𝐈𝐍𝐒𝐎𝐍𝐍𝐄 ||𝑉𝑜𝑙𝑡𝑢𝑟𝑖 𝐾𝑖𝑛𝑔𝑠||

𝟎𝟒

✿✿✿

Nari's POV

"What the hell is wrong with you!" I hissed through clenched teeth, my hand still covering the sleeve of my sweater I had pulled back down.

My heart was pounding aggressively, violently away in my chest—so loud I could hear it in my ears.

My eyes smarted with tears that I refused to let fall. If she was out to hurt me then I wouldn't give her the satisfaction she sought from her words.

Alice raised her hands, cautiously standing from her own chair. "Nari," the way she was speaking to me angered me; she was treating me like I was some feral animal about to strike. "I know that you're angry, but it needed to be done."

I scoffed in disbelief, the affronted noise abnormally loud in the quiet little café. Alice rushed to continue when she could see the rage building in my eyes, rage that I so wanted to unleash on her. "You've tricked yourself into thinking that if you can't see them, they're not there–that the incident didn't happen. But it did...and that's okay."

I snapped my mouth shut, my eyes dropping to the ground. It was annoying and painful beyond all belief to admit that...she was right. I...hadn't wanted to face the reality that I had tried to end my life, that I had been so weak in the face of my demons. My decision was one I had always regretted, but I had been young and naive and acted on an estranged impulse.

The scars that blemished the pale skin of my arms only served as a reminder of what had happened, to both myself and my parents. It was easier to never look at them, to cover them, hide them away and pretend things hadn't happened.

God, I was so pathetic.

Alice came around to be on my side of the table, placing her wavering hand on my shoulder. When she saw I hadn't recoiled at her being this close to me, the quirk of her lips into a pretty little smile was more comforting than I wanted to admit. "You're not pathetic, if that's what you're thinking."

Sniffling, I chuckled at myself and wiped my tears away with my sleeve. "What, are you a mind reader as well as a...psychic?"

She laughed lightly, leaning her lower back against the table. "No, that would be my brother."

My eyes widened and I paused the futile wiping away of my tears to look at her with scrutiny. Is she fucking with me?

Again, seeming to know my train of thought, she nodded earnestly to indicate the truth and my jaw dropped. "Seriously? That's so cool! Does the rest of your family have freaky mind powers?"

She hadn't outright said she had a family, but the fact she had a brother hinted that maybe there were more of them, more...vampires like her.

She shook her head, looking like she was trying to find the correct way to talk about this. "Not...mind powers, necessarily, but they have other talents."