Cursed Blood | Chaelisa

Chapter 22.

"Joy wait!" I called after my fuming best friend.

"I'm gonna kill her!" She muttered fiercely under her breath as she walked even faster ahead of me.

"No, you're not, Joy," I said, trying to calm her human nerve. Nobody in this school has ever declared war on each other before. Besides killing people isn't something you get to see every day in the Ultara Academy. But now I feel like today was a special case. Joy is a genius, all right, but whatever she planned to do was totally not a sign of intelligence.

"I'm not Buddha, Chaeyoung," she said in irritation, "Non-violence is not my thing and you know that!"

"Well, me neither, but you can't-"

"How could you stand it after what she did to you and Jisoo?" She turned around sharply at me, and I sort of flinched (and trust me, you do have a good reason to be scared of Joy).

"I don't see why I shouldn't throw that soul-sucker across the school right now." Then she turned back to walk again.

With my extraordinary speed, I could have blocked her in just a blink of an eye, but I couldn't do that in front of everyone. Some of the students turned to look at us as if they smelled something burning. Some of them also parted away from our path when we walked through the Lunch Hall.

Joy marched towards Jennie who was sitting with her back turned to us. Then she suddenly skidded to a stop, I almost bumped into her. My best friend shot a warning glare at the tired-looking girls around Jennie. They understood and ducked away from the future war zone. And I guess Joy's power didn't come from being the daughter of the Headmistress, but it came from being the favorite student of Mr. Kent.

Jennie stood up as if she was already expecting our coming.

"Jennie Kim!" Joy hissed. Jennie whirled her slender body around to face us.

"What?" She asked nonchalantly. Her silky black hair let down gracefully over her shoulders. Her eyes were as black as starless night, I almost couldn't make out her pupils, but you could be hypnotized if you looked at them long enough. Jennie wore her expressionless face again. She lowered her eyelids at us. But she seemed to stir a little when she saw me.

"Oh come on! You know exactly what!" Joy growled. "Why did you do that to Jisoo?"

"Just because." Jennie shrugged. That didn't help Joy improve her morning mood, and the way she stared at Jennie might have burned holes.

"Well, well, well," Jennie said over-dramatically, raising her hands up as a sign of guilt. "She was an easy pick, okay?"

"Oh, you psycho freak!" Joy hissed in rage. "What have we done to you?"

"Can't help," Jennie said, "Your friend just happened to see me in the wrong place at the wrong time."

Joy was about to jump all over Jennie in ten directions, but I reached out to hold her still. She shook my hands off and glared at me. At that point, I swear I could hear her pulse beating furiously in my ears.

"Why are you protecting this monster?" She snapped in frustration.

"Hey!" Jennie protested, "If I'm a monster, your friend must be Satan." She pointed her delicate finger at me. With this double accusation, I hoped my face wouldn't flush.

"Take it back, psy-vamp," Joy muttered.

"And what if I don't, drudge girl?"

"Too bad, then you are on the receiving end of your bad luck!"

"Wow, I'm so scared," Jennie pretended to shudder.

"Oh yeah?" Joy snarled. And before I could stop her again, my best friend had shot out as fast as lightning and smoothly spun Jennie around, pinning one of her arms to the back. Joy had already grabbed Jennie by her throat.