Bitter Revenge

Chapter 14

I can't believe I'm allowing a little mouse to change my attitude towards a particularly ugly cat. Playing nice with Calvin for almost 2 hours made me want to die. This guy is disgusting. And not only because he smells like a literal garbage fire, but he was just a leech. He didn't so much as lift a finger to help as Stella brought something to drink and even cooked him a small snack. Ungrateful son of a- "So you work at Bunny's Burrow? What are you two doing outside of work together?" He chuckled, obviously wanting it to sound like a joke. But I could see how pointedly he looked at me. "She's my friend, after all, it's better to be friends with coworkers than enemies." I heard Stella chuckle at what I said as she returned with a cup of instant noodles for this douche. "She has a point. With her working as my assistant, we talk a lot and interact all the time. It's only natural for us to click." His eyes narrowed at her choice of words, looking at me as I saw gears turning behind his eyes.

He finally fucking left, leaving me and Stella to clean up the mess he left behind. "I hate that guy." I said the second he was out of ear shot, making her head shoot to me surprised. "Really? I don't think he's that bad, if anything I really like him. He can be really sweet. But that's fair, you two were pretty tense." She walked back to the living room to pick up the left behind instant noodles and a can of coca cola. I was surprised she noticed, since she seemed oblivious. I really need to watch her. Reading her is more difficult than I thought. "Yeah well. I don't trust him. Here's some advice for you; stay away from him. Because that guy is the type to leech off other people's weaknesses."

I sat down and when she came back into my line of vision, she didn't seem happy. "Good thing I didn't need or ask for your advice then." I rolled my eyes, knowing I was going to start seeing him around. "I'm just saying Stella. You don't have to take my word for it if you don't trust me, but I also don't take back what I said because I said nothing wrong." She seemed genuinely upset with me, which is new. Her brow was furrowed and her jaw was clenched. "You don't know him like I do. I've known him since I was in the magic academy, which was forever ago." She left after that, upstairs to her room. My chest felt tight after that discussion, and I could feel my brain pacing around my head. Clearly my biology wasn't very happy that I'd made my mate upset, but I tried to hold my head up.

Next morning was better but still a little tense. She was eating and I was just waiting for her to finish up. "Fiona." Her tone was heavy with tension, making my dead heart beat once and hard. "Yeah?" I managed to sound and look calm as I looked at her. "Be real with me. Do you kill people for the high? For the hell of it? Or what?" She looked at me, and I noticed the change. She no longer held patience for me. She wasn't waiting anymore. I sighed, swiping my hand down my face. "How about you be real with me? Why am I here? Why haven't you just killed me yet?" She stood up and walked over to me, but instead of sitting next to me on the sofa, she stood in front of me. "You're here because those were my orders. Why do you kill? Just tell me and maybe all of this will be over."

I looked at her, unyielding and cold. "I have my reasons. But I'll feed your little fantasy. I kill because it makes me feel powerful. Because I love watching people go limp and cold at my feet." I brought back the manic attitude I had when I was first here. I stood up and walked towards her, smiling maniacally as she stepped back. I leaned over her, hoping to make her feel small. But then I leaned back and tucked my hands in my pockets. "Is that what you want to hear? Well, sorry to tell you I don't kill for those reasons." After that, I just walked up to my room and watched TV. She didn't check up on me, and I heard her leave for work. Whatever. While watching TV, my eyes got heavy and I ended up asleep.

***

"It's freezing!" Violet whined as she hugged herself as we walked to school. I just laughed, rolling my eyes. Floridians really can't handle the cold. We're in the low 60s and my sister acts like we're in the negatives. But I guess it is morning and windy, making it worse. "It's so cold, maybe it'll snow." I joked, making her nudge me with her elbow. She was 13 at the time, although her birthday was coming up during spring, and her hair was long as hell. When we got to school, we had to part since I was a junior who's first class was trigonometry, and she was a freshman who's first class was biology. But as I waved goodbye to her, she faced me completely and waved her hand over her head. The wind blew harder, making her dirty gold locks dance around her shoulders, framing the huge smile on her face and the natural blush on her cheeks. You're so beautiful Violet. How can you smile like that in our situation? But still, never change. Smile like that, always. I'll protect it with my life.

***

I woke up, my cheeks wet and my bloodless heart pounding multiple times for the first time in decades. I wiped away the tears, feeling my heart shriveling up in pain. The knife in my heart twisted at the dream, making my chest hurt and tears pour harder down my face. Her smile haunted me, her memory hurt me. The impulse to go out and avenge her made my legs twitch. Who killed you Violet? Why would they hurt you? Why you and not me? I drowned in my tears, my breaths coming in ragged gasps. I clawed at my chest, hoping to rip this pain out of my heart.

Everything in me stopped when the front door opened, signaling that Stella was home. I hurriedly wiped my cheeks, jumping up to a mirror and seeing my eyes were red and so was my nose. I prayed to the Moon Goddess she wouldn't walk in. The smell of garbage fire mixed with hot chocolate and rain hit my nostrils. So he's here. It made me uneasy, but it would at least give me time for my face to get back to normal. It was once I'd settled down on my bed that I realized- I compared Stella to Violet yesterday. It made me angry, since I didn't want anyone to remind me of her. Violet is better than Stella, they are not similar. But who was I kidding? The way they were both so naturally beautiful in that moment, and how-

I heard Stella call me from downstairs. Well, she called Quinn, which is my new name I guess. I looked back at the mirror to see the redness was gone, thank the Moon Goddess. I slowly walked downstairs, not at all excited to see this asshole. When I turned right to look at the couch, her legs were splayed over his lap. They were terribly close, but she was smiling and talking. Goddess damn it all to hell, he makes her happy. What do I make you feel, Stella King?