The Duns

Be the Bad Guy

Chapter Seven

Catherine

"Enter, Catherine." her voice is loud, clear, "what news have you brought us? It is good, I suppose?" She motions for me to walk ahead towards her throne.

I do so while staring at her consistently. Why is she playing dumb? "You already know, Eliza, have your spies ever let you down?"

She guffaws at my sarcasm, her voice echoing throughout the hall, breaking against the silence in the empty area. I hiss at her under my breath. Remember why you're doing this. Peter is putting his life in danger for this unworthy woman. No. It hits me almost immediately. He is putting his life at risk for me. "Eliza." I say to her, my voice polite but stern, "twenty best To Sotos guards will be at his beck and call at every moment of the day. Or I will ask him to leave, I will tell him to stop helping us."

She laughs her maniac laughter again. "That certainly won't happen honey, without his protection, you would die too." I grimace. I hate her. I hate her. I hate her.

Countess Eliza rises from her chair. With her hair piled onto her head, she can easily be termed a giant. Her face is white, with two wicked, slanting eyes sharpened by her olive-green coloured eyeballs. Her lips are a haunting shade of bright red and even with all her layers of make-up and her immensely powdered cheeks, she looks not a day below 50. Eliza walks down the stairs to where I stand, the purple satin of her dress flowing behind her.

"I would rather die than have him lose his life." I say to her.

She stops at her place. "Honey, you've known each other for what, four months?"

"I've known him since we were seven."

"Right, what do Mommy and Daddy think of this- of an Oi Alloi boy dating their daughter?"

I blink at her candidness. I didn't expect her to speak out against my parents. "I would die for him." I repeat, "and honestly no one cares about your opinion. The-" I stop. Mixing family and work never led to any good and it won't now.

Eliza walks up to me as if I have said nothing. "You're really not going to do this without protecting him, are you?" I shake my head stubbornly.

"Catherine, honey, if you act this way forever, you'll end up throwing away your own life for this guy."

"I'll make sure to note it down, anything else I should be careful about? Anyone else I should stay away from?"

She sighs but gives in to my demands, "Okay, then, twenty of my own personal guards will accompany him always."

I wait, there is always something more with her- and I am right.

"And I will meet him tomorrow; here at the To Sotos headquarter. But obviously, he must not be told of the location. It is just to make sure that he is capable enough to work for us, you know how it goes. Is that okay, darling?"

I nod, I would have had to bring him here eventually. "Fine."

I turn my chair and pushing the wheels forward, I begin heading towards the exit, the wheels silently screeching against the ground. When I'm a few yards away from the doors, Eliza's voice barges through the corridors: "Catherine, darling, this boy isn't good news- they never are."

I ignore her and leave.

-

"When will that be?" He asks me, sitting down on my bed.

"She asked me to bring you in tomorrow, and, Peter, I am warning you, she will not just let you in. Eliza's going to be testing your powers to prove your 'capabilities' or whatever." I roll my eyes.

"That's easy. I've been practicing like a dog since the very first day after the Ceremony." his blue eyes blink lazily.

"Peter." I call him helplessly as he turns to leave.

He smiles softly and walks away, and as the bedroom door clicks shut behind him, a memory of Eliza's words from this morning come hurtling back to me.

I roll towards the window, watching him jump onto the pavement.

People always want to be associated with magic and powers and possess a key to a "world apart from their own" and I do, but boy do I despise it- I'd do anything to live a normal life again, where my biggest problem is whether I finished my math homework because believe it or not, there are people much scarier than Math Teachers.

-

I am seated at the dinner table. The atmosphere is surprisingly happy, my parents now knowing that Peter is ready to help us and will be meeting Eliza tomorrow. According to them, by the time next week rolls around, everything will be perfect: Oi Alloi will be taken down, the enemy will be defeated, and their perfect daughter will have a perfect boyfriend. Perfect.

"What's wrong?" Dad asks, a wide smile on his face, his fork poking into some lettuce leaves, "I, for one think that this is an extremely good advancement for To Sotos, the Tetrakinita agreeing to help us!"

I slump over my meal. "His life is in danger and you guys are happy about it!"

I push away my dinner and roll my wheels to my room, confused. No, I'm not going to moan about it- there is something weird going on, and I am going to find out what. I jump into my chair and switch on my computer, ignoring the calls from outside. It's not like them to act like this- completely okay with an innocent life in jeopardy.

Its sometimes better to be a Bad Person because then you get away with lying and faking another emotion; but when you're a Good Person that's suddenly Okay with something Bad happening, siren's start ringing.