She Devil | ✔︎

Forty-two.

Preciously.
The same person who tossed me in the van with a mask opens the door, and for some reason, he looks quite familiar.

We all gasp as he takes off his mask.

"Vince?"
                                           ***

"Yes, Vince," He grins and puts both hands in his pockets. To be honest, I'm startled, but the expressions on Evelyn and Massimo's faces explain everything.

"You son of a bitch!" Evelyn tries to grasp him but is stopped by the chains, "son of a corpse." I correct her.

"Chillax," he says as he leans against the wall. "What exactly do you mean by chillax? So you kidnap us out of nowhere, endangering my life, and tell me to relax?" Massimo screams angrily.

The inner Shrek.

Kenji unexpectedly enters through the door seconds after Massimo throws a tantrum.

What the fuck.

"Finally, you're back." He fakes a smile,  "You planned all of this?" I ask in disbelief. "You took so long, I requested Vince to pick you up." He shrugs as if it's just another Thursday night.

"Like this?" I hiss, "Well, no, he did it on his own," he sighs.

The dress.

"where's my dress?" I ask,  "What dress?" Vince furrow his brows, "the dress I was holding before you decided to kidnap us!" I scream frustrated.

looking at Kenji, he forms an O in his mouth "Where is it?"  I pull the chains, it slams me into the wall.

Kenji's eye contacts Vince, telling him to remove the shackles from us.

I exit the cell and search the car and van for the dress, but it is nowhere to be seen. I'm pretty sure it was with me.

It's the last thing I have from my mom.

I go to my room, possibly because the maids carried it there without my permission, and I empty my closet of everything and begin looking.

Nothing.

I finally give up as I slip down the wall fatigued feeling a limp grow up in my throat.

When the door opens, Kenji walks in, confused as to why everything is thrown around the room.

"What happened?" He asks, obliviously."What happened? Seriously? I wouldn't have lost the dress if you could have waited 10 minutes." I chuckle, but not in a funny way.

It's my coping mechanism.

"All of this for a dress?" He stares at me like I'm dramatic. "This isn't any ordinary dress," I mutter to myself.

"I'll get you another one if it's that special." He massages the back of his neck. "Don't you get it? I don't want another dress!" I express my dissatisfaction.

"Jeez, it's just a Fucking dress." He raises his voice to a higher pitch. "It was my mother's dress!" She made it especially for me!" My eyes flood up with tears as I scream at him.

He doesn't get it.

"Athena, you don't have a mother." He gives me a cold stare. "I do, I did," I say not knowing if I'm attempting to convince myself or him.

"What is wrong with you?" he asks as he takes a step forward. "Are you hallucinating? Athena, you don't have any relatives. "Neither your mother nor your father, nor your biological family, wanted you." He responds with a shout.

"With you, it's always one step forward and ten steps back. We're laughing and talking and truly getting along one second and then it's gone the next. You don't have to act like a dick just because you have one." I spit on his face.

"She was my everything."

I punch his chest.

"She was my mother."

Punch.

"She cared for me." My legs give out and I collapse to the ground, sobbing, but his arms catch me and he hugs me to his chest.

I try to get out of it, but he comforts me by shoving my head into his chest.

I eventually give up and cry into his chest, finally allowing someone to console me.

I'm jealous.

Of everything, everything is so simple for him. I want to be proud of myself. The way he does. But I don't know-how.

I don't know if I can.

"I'm sorry for crying in front of you." I wipe my dried tears.  "Never apologize for being yourself." He looks into my eye.

"Your gonna be happy one day." He whispers.

"Happy.. hmm I haven't been happy one minute in my entire life." I pity myself.

I've got nothing left to lose. Nothing can hurt me anymore.

Sometimes I don't want to be strong. Sometimes the weight is just too much. And to put in that facade like I'm strong all the time is exactly what it is.

A facade.

I want to be human. And human means I'm vulnerable.

I've had the sensation of floating outside of my body, gazing down on myself, since I was a child, and I've always hated what I saw.

"Come on," he says as he carries me out of my room and into the guest's room. "Don't let me fall," I mumble feeling exhausted.

"I'd never let you go... ever." He kisses my forehead and tucks me in the bed.

"How about the party?" I ask. "Don't worry about it, get some rest." I nod, letting go of his hand and allowing sleep to take over.

"As long as I'm here no one will hurt you." Is the last thing I heard before I slept.