INSATIABLE

CHAPTER 6

“Please stop, it hurts," She starts to mock me and another tear rolls down my cheek.

Why is Bri doing this to me?

I try to jerk away but the more I struggle to free myself, the harder she pulls, and the more my pain intensifies.

Ella starts to bark at her furiously and that irks Bri.

“Shut the f**k up, ugly stupid dog.” She makes to hit Ella, who reaches to scrape her skin but she is quick to yank her hand away.

I chuckle despite myself and If I wasn't in so much pain, I would have cheered her on.

Go, girl.

I love how she always comes to my defense.

“You are telling her to hurt me now?” Bri asks and I shake my head.

I didn't say 'go girl' out loud, did I? But what if I did, I am no Budd Skriff from Upside down magic? I wish I had his power though.

She tugs at my hair tighter and I whimper.

“Stop, please,” I beg as my eyes screw tight from the pain and I swallow a lump that forms in my throat.

“You ain't even going to apologize?”

“I already did.”

"Did you?"

"I am sorry, okay."

"I didn't quite catch that. What'd you say?”

“I am sorry, Bri.”

I sob painfully but that doesn't seem to deter her, it fires her up if anything.

"Bri, please."

“The f**k, Bri? You're hurting her.” Someone comes to my defense.

I bet he is either her boyfriend or just a friend.

“She ratted me out!”

“I am sorry.” I squeak and she sneers.

“Let go of her!”

The guy commands and she scoffs furiously.

“Are you seriously defending her right now? You want to-.”

“f**k you!” He barks, pulling her away and she grudgingly let go of my hair.

I sigh in relief and I say a silent thank you to my guardian angel.

“I wanted to teach this w***e a lesson.” Bri yells and the guy takes a deep breath.

“Get in your f*****g room!”

“I am not done with her yet!” She yells and I hear the bang of her bedroom door.

“Are you okay!” The guy asks me and I nod.

I wipe the tears away to clear my blurred vision and I turn towards him.

I don't know what I was expecting, probably a sweet gentleman with an angel-like face, but he is so far from that.

He does look like an angel at all.

He has a handsome face but a rough physique.

His arms are covered in tattoos, he has a metal ring on his lower lip and a few piercings on the left ear. His short dark hair is dyed gray at the tips and he is in all black. A black pair of jeans, a black t-shirt and a pair of black air max.

Everything about him screams bad boy.

“Don't cry,” he takes a few steps towards me but I flinch when he reaches to touch my face.

I am taken aback when a small smile pulls on his lips, like an actual warm smile.

“Easy, I am not going to hurt you.” His voice is deep but soothing. “Go take a rest, she will come around.” He tells me after it gets obvious that I won't say anything and I nod and walk to my room.

I put Ella down and I furiously wipe the tears with the bottom of my blouse top.

Leaning on the door, I screw my eyes tight while I rub my temples softly to ease the pain.

My head is aching terribly.

I am not entirely blaming it on Bri since I was having a mild headache long before this, but it got worse when she pulled my hair.

I always knew Bri was vicious but I didn't know she was heartless too. I knew she wouldn't let it go, but I was braced for a scolding, not a fight.

God! I can't believe this is my first day here, and we are already pulling each other's hair?

I suck in a deep breath.

I wish my parents were still alive, I wouldn't be here and Bri wouldn't have hurt me and I wouldn't be in so much pain. I would be in our house right now.

Why did they leave? Why did they leave me all alone in a world full of mean and brutal people? What did I ever do to deserve all this? Why is the world so cruel? Why are people so heartless?

I want to be with my parents, under their protection....is that too much to ask for?

Another tear rolls down my cheek and I furiously wipe it away.

I slump myself on the bed, little Ella following suit, and I carefully rest my throbbing head on the pillow.

Ella jumps next to me, giving me those sad puppy eyes that seem to ask if I am okay, and she proceeds to lie on the bed with me. She scoots closer and I pull her in my arms tightly, closer to my chest.

My eyes are cast blankly on the pink wall and my vision is blurring as more tears form in my eyes.

I don't blink and I don't even bother to wipe them away. I just let them fall, rolling all the way to the soft fabric of the pillowcase.

Silently and painfully, I sob my feeble heart out wishing my parents were still alive.

I am snapped back to earth when Allesia's Scar to your beautiful blasts from my phone and I wipe my face dry, loosening my grip on Ella.

It is probably Aunt Mel calling.

I stretch my right leg hooking the strap of my bag pack on my foot and I lazily pull the bag towards me.

I fish out my phone and a smile forms on my lips when I see the caller ID.

Nanny.

I clear my throat, tap the answer icon and press the phone to my ears.

“Hello?” I say in the most cheerful voice that I can muster, but my voice comes out so hoarse and so broken and so low.

“Are you okay, Rio?” She asks alarmingly and you can literally hear the concern in her voice.

“Yeah., I say chuckling in an attempt to sound happy and okay. “I am fine.” I lie.

“Why are you lying?”

I swallow dryly and clear my throat for the second time as I sit upright, leaning on the headboard.

“Nanny, I am fine,” I assure her but an involuntary sniffle sells me out.

“Are you crying?”

A lump forms in my throat and I stay quiet for a long second balancing the tears in my eyes.

“I miss you,” I say out of nowhere.

“Riona Daniels, don't you dare dodge my question.” She always uses my full name when she is serious about something. “Have you been crying?” I don't say anything because I am afraid if I speak I will break down completely. “Talk to me, sweetie. Did anyone hurt you?”

“I haven't been...” I start to sob.

Ella crawls on my lap, and she stares at me in the eye in a way that seems to say 'Please don't cry, Rio, I am here with you'.

“Who hurt you, Rio?”

I sniffle for the umpteenth time today.

“Bri,” I say in a hushed tone. “She pulled my hair and said mean things to me.”

“That girl! I knew she won't let you stay in peace!”

Nanny was hesitant about Bri and I living in the same house but Aunt Mel assured her that I would be okay.

She hated Bri from the day she hit Kay, four years ago. Bri and Aunt Mel had come home for Christmas, and she picked a fight with the sweet Kay for absolutely no good reason. Nanny pulled them apart and Bri cussed at her calling her a poor useless b***h and I had to stand up for nanny. Since that day, nanny calls Bri mean and disrespectful. She hates her guts and so does Kay.

“I think it was my fault. I kinda provoked her.” I say, wiping tears with the back of my hand and nanny scoffs.

“Are you seriously trying to justify her actions?”

“No, Aunt Mel scolded her because of me plus she was drunk,” I add, and nanny gasps.

“She drinks?” The shock in her voice is almost traceable. “She is barely eighteen.”

“She turned eighteen last week, plus this is Bri,” I say shrugging.

She does whatever she wants and I think Aunt Mel is always okay with it.

“Whatever. I don't care if she drinks herself to the grave, but she is not allowed to touch even a single strand of your hair.”

“I think it is the alcohol.”

“Drunk or not, that girl has no right to hurt you. Have you told your Aunt?”

“I can't, I don't want to.”

I don't want to cause more problems between them plus telling on her is the reason she got so mad.

“So you are just going to let her hurt you? I am calling Melanie right now.”

“Please don't.” I plead. “I don't want more problems.”

“Fine,” she tells me after a long silence. “I am letting it slide just this once, but if Bri hurts you again...”

“She won't, I am not giving her a reason to hurt me again.”

She takes a deep breath and when she talks again, she is all cheerful.

“So how was your first day in college?”

I am all excited as I tell her everything in detail. I tell her about my two classes, but I don't tell her about Leo for a reason. She will start the not so welcome lecture about boys, saying that I am still a minor and I should focus on my studies, and it's the last thing I want right now.

After the call with nanny, I decide to video call Kay and she answers almost instantly.

A smile pulls on my lips when I see her face on the screen and she happily smiles back.

"Hey," I say, with lots of excitement.

"You look like hell."

"You are such a friend, Kay," I say sarcastically and she chuckles.

"Seriously, what happened to you? Are you crying?" She asks, and I can practically trace the concern in her voice.

"I was, not anymore."

"It is Bri, right?" She squints her eyes at me and I nod.

"She almost ripped my hair out."

She gasps.

"What? Why? Were you guys fighting?"

"No, Bri and I were not fighting." And Kay should know that by now, I can't hurt even a fly. "More of she was fighting me."

"Why?"

"I got her in trouble with her mom."

"Rio-"

"I unintentionally told Aunt Mel that Bri didn't take me to school, she scolded her and Bri got so mad."

"It is barely a day and she is already picking fights with you?"

"I am at fault."

"Are you seriously justifying her actions?" She raises her eyebrows at me.

"I am not, she shouldn't have hurt me but she had a right to be mad."

She shakes her head.

"What did your aunt say about it?"

"Haven't told her."

She narrows her eyes at me.

"You are kidding, right?"

"She will scold her again and Bri will hurt me once again, it will be an endless cycle and it is the last thing I want."

I just want peace and I desperately want Bri and I to get along.

"Bri is such a psycho." Kay snorts. "I hate her so much."

"And I know just how much," I say chuckling.

On a scale of 1-10, Kay's hatred for Bri is at 1000.

No kidding. Kay loathes Bri.

"Kayla?" I hear her mother calling and Kay makes a bored face.

"I gotta go shop for tomorrow, call you later."

"Bye, love you."

She makes a heart shape with her fingers before ending the call and I smile.

My heart is lighter as I amble to the bathroom to wash the tears off my face. I take Ella in my arms after I am done and I walk out just as Bri's door creaks open and her boyfriend walks out.