Zoe's only wish is to be able to run barefoot through grass, but she knows it'll never happen. Ever since she was born, she's been unable to touch anything living without it instantly dying. It's a curse she would do anything to get rid of, but that...
It felt like my heart would beat out of my chest when I saw the person standing in front of me. Or maybe it was about to drop to my stomach.
Scarlet.
Seeing her shouldn't worry me more than having seen the Priestess the day before had, but it did. She just made me anxious. So, so anxious in a way the Priestess could never accomplish. Likely it was because we had been friends. She had once been the person I told all of my inner feelings to. She knew me so much better than the Priestess and could easily use that knowledge to hurt me where it really mattered. It was likely also because she had never tried to hide the distaste she felt for me now. In fact, she usually displayed it so that everyone could see it loud and clear.
"No hi?" she asked as I stared at her while feeling my mouth become drier and drier.
"Ehm... Hi, Scarlet," I mumbled and looked down at the floor.
"Oh, sister! No need to be so nervous. I'm just here to visit you and see how you're doing. When I heard from the Priestess that you hadn't finished the mission yet, I got curious. What on earth could make our dear Zoe hesitant to kill?"
I looked up to see her signature tilted head and smile. It wasn't a sweet smile, not like the one the Priestess faked. It was more of a sneer than a smile.
"It's just trickier than expected. He is a witch hunter after all," I answered and forced a smile, forced my voice even.
"Is that so? What were you reading? Something to help you?"
She went over in a flash. The notebook had fallen to the floor as I had stood up and I tried to grab it, but she was faster. There wasn't really anything secret in it, but any information that she somehow could use against me was bad. And that book... to have her know I looked for ways to rid me of what they saw as my only use... Of course, they knew I had tried, but they had no idea how far I had gotten in my search.
"Give it back!" I yelled at her, and then, without considering the consequences, flicked my fingers. The book flew out of her hand and into mine.
I could see the mistake as soon as I had done it. Her eyes were so cold and menacing. Her lips in a tight line.
"You seem to have gotten awfully brave," she hissed and then mumbled under her breath.
In the next second, it felt like all my bones in my body were on fire. Burning me up, boiling my body from the inside. I dropped to my knees, curled into a ball. My head was bent into my chest, my mouth wide open, but not a sound leaving it. My screams were silent. I was unable to get air into my lungs as the pain raged in my body.
Then it stopped. I spent a few minutes gasping for air before I looked up from my kneeling position.
Scarlet stood there, holding the book and reading as if she were the only one present. She slammed the book shut and looked down at me.
"Oh, sister," she said and shook her head, her eyes filled with pity that I knew wasn't real. "I thought you had given up on this."
She sighed before continuing.
"There's no point for you to try to find a cure. You are just setting yourself up for disappointment. You are a murderer and that is all you'll ever be. Even if you found a cure, that would still be true. You are a filthy, disgusting murder."
On each of her last three words, a lightning of pain shot through me that made me bend my head. Quiet whimpers left my lips all three times.
"Embrace that you are a monster. What's the point of running from it?"
I didn't look at her, but kept my gaze firm on the floor. I could feel the tears well up in my eyes, and I didn't want her to see that. I couldn't let her know how her words hurt. They hurt so much more than any of the physical pain she caused me.
"What's that?" Scarlet suddenly exclaimed. I turned my head to look at what she had seen, but once again, I was too late to stop her from picking the item up. That time it was the bear, which had also fallen to the floor earlier. My heart started beating in panic as I watched the bear in her hands.
"It's nothing!" I hurriedly said. "I just saw it in a store and thought it was cute."
"Nothing you say," she smirked and then created fire in her hand that didn't hold the bear. "Then you wouldn't mind if I set it on fire."
My eyes widened. "Please! Don't!"
"Give me one good reason not to."
"I... It... Ehm you..." I desperately tried to come up with a reason, but my mind was empty. "Why would you burn it?" I finally asked and then continued speaking while clutching at straws. "It might just trigger an alarm in the building or something. That wouldn't be good."
She gave off a cold laugh. "Tsk, you always were a bad liar, sister. You should just give it up. Tell me instead where this one came from. Is it a gift from someone? Who?"
"No one," I insisted.
"Don't be like that."
She sighed and threw the bear aside, not watching where it landed, so it crashed into a vase that fell to the floor and broke. At the same time, she grabbed hold of my braid to force me up to standing. I bit back a yell that formed equally much from the shooting pain and surprise. However, a yell came from the other side of the door into the hotel room.
"Zoe!" Felix yelled and knocking followed. "Zoe? Are you okay?"
Scarlet looked stunned for a moment before she broke out into laughter. It was the same cold laugh as before and it froze me to my core.
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
