Taint (Formerly Claimed) Dark Midnight 1

Chapter 44

Eliot gave them all a mean smile.  “Heard about me have you?  Is that why you gave Miriam the symbol of the Dark Midnight?”

The boy nodded, but he didn't seem so smug anymore.  “I thought the truth might knock some sense into her.”

Eliot frowned, thinking of Miriam’s less than terrified reaction.  “I thought so too…”

The boy gave him an odd look, but just crossed his arms over the front of his black sweatshirt.  “Look we really don't care about you or your strange habits, vampire.  We didn't touch the mortal.  Hell, we even tried to help her--"

"But she had it 'taken care of'," the blond said with a smirk.

The boy glanced at her.  "We’ll give you a day or so to hand over the witch,” he said.  “After that, we’ll have to—”

“Handle it ourselves,” the girl finished for him. 

Her gaze was as fiercely lethal as a hawk’s. 

“The hard way,” the werewolf growled.

Then, without another word, all three turned and faded into the shadows.

______________________

Miriam stood before the bathroom mirror holding a pair of scissors in one hand.  She had stripped down to nothing but her undershirt and a pair of shorts, and still felt frozen.  Even with the heat on full blast.

Which was fitting, because the icy feeling perfectly matched how she felt on the inside. 

Frozen.

Her heart...ached, if that was the word it.  Eliot's words were like scars sinking deep into her chest that no one else could see.

But...for now, something more pressing was there to balance out the hurt. 

"There's no other choice," she said out loud, tightening her grip over the scissors.  The metal blades gleamed as she opened and closed them experimentally.  "You have to do it..."

Fingers shaking she reached for a strand of her hair.  Her scalp ached from being pulled.  Even as she stared, she could make out dark splotches of blood gluing the hairs down.

It’s now or never, she thought with a sigh.

Taking a chunk, she brought the blades of the scissors down over it and cut.                  

Snip.  A wave of curly brown hair floated down to the floor.

It was easier from that point that she would have thought.  Almost numb she watched as seventeen years’ worth of hair piled up around her feet, leaving the rest of her…

Well, at least she didn’t look quite so young anymore.    The loss of brown curls made her eyes seem larger.

Sharper.

Browner, if that even made sense.  The bones of her face stood out more, making her look more pixie-ish and less preschooler. 

She felt freer too. Less…hidden.  A short fringe of wispy hair that barely covered the tips of her ears was all she had left to run her fingers through.

Now, if only it weren’t for the uneven pieces that stuck up at jagged points all over her head, making her look like she’d fallen head-first into a cheese grater.

Her feeble attempts to fix it only made her look worse. 

Thinking fast, she stumbled into her bedroom and fished her phone from the bottom of her backpack.