The heart of Cleopatra

Air supply

Chapter thirty nine

Cleo rushed through the busy corridor battling against the students in her way. Charlie found it impossible to keep up with her. When Cleo needed to get somewhere there was nothing holding her back, she couldn't afford to baby sit Charlie.

Cleo pushed the back emergency door open leading outside to find a tall figure with their back to her, the faint squeals of Isabella made Cleo jump into action. She pounced on the stranger who had a deadly grip on her step sisters neck, his shirt ripped from the force Cleo used. The grim looking stranger turned to her with snarl. Cleo raised her fist before he could blink and landed a bone crunching punch to his cheek, she bit back the sting of her knuckles. The man's anger spiked as he touched his split skin, Isabella gasped for air as he threw her to the floor. "You bitch." He groaned with gritted teeth. His hand curled to a fist but Cleo caught it giving her a second to catch a glance at the shaken up Isabella.

"RUN!" Cleo shouted at Isabella. This wasn't going to end nicely and if she gets in the cross fire it makes everything worse. "You went for the low prize over the top. Coward." Cleo smirked as she clicked her knuckles. Another harsh jab shocked the man, adding fuel to his fire. He kicked Cleo, the heavy impact his boot made on her ribs was enough to make some fall to the floor, but not her. "You'll regret that." She said with a blood curdling grin. A skilled and complex combination of punches made the man dazed, one kick to the knees caused his body to drop to the floor like a sack of potatoes. She sent a quick text to Zeus requesting his help in taking the lame body away from the school without raising alarm. "Don't mess with a Valencia." She smiled as she bent down, slapping his cheek and stealing his phone.

Cleo smeared her ruby red blood from her knuckles as she entered the school hall. The bruising feeling made her torso tighter and tighter as she walked. The sight of Isabella leaning on a locker with Charlie beside her made Cleo feel a small wave of relief, Charlie was good in these kind of situations, he's kind and calming whereas Cleo's anger gets in the way.

"Are you okay?" Cleo asked her step sister as she stepped in front of her pale and traumatized face.

"Who was that?" Isabella asked in a shaky whisper. Cleo saw a flash of her deceased friend April in Isabella for a second, the same painful feeling never disappears. Before Cleo could spin up a very vague reason as to why she was seconds away from being choked to death a voice came behind her.

"Did your friend find you?" Francesca asked. Cleo turned around with a whole new level of fury. Francesca stood along with Ralph in the empty hall.

"You set her up!" Cleo shouted in rage as she slammed Francesca's petite body against the opposite sides locker. Her back landed heavily on the solid blue metal doors making her squeal in agony.

"Someone asked where she was. For a payment I said yes. Who cares anyway? She's a first year." Francesca said as if Cleo had lost her mind. Charlie's voice went to deaf ears as Cleo took a tighter grip making Francesca squeal further.

"She's my sister." Cleo replied in a strong threatening voice. Francesca looked at her in shock, Cleo's reaction and the strong hold she had her by was beginning to make sense.

"MISS VALENCE, PUT MISS FRANSIS DOWN RIGHT NOW!" The stern voice of the head master ordered at the sight of Cleo gradually cutting the air supply from Francesca.

Cleo groaned in Francesca face and dropped her to the floor. Francesca gasped for a breath, she knew Cleo was shady but she didn't imagine her to follow through with her threats. "It's Valencia." Cleo corrected. She saw Francesca's and Ralph's eyes go wide at the mention of the Valencia name, they should have never pushed their limits.

"My office now!" The headmaster commanded again. Cleo smirked at the two rich kids as she barged past them. Charlie and Isabella stood leaning on the lockers watching her approach, both of them looked nervous for her, but this isn't Cleo's first time in trouble with authority. Cleo nodded her head letting them know she was fine. However, that didn't help the sinking guilt feeling that was stirring in Isabella's stomach.

Isabella was snatched from the halls against her will, if it wasn't for her stepsister saving her it would have been over, and yet Cleo is the one in trouble. Nothing about that felt fair.

~~~

Cleo sat opposite the headmasters door slouched and bored. She was aware her punishment was about to be way over the top, but that was the least of her worries. The loud footsteps coming down the hall caught Cleo's attention. When she saw who she expected she sighed, of course.

"Father." Cleo smiled. She was met with a harsh face from Hade.

"You had one job, stay out of trouble and now you're starting fights." He said.

Cleo stood from her chair and closer to her Dad making sure the nosey staff didn't hear their business. "Do you really think I'd fight a student for the hell of it?" She asked, Hade's eyes narrowed, he was quick to judge his daughter in the worse light. "Isabella was attacked because of the Deadpool and Francesca was the one who gave her up. Looks like they found their way to this side of the tracks."

"We will deal with this later, but you're not entirely in the wrong. Man, I hate these places." He said as the headmaster called for their attendance in his office. "Let me do the talking Valencia." He told his fiery daughter. She smirked and followed him in. Cleo was just grateful it was her Dad that was called and her Mum didn't know.