The freezing wind blew through the night and pierced her skin, but Terra didn’t feel it.  She didn’t feel anything, not even the gun in her hand as she gripped it so tightly that her knuckles turned white.  What did it matter anyway?  What did it matter if she felt the pain of the metal, the pain of the wind?  What did it matter?

“Terra!” Errika shrieked into the phone.  “Something awful has happened.”

“What” Terra demanded.  “What happened?”

Of course Terra had already known what happened before Errika called.  She could feel it deep inside her.  She could feel the sudden loss, like a chunk of her had been ripped right out of her and thrown out of her reach.  She knew that Faye was dead.  She knew it.   

“Faye is gone,” Errika whispered.  “The Government picked her up.”

Terra had shut the phone and chucked it across the room, letting out a mangled cry of despair.  She’d fallen to the ground and curled herself into a ball, all her strength over the years seeming to diminish in a single moment.  Faye was gone, her mind repeated over and over again.  She was gone.  Terra hadn’t even been able to say goodbye.  She hadn’t been able to hug her, to kiss her on the head like she’d done when Faye was a little girl.

The Government took her little sister away from her.

And why?  Why did they take Faye away from her?  Because someone gave her name to them.

Terra’s grip tightened on the gun and her pace sped up.  Zander, her mind screamed.  Zander did this.  It’s his fault!

Terra’s feet slapped against the pavement, clouds of air appearing in front of her with each breath she took.  It was hard to breathe, as it had been since the moment she knew her sister died.  Terra was honestly surprised she was operating at all.  When Alex found her earlier that night, she hadn’t even been able to speak.  Not really, anyway.

“Terra,” Alex whispered, his eyes wide from his doorway.

Terra tried to open her mouth, to tell him the simple words “my sister’s dead” but she couldn’t.  She couldn’t without him realizing that his brother was dead, that he would never see Kole again either.  There was one thing Terra was certain of: if Faye was dead, Kole was dead too.  Both of their fears had been released into the open.

She’d always been so sure that she would make it through this all right.  Terra had worried about Faye’s well-being, but she’d never truly imagined losing her like this.  Terra wasn’t going to let it happen.  She wasn’t going to allow a sleaze like Courtnie ruin her life like this.

But she had.

Terra turned down the street of Zander Khadel’s house, her feet moving faster and faster.  With each step she took her anger and despair seemed to grow.  She wondered how much pain her little sister was in before she died.  Courtnie was never one to hold back on the torture.  When Terra was first placed in the prison wards she was tortured for days on end.  Then Fortis found out about it and he put a stop to it.  But he only stopped her because Terra was his daughter.  Faye wouldn’t have that same privilege.

Guilt stabbed her in the gut and Terra almost fell over.  She should have been there.  She should have saved Faye and Kole from the fates that they received.  They should be alive right now, not in what she could only assume as a bloody mess on the holding cells’ floors.

“Terra,” Alex murmured, pulling Terra into his arms.  For the first time her hate for comfort was completely forgotten and Terra wrapped her arms around him, hugging him tightly.  “Terra, I’m so sorry.”

Terra wept for a very long time.  This was the first time she’d really cried in years—ever since Daneigh died.  Though she cared about Daneigh deeply, the pain of this loss hurt so much more than Terra could even imagine.  How was she supposed to move on from this?  How could anyone move on from this?  “Who did it?” she whispered harshly, pushing Alex away from her and standing up.  “Dammit, who did this?”

Alex stood up.  His face was red from fallen tears, and she knew that he was already aware of Kole’s murder.  “I—”

A deep inner rage whirled within Terra as she glared Alex down.  She was more infuriated than she’d ever been at anyone.  This even topped her hatred for Courtnie and Fortis.  This was so much worse than anything else Terra had ever felt before.

“You know who did this,” Terra snapped.  “Someone had to give the Government names, Alex.  Who did it?  Who got my sister killed?”

Alex had looked so frightened, Terra thought dully.  Of her, of the situation as a whole.  But, in the end, he’d given her the name: Zander.  The Government had come to Zander’s house and he’d told them the two names necessary to get him out of this alive.  He hadn’t given Terence’s name, not Seth’s, not Alex’s, not hers.  He’d only given up Faye and Kole.  Tolerable collateral damage.

She was going to kill him.

“I’m going to kill him!” she shrieked, pounding toward the door.  She already had a gun in her hand.  It hadn’t been hard to find.  It was in their father’s office, in a drawer where he thought his sons wouldn’t look.  But Terra had. 

“Terra, please think about this!” Alex pleaded.  “I know it hurts—God, I know it hurts.  But killing Zander won’t ease that pain any.”

“I don’t give a damn if it eases the pain,” Terra hissed.  “He deserves to die.”

And with that Terra stormed out of the house, slamming the door shut behind her.

Terra was at Zander’s house now.  Her face contorted with anger as she stomped up the steps and began pounding on the door.  Every time she hit the door with her hand she imagined Courtnie slapping Faye, inflicting pain just because she could.  Terra’s stomach throbbed, ached with the want for Faye to come back home.

But she wouldn’t.  Never again.

And it was because of the boy who lived in this house.

The door opened and Seth’s face appeared.  His eyes widened in fear as he caught the murderous expression on Terra’s face.  “Terra,” he whispered.  “Oh god, you know.”

“Damn right I know,” Terra snapped.  She shoved Seth mercilessly aside and stepped into the house.  “Where is he?”

Zander appeared, a remorseful expression on his face as he spotted Terra in the doorway.  How dare he feel sad?  How dare he feel anything when this was all his fault?  “You,” Terra spat.  All at once she was rushing forward, grabbing Zander by his neck and pinning him against the wall.  Zander wriggled, the terror clear in his eyes.  Terra didn’t care, though.  She wanted him to be afraid.  She wanted it so bad.  “Give me one good reason why I shouldn’t kill you right here, right now!” she screamed, resting the gun against his temple.

“I’m sorry,” he whispered. 

“You’re sorry?” she continued to scream.  Terra pulled him forward just to slam him against the wall again, somewhat satisfied when he grimaced in pain.  “You had my sister killed!  You gave her up to the Government.  She was only seventeen!”  Terra’s eyes burned with tears as she slammed him into the wall for the third time.  “You deserve to die for this.”

Terra could feel Seth’s eyes on her as she cocked the gun.  Let him watch the traitor die, she thought.  Let him watch.  She didn’t care.  She didn’t care.  Nothing in the world mattered to her anymore.  Her entire world seemed to go black now that Faye wasn’t in it.  What was the point to any of this?

“Terra!”

Terra shrieked as a pair of strong arms gripped her shoulders and pulled her away from Zander.  Terra lashed out, kicking and scratching at the person pulling her away.  She didn’t attempt to shoot them, though.  No.  It wasn’t their fault this was happening.  It was Zander’s fault.  Zander’s and Courtnie’s.  “Let me go!” she hissed.  “I’m going to kill him!”

“No, you’re not.”

Suddenly Terra was twisted around and Terence’s face appeared in front of her.  She could see the pain of losing his best friend in his eyes, and she suddenly ached for Errika.  How was Errika feeling right now?  How was she handling this?  Someone had to go comfort her.

But who could comfort her in a time like this?

“How can you stand here and protect him like this?” Terra demanded, shoving Terence away from her.  “He had your best friend killed!”

“We know,” Seth muttered, coming to stand next to Terence.  The loss was clear in his face, too.  Though he and Kole had never really gotten along (as Kole put it), they were still good friends.  “And don’t you think that making him live with the guilt is a better punishment than taking all of his pain away?”

Terra twisted around and shot a look that could kill in Zander’s direction.  He was still up against the wall, a mournful expression on his face.  “Why did you do it?” Terra demanded coolly.  “To save your own skin?  Didn’t want to die in order to protect your friends?”

Zander met Terra’s gaze.  “They were torturing my little brother,” he told her.  “I wasn’t going to let my little brother die for a problem that wasn’t his.”

Though his intentions weren’t awful, Terra couldn’t bring herself to accept them.  “You can live with your guilt,” she said, injecting as much venom into her words as she possibly could.  She stepped away from Terence and Seth and stopped right in front of Zander, just mere inches from where he stood.  “I pray to God that this tortures you.  I hope you go insane with guilt and that you can’t sleep another night because of nightmares.  I hope you hate yourself for what you did.  And I hope you are haunted by this until the day you die.”

She hadn’t yelled the words, hadn’t even really spoken in a raised voice.  She’d concentrated on the violence in the words, not the way they were projected.  It seemed to work because Zander’s eyes widened with each word, and turmoil seemed to spread without them as she continued on.  Terra smiled icily and then she punched him, satisfied at the ache in her hand.  What was a little pain in her hand when she got to see blood coming from Zander’s nose?

“I’m going to go finish this,” Terra muttered, moving away from Zander now and heading toward the door.  “I’m going to go finish this once and for all.”

“But isn’t it already finished?” Seth asked.  “They killed Kole and Faye.  Zander said they agreed to let him and Zachary go as long as he gave information.  No one knows we’re involved.”

Terra’s gaze hardened.  “You think this is over?  It’s not.  I’m still here, aren’t I?  And Courtnie is going to keep killing until she finds me.  So I’m going to go end this.”

“You’re going to turn yourself in?”

Terra shook her head and she almost laughed.  “You really think I’d let Faye die in vain?  No.  I’m going to kill Courtnie.  I’m going to kill her, and then this will all be over.”

Terence grabbed ahold of Terra’s shoulder.  She paused for a moment, resisting the urge to slap him.  He was wasting valuable time.  “Do you really think that’s possible?” he asked softly. 

“Of course it’s possible.”  Terra shook Terence’s hand off and she pulled open the front door.  “But if you don’t want me to kill Courtnie I could always kill Zander instead.”

She spun around, cocking an eyebrow at Terence as she waited for him to argue with her.  If he tested her too much she was going to shoot him.  All she wanted to do was lash out.  Losing Faye was destroying her inside and out.

“Goodbye,” she said.

And then she was gone, disappearing out the front door.

The | Gate

Finding Courtnie’s bedroom wasn’t hard at all.

Terra hadn’t needed to fight any guards, hadn’t needed to hide from anyone.  The halls remained deserted as the whole building slept.  Why Courtnie was stupid enough to let the guards sleep during the night, Terra didn’t know.  And she didn’t care.  All it did was make less work for her. 

Terra pushed open Courtnie’s bedroom door and stepped inside.  She wasn’t at all surprised to see how elegant the place was.  It was the bedroom fit for a spoiled little princess.  Tiled flooring, floral wallpaper, canopy bed that took up more room than really necessary.  A huge closer with more clothes than Terra had ever seen before.  A huge dresser and a makeup stand.  It was the kind of room that Terra would hate to have.

Moving toward Courtnie’s bed now, Terra felt hate roll around inside her.  She thought she hated Courtnie when she was locked up, but this was hate.  Every fiber of her being told her to shoot the gun, to end it right now.  Terra wanted to make Courtnie pay for what she did.  Courtnie had to die.

Courtnie was completely oblivious, slumbering away as Terra hopped onto the bed and placed her legs on either side of her.  It grossed Terra out to be in such close distance to Courtnie, but she couldn’t have Courtnie fighting back.  With one slick motion Terra pointed the gun at Courtnie before slapping her upside the head with her freehand.  “Wake up,” she snarled.

Courtnie jolted, but Terra didn’t move.  She simple smirked evilly as Courtnie awoke.  Her eyes latched onto Terra and she let out a gasp.  “What the hell are you doing here?” she demanded.  Her eyes migrated toward the gun in Terra’s hand.  A smirk curled on her lips.  “I see you heard about Faye then, I presume.”

Terra cried out angrily and jabbed Courtnie in the throat with her arm.  Courtnie made a choking noise, bringing a hand to her throat as she watched Terra through slits.  “Don’t you dare talk about Faye like that,” Terra hissed.  “She was a better person than you’ll ever be.”

“I bet you hate yourself, don’t you?” Courtnie drawled breathlessly, letting her hand fall.  She wasn’t making any move to escape, nor did Terra expect her to.  She was too cocky, too sure she was going to get out of this just fine.  But she wouldn’t.  Not this time.  “First Daneigh and now Faye.  How many sisters are you going to have killed, dear Terra Caldwell?  How many more people are going to die for you?  You’ve already got three people who died in your name.  And yet you continue to act against me as though you’ll actually win.”

Terra lashed out, scratching Courtnie across the face.  Blood streaked in lines.  “No one else is going to die for me,” she hissed.  “Because I’m going to kill you.  Right now.”

Courtnie grinned.  Before Terra had any time to react, Courtnie was pushing her.  Terra flew off the bed and onto the floor.  Terra almost rolled her eyes.  Did Courtnie really think that Terra still couldn’t kill her from this distance?  She knew how to work a gun.

“Your sister screamed as I tortured her,” Courtnie cooed.  “She begged and she screamed.  She screamed as I cut into her skin, screamed as I burned her with open flames.  She screamed.  And screamed.  And screamed.”

Terra felt her stomach tighten and she rolled over before standing up, pointing the gun and shooting Courtnie in the arm.  “Shut up!” she shrieked.  “Shut up, shut up, shut up!”

“Aw, does that hurt you, Terra Caldwell?  Do you not appreciate hearing how much pain your sister was in before she died?  Before I shot her in the head?”

Terra glared.  Courtnie didn’t seem to notice the gunshot wound at all as she taunted and prodded at Terra, endlessly torturing her with her words.  Usually Terra wouldn’t let Courtnie get to her like this, but she was still reeling with the loss of a loved one.  She wanted Faye back so damn much.

“Enough,” Terra said coldly after ten minutes of Courtnie mocking her.  “I’m done with you, Courtnie Featherstrom.”

Courtnie’s eyes widened as Terra aimed the gun and shot her cleanly at the top of the head.

Terra watched blankly as Courtnie fell to the ground.  All of her problems were over; she knew that.  Courtnie could no longer go after anyone else she cared about, could no longer torture people endlessly.  Now everyone in the prison wards could be free.  Now boys and girls could truly have the opportunity to live in harmony together.

But she still lost Faye.

Terra dropped the gun on Courtnie’s bed and left the room, her hands at her sides.  She thought she was going to leave immediately, but she found herself walking into Courtnie’s office, her eyes barely sweeping around her surroundings before she sauntered over to Courtnie’s chair and sat down.  She pressed the application on Courtnie’s laptop that was for the broadcasts.

Suddenly the video application appeared.  Terra hurried to adjust the privacy settings.  There were three options.  Girls, Boys, and all.

Terra clicked on all.

Suddenly a popup appeared, asking if she was sure she wanted to broadcast to all.  Terra told the machine that she did, and then a video feed popped up.  Terra instantly knew that all of Cesve could see her. 

Terra’s grip on the chair was tight as she regarded the video feed in front of her.  “Hello, Cesve,” she said.  “I think it’s time we all have a little chat.”