The Crossroads

Silence. Silence and the wind. It was all she could hear, standing there in the middle of the crossroads, waiting. The sun was killing her; burning and shining on the vast desert, giving the mountains and the sand everywhere a light orangery glow. The sky above her was a clear light blue with very few clouds covering the sun from the ground. Thankfully, she had put on her dark sunglasses to shield her eyes from the bright light; otherwise, she might as well go blind. If she was able to that was. Allowing the harsh wind to blow through her pitch black strands, the girl waited, leaning against her pearly white Aston Martin. She had been standing at that crossroads for a long time, and she was becoming impatient. Her work was calling her; she needed to answer.

Just when the girl could not stand it anymore, she heard the distant roaring of an engine come from the road ahead of her. Moving forward to get a better look, the girl spotted a red blur coming towards her at a high speed. A smile curled on the girl’s pale face; she stood in the middle of the crossroads as she waited for the blur to come closer to her. It had far too long since the girl and motorist had come in contact, let alone meet at the crossroads. There had been so many things going on in the world today that they could not set a date.

The girl was glad they could.

The motorcycle continued to drive at a high speed; the driver eventually swerved the bike to a halt a few inches away from the girl’s feet. The motorist was a woman, about the same age as her sister, with scarlet red waves and reddish brown eyes. Tattoos colored the other girl’s thin arms; piercings punctured her eyebrow, nose, ears and lip. The girl was not surprised by the designs she spotted on the motorist’s skin: one was the famous hammer and sickle of the Soviet Union; the bronze eagle holding the black, red and white Nazi swastika; a pair of rifles crossing each other, and a Mickey Mouse in a Confederate uniform and a Goofy in a Union uniform. The girl had a clearer view of the rest as she scanned further down the girl’s body, seeing dark denim jeans covering her legs and a red wife-beater showing very little of her bust. The motorist smiled widely when she saw her sister.

“Hello sister,” The motorist said, “Nice to see you again, after all this time.”

“Is it really?”

“Well, you could have picked a better place to meet, like a hotel or a diner with some good food.”

“The desert has no people, and we always meet here. You know that…”

“I think it’s time for a new spot.”

The motorist dismounted her bike and set it up near the girl’s car. When the motorist leaned against the car with her sister, the girl spoke up.

“I am surprised no one has taken offense your tats.”

“Oh they have,” The other smiled, “But their mouth got busted.”

“Why?”

“That was where my knuckles landed.”

The two of them shared a laugh. “I assume people find you a little racist.”

“Yeah, they do. Especially Jews or Blacks,” The motorist scoffed. “I’m not really into the whole hate-crime racism thing, but it’s a branch of what I do. The civil war was started because of racism to blacks; the holocaust and pretty much any religious war or persecution was against Jews; people are becoming more racist towards Arabic and Muslims because of what’s going on in Iran. Race is a great way to start any conflict. That and religion.” She turned her arm to show Jesus hanging from the cross and the Jewish star with a slash-type design on it.

“What about regular politics? Everyone knows politicians are going down the drain because of you.”

“Oh that’s just for fun,” The motorist smiled. “I mean, Obama became president; he has some views those republicans don’t like. It’s bound to happen with or without my help.”

The girl laughed and then turned back to the road ahead of them. In their silence, the girl thought. Her sister was right on some accounts. Politics and racism had been the trigger for some wars, but why? Why couldn’t humans just get along? Why did they have to hate? God made them in his image…So, was he just as hateful as them? She wouldn’t know. She never met the guy.

“When are they getting here?” The motorist asked, crossing her arms and sighing deeply.

“I’m sure they’ll be here soon. You know P is always late…”

“Yeah. It’s a bad habit.”

“There’s a lot going on in hospitals right now. Especially with that swine flu hopping around.”

“I bet you two have been busy.”

“Very,” The girl confirmed. “She’s been working on trying to keep it around, but not enough that the humans notice something’s off about it.”

“Keeping it on the down low?”

“Yep.”

“Cool.”

Just as they stared down the road again, another blur appeared. It was larger and pitch black. The girl knew exactly who it was, especially by the look of the motorist’s face. A look of sheer annoyance.

“Oh great…Here comes the princess,” The motorist commented.

“Shut up,” The girl snapped, “She’s your sister.”

“Unfortunately…”

The girl gave her a side-ways look, but turned back to the car rolling up to them, slowly coming to a stop. They both watched as a tall curly blond stepped out of the car. The shimmery purple dress the girl wore revealed the fact that she was all skin and bone. Her cheek bones seemed to have a lift; her jaw looked narrower, and her nose appeared to be smaller. The two other sisters were not surprised by the work the blond had done herself, but knew that she must have eaten recently.

“Hey there Stick,” The motorist said, “I see you ate today.”

“And I’m still starving,” The blond said in a lofty voice.

The three of them laughed, and then stood in a small circle.

“How is the modeling business going?” The girl asked.

“Wonderful,” The blond smiled. “I’ve never seen so many skinny people in all my years.”

“Isn’t it wonderful how much influence the media has?” The girl smiled. “They’re certainly getting the word out that skinny is the new slender.”

“It is,” The blond said, flipping her hair behind her shoulder. “That’s what happens when you have a lover in the magazine business. You come up with an idea; he spreads the word. It’s a team effort.”

“Even if he doesn’t know it,” The motorist said.

“Men are stupid. Flash them your tits or let them fuck you and they’ll do whatever you want.”

“True, true,” The motorist agreed. “You have no idea how many skinheads I’ve used.”

“I thought you said you didn’t do hate-crimes,” The girl turned to her.

“I don’t do them, but what’s to stop me from making someone else do it for me.”

The three of them chuckled again. “You need a man,” The blond said to the girl. “Work would be much faster.”

“Nah,” The girl shook her head. “He would just get in the way of me traveling. You guys pretty much do my work for me. I just collect.”

The motorist laughed. “Yeah, we do.”

“I personally don’t think it’s fair,” The blonde commented.
“What have you been doing these past few years?”

“That chain of earthquakes in the Caribbean; some elderly deaths in the states; an oil spill, the hurricane coming onto the Texas shore, and a bunch of other stuff.”

“You’ve been busy,” The motorist said.

“Yeah, it’s what I live for,” The girl said, sighing a bit.

They all shared a smirk, and all three of them leaned against the girl’s car. The motorist and the blond began to talk about the latest war in Iraq, while the girl began to think to herself. Life had not been so easy these days, particularly when she was traveling. With gas prices sky rocketing; crime rate rising all over the globe; global warming and the war, it was a good thing she did not need so much sleep. The girl sometimes wished she had not taken the job; that she had chosen to die. Yet dying had not sounded as appealing as it did now. Death was a scary thing. What happened when you died? Did you feel it? Where would she even go? Probably stay with her master. He would have liked that.

“Here comes P,” The motorist said.

And there she was. A small white Volvo rode their way and came to an abrupt stop next to the blond's vehicle. Out climbed the tiny brunette the girl had grown to know-even love. She was dressed in the typical white buttoned blouse with a tight grey pencil skirt. The girl noticed the brunette’s distinct paleness and the light tinge of red on her nose. Immediately, the girl saw that she had not eaten in a while either, since her hands were shaking and she seemed to be weaker than normal.

The motorist greeted her with a pat on the back, which caused the brunette to choke out a harsh, wheezy cough.

“I see you haven’t eaten either,” The blond remarked.

“See you have,” The brunette answered in a congested voice.

“How’s the hospital?” The girl asked.

“Packed,” The brunette said, “As usual. Swine flu; cancer; lung, heart, liver diseases; failing organs; brain damages; broken body parts, and all that other shit that people bug me about all the time. I wish they would all just accept it and die.”

She leaned beside the girl and rested her head on her shoulder. “I hate my life.”

“I hate mine too,” The girl said.

“If I had a life, I’d be with you,” The motorist stated.

“This is the only thing I hate about being the doctor one,” The brunette said, getting off the car and walking around to the trunk, “I have to be the one to feed you animals.”

“Hey, it’s not easy doing what we do,” The motorist said again.
“I know you got the easy end of what we do, but the rest of us have daily things to attend to; the world is not gonna stop conflicting-“

“-Or stop starving and feed themselves of whatever pleasure they want-“The blond said.

“-Or find a way to make people immortal-“The girl added. “Plus, you’re the doctor. It’s easier for you to snatch the blood then the rest of us can.”

“Hey,” The brunette, pulling out a set of keys from her pocket and sliding it into a keyhole, “My job isn’t easy either. You know how many people come into a hospital daily? Tons, and they all expect me to take care of them because they’re too stupid to fix it themselves. I’m just as busy as everyone else. I don’t have any down time to eat either.”

“She’s right,” The girl was about to protest before the motorist spoke up. “We all work day and night. I haven’t eaten in weeks because the war in Iraq can’t be put on hold for five minutes; the world of fashion isn’t gonna stop because you want to eat ‘till you’re bloated, and wars and other arguments don’t have pause buttons. People never stop dying,” She turned to face the brunette. “Let’s just eat whatever you got and talk about what we came here for.”

The conversation ended when the brunette ducked into her trunk. She returned with four blood bags in her hand, tossing one to each of them. They all smiled gratefully to their sister, and uncorked the bags. The motorist stopped them before they could all drain it.

“Let’s chug,” She grinned, “Like we used to when we were younger.”

“What’s the stake?” The blond asked.

“Loser has to fork over a blood pack for everyone.”

Each of them agreed. “Alright. On the count of
three…One…Two…Three!”

The girl drank as fast as she could. Cold streams flowed out the sides of her mouth; the relieving taste flooded her mouth before it trailed down into her throat and gave her such a satisfying in her stomach. She did not mind giving her blood away because she had plenty, but if she could avoid it, she would. Looking out of the corner of her eye, she saw the blond was almost finished with her bag, which was to be expected since she was always hungry no matter the quantity of food she received.

“Done!” The blond said with a pretty smile, tossing her hair behind her shoulder.

None of the three stopped to look at her, but only quickened their pace. The girl sensed movement on her side for a moment and saw her other two sisters pushing one another in hope that they would spill their drink. As the bag began to give her minimal fluid, the girl sucked every last bit she could muster up, and then stopped. She wiped her mouth and tried to catch her mouth while the brunette beside her finished her pack. The motorist gulped the rest of hers and threw it down in defeat, cursing loudly.

“Pay up,” The blond smiled smugly.

The motorist went to her bike and dug through a bag hanging from the handle. She returned and passed them all a medium-sized bag.

“Fucking bitches,” She muttered.

“Oh don’t be bitter cupcake,” The blond cooed, pinching the motorist cheek affectionately. “You just have to work on your swallowing skills.”

The motorist swatted the blonde’s hand from her cheek and crossed her arms while the other two laughed for a moment.
“Everyone here knows you’re the best at swallowing,” The motorist snapped.

The blond and she began to shove each other lightly, but the girl slipped in between them. “Hey knock it off,” she said, “We have business to sort out.”

“Always the serious one, huh?” The brunette smiled.

“Someone has to be the mature one around here,” The girl replied. “Let’s sit.”

They all climbed onto her car: The motorist and she against the windshield while the other two sat on the lower end of the hood. The girl began:

“All the years I have been on this earth, I have noticed one thing about the human race: They’re so weak. They get sick or starve, they die out. They have wars for any little reason. They murder each other just for being in the same neighborhood as another. They rob, rape, beat each other. They have no respect or care for any other being on the planet because they only care for the things they need. It’s pathetic-“

“-Disgraceful-“The brunette said.

“-Pitiful-“The motorist added,

“-Typical-“The blond cut in,

“-Why did he even create them? I mean, look what they have done to his planet. All the crime and sin they commit, and he allows them past the gates as long as they repent before they die. He lets them slide and get away with everything. All the humans talk about facing Him one day; how He’ll be the judge for their actions. I’m pretty sure all they would have to do is give him a sob-story and He would fall for it-“

“-What I’ve never understood-“The brunette interjected, “Is what has happened to all of them? There are humans who rape and murder children; drug dealers who know they’re selling people products that could kill them, and people who are in gangs that kill each other for pointless things. In our days, if you did such things, you were killed or whipped. Now, they’ve all gone soft and just stick them in jail-”

“-Supposedly, the jails are bad-“The motorist commented.

“-But they used to be worse. Jails in our day where playgrounds for us. All those starving people, catching diseases and being whipped and beaten for anything,” The brunette said with malice in her voice and a smile playing on her face. “We loved it. But now, these few generations have gone all weak and think that it’s cruel and brutal to be so harsh to wrong-doers.”

“As long as they have so called ‘faith’, they’re free to break the rules,” The blond said. “Did you know there’s little thug people who have tattoos of Him on their bodies or have pictures of Him in their homes, but yet they go out a kill someone or beat them to a bloody pulp? It’s a total insult to Him. You say you are a believer, but then you sin.”

“They say His son died for their sins,” The girl said. “Why? They only continued to sin. Jesus dying on that cross that day did not do anything. Yet, despite this, they are free to do whatever they please as long as there are some who are good-“

“-There’s actually good humans?” The blond chuckled. “I’d like to meet a pure human. One who has never sinned in their life and can truly say they love Him with all their being.”

“Why do you even bring this up?” The motorist turned to the girl. “Why are we so concerned about whatever wrong-doing these pathetic bastards have done? We could control them if we wanted; we control their atmosphere and their fates. We have a higher power than they do. We can’t die,” She said forcefully, “They can. Even if we could die, if there was a way, they would be too stupid to figure it out.”

The rest of them chuckled for a moment, but the motorist continued. “Pestilence starts plagues and epidemics,” She motioned to the brunette, “Famine gives them all the worst cravings and addictions that they would ever have in a life time; not to mention starves them if she wants,” The blond held her head up a little higher, “And I can turn even the smallest fight into a fuckin’ blood bath! Death,” She looked at the girl, “You are what every single human fears. They are all afraid to meet you and your reaper one day, even if they can’t admit it to themselves. Why bother caring for them?”

“Because Master has a plan.”

The moment the girl had said these words; there was a sudden stillness amongst her sisters. “What do you mean? Like that 2012 rumor? Is it true?” The brunette asked eagerly.

“No, 2012 is nothing compared to what is really going to happen,” The girl grinned. “I have spoken with Master and he agrees with me. It is time these humans pay for their insolence. I brought up the subject of their punishment when he wanted to commend me for Haiti. I told him all about my plan and he thinks we should go along with it all.”

“What’s your plan?” The motorist asked.

“Judgment Day. Apocalypse. That day that all these humans fear; when Master and Him decide who reaches paradise and who falls. I believe could speed up the date a couple hundred years; start out small with harsh disasters and wide-spreading epidemics, then move up to wracking up the death toll numbers with wars and crime. It’ll show these humans to respect and to honor the people who created them. It will be a hard punishment.”

“I assume he agreed to this?” The blond asked.

“He agreed on all counts. He told me to keep doing what we do and he will assemble some kind of deal with his old master.”

“So, we keep working?” The motorist said, “Like normally?”

“You can amp up the damage if you wish,” The girl answered.
“Like more suicide bombings on wider scales; a stronger epidemic and more starving third-world countries. I could bring up more deaths with tornadoes and earthquakes.”

“Sounds good to me,” The brunette said, “Let’s do it.”

“But I can’t work fast enough,” The blond said. “There is only so few countries I could wipe out. You wouldn’t believe how fast some of these humans respond to each other.”

“Those are the good ones,” The brunette nodded, “They actually care.”

“I wasn’t even aware the little bastards had feelings,” The motorist said out loud.

The girl laughed a bit, and then turned to the blond. “I’m sure I can get some help for you.”

“I can send some diseases your way,” The brunette told the blond. “Like Malaria or something. A quick kill.”

“Sounds good. Thanks, “The blond said.

“Yeah, you’ll like her work,” The motorist said to the blonde,

“Very fast and effective.”

“Aw,” The brunette said, “Thanks sis.”

“It’s true,” The girl spoke. “Most of my collecting has been from you. Humans catch illnesses so easily.”

“One question,” The blond turned to the girl, “What if this doesn’t work? What if they survive the disasters, and get past the war or find food. They always have some way of getting around us.”

“Then we push harder. We need to push so hard that they feel helpless beyond all hope. Like you have said,” She looked to the motorist, “We’re stronger than them.”

“And Master approves of this?” The blond inquired.

“A hundred-percent,” The girl nodded. “He knows we will do good work and I have reassured him.”

“He puts too much faith in us. How can he expect-“

“He gave us these powers for a reason,” The girl said. “When we died, we all had some kind of experience in our field. War had been a strong warrior in the Roman army; Famine had been a fabulous cook, and Pestilence had been a doctor. He took our abilities and turned them on us because we know the side we were fighting against. He believes in us because we’ve shown him we’re capable of doing anything. So, if he believes we can do it, then we should believe with him.”

There was a small silence amongst them. It was the kind of silence that one could sink into their thoughts and think for a moment. The girl knew that it would have been difficult to get her sisters to believe themselves, but if she mentioned the Master they worshiped so much, they would be easier to persuade.

“Well then,” The motorist smiled, “Let’s go raise some Hell, right?”

The four sisters shared a chuckle and slipped off the car and onto the gravel. Their goodbyes were lengthy, whispering ‘goodbye’s and ‘I will miss you’s as they embraced in tight hugs. This would be the last time they would see each other for a long time. This was their last meeting before heading off. The girl felt tears brim her eyes as she hugged each of them. Despite the fact that they were not real blood sisters, they were sisters in bond. They had gone through everything; spread out so much chaos and pain to humans and things like humans. It hurt to know that they would be gone and she would be alone again.

Finally, they dispersed and entered their own vehicles. The girl looked out from her windshield at her sisters, seeing them all look at each other. She knew that Judgment Day would happen. It would. It must. However, she did not know what would happen to them, if all life on this planet was wiped out. Whatever did happen, the young-looking, dark haired girl knew that they would all go together. Motioning her hand to them all, she revved up her engine and began to drive south. The sound of several other engines and a dirt bike from behind her told her they were following.

‘Whatever shall happen on this journey into the unknown, we will always ride together.’