blood in the water [safina x circe]

Circe held the gun straight out in front of her, arms locked out with a steady breath following the pace of a heart beating a mellow rhythm. The weapon an extension of who she was, trigger friendly in the face of an enemy.

As she closed her eyes, allowing her mind building an array of those who had wronged her, their faces merging with the target in front of her.

A memory replayed: her arms tied behind her back, rope digging into her skin causing red burns to appear. Small fingers reaching out behind her body, searching for the hands of the one person in the house she had learned to trust. Unable to reach, she gave up…whatever hope had been built between the two of them had shattered in that moment as Circe became numb. Not even the cold waves crashing against her body was able to shake the overwhelming feeling of nothing as water began to fill her lungs filling them with resentment. The oldest of the family may have regretted his decision but Circe would never know if he felt any pain.

Her father, Nicky, Blyth, Cade, Rafferty, Darcy, Hudson, Lottie, her mother -the faces of her family….the ones she hated the most. Always feeling other, the child of one of her father’s worst mistakes. The daughter of a woman so damaged she would never know the meaning of love. Circe was the worst of them both but blamed everyone else for her misfortune. Her siblings, the very ones she had thrown under the bus countless times on her search for approval, her misery was their fault. Circe knew she would never have the advantage they had; she would always be other.

One more name on her list – Era.

The older brother who had tied her only for their father to drown her until unconsciousness. His face burning in fury behind her shut eyes destroying the last light of humanity. If she could not be the prefect person, then Circe could become the perfect killer. The face of the eldest Murdock solidified as she opened her eyes with a distorted image of her family.

Bang.

She fired the gun hitting the target close to the heart.

It was not unusual for the past to catch up with the young girl from four. It was those moments when flashbacks preyed on her mind, she would lose control of her thoughts. Certain everyone was out to get her, questioning the intentions of the good-willed and falling victim to her abusers, mistaking their cruelty for caring. At the end of the day, the haunting paranoia was what would make Circe the most dangerous.

Her emotions unidentifiable in her body language, she had built up walls only two had managed to break through. Stuck in her paralyzing moment as she truly thought the world would revolve around her, a silhouette of a girl had ripped her out of thought. Unaware that Circe had been unintentionally staring at her, she held out the weapon for her to take. Better for her to think Circe was judging her, than to let someone from three catch her in fluke (again).

“Go on, take it” she demanded with a coy smile on her lips grabbing the situation by the collar. As if the nothing had happened, the cold arrogance returned to her eyes. “Show me what you can do.”

Circe was not asking a question.

Would the girl fold under the pressure of having a career breathing down her neck? Circe needed to know if she could get under her skin before she would have to kill her.