For the Hopeless

Chapter 20: Snowfall II: A Requiem

Bailey leaned against the wall of a tiny furniture store, her eyes drifting toward the sky. The snow was beautiful, really; the sight of it made her glad she could see out of both eyes instead of just the one that hadn't been stabbed. How had that happened, anyway? How could she see out of her injured eye? Why wasn't it throbbing with incessant pain? She'd left before she could ask. She'd have to remember to investigate the matter later.

"Can I make it from here?" she asked herself, turning in the direction that she was sure her home lay in. She couldn't teleport yet – she probably wouldn't be able to for quite some time – but walking didn't seem to be giving her too much trouble. The wounds along her torso were a bit tender, but she thought they were mostly healed and of no real concern. "Or do I wait for that devil to come find me?" It was silly of her to even ask, and she immediately resumed her journey along the snowy road.

She wasn't cold, but some part of her longed for Dameon's leather jacket. Or was it Dameon she longed for, his dusky wolf smell and his scruffy wolf face? She'd be lying if she said was sure either way.

But what about Tawny? Why was she not the one who first crossed Bailey's mind? The devil could only shrug to herself and push the matter aside, uncomfortable with her own uncertainty. She was sure that it had nothing to do with what had happened earlier, though, nothing to do with the attack so poorly executed by Hayden at Tawny's expense.

"This is stupid," she said to herself for the second time in an hour, but this time, the remark had nothing to do with her trusting of a devil whose identity was a mystery to her. "All of this," she muttered, and her fists clenched as a wave of anger began to rise through her thin body, "it's so stupid." But stupid wasn't the word; unfair was what it was. She'd given everything to Hayden, done everything she could to keep her safe. She'd given her a home, food, clothes, even the opportunity to continue her life in high school, but she'd turned on her without a second thought. Sure, she was probably scared, probably being threatened by some mysterious facet of the human organization, but hadn't she taught her to be better than that? Hadn't Bailey raised her to be stronger?

She rounded a corner and started down another alley, only to become overwhelmed by her own thoughts and emotions and have to stop to lean against another cold stone wall. She squeezed her eyes shut and put a hand over her face; the other hand remained clenched painfully tightly at her side.

"She was so much better than that." She wanted to scream it, wanted the world to know, but she could only whisper. "God, she was so much better than that."

"Who, me?" came an uncomfortably familiar voice, and Bailey spun to find Hayden standing on the sidewalk at the alley's entrance, her smile colder than the flakes of snow that fell all around her. It was just like a scene from a movie: perfectly timed and dramatic as hell.

"Of course, you," Bailey answered, her voice a rough mixture of sorrow and anger, though she'd been aiming for indifference. "Why did you do this, Hayden? Why did you become one of them?"

"I wanted to," the girl responded with a little giggle, like all of this was just some fun little game for her. "They treat me so much better than you ever did, the humans. They act like I actually have something to contribute. I'm not just a child to them." Her smile grew more smug with each word she spoke until all Bailey wanted to do was rip her make-up-reddened lips from her make-up-perfect face. "Nice dress, by the way," she drawled, but her words went ignored.

"I never thought you were a child before," Bailey said, her voice having lost its sadness to become a solely angry growl, "but now, things are different. You're acting like a typical teenager, desperate for attention and never thinking things through. You think they really care about you? They don't. They're only using you to try to get rid of me because they're too afraid to do it themselves."