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KALIʼS BREATHING WAS TOUGH AND heavy. Her body was full of so much heat and anger, and she was dying to get it out. She collapsed against the floor, back on the wall, as she stared at the chaos she'd caused during her outburst.
Standing still in shock, Nancy turned to her. "Why would you do that?" she cried, eyes travelling over all the bodies the girl had dropped.
"He disrespected you," Kali answered, her voice cold and distant.
Nancyʼs eyes went wide and she shook her head. "So you killed him?!" she asked incredously, backing away.
Kali shrugged. "Yes."
"And the others?" Nancy questioned.
"They let him disrespect you," Kali explained herself.
Nancy shook her head again, backing away from Kali in fear. "What is wrong with you?" she croaked. "Why — why would you do that?"
Kali stared at her with those cold, monstrous eyes that remind Nancy of her past self. "I was just trying to protect you," she said firmly, refusing to see her wrongs.
"That —" Nancy pointed at the corpse of her old boss and shook her head. "That is not protecting me."
"But he was saying —"
"He was firing me because I did something wrong!" Nancy cried out. "Which you would know if you bothered to show up last night!"
Kali stood up, her eyes sharp, and when she stepped closer to Nancy, the girl backed further away, making her freeze, her chest turning hot. "He was shouting at you, laughing in your face," she said. "You were crying —"
"So you killed him?" Nancy cut her off. "How do you think that's okay? What is wrong with you?"
Seeing the fear behind Nancyʼs usually warm eyes, Kaliʼs expression dropped. "I thought I was protecting you," she said. When she looked up again, her spine chilled at the sight of Nancyʼs face. The burn in her cheek. She shook her head instantly. There was no way. "I...I didn't..." She shook her head again. "Tell me I didn't."
Nancyʼs tears ran down her face, singing and hissing her wound. "Do you even remember what happened?" she asked, voice quiet.
Kali gulped.
Nancy shook her head. "I love you, Kali," she said, her voice filled with so much sadness and emotion, "but I can't be with somebody who snaps like that..." She shook her head, not looking Kali on the eye. "I can't be with somebody I'm afraid of."
Kali remained silent, watching her leave. She saw the look on Rileyʼs face as she brought Nancy into a hug outside. She didn't miss the expression in Jonathanʼs eyes as they made eye contact through the window. They weren't coming back. She understood why.
Lastly, Kaliʼs eyes fell onto the bodies of the old, news men that surrounded her, and all the memories came flooding back.
