Painting Flowers (You Don't Scare Me Book 2)

Chapter Two - Diabel

     I was confused to say the least. Confused, scared, but I hadn't pissed myself yet. Thinking about that, I hadn't pissed myself since I had been three. As I stared at the strange girl, I held the knife tighter in my grip. Words were caught, my tongue was tied, nothing came from my open mouth but a guttural noise. It was as if I had forgotten how to speak, as if the cat had really gotten my tongue. This inability to speak was troublesome, although no matter how much I tried, my fear took over my ability to speak. I wondered who the hell this chick was and why she looked the way she did. Terrifying? Definitely, but I wasn't about to shit my pants. Not yet, at least. 

     "How do you know my name?" I finally managed to snap back, finding confidence in myself. Although I wasn't really sure if I wanted a response. There wasn't a right or wrong answer to this. Somehow, she knew me. That horrible, ugly, murderous monster knew me. Me. Wow, I was fucking lucky and hit the jackpot with crazy bitch, didn't I? My mind starting racing, wondering what in the Hell I could've possibly done to get my name in this girl (or whatever this thing was)'s mouth. Perhaps she'd been stalking me my whole life, watching me move, watching me breathe, sleep, eat, piss, who knows. This situation just got creepier and creepier, and I had a feeling that it wasn't going to end there. Maybe I was dead and this was a nightmare that I was never going to wake up from. I was an Atheist, but damn was I praying that this thing would just leave me alone. 

     She seemed to go silent for a few moments, though there was this weird growling noise, very quietly coming from her. Her bloodshot eyes stared straight into my emerald ones, and we stared at each other for moments, and those moments turned into something that I thought would never end. It was as if I was her meal, and she was examining my body, looking to see if there was enough meat on my body for her to be satisfied with. Yet, while she terrified me with her appearance, I had the upper hand in my height. I stood at a solid 6'3", while she stood a little above a foot shorter than I. I could look down at her, and somehow I was filled with the dread and fear her glowing eyes, wicked voice, and sharp teeth gave me. 

     "Leave." She responded, totally ignoring my question as the tip of her knife pressed gently to my throat, though not enough to break skin. It was as if she was holding back from something, a sense within her wouldn't allow her to kill me on the spot. Sympathetic, she offered to let me go. As crazy as it seemed, I didn't really want to go. I wanted to know why she knew me, what kind of a creature she was, how any of this was even possible in the real world. 

     I paused for a moment, swallowing, my Adam's apple jolting. Taking in a deep breath, my chest expanding, I looked down at her with a stern look that had meaning and power. "Kill me." I stated, stretching my arms out and waiting for her to either walk away or stab me in the chest. 

     She pressed a little harder. She pressed, and pressed, her face scrunching up with anger. And then she pulled away, as if this creature had a little humanity left in her. She growled and dropped the knife on the ground, landing with a thud among the leaves. Her eyes seemed to have literal fires going on in them as her anger grew. Anger boiled and bubbled, yet she could not kill me as I asked. My curiosity grew stronger, pulsating ideas and conclusions in my brain to figure out the situation and piece things together. 

     She placed her hands on her knees, leaning over with her hair all dirty and mangled covering her face. She looked at the ground, breathing heavily as if she was containing her anger in some way. As she bent over, I noticed a silver chain around her neck. It came down and hung from her neck, a heart locket on the end. I hadn't seen it before because it had been hidden under her tattered, bloodied shirt, but as she bent over it gave me a full view of the jewelry. Memories struck in my head, and my eyes widened. "No way. Where the Hell did you get that necklace?" I snarled at her. I wasn't really angry, I was scared and confused, although it was being expressed as anger and frustration. 

     She shot back up, tucking the locket away in her shirt frantically. "It's mine!" She snarled back, although as she was tucking it in I went and grabbed her wrist. It was the first time I had touched this being. Her skin was like leather, and it grossed me out how skinny she was, but I only held my grip around her wrist tighter. She froze instantly, as if she was surprised that I had dared to touch her. 

     "Answer my question." I said sternly, a shadow overcasting my face. 

     "What does it matter to you?" She replied, giving the same hostile expression that I had been in retaliation. 

     I opened my mouth and paused before words spilled from it. "My sister had one just like it. I remember, despite how young I was. She wore it every day. It had a picture of us inside" I responded, my voice laced with pain. It had been so long since I'd seen my sister, and I loved her more than anything in the world. I always thought that even without my parents, I would always have her. Livia would take a bullet for me any day, as she told me when I was little. She promised she would never leave me, and yet somehow she broke her promise and I ended up living with Asher. It was horrible, and even though she left me there, if she had a good reason I was willing to forgive her. All I wanted was a sister back, to be cared about and loved by someone who shared my blood. 

     And every day went by, and I wondered if that day would ever come. 

     To my astonishment, the beast-girl began to cry. The tears welled up in her eyes, forming at the corners before they slid down her mud-stained cheeks, leaving a trail of clean skin behind them.