meliora | victoria sutherland

eight

bad decisions
"leave? that's not an option, love"

_____

"watch it," victoria exclaimed, pointing to the road ahead of her, "i was just playing, don't make me regret letting you drive."

althea sighed in annoyance. james' love for games must've taken a toll on his partner along the run. although, after the story presented by the woman, it wasn't certain that they were together - rather in a lustful, open-ended connection.

"i'll dump you on the side of the road with the bodies if you keep this up," the driver mumbled, putting more pressure on the pedal to limit the length of the trip.

victoria simply laughed, knowing that wasn't an option for the other. they had finally made it into the state of washington by this point, indicating they can change to travel on their feet soon.

it was more efficient being able to run in the woods, and it was faster having the ability to avoid traffic and pedestrians.

"no but seriously, what did they say about me?" althea asked, still curious about where she was going with that. the redhead had clearly heard about her before, so what more did she eavesdrop on?

"well, i didn't hear much," the disclaimer was expressed by the passenger, her right arm leaning on the window seal, "but from what i did, they didn't really trust the man about your abilities."

huh, that didn't partially aline with how they acted around her. either they were being fake, or victoria was trying to stir something else up.

"do you want to get out now?" althea spoke up, approaching a place where she could drop the car off. she slowed the car down, awaiting a response from that other.

"wanting to get rid of me so early?" the redhead asked, a playful tone of offended rang through her voice, "i can always-"

just as she wanted to continue her banter, the brunette was already seen outside the car, opening the passenger's door with a slight flare.

"no," she simply stated, cutting the other off while pulling her out of the car.

it was almost as if the scene at the ballet studio never happened, as if she wasn't the main result of james' death. she was growing quite comfortable with the redhead considering the emotional damage she has caused, but it was also in a way - smart.

it limits the suspect being put over her head, but then again, perhaps it was a game in the end. perhaps victoria knows, perhaps she's leading her into a swamp, or it was just overthinking.

she was a victim of that, although not showing it on the outside, anxiety does swim within her gut. over time, she learnt how to hide it up and not let her defences down.

"calm down little one," victoria pulled the other girl back towards her, slowing her down. they were already back in the forest without another presence in sight. "there's no need to rush."

no, there wasn't, but she's honestly missed the freedom of nature. althea wanted to run around again, as long as she avoided the territory of the cullens.

it wasn't an immediate realisation, but althea now stood quite close to the redhead, close enough for her signature fur coat to rub against her skin.

"sorry," she mumbled, taking a step forward. her head was now facing the ground, but what wasn't visible was the wide smile plastered on her face, "but i'll race you to the cliff."

and with that, she was off, receiving an unfair head start and an 'oi' from the redhead. they ran further north, one trailing behind the other by a fair distance. the crunches of the leaves beneath them echo throughout the place, but were caught beneath the trees.