Victoria was always very good at pretending.
Some may even say she was so good that maybe her career should have been more screen-oriented. With her skills, she could easily score a nominee for the next best actor in Hollywood. However, it was just something that now came naturally to her and quite often at her convenience. She had her parents to thank for that. If it was anything they ever taught her and she listened to, was her now perfected skill of pretense.
In their presence, she learned how to pretend that she was invisible. A ghost, to put it in other words. It's not that she was often ignored by them. It was more so the fact that she was not allowed to speak without their permission. A rule she had to quickly adapt to at a young age.
Why? Politics. Both of her parents, in some way that made them feel important enough to buy and reside in a four-story mansion on seventy-two acres of land, were politically oriented. So whenever they were out in public, it was forbidden that she threw a tantrum at the wrong moment and shamelessly embarrass them all. Or make a fool of the family name, her mother would say.
And so she pretended. Pretended that she was happy whenever she felt like shrinking down to the size of a baseball and screaming her heart out. Pretended she was proud of her parents when they constantly fed the public lies during their public speeches.
And there was most definitely a lot of those.
She even pretended that she was in love with the man that they forced her to marry. A man who was no stranger to her and loved the sound of his voice so much that he never stopped talking. Of course until... She made him.
So she eventually pretended that she was always listening. Much in the same manner she was doing right now as her colleagues continued to chatter wildly about god knows what. Maybe she would have known the subject of conversation if she was paying attention.
But no. She was just pretending. Pretending that everything was okay when all she wanted to do was bite someone's head off.
Take that as you wish.
It didn't matter who, though. It could be the next person that stepped through the double doors of the cozy-looking restaurant they sat in. Maybe even the waiter that was now awkwardly approaching them as he eyed Victoria and nervously placed their food on the table.
Or more likely, it could be the brown-eyed man in front of her that has not taken his attention off of her cleavage since the moment they sat down.
"Can I help you with something?" She decided to finally ask him just as the waiter left, completely ignoring the annoyed look on Aaliyah's face - the art teacher - as her small rant was interrupted.
Leon sat forward in his seat with a raised eyebrow, "Excuse me?"
Victoria tilted her head slightly at the chemistry teacher, silently asking him if she needed to repeat herself. Instead, she said, "You have not taken your eyes off of my chest ever since we sat down in here."
The man scoffed, unable to hide the guilty look on his face as he tried to force it off with an awkward chuckle, "Well, forgive me but you have a stain on your shirt."
Victoria lowered her head as her grey eyes reluctantly shifted to the small red blotch on the upper placket of her white shirt. Without even needing to think about it, she knew immediately where the stain was from. Or more specifically, the lunch that caused it.
"Oh." She mumbled to herself in an unbothered tone. "It's just ketchup." The dark-haired woman then proceeded to undo two buttons on her shirt, the placket curling inwards and effectively hiding the stain.
"Seems a little dark for a simple ketchup stain," Aaliyah noted, her jade-colored eyes now softer as she examined the English teacher.
"What are you? The stain police?" Victoria half-joked, her thick and dark eyebrows cocked daringly.
"My bad, girl." Aaliyah raised a hand defensively, the corner of her small pink lips quirking up in a kind smile as she mindlessly swirled her straw around her pink drink. "How are you liking the school so far?"
"Yeah, you have successfully made it to your third day here." Leon pointed out, his small eyes hopeful for a positive answer from his new colleague.
Victoria raked a hand through her long obsidian tresses, casually styling it in a side part before crossing her arms over her chest. "You want my opinion on the school or the students and teachers?"
Leon flashed her a barely noticeable smirk and took a bite out of his sandwich, "Well the students and teachers are what make up a school, no?"
"Fair point." Victoria sighed, her mind beginning to wander again although she had already had her opinion formed since day one. "It's... Alright."
Aaliyah stopped twirling her straw in a dramatic pause, her covered head tilting in a slightly offended manner. "Just alright?"
Victoria shrugged, unsure of whether they were expecting a more exciting answer. "What's wrong with just 'alright'?"
"Nothing," Leon answered, shooting Aaliyah a sideways glance. "It just sounds like it doesn't entirely live up to your expectations."
"I don't have those." She quickly clarified, her smile the beginning of a thunderstorm. "When you expect things you are only setting yourself up for disappointment. The reason why I said it was just 'alright' is because it is. It's not so different from the schools I have taught in the past."
"So this is not your first teaching job?" Aaliyah asked, genuinely surprised.
"What gave you the impression that it was?" Victoria wondered aloud, her curiosity getting the best of her.
"Well, you look a lot younger than the rest of us. And we're pretty young ourselves." She indicated between herself and Leon with a pointer finger. "This is our first job since graduating with our teacher degree and we have only been here for almost six years."
Victoria simply smiled, allowing them to have their little proud moment before saying, "I have been teaching for eight years at four different schools."
"Two years at each?" Leon offered as a joke but stopped smiling when Victoria nodded in confirmation. "Wait, seriously?"
Victoria chuckled at his surprised look and glanced at Aaliyah briefly, whose obvious curiosity about her had never left her square face. "Yeah. I have a habit of not staying in one place for too long."
"So you intend to only teach at Stanhope for a couple of years?" The green-eyed woman spoke up, her tone laced with a hint of disappointment.
"I don't know yet." She answered honestly, her grey eyes wandering elsewhere but at the bewildered look on their faces. "More or less."
Leon cleared his throat and shared a hopeful look with his booth partner. "Well, I believe I speak for the both of us when I say I'm hoping for the former."
"Me too. You fit in well at the school and the students seem to have grown very fond of you already." Aaliyah smiled broadly, silently hoping in her heart that whatever she said was going to convince Victoria to deflect from her two-year plan. "At least, I have heard your name being mentioned more than once in each of my classes."
There was a long pause in which grey pierced green and the latter quickly grew uncomfortable by the sudden intense stare, feeling as if her thoughts were being invaded without her permission.
"I know what you are trying to do." Victoria suddenly stated, catching the Art teacher off guard. Leon remained silent this time, simply observing the two. He then wondered for a split second if Victoria enjoyed their presence at all. So far it had only felt like she was simply enduring them until the next best thing came along. But that thing, whatever it was, had not arrived for the past three days they have been trying to get her attention so maybe he was just overthinking things as usual.
"Is it working?" Aaliyah hoped, her signature charismatic smile returning to her face.
Victoria finally allowed their eyes to meet and she shrugged, "Maybe."
"You know, if it is the incident with the security guard that might have been a factor in your decision, I can safely assure you that he would not be a problem anymore."
"I'm not the one you should be reassuring." Victoria deadpanned, her glare set hot and unwavering at Leon who had spoken. "He was harassing several of the female students who come to school every day feeling uncomfortable in the very place that was supposed to value their safety."
"So I am assuming that you know he was fired this morning?"
"The decision was made yesterday afternoon, but yes." She clarified, stroking a red nail along the length of her untouched glass of water.
Aaliyah leaned forward in her seat with her eyebrows quirked, something suddenly spiking her interest. "What do you mean the decision was already made since yesterday? Were you there? Were you apart of this somehow?"
Leon placed a hand on his friend's shoulder, his silent way of telling her to ease off a little with the interrogative questions. Realizing her mistake, she shot Victoria an apologetic look and leaned back into her seat.
"Yes. To answer all of that." Victoria answered, waving her pointer finger as her stare at the Art teacher became icy. "A student of mine complained to me that she has been trying to get the board's attention for a while about the matter after the principal so blatantly said he could not have directly done anything about it. So I took it upon myself to talk it over with him and as it turns out, there was something he could have done about it after all." There was a somewhat nefarious smile on the teacher's face as she spoke. One that indicated she knew something they didn't. Or more specifically, did something they would never find out about. Not without blatantly asking of course, which she figured neither of them had the guts to do.
"Impressive," Leon exclaimed, a proud smile extending on his lips. He glanced briefly at the woman next to him, expecting to see her mirroring his reaction but frowned when he only saw squinted eyes and skeptical eyebrows.
"Impressive indeed." Aaliyah agreed although her tone didn't quite live up to her words. "A bunch of us teachers had also talked to Brown about it but he always promised he would look into it and never actually investigated the matter further than that."
"Yeah, we did try. He just always found an excuse to focus on something else." Leon sighed, taking the final bite out of his food as he eyed Victoria. "You must be a very convincing person."
"Yeah..." Aaliyah agreed for a second time, her tone now evidently suspicious. "What did you say to him to get him to make such a haste decision?"
"I didn't have to say much, to be honest," Victoria stated, her words gradually becoming stiff as she realized Aaliyah was no longer being shy with her questions. "The entire incident was recorded on the several security cameras positioned in the parking lot. I simply made sure he saw the video and he did the rest."
"Wow." Leon gasped, shaking his head in disbelief. "So all he needed was to see something happen with his own two eyes?"
"Apparently," Aaliyah answered for him, rolling her eyes. "Some of the students are saying you were there." She then said to Victoria, watching closely for her reaction that might show any sign of her about to lie. "They were saying that you helped to stop the situation from escalating further than it did."
Victoria's face remained neutral as she finally uncrossed her arms and placed them in her lap, out of the pair's sight so they wouldn't see her fidget with worry. "I did what I had to. I'm sure any of you would have done the same."
"Oh, no, no, no. Pin him down to the ground and shake him up a little, maybe. But the kids said you knocked him out with one punch." Leon chuckled, easing up some of the tension. "Even though I regrettably wasn't there for any of it, standing up for a student like that is pretty badass. So no, I honestly don't think any of us amateurs for teachers would have done the same."
"Don't feel bad," Aaliyah added, misinterpreting the frown on Victoria's face. "He deserved it. And more. But at least someone finally put him in his place. Hell, I wish I was there to spare a punch or two as well." The art teacher was smiling wickedly as she said this, but knowing she was only one for empty threats and bluffs, Leon simply shook his head and laughed. "You know, I'm really glad you were there. Rory doesn't do well with that kind of stuff." Aaliyah stated after a while, a somewhat appreciative smile angled in Victoria's direction.
At the mention of her student's name, Victoria found herself wanting to listen to whatever words came out of her colleagues' mouths since they sat down.
"What do you mean by that?"
Aaliyah hesitated on her next words and glanced to Leon, silently asking his permission if it was too soon to reveal the skeletons in the closet to their newest member of staff. Leon nodded once as his lips pursed into a thin line, his face giving nothing away.
Aaliyah followed his lead and clasped her hands in front of her, "There was an incident last year that lead to the expulsion of one student, the suspension of another, and one teacher fired."
"What kind of incident?" Victoria asked, her brain already conjuring up the worst of scenarios.
Aaliyah lowered her voice to barely above a whisper as she said her next words. "It's not exactly something we talk about freely..."
So she says as she goes about talking freely, Victoria thought.
"...But it's only fair that we tell you so you don't go trusting anyone blindly. But basically, the former English teacher was accused of giving students in his class after-school lessons. He was also apart of the art department and allegedly wanted to help some of his students improve on their photography skills." She went on to explain, her tone becoming tender by the second.
Victoria's eyebrows furrowed as she struggled to see what was so wrong about that. But the look of discomfort on her colleagues' faces implied the presumably innocent after-school activity was anything but harmless. "I'm guessing he wasn't giving the photographic lessons he promised.."
Aaliyah's face twisted into what could only be described as a painful expression, color rushing to her cheeks as she visibly cringed. "Erm... More or less."
"Excuse me?"
Having a hard time, a glare was shot in Leon's direction as her desperate plea for help. His small brown eyes squinted in her general direction as if to say 'You're the one that wanted to go run your mouth. Now talk!' But the puppy eyes continued to grow and his heart softened, a firm reminder that their four years of friendship meant Aaliyah could hit all of his weak spots with little to no effort. The teacher cleared his throat and swiped a napkin across his wet lips, "It's a very sensitive topic for us, but what she's to trying to say is that technically he did follow through with his promise but it was more for his own personal pleasures. Allegedly speaking, of course."
"I can see that. However, you're both still beating around the bush. What exactly did he do?" At this point, Victoria had lost all of her impatience and was simply making a great effort to try and hide it. She contemplated screaming in their faces to just spit it out already but knew she'd only have a lesser chance of squeezing any information out of them. Well, it's not like she had to try because all Aaliyah had to do was look at her and the words would start pouring out of her as if she was in a confessional booth.
"Some of the students involved told the police that he would remove a piece of his clothing off himself every day, eventually progressing to his full nude form and instruct them to take pictures of him. Ultimately he manipulated them into doing the same and they started taking pictures of each other. Seeing as they are all underage, he was charged with the production and distribution of child pornography."
"Distribution?" Victoria repeated, her dark eyebrows drawing together to express her incredulity. "So he wasn't the only one that saw those kids like that?"
"Unfortunately, no," Leon answered, his eyes cast downwards - seemingly deep in thought. "He went as far as to create an entire website dedicated to his 'work'." He scoffed, using fingers to indicate air quotes on the 'work'.
"But these are teenagers. Surely they have better sense than to be so gullible?"
It just wasn't making any sense. If it were middle schoolers, she would understand. But young adults? From what she's heard so far, there wasn't exactly any gun being pointed to their head to indicate they were forced to strip for him. So how could he possibly manipulate teenagers into doing that?
"You have to understand that some of these students were desperate to get a good grade. I'm sure that's how he enticed the majority of them. But others, especially Aurora, she's a smart girl and his tricks wouldn't have worked on her. At least not without any help - if you know what I mean." Leon emptied a pack of sugar into his cup of coffee, then began to stir it in with a spoon. He made sure to maintain eye contact with Victoria, raising his eyebrows suggestively. That's when it clicked and there was a long pause as the unsettling thought finally occurred to Victoria.
He drugged her.
On the rare occasion when Victoria was anything but self-aware, she would find herself wanting to regurgitate everything she had consumed that day, even if it was just the air she breathed itself. She suddenly felt sick to her stomach at the thought of what occurred behind closed doors with such a perverted teacher and her poor, innocent, and unconscious Aurora.
"Hey, are you okay?" Leon suddenly asked as it appeared his colleague stopped breathing. "It's going to be alright you know, they already have the bastard locked away behind bars."
As if that was supposed to make her feel any better. If anything the anger swelling in her veins only provoked her further at the mere thought that he was even still alive and breathing.
"And the students were each ensured separate counselors that they met up with at school quite frequently. A few of them are still with us, but most of them transferred to other schools in an entirely different state." Aaliyah informed her, desperately trying to make light of the conversation. But Victoria's stone-cold expression remained and didn't seem to show any signs of faltering in the slightest. That is until the soft chime of the restaurant's doorbell sounded and the topic of their conversation strolled in.
They wore smiles too big for their faces as they shared secrets and laughed loudly amongst themselves while navigating towards an empty booth. They sat only a few feet away from the three teachers but it was close enough for Victoria to overhear a little of their conversation if she tilted her head at just the right angle and strained her ears just enough to block out every other sound around her.
A task she soon realized was going to be quite difficult as more students began piling into the restaurant, chatting wildly as they occupied the few remaining empty booths. Most of them were being loud and obnoxious or behaving like wild animals that recently abandoned ship and joined the circus. They drowned out whatever little sound was coming from Aurora's booth and Victoria released a heavy sigh.
Leon, who had truthfully not taken his eyes off of his pretty new colleague since they sat down, was paying close enough attention to notice the woman's attention was completely stolen by Aurora Halewell.
"See that smile? She's doing a lot better now." He pointed out, referring to the blushing teen in the opposite boot - not entirely sure if Victoria was even listening to him or not.
"Yeah, she is." Aaliyah agreed, observing the three teenagers as well. "She had a lot of support from her friends. However, I can't say the same for her boyfriend."
"Boyfriend?" Victoria repeated grimly, snapping back to reality.
"Ex-boyfriend I mean." She quickly corrected, still not used to seeing the pair so comfortable with each other despite everything. "The one in the leather jacket with his arm around her shoulder like he still owns her?" She then indicated for Victoria.
"Yeah. I see him."
Aurora was sandwiched between him and the albino she remembered to be Jayda. She wishes she could say her only reason for being able to put a name to her face was because her pale skin and hair made her stand out so much. But if Victoria were to be completely honest it was only because Jayda had made such an inappropriate comment to her two mornings ago. At the time she couldn't say for sure whether the teenager was simply joking or not, or why she would even think twice about making such a statement to a teacher. But after the conversation she just had with her colleagues, it's quite clear now that Jayda was simply being protective of her friend and most likely trying to avoid her from getting involved with yet another uncomfortable situation.
"He ain't shit," Leon muttered into his cup of drink, his silly attempt to hide the sly smile on his face. "You know, as the kids would say." He elaborated after, playfully licking the coffee stain off his upper-lip.
"Come on Leon, you know we can't talk about our students like that." Aaliyah quickly intervened, casting a nervous glance in Victoria's direction. For the very first time, she felt as if they were finally making the bad first impression they so dreaded.
Victoria zoned out of their playful banter soon after that. Her grey eyes once again drawn to the brunette who - surprisingly - was already giving her English teacher a once over. The older woman felt a small smile growing on her lips purely out of habit, but it only extended to her eyes when Aurora returned an even more charming one.
"Anyways," Aaliyah sighed, taking Leon's fourth cup of coffee away from him. "Banks is upgrading the security system and it should all be installed by the end of the week. There's also a rumor that he already found a replacement for Phill but I can't confirm that I know who exactly it is."
"Hopefully someone who takes their job seriously and has the students' best interest at heart," Victoria stated, now taking her first sip of water from her glass.
"That's all we can hope for." Leon agreed. "But we as teachers should still keep an eye out no matter how high-tech this new security system is going to be." He then inspected Victoria for a long second before saying, "You have a lovely pair of eyes there, Victoria. Do not hesitate to use them to your advantage."
"Noted." She answered softly, well aware that there was an underlying double meaning to his tone.
She didn't need the heads-up though. Victoria had made sure to keep herself on her toes ever since her first day at Stanhope. There was a lot of danger and risks that came with the impromptu mark she gave to Aurora. Perverted teachers and security guards were the least of her worries when an army of immortal beings was already crawling out of the shadows and upturning every high school building in America to retrieve her and the oblivious teenager.
But there was only so much she could do until Aurora has regained the hundreds of lost memories from her past life.
The clock was ticking and all she could do was wait.
.♡.
At six-thirty sharp, Miss Addignton's English students began filing into her now extended classroom for their evening lesson. The teacher was anything but prepared as she fiddled with the frame of the sunshades she decided to wear - her last-minute attempt at disguising her eyes. If she was informed beforehand by the oh-so-considerate principal that she would be teaching an evening class on a Wednesday night, then surely she would have remembered to pack a pair of contacts for the impromptu occasion. However, the confiscated sunglasses that she took from Mr. Adams that morning was all she had to work with.
She couldn't help but overhear the students making comments about it as they passed by her desk.
"What's up with the new teacher and the shades?" One questioned.
"Hangover, maybe?" Answered another.
"On a Wednesday?" Another inquired.
"Alright, alright. That's enough." Victoria finally decided to hush them, putting away the English text she was pretending to skim through, and stood up. When they were all seated she made sure to locate a certain someone whose hazel eyes she thankfully caught the moment she looked up. For the first time she was seated at the front of her class but of course, you can't have one without the other as Jayda Reede was also seated to Aurora's immediate left.
The teacher's searching eyes then gravitated towards the very back of the class where she found James and Christopher seated very closely together. They had one hand propped on their respective desks with their palms covering their mouth. They could not have made it any more obvious if they tried that they were trying to not-so-subtly talk to each other.
It didn't take long before the two boys' hushed voices began filling up her ear.
"Are we still on for Saturday?" She heard James ask his friend.
"Yeah, some of us are heading up to the place after class to clean everything up," Christopher answered. "You're not having second thoughts are you?"
"Nahh, just nervous. I just hope I'm not doing too much."
"Don't worry, man. Rory will love it."
"I hope so."
"Hey, it looks like Miss Addington is on to us. We'll talk more later."
That was Victoria's cue to focus her attention elsewhere and pretend that she was not eavesdropping on the teenagers' short-lived conversation. She quickly tried to think of something to say to make the situation a little less awkward.
"I discussed the lesson plan with the other three English teachers and we all agreed that it would be best fit if we utilized these evening classes to focus on the poetry aspect of your curriculum." She waited a beat for her words to sink in before asking, "Sounds fair?"
The majority of students from her class grumbled their agreement while the students from the other three classes simply shrugged or nodded, not bothering to hide the fact they weren't the least bit interested in the teacher's plans. The class was a lot bigger than she imagined and a small part of her felt that it was a bit unfair that she has to deal with almost ninety students all jam-packed into one classroom. There was barely any space for her to maneuver her way between the desks in case a student needed to ask a question. But that was the least of her worries - as long as Aurora was close enough for her to talk to then the others can make proper use of their google search bar when they got home.
Victoria took one last glance in Aurora's direction and almost immediately regretted it. The one thing she quickly realized she hated about her evening class was the fact that the students switched out their single desks and chairs for longer, wooden ones that accumulated at least three of them to sit together. It didn't take a lot of brainpower for one to figure out what could irritate Victoria about such a seating arrangement.
The sight before her alone was enough to make her blood boil. The two girls sat huddled together with Jayda's arm around Aurora's neck and the latter leaning her head on her shoulder. It was bad enough that they occupied one desk for themselves, scattering their reading materials all across it to send out the message that there was no extra space for a third party. A bit of a useless message it seemed as Victoria acknowledged that not one student bothered to sit with them before the class even started. It appeared to her then that the two of them were hooked at the hip. The way they were always together like that. Not to mention always touching each other. The only time Victoria could recall ever seeing Aurora without the albino was when she bumped into her once in the hallway and that one fateful afternoon when she punched the shit out of Phill to protect her. It seemed it was going to be a lot more difficult than she thought to score the chance of speaking with the teenager alone.
The teacher not-so-subtly cleared her throat as she reached behind her for the poetry book, forcing her eyes to stay focused on the small pages so she wouldn't be further tempted to do something she'd regret.
"If you could all please turn to page one..." She mumbled, making a habit out of reading over the title of the first poem over and over in her head. "I'll read while you follow along and then we'll analyze each line together."
This time she didn't bother waiting to hear their annoying little grumbles and instead just got right to it.
"Thousand Eyes by Of Monsters and Men
Undo this storm
Undo this storm
Undo this storm
And wait
I can't control witherin' wonders
Flowers that lose their shape
I lie awake and watch it all
It feels like thousand eyes
I lie awake and watch it all
It feels like thousand eyes
I'll be the calm
I will be quiet
Stripped to the bone
I wait
No, I'll be a stone
I'll be the hunter
A tower that casts a shade
I lie awake and watch it all
It feels like thousand eyes
I lie awake and watch it all
It feels like thousand eyes
I lie awake and watch it all
It feels like thousand eyes
I am the storm
I am the storm
I am the storm
So, wait,"
Victoria placed the book down beside her face first and scanned her class, already having anticipated the deep look of contemplation on their young faces.
"That was pretty deep," she heard Jayda comment a few feet away from her.
"It was, wasn't it?" She smirked, happy that no one even dared to make any funny remarks. Yet. "Do you think you can tell me the theme behind it?"
"Uhh.." The albino mumbled, glancing at her best friend nervously. "I'm pretty sure there is more than one theme in a poem like that. But I guess the more prominent one would have to be depression? Maybe loneliness?"
"Both of those are correct, yes," The teacher answered with a forced smile while Jayda reclined into her seat with a proud one. The chaste kiss Aurora then planted to her cheek also didn't go unnoticed by the English teacher. "Any more suggestions?" She then directed to the rest of her class but the teenagers only lowered their heads in silence. "Alright. So the whole story behind this poem is that it's a 'coming into yourself' or 'coming of age' kind of theme. I believe most of you might even be able to relate to it."
"Are you implying that we're all depressed and lonely?" A certain redhead in her cheerleader uniform interrupted, forcing the teacher to glare in her direction.
"No, but if you ever feel like you need to talk to someone, I suggest you don't come to me if you're just going to interrupt me when I'm trying to educate you on the things that actually matter."
"Excuse me?" Cecilia scoffed, leaning forward in her seat with a challenging look to her teacher.
Victoria held her ground and didn't allow their staring contest to falter. "Don't interrupt me again. Raise your hand if you have a question and I'll answer when it is convenient." That was enough to shut the younger girl up as the only sound that came out of her mouth after was a whispered 'whatever'. "As I was saying," Victoria diverted, returning her attention to the group of stunned students. "The first line 'Undo this storm' is repeated at least three times in the first stanza. Can anyone tell me what it means to them?"
A tense silence blanketed the room for several moments as everyone surveyed each other, seemingly having their own unspoken debate as to who would be brave enough to supply an answer. But instead of accepting her students' poor excuse for a sacrifice who was barely paying attention in the first place, the teacher simply glanced in a certain brunette's general direction. Without the need to utter another word, the appointed student was already up on her feet tumbling out her answer.
"To me, it sounds like the narrator is referring to a feeling of conflict. Perhaps a particular moment in their life when they're feeling pressured to overcome something that they have been putting off for a long period of time."
The teacher sat cross-legged on her desk with a soft look of gratification, happy with herself that she chose the right person to give her the answer she so desperately wanted.
"Thank you, Aurora," She expressed with a kind smile that made the teenager happily reposition herself back into her seat. "And you don't have to stand to answer a question, alright?"
"Yeah." The brunette answered shyly.
"I have a few more questions and then we can get started on your first essay." There was a loud collection of groans to which the teacher simply dismissed with a wave of her finger. "So, who can tell me where in the poem the narrator begins to realize that some things are out of their control?"
"Oh, I can answer this one!" Ryan Adams quickly volunteered. He strained his brown eyes deep into his book and began reciting the two lines as if he was the narrator for a theatre play. "I can't control withering wonders, flowers that lose their shape."
"Correct." The teacher nodded. "The narrator is expressing their inability to control the beautiful things around them that are wilting away. To paint a clearer picture, it's like they're losing all the things they once held on to. Whether it be for sentimental value, to give their life purpose, or whatever it may be. You guys can interpret it however you want."
A pale hand was then erected from the very back of the class and much to Victoria's surprise, it belonged to none other than James Donovan.
"Yes, Mr. Donovan?"
"I know you said that a major theme of the poem was coming into yourself or coming of age. But could it also be interpreted as maybe there was a time in your life when everything was going good in a relationship and then all of a sudden, everything just came crashing down or too much to handle? So all you want is for things to go back to the way it was but to do that you would have to sacrifice a huge part of yourself or overcome something?"
The teacher allowed herself a few seconds for the boy's words to soak in. It sounded as if he was trying to relate to the poem on a personal level. But why? Victoria thought. Perhaps there's something in his life that he has yet to overcome? And by any chance, does said thing involves Aurora?
"Interesting outlook. Let's analyze a few more lines and I'll get back to you on that, okay?"
The curly-haired boy simply nodded and lowered his eyes back onto the small pale pages.
"I'll be the calm, I will be quiet, stripped to the bone, I wait," The teacher recites from the poem, "If you've been paying attention to the first few lines you'll notice the contrast in these four. Can anyone tell me what that contrast is?"
Aurora raised her hand without hesitation, her unspoken words threatening to spew from her lips at any given moment. Unfortunately, that moment had its opportunity ceased when there was a soft round of knocks on the classroom door.
"Yes?" Victoria sighed, not bothering to face the secretary she knew was there. She was then caught off-guard when the small woman approached her and reached on her tip-toes to whisper in her ear.
"There's a man outside demanding to see you." Miss Grace informed. In a shaken-up voice, she then added. "He looks rather scary, too."
The sudden burst of anxiousness Victoria now felt wasn't by her own doing but rather she could feel the nervous emotions radiating off the secretary and projecting itself onto her. She could also feel the curious gaze of her students burning holes into the side of her head. And then there was the slightly dejected look on Aurora's face. But she couldn't spare another second in the classroom as she physically felt the visitor's presence from outside growing more impatient.
Victoria instructed her classroom to discuss the poem quietly until she got back. She then followed behind Miss Grace out the door who led her down the dimly lit hallway. The teacher was trying her best to stay neutral and not show any sign of discomfort in the presence of Grace. The older woman kept glancing over at her every now and then as if she was just itching to ask her a thousand questions. Victoria didn't blame her. She was positive that Miss Grace was beyond spooked by the stranger waiting outside. She probably hoped she would never have to see him again and most likely won't be accompanying Victoria all the way outside - more out of fear than courtesy. It seemed like forever before the pair abandoned the long stretch of hallway and neared the entrance to the school. As predicted - Miss Grace excused herself back to the office in quick strides the moment Victoria approached the shiny double doors.
The teacher stood hesitant with a hand barely brushing against the door handle. She didn't think she was ever prepared to face him. But there he was in all his six-foot-tall glory. Nikolai Addington. A pair of familiar grey eyes ten times more as intense as Victoria's peered back at her through the transparent glass. Something seemed off about them. The way they seem to be ripping through her mental barrier, penetrating her skin and burning it up with a heat that could only be sourced from the very pits of hell. He just looked really different. He outgrew his obsidian curls down to his neck, uncharacteristically styling it in a side part. His short beard was long overdue for a hair-cut too. His nose seemed thinner, his eyes sunken in along with his cheekbones. His usually rose-pink lips lacked color and looked a little chapped even.
It felt like a millennium since Victoria last saw him. Yet the woman couldn't say for sure if she was either frightened or thrilled to see him again. But considering the steely look on his face - it was beginning to feel a lot more like the former.
Finally, she took a deep breath and made her way outside. She didn't make any sudden step towards him right away. She was testing him - seeing if he would come to her first. Or maybe she didn't need to be close enough to receive whatever ludicrous message he had this time. However, Nikolai wasn't one for personal visits unless absolutely necessary. Even with his own family. Thankfully, the long awaited signal finally came and she cautiously moved in the direction of his tilted head.
There was a tall oak tree positioned on the far right of the school, a little ways behind the staff parking lot. That's where Victoria figured he was leading her since it was the only secluded spot in such a public space. Nikolai was the first one there and he immediately braced his back against the tall tree, taking in deep breaths like a weak old man. Victoria quickly grew concerned by his weird behaviour. The walk wasn't even that long. And even if it was, they no longer got as tired as the humans do. At least not senior-citizen-level kind of tired.
Still, Victoria refrained from saying the first word. Whatever he had to say must be a lot more important than the reasons behind his spontaneously weakened state. After gazing up at the broad shade of leaves, Nikolai finally looked at his sister. His grey eyes were the only healthy-looking thing on his body and the intensity of their stare never failed to freeze all of the organs in her body.
"They are here."
Three words. So simple yet heavy with a promise of brewing danger.
But did it surprise her? No. Not even a little. Victoria was already anticipating the arrival of the celestial beings. So what was it? Nikolai didn't need to come all this way just to tell her something she already knew. He knew that she knew. So there must be something else.
"Victoria." He finally said her name, his voice rough with an underlying pain. "Did you hear what I just said?"
The dark-haired woman simply lifted an eyebrow, her silent response of a visual question mark to him.
"They are coming Victoria. And they are not alone." He seemed angry now, clearly disturbed by the fact that she wasn't the least bit shaken up by his not-so-late news.
"When?" She finally asked and Nikolai released a sigh of relief.
"God, for a moment there I thought you had gone deaf," straightening his back against the tree, he subconsciously combed a hand through his gel-cladded hair and shrugged. "Seven days, give or take. But if I get to them now I can give you at least two more weeks."
It was finally time for Victoria to address her brother's appearance. She didn't know who he planned on fighting in that condition but it surely couldn't have been any immortal beings. Hell, she wasn't even sure he could win over a rabbit in a fight.
"Nikolai," she addressed him gently, heavily mindful of her choice of words, "Why are you here?" He gave her a look as if to say 'I just told you' but Victoria quickly shook her head. "No, I mean why are you really here? You know you didn't have to come this far to tell me what I already knew. And you don't even look that healthy. What's wrong with you?"
Nikolai suddenly stood to his full height, towering several inches over his sister as he tried to intimidate her. But Victoria was no longer fazed. Not when she knew for a fact he couldn't lay so much as a finger on her without stumbling to the ground. "Does something look like it's wrong with me, little sister?" He snarled, fists curling in the pockets of his trench coat.
"Yes." Victoria deadpanned, shoving a finger into his chest - something she wouldn't dare to do any other day - but almost smiled when he staggered backwards, proving her point. "Why do you look so weak, brother?"
Unable to hide it any longer, Nikolai finally crumbled into himself and fell against the oak tree. "Fine," he said through gritted teeth, "I haven't been feeding."
"And you expect to survive on what? Air?"
"Don't speak to me like that." He warned, his now glowing silver orbs glaring up at her in the dark.
"Or else what?" Victoria taunted, kicking his leg with the heel of her shoe. "You're gonna bite me?"
"Don't tempt me!" Nikolai hissed, baring a sharp set of fangs that threatened his sister back to seriousness.
Victoria tilted her chin heavenward, admiring the night sky for a split second before she was reminded of the English class she all but abandoned for the past twenty minutes. Focusing her attention back to her brother, she asked, "Why are you starving yourself?"
It felt like an eternity before Nikolai finally answered. She only wished she could go back in time and un-hear it. Maybe even walk away and pretend like the entire conversation never happened. But it did and so did Nikolai's next words.
"Mom and Dad are dead."
.♡.
While a pair of siblings were silently mourning the loss of their parents outside, back in English lessons a group of hormonal teenagers were verbally attacking each other over a silly high school rumour.
"Just admit it, Rora. We all know you were slutting it up with the security guard." Cecilia boldly teased her classmate from the other side of the classroom, eliciting a collections of 'oohs' and 'wow' from the other spectators.
It didn't take much long after that before Jayda was standing on her feet, practically geared up and ready to defend her best friend.
"James!" She hollered out to the suspiciously quiet blonde boy at the back of the room. "Come and put your bitch on a leash before I have to do it for you."
James, who had been trying his best to remain invisible for the majority of the cat-fight was now forced to come out into the light. He sat up straight in his seat and eyed Jayda wearily. "Can you guys please stop? This has been going on since forever."
Now clearly offended that he wasn't making a better effort to tell the cheerleader to back off, Jayda was going unfiltered with her next few words. "If by since forever you mean since you cheated on Rory with that cheerleading tramp over there - then yeah, maybe you should do some serious reflecting on who is to blame for all this."
If the rest of the class were drowning in boredom before, they sure were highly alerted now and bound to have a field day with this one.
Having heard enough, Aurora pulled Jayda back into the empty space beside her and politely told her to stop talking. If there was anything she hated in this world it would have to be high school drama. Yet she somehow always seemed to find herself smack in the middle of it without even uttering a word.
Speaking of uttering words, it appeared Cecilia needed to hit the nail on the head just that little bit more. "It's not James' fault your friend doesn't know how to keep a man. Or speak up for herself apparently."
Clicking her tongue against the roof of her mouth, Aurora turned around in her seat to finally face the redheaded devil, "At least I know how to keep my legs closed."
For some reason, the class erupted into a fit at the brunette's response. It was the last thing Aurora expected but at the same time it made her feel - proud. It seemed that her classmates were proud of her too after being on the sidelines for many months of back and forth bickering between Jayda and Cecilia. It was definitely about time that Aurora finally said something to shut the cheerleader up. And with the now embarrassed and shame-filled look on her face, she just might be shutting up for a very long time.
"About damn time." Jayda sighed, the proud smile on her face extending to her eyes. "Could have saved me a few years off my life if you had said something to her sooner. You had me wasting my breath a whole year for what?"
"For this moment." Aurora smirked, leaning her head on Jayda's shoulder as the class finally began to calm down.
"Well it was very much worth the wait, babe." The albino stated, pulling her friend into a side hug and planting a firm kiss to her forehead.
A few moments later the English teacher finally returned to the classroom and the atmosphere spontaneously plummeted. It was as if both teacher and classroom could sense that something was off about the other. But neither dared to draw attention to the sudden abnormality. The teenagers pretended as if they were engrossed with their work all along and Miss Addington pretended to care.
The teacher made her way to the back of her desk and unceremoniously sat down in her chair, grabbing everyone's attention. Unfortunately for them, the students couldn't read the look on their teacher's face and the sunshades she wore to cover here yes was no bit of help either. After a long second, Miss Addington seemed to have finally remember where she was and addressed her class.
"I'm sorry to have kept you all waiting for so long. But luckily for you, I will be dismissing this evening class an hour early." When none of her students made an attempt to move or pack their bags, she angled a delicate hand in the direction of the classroom door and muttered, "That means you're free to go. Leave."
Breaking the eerie silence, the only sounds heard within the next minute was the ear-bending screech of the bench and desks scraping against the tiled floors as students prepared to leave. There wasn't even so much as a whisper as they all began filing out of class unless they were mumbling a soft goodbye to the seemingly distressed teacher on their way out.
Eventually the entire classroom was empty - or so Victoria thought - and just as she removed the dark sunshades from her eyes, she felt a familiar heat in a particular spot at the back of her neck. Instantly, her glowing grey eyes shot up to take in a now surprised Aurora sitting in the same spot she was just minutes ago.
"I'm sorry if I startled you." The teenager quickly apologised after noting the stern look on Victoria's face.
"No. No. You didn't," She reassured. "I thought everyone had left."
"Well I was going to..." Aurora trailed off as she stood, taking small strides towards her teacher's desk. "But you just looked so - dejected that I wanted to see if you're okay."
"Ah," Victoria muttered, unaware that she had a certain look on her face that would catch anyone's attention. "That's very kind of you, Aurora. But I'm o..." The rest of the words died down in her throat as the spot behind her neck began to burn up again. It was impossible for her to lie. Especially to Aurora so she didn't know why she thought it was okay to do so now. Not when she had already given her 'the mark'. "Don't worry about it." She decided to say instead, biting back tears that were never there.
"Oh, okay." The teenager didn't believe her for a minute but Aurora knew not to push her boundaries. She placed a hand on the desk, absentmindedly drumming her fingertips along the edge of it as she thought out her next words, "Thank you again for the other day, by the way."
Something felt off. Victoria could feel it as much as she could sense it. A strange feeling was overcoming her and her only reason for it was standing directly in front of her - stalling on an impending question for whatever reason. She ignored the moist feeling in her palms that she knew for a fact was a replica to Aurora's and carefully watched her every move.
"It's no problem at all. I'm just glad that I was there in time to help you."
Although she couldn't see it, Victoria was sure that Aurora's eyebrows were furrowed in deep contemplation under those pretty bangs of hers. "Yeah.." The teenager chuckled, her hazel eyes locking on to Victoria's in a strong gaze. "What a coincidence that was, huh?"
And there it was. Aurora's first stroke of doubt. Victoria could tell the brunette was trying her best to read her. She could feel her anxiousness to figure her out. But the teacher didn't plan on giving up so easy and could easily dig her away out of any hole. But first, she was way too curious now to see how bold Aurora was going to get with her questions.
"You never really gave me a proper answer as to how you got to me that quickly." Aurora pointed out a while after, retreating her hand from the teacher's desk and gripped the straps of her backpack instead.
The dark-haired woman smirked and leaned back into her chair, folding her hands in her lap as she eyed the confused student. "I guess I haven't."
Aurora waited a long second, hoping it was enough time for Victoria to give her an explanation. Unfortunately however, that explanation never came and it only frustrated the teenager further. She placed both palms on the edge of the desk this time, leaning in close enough to get a better look at Victoria's grey eyes, trying to convince herself that she was about to successfully intimidate the older woman.
"You're really not going to tell me?"
"Why is it so important to you?"
"Because..." She sighed, unable to explain herself without sounding like a creep. "A lot of things in my life haven't been making any kind of sense lately and you would be doing me a huge favour by just answering this one question."
The smirk on Victoria's dark lips only grew at Aurora's confession and she found herself leaning over her desk, her face inches apart from the brunette's. Unconscious that she was even doing it, her grey eyes flickered between Aurora's soft hazel ones and her small pink lips several times before she finally whispered, "It sounds like I would somehow be making your life a hell of a lot more easier."
Aurora subconsciously licked her lower lip and hummed, drawing the teacher's attention back to it for a split second, "Maybe." She whispered back.
"Sucks to be you then." Victoria chuckled, pulling away from a stunned Aurora with a mischievous grin. She didn't waste another second trying to figure out how to give the teenager the answers she so desperately wanted and instead tried to flee the situation as quickly as possible. Aurora simply watched on in silence as Victoria packed her bag, straightened out her pencil skirt, turn off the small lamp on her desk and then wordlessly walked by her and out the door - leaving her in the dark.
.♡.
The ride home was bittersweet for Victoria. In the beginning the only thing on her mind was an instant replay of her last conversation with Aurora and for a number of reasons she couldn't stop smiling about it. It felt good to be able to have a somewhat normal conversation with her again. Even if she was a completely different person now, much of her attitude and personality remained the same. Still as curious and talkative as ever. Still thinks she can intimidate Victoria with eyes as soft and innocent as a child's. Still thinks she can bat her pretty eyelashes and Victoria would crumble and confess the seven wonders of the world to her. Well, she most likely still can do most if not all of the above - but Victoria couldn't allow it. At least not yet. Aurora's mind is still deeply wrapped up in her life of this reality and if anyone tries to make her regain her memories by force, there's a ninety-percent chance that she will spiral into insanity.
And that was certainly the last thing Victoria needed right now.
The teacher's house was at least an hour's drive away from school and she hated almost every minute of it. In reality there was no need for her to drive in the first place because when need be she can outrun her own car if she wanted to. But there was no logical way for her to constantly move back and forth between her house and school without raising any suspicion. The small car she was forced to purchase had to suffice as the next best thing.
Slowing the vehicle to a stop at the curb outside of her house, she twisted the engine off and took a moment to collect herself. Her forehead fell against the steering wheel in her distress as her long dark hair curtained it self around her, concealing her from the outside world. For the first time in eighteen years Victoria felt like screaming. And not the whiny kind of scream when you've had a long day at work and you felt like the world was against you for the entirety of that day. It was more the kind of screaming you want to do when you've become so completely numb to the world that you just want to feel something.
Anything.
As the night grew colder and darker, Victoria felt the once beating heart in chest begin to do the same. Was she a bad person for not mourning the loss of her dead mother and father? Perhaps the news was so shocking that the reality of the situation wasn't fully registered into her brain yet. At least, that's what she's trying so desperately to convince herself of. Suddenly she no longer felt like screaming. This time a heavy ball of anger exploded inside of her and she felt like cursing at the world.
Did her immortal life had to be so messed up that the moment one thing was going good, seconds later another would just collapse? If Aurora felt like nothing in her life was making sense right now and already wanted to rip out her hair for some answers, then what would she do if she was in Victoria's position who felt like her life was just created to never make sense from the moment she was born? Hell, maybe even at the point of conception.
The woman was just growing more and more exhausted by it all. How much longer until she can stop chasing after her own happiness? How much longer until she can stop being a prisoner in her own life? How much longer until Aurora remembers...
A low buzzing sound brought Victoria out of her reverie. She slowly sat up in her seat and strained her ear to zone in on the exact location of the sound. It was apparently coming from the car's radio. The only light in the car was a soft hue of orange being illuminated through the windshield from a nearby street lamp. Victoria decided to make the most of it and brought her face closer to the source for further inspection. The buzzing sound soon faded into static and gradually began to grow louder.
Victoria's car was a older model of whatever new technology existed in this century. In hindsight, there was no possible way for the radio to be powered on without the help of the car's engine which she was positive she turned off just a few moments ago. She then proceeded to give the radio a few hard taps, hoping it would solve the problem. Instead, said problem only escalated further when a old ninety's tune began blasting through the speakers at full volume.
Now Victoria was not entirely familiar with the full operating system of her car - or any car for that matter - but she figured her best solution was to try turning the car back on and then off again. But tried as she might, the key suddenly won't budge. She tried twisting it this way and that several times but the jagged piece of brass wouldn't move. Unfortunately, the teacher lived in a rather quiet neighbourhood and any sudden noise no matter how late or early into the evening was going to cause for a mass disturbance. Several porch lights began to flicker on one after the other, indicating that her neighbours were going to be coming out of their houses soon to see what all the commotion was about. Without hesitation, Victoria folded her right hand into a fist and smashed the car radio in, instantly bringing the loud noise to an abrupt stop. All she could've done in that moment was watch as pieces of the radio fell off onto the floor, leaving behind nothing but loose wires. The neighbouring lights were soon shut off just as quickly as they came on and Victoria decided it was time she finally went inside.
Except, something dark and quick on its feet suddenly ran by from out of the corner of her eye. She could be mistaken but it felt like whatever it was had been watching her for a while and only disappeared when she turned around to unbuckle her seatbelt. She waited a moment longer convinced she was going to see it again, and sure enough there it was again. A tall and pitch-black shadowy figure zipped by in front of the car. This time it moved with loud, barefooted footsteps that vibrated the pavement under the small car. Finally having seen and heard enough, Victoria hastily unbuckled her seatbelt and exited the car. Her eyes wildly surveyed the area around the house as well as opposite ends of the street. But there was nothing. Nothing but cold air and an empty street.
"Vic, is that you?" Or so she thought.
Turning around, Victoria was met with her thirty-year old neighbour posed off at his front door with nothing but his pyjama pants on.
"Goodnight, Alvin." The teacher greeted him, forcing a smile.
"I didn't realise it was you. I heard the noise and came out here expecting to see a broken-hearted old guy cruising down the street blaring some oldies."
If that was his attempt at a joke, Victoria wasn't laughing.
"Everything okay though?" He continued to ask, stepping out into his porch light for Victoria to see his naked torso on display. Sometimes she couldn't understand why he even bothered. Within the five years Victoria has been his neighbour she hadn't spoken more than ten words to him.
"Yes." Victoria answered stiffly, making to turn on her heels and walk the short path to her front door. But she was forced to stop when he came at her with more questions.
"Was there a problem with your car? I don't think I have ever seen you play the radio. I can take a look at it in the morning if you'd like. After all I did take some engineering courses during my college years..."
Does this guy ever shut up? Victoria thought, tempted to sprint across the street and politely rip his vocal chords out for him.
Something else caught her attention in the moment though. The shadow figure from earlier was now hovering at the entrance of Alvin's door. Victoria was only able to see it because of the small amount of light the porch light provided, otherwise it would have blended into the night. But now that she got a closer look, the figure wore a hoodie of some sorts but even with the light it was clear that no face laid hidden beneath it. There was nothing but absolute darkness.
The teacher called out to her neighbour, about to warn him about the unwanted visitor, but just as she said his name the shadow vanished into thin air.
"What is it?" Alvin wondered, looking over his shoulder to the spot where Victoria was intently staring.
"Never mind." She decided to dismiss it, too mentally tired to deal with any playful ghosts. "I'm heading inside now."
"What about the car?!"
"I already took care of it." She informed, happy to have finally reached her front door. Without waiting for a response from Alvin, she entered the house and then slammed the door shut behind her.
"Welcome home, sister." A familiar voice announced from her living room soon after, not allowing her the chance to so much as kick off her shoes.
With no sudden desire to put a face to name, Victoria rolled her eyes at the fact that she was not destined to have any peace of mind for the rest of the day and carefully took off her shoes. Her work bag was then discarded on a nearby table followed by her hair being messily thrown up into a bun before she even thought of going to the living room.
"What are you doing in my house, Nikolai?"
Victoria was barely spared a second to take in the scene before her when a tall figure materialised in front of her, crazed and glowing grey eyes seizing her entire body in place. Nikolai's clawed hands wrapped themselves tightly around her neck, squeezing hard.
"Is that any way to greet your big brother?" He growled in her face, the metallic scent of fresh blood lingering on his breath.
"I see you finally fed." Victoria choked out through gritted teeth, refusing to give Nikolai any visual sign of how much he was actually hurting her. Her arms remained limp at her sides with her feet firmly planted in the ground. She was used to her brother's constant aggressive behaviour by now and knew not to try and fight him back, not when he has recently fed.
There was not nothing more violent than a freshly fed vampire.
"Yes. I have." He confirmed smugly like he knew something she didn't. "I was tempted actually. By one your lovely students."
Fear instantly struck Victoria's heart and she forcefully pushed Nikolai off of her, sending him flying backwards into a concrete wall with a loud groan. A thin air of dust showered over him as pieces of the concrete fell off on the impact.
"I told you not to interfere with any of those kids!" His sister growled, now barring her sharp white fangs with a promise of death. "Which one?" She demanded to know, not allowing him the chance to get back on his feet unless it was game over for her. With one stomp of her bare feet to his chest, Nikolai fell back against the wall with a force much stronger than the last - his spine audibly cracking. "Tell me which one of them you killed!"
"Get your foot off of me." The injured vampire ordered, his rough voice surprisingly calm. "Get your foot off of me and I'll tell you."
"Liar!" Victoria hissed, crouching down to his level. She quickly replaced her foot on Nikolai's chest with the pad of her knee, griping the front of his shirt and yanking him towards her. "Give me a name first."
"Why does it matter?! I didn't touch your precious soulmate!"
Her grip on his shirt slackened and the anger slowly began to fade from her face, "You didn't?"
"No! Now get off of me you crazy bitch!" He practically begged, the pain now evident in his eyes. But Victoria didn't budge and her grip tightened again. Not because he didn't touch Aurora meant it was okay for him to kill someone else. She feared it might even be one of the teenager's close friends which might be even worse than him killing Aurora.
"Then who is it? I need you to tell me now."
"Some sad redhead I bumped into in the woods. I can barely remember what she looks like."
"But you know her name. You always know their names. I know you know it!" He had to tell her who it was now. One of the many things her brother was cursed with was gaining the memories of every person he killed. Because he would pretty much suck the life out of them, their souls attached themselves to him and he would be haunted for days. "Nikolai, please. Just tell me the name."
No longer able to resist, Nikolai glared up at his sister through soulless eyes and spoke through gritted teeth.
"Cecilia Powers."
***
A/N - Sorry for the long wait but I've been trying to keep up the 12k words per chapter as promised! Hope you all enjoyed this one. Don't forget to vote, leave a comment or share your thoughts on the chapter. I hope you're having a great New Year thus far (:
P.S sorry for any typos 😁
Until next time...
~ Natalia Xx