The new apartment on the outskirts of Alba wasn't any nicer than the one they had back in Oklahoma. Ember walked in, duffel bag in hand and grimaced at the peeling paint on the walls and water stains on the ceiling. It was prefurnished with a couch with an awful floral pattern that even that tackiest of old women wouldn't allow in her house. There was a vacuum tube television set sitting in front of it, so old there were rabbit ears sitting on top.781Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCj0Huiso14

The kitchen adjacent to the living area wasn't any nicer. It was tiny, barely any room to move about to cook in at all. The white fridge seemed to be yellowing in places and the counter tops looked like they hadn't been washed or dusted in ages.

“Ugh,” she whined, rolling her eyes at the condition of the place. “Could you have found a worse looking place?"

“Quiet,” Joan scolded, lightly slapping the back of Ember's head. “Be glad there's a roof over your head. Some people don't even have that.”

Ember rolled her eyes again, thankful her mother was behind her so she couldn't see the disrespectful eye roll. She made her way back into the bed room area of the house. Two rooms this time, thank god. At least she wouldn't be stuck on the couch again.

The room, which was more of a large closet, had a small metal bed frame with a thin mattress on top and a brown dresser with some handles broken off and it seemed one of the previous residents had peeled away at the paint, leaving plain wood to be exposed in many places. Most notable was on top where he (or she, Ember supposed) had formed the ever so elegant words “Fuck You” into the dresser.

Ember chuckled lightly. “Classy.” She threw her bag onto the bed and sighed at the loud creak it made under the pressure of her few outfits, sheets, and personal belongs. “Great. That'll be just awesome to sleep on for the next months.”

“Seriously, ma,” Ember asked as she walked into the master bedroom, not even bothering to unpack. “Why'd you choose this shit hole of a town? I'll bet the people are too obsessed with their holy fucking book here in the middle of bible belt to cheat or something and I'd be shocked if anyone here had more than a couple dollars to their name.”

“Watch your language. I have my reasons.”

“Well? What are they?”

“I'll tell you later.”

“No.” Ember leaned her weight onto her left leg, popping her right hip out and laying one hand upon it. “I won't do anything until I know why we're here. It's not like you to pick such a strange place. So, why?”

Joan whipped around and grabbed Ember by the collar, pulling her daughter in close. “You'll do whatever I say.”

“No.” Ember tried to keep the quiver out of her voice, absolutely terrified at what Joan might to do to her if she continued to refuse. Last time she'd acted out to an extreme degree, she'd been blue and black by the end. “Not until you tell me.”

Joan pushed Ember back, releasing her collar, and Ember fell straight to the floor, wincing at the feeling. “We're here to deal with someone from my past.”

“Who?” Ember stood up slowly, wincing at her sore backside, knowing the harsh fall onto the hard floor would cause a bruise.

“None of your business. Besides, you wouldn't know him.”

Ember seethed internally at being told it was none of her business. Of course it was her business. She was going to kill this man. It's not like she usually knew the reason for the men she killed, beyond that they were men, which meant they were cheating, stealing liars. Her momma always told her the only thing a man could be used for was impregnating a woman. And the only reason he should even be doing that is because the human race wouldn't be able to go on if they stopped. That said, only the genetic jack-pots should be allowed to survive to reproduce. And, from what Ember had been told about the deeds of all her victims, her mother's words were undeniably true.

“Now, help me unpack, Nova sweetie.”

Ember frowned. It always bothered her when her mother shortened her name to Nova. Joan knew damn well Ember preferred, well, Ember. Yet, when she didn't feel like saying “November” (which, who could blame her? Ember thought. It's a stupid name) she always used Nova.

After long minutes of silently unpacking Joans suitcase, Ember broke the silence:

“Momma?”

“Yes, Nova?”

“Um, I was wondering if, umm. Er, well, what I mean to say is—“

“Spit it out, girl.”

“Wouldyoupleaseteachmetoreadanddomath?”

“What?”

Ember took a deep breath. “I want to learn how to read and write and work with numbers.”

Joan laughed loudly. “Oh, hun, that stuff's no good for you. Lord knows you're not the brains of the operation and you never will be. No, you stick to using your power and letting mommy deal with stuff that requires intelligence.”

Ember's cheeks flushed in embarrassment and shame at the words. She knew them to be true, but it still hurt actually hearing them spoken aloud. It was one thing to know something. It was another to hear it.

***

When the money had run out, Joan had begun to finally plan a strike. She generally didn't take too long to do so. Especially because she already knew exactly who she was going after. David McCarthy. 2100 Bardell Dr, Thomas Oklahoma.

He was newly divorced, his wife getting custody of the two kids.

She drove through the neighborhood at various times throughout the day, however, he appeared to have a steady nine to five job based off the hours his car was actually there. So, nighttime was definitely the way to go. Besides, working under the cover of dark made everything so much easier.

The next night, Ember stood impatiently in the living room, waiting for her mother to come in and tell her it was time to leave.

“Here,” Joan said as she walked in the room and threw Ember a pair of disposable gloves. “Put these on.” Ember pulled on the familiar blue gloves, before following her mother out to their dull oldsmobile. Ember rested against the window in the car, staring outside at the passing rural community. She’d seen so many just like this in her short fifteen years of life and they never failed to make her rather sad. The idea that these people were stuck her in middle of this podunk town. The asscrack of the world with no hopes of ever getting anywhere better… But, Ember supposed she understood it. It wass not like she could ever move on from her way of life either. She sighed and shut her eyes tight, trying to ignore the depressing thoughts that seemed to be trying to overtake her.

“Stop your daydreaming, Nova,” Joan said as she turned off the car a few minutes later. “We’re here.” Ember’s mother picked up a screw driver they kept with them in the car all the time and walked around the back of the car, before removing the license plate so incase any busybody saw them in front of the house wanted to take down the number of the strange car. It was a fairly low chance, but it still could happen.

Quickly, Ember and Joan made their way to the door. Joan always seemed to have this nervousness about her during this part. Her hands shook a bit and she sweated. Her breathing was so loud Ember could swear the people inside the house could hear it. She always found it amusing how shooken up her mother got over this. Ember never had an issue. She stayed calm, very used to the whole procedure.

Joan pulled out her lockpicking tools and knelt down, slowly twisting and turning, listening with satisfaction as the tumblers fell into place, before turning the knob and thanking god there was no deadbolt. She chuckled, knowing it was useless to lock your doors without a deadbolt. Idiot. Well, she’d never known David to be a particularly intelligent man.

The door swung open and Joan and Ember quickly stepped inside and flicked the lights on, only the find a tall blonde man standing in front of them with a shotgun aimed straight at the women.

“Who’s there?!” he demanded, trying to keep the panic out of his voice and failing miserably. “I’ll shoot!” After a moment, though, he looked carefully and recognized the older woman. The redheaded one. He lowered the fun a tiny bit and whispered in shock. “Joan?”

Before he could do her say anything else, Ember extended her arm and closed her eyes, searching out his life force and grabbed hold. Controlling a human was difficult. Much more difficult than something like a butterflies. She considered for a moment having the man lift the shotgun into his own mouth and fire. Look like a suicide. But, no. That wouldn’t give her the same thrill as taking his life as her own. She focused down, letting herself trace the flow of life down to his arms and hands. The panic in his eyes was obvious as flexed her fingers and forced him to drop the gun to the ground. Unable to speak through the grasp she had on him, he simply looked around in a panic. His breathing was fast, however, he had this look in eyes different than the others she’d killed. Terror. Hopelessness. But not confusion. He knew what was happening.

No matter. He was dying either way. She went to clench her fist fast, to end his life quickly. Joan placed whispered in her daughter’s ear: “No, make it slow darling.”

Ember looked at her in confusion, but nodded nonetheless. She slowed her movements down, feeling the force bleed slowly out of him, watching as he struggled for breath and life. For just a moment, he fought strong enough to struggle out, “Wh-who are you?”

Joan crossed the room to him, before leaning down to the man and whispering something in his ear. David’s eyes widened as he looked at Ember, shock and horror traced over his face, more so that earlier and with that, Ember tightened her hold the rest of the way, completely cutting off his life. David McCarthy was dead.

Joan laughed loudly and clapped her hands together. _____Ember wasn’t listening, though. She was watching the life force flow out of his body. She grinned in excitement, not able to wait for the rush of absorbing someone’s life and this their strength.

However, David’s life force was… odd. It wasn’t the normal golden flecks. Silver sparkles were mixed in along with blue and as it rose from it’s body, it moved in double helix motion, organized.

Well, as odd is it was, she wanted it so much. She moved her hand and called out to the confused and misplaced life. Over the years she’d gotten better at this. In no time at all, the strange double helix snaked its way around her body, circling up and up and up. The power from it was more than she’d ever experienced before and as she took into herself she almost passed out on the spot. Her eyes widened and she gasped and stumbled backwards. As a child, she'd always had an intense reaction to stealing life, however, as she aged she'd gotten to where she could handle it better. Whenever she stole it, she could feel her vitality increasing, even through the overwhelming feeling of being full of life.

“Momma,” she gasped, wide eyed and felt her knees turn to jelly. She couldn't support her weight anymore and her legs soon collapsed under her until she fell to the floor, barely catching herself on her gloved hands.

Joan walked over to her baby girl as she knelt on all fours on the carpet, looking like even holding herself up that much was a struggle.

“Momma, momma, please.” Ember didn't know what she was begging for, just for something.

Joan walked over to her delicate looking frame and brushed the girls untamable strawberry blonde locks out of her face. “Hush, honey. You did so good. So so good.” Joan scooped her daughter up into her arms and carried her to the car. “Mommy's so proud of you baby.”

On the drive home, Ember dozed on and off. Joan found it a bit confusinf that Ember was reacting so badly to the kill. She hadn't had a reaction like this since she was small. But Joan figured it was impossible to know exactly how someone would react to the paranormal.

And, besides, there'd never been a connection between Ember and the others killed. Who knew how someone would react to stealing the life of their father?

Joan couldn't help but grin at the thought. The man who had abandoned her a little girl to raise was dead now. Another mad laugh escaped her mouth. It was a dream come true.781Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8Z0dJHutge