Bitter Revenge

Chapter 39

Warning!

God dammit, this is the worst torture I have ever been through. Carly has been commanding me to run on this treadmill, at the highest inclination, at a damn fast speed, for the past 20 minutes. I mean, for fucks sake, I've been asleep for a little over 2 weeks and bed-ridden for another week– And it's my first day being allowed to walk anywhere without a crutch! The burning fire on my thighs and lungs, I was convinced I'd start breathing fire at some point. "Come on Fiona, this is really fucking easy. I could go two hours at three times the speed you're going without breaking a sweat!" I've never been so tempted to punch her.

After a total time of one hour, she let me off the treadmill– which I laid down next to and allowed my sweat to seep into the matted floor of the gym room in the Estate. "What are you doing?  We're not done yet. That was just your cardio, now you're doing some bicep curls." I sat up, looking at myself in the wall of mirrors to my left. I saw Carly get a notification to which she scrunched her nose before turning to me. "I'm going to go and let you work out on your own for a little. I have an errand, I'll be back in 20." And off she goes. Carly had gotten me some matching wine red sports bra and shorts, and although she insisted I take off the beanie, I nearly bit her hand off to keep it on. I got up begrudgingly and moved over to the rack of increasingly bigger dumbbells, and before taking my pick, I heard a low whistle from the doorway. "If I wasn't your best friend, I would so try to pick you up and get you in bed with me."

I turned to see Cris walk inside the gym to look around before meeting my gaze, she wore a pretty white jumpsuit that ran low to show her... assets. "Come on Cris, you've been saying that since we met. You have never tried anything on me, and I don't know whether to be grateful or insulted." I joked right back, seeing as we've always been the "mistaken couple" at Devil's Corner. "Only because you were so stiff all the time, I was convinced even trying to genuinely flirt with you would break you. Now, you're more relaxed... but now you have a pending girlfriend." I could only giggle at the thought of Stella, who had to unfortunately get back to Florida after receiving a call from her friend Harley saying it was an emergency. I have yet to receive a message from her.

"Yeah well-" I picked up a pair of 25 lbs. dumbbells and sat down, setting them next to my feet to stretch my arms and catch my breath, "You've always been the 'sleep now, talk later' type. Excuse me for wanting to sleep with someone I trust will stay there in the morning. Speaking of which, do you plan on settling down?" The change of topic went unnoticed to her, and she withered at the prospect. She sat on the exercise ball, bouncing up and down until it finally evened out. "I don't know Fi, I've been alive so long... And I'll continue to live a long ass life, I don't know if I want to tie myself down for who knows how long. Besides, being in a committed relationship is what got me here, like this." She had a far away look in her eye, a look I know well seeing as I practically own the look. I curled the dumbbell up to my chest slowly, letting the burn in my bicep be my future reward.

"'Like this' as in... a demon?" A pause. A nod of confirmation. She licked her lips, my sign to buckle down and listen. "I wasn't born a demon, no one is, I was human... hundreds of years ago. In a time so long ago that, when I was born– America had just become independent from Great Britain a couple decades ago, which was like in 1770-something. You know I'm hispanic, from Segovia, Spain– that now historical place known for their aqueducts. I wasn't from some noble, rich family or anything, just a simple little home with my two parents and me. When I was a teenager, I met this girl-" For the first time in my life, I saw a dreamy smile filled with fondness overtake Cristina's face. "-she was so beautiful. Her skin was sunkissed, with the clearest of blue eyes and a bright oak-tint to her hair. We often saw each other at this river where we'd both escape to.

Women were only house wives then, no type of education or fun for us. I spent a lot of my time learning proper etiquette from my mother and cleaning, so I'd sometimes sneak away and steal one of my father's books to teach myself how to read in the privacy of the river– which you'd recognize because the water going through the aqueducts came from that river, el Rio Frio. She would often go to paint, which I assumed she stole the materials from her father perhaps, and so we'd often see each other. Eventually, we started to talk. She showed me the paintings she'd made and I'd geek out about the philosophical concepts in my books, it was wonderful. At some point, it turned romantic. We would cuddle close when it would get cold, hold hands as we walked up the river talking about everything and nothing. I would especially love dipping my finger in the paint she had and swipe it across her face, initiating a small war we'd both wash off later.

She was the love of my life." Cristina's previously bubbly voice now turned quieter, somber. "And then, came that period in my life where my parents were asking about any boys I'd met. They eventually just picked one for me, but I fought back. I wanted to be with her and no one else. My parents and I were on tense terms for a long time, and for some reason, she stopped showing up at the river. I never learned where it was that she lived, though I suspected she came from a noble family. My suspicion was proven true when fliers were all over Segovia announcing her marriage to some stuck-up snob." A growl and sneer pulled at her lip, and I'd long since abandoned the dumbbells to listen.

"I'd been forced to attend by my parents, seeing as we weren't nobles but we offered a decent service to multiple noble families because my father was an architect. I watched her walk down the aisle without a single glance in my direction, the entire wedding was a horror to watch. At the after party, I simply sat at a table motionless. She approached me but didn't say a word, and I couldn't help but explode at her. I hurled accusations and hurtful words at her, mostly hurt because I'd hoped that she would tell me that we would still be together no matter what. But she didn't, she had proved it by ignoring me the whole time. The noble families overheard the argument and were shocked to find a homosexual relationship within their ranks, it wasn't until then that I realized that I'd just placed our lives in danger.

But fear most struck me, when she denied it all. She looked me in the eye and called me delusional. But my secret was already out, and homosexuality wasn't taken very lightly at the time. A week later, my public execution had become the talk of the town. I stood on that platform, with that noose around my neck and I felt nothing but despair. My eyes caught hers and I could see so much regret and sadness, and that was the last thing I saw before I woke up in Gehenna– dead and a demon." She hugged her middle and I stood up, walking over to her before wrapping my arms around her shoulders. 

"That's all over now. She's gone now. And the world has changed, and so have you. You've built a sanctuary for LGBTQ+ people to have a safe place to interact and have fun. In a way, you're just like me. We closed ourselves off to the possibilities of interpersonal relationships because we were afraid. But no more. I've moved past my fear, now it's your turn. Our past experiences don't define who we are now, but we can use them as learning experiences to be better. It all depends on whether or not you want to move forward in your life Cris." I pulled back to grip her shoulders, smiling down at her– to which she gave me a small smile in return. It felt good. To see her vulnerable and be vulnerable in return, a sense of kinship I'd previously denied now sparked between us. Cris is now more than just my best friend, she's family. And I'll go to hell, or in her case Gehenna, and back for my family.