Slicing My Flesh

26

I finished washing my hands, so I began drying them. I fixed my hair in the bathroom mirror and decided it looked decent enough. I opened the door to leave, but I was blocked by two girls. They smirked while crossing their arms. I recognized them as two of Naomi's  friends. Oh, please don't make this a repeat of Acacia's friends cornering me in the bathroom.

"So you're the girl that captured Nay's heart." The red head commented.

"Well, you are pretty... I'll give you that." The black haired one circled me. "Though I don't know why someone with your beauty would be giving Acacia the time of day." She played with my hair.

"Umm... I think that's rude." I gently took my hair from her. "I'm gonna go-"

"We're not down with you." The red head blocked me again. "We want you to choose our friend over that scum of an elf." She scoffed.

"Either you pick Nay or Acacia will be... you won't like the outcome." The black haired one smirked. "Okay." Her and the redhead locked eyes. "Pleasure meeting you, Zena." They then started to walk away.

"What are your names?" I called out.

"Madison and Harley." The red head motioned between the two of them. "Looking forward to our wedding invite." They laughed and rounded the corner.

"Wedding invite?" I jumped and turned to see Acacia with a raised brow. "And you seem awfully chummy with the two hellspawns." She walked away.

"I'm not chummy with them." I caught up to her. "Like your friends, they cornered me in the bathroom. I would have freely spoken-"

"My friends did what?" She asked through gritted teeth. Umm... she looks angry. "I'm gonna kill them." She turned around.

"No!" I grabbed her wrist. "They were just looking out for you." She rose a brow. Damn, she's intimidating and sexy. "I was caught off guard, but I'm not mad at them, so you shouldn't be as well."

"What did they tell you?" She walked forward, causing me to walk backwards until my back hit the wall. She was so close to me that I could feel her peppermint breath. "Answer." She whispered. I found her eyes flicking between my eyes and lips.

"Zena!" We pulled away at Hailey's voice. "I've been looking everywhere for- I'm not interrupting something, am I?" She smirked.

"No." I pushed Acacia away from me. I saw the hurt expression on her face. I was about to say something, but she walked away. "Ugh! See what you did, Hails!"

"No. No, I do not." She chuckled and interlocked our arms. "You missy... are in soooo much trouble."

"Why?" I rolled my eyes.

"You didn't tell us you were attacked by demons!" She yelled.

"I thought going to the light realm was the more interesting thing." I shrugged. "Plus, I was distracted from Naomi like taking advantage of-"

"She WHAT?!" I flinched at her voice. I saw students staring at us in curiosity. "HOW DARE SHE-" I slapped my hand over Hailey's mouth, so she couldn't tell the entire school what Naomi and I did. "Imgonnakillher." She mumbled against my hand. I couldn't clearly hear what she said, but I had a vague idea.

"You are not gonna kill anybody or tell my moms." She glared, but my glare was harder. She rolled her eyes and finally conceded. "Thank you." Sshe flipped me off. "Now, I'm gonna go and get ready to meet up with Xav and Inara." Hailey quirked a brow. "They're gonna take me to the ocean to pet stingrays!" I excitedly announced.

"You know those things killed Steve Irwin."

"Steve who?"

"Jeez, I really need to give you a crash course in pop culture." Hailey groaned and left me. Who's Steve?

X

I was so excited to tell Hailey about my adventure today. Xav and Inara fulfilled their promise of us swimming with stingrays. They were even able to get some whales to come close by. It was so much fun riding on the backs of whales. Xav was able to command the whale to stay still, so that I could climb onto its back. The two then used their water powers to knock me off the whale.

I somehow convinced them to take me to their home one day. Xav said it was a bit of a swim, but thought she could get some dolphins to help me swim there. Inara was super excited for me to see the surface part of Atlantis. Yep, there's an underwater and surface version of the place.

My hair was still wet even though I left the sisters a half hour ago. I was walking towards my dorm, when I was stopped by Naomi's demon friends. I loudly groaned, causing Harley and Madison to laugh. They grabbed my arms and dragged me away.

"Did Naomi get you wet?" Madison asked.

"Got her soaking all over." Harley chimed in.

"Where are you two taking me?" I whined.

"Surprise date." Madison answered.

"Surprise what?" They just laughed and led me to a picnic.

I saw Naomi patiently waiting for me. My eyes immediately snapped to the cannolis! I ripped my arms free and ran to the cannolis. I ignored Naomi and started to shovel the cannolis into my mouth. So, so good! I moaned and ate half a dozen. I saw Naomi blush and look away. I ignored her and moved to the tiramisu. She sure knows how to make me happy.

"Enjoying the food?" I could hear the smugness in her voice. I continued to ignore her. "Look... I'm sorry for what I did to you." I still ignored her and found some cheesecake! "I've been separated from you for so long and couldn't control myself. Especially after seeing you interact with Acacia. I wanted to claim you and make you mine."

"And that's where you're wrong." I spoke with a mouthful of cheesecake. "I'm not yours anymore." I said with finality. "You hurt me more than you know."

"I understand-"

"No you don't! If you did, then you'd have never left and rip my heart out!" I threw the cheesecake down. "You kidnapped and had people torture me. I forgave you and accepted your apology. And then you turned around and ripped my heart out. You left me alone!" My voice was strained. "You hurt me and I can't trust you anymore. What can you say that'll reestablish my trust in you."

"Zena, I'm utterly and hopelessly in love with you." My breath hitched since she was reserved in expressing her feelings. "It pained me to leave you, but if I stayed then my parents would've been angered even more and launched another attack to steal you. I couldn't live with myself if I enabled your torture again." She looked down. "I didn't want to hurt you, but I had to do it to protect you."

"Naomi, I'm having difficulty believing anything out your mouth." I admitted.

"Then, access my memories."

"Huh?" I didn't know how to do that.

"Use your nails and impale them into the back of my neck." She picked up my hand. "Then, you can see why I acted the way I did. I'll do whatever I can to regain your trust." She then took me by surprise and deeply kissed me. "I love you, Zena. Please, look inside my mind." She placed my hand behind her neck. "Do it, amore." She pecked my lips.

I took a deep breath before embedding my nails into her neck.

Are you guys excited to see Naomi's past? Here's a little spoiler, her past isn't just limited to Z...