Seal of Love

Aggravating

Leo’s Point of View:

    It was late morning when I finally found my way back to the orphanage. Breakfast was over and Rose was already in the kitchen washing dishes. When I stammered inside, out of breath, she looked real shocked to see me. Of course she was. Whatever the reason she left me tied up, she defiantly didn’t expect to see me return so early.

    Rose stared at me with her mouth dropped open as I entered the kitchen, looking like a complete disaster. My face was all cut up and bruised from trying to find my way back, and my normally shiny hair was covered in mud and tree branches.

    I noticed that she was specifically at my chest and I looked down to see that the front of my shirt was ripped open and completely drenched in sweat. Disgusted by my appearance, I pulled off my shirt, relieved when my upper body could finally breathe again.

    Rose quickly looked away, a sly smile appeared on her lips. So she IS perverted! She did this on purpose! I quickly tossed the shirt to the side, eyes glued to the ring on her hand.

    “Did you sleep well last night?” Rose asked, turning back to the sink again and grabbing another dish. “You don’t look like you had any sleep. You look awful!”

    I set my jaw, irritated. ‘I look like this because of you!’ I thought to myself. ‘I tripped five of times on my way here because I was feeling light headed. And that was probably the result of you-know-who giving me a concussion!’

    Trying to relax my face, I asked in a soft, innocent voice, “Why do you hate me, Rose? What did I ever do to you?” I heard Rose snort in reply but she still refused to turn to face me.

    “I don’t know,” she said in a sarcastic tone. “It’s just the atmosphere coming off of you, I guess.” I arched an eyebrow, confused.

    “So you hit me upside the head because of my ATMOSPHERE?”

    Rose continued, wiping out her pot. “It’s not you personally,” she said. “You just seem very… deadly. Like there’s a MURDEROUS aura about you.” My eyes flashed at the raise of her voice on the word “murderous”. She defiantly knows…

    The air between us thickened and I glanced over at the counter next to me, where a dull, rusting knife was sitting. It was a bit too rusty for my tastes but I could still use it this one time.

    I grabbed it, making sure to make no noise while doing so. Rose turned off the water, freezing like she sensed that something was wrong. Then, ever so slowly, she placed the pot in the dish drainer and hesitantly turned around.

    My hunting instincts kicked in and without giving her a second to think, I plunged myself at her, pinning her into the wall. My hands wrapped tightly around her scrawny little neck and she tried fighting back, grabbing at my hands and trying to pull them off.

    I brought my lips to her ear, smiling, as she struggled to breathe. “I’ll be taking that ring now,” I whispered. I dropped my hands from her throat and raised both of her arms up, locking them above her head. I raised the knife, ready to chop off each finger individually if I needed to.

    I brought the knife back, deciding to just chop the whole hand off, when I heard that innocent cry escaping her lips. Rose’s eyes were squeezed shut, her bottom lip quivering. It was so weird. Never have I ever hesitated when I was about to kill, but this girl was different from all of my other victims.

    “It’s nothing personal,” I said quietly. And it wasn’t. I just needed the ring.

    Rose lifted her head, staring up at me with tears forming in her eyes, ready to cry at any moment. My stomach churned. Shoot… This girl was so aggravating that I didn’t want to kill her.