VICIOUS (II) : peter pan ouat

How to Fight

Chapter 13

"Do you actually plan on following me around all day?" I chuckle, glancing over at Frank behind me.

She doesn't answer, instead choosing to flick in and out her dark brown pocket knife. We're in the middle of the forest. Still only a ten minute walk back from the camp, but there is the illusion of being alone here.

"Blaize wants to make sure she can trust you." She grits the words out her teeth.

I laugh. "I didn't realise you took orders from her. Is she the ring leader or something?"

Frank tosses out her knife, and it pins my cloak against the tree behind me. My face lashes up, and I must look angry because she smiles. She struts closer to me, leaning up at me as she grins.

"Listen," she says the words slowly. "I may look like the shy girl, but believe me when I say might bite is much worse than my bark."

"Okay there edge lord." I shove her back quickly. Taking out the knife from my cloak, I look at it trying to catch the inscription on the hilt.

She rips in from my hands.

"Whose name is on that?" I ask.

Her eyes run up and down me. "Whose name is on this pocket watch?"

I go to grab in from her hands but she easily throws it straight into the other. Her eyes stay locked on mine as she grabs it.

"I stole the pocket knife," she clarifies, "from the pocket of a rich man. It's from his son. This watch however, I can't figure out who owns it. Does your last name start with a J?"

"No," I spit, leaping towards the watch.

She tosses it up in the air, spinning around me to catch it. "This is old, isn't it? My friend Gerry used to break and enter. Safes were his game, but I could never wrap my head around it. He stole a watch just like this, but it was about a century old. This looks brand new."

"It's just mine." I tell her. "I'm not asking for your life story, so you should return the courtesy."

"Aww," she sighs. "You're just a sentimental as Elizabeth. Let me guess, your loving parents died tragically weeks ago, and that's why you're here."

"That's what happened to her?" I ask.

Frank shrugs, but winks as she spins around. I thought Blaize was the one who would ensnare you in a trap, but it's Frank. Blaize is good at tricking people into doing what she wants it seems, where Frank is good at prying your secrets from your chest.

I can tell from her eyes that's Elizabeth's story, at least the bare bones of it. Which explains why she has such a pretty diamond necklace on her wrist, and wears the clothing of a girl who's never had a day of suffering in her life.

"What about Blaize?" I ask.

She shakes her head. "I don't just give away secrets, I trade them. Your backstory for hers."

I laugh allowed at this. My dagger dances in my fingers as I play with it.

"You know, I could always cut it out of your skin." I mock leaping towards her and I watch as she flinches.

"I'll cut you right back." She tells me. "And I cut deep."

"Glad we are on the same page then."

I smash into her, knocking her back into the tree. With surprise on my side, I grab the pocket watch out of her hand, placing the gleaming gold into a pocket in my cloak. She frowns back at me as I back away.