The Scarlett Story: How it all started

Chapter 7

                                      Kerrie
I go back to my room after the fight with Mathias. I open the door and Lovel is looking in the mirror. His face is bruised from where I hit him. I really do feel bad about that, it was just a first reaction. I walk over and take his hand gently.
"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to hit you so hard."
"I wish you wouldn't have hit me at all, Kerrie." Lovel replies, pulling his hand away from me. Lovel continues to look in the mirror, rubbing the sore spot on his face. "But I know you were angry. I shouldn't have gotten in the middle of it all." He lets his hands drop to his sides as he looks at me.
"No, you shouldn't have. But Mathias shouldn't have said anything either. I also shouldn't have hit you so hard, I am just way too overprotective of my brother. I'm sorry" I say to Lovel and gently move my thumb over his cheek where the dark red and purple bruise has formed. Lovel turns his face slightly towards my thumb, letting me soothe the area. He sighs softly as I assume the pain is easing.
"I forgive you for hitting me, Kerrie," he says, places his hand over mine and he closes his eyes, taking a deep breath as the pain begins to subside. I lock my fingers with Lovel's fingers and take both of our hands off his face. I move forward and kiss his cheek softly.
"Don't ever hit my brother again, or your next punishment won't be so soft." I punched Lovel this time, next time I will break his arm. That is how protective I am over Mathias. I mean I tried to kill Professor Matthenuson, when I thought he was trying to hurt me and Mathias. Lovel laughs softly at my threat.
"I won't," he promises. "I won't hit Mathias again, even though he probably deserves it." He pauses, then lets his hands drop to his side. After a moment, he reaches out and brushes a loose strand of hair from under my chin. "Besides..." Lovel smiles, raising an eyebrow, "...why do you care so much about your brother? He's big enough to take care of himself."
"He is, but he is the only family I have left. I have protected him our entire life. I have the scars to prove it. You know that huge zig zag scar that goes down my back, that is from protecting Mathias. He is all I have left, and I would do everything again." Lovel reaches out and grasps my hand tighter, tugging it towards himself so that I stands next to him in front of the mirror. My back is too the mirror and I stand right beside Lovel. He pulls my shirt up over my head and runs his fingers along the scar that winds its way down my back, and he studies it closely. "This was from protecting your brother?" He asks quietly. I put my head on his shoulder and speak softly into his ear.
"Yeah, it is." Our bodies are close together in front of the mirror, and Lovel puts his other hand on my hip as well. He takes his time looking at the scar, taking in all the details of how it bends around in different directions along my spine. I can see him doing this in the reflection of his eyes.
"How did it happen?" He asks in a whisper, his voice full of concern for me.
"I don't remember completely. I was way too young. There was a lot of screaming, then everything went silent. A strange bright green light, then a terrible pain." And that is exactly how every flashback I have occurs. Lovel's brow furrows in concern as he keeps his hand on the scar, running his fingers along its entire length.
"Do you remember anything about who gave you that scar?" He asks, turning my body around so we both face the mirror. I think back as far as I can into that memory.
"He didn't have hair at all. Probably 187cm tall. He had this black cloak."
"187cm tall?" Lovel repeats thoughtfully, and then his eyes widen slightly as he describes the man that left that scar on her back. "Do you remember anything else?" He asks, leaning in closer to me.
"No."
"Did he do anything else aside from giving you that scar?" Lovel asks, but then remembers something and glances down at the back of my neck. "Wait...do you have a scar on your neck as well?"
"Yeah, I do but that's from something completely different." The scar down my back is huge and a light red colour. Where the scar on my neck is a darker red and smaller.
"May I?" Lovel looks up at me, then gently turns my face aside so that he can see the one on my neck. He takes his free hand and traces the outline of the scar on my neck. "What happened with this one?" He asks. "And how do you know that it was not from the same man that caused the scar on your back?"
"Because I got the scar on my back when I was about three or four months old. I got the scar on my neck when I was seven."
"Oh." Lovel is silent for a moment, "Who gave you the scar on your neck?"
"I don't remember his name. I refuse to ever learn his name. Some middle age man that thought it would be fun to try and kidnap children in London. Several missing. A lot are still missing. I was smart enough to learn how to dislodge a knife from someone's hand, then turn it on them." While I speak Lovel looks at the scar and touches it gently like I will break if he presses to hard.
"You..." Lovel is speechless. His hand continues to slowly move over the scar on my neck, almost as if he were checking to see if it's really there. "You were...seven?"
"Yes." In my life it was eat or be eaten. But in this case it defend or be killed. Honestly I found it fun, but others that I tell the stories too say I need help. Lovel lets out a breath that I didn't realise he had been holding.
"Were you by yourself when it happened?" He asks, his fingers still trailing along the scar on my neck. He is being so gentle and tender.
"Yes. and no. At first I was alone but within five minutes some younger lady came by."
"A younger lady?" Lovel asks, I think he is trying to picture the scene. "Was she the one who stopped the man from kidnapping you?"
"No. I did that myself." I look over at Lovel then step in front of him and look slowly over his body. "Kitten, I may look like a tiny girl, but I am something to be feared. Or definitely if I don't like you or you hurt someone I love then be afraid." Lovel stares at me. He looks at me as if I have just transformed into a completely different person. He had seen glimpses of this side of me before, but I guess he never actually understood before. Lovel takes a step backward in surprise. I smile softly and step forward. "What? Are you getting scared?" Lovel stares down at me, unsure of how to respond. I am tiny next to him, even though I have always been told that I am extremely large for my age.
"You're just...not the type I would have expected to have this side to you." He says with a half smile.
"Well, there is a reason why you like me so much. Also why, we can be so." I step forward to the side of him. "So, aggressive." I whisper in his ear and walk to my side of the room. I take off my jacket and hang it up. I can see Lovel still watching me as I walk away, with a strange mixture of amusement and awe courting through his eyes. When I whispered in his ear, he shivered slightly, but it wasn't from being cold.
"So..." He thinks to himself, trying to find the right word. "Aggressive...that's it." He grins to himself.
"Well, I wouldn't say ninety percent of the things we do are calm or gentle." I am glad that we are leaving the other conversation. I didn't like it.
"No...no, I would have to agree with you there," he says. "When we are together, we are anything but calm or gentle." He moves over to my side of the room, leaning against the wall next to where I am standing. I look over at him. I smile slightly and go back to what I was doing. I take off my ring and place it in the case. I gather my hair and tie it up.
"I know Lovel." Lovel watches me as I moves around the room, a strange mixture of desire and admiration coursing through his eyes with each movement I make. When I speak, however, it seems like he has been brought back to the present.
"Hmm?" He says, raising an eyebrow. "You know what?"
"What?" Lovel opens his mouth to speak, then pauses.
"Nevermind," he mutters, shifting slightly and crossing his arms. I turn around.
"No, what were you going to say?" Lovel sighs softly, looking as if he is wondering if he should really say what is on his mind right now. But then, just looking at me is almost too much for him to handle, and the words just spill out of his mouth.
"I was about to suggest that we do something wild and untoward...again."