Bitter Revenge

Chapter 32

After hours of listening to Stella describe her experience from the moment Scarlet saved me to now, it had gotten dark and Stella was yawning hard. "Strawberry, get some sleep. You must be exhausted after this epic tale." She looked at me sleepily and yawned, hugging the blanket I'd wrapped around her closer and leaning to the side to press her cheek onto my shoulder- effectively pushing her glasses up her face. I watched her for a quiet moment, the fireplace illuminating her already vibrant hair to look like a tamed fire on her head.

I moved my arm to the bend of her knees and held her back with my other hand, holding her close to me as I carried her to one of the trainee rooms I'd been staying in. I laid her down and wrapped her up in the warm blankets, removing her glasses and placing them on the collar of my shirt since there wasn't a night stand here. I sat at the window, the cushioned ledge allowing me to look out into the forest without opening the window. I heard her steady heart beat, hearing her turn every so often throughout the night. I refused to sleep, I didn't want to wake up to her being gone and all of this being a dream. So when the sun started rising over the snowy forest and I turned to see Stella illuminated by slits of light, my breath was taken away.

She was facing towards the window, and me, so a slit of light bent over her eyelids, her hair, her lips, her neck- at that I turned away. I felt my fangs poke my bottom lip, feeling hunger curl in my stomach. It'd been a while since I'd eaten, I guess the last time I ate was a little before the Calvin incident. I checked the time as my stomach growled louder and my fangs protruded further beyond my control- 8:43 a.m., damn Maine. Your winter mornings are no joke. A small grunt across the room made me turn my gaze to her. She yawned and stretched cutely, the hoodie she had been wearing reaching far enough to effectively hide her hands. She sighed contentedly and looked around and found me already looking at her, but she didn't seem to mind as she just smiled at me. "Good morning. Have you been watching me all night?" I chuckled and walked to her, sitting on the edge of the bed and tucking a wayward strand of hair behind her ear. "No, I'm not that creepy. You want some coffee?"

We ended up in the kitchen sipping our steaming hot coffees and a blood bag next to me so I could snack on it after, it was wonderfully peaceful. Too peaceful. "Fiona?" There it is. I turned to see Talia and Allison walking over to me. "What's up?" I put my coffee down and looked between them both, which caused them to cast a nervous glance over my shoulder to Stella. "The witches are still waiting outside, but we have our security force keeping an eye on them. They're showing lots of stubbornness and patience." Talia reported while I sighed and scratched the back of my head, feeling weird without my signature beanie. "Will that be a problem?" They didn't really say anything so I assumed that meant "it's more so a nuisance than a problem."

I took another sip of my coffee, feeling weird about sitting around. "So when exactly will I be able to plead a case in the Highest Court? I feel restless sitting around, eating boogers and painting my nails." I managed a giggle out of both Stella and Allison, but Talia responded. "Well, whenever they want. They have 2 of the most powerful witches to have ever existed. When they're ready for you, they'll use a teleportation spell." Oh goodie, waiting around.

***

What the fuck could they be doing to be making me wait 2 whole ass days AND counting?! I've never been so restless in my life. The tension between the witches who have refused to stand down and the security team is rising higher out of annoyance and irritation. But to be honest, I've been having a great time with my Strawberry. We've gone out to explore Maine from a secret back exit to avoid the witches and have honestly spent half the time at a bakery or coffee shop chatting up a storm. I learned new things about her, even small little stupid details. She's a single child but always dreamed of having a tough big brother, her favorite color is red-orange (the mixture specifically, not the two separate colors), she's a spring lover, and one of my favorite discoveries is that she genuinely worked hard to get into Bunny's Burrow.