She is Fatal to Death (Standalone Story)

Chapter 43 (The Rest You Deserve)

Renata

It was the worst timing, she admitted to herself as she mentally took a walk down memory lane. Her life was so different then. She hadn't been out of college long, having said goodbye to 'Nope Corner' not long after. Instead of wiping the grimey residue off her body each night and counting the stacks of cash, she swapped that night life for dreaded early mornings and the soul-sucking office tasks her passive-aggressive boss sent her each morning.

Whether it was shaking ass or tapping against the keyboard, sending out a thousand and one emails, she didn't have much to complain about. While in foster care, she saw the unsightly sides of life. Sure, she had Rocio, but two little girls pitted against unrelenting, corrupted systems could only protect themselves against so much. They slipped through the cracks. Experienced all kinds of abuse. Some they remembered, others they didn't.

Renata felt slighted by life in many ways, though had the will to appreciate what was right in front of her. Had she not applied to 'Nope Corner', she would have never bonded with the blue-buzzcut hottie everyone called Diamond. Her best friend in the entire world. The person that became her other half.

And over the course of their friendship, things did get messy. Very messy. Yes, Renata was still deeply hurt by the actions of her best friend, but in this hurt, regret never bloomed. Despite the breach in trust, Renata loved Diamond with all of her heart.

Renata fought for her.

She fought for her sister Rocio. This woman stepped up when she was still just a child. She looked after Renata despite the grief she experienced from also losing her mother. During their childhoods and young adulthoods, Renata could not have asked for a better partner.

Tahoma, her current contender for best boyfriend ever—as soon as they actually went on a date anyway. She was pretty sure he was pissed beyond recognition at her in this moment, but she alos trusted that he would embrace her fiercely after-the-fact, if she could just make it past the finishline.

She owed this final fight to herself. She'd been her own worst enemy this last year, pulling the trigger with the gun aimed at her head more times than she cared to share. She'd hurt herself over and over again, unable to accept an endless life filled with the momentarily torturous mental illness she experienced from her trauma. Echoes of pain she struggled with even to this day.

All of it began with him.

She thought back to that infamous night when she first set eyes on Keone. His red eyes were cold and calculating, devoid of all humanity. The blade pierced her middle one, two, three times. Each time, she was ripped open, thrown into the world of blue, the stillness and freeze which polluted her bones and flesh until she didn't know where she stopped and death began.

Overnight, she'd turned into an immortal anomaly.

Another punchline.

And just like that, empathy for Angel slammed into her like a freight train.

When she awoke to her reality, she came to the embrace of her dearest friend. Diamond had helped wash the blood away, held her tightly until she almost believed nothing could ever hurt her again.

She tried to imagine Angel waking up utterly alone, stuck in a human body and bound to a fate he didn't want. No Diamond. No Rocio. No Tahoma. Hell, even no Keone.