The Tale of Two Singers

VIII : i don't feel like part of the world anymore - shiloh dynasty

TW : domestic violence
* if you want to, listen to the chapter name as you read!

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"What do you want Malakai?" Now was not the fucking time to have to deal with this shit.

He laughed, a dry and humorless thing as his eyes trailed over her body. "I can smell him on you. The shadowsinger." He was drunk, Aida realized as his voice started to slur. Okay, she would just have to tread carefully then. Very carefully.

"Fuck off." She said as she took a step down in an attempt to move past him. Bad move.

"What have I told you about that mouth of yours." Malakai sneered, a hand reaching out to grab her arm. She tried to rip her limb from his fingers, but it was no use, not as he began to squeeze her arm to the point where it hurt. She didn't bruise easily, but that would definitely leave a mark.

"You've gotten sloppy," Aida gritted out, her breath coming out more labored as she tried to stay calm. Getting angry would only make this worse, way worse than it had to be, "I have neighbors who don't really understand the concept of privacy."

"Take a look around baby. No one's here." Aida mentally cursed herself when she realized he was right. The street was practically empty, save for the few people loitering at the far end of the street. But they would be of no help, she could barely see them as it was, so how would they be able to see her?

"What do you want?" She repeated, her light brown eyes meeting his darker ones. Bringing a bottle of alcohol that Aida didn't even realize he had with him to his lips, he took a generous sip, keeping eye contact with her the entire time.

"I miss you."

Aida shook her head furiously as she tried to wretch her way out of his grasp again. She let out a small whimper as he shook her body. Fuck, fuck, fuck.

"Let's go inside. It's cold out here." There was no question in his voice, not as he physically shoved her back through her front door. Her heart rate skyrocketed when she hit the wall opposite of her stairs and watched as he closed and locked the door. Oh gods, please.

"I just want to talk." He said, putting his hands up in a way that was supposed to show he meant no harm. Aida had to fight the urge to roll her eyes.

"Oh, yeah? What about this time? How much you miss me? How much you've changed? Or, my personal favorite. Why you don't understand why I left you?" Aida scoffed as she saw the muscle in his jaw feather and tighten. "You're fucking pathetic. Get the fuck out of my house before I file a restraining order." That got Malakai's attention, enough for him to let out a joyless laugh.

"Yeah? How well did that work out for you last time? You know they threw it out right? Right alongside all the other ones you've tried to file against me. Must suck not to be financially stable enough to pay off the judges. You could have been though if you stayed with me." He kept his eyes on the floor as he spoke, his eyes fixated on something her eye couldn't make out. Of course she knew, she had always known. But it couldn't hurt to make the threat anyway.

"Get out you sick piece of shit. Go find somebody else to piss on." Aida repeated, stomping towards the locked door. That, evidently, was the worst possible thing she could have said to him. One second her hand was almost clasped around the doorknob. The next and her entire body was being slammed back into the wall hard enough for her head to create a dent in the plaster. A small whimper left her body as her shoulders crumpled forward.

"My parents still ask about you. Do you know that? After all these years they still think about you enough to ask how you're doing. Do you know how embarrassing it is to have to look my father in the eye and tell him that my wife left me because she didn't like the way I loved her?" Yes, of course only Warner asked after her. He molded Malakai in his image, and he did a fantastic job. The only difference between Malakai and his father was that the latter was much more of a charmer. He could talk the panties off of anyone in a matter of seconds, Aida would know.