The Adventures Of Ari and Charlie: Ari's Keepin' Secrets

Hi, guys... Look, I don't really know how to do this like she does... Charlie, here. I'll... I'll just... start it off like this...

It was like any other day, woke up, got ready, went to school, you get it. "So, where should we stop by today?" I smiled and asked Ari as we continued down the streets around the square. Uh, not the literal street, the sidewalks. This sucks! I suck! I'm terrible at this! "Good question! I have no idea! How about we head to that ice cream place where that random party bus happened to stop at that one time?" she replied, doing her little happy hops, up and down. I shrugged, sounded good enough, "Alright, fine by me... even if it's cold as heck out here." I replied as we continued down the- ahem - SIDEWALKS, of course I'm the one in casual wear and she's got her own whimsical style going on.

Never fails to amaze me.

I mean it...

Ari ends up pointing at some random, old fashioned, truck. Or... classic? No idea what the terms for vehicles are. Whatever. We just so happened to know the guy driving the truck and waved at him as he drove by before continuing to walk (and, yes, he waved back to us) to the ice cream place just around the corner, we walked right past the restaurant with the cajun food beforehand as well which made us debate on whether we should stop there or at the ice cream place. We ended up just going to both places, and y'know what? It was worth it, and so were the stomach aches, 'cause both places serve great food! As we sat outside at the square, listening to the live band play some jazz tunes, eating ice cream in the cold out there the entire time like psychos. Although... psychos aren't really crazy, just heartless. I think... that... that's, extremely... off topic-... I'm so sorry... forget about it.

Please...

Ari kept zoning out, as usual, I listened to the band. They were pretty good, but not as good as us! I'm... I'm just kidding, by the way...

It was a few minutes after that when someone's kid started just... wailing and screaming at the top of his lungs which scared, Ari. Not only that but our aunt text me a news article, that same moment the kid started throwing a tantrum, about some 'heart-themed individual' that was 'terrorizing civilians' still on the loose followed by a "Please stay safe!!" and heart emoji. This is why me and Ari make Spiderman jokes, because it'd be nice to have a hero in this city. All we know about is some humanoid bat creature defending civilians from this, disgustingly pink, 'heart-themed villain'. And even then that... 'bat', I guess you could call it... scares me. A lot. Ari, on the other hand, doesn't mind... 'her'... but she does hate 'Heartsy', as she calls the 'villain'. "It's getting a bit dark." Ari, suddenly spoke up, interrupting my thoughts. I stayed silent for a moment, Ari began to get up from the bench we were sitting on but then I spoke up saying, "Wait! I want to see the rest of this band's performance." she just raised an eyebrow and asked "Why...?". I shrugged, "Just to see what we're up against." I replied with a playful smirk... at least... I think I was smirking... anyways, she shrugged right back, sat back down, and then...

A police car drove by...

Followed by another and then another and-... well you get the picture...

Hopefully.

Ari stood back up almost immediately, her head followed the cars, even when they turned a corner and went straight out of view! She was being insane! "Ari, you good? Like actually..?" I asked her, extremely concerned, she only nodded and that did NOT comfort me, AT ALL-! And when she suddenly needed to use the restroom and told me to head home because she was just going to go visit a friend that lives nearby and took off, I got even more worried!

But I got up, and headed home anyways..

Like an idiot...

Anyways, so... there I was...

A random, twelve year old, ALONE, walking down the sidewalk to get home.

Nothing could possibly go wrong! Right?

NO!

WRONG!

SOMETHING WENT, HORRIBLY, WRONG!

As I turned a corner and made my way past an alley, someone's hand firmly grabbed onto my shoulder and yanked me into the alley. I didn't even have time to react! That's when I got kicked in the stomach, I fell down in pain. It was when I finally... kind of... caught my breath, that I realized...

There were five men, dressed in all black, standing above me...

And one of them had a knife, pointed right at me.

"Empty your pockets, kid! We don't got all night!" He shouted, and brought the knife closer to my face. "Okay... Okay!" I choked out in fear and pain from the kick earlier as I panicked and gave them whatever I had on me.

Only to get trapped in a headlock with the knife now aimed at my neck. "It's no good, kid!" and the other shouted, "Do it! He'll run to the police if we don't!". But before I was stabbed-

"HEY!"

a familiar voice called out, causing the men to turn to the shadowy corner revealing a bat-like, individual in the corner. It was, Ari's voice... but where was, Ari..?

"Get your hands off my brother!", the figure called out, it's bat ears pinned back, an angry expression on its pitch black mask, only having these triangular... eye spots, it seemed and most importantly...

It came flying down at them with its large bat wings!

It knocked each of them down, one guy even shot at it! It wouldn't back down!

BUT IT WAS, ARI!

She's 'the bat creature' that's going around saving peo-

BANG!!

She froze and stared down at me in horror.

"Charlie! No!"

She shrieked, so loudly it caused a sonic boom and threw us all back. I remember it going black after that...

But what I saw when I woke up, is something I'll never forget..

There she was. My own sister. With the same guy who shot me pinned to the ground as she furiously held up his knife, aimed at his heart and-...

How do I write this...?

How do I write this without... crying...?

She furiously stabbed him.

Repeatedly, blood splattered onto her, dark, hooded coat, and mask. Once she was done with him she knocked the next guy into the brick wall of the alley with another sonic boom before finishing him off. And what she did to the fourth-...? oh...

Oh, man...

Tore him to shreds...

And the guy who had me in a headlock was stabbed... viciously to death as well...

I... I witnessed my own sister... kill five men... brutally...

It was one, huge, bloody, terrible, mess..

For me.

I limped over to her and I hugged her. She was a bloody mess, literally! Who would've thought... Ari...?

Our sweet and innocent and kind... Ari?

Was capable of such brutality? I sure didn't. But if it weren't for this 'bat hero' I call a sister... I wouldn't be alive! But... but the way she sobbed in my arms, regretting what she had just done...

That hurt me.

More than the gunshot wound ever did...