- A Promise, From Me to You

I've always hated this fucking place.

I want to leave as soon as possible.

I hate them. I hate these walls. I hate this room. I need to get out.

My sister and I have been here for a week now. At least I think it's been a week.

They think we're crazy, that we really did it. In reality, maybe we did. Maybe I did.

"I don't wanna be here anymore, Jade," Iyana said. She sat across from me, curled up in a ball.

"Don't worry, we won't be here much longer," I promised. And I meant it. I had a plan that I had been working on since we'd been imprisoned.

A few hours passed, and night was here.

"Lights out," said the passing guards.

After a few minutes, I lightly tapped on Iyana's shoulder.

"Hey, wake up, we're going on a little trip."

I looked at the door, preparing myself. I reached out, so that my hand was only an inch from the door. With a pulse of energy, the door was blown off its hinges.

We began moving down the long white hall. Faces gazed at us, their empty eyes following us.

As we moved along, we stumbled upon a locked door that led to the kitchen. I remembered seeing it when we'd first been brought in. It was the key to our success. Once again, I pushed against the door, blowing down the door with a loud pop. Surely the guards would be on their way now.

Inside, I began rummaging through the drawers. I needed a weapon.

There.

There was a drawer full of utensils, including knives. I snatched up one, grabbed my sister's hand, and pulled her toward the door.

That was when I heard the footsteps. Guards.

"Iyana, stay down, and stay quiet," I said, pushing her behind a counter.

The guard walked past and I snuck up quietly behind him, knife in hand. I jumped up and stabbed the guard in the neck.

A splash of blood covered my face, and the guard started to get up.

Pulling the knife out, I stabbed it in a second time. And a third. And a fourth.

Finally, the guard stopped moving.

I turned and looked at my sister. She looked scared. Not of the guard. Of me.

But we had to keep moving if we wanted to get out. Snatching the keys from the guards lanyard, I grabbed Iyana's hand and pulled her toward the exit.

Eventually we reached two big white doors, which I assumed to have led outside. But as I shoved open the door, we stumbled into a room where three guards were on a coffee break. They immediately scrambled toward us.

Pulling Iyana behind me, I ran in the opposite direction.

Then an alarm rang out.

" Attention Guards, be on the lookout for two children, male and female," said a voice over the intercom.

"I'm tired, can we take a little break?" Iyana asked quietly.

"Just a little further, we're almost there. Once we get out, we can take a long rest, I promise."

We moved on further as guards chased behind, cutting corner after corner. Finally, we reached a red door.

"This has got to be it," I murmured.

I opened the door and was greeted by fresh air. But we weren't off the chain just yet.

I scanned the surroundings. No fence. We were going to escape. We started running across the grass.

Suddenly, there were guards everywhere, black figures in the night. And some had guns.

"What are we going to do Jade?" Iyana said, looking back nervously.

"Don't worry, I promised didn't I?" I said, smiling at Iyana. I would get her out of here, no matter what.

"Stop there!" Screamed a guard, who was close behind them.

We weren't fast enough. Without thinking, I picked up Iyana. My legs seemed to move on their own, and I felt myself picking up speed.

One of the guards yelled something out, but I couldn't hear his voice anymore. They were falling behind.

A loud bang zipped past my head, causing my skin to crawl and my body to shake. But I hadn't been hit.

I looked down at Iyana and stopped in my tracks. Blood had covered my hands and was dripping on the grass.

My sister.

My only family.

"Iyana?"

No response.

He said her name again, this time a little louder.

"IYANA!!!" I screamed, wiping the blood away from her face with shaking hands.

"Put your hands up, now!!!" A guard screamed out. Multiple guards had caught up and swarmed around Jade. But he couldn't hear or see them. He only saw Iyana. The small lifeless body of his little sister. He had done this.

A new emotion began to pour in, but this time, of pure hatred. Hatred toward himself. Toward the guards who shot his sister.

Jade laid Iyana on the ground. He couldn't take her with him.

He turned toward the guards, raising his hands in the air. Maybe the guards assumed they had control of the situation now, that he was surrendering.

He would never, not after this.

Crossing his arms, he felt his energy rising.

A large burst of energy sucked in the guards one second, and the next, it exploded outwards.

He felt disorientated, weak.

After 15 seconds, he'd come back to his senses. The grass all around him had been burned in a perfect circle. The guards were smoldering, unmoving.

Jade looked away from the scene and walked toward the road.

He had failed. He had broken his promise.

Now the only thing he could do was run.