《The Laughter of Jane》 The sadest day Jane could barely keep her exitement at bay. She had been waiting for today since like a whole week. That was a long time for a 7 year old girl. Her parents and older sister looked on with bemusement as she practically vibrated with energy. It took all of her energy not to run or skip. "Come on!!! Were gonna be late!" She whined as she ran over to pull her dad to move with the futile effort of an enthusiastic child. "Okay. Okay" her father said as he chuckled lightly. Harold was a big man with a light brown hair. He wore a simple Tshirt adorned with a christmas tree and a tigers logo. It was his favorite baseball team and he always took his two duaghters to watch the games. Erin was the opposite of her husband. Fit and more subdued in her taste of clothes. Opting for a casual blouse and dress. She was trying to hide her own chuckle behind one hand as uncle Toby followed after. Jane didnt really know how she felt about him. He was the quite sort who kept to himself even at parties or when the whole family got togethor. He always seemed tired and.... Sad. None of that mattered to Jane though becuase she knew today was going to be a great day. She woukd get to see Santa! And if she was reaaallly good her mom had said she woukd get to watch a movie! Such was the worry of children. As they got in the car and drove to the mall she watched out the window looking for anything to distract herself. Car rides were boring. "So whatcha gonna ask santa for?" Her older sister asked. Alice was 16 anc already had a mature look accented by the gere families natural black hair and green eyes. "Cookies.... no wait... uh a TV.... nooooo.... hmmm... aha! I''m gonna ask him for sighned baseball." Jane said in the exited offtopic babble of children her age. Her sister kept her entertained as they drove towards the mall. Festive lights and other forms of holiday cheer covered every store front and home. Detroit like many cities dreased itself in jolly finery. Eventually the car parked into the packed parking lot of the errence mall. It wasn''t one of the big malls but it served its purpose as families and gaggles of children hurried to get inside. The genuine version of this novel can be found on another site. Support the author by reading it there. Jane skipping merily stopped when she heard shouting. She turned towards the noise curiously and started to get an uneasy feeling. They seemed really mad. Her sister noticed and distracted her by conjuring a cloud of butterflies at her. Much to the younger girls delight. Her sister was a powered. A person born with a superpower that let them defy the laws of the universe. Of course Alice had the best power in Janes completely unbiased opinion. They entered into the mall and Jane was immediately distracted by a stall selling cookies. Her dad "reluctantly" gave in to her please for just one cookie. She came out with 3 much to her mothers consternation. She gave an evil look to Harold that promised future repercussions. Harold just ate his own cookie giving Erin a half hearted shrug. Harold dropped the cookie as a horrified look consumed his features. He grabbed Jane and pulled her to the ground as the unmistakable sound of firearms being discharged was heard. It was chaos in seconds. Screaming and panic took over janes entire world as her dad picked her up and started running while holding on to her. The rest of the family followed suit, as panicked people ran in every direction. They hid behind a small stand selling signs as the entrance of the mall exploded in a ball of fire. Men wearing mask, some in suits, while others simply adorned themselfs in tattoos. They kicked, punched, shot, and some even used powers. One man shot jets of water powerful enough to knock people of their feet. Jane screamed as one of those jets of water hit the stand cuaseing it to rock, her dad holding onto her tightly. As the water poured around the stall. A man carrying a pistol fired off shots that would bounce of objects to hit targets. One of the men in suits was pushed near the stall. Arching electricity cuasing bullets to reidirect from him. Her dad saw what was about to happen and shoved both his duaghters towards their uncle who pulled them out of the way just in time. As the man stepped into the puddle the electicity crackled and sparked across the stand and Jane watched in horror as her mom and Dad jerked and fell down. One of the signs fell off the stall onto the jerking convulsibg form of her dad. "LOL" as if the world were laughing at her. She struggled and bit and kicked at her uncle as he ran with her. Somewere they had lost Alice in the choas. But Jane Didnt care. She just needed to get to her dad! He was fine. Of course he was. He was her dad. They hid in a clothing store for what felt like an eternity. Eventually the fighting calmed down as the unmistakable sirens heralded the end of conflict. Jane waited as her uncle seemed to relax and took the moment to run out. Her uncle calling out to her but she ignored him. She HAD to get to her dad. Then she stopped right in front of her dads body. No not body! He was just sleeping. She gently nudged him. He needed to get up. She tried the same with her mom. Then she shook both of them. She kicked them next. But they didn''t wake up. They would never wake up. It was soppossed to be a good day. This couldn''t be happening. She sat there bawling begging her parents to hig her and tell her it was all a joke. Anything! She tried prayer. She tried waiting. Her uncle picked her up and hugged her crying form as she watched her parents be taken out on a stretcher. She cried as she learned what death was in the worst ways. She cried when no one could find her sister. She cried. Cried. And cried again. But it didn''t make things better. It didn''t bring them back. They would never come back. Never scold her. Never tell her that they loved her. They would not make sure she did her homework. Never take her to the movies. Because they were dead. Nothing she did would change that. She hated herself for it. She didn''t eat. She eventually didnt even cry. She just wanted it all to be over. She just existed. Stalk 1.0 She watched as two men guarded the entrance into the scrapyard She knew the place was part of a shell company. The scrap yard was actually part of 4 scrapyards owned by "Hells Devils". It was mainly used for metal theft. Were theives would turn in things like stolen bikes, jewelry, and other illgotten gains. The gang would then scrap the items and have people come in to "steal" from the scrapyard and netting the gang double what they payed out. On top of that it was practically untraceable. Normally the place would have 5 to 6 guards closer to the entrance but tonight only the two stood vigil. More important cargo needed guarding tonight. She made her move after making sure that there was no hidden defendors or nearby witnesses. The place was out of the way but you never knew. She walked out of the cover of the trees towards the two men. Both wore overalls and work jeans which just so happend to cover the tattoos that would mark them as members of the "Hells Devils" gang. "Hey miss are you lost?" One of them called out but she just kept walking towards them. Silently. Taking her time. Guaging their reactions. "Uh, this is private property miss." One of them said as he held out his arms to stop her once she got within arms reach. In a quick but smooth motion Jane pulled out a pocket knife and slit the mans throat. While her other hand pulled a can of mace from the pocket of her hoodie. Spraying it right in the face of the other man. "You bitch!" He screamed as the mans whos throat had been slit fell to the ground hands classped over his bleeding wound. Jane kicked the other man in the groin and as he fell to the ground gasping in pain she put him in a chokehold. She counted down the time while keeping a close eye on the man she mentally dubbed bleedy. Making sure she could react in case he tried to pull an unexpected move. Slowly she counted the seconds. After 4 seconds the man stopped struggling. After a minute and a half he was dead. She let the body drop. Then she walked over to bleedy and kicked his corpse. After he made no reaction, she checked his pulse to be absolutely sure he was dead. Jane pulled the backpack off her body grabbing her gun holster and mask. She put on the mask and Holster making sure the holster was snug on her body. Her leather coat flowed in the chill breeze as she pulled out the final piece of her unsomble. A glock 19, fulley loaded and 3 magazines witch she placed into thier prospective pockets on her holster. Geared up and ready she made her way into the junk yard. As she moved she checked each corner. Moving slowly and methodical, checking every inch of ground for traps or guards. She spotted one guard who was smoking a ciggeret. She check to make sure no one else was around him before walking up to him and stabing him in the throat. She placed her hand over his mouth muffling him. If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation. She could here the voices of a larger group just up ahead. More importantly she could hear the voice of her current target. "So you thought you could just attack one of MY scrapyards" an angry voice practically yelled as Jane made her aprouch. She counted 6 men. 4 were just low ranking muscle who normally guarded the scrapyard. They were just meaningless numbers as far as Jane was concerned. The other Two were the ones she was here for. Both were powereds but from seperate gangs. Jeffery Eril had his head grasping the long bloody hair of Riley Meredith whos beaten and battered body slumped chained to a rusted metal chair. Jeffery wore a sleevless shirt showing Tattoos that would make people of some specific groups very uncomfortable to say the least. His blond hair was matted with sweat and he seemed to have a resting snarl. Riley... was a little too beaten to make much of and probably wouldn''t live even if Jane managed to get the man to a hospital. Which worked out fine for her. She wanted them both very dead. "Hey boys! My invitation must have gotten lost in the mail. Hope I''m not late." Jane said with a fake cheery voice. The grunts took a few seconds to late to react and she put 3 down with well placed shots before they even thought to search for cover. Jane rolled out of the way of a Jet of water that blasted towards her with enough force to blow a whole through the rusted remains of what had once been a semi. "You missed." She easily rolled out of the way of the next jet, having allready predicted the trajectory of the next attack. She noted that each stream could only move in strait lines and had a range pf about 5 to 7 feet. It was a simple, allbeit effective power. She Shot him in the arm, and moved out of the way as one of the goons tried to attack her with a pipe from behind. Punching the remaining, she heard the swish as another jet was blasted at her. Jane mentally cursed as she barely avoided the stream. "I need to pay better attention. That almost got me" she thought and filed away for later analysis. The goon was not so lucky. He stared down at the gaping whole that had once been his Heart before droping to the ground. Jane fired 2 rounds forcing Jeffery to take cover, cursing loudly as he banged his wounded arm on the side of some rusted metal. "Do you know who the fuck I am?" He yelled at her, while trying to figure out were she was. "Yeah, your the bitch ass who''s about to die" she responded happily. It was good to remind people of their inevitable fates. "Your fuckin dead! I am gonna have my fun with you. You hear me!" She had mostly ignored him as she made her way closer. Firing a round at him every time he tried to get out of cover. Jeffery had apparently realized he wasn''t going to be able to just hide behind his bit of cover. Leaving him with the choice of running or trying to get an attack on her. He chose to attack. An action that was proven unwise as Jane placed 5 rounds him faster then he could shoot one of his jets at her. She rushed forward and planted her foot on his good arm while training her gun on the groaning man. "Please, what do you want? Money, Drugs? I got both." Jane had thought the man would have a least a little bit of spine but it turns out she was wrong. "Nah! I''m a good christian. I promise." She then drugged his body upwards as she leaned down, putting the full force of her feet on the mans good arm in the process. "There is something you can do for me though." She cut of his responce by placing the barel of her gun in his mouth. "I need you to deliver a message to your boss. Okay?" When he nodded she continued on. "Tell him that I''m coming for him." He nodded. "Okay repeat it. I need to know your listening." He said some unintelligible words, and Jane just shook her head. "I''m not fluent in bitch. I''m gonna need you to speak some english okay? Try again. " He yelled angrily but the gun muffled his voice. "I still can''t understand what your saying? Do you wanna live or not?" After he tried again she just sighed. "Guess your corpse will have to do." She fired the gun. She looked at the body and felt unsatisfied. It didn''t really make for the kind of message she wanted to send. Then an idea hit her. A wonderful, beautiful idea. She pulled out her knife and as she left the scrapyard her laughter echoed in the cold night. A body left behind her bearing a simple message carved into its skull. "LOL"