The Devil's Daughter

►chapter nine ♣ enin retpahc◄

It'd been two weeks since the day Faith had spoken to Natalie in the bathroom and every day since, she and all the other students in the school complimented her on her thinness. No one noticed as she became thinner and thinner, weaker and weaker. They were so hell bent on believing she'd get better no one saw her become worse.

It was monday afternoon, in the middle of 4th block when they found her body. Natalie had had a heart attack since she wasn't getting the necessary nutrients her body needed to function.

She'd been lying face down on the polished, wooden floor in front of the math department, Gatorade bottle in hand spilt around her. Her hair had thinned incredibly since the first day of school, and her skin had turned so pale her veins were visible.

Faith had been amongst the crowd when the ambulance carried her out. She held back her grin of satisfaction and choked out a sob, hiding her face in Damon's warm chest.

He'd wrapped his arms around her, rubbing her back to calm her down, though she didn't need calming. No she needed to jump around, rejoice in her kill. It'd been too long since a soul had gone to the underworld because of her. Too long since she'd felt the rush of being a murderer.

As Damon murmured sweet nothings into her ear, trying to lull her into peace, she cried and cried into his chest, nuzzling her nose into his neck and taking in his angelic scent. She'd wondered if he'd been able to smell the lies pouring off her, but if he had he hadn't said anything.

The crowd dispersed, revealing a sobbing Caroline in the arms of a worried Matt on the other side of the circle surrounding the area of Natalie's death. She'd felt her heart tug as Damon pressed her harder to him, his arms tightening around her as if she'd slip away with the crowd.

The murmuring amongst the students filled the hallways along with the sobs of most of the girls, hiding their ugly, tearful faces in the chest of their boyfriends. Soon enough the hallway was silent, save for the sniffling from Faith and Caroline as they stepped towards each other, both boys in tow.

"I really thought she was getting better." Faith murmured, holding on to Damon and nustling her face in this hard, sculptured chest.

"Why didn't we see her getting worse?" Caroline asked Matt as he rubbed her back.

"It was my fault. I should have known." Faith internally laughed at the irony.

"It's not your fault. There was nothing that could be done." Damon told her. His breath fanned against her ear and against her better judgement she shivered. His hold tightened.

"Still..." She looked at the spot where they'd found Natalie with sorrow, though she had so much glee inside her she wondered when she'd be able to burst out into a smile and laugh.

"Come on, let's go. They canceled the classes for the day." Matt said into Caroline's hair as he hugged her.

They left the hallway and it's sorrowful atmosphere. The dread and pain in the air, in the students they passed in the halls, in the girl crying next to her, all fueled her. She took a deep breath in to savor the smell and had to suppress a sigh of delight.

Faith excused herself and went to the bathroom. As she eyed the red eyed beauty staring back at her, the grin broke across her face. Her eyes shined with glee and the feeling of being satisfied.

Finally. Finally the taste of Death on her tongue. The smell of guilt, of pain and dread flowing into her nose. She had to keep herself from squealing with glee lest the others heard her.

She cleaned her fake tears away and fixed herself before stepping back into Matt and Damon's bedroom, where a still crying Caroline clung to Matt. Damon was sitting on his bed staring off into the distance out the window. She made the walk across the room and sat right up against him.