Beautiful Wilting Flowers

Keep Your Friends Far, And Enemies Farther

Greigh POV:

My brain is going erratic. I can't believe Ina would betray me, betray all of us, for some densely stupid fling with the nemesis. 

My ex girlfriend and my ex best friend... I never saw through either of them. I can't believe they would do that. And Jason! I trusted him all along! He was my honest to goodness only friend, and looking back, now I know that it was all a hoax. He faked being my friend so I would steer him directly to the money, to all of the experiments where the 'gifts' that brought us here all began. Plus he's dating my ex. That's definitely minus points.

But over both of the deceptive swindlers, I blame myself, overall. I've been too trusting, not looking where I step, blindly walking on the thin ice and eggshells, whatever metaphor catches your fancy. I've been too caught up trying to create a normal life for Liana and I, that I forget that some people know about our 'gifts'. That means, from now on, I have to be careful of who I align with. It's like they say, 'Keep your friends close, and your enemies closer'. I need to be cautious of every move I make. 

Otherwise it could end up hurting me. Or worse, Liana.

Ina's trying to explain how she's innocent, but honestly, I'm not even listening anymore. At first I was seething with anger. Now, I just feel like I was bludgeoned over the head with a rock. 

I know this emotion well. I'm closing off. And I can't help it; my body is just functioned like that. I let the dull feeling take over my face, probably morphing it stone cold.

As she's speaking, the old battered and creaky doorknob of the so called 'haunted' house turns with a creaky groan, and out steps....

Never mind close. I'm giving that quote a new ending, according to my life.

Keep your friends far, and enemies farther. That's the way it should be.

Because when floppy haired, wide eyed, smiling like he won the lottery Jason Turner comes out of that mansion, all I want to do is grab Heyden and Vek and run.

Not Ina; she and Jason can have each other.

"Heeey, Greigh, man, what's new?" He beams, and turns to Ina with a greater smile, if that's manageable. "And Ina, good to see you, beautiful."

I hear Heyden make a sound that sounds a lot like trying to hold down barf. Vek snorts, and I just can't believe it. I hoped there was a valid explanation, and they weren't really seeing one another, but I guess this makes it official.

But right now, in my emotionally bludgeoned state, I can't suppress my livid anger boiling inside me. Ina put me and the others at risk, but Jason? He's the risk that is dangerous to me, my friends, my sister. He could ruin all of us, and I need to make a better life for my sister than our parents gave us. I have to. Liana will always be the most important thing in my life, no matter what. My twin, baby sister. Nothing can replace that, and as long as I'm alive, nothing can hurt her. I won't let that happen. She's my only reason I'm still here. The world needs more people like Liana, Heyden, Vek, Dean too. I can't let them down, and I have to protect them from the danger. The risks. That means Jason.

And I feel my blood curdle and boil at the same, searing up in a fountain of furious tremors. I let my fingers curl up into fists, holding them so tight my nails push through my skin and tear into my flesh. I'm trying to stop myself. I really am. I'm not trying to cause bigger problems, but the shadows have taken over, the veiled fury flooding through my veins, more of the rage in my blood than oxygen now.

"Whatever you do, do not get us noticed for our... abnormalities." Heyden warns me with his grip on my arm, and I remember where I am, and not just my pounding heart trying to stop me from lashing out. But it's too late. Instead of using my abilities, in a public space, I have to fight like a normal person. 

Like I know what normal is.

Just as Jason's angular jaw stretches to say something, I thrash out of Heyden's grip, reel my arm back, and drive my fist straight into the right side of his face. 

A resounding crack emerges from the collision of my fist and his face, and Jason recoils a few steps, his shoes staggering along the cold and cracked pavement.

He emerges again with a smile on his face, and a chuckle escapes his lips as a trickle of blood runs down his torn skin beneath his eye. That ought to leave a scar.

I was momentarily flushed with pride, but it quickly bubbled away when Jason gave me a challenging raise of an eyebrow.

"Greigh, I guess you know about Ina and I. And my mission with my parents." He laughs. "Is that all you got? What, no lectures? No monologues? No boring, dull and repetitive admonishment? You've grown up since I last saw you. You would never punch like that." He smirks.

"Shut up." I seethe.

"Oh, so now he's a brainless barbarian. I get it," He nods, only making my blood boil harder and hotter. "Well, I just came by to grab my girl, so if you will, Ina?" He reaches a bloody hand out to Ina.

"First off, I'm not anyone's damn 'girl'." Ina refuses his hand. "And second, what the frick is that on your hand?! Is that blood?!"

"Perhaps." Jason shrugs. "But I was only disposing of the remains. And I don't come up with these plans; I don't know why I was supposed to be bagging up a deceased man." He shrugs.

"Who was it?" Heyden demands. He still looks shaken from when Vek was whispering to him for some reason.

"Some guy named Sai Hirokawa. I don't know, my parents hired some guy to eliminate him. Why do I involve myself in this?" He mutters, looking up at the sky exasperatedly. Then, he takes Ina by the hand and jerks her down the street into a car.

The worst part? She doesn't even fight it.

Suddenly Vek launches himself off at the Haunted Mansion, Heyden hot on his tails.

"Dad!" He screams, tears streaming down his pale and ghostly face. "I'm coming, hold on for me!"