Seventh Night...
Along with Perrie's note was another paper bag with hiking shoes. Perrie is really good at choosing the designs of the things she lets Jade wear – be it a dress, casual or even sports attire.
Jade loves all of them. Plus, the size fits her perfectly to a tee. It's as if it's custom-made for Jade. If she hadn't known Perrie owns a lab and she's a scientist, she'd think that the woman was a designer. Usually, designers are on point when it comes to choosing sizes with just one look at a model. While Perrie may be a scientist, that doesn't mean she doesn't know a thing or two about fashion..
The brunette quickly changed into the clothes that were brought to her room and made her way to the lobby.
It was a private tour with 2 tour guides and a driver. As much as Perrie wanted her and Jade to explore the place on their own, the local authorities forbade it for safety reasons, especially at night.
They were driven around town, starting at Hilo, Hawaii where they passed by a historic waterfront going to the old fishing village of Kalapana. On their way, the tour guides shared information about the place alternately, including the history and geology about the lava flows; the flora and fauna that they're going to see along the way.
The ride wasn't long. They finally reached the spot where they'll start the 3-mile hike across the cracks, lava flow, and sinkholes on the paved roads left behind by the historic eruption back in 2018.
When they reach the top, a deli-style picnic awaits them. They ate grilled pineapple meatball skewers, fruit kabobs, aloha burgers, and pineapple upside down cupcakes as they admired the view of the Kīlauea Iki crater.
Stem vents plume from the massive crater, known as the home of Pele, the volcano goddess. They were both looking at the glorious crater when Jade suddenly stood up and looked around them.
Perrie gazed up at her and wondered what the brunette was looking for.
"Coast is clear. They're gone." She said.
Perrie looks around them as well and finds that the tour guides were indeed nowhere in sight. They retired in the staff quarter near the place where she and Jade were having a picnic.
Jade offers her hand out for Perrie. The blonde gladly takes the brunette's hand in hers and follows where Jade was going.
"Okay, what kind of mischief are you planning this time?"
She stops to lean closer to Perrie and whispers. "We're going closer to the crater. See if there's real lava inside."
Perrie's eyes grew wide. "Isn't that dangerous?"
"Relax...have a little faith in me, will ya?" She sends a wink to Perrie and continues to trek towards the crater.
"The tour guides told us that the smoke coming from the volcano is a mix of mostly water vapor, carbon dioxide, and sulfur gas...so I think it's not because of the lava? Otherwise the volcano would have erupted anytime now, and going closer to it won't be such a good idea."
"Or..." Jade slows her pace. "...maybe there are demons cooking inside the volcano and that's where the plumes really come from." She spun at the blonde and flashed a smile.
Perrie chuckles at the thought of what Jade just said. "You little daredevil."
"I know you're a little daredevil, too. You're just careful not to break the rules."
"Well, you're not wrong." Perrie sighs. Jade was still holding her hand as they made their way to the crater. "Breaking the law...it's my brother's forte, and he always gets away with it–perks of being our father's favorite."
"Hm...typical."
Perrie stares at Jade who is now walking ahead of her.
"Is it? Does your father favor your brother more, too?" Perrie inquired.
"Sister. My twin sister."
Perrie stops a little but quickly recovers. "Twin sister? You have a twin sister?"
"Yes, unfortunately. But I don't really know where she is right now. We lost contact since she left home. My father went after her, and that's all I know." Jade sighs. "Family is overrated. Sometimes, it's better to live alone, you know? You can do whatever you want, live your life without anyone telling you what to do and what not to do. And to be honest, I'm better off without them."
Perrie scoffs a little. "You got it easy. But when you're born an Edwards, it's synonymous with perfection. And things are always complicated."
"Yeah? Why do you say so?"
"My father tried to set me on a blind date once when I was still in college. The guy was his business partner's son. I stood him up and told my dad I wasn't interested in men; that I'm gay and I like women." Perrie paused for a bit, recalling the unpleasant memory. "He hated me for it. He said I didn't deserve the name Edwards, he said much more hurtful words just because I'm gay. It was a disaster. If it wasn't for my mom, I'd probably be homeless right now. But I never regret telling him the truth."
"Even if it meant you could get kicked out of his house? His life?" Jade asks.
"Yeah, I was preparing myself for the worst like sleeping on the streets back then."
"That's really brave of you. Most people won't even trade their comfortable life over telling the truth of who they really are. They'd rather keep it with them."
"I'd still choose to tell everyone who I really am and be who I am. It's freedom for me, a different kind of freedom. Because when you try to be anything different than you are, or go against your true nature, it's suffocating inside. So, whether my father, or even the world can handle it or not, I'll stick to who I am."
Jade stops to look at Perrie. She can do almost anything with her powers, she's invincible. But what Perrie said made her realize that there's something that she just couldn't do. And probably she isn't ready to do just that – to tell the world who she really is. That Scarlet Venom is the Devil's daughter. It's something that she couldn't reveal to the world. At least not yet.
She smiles at Perrie. "I'm proud of what you did for yourself."
Perrie smiles back. "I can scream to the world that I'm gay and I don't care who hears it. I don't care even if the demons cooking up stew inside the volcano can hear it. I'm gay and I'm proud of being one!"
Jade laughs melodiously, causing the blonde to laugh along. Suddenly, they were startled when plumes of steam vents came out nearby. They both looked wide-eyed at each other.
"We're here," Jade says.
Jade held Perrie's hand once more as they took a couple of careful steps closer to get a closer look at the huge crater. She was careful not to let the blonde step on the cracks and sinkholes. There had been people who were seriously injured and some were killed due to the unstable edges of the cracks.
The dramatic landscape of Kīlauea volcano is constantly being shaped by powerful and uncontrollable natural forces. After all, it's one of the world's most active volcanoes.
Perrie and Jade returned to the picnic spot and the guides didn't even notice that they were gone and came very close to the crater. It was halfway past midnight anyway when they arrived there, so it was just sensible for their guides to take a rest.
They stayed a little longer to star-gaze under the clear night sky. Both women were silent as they laid on the blanket. Perrie was lying on Jade's arms as the brunette played with the blonde's hair. Simple moments like this mean everything to both of them. They never felt happier and content than being with each other's arms.
Hours passed and both of them were now back in their hotel rooms. Jade bid Perrie goodnight and retired to her room.
☆
Jade hadn't even warmed her bed yet when her bracelet vibrated.
She immediately got up and teleported to the coordinates that appeared on the small screen. The signal came from Taylor's bracelet.
When she reached the location, she saw Taylor standing outside of the Casino, and she also saw Leigh-Anne sitting on the bench near the fountain. She was hunched over, like she wasn't feeling well or something.
Normally, when Jade is around, Leigh is always happy and the first one to greet her. But this time, she sensed that something bad happened.
She and Taylor exchanged glances, a gesture that they're both familiar with. Jade quickly approached Leigh who was still hunched over the bench and hadn't even looked at the brunette's direction.
Jade sat next to Leigh. "What's going on?"
Leigh tries to suppress her sobs that's why she hasn't looked at Jade, but Jade's senses were sharp, she heard her friend's silent sob. Jade dips her head in search of her bubbly friend's eyes. She gently holds Leigh's face to get a good look at her.
Once she saw Leigh-Anne's face, she's shocked to see a huge bruise on her right eye. She immediately lets go of Leigh's face, takes a deep breath and asks, "Who did it?"
She may have asked Leigh in a cool and calm voice, but she was beyond calm. She's on the edge of bursting anytime now.
When Leigh didn't answer, Taylor, who was now standing near the bench, answered for their friend. "Her manager. Remember her ex that you threw off the building?" Taylor began. "Yeah, he's the manager's best friend. The ex told him what you did, he wasn't able to recognize you then, but when the news about Scarlet Venom came out, he connected the dots and realized that Leigh knows who the real Scarlet Venom is. And because you threatened the ex not to come back here in Vegas ever again, he told the manager everything and agreed to do the dirty job for him."
"What. Dirty. Job?" Jade curls her hands into fists.
Taylor sighs. "Make Leigh's life in the Casino a living hell. Find out from Leigh who Scarlet Venom is, and if she won't cooperate, he'll throw her from the roof for real–see if Scarlet Venom will come to save her."
Jade snaps her head to Leigh. "Is that why you don't go to work like you usually do? Why didn't you just quit?"
Leigh sobs louder before she speaks up. "I–I tried. But h-he won't release me. I'm still under a contract. He said that he'll s-sue me for breach of contract if I don't show up at work. Don't worry, th-three more months is nothing. And I'll be out of here."
Jade stands up, causing Leigh to look at her. "You're not going back there again."
"W-What?" Leigh asks.
Jade turns around and walks toward the Casino. Leigh stood up and was about to follow her friend to stop her but Taylor stopped her.
"Jade–"
Taylor rests her hand on her shoulder. "Hey...you don't want to interrupt an erupting volcano that's about to explode," she warns her. "Let her be. C'mon...I'll buy you some ice cream."
Leigh couldn't do anything but follow Taylor's lead as she takes one last glance at Jade's retreating figure.
Jade quickly changed into her Scarlet Venom suit and stopped time so nobody could see her enter the Casino.
She immediately saw the manager who was busy entertaining the elite members of the Casino. She grabs him harshly and brings him to his office and locks the doors before she returns the flow of time.
The manager was shocked. He was just talking to the elite members earlier, and now he was inside his office. He was even more shocked when he saw Jade standing dangerously close next to him.
Jade slightly bends to whisper in his ear, "I heard you wanted to know who's behind this mask..." she husks, her voice an octave lower than it usually is.
The manager wasn't able to answer right away out of shock and fear. He felt more frightened when Jade turned her head towards him, and he saw her eyes were red and her pupils turned vertical. Snake-like almost, much like that of a hunter stalking its prey at night.
"You sure about that?" Jade asks, causing the man to quiver involuntarily.
Jade then spun the manager's chair so it was facing her, and removed the mask concealing her face–her identity. The man was even more shocked because he knows Jade. She's one of the regular patrons of the Casino. He even flirted with her once.
"I messed with that pathetic excuse of a man you call your best friend because he's an asshole. You messed with my best friend who did nothing but care a lot for other people. But with you...I can't really see what's worth caring for." Jade made a low growl, making the manager tremble with fear even more.
She then grabbed the man's neck and made him see her venomous eyes closely. "I can smell your rotten soul. It reeks really bad that Father would be glad to see you in hell." And with a tilt of her head, Jade paralized the guy.
He can't move. His mind was racing with different thoughts on how he could escape. But there's no escaping Scarlet Venom's wrath. And he starts to question if his decision to avenge his best bud was worth it now that he's immobilized. The only thing that's working are his five senses, yet he can't even open his mouth to scream. And he could feel his body being gradually paralized.
Jade left him in that state in his lavish office with a disgusted look on her face. Poor guy couldn't do anything but let his frightened gaze follow Jade walk out of his office. He could hear the chattering of casino-goers just outside of his office, but he couldn't call for help. He's helpless as hopeless it may seem.
Jade changed back into her casual attire and went to find Leigh and Taylor. They were in an ice cream parlor and Leigh looked better than earlier.
Taylor saw her first and raised her cup to ask if Jade wanted one. She shook her head once and sat beside the caramel-skinned beauty.
"Why didn't you call me, Lee?" She asks. "Why did I get the message from Taylor when you were the one in trouble?"
Leigh-Anne paused from consuming another spoon-full of desert in her mouth, so did Taylor. It seems like Jade was still a bit hungover from whatever she did to the guy.
"You told me not to bother you at night, so I asked for help from Taylor instead." Leigh answered, her voice barely even a whisper, but Jade heard it.
Jade sighs. "Just to be clear–that rule only applies to other people. But when you're the one in trouble, call me whatever time it is."
Leigh slightly nods. "Okay..."
"My bad. I didn't explain it to you clearly before." Jade sighs again and sits with them in silence before she speaks again. "Okay...I don't want this to happen again. If anyone threatens you or you..." she points at Taylor.
"You both come to me. I don't give a shit if it's the President, the Russian Mafia, the Queen of England or my Father – you come to me and tell me everything. That's what this goddamn friendship means! Do you understand?!" Jade looks at Leigh then at Taylor; she did that several times before Taylor huffed in opposition.
"Don't yell at me..." She rolls her eyes. "That's not fair. I always come to you even when nobody's threatening me."
"Right." Jade nods and heaves a sigh of relief. She turned to Leigh-Anne and engulfed her in a much-needed hug. "I took care of that bastard. You don't have to worry about him anymore. Find a job somewhere else."
Leigh nods once more and starts to cry again. "T-Thank you..."
Jade hung out on the bench with her friends who were devouring their ice creams as she let her lava-like head cool down.
She sighs suddenly and Taylor notices.
"Something's bothering you," Taylor says.
"I was planning to tell Perrie everything about me...but after what happened to Leigh tonight..." She sighed again. "It's not safe for her. It's better that we keep it between the three of us."
"Then, don't tell her...for now. But you know, you have to tell her soon if you have plans on keeping her." Taylor added, causing Jade to stop and think.
She's only known Perrie for seven nights now, not including the night she first met her in the Casino, of course, but was she really going to keep her? Jade hasn't let anyone in after she learned the harsh truth about what mortals can do to break your heart. Is she really prepared to risk the possibility of another heartbreak in the end?
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♫ Therefore I Am - Billie Eilish