relaina murie // d4 - fin

"You've always been a little punk, Laina."

"You're goddamn right."

A brother and sister inseparable during the early years; a classic story, until brother joined a criminal gang and sister was forced to deal with everything he left in the dust. Relaina still remembers the cold winter nights when they forced their creaky windows shut and wrapped themselves in blankets beside a fire. Mugs of hot coffee in hand, they talked about the latest gossip in the street. What was neighbor Barry doing? Fixing his fishing boat again, that old clumsy geezer. And what about Mary? Heard she was arrested by the Peacekeepers! No no, just a rumor.

On and on until they fell asleep warm and cozy.

School led them to different paths. They both wanted adventures, but different kinds of adventure. Relaina wanted to bring order to their rowdy world, looking up to the local Peacekeepers as if they were heroes. Her brother, however, wanted to run wild in the shadows. Those "heroes" were nothing but fakes to him. He and his friends strayed into a dark path of deception and danger. Relaine never understood it.

"Why are you lying to me?"

She caught onto his deceitful ways after the third time he lied to her face about sneaking out.

"Because I don't want to get in trouble."

A simple enough answer, but why start trouble in the first place? Wouldn't it be easier to seek adventure elsewhere? Curiosity morphed into spite for her elder brother. What an idiot he was. A criminal with no justification for his actions.

Lies breed more lies. Her father was the next candidate; stumbling into their home in a drunken state far past midnight. What an odd thing to do, she thought. She was never afraid to make a confrontation.

"Why are you home so late?"

He had her brother's tells: blinking twice, glancing to the right, jaw going slack for two seconds before speaking. "I was drinking with my buddies."

Liar.

"You can tell me the truth. I know you don't want to...get in trouble."

Turns out he was cheating on his wife. Her mother. Apparently corruption was inherited. It was against her morale, but she promised she would not tell anyone. It would bring more harm into their family and they would not survive the fallout. Her brother sustained himself with criminal actions, father was too reliant on liquor to keep himself happy, mother didn't have the nicest paying job, and Relaina was merely a dreaming schoolgirl. Perhaps one day she could afford to do the right thing and break apart her own family, but that day would not arrive soon.

Relaina was anything if not persistent. When she set her sights on Peacekeepers, she knew exactly where her interests lied. The corruption and lies plaguing her family only fueled her determination to rid the world of more corruption and more lies. Although she loved her brother, she did not love his kind. They needed to be stopped.

When she discovered the existence of a peacekeeper academy, her fate was sealed. No more lying, no more bullshitting, no more wishing. Her aspirations would become a reality.

Talents? Interrogation. She had the wits of a compulsive liar - meaning she could lie her way into extracting confessions as well as pinpoint the "tells" of bad liars who figured they could get away with anything using a silver tongue. It's almost like a game, and she very much enjoys winning.

As she slowly grows apart from her own family, she excels in her studies. She knows her brother disapproves but doesn't care. She knows her father is indifferent and her mother is worried. She also knows that her own family is destined to fall apart.

It's time to look toward the future.