Quattro - Chapter 2: The fall

15th October 1990 Chris 'Quattro' Fuschia's birthday.

Quickened footsteps of anxiety could be heard
throuhout the corridor!
"ounds of '#o$' %ere heard throuhout the %alls of the
Fuschia's &ansion' (lled %ith rief' and denial.
)eads of cold s%eat could be seen drippin fro& her
sno%y %hite skin' her teeth ritted as tears of anuish
*o%ed fro& her eyes.
Fe% &inutes earlier' Fuschias' +osenarten , -eati&e.
./y 0ady Chris!1 brin you de2astatin ne%s. 3e do
not kno% %hat to say' /y 0ady!On this occasion' your
birthday!. one of the ser2ants nearly cried as she
approached the irl.
.1s it so&ethin to do %ith &y fa&ily4. Chris replied.
"he had obser2ed the fa&ily e2er since the reunion at
the )erlin 3all. -heir condition has not been the best
since. For the (rst fe% days after the reunion' they
see&ed rather %eakened. Chris assu&ed that her
fa&ily and relati2es &iht ha2e been so excited about
catchin up %ith the ti&es' that they ended up tirin
the&sel2es. 5o%e2er' she bean to see that their
condition had taken a do%nturn.
Chris beca&e %orried. "he had since sent for the best
physicians to prescribe the best &edicine for the& to
co&bat the sy&pto&s of their illness cold' &uscle
ache' *u' and the lot.
"he also stayed by her parent's side' occasionally
&o2in fro& roo& to roo& to take care of the&'
checkin on their condition to &ake sure they %ere
(ne. "he e2en helped the %orkers in 6udi's (nancial
depart&ent' %ho heard about the Fuschia's illness' in
settlin the accounts. 1t %as usually her parents that
settled this.
Chris %as also infected by the 7,Coli bacteriu&' but she
%as %ell %ithin t%o days. 8octors %ere %onderin %hat
had caused Chris to successfully counter the bacteriu&.
-hat %as' until they found out that Chris's roo& %as
co2ered in frosty ice on the %indo%s and icicles upon
the ceilins.
5ours of research after the icy disco2ery' the doctors
concluded that the 7,Coli had a%akened Chris's
dor&ant po%er , cryokinesis.
.Chris's cryokinesis is able to decrease her body to sub,
9ero te&perature %hen contractin the ' e:ecti2ely
renderin the bacteriu& useless. 3e concluded that
she %as able to control her ne%,found po%ers %ith
practice..
Chris's personal ser2ant' %ho %as acco&panyin Chris
at the +osenarten for teati&e' &o2ed a%ay to allo%
the physicians specially assined to the Fuschia's fa&ily
to approach Chris.
./y 0ady!this is unexpected. 3e recently found out
that a bacteriu& had infected the Fuschias. -his
bacteriu&' 7,Coli' is far stroner than %e ha2e
anticipated; your fa&ily &iht ha2e cauht it due to the
polluted at&osphere at the )erlin 3all t%el2e days
ao.. -he doctors shook their heads.
.3hat do you &ean!. Chris's tone fell into a soft'
deathly tone' tre&blin.
.3e!%e ha2e done our best..
Chris's cup fell to the *oor. 6 chillin silence screa&ed
throuh the backyard as she shook her head.
.#o!.#o' you are lyin' riht' doctor4 <ou're &istaken'
riht4 =lease' tell &e that you're %ron$ /y fa&ily' they
can't$ -57< C6#'-$. Chris cried.
./y 0ady$ =lease cal& do%n$. her personal ser2ant
%orryinly pleaded.
.-here is nothin %e can do' /y 0ady' the epide&ic
outbreak arri2ed far sooner than %e ha2e expected'
and %e didn't e2en kno% its for&idable po%er despite
kno%in its identity. 3e're really sorry!. the doctor
shook his head' clearly feelin reret for the fa&ily.
Chris could feel the %orld crashin do%n upon her' as if
it %as about to fall apart co&pletely on her feet. Cold
s%eat broke out in her. "he could e2en feel her heart
stabbed by a ra9or,sharp knife. -he %hole fa&ily
reunited and %ithin a fe% &onths' it %as torn apart by
an epide&ic. 1t shook Chris in to the 2ery core as she
tried to absorb %hat %as left of the de2astatin ne%s
about her soon,to,be,dead fa&ily.
Chris kept screa&in .#O$. as she ran to the hall %here
her dyin fa&ily %as. 5er tears *o%in %ith anuish'
refusin to belie2e %hat she had either heard' or %hat
she %as about to experience.
Family Hall
./O/$ 868$ 7>7+<O#7$. Chris cried in anuish as she
sa% that %hat the doctor had told her %as true all
alon!
-he entire Fuschia fa&ily could be seen on the
stretchers.
.=lease tell &e this isn't true' &u&$ 6ll of you &ust
han in there$ 6fter all %e ha2e done and perse2ere to
&ake sure that %e are back toether as one %hole
fa&ily' this has to happen4 -ell &e you're all ali2e'
please$. Chris cried' tears of sorro% *o%in do%n upon
her delicate cheeks.
Chris's &other ently shook her head.
.1t's no use!.Chris' our dear irl. <ou ha2e done the
best you can to take care of us in our last days of our
li2es. 3e're not lyin!the doctors are riht about our
conditions. 3e ha2e not &uch ti&e left in this %orld..
"he s&iled sadly.
.6ll this ti&e' since you %ere born' you ha2e been a
e& to us; a spark of deliht durin the ti&es %hen our
fa&ily has been apart.... Chris's father spoke.
.Chris!&y dear niece' %e lo2e you and the e:orts that
you took to take care of us all these years. -he %ay you
brouht us happiness e2en durin our darkest days'
and the contributions you bouht to the auto&oti2e
%orld %ar&ed our heart reatly. 8on't e2er feel sorry
for yourself' Chris. <ou are not at fault' ne2er to bla&e
for today.. Chris's aunt s&iled %eakly.
.+e&e&ber' Chris. 3e %ill al%ays be indebted to the
?oy and happiness you a2e us o2er the eiht years.
<our (lial heart and respectful personality shall be the
reason %e can lea2e this %orld peacefully. 3e ha2e a
%onderful dauhter to carry on the leacy of the
Fuschias.... Chris's &other s&iled ently' tears *o%in
do%n her face.
Chris held out her delicate' tre&blin little hands as she
recei2ed a s&all necklace fro& her &other; a necklace
%ith the entire fa&ily &e&bers of the Fuschias
)loodline' all thirty of the&. 1t represented the fa&ily
reunion taken the 2ery day after the reunitin e2ent at
the )erlin 3all.
Chris' ho%e2er' rabbed her &other's hands and held it
close to her face' .=lease...%e can do so&ethin about
this' don't close your eyes$ 1 be you$.
-he other t%enty,eiht &e&bers of the Fuschias
beckoned Chris to hold their hands as she %ent by their
bed' one by one. -he %ar&th of their hands that she
felt slo%ly beca&e colder and colder as their life slo%ly
slipped a%ay.
.-hank you' Chris...you ha2e been a (lial dauhter to
us Fuschias.... Chris's &other %eakly s&iled as her
2oice breath soon faded a%ay.
"o did other Fuschia &e&bers slo%ly breathin their
last after thankin Chris one by one %ith her shakin
her head in disbelief' speechless' her 2oice paraly9ed
by denial.
Chris tried to hold in the tears' refusin to belie2e
anythin that happened; her head %as in a %hirl'
unable to co&prehend the rief that %as consu&in
her.
"he could felt herself hyper2entilatin. )efore lon' she
fainted due to the o2er%hel&in shock that draed
her do%n.
3hen she %oke up' noticin that all this %as not a fake;
that she %ould not be able to brin the entire fa&ily
back ali2e' she broke do%n in anuish' allo%in the
sorro% she had refused to let in initially to consu&e her.
"he cried so &uch' that she collapsed in exhaustion.
3ithin a &atter of t%el2e days since the Fuschia's
reunion' Chris %as reduced to nothin &ore than ?ust
an e&otional %reck.
5er eyes 9oned out. "he e2en refused to eat. "he ?ust
huddled in her bed' refusin to &o2e' or e2en talk to
anyone. "he ?ust stared at the cold' e&pty space'
kno%in that she's alone!
Fore2er alone' %ith no one to lo2e' no one to talk to' or
e2en no one to share the ?oys and %onders of life.