Chosen One Gone Wrong (Villains & Monsters #1)

Chapter Thirty-Three

Another early update? I think yes. :-) -Rae

- A Week Later -

The next week went by in an exhausting blur.

The meeting with the other heroes wasn't as overwhelming as she thought it would be. It was mostly Aniya, Fiona and Justin talking about how they were going to handle the other crimes in the city. They were beyond stressed, and they all looked like they weren't resting at all.

All five of them each received checks for two thousand dollars from the Mayor. There was a debate at the table, proposing that they ask for more money so they could get some more resources since their bases were getting destroyed left and right. According to Fiona's report, the only ones left were A & D.

It didn't really matter to Jamie. Daija was too spaced out to care.

Base A was the only base with actual security, and pretty soon, all five of them were going to go there together to install more security. It was perfect. She was going to walk right in and steal whatever she could right from under their noses, especially anything related to her, Ian, or Simon. Her only hope was that Jamie would either work with her, turn a blind eye, or not notice at all.

With an increase in riots, the public started to really push for the fourth hero to make her appearance, and that only added to Aniya's stress. Lately, she's been asking Daija how she has been feeling lately. If she was stupid, she would have thought it was genuine concern, but she knows that it's because she's expecting her second Major power to manifest any day now.

It was annoying.

The attacker from the alley was found, and like Jamie said, police determined that he took his own life and left it at that. He was beyond relieved, and it had been showing in his behavior lately. He was talking more at work, smiling and laughing with Hazel and Devin, ranting about some of his personal projects, recommending smutty books and even making new, interesting recipes for customers to enjoy.

It made Daija smile. He deserved that.

Violet's orientation had gone well last week, and she was beyond excited to start working. She was also excited about the dinner gala, and she was telling Daija that they had to go shopping for dresses soon. Hazel and Jamie would be able to go, and Devin would be bringing his husband, Elijah with him for extra support. This gala was going to be huge, and Valerie Reid herself would be there to give a few encouraging words to the interns.

As for Daija, she's been making herself incredibly busy. She picked up more hours at the coffee shop, the smell of caffeine and the constant chatter temporarily distracting her from the guilt, and the memories of that night which were tattooed on her brain. When she wasn't working, she would be trying to figure out Aniya's secrets. Jamie updates her on his progress with the documents regularly.

Whenever she tried to sleep, she had terrible, vivid nightmares that left her nauseated and shaking.

Most of her nights consisted of laying on her bedroom floor and counting to certain numbers to keep from screaming, writing in her journal until her wrist was aching, keeping the lights on because she was afraid of the dark, -- nervous that she was going to see those lifeless eyes staring at her -- and sitting on the floor of the bathroom shower with her head buried in her arms.

This was what it felt like to truly drown.

Currently, it was close to one in the morning, and she was sitting on the hood of her parked car, watching from a distance as some of Simon's henchmen ransacked Base D, which was close to her apartment. She could have easily taken half an hour to walk here. She was going to sneak in and see what she could take, but she sat down and spaced out.