meliora | victoria sutherland

thirteen

time's up
"who's side do you truely lie on?"

_____

and there althea stood again, in such a familiar position from yesterday. there was so much back in forth it made her dizzy almost, and conjure a headache if that was even possible for a vampire.

the redhead and her...boyfriend...were inseparable, not a single moment left alone for her to approach. perhaps she could have the courage to do so, but something was telling her that riley gets riled up easily.

"don't be so worried about tomorrow, remember, we have the numbers and the blood-thirst," the smooth voice of victoria's brought her back to reality.

they were going to fight tomorrow? why wasn't she told this? it only felt like a few days since she first arrived, but she ended up so far down her whirlpool that she completely forgot.

that's why she was only given a day to see her.

"now go fuel up," she giggled, pecking the other's lips as she looked up, "you want to be fit for tomorrow."

with a curt nod, the boy ran off, far enough away to not add another to the kill counts. althea fell into a trance for a few moments, still following the trail that riley left, even though he was long gone.

"came back did you?" a voice whispered near her, so dangerously close to her ear. how careless had she become, she was always known to be on the balls of her feet. "i thought you were too busy being the cullen's pet."

there was a lump formed in althea's talk, and any ability to talk was completely wiped. was she nervous? there was no reason to be, after all, she wasn't in any immediate danger at the current point.

"speak up will you," there was a sense of annoyance throughout the redhead's tone, taking a step back from the other's body, "i never get any words out of you around me."

taking a deep breath, althea turned around, meeting the redhead's eyes with as much confidence as she had left, "i am not their pet."

"oh you aren't?" a laugh escaped her lips, "you say you're so independent, but yet you're following every single one of their requests."

indeed not, she was a nomad for a reason, and this is what she wanted. victoria was the villain in this chapter, and it had nothing to do with who she sided with. carlisle was an old friend, she wasn't here for fun.

"i'm helping them out," the brunette gritted through her teeth, still ticked off from yesterday, "out of my own will."

"are you sure you really want to help them? after all, they wouldn't care for you if you got hurt."

"what are you trying to get at here?" althea's voice was quiet now, shoulders slumping as she lost more confidence with every second, "i don't need any convincing-"

the taller woman took a step closer to her, grasping the other's chin to make her reach her eyes again.

"i'm not trying to convince you, darling," her eyes softened from before, making the brunette feel calmer, even safe, "only making you wake up."

she recognised this gaze, the same one she gives riley to get what she wanted. it was manipulation at its finest, and she had lived long enough to not fall for this trick.

pushing the redhead's arm away, she re-established enough distance between the two again, crossing her arms over her chest. the wind had picked up due to the late time, blowing any stray hair away from victoria. althea, on the other hand, got all her hair blown in her face, with so much frustration just wanting to rip it out.