Lila had froze, even just for a moment after she told her to listen. Maybe those were her words— like how Allison had her rumours. Maybe it was Lila's own anger that was deflecting Lotus' own attempts, she couldn't hear anything over her rage. She looked over to see Five jump, just as Lila chucked a frying pan at him and it collided with his face. He fell back, landing on the ground with a thud and a curse.

"Listen to me." It was a barely a whisper, her throat dry and burning.

Lila laughed again, turning to face her. "You need to give up."

"Listen to me." She raised her voice, her own anger exploding within her. If this worked, if those were her trigger words, was it because of all those years alone back home? Those years of having no voice, of losing herself in her power and struggling to get back?

"Shout all you want, deary." Lila took a step towards her, "Stop wasting your voice."

Lotus remembered all those stares, how people watched her as they walked by, dressed for parties and outings while she huddled in doorways, dirty and hungry. Those were the days before she discovered her power, before she started playing dirty. Alone in a world filled with people, no one listening. No one caring wether you lived or died. A waste of space.

"Listen to me!" She yelled.

This got Lila's attention, her body tensed like it did before.

"You said I can't use anything you can do against you." Lotus hissed, "What if I can make it my own?"

She could hear Five struggling to get up, shock still settling from the blow to the head.

This was for the girl looking for a voice, who had found it with a family of dysfunctional superhuman's and a boy who had been just as alone as she was. She felt the disguise of Lila slip away, herself slowly returning.

"Listen to me!" She seethed, marching forward. "You will walk out of this house and leave us alone. I'm sick of your bullshit, get out or I will throw you out myself."

Lila blinked slowly, it seemed her mind wasn't the one that was manipulated, it was her body. She glared, and simply walked out the front door. "This isn't over."

Lotus closed her eyes, backing up until she hit the wall. Her face hurt, a metallic taste coated her lips. She felt warm arms wrap around her, the house stopped shaking. "Are you okay?"

"I'm terrible at this." Her eyes opened, panic and fear laced in her voice. "I couldn't do anything against her— I-I can't fight, I can't even figure out how to use all these stupid abilities that I get from you guys."

"We'll teach you, alright? When we get back— I'll teach you how to protect yourself and you'll be the best out of all of us, ok?" He wiped the blood and tears off her face, staring down at her with panic in his blue eyes. "But right now, you did the best you could and that's good enough."

Lotus stared at him, "That sounded nothing like Five I know."

"We need to go find everyone else." He told her, changing the subject. His face was filled with determination, eyes full of anger. "They're not going to stop until we're all dead. If I don't kill them first."