Gehenna's Gate

Psycho

What was that look on her face..?

Vena jogged into the arcade with an uncharacteristic pep in her step, immediately spotting Rae out in the crowd and heading over to grab her arm.

"Hey, can we talk for a sec?"

Please god, don't let my face give me away for once.

"Yeah, I tried texting you, I guess you didn't see it- your boy toy is here." Rae nodded her head the direction behind her, forcing Vena to follow her gesture until her eyes came to rest on none-other than Xiao's back, currently leaned over another pool table in the corner of the arcade.

You're fucking joking.

"Is something wrong?" The voice sent a shiver down the violet haired girl's spine, her dreading having to turn and face Childe, trying her best to cleanse her expression of any negative emotion.

Of course you're hovering like a creep.

"Is that guy bothering you or something? He was staring pretty hard when you first came in." Childe's usual smile wasn't adorning his facial features, making the situation somehow even more unsettling.

"What? Oh- no," Vena gave a quick wave of her hands, getting whiplash now from the almost comical course of events playing out.

Not the time to laugh, but that's sadly how she dealt with most awkward situations. Not the greatest coping mechanism either.

Childe proceeded to glare daggers into Xiao's back, causing Vena's anxiety to rise more and more each second.

"Seriously, I don't mind going and talking to him. He goes to our school too, right? How long has he been bothering you?"

Oh dear god PLEASE make it stop.

"No, I can handle it myself, thank you. Rae, c'mere for a quick sec?" Vena felt like she was going to explode if this kept up much longer, now hastily taking hold of her friend's forearm and pulling with slight force a few feet away, now about half way in the room between Childe and Xiao, hopefully far enough away from both potential eavesdropping parties.

"Listen, Rae. We need to leave,"

"What? No, I'm mostly joking about him stalking you, I didn't meant to freak you out. Don't let him ruin our fun!" Rae began to fake pout, her expression falling when Vena interrupted her, taking hold of her upper arms and locking her gaze.

"Not him- Childe," she leaned in close, dropping her voice to a whisper, praying nobody could hear over the sounds of various arcade games going off and being played and the continuous chatter of all the players.

"I can't explain fully right now, but I think he's dangerous. Please, we need to go." She knew she shouldn't risk having this conversation in such an open area.

She'd seen what would happen to others who knew a little too much.

"Are you being paranoid again? Relax, girly." Rae tried to brush it off one last time, stopping once she felt Vena's grip tighten a little, feeling the way her hands slightly shook with a mix of anxiety and worry.

"Rae, please... Please go back to the car, lock the doors and I'll meet you there, okay? Lie, tell them you want to go get our shoes and you'll be back. I'll go act like I'm going to confront Xiao and I'll slip out another door and be right behind you, okay?"

Rae's eyes widened when the word 'lie' came from Vena's lips, now understanding the gravity of the situation even if she didn't know the details, she knew enough. She knew Vena was extremely uncomfortable about something and that's all she needed to know to justify leaving, especially if the girl was willing to lie. Vena had always been extremely against lying, even if it was a white lie, or for the best. She'd rather remain awkwardly silent or say a brutal truth, and Rae had witnessed that many times.