STEPHEN'S POV I let my body soak in the water for a while, pushing my claws out of my cuticles and letting them flick the water before redrawing them, only to repeat the whole process all over again. I did it multiple times, even trying to carry as much water as I could in my hands before eventually they spilled over the edges and returned back to the tub to meet the rest of it. Usually, I wasn't the kind of person to take long showers, or spend more than five minutes in a bath, but I supposed the stress of everything that had been weighing me down finally crashed on me. I was somewhat thankful though, because I didn't have a break down in the middle of doing something important, like maybe when we would finally decide to get rid of Nightshade. Still, the reality of the situation was that if Cyrus and I continued the way we were headed, without communication, then the whole handling Nightshade mission might as well be cancelled. Of course, it would most probably all work out if we
TW: Suicide, self harm, negative thoughts. STEPHEN'S POVI gripped my pillow harder in my hands, my back aching from how long I've been in this position. I was resting against the headboard of my bed. And right now, I realised how uncomfortable and unnecessary the carvings and designs on the headboard are. They were too much, and were very stupid at this moment. My throat hurt from how much I'd been screaming in to the pillow, and my head was aching, but even with all these physical inconveniences and pain, none of them could compare to the feeling on my heart sinking even further down my body as my tears tainted my pillowcase like they never had before in my life. I buried my face further into the pillow, trying to bring up my knees closer to my chest so my knees could prop up the pillow in a better posture that won't have me crying from both my mismanagement of emotions, and from back pains. It didn't work, and the position only seemed to be getting worse, which fueled my tears.
STEPHEN'S POV By the time I came to consciousness, there was an apparent dull ache on my wrist — both of them. My fingers felt numb, and they struggled to move. I felt them twitch, digging into the linen of the bed I seemed to be on. My nails scratched the fabric irritably, the sound getting drowned out by the insistent beeping that I just noticed. I took in a shallow breath, letting the puff of air put shortly after as I struggled to make my eyes open. My eye lids fluttered pathetically, closing and opening up again rapidly and exposing my eyeballs to short bursts of light. I settled for squinting, as that seemed to be the only action that didn't cause me pain at this moment. My head was pounding, and I was starting to think this headache was a manifestation of a generational curse of some sorts. Jesus, who did I offend? Squinting seemed to help a bit, and soon I was able to open my eyes just enough to take a look around at my surroundings. I was lying down on a bed — but I had al
STEPHEN'S POV I hated walking in front of others. It was honestly among the top list of things I hated doing. It wasn't anything personal or complicated, really, I genuinely just preferred walking behind people so I could watch their movements and such. It was all just a matter of being on guard all the time. Clyde was having none of that though, and I had a feeling that it was because he was worried that I would run away if he let me out of his sight for even a split second.He wasn't wrong though, but it wasn't like I would run away the exact second he turned; I would at least wait for a minute or so. Hell, I would plan it all out in my head first before I would actually run away. It wasn't that I was trying to run away from him exactly, I just didn't want to burden him in any way. Knowing him, the second we got back to my room, he would give me “the talk” and then I would be forced to sit through a, at least, three hours long lecture. I knew he would only do it because he meant
DEVINA'S POV “We're good to go, ma'am. Everywhere is clear.”I licked my lips, tightening the hold I had on the gun as I glanced at Denzel and readjusted my mask, determined to finish this quick and efficiently. It was my idea, after all. I opened the car door, getting ready to come down as Denzel did the same. “Good. Everybody start moving.”I adjusted the mask on my face, pulling the hood of my leather jacket up to hide my hair as well. Denzel and I walked step by step, and I tucked my gun between my jeans and my waist. It was uncomfortable there, but I could easily collect it if anything went wrong. Hopefully, nothing did though, because I only had the gun to threaten them, and the last thing I needed was to be forced to pull the trigger just because they were proving to be stubborn and wouldn't listen. Denzel and I made eye contact, and I could tell he gave me a gentle, soft and reassuring smile, although I couldn't really tell because he also had a mask on as well so maybe I
DEVINA'S POV I bit my nails, starting from my left thumb as I clenched my teeth on it until it stung. Tearing off the extension from my finger, I spat out the nail and moved on to the next — my middle finger. I wasn't a fan of biting off the nails of my index finger, or my pinky one either. That was gross. I preferred to stick to my thumb, my middle, and my ring finger. Those made the biting more comfortable and didn't make me have to arch my wrist in an odd angle. I was very much aware that biting your nails wasn't exactly the best of habits, neither was getting so frustrated that you'd pull on your hair until you'd accidentally tug quite a few strands off. I wasn't so much of an innate peasant that I didn't know that much. But, ultimately, I had to choose one of the two as a coping mechanism, and I wasn't so sure I wanted to be walking about and parading the streets while the blazing sun would shine on my bald head with an unforgiving heat. That seemed like a special kind of tortu
DEVINA'S POV I placed my hand on the old lady's thigh, squeezing it as I shuffled closer to her. She stared ahead, letting out a low whimper when our shoulders brushed even closer together. We were on the way back to the hotel so we could pack our stuff and get to the airport. I had texted Nightshade that we had gotten the woman and made sure the man didn't have the balls to say anything to the police — not like the police would've done anything to intervene that would actually affect us anyway — and he'd replied like the bossy bastard he was:Irritating Bitch 2:37am :Good.So you can do something right. Well done, my loveI already booked you a flight back for around 7amBaekalis’ mother is riding with the other menDo you understand? Me 2:38am :? Am I going to get on the flight alone then?? Jesus… Irritating Bitch 2:38am :No DevinaYour so slow Keep upDid he just type “you're” as “you”? I was poor and struggling, but certainly not illiterate. God, the way he typed someti
STEPHEN'S POV Clyde sat down on the bed, gesturing to the chair behind me. I grabbed it and drew it closer to him, sitting directly opposite. We were facing each other, and like this, it was possible to see every one of each other's facial expressions. Clyde crossed his legs, putting one over the other as he laced his fingers together. He rested his laced fingers on his knee, leaning forward as he stared at me. “Stephen.” Clyde's posture, even though he was leaning, was still inhumanly straight as he addressed me, his tone filled with faux gentleness. “I think it's about time we talk everything out. Don't you?”I waited with laboured breaths for Clyde to start talking. He seemed to take much pleasure in building up the tension because he really did just stare at me for over a minute. I shifted in my seat awkwardly, the thin layer of fabric covering the foam of the chair wrinkling underneath my weight and making a weird sound. I brought my hands together, fiddling with my fingers i