Cracking Point (CM)

Jump City- The Big Bird Inn
Midnight

Grace sat in the dark room, a single desk light casting deep shadows that reflected her mood.

Where was that girl?

It had been a pain in the neck to find another job, and her burnt leg still hurt from time to time. Grace had suffered in order to take care of her sister, but she felt that Christal was not putting forth the same effort. Her sister had gone out, without Grace's permission. Didn't she know how dangerous that was? After a year of captivity, had Christal learned nothing?

The door opened, and Grace was on her feet. Her icy blue eyes glared at her sister. "Where were you?"

What was this? Christal had been drinking? She had actually come home drunk? Grace couldn't remember ever being this mad before. After everything they'd been through, Christal had done something this stupid? There were a hundred ways this situation could have ruined their lives once again. A few of them were probably still likely to happen.

Christal had also insulted Grace, calling her a name that Grace had never wanted to be called again.

Grace could suppress her emotions no longer. She locked the door shut and turned to Christal with a dead serious face.

"I am going to kill you." The room temperature dropped by 10 degrees, but Grace didn't notice.

Grace jumped on Christal, putting her hand to her sister's neck and pushing with all her might to strangle her.

"You do not call me that. Nobody calls me that. I will kill you. I will kill everyone. Your world will burn, and I will bring you back to life so I can burn you with it!" Grace tried to dig her fingernails into Christal's neck. "I don't need a family. I don't need you!"

Christal started digging her nails into Grace's ribs. That hurt. Grace jumped away, and Christal ran to the bathroom. Naturally, Grace pursued.

How dare Christal hurt her? The drunk girl's punishment was deserved, Grace was just dishing out justice.

As Grace reached the bathroom, Christal unleashed a flurry of words at her. Her conviction was strong enough to keep Grace at a distance. Even drunk, Christal could still make herself quite intimidating if she wanted to. Plus, Christal was right. The only reason Grace had stuck around her so long was because that was the responsibility of family. What other reason was there to take care of anybody?

Christal said that she needed Grace, even if Grace didn't need her. Strangely, instead of asking for Grace to provide the stability she needed, Christal told Grace to either leave or kill her. That was, only if Grace really didn't have anything tying her to her sister.

Before Grace could respond, the lights exploded. Grace jumped a little. Light bulbs didn't just do that. Sometimes a single bulb might burn out, but this was different. It was like there had been a power surge or something. They were now in the dark.

Grace took a few slow breaths. She left the room, discovering that the light in the main room still worked. At first, she had thought this was a wide-spread thing, but that couldn't be the case. Grace didn't understand what was going on here, and that took away her desire to make rash decisions. She sat down on the bed.

"I don't need a sister. I need security. I need someone who has my back, someone I can trust. I wish that I could find somebody else. Anybody else. But I know that there's only one person in the world who is in as dire need as I am." Grace's eyes looked coldly at her sister. "Why did you get drunk when I needed you? I don't care if you drink, but you will do it in our room, where I know we will both be safe, and you will ask my permission. If you consume alcohol in any other manner...well, you remember what happened to our last boss."

Grace felt a chill go down her spine. Was Christal talking to herself in the bathroom? No. She was definitely talking to somebody. This was new. Christal had an imaginary person in her head. Developing an imaginary friend was a normal way to deal with loneliness and hopelessness. But by the way she spoke, it was clear this was no dear day-dreaming pal, which made it all the more strange.

Grace decided that she must not have realized before just how messed up Christal was. They must have done terrible things to her. Was it possible Christal had suffered even more than Grace had? Perhaps it was presumptuous to even ask this, but could someone even suffer more than Grace had?

Well, someone could suffer for a longer period of time. That was always possible.

Christal snapped out of it and entered the main room. She said that she had felt left out and alone, since Grace hadn't been including her in any planning. This was a valid point. Grace had been making all the decisions lately. It was the easiest thing to do when your sister was...insane.

But Christal had feelings, as most people did. And it didn't feel good to be left out, if Grace remembered correctly. It wasn't Christal's fault that she was like this now. While Grace still did not feel anything like compassion, her anger had cooled enough to realize that Christal's offense was not as extreme as she had first imagined. "You have a valid point. I will include you in decisions from now on."

Grace laid down on the bed and closed her eyes. It had been far too long of a day. "So, what was with those light bulbs? They just like...exploded. There must have been a power surge or something. This place stinks. We can find a new one without too much trouble, though I don't think we should burn this bridge. It might be suspicious if every motel we work at turns to ash as soon as we leave. So what do you think? What gets burned next?"

Instead of naming the place, Christal hugged Grace and asked where she wanted to end up? Grace wrinkled her forehead, but kept her thoughts to herself. After a moment, she realized that there Christal's question was actually quite on-subject.

The last two places that they had called their home, Grace had burned to the ground. Now, when Grace started talking about setting fires, it was only natural for Christal to assume she meant this motel.

Grace awkwardly hugged her insane sister back. "Don't worry, Christal. I won't burn our home anymore, just other places." Thinking about Christal's words, Grace was unsure about what the future held for them. Like Christal had said, anywhere they went, things would 'stink.' They would never find a perfect, safe, heart-filled place to call their own. "I don't think my destination is a location. I think it's more of a feeling. I want to feel like I'm in control of my own life. The easiest way to do that is to control the lives of others." Grace looked at her sister. "Everyone except for you."

Christal asked if this was what she really wanted, and Grace shook her head. "I never wanted any of this. I don't know what to want."

Christal pushed her on the bed and snuggled with her, or tried to, at least. Grace pushed her sister away. "I'm sorry, Christal, but if you want something to hug, get a teddy bear, or a dog." Grace felt like she wasn't being a very good sister. At least she could still sing a lullaby, as Christal requested.

Grace sang. It was a song that their mother had sung to them many nights.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nX2anEXG0eE