Aurora looked at herself one more time in the mirror, looking curiously at the small, back and white dress Severine had basically given to her. The girls had stopped at Severine's father's huge, luxurious penthouse to get changed out of their uniforms. Severine's bedroom was huge and shockingly pink. This was a surprise to Aurora, since Severine's clothing reflected more of a dark aesthetic. Her bed had white comforters with a soft, blush and rose design. She had white wooden floors and fuzzy pink carpets in every corner. Her walls had girly decor depicting lipstick, designer bags, and shoes. She had color-changing strobe lights built into her wall and under the bedframe, which gave it a hovering effect, with a beautiful, gauzy white canopy draped over it like a princess slept there. She had a huge, sleek, roundish vanity with a huge mirror and orb lights surrounding the edges that seemed like it was plucked from another planet. Her closet was massive and had a rotating rack that SOPHIA controlled. Severine let all of them choose an outfit to keep for the amusement park. Aurira grinned wildly at the room's amazing features, and she did realize how much she liked the girly aspect of it all.
She smiled in the mirror at the dress Severine chose for her. It was an off-shoulder mini dress with a striking black and white color contrast. It had a black bodice that scrunched around her waist and flared out down her thighs. The top of the dress was a beautiful white band that wrapped around her lower shoulders and tied around her back in a gorgeous white bow, with long ribbons that trailed down her back. She was still wearing her black lace stockings that her dad had bought her a few weeks ago, as well as the black flats she had worn all day at school.
"Do you think I should wear my hair differently tonight?" Aurora turned towards Marla, who was still getting dressed behind one of Severine's folding dressing screens.
"Um... I mean, sure, it's fun to try out new styles?" Marla answered after realizing she was talking to her, "why are you asking me?"
"Do you not know how to wear your hair in different styles?" Severine suddenly asked after walking out of her attached bathroom. She was wearing an edgy, black leather mini dress with a sleek, modern silhouette. Aurora was surprised by how flirtatious it was, the bodice features a structured, corset-like fit with a seen v-neck and thin shoulder straps. The skirt was double-layered with playful ruffles that added volume and movement. She had on several layers of necklaces adorned with thick, mullti-layered chain strands and cute, pink charms, rose quartz, hearts, and a big pink and silver eyeball pendant at the bottom. Her make up matched her jewelry with blush pink eyeshadow, sparkly, rosy lipstick, and long false eyelashes. She had big, silver hearts attached to her ear lobes, long, knee-high, loose leather boots. Her gloves went all the way up to her biceps, all of it giving that alluring, exposed feeling, but still keeping her entirely contained. Aurora was impressed. Severine, of course, had her long, shiny golden locks tucked into a tight, long ponytail. She had a back bow tied around it, however, with ribbon that cascaded down her head next to her hair.
"No, I never really learned how..." Aurora told her bashfully. Severine walked up to her and began brushing her hair out. She had a hair tie and wrapped it around her bunched up hair quickly and with ease, not trying to be make it look super neat. She tightened it up high on her head and leaned over to grab a few pins from her vanity. Aurora stared back in awe as Severine created a perfect, adorable, voluminous messy bun on top of her head. She pressed a button on her closet screen, shuffling everything over to a box compartment full of black and white bows.
"Mm... definitely white," Severine grabbed one and walked over to clip it to Aurora's hair. She blushed, smiling up at her. They looked back as Marla sighed.
"There... how's this?" Marla looked down at herself. Her look featured an oversized navy blue sweatshirt with the word "ANGEL" across the front, layered over a crisp white collared shirt for a polished, academic touch. She paired it with a white pleated mini skirt that added a flirty, athletic edge. She was still wearing her flawless white heels and short, white ruffle socks from school that morning.
"It's about time you picked something you like," Taya laughed, wearing a flashy pair of black and white camo pants and a shirt black crop top, which was stretched out by her broad chest and revealed her rock-hard abs. She had on a cropped white hoodie with a huge, arched cut-out across the front, still keeping her midriff and black crop top revealed. She had her black combat boots on her the pants. Marla crossed her arms at her.
"Well, your style is basic, so of course you wouldn't understand," Marla shot back, gazing at her nails.
"Basic?" Taya smiled at her, appalled, "all you wear is academia clothes! And you want to talk about basic?" she challenged her, making Marla roll her eyes, dropping the topic. Aurora couldn't help but notice that each girls were wearing and eyeball pendant of their own, Taya having a green one clipped to her belt loop, and Marla's being blue and tied around her lower leg as an ankle bracelet.
Aurora looked back at Nyra, seeing if she had one too. Sure enough, her eye pendant was purple and was attached to the sparkly, rhinestone, heart-shaped waist chain wrapped around her hips. She had on a laced up, tiered, black mini skirt, which had cute little black bows tied onto the tops of her hips. She had on a short, white crop top with a single image of a small black way walking across her chest. She had on black, tight-fitting tipless paw print gloves, and her hair was down for once, topped with a black cat-ear beanie with long strings decorated with black puff balls at the ends. She was barefoot, as always, only wearing black socks, but carried two slip-on black shoes in her hands.
"So... You guys all have matching eyes?" Aurora lites her head, staring directly at the jewelry on Nyra's hip.
"Oh, right, you have one too. Master Noc just gave it to me today," Marla walked over to her bag and pulled out a small pendant. She walked over to Aurora and carefully showed her. It was a flat, silver eye with a pure-white pupil. Aurora grinned at it, gently taking it from her hands and tracing it with her fingers.
"When people see you wearing this, they'll know you're with us. We don't usually wear them at school, but when we're together in public, or at one of our debates, it identifies you as a club member," Marla smiled at her with her hands folded out in front of her. Severine walked towards her with a thin chain and took the pendant to slide it on.
"This should be fine for now," she touched her shoulders to turn her around and carefully clipped the chain together. Aurora smiled at the single piece of jewelry around her neck, and touched it in absolute awe. The girls peaked back at her reflection, and Aurora's eyes jumped around at all of their hidden pendants again, making her feel included and integrated. She loved how beautiful and different they all looked together, and somehow still followed a similar theme.
They arrived at the amusement park in a private, white limousine. Teenagers surrounding the entrance gawked as the five of them stepped out looking like hell on wheels. Aurora looked up at people, some of whose eyes were glued directly onto her, and she smiled at them, feeling very confident in her appearance. To her surprise, people smiled back at her. Taya and Severine looked at her with questioning stares after noticing her pleasantries, and Aurora shyly fixed her face into a blank expression and avoided eye contact.
"So... where are the boys, since I already know that's who you're looking for?" Severine turned to Aurora after they made it past the gates, her tiny bag swinging into her hip as she turned around.
"Jude said they're on the way. Maybe we can wait around and meet them," Aurora shrugged at her with a smile.
"It's a good opportunity to get some actual meeting time in," Marla shrugged, making Severine nod in agreement. The girls migrated to a smoothie stand and each ordered a drink. When they sat down, Aurora noticed that everyone was subconsciously color coding again... Severine ordered a pink strawberry banana, Taya ordered a kiwi matcha, Nyra ordered a blueberry mango, and Marla a pineapple, raspberry, and blue purilina smoothie. Aurora looked down and realized she had ordered a white coconut and pineapple smoothie. What were the odds that they all happened to order smoothies that color-coordinated with their club pendants perfectly without even thinking about it.
"I really wish Evren could be here... I asked him if he could make it, but he said amusement parks are immature..." Marla rolled her eyes before sipping on her drink, referring to her so-called boyfriend that she occasionally mentioned, but Aurora had never seen.
"So, wait... how old is Evren?" Aurora questioned her nervously.
"He's only twenty. He's in college," Marla sighed.
"Oh... and how old are you again?" Aurora asked her.
"I'm seventeen, Aurora. It's a three year age gap, it's not a big deal..." Marla rolled her eyes again, making Aurora giggle. Her eyes shot back to her, "what?"
"Nothing. I just think it's a little ironic that someone like you would have a boyfriend that... goes to another school," Aurora said, making her face twist into a frown.
"What do you mean?" She questioned her.
"Nothing, I just mean... I've been hanging out with you guys for a few weeks now, and I've never even seen him. You don't talk about him often... I'm not saying he's not real, it's just funny that you could question his existence," Aurora said, making the other girls giggle, and Marla to glare at her.
"We're both busy people. It's called being in an adult relationship. We have date nights scheduled twice a month!" Marla defended herself, getting more upset as her friends continued to giggle at her with each declaration.
"Marla, it's fine. We know you guys are serious... but, he did cancel on the last two date nights... even after you switched your schedule around to reschedule with him," Taya pointed out, making Marla deflate.
"I think everyone deserves someone who looks at them the way Kairo looks at Sev," Aurora chimed, making Marla and Severine glance back at her, "with hopeless, relentless, unconditional, and ever-ogling love," she said in a slightly teasing tone. Severine smiled and raised an eyebrow at her.
"So, the same way Jude looks at you?" Severine's eyes trailed behind Aurora, making her tense up in confusion. She turned around, following her gaze. She grinned when she saw Jude and Kairo walking towards them, smiling and whispering to each other as they nervously approached. Aurora examined their outfits as they drew nearer.
Kairo was wearing a black, cropped, faux-leather vest jacket with bright orange threads holding together the seams and decorating the linings on his shoulders. He was wearing a bright orange mesh tank top. One arm was completely covered in the fishnet sleeve, the other wrapped in a shimmering deep-red metallic mesh that climbed up to his bicep like fire licking skin. He had on a black leather choker with tiny dangling orange glass beads and a silver chain linking to his collarbone. He had giant, red and orange ombré, baggy parachute pants, tucked into black combat boots with flame patterns decorating the sides. His arms were exposed, showing off his defined muscles. His ears were decorated in a hundred tiny black piercings, like always. Jude was wearing brand-new black and white street shoes with black cargo pants that tightly hugged his ankles but bagged everywhere else. He has silver chains strapped to his wallet and belt loops, serving as a fashion choice and security of his belongings. He had on a baggy, over-sized, black, graphic sweater-shirt that read "ILMARA" in bold, bubble letters. He had on a few chain necklaces, one of which had a small, silver inheritance sigil dangling from it. His outfit strikingly lined with his sister's outfit, which Marla noticed and was repulsed by. Aurora's eye was caught by a sparkling white diamond in one of his ears that she had never noticed was pierced before.
Jude and Kairo stopped in front of them, Kairo grinning wildly, and Jude staring nervously at Aurora.
"Hello ladies... fancy seeing you here..." Kairo scratched his face, glancing away from Severine nervously. Aurora stood up, walking up to Jude, who got one full-body look at her and immediately froze. His endowment ignited her emotions on fire, immediately screaming through his senses as she got closer. Every time he thought he'd be prepared for it this time, it always just about knocked him off of his feet. His eyebrows pointed inward and he slowly breathed out as he examined her outfit. He intertwined his fingers out in front of him as if holding back his own hands. His eyes fixated on her waist, and he swallowed hard, feeling sweat beading on his forehead as he bit his lip nervously.
"Hey guys..." she greeted them shyly, swaying slightly as she gripped the ends of her skirt. She glanced at Kairo, who had hardly even acknowledged her, staring back at Severine. She looked back into Jude's eyes, who was staring up at the white bow in her hair. She examined his outfit again as well, and thought it suited him perfectly. It was the perfect mix of soft and rugged that made her ovaries scream with joy. She almost wished he had worn something a little tighter so she could stare at the silhouette of his arms all night. Jude's eyes trailed back down her face to her neck, and he stopped and tilted his head with a small smile when he noticed the pendant. Without thinking, he reached for it and traced his fingers across the white stone, noticing the colorful speckles and flecks retracting the neon lights.
"Opal..." he whispered, making her look up at him in surprise.
"Is that Opal?" She smiled down at the white coloring of the eye, grinning when she realized he was right. She looked back at his eyes, and he was smiling softly back at her, slowly moving his hand away from her chest. She looked back at the girls' pendants, suddenly wondering what there's were made of.
"Well, since we're clearly just letting loose today," Severine sighed as she stood up, making Kairo recoil in bewilderment when he finally got a good look at her dress, "what should we do first?"
"Wha— wha—" Kairo shook his head with glaring red cheeks, "what in the sexy... black leather... milkmaiden... choke me..." he completely trailed off into a whisper as he stared directly at her pushed-up bosom, making her raise a very judgmental eyebrow at him with her smoothie still resting in her gloved hand. Aurora was starting to tell that she adored his gaze, but she was always playing it cool and dismissive. Kairo stared at the ground in embarrassment and disbelief, wondering if she was wearing it for him, or if she was just feeling extra flashy tonight. He had never seen her in public in such a saucy outfit.
"Are any of you guys going to ride any real rides?" Aurora finally giggled at her, breaking the tension.
"I am!" Taya and Nyra both chimed in unison before beaming at each other.
"Mhhn... maybe a few gentle things? I just got my hair looking good again," Marla fluffed out her reddish-brown locks, which, Aurora never noticed a difference in the quality of the style, from when she first saw her this morning, to when they got out of their gym session together, to this very moment at the park. She finally turned to Jude again with a huge grin.
"Which one do you want to go on?" he asked her with a small giggle. Aurora looked around thoughtfully and then gasped before pointing at a huge, rectangular ride called Spooky Screamers. Marla and Severine turned to each other in the same shock and appall. Jude smiled playfully at her, already picturing her fearfully jumping onto him after every jump scare. Nyra grinned at Aurora as Taya rolled her eyes.
"Seriously?" Taya eyed her with a playful laugh.
"I like your style," Kairo grinned, immediately making his way towards the robust, old-fashioned ride. The ride had four black cars attached to one another, each one only seating two people.
"After you," Kairo smoothly offered Severine a spot in the front cart, making her roll her eyes, but oblige to his antics, already knowing he was going to fidget as soon as he sat next to her. Aurora smile when she watched Taya scoop Nyra up from the floor, making her giggle as she carried her into one of the carts next to her. Aurora smiled at Jude, and watched Marla grained behind her, getting into the last cart by herself. She began to frown.
"Uh... I think I'm gonna sit next to Marla, if that's okay..." she told him shyly, making him frown and look back at her.
"What? But..." he looked down, disappointed, and then quickly looked back up at her, "uh-uh... why would you want to spend time with her? She's so lame..." he chuckled, still trying to hide his anguish over her choice and disdain for his sister. Aurora just smiled softly at him and shrugged. Jude frowned at her, and looked back at Marla again, who glared at the wall with her arms crossed. He sighed, and felt his heart melt again, "okay... thanks, by the way..."
Marla looked up at Aurora in shock when she awkwardly stepped into the cart with her, brushing out her skirt before buckling the seatbelt. Aurora looked back at her with a loving smile. Marla turned to Jude, who sat alone in the cart in front of him. He just shrugged at her with a smile. The ride began to rumble and move forward.
The first room they slowly drove into was pitch black, and Aurora immediately jumped when the door slammed shut behind her. She smiled, looking around in an amused terror when she heard distant whispers. Marla just watched her in a strange awe, wondering if she was putting on an act. A giant, creepy, animatronic, mother-like figure pupped out and frowned at them from out of nowhere, making Aurora squeal and cover her eyes, which caused Jude giggle at her from his seat, and Marla to stifle a chuckle as well when she reactively grabbed hold of her arm.
"Ooh, look at that!" Nyra pointed at a wall of mirrors as they passed by, distorted their images and made it seem as though parts of their flesh were rotting and falling off the bone. Aurora was genuinely scared by this, and covered her face again, making Marla and Jude crack up, and making her whine in embarrassment.
Severine was a little bored from the ride as they passed a creepy, rotting mannequin ballroom, where they slowly swirled around each other on big, metal plates. She was getting more entertainment from watching Kairo gawk at the design of the attractions like a little kid, and pointing out the way they set up the lighting. A bunch of hanging mannequin pieces fell from the ceiling, stopping just above their heads, while being paired with a horrifying scream sound effect, making everyone on the ride jump with surprise, including Severine. She awkwardly looked back at Kairo, whose fishnet bicep she was reflexively grasping onto with her gloved hands, and she backed up, realizing she was leaning hard into his frame, nearly pressing her face into his shoulder. Kairo stared at her with a mix of confusion, surprise, and utter awe. She quickly pulled away from him, looking straight ahead again as she crossed her arms.
"Did... did that really scare you?" He laughed at her, and she completely turned her face away from him, trying to hide the shade of pink it was turning.
"I was startled, just like everyone else," Severine told him, fucking a loose strand of hair behind her ear, making him chuckle. He quickly dropped it and just sat there smiling to himself and eyeing her playfully.
They got off the ride together smiling and chuckling. They walked around the park together, just chatting and bantering.
"So, Nyra, Taya, do you guys really not have boyfriends? Or do they just go to different schools, too?" Aurora innocently questioned after walking between them after Kairo and Jude got caught up in a heated topic about a new video game release. Marla heard her joke, but this time she just smirked to herself and rolled her eyes.
"Yeah, I don't do the whole boy crazy thing... but Nyra does... in her own weird, freaky Nyra way," Taya nudged Nyra forward with her elbow, making her stumble and glare at her friend.
"Nyraaa!" Aurora squealed at her, making her smile softly and roll her eyes, "who is it? Have I seen him? Are you dating, or is it just a crush?" Nyra looked back at her thoughtfully, just looking between her icy eye balls.
"His name is Casper. He's my human," she told her cryptically, making Aurora's face switch from innocent joy to innocent confusion. Taya laughed at her response, leaving Aurora with more questions than answers. Kairo gasped and stopped at a theme park game called Whack-A-Null. He pointed at the fluffy stuffed animals hanging above it. Aurora gawked at the name of it. She looked around, and all of the girls were staring at her, side eyeing the title. Jude cringed as his best friend unknowingly gushed over it, already handing the cashier his money.
"Uh... Kairo... did you even see what the game was called?" Jude asked him through his teeth after pointing up at the sign. Kairo stared at it before tilting his head, and looking straight back at Aurora. He suddenly began to laugh aloud and point at it, making her smile in surprise
"Oh, look, Rory, this one has your name written all over it!" He said, and suddenly B-lined towards her and shoved her into the seat. He sat next to her, and she awkwardly smiled back at him as he locked into the game. She looked back at the screen in front of him that began to light up.
"CONTAIN THE DEFECTIVES," the game chimed in a booming, robotic, masculine voice, making her immediately falter again as her gun began to glow. Kairo was already blasting at the figures on the screen, and Aurora just stared at them. There were directions of the character running through city streets, blasting beams of light at random, run-down looking people. Aurora furrowed her brows at the images of what seemed like normal-looking people. Kairo was blasting without a care in the world, his tongue sticking out slightly as he focused on elevating the score. He did, however, notice that Aurora wasn't doing anything, just staring blankly at the screen while she gripped the handles of her toy gun, staring at the image of a homeless-looking man with a sign that read "anything helps", while she was expected to blast him into oblivion to get extra points. It was deeply disturbing to her. Jude watched the scene unfold in horror, getting more concerned the longer she sat there and stared. Suddenly, the game ended, and Kairo sighed, looking back at Aurora.
"Wow... that was a lot more ableist than I remember," he chuckled light-heartedly, but Aurora just sunk back into her seat, looking down in thought.
"Honestly? I don't know why they still have this thing running..." Jude added after walking up to her gently.
"Congratulations, sir, you just hit a new high score. Please select your prize," the bored, teenage game runner pointed to the stuffed animals. Kairo eagerly snatched down a giant blue hippo stuffed animal and walked it straight over to Severine with a grin. She looked him up and down and immediately shook her head.
"I don't want this..." she held her hand out to him in denial, making him frown.
"What? You don't want me to win you a prize?" he asked her, feeling like she was shattering his fantasies for the night.
"No... I don't want junk like that... besides, that one's ugly..." she chuckled, making him deflate even further.
"I want it!" Nyra yelled before snatching it from his arms, and Kairo didn't even flinch.
"So you're saying... there's no possible way that I could win a stuffed animal that you'd like? You'd say no to all of them?" He questioned her, making her raise a skeptical eyebrow at him.
"Well... what? I don't know," Severine was confused by his question, making her deeply uncomfortable as she crossed her arms, which only made Kairo smirk.
"I guess I'll just have to keep busting down on these park games until I win something you like," he shrugged in a sing-song tone, making her scoff in disbelief.
Kairo was a man of his word, suddenly running around to almost every game they walked past and playing them to his heart's content, spending probably hundreds of dollars on glorified, over-priced toys. He presented each one to Severine, who always shook her head or rolled her eyes, wondering exactly how far he would actually take this. Every time she said no, he handed it off to somebody else, usually Nyra, who let herself get engulfed by toys she could hardly carry.
"This one has your eyes," Kairo said, handing Aurora an adorable stuffed panda bear with ice-blue glass eyes, making her giggle.
"This one says he likes you," Kairo told Taya after making a stuffed alligator whisper into his ear.
"Look, Jude! Twinning!" Kairo held up a stuffed white and orange hamster with big, blue glasses and a red hoodie, making Jude laugh as he took it.
"Here you go, sweetie," Kairo said, randomly handing off a little ballerina stuffed animal to a passing young girl, making her beam as she turned to her parents. Kairo findally walked up to Severine holding a tiny white cat toy. It had blue clown ruffles around its neck and a pink party hat with blue and yellow polka-dots. She felt its black, glass eyes with her gloved finger, and smiled at the pointy, white devil tail and wings on its back. She smiled back up at him as he turned around, wondering who the next person would be to receive the toy.
"I love it..." she said.
"Oh, that's good. I'm sure Nyra wouldn't mind another— Wait— you what?" Kairo suddenly snapped back to her in realization, stopping his hands from taking the cat.
"I can actually see myself keeping this... I think I even have a spot in mind," Severine looked down at it again, and Kairo melted at her response, feeling like fireworks of accomplishment were exploding inside his chest. He gently placed his hands on top of hers as they stroked her new prized possessions, making her gaze up at him with a longing smile. Aurora, Taya, and Marla caught themselves squealing at their interaction, while Jude smiled in admiration on the sidelines. Nyra was hugging manically under a giant pile of stuffed animals clasped between her thin arms.
Aurora felt a little strange as her attention was suddenly pulled to the side of her, like some kind of intense presence was calling her. She looked, and her smile suddenly vanished when she locked eyes with Kane Sable, the crazy boy who cornered her at the mall— who fed her the candy— whom Jude protected her from. He was already smiling as he stared at her, making her tense up. She felt someone grabbing her hand, but didn't hear anything other than her heart pounding in her chest, or feel anything other than her bubbling stomach, or see anything except his distant, unearthly purple eyes. She suddenly felt her face being pulled away, towards Jude, who breathed a cool breath of air into her face, making her shiver as she came back to reality. When she opened her eyes again, he was smiling softly, touching her hands like nothing had happened. She watched his earthy, blue and brown eyes trail back to where she was looking, and they both watched the back of Kane's head as he walked away, finally making her breathe out in relief. She glanced back at Jude, who gave her a knowing look, and just smiled again. His lack of reaction didn't make her feel invalidated, rather, it made her feel like she really had nothing to worry about at all.
As the sun began to set, they started hitting up the rides, or at least, Kairo, Taya, and Nyra hit up the rides, while the rest of the gang watched them run around aimlessly like kids in a candy store, guarding and dragging around a pile of stuffed animals. Severine and Marla actually had a moment to discuss progress in the club. Jude was even starting to crack open inside jokes with his sister, which neither of them felt like they had been able to do in a long time. Jude went and walked back with a bowl of glowing, red and blue sherbert nocticream. Jude walked up to her with it, and Aurora opened her mouth like a baby bird, making him giggle before feeding her a spoon full. She smiled at the sweet flavors, staring at the glowing confection, resembling the surrounding flashing lights and neon colors. He took a bite off the same spoon, and then stuck his blue and red, glowing tongue out at her, making her cover her mouth and giggle in amusement.
"Severine... that dress deserves better company..." Aurora froze, and slowly followed Jude, Marla, and Severine's gaze to a tall guy with a small, polished ensemble of boys behind him. He was very tall, fair skinned, with blonde hair that parted down the middle and gelled back like a corporate prince. He had on a black silk turtle neck that shimmered when it caught the colorful, shifting glimmers of light. He had on nice dress pants and shiny black shoes. Aurora looked back at Severine nervously, and she just looked him up and down, completely unbothered, "you always play so hard to get, but I know deep down you want a slice of heaven with Sylric Travane..."
"And what in the five born to the Earth gave you that idea?" Severine questioned him like he was stupid. He had an unwavering smile, but this wasn't like Kairo's cheeky persistence. This had a sinister, controlling undertone that made Aurora increasingly uncomfortable. She froze and sunk down when his eyes slowly glanced back at her. Jude stared him down with a relaxed, observant gaze, subtly stepping in front of her as he moved his hands into his pockets.
"Well... when you're walking around in a dress like that," he was staring directly at Aurora as he began to speak, before slowly turning back to Severine, taking a few confident strides towards her. His friends followed behind, and Marla tried to hide her trembling hands, stepping closer to Severine as she stared him down. Severine didn't even twitch, she just had an annoyed look cross over her like he was a stray dog that wouldn't stop begging her for scraps, "you might as well be asking for me to notice you," he told her slyly. Aurora wanted to react, but Severine just stared at him, just a few ticks away from his face.
Taya, Kairo, and Nyra were just getting off of another ride, and quickly went from smiles to standing guard in a few short seconds. Taya breathed deeply at the scene of the boys in a sudden stand off with Severine, and the small crowd of onlookers forming around them. Nyra nervously tightened the strings of her hat that was tied around her head. Kairo was fixated on the guy talking to her, and before anyone could say anything, he was slowly walking closer.
"I'm really not interested in impressing you. I'm not sure why you'd think I was," Severine told him, really giving him an out to spare his feelings. He playfully rolled his eyes
"Oh, come on, Sev... I'm the heir to the Trevane biolux dynasty... I'm every girl's dream... our parents even tried to marry us off," he chuckled at the last part, looking her up and down.
"And I believe my father told you misinformed monograms, not a chance in Syrion's burning core," Severine told him softly with a taunting smile, wagging her finger across the tip of his nose, making him frown and blush, "now go hit on some other low life that'll fall for your tender poems of endearment."
"Man... someone must really have you on a leash these days..." the polished boy eyed Kairo, who stopped just as he acknowledged him, with Taya and Nyra close behind. Severine glanced at Kairo with a confused expression. She turned back to Sylric with a sigh.
"You really are desperate, aren't you?" She shot back, making him look back at her again in shock, "you can't just take no for an answer? What's with all of this... drama?" she waved at him with a gloved hand and the other resting on her hip.
"I just enjoy your glaring face... makes me wonder what I did to deserve it— and how to do it again..." he replied, taking a step closer to her. Kairo clenched his fists and moved forward, but stopped when he felt Taya's hand on his shoulder. He didn't look away from the two of them. Severine was just staring down at him now, wondering how long he was going to keep this up, and if she really needed to be the bad guy, "you think you're better than me... but someone like you deserves to be put in her place."
And he was making her be the bad guy. She pinched the bridge of her nose in irritation, thinking about what she was going to say to him.
"If I wanted to get with a sleazy, rat-brained gumball with the arrogance of a God, I would've agreed to the arranged marriage years ago, Sylric. You are nothing. You are dust beneath my feet. I wouldn't take a second glance at you if you were the shit stuck to my ass. You haven't even crossed my mind since that last day I saw you," Severine explained to him in an almost soft and gentle tone, making him fume, but he hid it behind a tense smile, "the thought of being seen with you is mortifying. You make me feel like I need to shower just standing next to you."
People began to snicker at her tirade, and Kairo couldn't help but smile slightly at her deadly insults, realizing that Severine treated him exactly the opposite. Albeit, she was still cold and distant, but he was orbiting her world, and all he could think about was his mission to finally be invited inside it. Severine sighed again, rolling her eyes and turning away from the boiling little boy. His eyes locked on her hips and he began to smile and whisper to his friends. Kairo watched his every move with precision. He watched him slowly lift his fingers, pointing to Severine's legs.
Sylric was a category N material influencer. He was endowed with the ability to subtly manipulate fibers and simple materials. His energy wrapped around the threads of Severine's dress as she slowly walked away. He slowly lifted his finger, and Kairo felt like his body was being ungulfed into flames as he watched Severine's loose skirt slip above her hips, revealing her lacy black thong under her dress. Her face slipped into horror and humiliation and she forced the skirt back down. She heard him and his crowd of friends laughing and chortling behind her. Jude immediately covered his eyes in shock the moment he realized what was happening. Aurora, teary eyed, covered her mouth with one of her hands, still clutching the panda with the other. Marla and Taya looked at each other from the short distance they were standing, and they both slowly looked back at Slyric. Aurora glanced at Nyra and was slightly startled by her blank stare, only seeing her pupils turn into cat-like slits, pointed in Sylric's direction. She glanced back at Jude, who had completely turned away from Severine, staring at Aurora in a flushed shock. They both turned to Kairo, who was shaking in place.
Severine looked around at the giggling strangers. She wasn't flustered, she wasn't panicking, she wasn't spiraling, she was just trying to focus on her breath as her pupils began to dilate beyond human nature, and she slowly looked back at him in the corner of her eye. She wasn't scared. She felt like he had just given her an open invitation to do something very bad, that she wasn't usually allowed to do.
WHAM!
Gasps filled the air, and Sylric was suddenly knocked to the ground, Kairo having appeared to clock him in his jaw out of nowhere. Everything went dead silent as Kairo stared down at him, circling his frame. His friends watched him in shock for a second. Kairo suddenly grabbed him by the collar of his shirt and began landing more heavy blows into his cheeks and temples. He stood up and kicked him over, making him roll to his opposite side. He glanced back at Severine's dark, approving expression, just as he turned around and slipped out of reality using his shadow stepping ability, just as two of the Sylric posse guys tried to grab him. He appeared nearby, only to step back into the shadow when the other two almost had him. He jumped out of the thin shadow of the light pole and slammed himself into the first two's chest, knocking them into the second two. They all stumbled back, and one of them immediately charged him again, but just as Kairo turned around to back into the darkness, Sylric wrapped his arms around his head and neck, forcing him out under one of the park lamps. The boys all closed in on him, and one
of them began smashing his fists into Kairo's face and stomach. The three on the outside began to snicker at Kairo's painful grunts and splattering blood.
Jude grabbed one of them by the hair, unexpectedly ripping him backwards onto the ground, and he wrapped an arm around the throat of the guy hammering down on his best friend, entrapping him in a tight chokehold. Kairo chomped down on Sylric's hand as hard as he could, making him scream out in pain and let go of him, before keeling over onto his trembling, bleeding hand. Kairo ripped the guy Jude was holding down to the ground and rammed the tip of his boot into his stomach over and over, making him grunt and stammer over onto his back.
The two boys backed up against each other as the posse of elite predators began to slowly stand up and surround them again. Aurora clutched her panda in horror, wanting to scream for them, but also hide behind something every other moment. She was left standing by herself, looking over at Severine who watched the scene like a queen watching her knights fight a war for her. Taya had moved over to Marla, who looked panicked and unsure, and Nyra just continued to follow Sylric in the crowd. Aurora watched as Jude and Kairo looked back at each other, smiled slightly, and nodded, making her blink back her tears in astonishment. She watched Kairo wipe his bruised, bloody face, before the five boys started closing in on them again. Kairo grabbed hold of Jude, then took a step forward, and suddenly they both vanished, leading to the group of guys to discombobulate as they avoided running into each other. Kairo and Jude both appeared on the outside of their circle and Jude grabbed one of them by the shirt, pulling him in, and the three of them disappearing. They suddenly appeared on the opposite side, using the reversed inertia to launch the guy back into his group of friends, knocking them all down. They stared at them for a second, Sylric, who was stuck to the ground, badly wounded by Kairo's bite, as well as his earlier beating. The friend that Kairo kicked was struggling to get back up, but the other three were already carefully rushing towards them again.
Kairo grabbed Jude's hand and stepped back into the shadows. They all looked back in the opposite direction as Jude reappeared, and before they could even react to the sight of him, Kairo was back, socking the guy in the mouth just as he turned to face him. Kairo stepped back again, reappearing next to Jude, and the two of them were suddenly back on the other side, the two staggering boys getting disoriented by their rapid movement. Aurora felt her stomach tingle as she watched Jude grab the guy in front of him by the face and slam his forehead in between his eyes, making him stumble back and fall to the ground like a blood-drenched stone. Kairo was struggling a bit, tired and injured, and threw the last guy tumbling in Jude's direction, where he caught him by the shoulders and rammed his knee into his face, letting him fall limp to the ground.
Aurora had a strange, sensual sensation buzzing through her from within the core of her body as she looked on at the two victorious young men. They panted heavily, stained in blood and sweat, and staring back at one another in a silent awe. She watched them begin to smile, and Taya and Marla smiled back at each other in amazement. Aurora looked back at Nyra, who was still staring directly at Sylric. Her eerie, cat-like gaze finally shifted back to Severine, signaling for Aurora to look back at her as well. The girls and the onlookers watched as her black eyes, completely consuming all of the blue, still locked onto Sylric like an irreversible spell. Jude and Kairo finally turned to her when she slowly walked past them towards Sylric. Jude felt her emotions wash over him, and they made him shiver like she blew out his only source of light in a dark room. Something felt completely off with her, like she had been possessed by something.
Sylric looked up at her in a defeated, yet completely arrogant stare, like he was already plotting on getting back at them. Severine stopped right in front of him and crouched down, making him feel uneasy when he looked into her giant, soulless pupils. He choked when her gloved hand suddenly clenched around his throat.
"Rise," she commanded him in a booming voice, slowly standing back up in her healed leather boots, and he had no choice but to stammer up along with her. Kairo watched her fluid movements with conviction and fear, maybe even another flash of jealousy. Everyone else gawked as Severine pressed her forehead up against his.
Sylric gasped and looked around the creepy, vacant hallways. He turned around and saw Severine standing directly behind him with void, colorless eyes. They didn't even appear to have a reflection of light.
"Now I see," she told him in an echoing voice that reverberated from under his skin, making him falter back, "you thought you were entitled to get close... and now I know all of your deepest fears. Your most haunting regrets. Your traumas," she began to tilt her head at him at a completely forty-five degree angle, making him jump again in fear, "Your secrets..." another version of her whispered directly into his ear, making him yell and push her away before accidentally falling down into a gaping hole in the wall. He screamed before landing on a hard surface and immediately jumping back to his feet. He was suddenly surrounded by comedically large counters and kitchen appliances. He looked down at the broken glass and spilled juice all over the floor.
"What did you do?" He looked up in terror when he heard his father's sharp, questioning voice, "what did you do? What did you do?" he saw a giant, distorted version of him turn the corner, whipping a huge metallic belt, "WHAT DID YOU DO? WHAT DID YOU DO?" the voice got louder, shredding into what sounded more like Severine's voice as the towering figure began to violently hit him, slamming him deeper into the ground with each blow. He felt like he was melting down into the floor and reappearing in a pool of water. He gasped and looked around at a group of kids staring at him.
"Look! His swim suit trunks fell off!" one of the kids shrieked, and suddenly dozens of blurry, distorted faces were pointing at him in the water and cackling mockingly at him as a pair of shorts floated through the water ahead of him. He looked down at himself, completely naked in the water, and he panicked and tried to swim for them, but it seemed like he couldn't move at all, like some kind of invisible current was pushing against him. Their laughter got louder, water splashed frantically in his face, making him choke, and it seemed the more he reached, the farther away the trunks floated. He suddenly paused, and looked back behind him in the water.
Severine's head and black eyes poked out above the surface, and suddenly she flashed a creepy, exaggerated, sharp-toothed grin at him, stretching in inhumane ways across her face. She suddenly began moving towards him at a steady pace, like she was drifting effortlessly through the water. He frantically began to swim towards the shore, feeling like he was going to cry as their fingers pointed down at him and their voices began to slow down and distort. Severine was suddenly unhinging her jaw and snapping it around his neck before plunging both of them underwater. Sylric held his breath, kicking and squirming with every ounce of his being as her teeth sunk deeper into his skin. He felt himself scream out under the water, beginning to lose consciousness as the surface drifted farther away. Then he heard her whisper;
"I can see your true self and I'm disgusted by it..." he was immediately pulled back out, gasping for air again as he sat up, still completely soaked and naked in a dark room. He shuttered immediately when he looked up at a distorted version of Severine, her limbs elongated and bent in backwards, her jaw dangling from her mouth with razor-sharp teeth, as if it were broken. The creature took a few steps towards him, sucking in slow, croaking breaths. He stood there, frozen in fear.
Aurora looked at Jude as he returned to her side. They both looked back at Severine and Slylric. The teen boy was turning blue, choking tiny gasps of air through Severine's tight grasp. She was whispering things to herself, buzzing, and twitching, like she was in some kind of deep, meditative state as she pressed her head harder into his. Kairo had no idea what was going on, and he was terrified, but he felt like he was watching something sacred and forbidden, and he drowned himself in it, although it was something he never wanted to be on the receiving end of... unless Severine felt it was necessary, of course. He gasped slightly when he noticed the huge piss stain dripping down Sylric's fancy black pants and onto the floor. He stumbled back slightly, looking back at Serverine's eyes.
The creature groaned, and he screamed as it reached towards him. He quickly backed away from it, and it began using its cracking top limbs to crawl towards him.
"What happened?" Severine was suddenly crouched down beside him, grabbing him by his bare shoulders.
"You were so tough before..." another one appeared on the other side, grabbing him by his face and the back of his dripping, wet head.
"This is my gift to you, I'm showing you my true self," another one smiled at him after placing a hand on his naked thigh, and then slowly turned and pointed at the creature again. It began crawling towards him again, and he screamed bloody-murder, trying to push the three Severine's off of him, but the more he struggled, the more that appeared, grabbing him by each limb and pulling at his entire body in every direction, making him cry out in pain and terror. He violently shook his head, and they all smiled up at the creature with their blank, black eyes as it slowly reached down with its gloved claws and began ripping into his chest and stomach. His throat ripped out an agonized sound, writhing as he watched the giant demon pull out his intestines and stomach like his body was a toy. He began to fade in and out of consciousness at the sounds of his own fluids squelching onto the ground. His eyes fluttered back up, and suddenly it was just Severine again, holding him by the throat, him kneeling slightly, and her looking down at him like they were before.
"And now... you're mine..." she spoke softly, before her jaw unhindered again, releasing a thick, oily stream of black fluid directly into his mouth. He screamed, trying to turn away, but the liquid rushed down his throat like a running faucet, forcing him to drink. Black tears began to roll down from her eyes and different, sticky, black bugs and flies and spiders began to fling themselves out of the substance and crawl all over their bodies, only sending him into deeper panic. He felt his stomach begin to bulge out like a pregnant person as the liquid continued to pump into his stomach.
She finally let go of him, and he convulsed backwards onto the ground, flailing and twitching as he scrambled to his hands and knees. He began to vomit profusely all over the ground and himself, even slipping on it slightly as he tried to regain his balance. His senses were shot, and he had no idea if he was back in reality or facing another torture dream. He turned around and looked up at Severine, whose eyes were back to their normal blue hue, and he screamed, backing away from her and scrambling to his feet before running away. The crowd of people lingered and stared at her for a while. Aurora and Jude looked at each other in astonishment. Nyra finally seemed to relax and immediately approached Severine, wrapping her in a tight hug without her permission. Severine didn't hug her back, she just stared in Sylric's direction as the crowd began to dissipate. She looked down at Nyra lovingly, and Aurora almost thought she might start crying.
"Severine..." Kairo suddenly spoke out to her, making her slowly turn back to him. She sighed and slowly walked towards him, leaving Nyra to stand there watching her again. Kairo... her knight in shining armor. Her beautiful, powerhouse, shadow-stepping icon. He defended her honor and dignity in an external and socially validating way that she knew she could never do herself. She got her own inner-psyche revenge after. It was beautiful, but it was so dangerous. That made it all the more appealing to her. She stopped in front of him, looking between his eyes. He huffed, starting to sweat as his eyes shifted down to her lips. There was a nervousness in his features, but she still saw nothing but an undying reverence and loyalty in him.
"I guess you probably think I'm some kind of monster now?" she spoke to him in a whisper, as if she didn't really want him to hear it. He breathed out in shock, slowly shaking head before his face melted back into a smile.
"Oh... Severine..." he breathed out towards her, looking down at her suddenly delicate frame as he gently placed his hands on her elbows, "you are a gorgeous... unstoppable force of nature and sheer will..." she sighed back at him in a slight shock and daze, watching the way he slowly pulled her closer to him by her crossed elbows. She lifted her gloved hands and hesitantly placed them on his cropped vest. He gasped softly again in surprise, staring at her eyes intensely as her face drew closer to his.
"You really rocked his shit for me..." she looked deeply into his brown eyes, and he just smiled his bleeding head off at her. Her emotions were shot, and she had absolutely no control of herself anymore. She could feel a deep, primal urge bubbling up into her chest, and every one of his soft, excited breaths that brushed against her face made her want to move even closer.
"I would burn for you and make everyone watch..." he told her in a whisper. She bit her lip and slowly wrapped both of her arms around his shoulders and neck. Aurora and Jude turned into each other in shock and awe. Marla and Taya looked at each other as well. Nyra just smiled softly at Severine. Kairo quickly huffed in exhilaration, unsure of what to do with his hands. He stared down her hair, and the back of her dress, and he hesitantly placed his hands on her waist. He turned back to her head, still making sure he was allowed to touch.
"Kairo..." she whispered into his skin, and completely abandoned her reins when she pressed her lips into his neck, making his eyes flutter and roll back into his head. She could hear every word running through his mind as her skin brushed against his.
There's no way this is happening... please don't ever stop touching me... is she really? She's KISSING me! This can't be real... Severine is kissing me... She's so breathtaking, I'm gonna turn inside out. I'm gonna throw up. I'm gonna cream in these parachute pants. I'm gonna die, I'm gonna die, I'm gonna die.
The silent praise was intoxicating, and she huffed as she gripped his hair, softly brushing her teeth against his skin in soft bites. Kairo was going limp like a tall pile of putty in her arms, letting his head sink into her shoulder as his senses were engulfed in her dangerous affection. He gently and carefully massaged his hands up and down her waist and hips.
I want her so bad. Severine... Severine... I want her to step on me. Her body feels amazing. I can't believe this is happening. I need to marry her. I can't let anybody take her from me...
Severine finally realized what she was doing and forced herself off of him, looking back into his eyes with tears trailing down her face. His lost, mushy, red face began to twist back into concern at her expression. She looked back at the pink lipstick stained against his neck, and he just waited for her to say something, still holding onto her hips. She looked at Marla, Taya, Jude, and Aurora, who were all staring at the two of them with their jaws dropped. She felt the shame begin to rise up within her. She turned back to Nyra on the other side of her, who smiled softly and patiently at her. Severine slowly retracted her arms into her chest as more tears began to fall, leaving Kairo reaching back for her in a patient confusion.
"Thank you..." she sighed without looking at him, walking in the direction of the stuffed animals. Nyra followed her and began scooping them up by the pile. Severine turned and was surprised to see Kairo holding the kitty prize he won her. He stared at her sheepishly with it, not offering or reminding her, just staring at her. She smiled at him, and gestured for him to stuff it into her arm, and he smiled back, slipping it in.
"Do you need help?" He asked her, and she shook her head without hesitation. Marla and Taya grabbed the stragglers and followed her and Nyra towards the exit.
"See you on Monday, Aurora," Taya waved to her as they left. Aurora looked down at her panda, and then back at Kairo, where he just stood there, watching them leave. Jude sighed painfully as he watched Kairo begin to choke up.
"Are you gonna be okay?" He chuckled at him, placing a hand on his shoulder.
"Of course... this was the best day of my life..." he shuttered, smiling down at the ground as tears rolled down his face. Jude laughed again, endearing his friend's complex emotions as they poured out of him beyond his control.
Jude turned back to Aurora with a smile, "we'll take you home, Rory."
KAMU SEDANG MEMBACA
Her Inheritance
Fiksi UmumThank you for checking out my story! Please leave votes and comments as much as possible! You have no idea how much it means to me ❤️❤️ ✨ Her Inheritance ✨ An emotionally suppressed world. A girl with no power. A legacy that was never meant to survi...
