Rage of Vendetta (The Vendetta Series #2)

BONUS STORY - The Blind and Bridled

The Blind and Bridled— Time Frame: Before the events of In Vendetta House

In the darkest of nights, Vee Aley tried to forget. 

She was always running in her dreams, pulling away in the most twisted way. There was always an owl perched on her shoulder, always digging its talons in too deep, always a burden unbalancing her. 

Every time she was pulled from her dreams with a start, she wasn't sure if it was better to be awake or asleep. 

"My dear, it really is too early to be up," her mother told her when she padded into the kitchen. She always spoke to Vee in Afrikaans, but Vee replied in English.

"I have some homework to finish," she said simply. Vee scanned the counter-top for some food to eat. She picked up an orange, then thought twice about it. The orange was too vivid. The entire world was a constant trigger. 

"Vee, there's nothing wrong with that orange," her mother scowled as Vee put it in the trash.

"It looks too much like him," she replied, unblinking. 

The orange did not look like a person; it was rather the color she was referring to, the vivid streaks in the hair of the man who had stolen her big sister from her, who had inevitably caused her death.

Her mother didn't reply to that, spraying soap on the dirtied table. There was a moment of silence, and then, "Can you go wake your father? I disabled his alarm last night."

Vee nodded obediently. Their family was a little stranger than the average one, sure, but she never minded. At least, she didn't used to. Not until Gabbi met Hunter, and the both of them were caught in a round of gunfire.

Since then, her father had been working far more than necessary, and she caught her mother trying to cut out her indigo streaks one night. 

There was at least a year until that fate would be Vee's, one she couldn't run from, but one she could ignore for the time being. 

"Pa?" she called, slipping into the room.

His snoring form was slumped on the side of the bed. 

Vee crept closer, sighing. She shook his shoulder. "Pa!"

Her father jerked upright faster than she expected, and Vee took a step back, startled.

"Gabriella?" he croaked. He rubbed his eyes. "Oh, Silveeah, it's you."

Vee told herself a mistake like this was normal. It had only been a month. Gabbi's absence in the house was like a table missing one of its legs. 

"Ma says to get up," she said.

Vee was already walking off before her father could reply, eager to get to school.

"Silveeah, be careful," he called after her. 

Her parents had been repeating that to her far more than necessary recently. She hefted her backpack on her shoulder, slipping out the door before her mother could chide her for not eating breakfast.

She had friends to meet up with: friends who didn't know about the deadly Sixth Branch of angel children who hunted the streets relentlessly, or the demon-blood running in her veins, soon to flourish.

Vee kicked an empty box on the sidewalk, the blur of orange hurtling onto the road. Everywhere she looked, she couldn't escape treachery. 

Broken ghouls and tragedy, they followed this species as if there was a visible magnetic pull.

If she let herself slip, the images would still surface, and then she would remember Gabbi's dark hair under the white sheet, vicious slashes they couldn't cover up.

A van drove past on the road, flattening the empty box.

Vee frowned at the sleek vehicle, wondering what something so high-tech was doing in a town like this. 

"Vee!" she heard being called as she neared the school gates. Her attention was drawn away easily to the boy waving at her with a group of other classmates. She smiled, hardly noticing the golden-haired woman stepping out the van and slowly eyeing her up like a meal to be consumed. 

"What are we all gushing over?" Vee asked, joining the crowd. 

Something superficial was being handed around the table, and Vee became too caught up in the gossip to see the strange woman write something down on a clipboard with a smile and disappear in her van.

She would find out soon enough.