The three then headed back home, arriving as the clock struck six in the evening. They really did arrive late, at the time when the moon rules and the sky was sleeping. But at least they didn't get lost.
Lola walked into her room, unclasping her earrings and laying them on top of her drawer. She then moved towards her white vanity table, eyeing the stain on one of her favorite clothes. She glowered.
"Nenorocitule," Lola muttered. "'Excuse you.' Pfft. Yeah, right," she scoffed.
Suddenly, her thoughts rang back to the handkerchief. Then to Zach. Her heart skipped a beat. Lola fished out the fabric in her coat's pocket and slowly turned it around, staring at it, and she felt the same tingle from earlier all over her body.
Biting her lip, Lola slid down on the stool. She took the brush by the floral case and brushed her goldi-like hair. Her cheeks were a little flush, and a small authentic smile had crept on her glossy rose lips. It was the first she felt this way. And it doesn't... feel bad at all. Suddenly, her thoughts drew back to the werecat.
Lola slammed the brush on the dresser. She stilled. Her smile curled down as the same demon from earlier began to claw at her. Lola disliked it. No, hated it — the way that Zach had looked at King. She didn't know why, couldn't grasp what it was, but there was definitely something behind those gazes. Her eyes slowly grew as the clock to deciphering ran down, near to completion, near to cognition, near to the fact that Zacharias might be intimately involved with the werecat. But before she could grasp any of those things, suddenly, her phone rang.
Lola jostled, taken aback by the annoying melody that played from her phone. She sharply breathed out, and then stood, walking towards her bed where she had laid her bag. She fished out her phone from it.
It was from James again.
Annoying, pathetic pest. She declined. Before she could decipher how the hell does she mute her phone, a message popped up. Heaving out an annoyed sigh, she didn't stop her curiosity from giving it a little bit of her attention, and her heart dropped.
Little piggy
It was only two words, with no thoughts, no sentence, or anything else. But fear clouded Lola like it never did in her life. There was only one person who used to call her that. Immediately, she dialed back James' number. At the fourth ring, the line crossed.
"James? James?!" she called out, looking for comfort by hearing the man's voice, crossing her fingers, hoping that it was all a big coincidence. But a woman's laugh on the other end of the line rattled her bones. Lola felt like she was dropped in a pool of ice.
"Hi there, Lil' Piggy."
Lola gulped a boulder. The high pitched voice never failed to unnerve her.
"You haven't forgotten about me, have you?"
"... Beatrice." Lola bit her lip, and Beatrice cackled again.
Lola glanced around her, head swiping frantically, looking for any signs of ears on the wall. "How did you get this number?" she hissed through clenched teeth.
"Oh my, oh my. We just had the chance to talk after all these years, and this is how you treat me? My feelings are gravely hurt."
"What do you want? Why are you calling?" Lola whispered, but her tone was of desperation.
Beatrice giggled. "Have you forgotten your sins, Lola?"
"... I don't know what you're talking about."
Beatrice laughed again. "Is that so? Then maybe you'd like me to rewind it for you?"
"Beatrice. Don't do this."
The vampire moaned and clicked her tongue three times. "You know, my tongue had been itching all these years. I mean, I've witnessed how you betrayed and mercilessly slaughtered you and your pack's most beloved alpha after all."
"S-stop—"
"Sadly, they put such blame onto us, to me, without second thoughts. Such thing messes up with my morality, Lola."
"Beatrice—"
"But, you know, I've kept quiet, sealing my mouth because I care for you. I mean, surely, when your pack finds out what you did... when the three learns that you are the one who killed their father, surely, they will show you no mercy—"
"Beatrice!" Lola shouted. The latter cackled loudly again, regaled by the desperation on Lola's voice.
Lola sank to the floor, clutching the royal pink sheets of her bed. She heaved, heavily breathing in and out, looking like she had forgotten how to breathe. The nightmare was coming back to haunt her again.
It... It was only an accident. They can't know. They musn't know. If they did... Dread washed over Lola.
"... What do you want?" Lola asked Beatrice. Instead of denial, there was now a tone of acquiescence in her voice.
Beatrice hummed in satisfaction. "I just need eyes and ears, Lil' Piggy. Mind lending me yours?"
There was no "no" for an answer.
***
Random:
I finished my night shift the other day at around six, and weirdly got motivated to draft chapter 39 which got split into two chapters. I was nearly done but had to stop because my brain was trying to disconnect from me lmao. And when I was cleaning out the draft, I saw this yesterday... Who the heck is Arnold?