BRIA: A BLUR HAVOK STORY

BRIA

Valhalla: 2011

She stood at the range.

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Her soft hands held the .50 caliber sniper rifle meekly. She hoisted the sights up to her scarred right eye; an eternal reminder of her weakness and loss of innocence. Her arms trembled.

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“Pull.”

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She squeezed the trigger. A thunderous bang clapped through the cool air.

“You did it again.”

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A hole the size of a quarter appeared on the target down range. Left of the bullseye.

She sighed. Lowering the rifle, she looked to her left. A black teen, no more than sixteen years old stood next to her. “Don’t snatch the trigger.” he said calmly.

The girl looked pitifully at the black teen.

“Again.” he said.

The girl raised her rifle again, he adolescent arms barely able to hold it. She looked down the sights.

“Pull.”

Bang.

“You snatched again.”

The girl defeatedly sat the rifle against the wooden wall. She covered her face.

“I know what it is.” the male teen approached the girl. “Don’t anticipate the ‘bang’. You anticipate the ‘bang’, you miss the target.”

The girl uncovered her face. Tears streamed down her face. She couldn’t— or wouldn’t look at him.

The male teen froze. He hesitantly spoke, “What’s up?”

She sniffed a few times as she wiped her eyes.

The male then walked up to the nearby table and sat on it. He folded his legs and waited.

The girl sniffed a few more times.

“It’s okay.” the teen said. “I won’t bite.”

The girl could barely look at him. “My dad…” she squeaked.

“Daddy issues, huh?” the male teen said with an all-knowing sigh.

The girl nodded.

“Dead? Can’t find him? Left you?”

“He hates me.”

“Oh. I feel you on that one. What makes you think that?”

The girl sobbed at the thought of her answer.

The male teen watched and waited.

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**********

“Dad!” the girl smiled vividly as she came home from high school.

“Bria!” a man in his late thirties hugged his daughter. Her head pressed against his chest. “How’s my trooper?”

“I aced my final exams!”

“That’s amazing, Bree! I told you that you could do it.”

“Dad, can I ask you something?”

“Is it a boy?” Bria’s father furrowed his brow. “I’ll get ‘em, I swear.”

“No, dad!” Bria giggled. “Me and some friends wanted to go out tonight. To celebrate. Can I go?”

Bria’s dad frowned. He rubbed his daughter’s arm.

Bria tilted her head. “Dad?”

“Well, I don’t know, Bree. We don’t exactly live on the best side of town to be going out late.”

“Doesn’t seem too bad.”

“Bree…”

Bria looked away.

“Don’t be upset, Bria. I just want you to be safe.”

“…Okay, Dad.” Bria walked to the back of the apartment, her head low.

Bria’s dad watched the splitting image of his long dead wife walk away from him dejectedly.

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**********

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Bria threw her backpack on her bed and slammed her door. She flopped on the bed, face first. She rolled over on her back after a few moments. She picked up a comic book and read it, only to realize it was the same one she’s read several times. She sighed and stared at the ceiling.

The sun outside her window dimmed and transitioned into the ebony night sky in what felt like years.

She heard a tap.

Then, another.

Bria sat up and looked at her window. A pebble hit the pane. She opened her window and looked down.

“Bria!” A female voice called out in a hushed yell. She was accompanied by another girl and a boy.

“Cassie?! What are you guys doing here?”

“We’re going to Vega’s. He said he’s got some of the good stuff. Come through!”

“Can’t. My dad said no.”

“Well, sneak out! He won’t know.”

Bria thought about it. Her dad was probably long asleep. She climbed out and slid down a nearby pole.

“Awesome, Vega’s place is in The Slums.” Cassie walked away as the other two followed. Bria stayed put.

“The Slums?” Bria audibly gulped.

“Yeah, it’s not far. You chicken?”

Bria frowned. “No.”

Cassie smiled at Bria. “Good. Let’s go, we’re already late.”

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Vega’s place was a shanty house. The thumping bass from the booming hip-hop music was a vice on Bria’s ears. People holding bottles flooded the yard past the barbed fence, bobbing their heads to the music and chatting. “This is it?” Bria asked.

“Yeah, looks fun, doesn’t it?”

Bria stuttered. “Y— yeah.”

The group of teens walked through the party goers. The adults would pause and look at the group. Confused chatter grew through the crowd.

“They must be lost.”

“Is that Vega’s sister or something?”

“They can’t hang.”

“Ain’t it past your bedtime, kiddos?”

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“Hey, Vega!” Cassie called out.

An Asian man in his late teens stood on a large box of rum and vodka talking to a group of women his age. He turned and smiled. “Cassie and her cohorts. So glad you could make it. Drinks on me, as always.”

“How do you know this guy?” Bria asked Cassie.

“Vega has mega connections,” Cassie said as Vega handed her a plastic red cup.

“How could I not know him?”

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“More importantly, how do you not know me?” Vega pointed at Bria. “I know your dad.”

Bria’s heart stopped. Her face became visibly pale.

“Yeah, your dad’s a real stick in the mud, ain’t he? Don’t worry, I won’t tell.”

Cassie handed Bria a cup full of alcohol and mixers. “Relax, Bria. It’s chill.”

Bria took a sip of the drink. She heaved as the amateur mix of liquids barely touched her tongue.

“Let’s go easy on her, she’s green.” Vega smirked and walked away. “Go have yourselves some fun.”

Bria and her group walked through the dancing party goers. The head bobbing from them became less in sync with the music and more haphazard and sloppy.  

“Cassie?” Bria looked to her friend. Cassie grabbed Bria’s hand and pulled her towards the center of the dance floor. The rest of their party found some friends from school and began chatting.

Bria’s heart sped up. But it wasn’t because of the droves of people.

Cassie stopped in an open space on the dance floor. She turned to Bria and started dancing. Cassie swayed her hips to the beat of the music, her arms in the air. Bria stood as still as stone with the purple concoction of a drink still in her hand.

“Bria!” Cassie chuckled. “What are you doing?”

“Uh…” Bria sipped the drink. The alcohol burned the back of her throat, but this pain was better than the social thrashing she was experiencing. “I’m chill.” She winced.

Cassie laughed out loud. “C’mon! Loosen up!” Cassie grabbed Bria’s hand and began swaying to the music.

Bria’s heart beat even faster. She had no Earthly clue what was happening to her.

Cassie tried to get the rigid Bria to dance to the music. Bria’s shoulders finally began to loosen and bump up and down to the music. “There we go!” Cassie grinned.

Bria smiled to hide her anxiety. Her body was moving, but it was without her input.

The song changed. The thunderous bass shook the entire house.

Cassie jokingly turned around and backed up onto Bria. Her body making contact with Bria sensually. She cackled goofily as she danced.

Bria’s heart almost exploded.

She dropped her drink. The plastic cup cracked open from the fall, splashing liquid all over the tiled floor. Cassie whipped her head around and looked at Bria. Bria’s face was scarlet red with embarrassment. Bria wordlessly ran out of the house. No one had even noticed what took place.

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**********

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Bria stood outside of the house on the porch, her hands shoved in her pockets. Isolated, she let the cool night breeze brush against her unscarred, smooth face.

“Bria?” Cassie poked her head out of the house. All the party-goers had entered the house at this point. Bria shied away.

“What was that?” Cassie continued as she slowly approached Bria.

“I—  I don’t know.” Bria muttered. “It was just weird. You dancing on me, holding my hand…”

“Oh.” Cassie said dejectedly. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean—”

“No,” Bria said sharply. “I liked it.”

Cassie’s jaw dropped. “Really? I didn’t think…”

“Me either.”

Cassie placed her hand on Bria’s. Bria tensed up, but let it happen. “I always thought you were kind of cute. Especially when you get nervous.”

Bria smiled awkwardly. “Thanks?”

Cassie slid closer to Bria. The couple’s arms entangled together. They both looked at each other in the eyes. Bria felt Cassie’s Caucasian face get closer to her’s. She embraced her.

Their lips touched. Bria’s heart pounded as the couple kissed. Bria could feel a warmth on her lips. The black of her closed eyelids turned into a warm red as her emotions washed over her.

No.

The warm red wasn’t her emotions.

Her eyes shot open. A bright light was on her face.

“Bria?”

She gasped. “Dad?”

Her father lowered the light, standing in the fenced yard. “What are you doing?” He asked in confusion.

Bria looked at Cassie. She didn’t even perceive the expression on her face. Bria ran away. She hopped over the fence and ran into the darkness of The Slums.

“Bria, wait!”

Bria ran and never looked back.

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**********

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The black teen nodded his head. “Makes sense.” He stood up. “Only problem is that you don’t know if he actually hates you.”

Bria shook her head. “I know he does. I can tell.” Tears continued to fall down her face. “I’m not normal. Even if I was normal, I’m a screw-up.”

“You should talk to him. You may be surprised.”

“No!” Bria yelled defensively.

The black teen sighed. “You have the chance to talk to your dad while he’s still here. The work we do; there’s no telling if you’ll see him again.”

Bria silently stared.

He nodded in acceptance of Bria’s stubbornness. “But okay. I know these things take time. Class dismissed, then.”

Bria placed the rifle on the nearby table. “Alastor?” She said to the black teen.

“Yeah?”

“How much time?”

Alastor grunted. “You’ll know.”

**********

Six years passed.

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A war raged over their country. Many lives were lost.

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But one thing remained…

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A middle-aged man sat in his home, reading a book. A knock came from his door. His old bones creaked and ground as he rose to heed the call. He made his way to the door, each step took considerable effort. He opened it slowly.

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A young woman, possibly twenty-one years old, with warm ivory skin stood at the precipice. She was just as tall as the aged man was. She was suited in black and yellow military fatigues that closely fit her toned, athletic body. Her black hair was long and flowed down to her lower back. She had a long scar over her right eye and a sniper rifle on her back. Her brown eyes had a stare that said she had seen plenty of death and caused even more.

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The weathered man stood wordlessly.

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The woman cautiously approached the man and wrapped her arms around him. “I love you.” She began sobbing.

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The old man embraced her. A single tear rolled down his face.

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“I love you too, Bria.”

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Copyright Blur Havok Studios 2019

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