Suffocating

Illusion; IX

"She'll look at things more cautiously now. I've made sure of it."

"That's... good."

Their voices was muffled by the large echo of the empty parking lot.

Bella, head held up high, pulled out her car keys from her purse. It was bland and looked fancy.

Claire fidgeted and readjusted her clothing, looking around nervously, not wanting to be caught in a very 'unClaire-like' clothing.

"I doubt Roxanne will actually come. It's the fucking junkyard, and, she's supposed to meet this 'hero' at night, alone."

Then, clearly, you don't know Rox.

Claire didn't smile, but she did nod, chauffeuring Bella to her car. Her eyes darted around. She didn't see or hear anyone. She didn't feel anyone either. They were alone. "Thank you. Someone needs to tell her that heroes..." she trailed off, feeling a buzz in her pockets.

Bella gave her a disinterested look, knowing who it must be, as Claire wasn't acquaintance with that many people.

"Claire! Claire, where are you?!"

"I'm on my shift. I've told you that."

She wasn't, and she'd never told Roxanne that.

But Roxanne trusted her, and even if her memories - and reality itself - denied Claire's words, she'd still believe them.

Which made it all the more harder for Claire to lie.

"I did? Oh, yeah, I mean, of course I did! Listen, you need to come home ASAP, okay?!"

Bella's gaze was cold, calculating, because that was the kind of person that she was, but a flame of anger couldn't help but swallow Claire. It felt as though she was laughing at Claire, laughing because Claire had put herself in this situation and now she'd severely damaged the only relationship she'd ever care about.

Her face must've shown that anger, because suddenly Bella went back to her phone as though whatever was on it was more interesting than this conversation.

"Claire?"

Her throat was heavy when she said, "I can't, Rox."

There was a small 'click' sound as Bella turned off her phone. She wasn't bothering pretending to be uninterested now, watching her with the kind of eyes a predator would have.

"This is important! Claire, the hero I've been talking about, she actually wants to see me! She wrote a letter to me, Claire!" There was a sound, on the other line, of a shuffling paper. Claire felt nauseous. She knew exactly which paper Roxanne must be holding. "She knows about me! I think this is because of Connor- of Rick! I knew he was an angel! I want you to come with me tonight! I know it said I should come alone, but I need you!"

Claire's head tilted up, a soundless hiss passed her lips. She closed her eyes and swallowed. "Rox, please. I have important stuff to do."

"Claire, please, I'm begging you," Roxanne's voice cracked and wavered, and she kept switching between shouting and whispering. She was excited, and she was full of hope. "This is- this is huge! This is important to me! You know this is important to me! Just this once, abandon this shitty secret of yours and help me uncover the real deal!"

And Claire was about to break that hope.

"... I'm sorry."

She didn't say anything more, she didn't need to. Roxanne was quick to understand anything there was to understand, and the way her breathing halted and the background noise stopped proved that.

Bella's gaze, intense as it was, were not an important matter to her.

The eerily quiet parking lot, only holding one car, Bella's car, closed in on her, as did the world.

Her heart, usually so calm even in the face of utmost danger, kept pounding, punching at her chest, as though it would rip it open and escape from her.

She needed to say more. She needed Roxanne to understand that she didn't mean to abandon her this time. "Roxanne, I-"

"Fuck you, Claire."

And then the other line went dead, and Claire was strangely calm and... empty. Her body was heavy. This parking lot was so small, yet so echo-y. She was suffocating. She felt a hand on her shoulder, big, calloused, experienced.

"She'll come around."

"Doesn't mean I don't feel guilty about it." Words easily came out of her mouths, no filter separating them. It rarely happened to her. "Fuck. This is a mistake."

"Maybe," was the savagely honest answer. The hand on her shoulder squeezed, "I'll keep them off your back, for tonight," then, it released only to pull out a car key. "Crystal City will think you and Roxanne will spend the night tonight cooped up in your apartment, Netflix and chilling."

Bella pressed a button on the key, and the car made a noise of affirmation.

"Thank you," said Claire, watching as she got comfortable on the seat.

Bella grabbed the door handle but didn't close it yet, looking at her with that neutral face of hers.

"I'm doing this because you'll owe me." Bella showed more emotion in that second than she did the entire walk here. And it was the kind of you have when you know you've won the game just as it started. It was unnerving, seeing that expression in Bella's face. Claire had to take a step back. "You, Claire. You."

The car left in an intense speed with no screech or wobble, leaving hot smoke and tire tracks.

Bella Blake Donna, a coyote amongst the sheeps, not as threatening as a wolf, but would do what was needed if push came to shove. Even after knowing her for so long, Claire knew next to nothing about her, which showed how competent and skillful she was in her line of work.

Claire had tried getting a reading out of Bella, but all that came out were a jumbled mess of small crimes and a capable, steely aura.

Bella was tasked to watch over Claire. She worked for The Watchers, or maybe she was one of The Watchers. It was hard to tell with them. And honestly, Claire didn't care much. She never cared much of anything. She wasn't Roxanne.

Bella was a wildcard. It was hard to tell what her priorities were; wealth, family, herself. Maybe it was all of them. Maybe it was none of them.

Claire had made a deal with the devil.

But she was going to make it worth it.

All for Roxanne.

...

Editor and Beta Reader: FeugoFox42 (From FF.net)

...

Posting this now in case I won't have access to the internet tomorrow due to a bullshit my school set up disguised as "a way to train our youth to become great leaders" while really it's all just bullshit.

Also, oh no, Bella is... well... You read the chapter, you know who she was.

Umm, have a good day~