"So let me get this straight. Emily is the cause of the deja vu, and she has been fucking with time?" Rusev asked as Alice opened the door to her studio apartment.
"Yes, mop head,' Sarah replied as she walked in front of Rusev.
"And Rachel can do the same thing?"
"Yup, amongst other things," Alice replied as she flipped the light switch to her studio on.
Sarah fluttered her fan as her heels clicked on Alice's wooden apartment floor. Black and white furniture sat around a glass coffee table. Weapon cabinets and surreal paintings aligned the brick walls. The air was static and stale. Natural mid-day light was blocked out by the black window drapes.
"So all those times I felt deja vu over the week were because of some teenager I didn't even know about till now?" Rusev asked as his boots tracked dirt on Alice's floor.
Alice raised an eyebrow at Rusev. "If you were experiencing deja vu while not being around us-"
"It's not local," Sarah interrupted as she opened the fridge, then frowned when all she found was water. "You don't plan for guests, I see."
Alice took off her jacket and slung it on a coat hanger. "Why would I?"
Sarah shrugged. "Surely an attractive woman like you, despite your profession, goes on a date every once in a while?"
Alice blinked slowly. "No."
"So how do you fight someone who can fuck with time? Like that aint fair at all," Rusev said as he rubbed his neck.
"You thinking about what happens when we ain't teammates anymore, right?" Alice asked as she grabbed a water bottle from the refrigerator.
"Well, yeah, only one can become PRIME at the end of the day. I can manipulate gravity as a conduit, but what good is that if I have to go head-to-head against either one of them?"
Sarah smirked as she crossed her legs. "Mop-top is asking the right questions," she mocked as he made a small flame in her hands. "Alice, what powers did the ENGINE give you on reunion day?"
"Why would I tell you?" Alice asked as she drank her water.
"Well, we are teammates, of course."
"For now," she replied, then crossed her arms. "Our lives are on the line. The less you know of what I can do, the better," she explained, then walked over towards a reinforced backroom door.
"What's in there?" Rusev asked as he watched Alice type in a passcode.
"Our gear," Alice replied as she opened the door, then tossed Sarah a bottle of hair dye.
Sarah rolled her eyes as she stared at the ash blonde hair dye. "I hope you have different sizes because me and mop top actually have meat on our bones."
Alice rolled her eyes. "Just go dye your hair, little miss princess. I have outfits for when I need more bust and ass."
"Whatever," Sarah grumbled as she got up and walked towards the bathroom.
Fluorescent lighting flickered like a jar of flies as Sarah flipped the light switch. Black and white bath towels hung on the wooden bathroom door. Paint and hair dye stained the vinyl flooring. Marble-patterned shower curtains hung on a rusty shower rod. A mirror hung on a medicine cabinet above a white, mounted bathroom sink.
Sarah ran her hands through her pink hair as she set the hair dye on the bathroom sink. She grabbed a towel and then put her hair up. Water drizzled from the sink faucet as she searched through the medicine cabinet for a pair of gloves. The water turned into mulberry paint as she grabbed a pair of gloves and closed the cabinet. Her heart started to race as she gazed at the paint oozing from the bathroom sink. Dread crept up her spine like a centipede as her eyes drifted upwards at the fluorescent lights now flickering an ominous mulberry.
"₮ⱧɆⱤɆ ɎØɄ ₳ⱤɆ ₴₳Ɽ₳Ⱨ. ⱧØ₩ Ⱨ₳VɆ ɎØɄ ฿ɆɆ₦?"
Sarah's rosy skin started to flush as she turned slowly towards the mirror. Her eyes dilated as she saw Emily where her reflection should have been. Emily's mulberry eyes glowed violently as the mirror caught fire. A knowing smile stretched on Emily's face as flames of mulberry shot from her eyes, the paint pooling from the sink dripped down towards the bathroom floor.
"I heard all about your meltdown," Emily cackled as she crawled out of the mirror, and the bathroom door slammed shut. "And your change of heart, apparently."
Sarah's legs failed her as she recoiled and collapsed to the floor. Her lips quivered as she stared at Emily with wild eyes. She crawled towards the wall, then put her hands up as she curled up. Her heart thumped in her chest as tears dripped from her cheeks.
"I'm sorry....sorry...sorry, please don't hurt me," Sarah cried as she attempted to become one with the brick wall.
Emily put her hands in her hoodie pocket, then tilted her head at Sarah. "Relax, I am just here to talk," she replied, then kneeled in front of her. Her eyes narrowed as she smelled urine in the air. "Oh wow....that's embarrassing," she chuckled, then stood up.
"Please leave me alone," Sarah whimpered as she shivered, as Emily leaned towards her. "I am sorry...please...."
"Get the fuck up....I hate seeing you like this," Emily ordered.
Sarah quivered like a frightened cat.
Emily shook her head, then sighed. "I need you to do me a favor," she explained. "In return, you will be under my protection during the pilgrimage."
Sarah gazed up at Emily. "You're not going to kill me?"
Emily cackled. "If I wanted to do that, I would have done it by now."
"What do you want from me?" Sarah asked as she wiped the tears from her eyes.
"I want your help teaching Rachel's family a lesson."
"What do you mean?"
Emily rubbed her hands through her hair, then sat next to Sarah. "I heard about what happened on Reunion day, had to pry it out from Rachel," she explained, then cracked her knuckles. "Rachel doesn't want me to do anything about it, so that's where you come in."
Sarah wiped the snot from her nose and then took a deep breath.
"Help me out, and you've got my word nobody will lay a finger on you during the pilgrimage."
"How can you promise that?"
Emily chuckled. "Do you really wanna know that?"
Sarah paused, then bit her lip. "You are-"
Emily nodded. "What I say goes. You in or out? Choice is yours."
"What do you want from me?"
"We're going to do that duet you asked for way back in Leonore."
Sarah blinked. "That's it?"
Emily shrugged. "On your end, yeah. I will handle the rest."
"You going to kill them, are you?"
Emily shook her head. "Nope...but no spoilers. So you in?"
"Deal."
Emily nodded, then stood up. "Good."
"Why are you doing this?"
"What do you mean, Sarah?"
"Why are you giving me an out. I thought you hated me?"
"Oh, I do...But I respect you as a musician," Emily explained. "You also bet on the right horse once I had my meltdown. The others will get what's coming for them as well."
"You mean Amos and Arthur, right?"
Emily nodded. "Yeah, heard about them switching sides. They will get what's coming for them later."
Sarah stood up and then looked at the urine stain on her outfit. She looked up at Emily with a thin-lipped smile. "Can we keep this between us?"
Emily smirked. "Sure."
Sarah breathed deeply, then nodded. "So what should I say to Rusev and Alice?"
Emily rubbed her chin. "Eh, I will tell them the plan myself," she stated as she opened the bathroom door.
Sarah blinked slowly as she watched Emily leave the bathroom. She glanced at herself in the mirror with a frown. Her eyes drifted towards the paint on the floor and then up at the yellowish-white fluorescent light above. The muscles in her back and legs ached as if she had just come from the gym. Tears trickled down her face as the scent of urine lingered in the bathroom.
She closed the bathroom door and undressed, then threw the hair dye Alice purchased into the garbage. Water sprayed from the shower faucet as she stepped into the shower. Sarah stared at the hot water dripping down her legs before swirling down the drain. Her eyes were in a permanent trance-like gaze, her mind blank as she focused on nothing but the sound of the water.
"Ha...ha...ahahahahahahaha!" She cackled in the shower as her skin started to prune. "Of course she is...ahahahahahahaha," Sarah laughed as she rubbed her face, then rubbed her hands through her wet hair.
"It was right in my face the whole damn time...and I just," Sarah sighed as she sat down in the shower.
"I'm so fucking stupid. Of course, she is better than me and I called her a street rat. I called her street rat scum...ahahahahahahahah," she cackled as steam filled the bathroom as embers shot off Sarah's body as she cried in the shower.