UP IN FLAMES - Lydia Martin

013. Skylar's return

╰┈➤ chapter thirteen;
skylar's return

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1 year and 5 months later:

IT WAS too warm and beads of sweat were running down the back of Skylar's neck. It was way too warm for the blonde, yet this was the only place where she could find obnoxious men who possessed higher-value Beastiaries.

The bazaar was swarming with people, mostly men, who were eyeing Skylar as she sat at one of the outside tables at a cafe, waiting for the person she had struck a deal with.

Apollo was late. With each passing second, her mood worsened and the dark sunglasses that were resting on her nose were starting to give her a headache. A chequered sundress was flowing around her body, the end coming down to just above her knee.

"Argent." Came a shout and Skylar's eyes lazily flickered to the approaching man. His beard was uncombed, the wrinkles around his eyes were more saggy than they were last time and his leg seemed to be extremely stiff when he walked.

He pulled a chair out and sat down opposite Skylar, combing his fingers through his unkept beard. It made Skylar gag.

"Apollo." She greeted, a smirk playing on her lips. "You look worse today, old man."

"Old man? Who are you calling old man, you little whore?"

Skylar pursed her lips to not explode in the man's face. She looked around the place before looking back at Apollo and mockingly gasping.

"Oh look that that! It's almost like you're the only one around, prickly dick bastard."

Apollo rolled his eyes and reached into his pocket and pulled out an old, leather-bound enciclopedia before placing it on the table and sliding it halfway, his palm keeping it safe from Skylar's plan.

Her plan was to grab it and run.

"So..." she started. "What was the deal? Twenty grand?"

"Fifty."

"Nuh-Uh. I distinctly remember the 'th' sound. Thirty?"

"Forty."

"Thirty-five?"

"Forty."

"Fine!" Exclaimed Skylar, slamming her palms down onto the table, gaining the attention of a few passer-bys. "Forty." She stood up from her seat, the chair scraping back against the concrete. "C'mon, follow me, Viking dude."

"What's with the names? And the glasses?" Asked Apollo.

Skylar smirked, shaking her head. "Isn't it more fun to remain mysterious?" She asked before walking into a side alleyway, where the only thing that was there was a bunch of bins and trash. Apollo followed.

Before he could expect it, Skylar lifted the bottom of her dress, retrieving the knife that had been strapped to her thigh. With a few quick movements, she had the man pinned up against a wall, the knife pressed tauntingly against his neck.

He laughed. "Isn't it time to take off those glasses, princess? Too afraid to look me in the eye?"

His laugh turned to a whimper as Skylar pressed the knife further into his neck, drawing blood.

She grabbed the encyclopaedia from his grasp and threw it behind them, the impact of the book causing the bins to rattle.

"What were your words, again?" Asked Skylar, tracing a finger along the man's neck as if to calculate how straight she could slit his throat.
Apollo didn't answer. "What are you gonna do, bitch? Slit my throat?"

Skylar laughed, the sound echoing. "Oh no, I'll do much worse. I'll slice your entire head off."

"With that little knife? I doubt it."

She raised her knee and kicked him in the balls, leaving the man to cry. "Don't underestimate what I can do." With her free hand, she slid her glasses to the top off her head and retracted her dagger before making eye contact with the man.

And just like that, his eyes turned to stone, it spreading like a disease until the entire body was pure stone.

Skylar sighed and wiped the drop of blood that had came from her nose. An overuse of her powers. For good measure, she detached a pipe from the wall and swung it at the stone statue, shattering it so it wouldn't be passable as a once human being.

Grabbing the encyclopaedia off the floor, she slid her sunglasses back onto her eyes and made her way out into the Main Streets, book open as she searched for the page she needed.

"Gorgon." She muttered to herself, finger tracing along the words. "Medusa, known to turn all living into stone with a single glance. Huh. Believed to represent female rage and fighting evil with other evil. What the fuck! Stupid fucking dude. I wanted a cure not a story book."

She threw the book into a bin as she passed it, scoffing at the nerve of the man–statue.
In the corner of her eye, she caught sight of something that resembled an arrow. It was just lying on the ground, glittering in the sunlight. Skylar's eyes widened and she started to move towards it.

Just as she was about to pick it up, a hand was placed on her shoulder, startling her.

"Ma'am?" She recognised the dude. It was one of the Calavera hunters. There was a group of other men that she presumed to be hunters, too.

Before she could do anything, her sunglasses slid off her face and onto the ground, and the hunter she was looking at, turned to stone. Right in the middle of the street. Right in front of the other hunters.

Skylar's eyes widened and she threw a punch at the nearing hunter, but he had the advantage of surprise and distraction. Another hunter shot her in the abdomen, a searing pain spreading through her chest.

Her feet gave out under her, her body crumpling to the ground, staining it with a dark red. Through her haze, Skylar could feel someone tie a blindfold around her eyes, allowing her body to welcome the sweet darkness waiting for her.

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