#redemptioninterlude.

mia didn’t know what to say to ada. she could keep pleading, keep begging for her life, for the connections to simply forget about her, for the world to forget about her … but ada was so insistent on taking her back, she didn’t know how to turn the tables. they both knew that mia was infected, had been infected a long time, but mia knew the mercenary simply wouldn’t believe that she could harness the power— control it— make eveline weak. the blade shook in mia’s hand. was violence the only way the message could be put across in their world? it always ended up with guns blazing, targets being found, hit, discarded of with a hint of professional courtesy. mia was a target. ada was a target. it just depended on who could hit who first.

but they cared for one another. despite their paths crossing infrequently and often swiftly, a connection had grown between the two which left them forgetting a few orders to benefit the other. it mostly consisted of work on the annabelle, or even in the laboratory that mia had locked herself in for days on end … but they had spoke. had bonded. mia saw ada as a friend, not an enemy. but the crosshair located her friend, remained on her head. perhaps she truly was unstable. perhaps ada could help. perhaps the connections could help. but mia would not believe the propaganda sold to her. she had to fight for herself.

❝ ada. ❞ the woman’s voice dropped, and her hand steadied. would she lunge forward and forget about the facts that were holding her back? or would she remain bound to the horrible curse of not being able to make a decision? either option seemed plausible. but mia could not continue talking, could not make a deal if all the other would do was hold a gun to her face.

❝ you don’t get it. you don’t get why i’m doing this— why i need to stay hidden. why i want to stay away from them. you never will because you don’t know their secrets. ❞ her hand lowered as she spoke. what was she to say? what was she to suggest? there was nothing else for her to do. ❝ if you can’t leave, then don’t. but don’t take me back there. ❞ she tried to be reasonable, tried to craft an argument that both of them would favour, but would ada accept? retaliate?

rhodes hill enclosed itself around grace as she stepped forward, closer to what she hoped would be an exit. yet the hallways stretched longer than they should’ve, and fear ran through the fbi agent at every creak, every footstep. she believed it was just paranoia … but at the rate things were going? it could’ve been anything. ❝ i am moving, though. i mean … how stupid would i be to just stay put? am i right? ❞ she attempted a short chuckle over the crackle of the radio, but it came out distorted, living proof that it was faux.

❝ it seems way bigger. like … luxurious, in a way. there’s a light switch in the distance, i’m heading for it now. ❞ the small area that the candle illuminated helped grace to locate a switch that was embedded to the wall. ❝ ada … well, you have a nice name. ❞ she tried a compliment, but her voice was shaky, and it didn’t come out quite right.

it didn’t take long for grace to reach the light switch, and as soon as she was in reaching distance, she made the decision to flip it. what a mistake that was.

❝ oh, holy shit! ❞ grace stumbled back, candle coming loose from her grip as the scene in front was revealed by warm coloured lighting. corpse upon corpse was piled on top of the dining table, eating what seemed to be one another. but they were no longer human— in their eyes, it bore something else. something feral that humans could suppress. these monsters couldn’t seem to do that.

the candle collided with the floor, luckily barely made a loud noise. she assumed even a decibel louder would’ve caused their heads to shoot up, run at her with hunger in their eyes.

❝ yeah … yeah! ❞ the first time ashley decided to speak, it was quiet. quiet enough for ada not to hear her. so she raised her voice, in keeping with how much pain was rushing through her finger at that time. she had, unfortunately, managed to trap it whilst frantically escaping from the victims of las plagas.

closed starter for @redemptioninterlude.

❝ i never thought i’d need to know this. ❞ mia gripped onto the tool, which was only centimetres away from the faux lock they purchased. they were told it was flimsy, fairly easy to break open with brute force, but mia had been told time and time again that learning how to pick locks would help her later on in life. she supposed it was true, if she ended up trapped in a room with equipment that would help her escape. but mia could not think of any other scenario where learning how to lock—pick would come in handy.