Loki and Ingrid 33--TRIGGER WARNING: RLY DARK

Trapped

Loki opens the book he’s writing in and starts to read. “Ingrid,”

          And then, the door explodes. I’m not even kidding. And in the midst of the explosion is Lydvor, carrying a large gun.

          “What the hell do you want?” I hear myself shouting as Lyd puts her gun away and advances into the room.

          “I came to break you out, Ingrid.” Lyd shrugs and brushes herself off.

          “Um…how did you…”

          “Enough of that—why did you blow up my door?”

          “Loki, I heard you too, trying to seduce her—apparently. I don’t know,” she sighs, “I’ll pay for your stupid door. I was just doing what had to be done before things got messy.”

          “I wasn’t doing anything,” says Loki, irritably, “What do you want?”

          “Just tell me what you’re up to!”

          “I’m not up to anything.”

          “And we all know you’re lying, idiot.” Lyd kicks what’s left of the door and sits down on the bed, still holding her gun.

          “How are you feeling?”   

          “I’m fine. Stop fussing.”

          “Okay, good. What are you still doing here anyway?”

          “You want me to go back to Jotunheim?”

          “Yes!—no, just I didn’t think you were going to stay. I’d rather have my idiot brother on this planet than you.”

          “He is a dream…”

          “No, Lyd, you can’t just do that!”

          “What? I’m not related to him!”

          “Sort of—”

          “We have no connection. Except I’m your biological half-sister and you got adopted and I didn’t and he’s your adopted brother so, no, we’re not related.”

          “Guys, that’s gross! Can you just stop?”

          “Sif?” Lyd whirls around, “Why does everyone have to show up to the party?”

          “There’s a party?” asks Sif, excitedly, “Am I invited?”

          “No,” I sigh, “There’s no party. We should just be glad we’re alive since the entire kingdom hates us now.”

          “Not my fault,” snaps Sif, “Look at him! What happened to the Odin charade?”

          “I think I shall keep it up for feasts and parties and to mess with Thor whenever he decides to show back up—not that I’m looking forward to it.”

          “Loki! He’s your brother!”        

          “It’s a long story, after everything that happened on Midgard and such…”

          “SCREW THANOS! SCREW HIS PURPLE BUTT!”

          “Lyd, shut up!”

          “She’s right,” I sigh, “But there’s not a lot any of us can do. We got rid of Aura—”          

          “I got rid of Aura—”

          “Stop. Just stop.” I can remember it now. So hard to be happy. I hate this whole thing. I hate Aura. I’m sorry but I hate Nova. I hate nonsense. I hate everything.

          There’s an odd silence in the room. I want to look up, to say something, as Lyd storms out without a word.

          I hate what I said, what I did. I hate everything he did to me. I hate Lyd, hate Sif, Thor, everyone. Especially Loki. And after everything, it’s boiling….

          I want to say something, want to scream, want to lock him into a corner for all eternity. But I don’t budge. It feels like I’m suffocating. I can’t see, can’t hear, can’t think. Sif walks out, closing the imaginary door behind her, crawling through the debris from Lyd’s explosion.

          I am once again alone with Loki. But I don’t want it. I don’t want to be, but I can’t leave either. Something compels me to stay. No, I can’t I shouldn’t. I always stay, always go running back to him….

          Something stops me. I don’t have the will to move, to budge.

          “Why were we talking about Aura again?” I can hear Loki faintly though my thoughts.

          Since you wanted to take credit for killing her.

          I can’t move, can’t speak. Can only lie on the floor, speechless. There’s nothing in the universe I can do. I feel immobile, feel like I’m drowning in every bad experience, every negative thought, that’s ever occurred as he begins to speak, “You know we don’t talk about anything that happened. But the funny thing is, it keeps happening. Things keep happening. Her bodyguards are out there somewhere.” Yes, yes they are. More pain, Ingrid. You deserve it, you stupid girl. Are you listening to me? What I’m saying is that I don’t want to remember that. But there’s no way I could ever forget, you know?” Tell me about it, idiot.  “I don’t really care if you’re listening or not, nothing really matters at this point.” Damn right it doesn’t. Thanos will just win anyway and odds are one or both of us will be obliterated, why bother? “I can’t ever feel that kind of pain again, after every time. It was daily when Thanos had me the first time, then he lied to me…” I don’t care. Just get me out of this hell. “Then the first time Nova had us…I was so scared, not just about you, I was scared…” I was the one getting killed, idiot. “And then, the second time. She was trapped. Just like me, and I let her die.” She deserved it, you fool. And you probably do too. “And again, when Aura had us and we had to go rescue that idiot Lyd, hopefully she isn’t spying on us, not that I care, since she can just finish me off with that stupid gun for all I care. I’m dead anyway. Can’t give up the stones, that’s so funny since they’re in our mind, yours and mine and Sif’s and Thor’s and if we all just died he’d never know.” That’s rough. You don’t want anyone to die, Ingrid, do you? “And then they came to our house and I know it will never end.” Damn right it won’t. “I can’t escape, they’re still out there.” They’re still out there. “Just kill me now.” Just kill me now. “I want to die.” I want to die. “No one understands.” No one understands…

          My head hurts. My thoughts are overwhelming me as Loki plays with the knife he used to slay Aura. Get that away from him, Ingrid. He’s tried things before. Why do you care? You don’t love him anyway. Just leave and mind your own business. Go to Xandar, idiot. Midgard, anywhere. Just go away. You don’t care. I don’t care who he is, he doesn’t deserve to die. Yes, he does, he killed a ton of people! That doesn’t matter, dummy, it was Thanos. Is Thanos even real? Kick Thanos’ ass already! Maybe Aura was in charge of everything…Maybe we did it. No, stupid, you just wish it was over. You’re dumb, stupid. Just let him play with it, he won’t do anything. He tried before, on Jotunheim. He fell of the bridge here on Asgard and left you on Asgard. Remember how much you cared then? The trials, that’s when it all started. No, it started long before that. It started in the library, the young prince studying, no a seven-year-old bored with work. You’re dumb, Ingrid. You can’t just let anything happen. You promised.

          “Give that to me.” I get up off the ground, and begin advancing.

          “No. I read your mind.”

          “I thought you had to touch people’s heads to do that?”   

          “With you it’s different. A connection.”

          “Stop being romantic. Give me the knife. Now.”

          It’s all so quick, so sudden, I barely feel anything as I’m ready, knocked off my feet, my head spinning…

***

I feel pain. Pain in my right hand, a sharp, piercing wound. Not a constant excruciation like one of the chips, but something that feels like a stab wound. I try to breathe as I struggle to get up, to get a sense of what is going on. I hear myself whimpering, “Mom? Dad?” I must’ve been dreaming. I try to shake it off as I try to make out my surroundings. Loki, possibly an illusion, nose in a book. The knife nowhere in sight, but when I look at my hand it is bleeding.

          “Too fast to think?”

          My head is spinning. I am dizzy, trying to remember what happened. “Please drop the illusions. I’m confused.”

          “Fine.”

          The room is back to its chaotic state, still no door, still debris, now with the added chaos of some very out of place furniture, and a knife, stuck in the wall.

          “You stabbed a wall?” I’m shaking.

          “Maybe.”

          “Did you change your mind about wanting to die?”

          “I read your mind. Did you? I’m pretty sure you were just trying to get yourself stabbed so you could bleed to death, congratulations, you did it.”

          “But I’m alive….”

          “Look at the carpet.”

          “Okay, yeah, that’s a lot of blood…” I want to jump back.

          “It’s your hand.”

          “No, I wasn’t trying to get stabbed, idiot. You were.”

          “I don’t know anymore. I was trying to read your mind but you were too fast.”

          “No, you were pulling an old trick out of the hat. Where’s your confessional letter? Where’s that stupid book? You just wish there was another rainbow bridge to jump off like an idiot!”

          “Who’s an idiot?” I hear a quiet voice.

          “Who’s there?”

          “It’s Sif! Digging my way out of the debris, but yeah, I came back—Ingrid! What happened to your hand?”

          “It’s nothing,” both Loki and I say at once as our eyes meet. We might as well tell her…

          “Too bad you can’t read minds, Sif. So, after you left, Ingrid zoned on me, and I was just remembering everything…I didn’t—I don’t see a way out of this whole dirty Thanos situation.”

          “And…?”

          “He monologed at me as I was brain-dead for a few minutes, and then he tried to stab himself with the Aura knife. At least that’s what I think happened, and I guess…” I look at my hand, “We’re here now.”

          I realize that Sif never heard about the incident on Jotunheim. But I know that Thor isn’t going to show up this time. Looking for infinity stones, and ways to potentially destroy them, frolicking around with the Avengers…. it’s up to me.

          “She decided that I needed to be around to deal with Thanos or something, even though I told her that we’re more dangerous alive than dead, yes, that includes you, idiot, and so she tried to save me or whatever, I don’t need saving, and then I changed my mind, since the satisfaction from killing Thanos is more than worth the wait, and I pulled the knife out and stabbed the wall…”

          “That’s really dumb.”

          “Sif!” I exclaim.

          “It’s true,” says Loki, “So is this whole stupid thing.”

          “I changed my mind too,” I say, “I don’t want to be alive sometimes, but I don’t want to die either…you can’t come back from that, dying…” I give Loki the Look, “And I certainly don’t want anyone else to die.”

          “Sif looks at both of us, and at the knife, the wall, the room, the doorway. “Loki, how did you manage to destroy both your own and Ingrid’s room?”

          Oh yeah. My room. The vase. It feels so unimportant now.

          “Blame Lyd. She blew the door. Where’d that rascal go anyway?”

          “I don’t know, but I don’t care right now. You two should never be alone together, got it?”

          “Ummmmm,” I look at Loki, “She’s probably right.”

          “Are you okay….?” Sif looks doubtful as she surveys the situation. “You should get something for your hand, Ingrid. I think you need some time. I’ll look after Loki and get the palace fixed as deputy Queen…”

          “Sure, whatever. Maybe a little trip would be good.” I’m still not thinking straight. “Anything you need me to do?”

          “Yup! There’s a group of ravagers hanging on the outer edge. They stole some Asgardian gold. Get it back. Get some help. Take all the time you need. Your partner is downstairs. Disguised of course.”

          “I trust you,” Sif, I sigh, breathing the fresh air as I plan to make my much-needed escape from Asgard and wander to the kitchens.

          There is a slim, blue-haired girl sitting on the counter, smoking something nonchalantly. Her mannerisms and features look familiar…”Disguised of course.”

          Oh, no. “Lyd?”