Bloodline and Bloodlust | On Hold

ℭ𝔥𝔞𝔭𝔱𝔢𝔯 𝔗𝔥𝔯𝔢𝔢

𝔱𝔴𝔦𝔠𝔢 𝔰𝔥𝔶

Scarlet gripped her whiskey glass tight. Tighter than she had perceived, because in that same moment, the creaking of glass snapped her back into reality.

She glanced down, crimson blood trickled down her long fingers. A large crack held itself against her touch.

"You're doing it again." Zach said softly, and reached out to grab his sisters wrist.

"So I am." Scarlet said dimly with a short chuckle and took her hand away. She stood to rid her glass. She poured its remnants down the sink and threw the glass in the recycling with a crash. Slowly, she then began removing shards of glass from her index finger and palm.

"Scarlet?" Zach asked.

"Hm?" She said, not taking her eyes off the wound on her finger.

The skin pulled itself together.

"Are you okay?"

"As good as ever!" She joked with a sinister smile.

"Scarlet-"

"-I'm fine, really, Zach." She insisted.

He took a step forward. "Scarlet, please. I know something is up-"

"-You really wanna know?" She said, her tone whitening.

"Lay it on me, sister." He said solemnly.

"Very well." She stood tall. "You should have stayed dead." Venom in her words, black in her eyes.

"I-"

"-Don't." She snapped.

"No! I didn't ask for this!" He bit back. "You brought me back!"

"I didn't know you were a murderer!"

He silenced, and slumped in the doorway. "That's not fair. You know I had to do it."

"No," She challenged and took a seat, "I don't know if you did have to."

He stood straight again, taken aback. "What're you saying, sister?"

"I'm saying," she started, biting her inner cheek, "that maybe you're not the brother I thought I was bringing back. My little brother. My Zachariah."

Zach dropped his arms. "I'm still your little brother, Scar."

A single tear dropped down her freckled cheek. "Zachariah..." She began.

"...Sister, please." He said, almost begging. "Don't do this."

"I think you need to go." She said stiffly.

He swallowed the lump in his throat. "If I go, you're practically sentencing me to death. Mordecai will find me. He's relentless!"

Scarlet met him with a cold glare. "I've got to protect my family."

"I am your family!" He said, tears streaming down his cheeks. "Scar, please. I am your family."

Scarlet turned her head away, glancing down at the marble floor, unable to maintain eye-contact with him.

"Scarlet?" A soft female voice echoed through the dining room. Arabella.

Scarlet turned to face her younger sister, disdain in her face. "Bella, you're awake..?"

Bella's face went sour. "You're going to make him leave? He's my brother too, you know?!" She said in a raspy voice. "You don't get to make that decision yourself!"

"I-I know he is, but I'm thinking of the family here, Bells-"

"-Thinking of yourself, you mean?" Bella took a step forward. "What would Felix think?"

"Felix isn't here." Scarlet bit back. "He left."

"Exactly. We are your family. We are who you have left. You don't just throw your family aside." She said passionately.

"You don't understand, Bella." She took a deep breath. "Mordecai...he's coming. And he's not going to stop until he has who he wants."

"Let him come." She said sternly. "Let him. Let him see what happens when he tries to take my brother away!"

Scarlet slumped in her seat, defeated. "You don't realise what you're giving up."

Bella glanced over at her brother. "I'll give everything up for each one of you. You're my family, the only family I have left."

Scarlet looked up. "Very well." She took a deep breath and met her brother's untimely gaze. "You can stay."

With bated breath, Zach nodded. "Thank you, sister." And with tears welling in his glassy eyes, he left the room without another word.

A beat passed. Arabella glanced at her sister. "He's not going to forget this, you know."

Scarlet sighed. "Oh," she began, "I know."