Hard to Hate You // Michael Langdon

Part XXIII - Trust Issues

"Shit," I mutter as I fall backwards out of the chair, my incantation undoing Michael's spell.  I land face down on the floor, having done a whole backflip. 

I quickly pull myself to my feet and brush myself off.  It's been about five minutes since Michael left, so there's no way he's done showering by now.  Maybe if I hurry I can get to Mallory and resurrect her.  

I transmutate to the bathroom that Mallory died in and run to the bathtub.  As soon as I pick up her face, I perform the spell that I used on Coco to bring her back.

Nothing happens.

I try again, but nothing happens.  

Holy shit.  I slowly drop her back into the water as the reality of what Michael did sets in.  Michael destroyed her soul.

Fuck.  So, basically, I'm screwed unless I can find a way to bring her soul back, which is virtually impossible.

I quickly turn to the door as I hear footsteps approaching.  Shit.  My luck is really not going well today.

I make sure that I leave Mallory how I found her before transmutating to the kitchen.  I can just play off my little excursion as getting a snack.  Besides, it's been a while since I've eaten.

As soon as the thought of food comes to mind, I feel a pang in my stomach.  It seems like I won't be having to do much lying about my motivations for coming to the kitchen.  

As I begin ransacking the refrigerator, I feel Michael's presence appear behind me.  "What the hell are you doing?"

I turn to face him.  "What does it look like?" I roll my eyes.  "I'm starving."  I turn back to continue emptying out the refrigerator's contents, which only consists of the disgusting gelatin cubes.  "I really thought that Venable would've had a secret stash of snacks," I sigh.

"How the hell did you break my spell?" Michael asks, ignoring my previous remarks.

I shrug as I settle on a gelatin cube and take it out of its tray.  "You're going to have to do more than that if you want to come between me and food."

I go to take a bite out of the cube, but Michael grabs my wrist and squeezes it, making me drop the cube.  "Hey, what the hell?" I complain.  His large black ring touches my skin and I furrow my brow, realizing that it has an entirely new energy to it.

Michael doesn't notice my confused state and continues to threaten me.  "I know that getting food would not be your first priority after escaping from me undetected," he states lowly, his voice taking on a threatening tone.

"Relax," I roll my eyes, beginning to back away from him.  "Maybe starving to death isn't a threat for you, but it is one for me-"

"Cut the bullshit," he snaps as he tightens his grasp on my wrist and pulls me back into him.  "What were you doing?"

"Getting food," I deadpan.

I wince as his grasp further tightens.  "Hey, easy on the wrist-"

Before I can finish complaining, he transmutates us into his bedroom.  "Don't you think you're slick?" he mocks as he picks up the chair laying on the ground.

"Well, in fact, I do-" He picks up a pair of handcuffs and I immediately change the course of the conversation.  "Why the hell do you just have those sitting around?"

He ignores me and slips one handcuff onto my wrist and the other onto the arm of the chair in one swift motion.

I raise a brow mockingly.  "Really?" I question.