Centre of the Storm

Chapter Nineteen: Sweet Dreams

A/N: so I did Beatrix's POV in the last chapter, and it was really fun! I actually love writing her. I'm gonna be doing a Cashlin POV in a few chapters too.

I looked through the money I had brought with me. It seemed I had approximately thirty dollars, maybe less. I would probably end up spending it all on food, and then I would have nothing. I really should have thought this through. I had been so desperate to get away from Beatrix, I hadn't realized there was nowhere for me to go. I was all alone.

But then I remembered that that wasn't exactly true.

I sat down on a bench and dug through my bag, desperately searching, hoping I hadn't left what I was looking for at the apartment. Then, I felt my fingers brush a piece of paper. I pulled it out, and looked at it. It was the number Olivia had given me.

Not feeling like I had any other choice, I pulled out my phone and dialed the number, then put the phone to my ear as it rang. She picked up after two rings.

"Olivia?" I said. 

"Damira? Is that you?"

"Yeah, it's me," I responded.

"Oh my gosh, hi! I wasn't expecting you to call so soon! What's up?"

I didn't know if I wanted to tell her about what had happened. I barely knew her, and it was like if I admitted out loud that Beatrix and I had broken up, it made it real. It meant that I couldn't ignore the fact that she had betrayed me. That the whole time we had been friends, she had been using me. And that after we became more than that, she hadn't told me. Would she ever have told me if I hadn't found out?

And the worst part, was even though I hated her, and I hated that I had trusted her, I was still in love with her. "Oh, I'm just sitting on a bench by the park," I said. "I was bored and decided to call you."

She laughed. "Well I'm glad you did. Pluto invited me to this party, and said I should find someone to bring, since it isn't really Evianna's style. Wanna be my plus one?"

I almost smiled, then remembered my situation, and was overcome with sadness again. "Yeah, sure. I-"

A noise, kind of like a rustle in the bushes near me, startled me, and I almost dropped my phone. I turned and looked, but there was no one in sight. But somehow, I knew I wasn't alone. My pulse started speeding up, and I quickly stuffed my money and the phone number in my bag and zipped it.

"Damira? Are you there?"

"Yeah I'm there, I just...." I trailed off, not knowing what to say.

"Are you okay?" she asked, sounding worried.

Then I heard it again, but closer. I couldn't tell exactly where the sound was coming from. But I knew it was a person, and they were getting closer. "I think there's someone here," I whispered into the phone.

"Are you in danger?" she whispered back.

I heard footsteps, high heels clipping against the pavement. I turned, and saw a girl standing across the road, staring at me. She was slim and very pretty, with long copper red hair tied in two braids hanging down past her collarbones. She was wearing a field jacket with a short black dress under, and sleek black shoes. Her stance wasn't threatening, and she didn't seem to be holding any weapons, but her expression said otherwise.

As you can imagine, I recognized her right away.

"Yeah, I'm definitely in danger," I said.

"Where are you? Are you by the park with the playground?"

I nodded, then remembered she couldn't see me. "Yeah, I am," I said, trying to remain calm.

"Okay, I'll be there in fifteen minutes. Don't die." And she hung up.

Cashlin walked across the street towards me, and I felt myself going into defence mode and power rose in me. But I didn't attack. At the moment, I had no reason to. And while I was scared, I was also curious.

"Hey Damira. Long time, no see," Cashlin said cooly, sitting down on the bench beside me. On closer inspection, I saw that she was wearing Alyssa's dress. I felt sick. "You probably thought I was Alyssa first, huh?" For a split second I had thought that, but I still didn't say anything. "Yeah, that's what everyone thinks. Even now that she's dead, people don't see me, they just see my sister. No one really knows me. They hang out with me so they can talk about her, or pretend I am her." She leaned back against the bench. "The funny thing is, I thought you were different. I thought we could bond over both having lost someone we loved."

"I'm sorry," I said.

"For what, specifically? Abandoning me? Lying to me?" Cashlin turned towards me, and I could see tears welling in her eyes. "Or are you sorry that you killed my sister and threw her body in a river?!"

I froze. How did she know that? Did that mean other people knew too?

She barked out a pain-filled laugh. "You're not even going to deny it, are you?"

"Cash-"

She glared at me. "Don't call me that. She called me that."

Before I could say anything, she shook a needle out of her sleeve, and plunged it into my arm. I jumped away from her, but it was too late. After a few seconds the world seemed to spin slightly, and I felt sick. I gripped the bench for support as my vision started to blur. An overwhelming sense of exhaustion came over me, and my eyelids felt heavy. I fell forward and tumbled to the ground, as everything around me started to disappear. "Sweet dreams" Was the last thing I heard, before it all went dark.