𝕁𝕦𝕤𝕥 𝕎𝕒𝕚𝕥 𝔽𝕠𝕣 𝕄𝕖 // Anna Shumate & Eva Cudmore

𝙩𝙬𝙞𝙨𝙩𝙚𝙙 𝙩𝙝𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙩

ANNA'S POV

It is early morning and my phone does not stop receiving notifications.

Eva is naked asleep on my shoulder, and silently I reach over to the nightstand beside the bed, picking up the phone.

It's my manager.

<Come to my office. We need to talk.>

Now what does she want from me?

I slide Eva off my arm, who was sleeping so hard. I put on a crop top and sweatpants and leave the room.

I take the car and arrive at my manager's office in 10 minutes.

I enter the room and slowly close the door behind me, listening to the deafening click of the door. My eyes immediately meet her gaze, and the tension is already thick and strangling in the small space.

"What do you want?" I ask bitterly, feeling as if he has called me about what happened yesterday.

A smartly dressed man in a long coat appears from behind the chair of my manager who was standing next to him.

The man smiles in a way that seems sweet and innocent, but the way his white teeth shine under the mid black lights makes me think otherwise. "Anna." his voice is low, deep and sadistic as he says my name.

"Do you realize what you've done?" my manager interrupts him.

"Shh, Priscilla, calm down my dear. You know how people like her are." The strange man in the long coat turns his gaze toward me. "You know, different tastes."

"What the hell did you say?" I ask, taking a small, slow step toward them. "Who the hell are you?" I blurt at him.

"I've been watching you, Anna. You seem to like to pervert my sweet girl."He laughs, just barely, but it's the most venomous sound I've ever heard. As if he didn't really care what had happened, but simply wanted to displace me.

Unfortunately, he succeeded.

What? Who the hell is he talking about?

"I'm not sure who you think I'm manipulating, asshole. But I don't listen to men, especially those who seem to have a fucking father complex." I cross my arms over my chest, feeling the need to hide from him as I tilt my chin even higher.

"You have no idea who you are talking to, and even if you did, you would find the light on my side. You could come with me, you know. I could heal you, expel the evil from your soul and take you and my sweet girl to make you..better. You could be together, but in a cleaner way than you seem to be imposing on her now."

Her words run through my mind.

"First of all, there is nothing you need to fix because there is nothing wrong with me. I am perfectly satisfied with who I am now and you are the last person I would leave with. So, fuck off, you old fuck."

I turn to my manager. "Can anyone know what this mentally ill fuck is talking about?"

"He just wants to help you, Anna," she replies quietly.

"I don't need any fucking help," I reply firmly.

I turn on my heels without listening to her response, and approach the door when a loud cackle fills the confined space and cracks my spine. 

"My community needs someone like you, Anna. Someone strong and independent. We have a lot of nice guys who would fight and die for you. The ones you consider true friends are actually not as loyal to you as you think.."

Fuck, Eva.

Holy shit, everything she said to me the other day comes flooding back into my mind. My heart rate increases from the realization that she was really telling the truth. I slowly turn around and watch as he gets up from his chair and comes toward me.

I can't help myself, every bit of anger and defensiveness rising up along my spine, and I launch myself at him, knocking him back against the desk. He doesn't even flinch, doesn't move as I bring my face inches from his as my manager tries to step forward to protect him but the man raises his hand to stop her.

"Stay away from Eva and stay the fuck away from me. Don't come near either of us again." I deliberately strain every single word, looking for any kind of reaction in his eyes. But there is nothing, nothing to alert me to the way his hands suddenly snap forward and encircle my neck.

I am thrown backward so abruptly that I have no time to recover before my back crashes against the door and my head bounces abruptly against the wall.

"Watch how you talk to me, Anna. I am Eva's brother and I am her guardian. She will go back to Canada with me, recover from this disgusting tendency of hers. It is only a matter of time before I take her back, restoring her pegs and her innocence with my team that is ready to purify her."

I recline my head back and spit, watching my saliva splash down her shadowy jaw and lips. I'm shaking with rage and the fact that I can't break free of this, can't break free of his grip so I can kill him.

He fucking deserves it.

He closes his eyes briefly, but quickly releases my throat with one hand and slams it against the side of my face with such force that I know it will draw blood.

He pushes my head to the side as his teeth scratch my ear as he speaks. "I will take her, just as I did countless times when she was a little girl growing up in our community. She has always been innocent and sinless. Don't think for a moment that I will let a demon like you corrupt her." His hand slides downward my body..

"I will purify you, too. I will eradicate this demon from your nature, convert you into something light and holy until you are ready to become normal."

"Fuck you, I will never let Eva go back into your dirty fucking hands. I can promise you that." I struggle to breathe as I let the words out of my mouth. I feel the hot trail of blood slide down my cheek and over my jaw. His grip tightens even more in response to my challenge, crushing me against the hard wall and completely restricting my air circulation.

"Eric," thunders my manager's voice, and for a split second I am glad that she has captured this man with her grip on me. I almost hope she kills him for putting his hands on me.
"Priscilla, my dear. Why don't you accompany our guest toward the exit. I think we're done here." 

But my heart sinks. 

Eric sidesteps me and Priscilla takes me from under her arm. The way my manager addresses this man surprises me, as if she has some sort of reverential respect for him. Priscilla, however, does not back down even in the face of what she has just seen.

She has always been so incredibly possessive of me. Maybe it's because I'm the only one in our house that I let her have any extra profit.

Priscilla pulls my arm and leads me outside, and as I leave, I hear Eric's voice echoing through the hallway.

"I'll see you soon, Anna." The office door closes and I am throwing out of the structure.

"What the fuck is wrong with you, Priscilla," I yell at her on the sidewalk.

"Don't worry kiddo, it's just the beginning."