Why Not?

Sparky was lying on her mattress. Her left arm and leg was dangling over the side, resting on the dusty concrete ground. She was looking at the ceiling, and had been for the past few months. She sat up suddenly, wincing. She had no idea how many months it had been. A fair few, she wagered. Eight? Nine? She lay back down again, into her previous position. She let her mind wander once more. But now she was focused on something. Months and months of not doing anything, not eating, not moving. Even in her current condition, she should be doing something. She’d been to prisons before, never in a cell for doing something, but she had been to them before. Sparky stood and began pacing. But then again, those were human prisons. Mortal prisons. Prisons where you could earn your way out. Not this kind of prison. Not the Gaol. She wasn’t meant to be there. Her friends should’ve broken her out ages ago. Sparky’s vision blurred suddenly and she backed into the wall. Now she could remember why her mind had been wandering so freely. Her friends had this huge plan. She’d stuck her neck out for them, taken the blame, accepted the responsibility and landed herself in jail. She knew it was going to happen, it was all part of the plan. But now, Sparky was unsure of whether the plan was only made to get her in prison.

‘Why did I remember?’ she whispered, a lone tear rolling off her nose. She banged her fist against the wall and hollered. She willed electricity to spark at her fingers, but she knew it was fruitless. She lay back down in the mattress, staring at the wall this time. Her cell door swung open slowly.

‘Huh…?’ she breathed, lifting her head. She stood up and cautiously made her way to the door. She stepped out, hidden by the shadow of the doorway. It was obviously night-time, because the lights weren’t on. She felt a rush as her magic tingled through her veins. She felt electricity form in the centre of her palm, but she didn’t let it be seen by those who may be nearby. A voice echoed through the passage.

‘Sparky?’ it was Zathract Mist’s voice, Sparky was sure of it. She didn’t say anything. Another voice, a different one, said something this time.

‘Are you there?’ that was Nixion Strange. A third voice called out.

‘Did we pick the right cell?’ Lynxia Lost. Without a doubt.

‘Who’s there?’ Lavender Hope. Were they finally breaking Sparky out? To Sparky’s surprise, instead of remorse or joy, she felt rage. It was rising through her body, but she forced it away. ‘Don’t waste it all at once.’ She thought sourly. Once again, electricity pooled into her palms, but this time her hands curled into fists and electricity surged around her hands. She opened her mouth and forced herself to keep her voice from trembling.

‘What took you so long?’ Sparky asked into the darkness. The was a moment where you could only hear the electricity snapping at the air.

‘There was an urgent-‘ Zathract started.

‘An urgent what, Zathract?’ Sparky said bitterly. She heard an intake of breath somewhere along the hall. ‘Forget, I’m out of here.’ Sparky finished. She splayed her hands and a shockwave rippled outwards. Nothing physical happened, but Sparky knew that everyone in the room would be momentarily confused. In that moment she blurred out of the hallway. She skidded to a stop and hide under a desk. Lynxia, Zathract, Lavender and Nixion all clattered out of the Gaol. Sparky inched backwards and her foot hit something. She looked backwards and smiled. She knew what this door lead to. She snuck in and flicked on the lights.

'Whoa...' Sparky had just entered the Sanctuary's armoury. Weapons of every sort rested upon these shelves. Guns, swords, knives, daggers, explosives- The works. She practically danced through the shelves and searched for her own weapon.

'Ah, you beauty.' she whispered, grabbing the handle of her Makhaira and sliding it into its spot in her belt.

'That's better.' she exhaled. She crept back out, just in time to see the four others clatter around the corner, guided by a flame in Zathract's hand. Sparky knew that they would try to find her, but she didn't want to bother herself with such trivial activities. She walked along casually, making her way to the exit. She walked up the stone steps and out into the open. She felt cool, crisp, fresh air against her skin. She took a step forward. She heard a noise behind her. Without a sound, Sparky stepped into the shadows and saw Lynxia walk out, muttering.

'I don't see the point in standing out here. If Sparky has already left, she would be long gone by now. I hope she hasn't left.' Lynxia went on like this and Sparky watched her intently, debating over what she should do next. Sparky reached out slowly and tapped Lynxia's shoulder. Lynxia turned and gasped.

'Sparky, I-'

'Night night, sweetheart.' Sparky said sweetly, driving her fist into Lynxia's temple. Lynxia collapsed and Sparky caught her before she hit the ground. Sparky rested Lynxia on the ground gently, then ran to the other side of the street. From her vantage point Sparky could hide and watch. After a few minutes Zathract came out, saw Lynxia and swore. He growled, picked Lynxia up and walked back into the building. Five minutes later the four came out, Lynxia still out cold. Sparky smiled sadistically at the thought that her own hand had caused that. Lavender paused for a moment and turned into a bat. Sparky watched her carefully. Lavender emitted a few screeches and flew around. She landed next to the streetlamp in front of Sparky and returned to her human form. She was looking dead at Sparky. Her eyes were filled with sorrow.

'Sparky, don't make yourself our enemy. You know what happens to our enemies. Don't make us do that to you.' Lavender said solemnly.

'Lav! What are you doing?' Nixion shouted.

'Your team wants you Lavender.' Sparky said cooly. Lavender shook her head.

'Our team.'

'Your team Lavender. Go to your team. It'll be an honour rivaling you.'

'It was a mistake! Sparky, it was a mistake, and it's in the past!'

'Lav!' Nixion shouted again.

'Sparky's here!' Lavender called. Nixion started to run over straight away. Sparky stepped forward, brandishing her sword. Lavender jumped backwards in shock. Sparky ignored her and swung the blade at the streetlamp. Just before Nixion landed on her, Sparky rammed her fist into the wiring of the pole. All of the lights turned off. There was a chorus of cursing, mostly Nixion, and Sparky ran from the street. She knew where she was headed. Roarhaven was a long way from anything, but it did have roads, and roads meant cars. Her hands were cloaked in electricity as she blurred to the only carpark in Roarhaven. And being old friends with Hayley Skirmish, Sparky knew how to Hotwire a car. She dived into a car and drove out of the carpark.

Sparky sped down the empty roads repeating the same street address over and over in her head. Sparky had chosen a red convertible for the hell of it. She rested her right elbow on the side of the door, gripped the steering wheel with her left hand and yelled with joy over her freedom. After a few minutes Sparky got bored of driving in silence. She pulled over and went through the glovebox of the car. Jackpot, an iPod and a cord that connected the iPod to the dashboard of the car. She scrolled through the songs and stopped on 'Life Is A Highway'. She cranked the volume up and raced down the road once more. When she entered Dublin, Sparky slowed considerably and turned the music off all together. She parked in an alley and waited, watching the windows of a second story apartment.

* * *

Tensley Dust wrung his hands as he rounded the corner. The detective didn't like to be interrupted while he was working.  He knocked on the detective's door.

'It's open.' a voice from inside the office said. Tensley walked in, very nervous.

'Um, sir, you need to know, a Mage has escaped from the Gaol.' Tensley stammered. The detective arched an eyebrow.

'Who?' he asked.

'Uh, Sparky Braginski sir.' Tensley was shocked. The detective wasn't angry. He looked pained. 'Is everything okay, sir?'

'I need to go home. Now.'

'Sir?' Tensley repeated as Detective Phoenix pulled his coat on and left the room. He drove home as fast as possible and entered his apartment briskly. He pulled his coat off again and threw it over the back of a chair. He took three steps forward, then stopped abruptly as a carving knife hit the wall in front of him. He turned slowly and faced Sparky.

'You work there. You work at the Sanctuary. You said you loved me. Why didn't you get me out?' Sparky asked. Flame opened his mouth. 'Nine months Phoenix! Nine months I was trapped in that hellhole! Nine months for you to get me out!' another knife landed in the wall on the other side of Flame. 'Nine months of missing you, wasted.'

'Sparky...'

'I don't want to hear it, Phoenix.'

'But-'

'I don't want to hear your excuses.'

'Then why did you come here?'

'To get your attention. To let the others know how I'm doing. Because, y'know, they seemed to stop caring for three seasons.'

'Sparky, I'm sorry.'

'Sorry is just a word. You don't mean it. If you meant it, it never would have happened.'

'Just-'

'Just nothing.' Sparky said. She threw two more knives. One landed just above Flame's head, and the other hit the light switch. The lights through the building fizzled out and died. Flame snapped his fingers and illuminated the room with a ball of fire. Sparky wasn't there anymore. Flame whipped around, trying to find her. He hated trying to see by firelight, it casted creepy shadows everywhere. Sparky crept up behind him and tapped his shoulder. He turned and looked into her eyes. There were savage and angry, but behind that he could see hurt. She was filled with hurt, and instead of her normal reaction to hurt- forgiveness- she had chosen rage.

'Sparky?'

'Yes Phoenix?'

'We can talk this out. It'll be easy. We just sit down on the sofa over there and talk. It'll make everything better.'

'Phoenix, you know what I say about talking.'

'I do know what you say about talking.'

'Then I'm sure that you know that I have a better plan.'

'And what is that?'

'This.' Sparky stepped forward and kissed Flame. She felt his warms arms wrap around her cold body. 'Home.' she thought. She stopped kissing him and buried her head into his shoulder.

'I can't forgive you, Phoenix.'

'Oh?'

'Sorry.' Sparky stepped back, gripped his hair and brought Flame's head down onto her knee. She caught him and rested him on his sofa. She bent over and kissed his forehead. She then looked around, pulled two knives out of the wall and walked out of the building. Her next stop- England.

She walked over to the car and as she was jumping in, a blue orb of energy appeared and Ivy Animosity stepped out. Sparky stopped and watched Ivy.

'Hey. I got an angry phone call from Lynxia this morning saying that you needed to die or something.' Ivy said casually. Sparky leant against the car and nodded.

'That would sound about right.'

'Something about you punching her really hard?'

'Yup.'

'Are you playing my side now?'

'Killing people? Fraid not. Just punishing my friends.' Sparky made quotation marks in the air when she said "friends." Ivy arched an eyebrow.

'Do I count?'

'Yes.'

'Do I get punished?'

'Not yet. Y'see, I'll have to think of some very clever way to take you down, because having a fist-fight with you in an alley is a really stupid idea.'

'It is.'

'But I assume you aren't going to let me just drive away now.'

'Nope.'

'What are you going to do?'

'Haven't thought of it yet. I wouldn't recommend running though.'

'I wasn't planning on it.' Sparky yawned and stretched, eyes glued to Ivy. Ivy watched Sparky in the same fashion, her mind whirring away. Ivy shrugged and stepped toward Sparky, intending to simply pick her up and throw her into the bonnet of the car. The problem was, Sparky had already moved. Ivy could read Sparky's mind and teleport, but Sparky could theoretically move at the speed of light. Or close to that. So Ivy turned to face Sparky, who was on the other side of the alley.

‘Are you going to keep moving out of my way like that?’ Ivy asked. Sparky nodded. ‘It’s very annoying.’ Ivy said. Sparky nodded again. ‘Do you have anything else to say?’

‘No.’

‘Fine then. I’m bored, so, I’m going to go and tell the others that you ‘got away’. Bye.’

‘Later.’ Sparky watched a blue orb of energy encase Ivy, then fade away. She shrugged and got into the car, heading for England.