𝑇ℎ𝑒 𝑊𝑜𝑚𝑎𝑛 𝑖𝑛 𝑅𝑒𝑑 | 𝐴 𝑀𝑎𝑟𝑙𝑖𝑧𝑎 𝐹𝐹

𝐶ℎ𝑎𝑝𝑡𝑒𝑟 𝑆𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑛𝑡𝑒𝑒𝑛

Tᴡ: Mᴇɴᴛɪᴏɴs ᴀɴᴅ Fʟᴀsʜʙᴀᴄᴋs ᴏғ Aʙᴜsᴇ. Iғ ʏᴏᴜ ᴀʀᴇ sᴇɴsɪᴛɪᴠᴇ ᴛᴏ ᴛʜɪs ᴛᴏᴘɪᴄ, ᴘʀᴏᴄᴇᴇᴅ ᴡɪᴛʜ ᴄᴀᴜᴛɪᴏɴ.

——

Over the next ten months, the girls got closer and everything was going well. Angelica had finally introduced Theo to the Schuyler's parents, and the two had gotten engaged soon after. Peggy had made friends with a girl named Sally, as the two liked to make jokes about neither of them having soulmate marks. Eliza and Maria were now in an official relationship, and Eliza swore she had never been happier.

However, suddenly everything changed. Maria became more distant, and she always seemed like she had something on her mind, but when Eliza asked she just told her it was nothing important. It impacted Eliza more than Maria knew, and the girl was starting to think maybe their relationship was coming to an end.

It was like one day they were fine, but then Maria had just closed off. She wasn't acting like herself, and Eliza didn't know what to do. Eliza wasn't the only one who noticed that the two weren't as close anymore either. A week into the whole thing, Peggy approached Eliza after Maria had gone home one night.

Knocking on the door gently, Peggy walked into Eliza's room once she heard a quiet 'come in'. She sat on the bed next to her older sister, and wasted no time getting to the point.

"What's wrong with you and Maria lately?" Sure, she was kind of blunt with the question but she didn't want to sugarcoat it. She stared at her sister, concerned as Eliza sighed softly.

"I-I don't know... She's just been acting really different lately.." As Eliza's mind raced, she hadn't realized she was crying until Peggy hugged her and pulled her closer. She cried as her younger sister held her, neither of them noticing as the oldest of the Schuyler sisters walked into the room. Concerned for her younger sisters, Angelica sat down and quickly asked Eliza what was wrong. Once the girl had told her sisters what was going on between her and Maria, Eliza could have sworn Angelica looked like she wanted to kill someone.

Peggy, on the other hand, was extremely confused. She wasn't sure why her sisters soulmate was suddenly acting different, but she sure as hell was going to find out. Standing up, Angelica walked out of the room, grabbing her phone before walking to the garage door. She heard Eliza ask her where she was going and she responded quickly.

"I'm going to talk to Maria." And with that, Angelica left the Schuyler house to find her sister's soulmate.

——

Maria got up when she heard a knock on her apartment door, wondering who would be visiting her at 8 pm. However, when she opened the door she was greeted with an angry looking Angelica.

"Oh, hey Ang-"

"Explain."

Looking at the older girl, Maria was confused as to what she meant. She let Angelica in, sitting down on the couch as the older just stared down at her.

"What do you mean?"

"Tell me what happened with Eliza."

As Angelica said that, Maria automatically knew what she meant. She sighed softly, confirming to Angelica that there was in fact something going on. The older just stood there, waiting for an explanation as to why the girl had started acting so strange.

"I... Angie I can't tell you.." 

"That's bullshit. Eliza is my little sister and I would do anything for her. Maria, you're hurting her. Soulmate or not, I won't let anyone hurt my sisters."

Upon hearing this, Maria looked down. She hadn't meant to hurt Eliza, she was just trying to protect her...

"So tell me Maria, what could possibly be important enough for you to hurt Eliza?"

"I'm not trying to hurt her!" Maria had snapped. She couldn't handle hurting Eliza, but if she didn't distance herself from the girl then it wouldn't end well. When Maria has raised her voice, it had set off something in Angelica. She wouldn't, no... she couldn't tolerate people hurting her sisters.

"Then what are you doing?! She's in pain Maria! She thinks you don't love her!! Please, feel free to share what could be at risk that's so important!!"

"ELIZA!..-"

Hearing this, Angelica suddenly went quiet. Looking at the younger girl, she saw that Maria was looking up at her with tears streaming down her face.

"Maria... What's going on?"

Crying, the younger girl did her best to answer the question Angelica had asked.
"H-He... he threatened L-Lizzie.."

Sitting down next to the girl, Angelica refrained from hugging her. She saw Maria as family, but her sisters always came first.
"Who?"

Maria couldn't bring herself to say his name. She felt as if it was cursed, and if she said it out loud he would come back and hurt her. Angelica couldn't take it any longer, so she wrapped her arms around the younger girl, holding her close as she cried. As Maria tried to compose herself, Angelica rubbed the girls back while trying to calm her down. Taking a deep breath, Maria ignored her instincts and told Angelica what was going on.

"James reynolds-.."

Her voice was small, and she sounded scared. Angelica held the younger girl, racking her brain for any information about a 'James Reynolds'. When she drew a blank, Angelica asked the girl who he was. When Maria shuddered at the thought, Angelica decided it was best to let the younger girl calm down first.

As Angelica tried to calm Maria, the younger girl's thoughts drifted back to Eliza. They had truly grown closer over the time, and Maria loved her more than anything in the world. Knowing that she was hurting Eliza killed her, but she had to make sure what James didn't hurt her.

Maria tried to calm herself down, but suddenly all of her thoughts were about James. Screaming at her, punching her, kicking her. She couldn't get rid of the feeling of his hands on her, no matter how hard she had tried to forget it. Screaming as she clawed at whatever was holding her in place, Maria sobbed as she tried to get away.

She couldn't let him hurt Eliza, she couldn't let him take her away. She had to find Eliza, had to keep her safe. So, she cried louder, trying to get away from the hands that wouldn't let go of her. The thoughts only got worse as she was kept in place, each memory more specific than the last.

When he had first hit her, the night she had come home late after making sure Theo was ok. The time he had hit her with a glass after she hadn't done as he asked. The time that he had grabbed her by the hair and dragged her into the kitchen. The day that she had met Eliza, when he beat her while screaming before leaving her on the floor.

Maria's thoughts were suddenly interrupted by Angelica, who had grabbed her and pulled her close, hugging her and rubbing her back.
"Maria, you're ok. It's me, it's just Angelica. He can't hurt you now."

Oh, but that was where she was wrong. He could hurt her, and usually she would just deal with it. But now... now he had an advantage. He knew about Eliza, and as long as Maria was alive, she wasn't going to let anything happen to Eliza.

Crying as she held onto Angelica, Maria gripped the older girl as if she would disappear.