Everything else around me seemed like a blur of figures and colors. The crowds seemed to be cheering in slow motion, I could barely see or think, I couldn’t hear or speak. My vision narrowed like a tunnel onto the one person that I hated the most in this entire world. She had stopped clapping by now and turned around to speak to someone else. I couldn’t take my eyes off her and I felt like my heart was gonna go flying out of my chest at any moment. Her gaze suddenly switched from whomever she was talking about and those dark violet eyes locked onto me for a split second, as she scanned through the crowd.
I had come all the way here to take her down, yet at this moment when she looked at me. All I remembered doing was pushing my way through this crowd, not caring about the curses that came my way. I could barely tell where I was going, but I saw the light pink sign for the female room and kicked in the door. I ran into the closest stall and sat down firmly on the toilet seat, my hand gripping at my pounding chest. I frantically closed the door and locked it and slammed my hand across my mouth to hide my breathing. The wound that was on my side began to burn as if I had just gotten it again and my entire body felt like I was shaking.
I was scared, no. I was terrified right now.
My tears felt as hot as my wound felt right now, and they streamed down my face as I tried not to break down into my panicked sobbing.
“P-Please don’t find me.” I whimpered to myself as I made myself as small as possible. I was disguised to the point I could barely recognize myself, I had grown in more ways than one. So while I was sure she would not recognize me, it still terrified me. Katherine was here, and if she was here, then I was in danger.
“Stop it!” Another voice screamed at me from inside of my head. “We came all the way here to kill her, stop hiding in the bathroom like a coward and go kill her!”
“No!” A much lighter voice screamed at me. “We aren’t ready, we can’t handle her, we shouldn’t have done this, we shouldn’t be here! Hide! Run away! Hide! Run away!”
“Shut up!” I cried out as I racked my hands through my hair. “Shut up and let me think!”
“Run away!”
“Fight!”
“Run away!”
“Fight her!”
“Run away from her!”
“Go kill her!”
“Verona!” My eyes snapped open as a pair of paws were placed on my shoulder and held me still for a moment. My vision snapped back to me and I could see Aisu standing on her hind legs staring up at me. “Calm down, you're scaring me. Breath, you're killing yourself.”
As soon as she said that I felt like my lungs were about to explode as I started to frantically gulp down air like it was water. My heart began to slow down and my blurred vision began to readjust to the white light of this bathroom. My hearing slowly returned and I could hear a few whispers asking. “Is that girl sick or something?”
I began to take deep and more controlled breaths, and slowly clenched and unclenched my hands a few times to get a bit of feeling running through them. I cupped Aisu’s head in my hands and rested on my forehead upon hers. “I’m sorry,” I whispered.
“It’s okay,” A soft purr escaped Aisu’s muzzle as she nuzzle against me. “It’s okay, I was scared too.”
I suddenly pushed Aisu off me and dropped down to my knees as I felt my stomach erupting. I was grateful for Aisu pulling my hair back as I violently vomited into the toilet. “Dang it,” I felt sick to my stomach right now and my head was pounding from a sudden headache. “What happened?”
“You made yourself sick,” Aisu explained. “You nearly broke down there.”
Once I was sure my stomach was emptied. I pulled myself out of the stall and quickly washed my hands and face. “I thought I was ready to see her, I should be okay now.”
“I don’t think you are,” Aisu stated firmly. “Your heart is still racing a bit, and you are scared to see her again. So how about we use my eyes instead, I am good at staying hidden and as long as I don’t see her spirit animal. I will be strong.”
“Okay… I’m sorry for having to do this.”
“It’s okay, we are a team, so let’s go and be a team together.”
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Once I had gathered enough strength, I made my way back to the private section that I had been invited to. I could see Aaliyah and Trinity were already back and now this girl seemed like a completely different person. Her smile was warm and kind, her eyes filled with joy as she held onto Aaliyah with affection. She was mostly talking about their performance barely audible over the cheers of the crowd as the famed Estelee had taken the stage. Saya had given me a soft look and asked if I was okay, and I brushed her off with a kind smile. I adjusted my braids a bit to cover one of my eyes, and I took a deep breath and let my mind wander into my spirit animal. It was one of the many abilities that we gained from unlocking our spirit animal, I could project my mind into hers, and see out of her eyes. It was a more advanced technique that took a while to learn, I had passed out nearly 15 times before I had gotten the hang of it. Now I could see through her eyes with one eye and keep the other on this conversation at hand.
Aisu had dashed upstairs. The upper decks were completely different from the bottom floor, much more for adults with a larger bar stocked high with expensive bottles of alcohol and wine. The tables and chairs were more proper and clean, the floor spotless and from up here the music was nowhere near as long as downstairs. There were a lot of adults chatting aimlessly about the performance and other politics. From Aisu’s point of of view, I could see Katherine and just seeing her up close was sending fear spilling through my body. She was taller than the last time I had seen her, her beauty still amazed me. She was sitting in a far back booth, fakely laughing at some conversation. Aisu made her move as four workers moved in unison towards the table. She slipped underneath a nearby table and sat as still as a statue. I could hear claws digging into the wood and I heard her growl at me. “Say the word and I slit her throat.”
“Don’t do it, remember we are here to learn what she is doing.” I thought back to her, however deep down I knew the real reason why I wouldn’t let her do that. Aisu would lose and then Katherine would know I am here. “Just stay back and listen, let’s see what she is up to.”
“Are you okay, Cindy?” I quickly looked up as Aaliyah called my name, she sounded much happier now.
I cleared my throat a bit before responding as calmly as I could. “I am fine, just got a bit sick for a moment. I think my excitement over your performance was more than I could handle. I wish I could sing as good as you two can.”
Play to Trinity’s ego and that will get me on her good side. “Aw thank you, Cindy.” Trinity said, now fully turning my way. “It was a last minute change but I knew I could probably sing better with my best friend than those two.” Her smile faded as she turned towards the two girls Jesslyn and Sarah, who had identical pours and crossed arms. “I was supposed to be singing with them but since neither of them can actually sing as it turns out. I went with what should have been my first and best option.” She threw her arms around Aaliyah once more. “Thank goodness for you, especially with Ms. Blackthorn making that sudden appearance.”
My blood went cold as I quickly prompted her to keep going. “Who is Ms. Blackthorn?”
“I keep forgetting you are new here,” Trinity responded. “She owns my club,” she explained with a sour look on her face. “She is also supposed to be my teacher or something, my daddy says that she is gonna show me how to be a better young lady. How to sing better, how to hold myself as a proper young lady in meetings-”
“How to walk with pride and not look weak.” I unconsciously added.
“Yeah…” Trinity's eyes grew with surprise. “How did you know that?”
“Well back home on the island,” I began slowly and carefully picking each word as carefully as a butterfly flapped its wings. “Ms. Blackthorn was a very famous teacher in those arts. I never got a chance to learn from her, but her daughter did and we are friends. So she learned a lot of what you are probably learning. Never let someone out speak you, never let someone stand taller than you, even if you are shorter-”
“If you keep your back straight, shoulders and head held high, that will make you stand taller than any mountain could possibly reach.” Trinity finished. “Are you sure that you never learned from her either, you seem to have some of her lessons held to heart?”
“What do you mean?”
Trinity walked over to me, now standing much taller thanks to the heels she had switched into for her performance. She placed her hands on my shoulders and smiled at me. “You keep your shoulders strong, and your back straight, you never look down, and aren’t afraid to speak if someone insults you or your home. Even when I do it.” For a moment she didn’t say a word. Her dark red eyes shined brighter than hot coals and she seemed to be studying my like I was a book. I hated the lessons that she had put me through, but those lessons did help me build a bit of confidence and while I chose to forget the lessons she gave me on fighting. I keep her social lessons deep in my heart, deep enough that I often could force myself. I had learned them from her.
“Aaliyah you were right,” she finally took her hands off my shoulders and turned around to go back towards her best friend. “I think I am gonna like your cousin.” She sat back down and laid back with her head resting on Aaliyah’s thighs like it was a pillow. One arm reached up to cover her eyes and the other hung loosely off the bench. “We should go and hang out sometime, Cindy. We should go somewhere more fun than this place.”
“I-I would love that.”
As the conversation shifted to a different topic we watched the exciting performance on stage via a monitor that I hadn’t even noticed before. I connected my thoughts back to Aisu and looked through her eyes once more. Katherine was standing up now. “What happened while I was gone?”
Aisu didn’t answer right away, she quickly dashed out of view of Katherine. She padded down the stairs and slipped out of the front door for some reason. “She is leaving right now, and I want to see what she is riding in. As for what happened… nothing. All she was doing was talking to these annoying woman about the performance, she sounded upset that Trinity went off script and brought that other girl on stage with her. However, she was happy that it still went off without issues.”
“Did she say why she was here?”
“No and I don’t know where her office is either.”
As I went to answer her back I felt a presence starting to descend upon us like a veil of darkness. After all this time she still used the same strong smelling perfume. I looked out of the archway door and my eyes grew wider than the moon. The entire place seemed to be parting like the red sea as Katherine gracefully walked our way. Two strong looking men flanking her on either side. She didn’t need bodyguards, she was a one woman army. I stood up and quickly went to the opposite side of this area and sat down making myself look as small as I possibly could. I heard her heels marching towards us, and her presence was overwhelming me with fear. I bite the bottom of my lip and clutched my hands together to stop my shaking, stop the fear from overwhelming me.
She truly was a predator and most of them could sense fear.
“Trinity,” her voice was as warm as any mother’s but it always left a cold feeling in my chest whenever I heard it. “Congratulations on an excellent performance and thank you Aaliyah for stepping in when these two.” Out of my veil of braids I could see her shooting a small but deadly glare at Jesslyn and Sarah. “Failed to mention that they could not sing in the first place..”
“T-Thank you, Mrs. Bloodthorn.”
“Come along, Trinity, we are leaving.”
A shape whine escaped Trinity's mouth. “Why?” She complained. “We are just now starting to have fun.”
“There is a meeting that I want you to accompany me for. It is a good place to put all of my lessons to the test.”
“Please, I want to-”
All the air grew cold as Katherine very slowly and deliberately said. “Trinity, this is not a negotiation, it is an order. Do you need me to remind you what the difference between the two is?” I tensed up from fear and my cheek started to sting although I hadn’t been touched as I watched Katherine’s hand become rock hard and flat. Another word of protest and she would slap the taste out of Trinity’s mouth.
I knew from experience that it hurt like hell and stung for hours on end.
Katherine tone then grew much kinder, a fake kindness that I also knew from experience. “As for you children, thank you for coming as always and get whatever you want and just put it on Trinity’s tab.”
“Thank you miss.” They all said in unison.
“Now come along, Trin.”
“Y-Yes ma’am.” Trinity stood to her feet and than made her way over to me. “Can I have your number, Cindy? I want to talk to you more sometime.”
“Yeah, I’ll have my cousin text it to you.” I peaked out of my braids and saw Katherine staring at Trinity, her mood growing more irrigated with each second she waited. “You should go,” I whispered. “She is not fond of waiting.” I gave her a sympathetic smile. “Please go.”
For the first time today, I saw fear starting to spread across Trinity’s face as she quickly gathered her things and said a few soft goodbyes before disappearing out of this private section. I closed my eyes for a moment and focused my hearing as best as I could on the two of them. The music was loud and the cheering was louder but throughout all of it. I heard Katherine’s icy cold voice break through for the first time today. “Make me wait or talk back to me again and I will slap the fucking taste out of your mouth. Am I understood.”
“Yes ma’am, I’m sorry.”
“Do not forget this lesson.”
I honestly felt bad for this girl, I knew what Katherine was like. I lived with her for eight years of my life, but unlike her. Katherine cared for me in some sick way, I doubt she truly cared about this younger girl.
I blinked and my vision was back in Aisu’s. We watched as Trinity quickly pulled on a light coat and was lead into a large limousine. Katherine didn’t enter right away, instead she seemed to be looking for something. Her eyes scanned across the busy night streets and for a moment I was ready to tell Aisu to run away. However, Katherine climbed into the limo and it began to pull off. “Do you want me to follow-” Aisu stopped mid sentence and I knew why. Out of one of the cracked windows, a large amount of dark purple smoke began to pour out. It slowly began to swirl and take shape into a beast that I feared nearly as much as I feared Katherine. In it’s more basic form, she stood at nearly six feet tall at the shoulders and was nearly 14 feet from head to tail. She had large paws with sharp pointed claws. Her entire body was filled with scars across its body. The beast that gave Katherine her the title of the Violet Liger. Her liger spirit, Vitani.
She was sitting on top of the limo and her head was scanning around the entire street. I quickly summoned Aisu back to my gemstone, not wanting to risk that beast seeing her. I had good eyesight and so did Aisu, but that beast of spirit had the best eyesight for big cats. It could only give some bird animal spirits a run for their money. Vitani was a combination of a tiger and lion spirit, two powerful animal spirits to have on their own, this combination was even worse. “Cindy?” I was snapped out of my surprise by Saya who placed a hand on my shoulder and shook me. “Are you okay?”
“Yeah I am perfectly fine.”
“Are you sure because you look like you're ready to faint?” Aaliyah explained, and she was right. I had felt light-headed, fear that both mine and not mine were starting to spread through my body. I closed my eyes and took a deep breath, both to calm myself down and to gaze into my gemstone. I could see Aisu curled into a small ball shaking as if we had been stuck in the north pole without a jacket.
She was just as scared at seeing Vitani as I was my momma.
“I think I am just a bit sick,” I responded both with a lie and the truth. My stomach while not more relaxed, still felt uneasy. “I think maybe it is time I go home or something.” I turned towards Aaliyah. “I could call auntie and get home if you want to stay here. I don’t want to ruin your night.”
“No it is fine,” Aaliyah gave me a small nod as she helped me stand to my feet. “Come on, let’s go call my momma and get you home.”
“It was nice meeting you all,” I said with a weak smile.
My legs were heavy and tired as if I had been running for miles. I was embarrassed to have Aaliyah have to help me to the front door. “Did you get what you needed today?” Aaliyah asked once she had finished calling her momma to come and get us.
I weakly shook my head. “I got more than I needed, and at least I will get Trinity's number, so phase one is gonna be okay. I also got to see Katherine Bloodthorn today so that is even better.”
“You know a lot more about that woman than you originally told me.” I nodded my head, feeling bad that I had lied earlier to the girl. I was growing tired of telling lies to people. “Who is she to you? Is she the one that has made Trinity such a bad person.”
I choose to answer her second question first. “It might be, if she is really learning from her than that woman will put lies in her head of being better than everyone else for their social standing. That might be the reason why. As for my connection with Katherine.” I hesitantly lifted the edge of my shirt up and showed the girl a wound that was on my right side.
“Oh my God.” She called back in utter disbelief. “I’m so sorry… Did she do that to you?”
“The price for disobeying her is very steep. She likes her lessons to stick so you don’t make the same mistake again.” It was one of many wounds she had given me, the ones before healed over time. This one would always stay, it was the wound she gave me when she attempted to kill me. “If you are not coming with me willingly or by force, then you are no use to me, Verona. So if you survive, perhaps you are stronger than your fool of a daddy.” Those were the last words she had spoken to me all those years ago.
“A-Are you going to save my friend from that woman?” Aaliyah’s eyes were now full of both concern and fear.
“I am gonna do my best to make sure that she never hurts anyone ever again.” I tried to smile at her but I was not strong enough to that.
I did all of this to come find and kill her. Forced myself onto my daddy, didn’t listen to my momma, hurt my best friend all for this moment. Yet the first time I see her, I cowered in the bathroom like a toddler. I slowly took out my phone and called my daddy. “Yes dad, it’s Verona. I saw Katherine today… no she didn’t recognize me.” I felt a single tear starting to drip down my face as I hung my head and barely sobbed out. “I’m scared… daddy. I’m scared.”
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