Red Ribbon

Chapter Six

I enter my front door to find the large oaf sitting on my couch with a picture in his hand. I gruffly sigh, dropping my keys on the table beside me before hanging my coat. Kallias made no effort to notice my intrusion of my own damn house. I position myself in front of my couch, my weight settling on my left hip.

"So glad I could make your acquaintance," I say, crossing my arms.

He barely tilted his head upwards, "I told you to be here 47 minutes and twenty-one seconds ago," Kallias responds.

"You're denting my couch. It's one of those sick cloud couches that cost way too much money and you're denting it. You're not supposed to sit on it as much as you're meant to daintily rest upon the pillows," I say fluttering my fingers at my sentence. He raised from the couch at a glacial pace, inching toward me. I took a step back at his large form, I fretfully giggle, "Seriously, you're built like a water buffalo—"

In a flash, he had me held tightly between him and the wall, his wide palm grasping my jaw forced my head to tilt to look him in the eyes. "Stop fucking talking," His eyes held an absurd ray of fury.

"What happened to no cursing?" I respond making him press my head even harder into the wall. I shut my mouth as the pressure quickly turned into pain.

"If I had the time you have to frolic around, wasting others time, I would punish you for 47 minutes and twenty-one seconds until you were writhing for forgiveness," I focused on the ceiling above instead of the harsh glare I was receiving from the man I used to call my best friend.

A ding from his smart watch caused him to release his grip slightly and I whimpered. He stiffly exhaled before his form disappeared instantly, back to the middle of the room. I crossed my arms impishly while continuing to be firmly pressed against the wall.

"I have no time for this," His voice grumbled. I trained my eyes on anything other than the brute before me. Footsteps march across the room to beside the front door, coats brushing together, before they come to end right before me. I held my breath until my chest began to strain.

He spoke, "I have a job for you. I will send you the details later."

I tried to return any words, but speaking was not in the cards. I nodded quickly before returning my gaze to the floor.

He sighed before taking ahold of my upper arm; his grip so tight, it would be imprinted red long into the night. Using more force than necessary, Kallias tugged me away from my spot in front of the door. I shuttered at the action while biting my lip to keep down a gasp or shriek. Not another moment wasted, he was gone.

My chest remained tight moments after his leave. While attempting to walk to my bedroom, I tumbled over my own foot and fell into a puddle of pre-shattered glass. I couldn't help the whine and sobs that erupted out of me as I looked at the remnants of the vase that used to sit pretty atop my kitchen bar. Granny gave me it as a housewarming gift, something from her youthful travels, and now look at it, shattered and forlorn. A lot like me.

Blood started to ooze from my knees and palms from the imbedded porcelain shards. I returned to my feet with a subtle sob before wading over to the kitchen sink. The water burned, yet it felt good somehow. In an outlandish, grotesque way it gave me pleasure to cause myself so much pain. Because I deserved it.

How could I be so stupid? It must sound so pathetic and yet I wished so much that my friend was still in there. I knew the rumors, the gossip of Kallias Salvatore. He was a cruel, ruthless bastard, with a personality even his mother couldn't love. A sociopathic abomination that was to be avoided at all costs.

"But he didn't used to be like that," I whispered to myself, tears streaming down my face.

A spark of reflected light came from my left, coming from the framed photo that Kallias was staring at when I walked in. I moved to gently pick it up. The frame was old, bulky, and it was less than stylish. We made them one day when we were very young at a pottery pop up store, and I had an odd obsession with turtles. Me being so young had no artistic talent and it showed heavily on this frame.