WICK

☆9☆

Those two words were spoken so soft, that at first Cattelaya thought she'd imagined them- that was, until the waves of anguish following knocked her near breathless.

Her eyes shot to Alessia who had turned her face away, the pain that radiated from the younger teen was thick and hot- as if the emotion had turned into a physical inferno; her chest burned and ached as her heart pounded to accommodate the sudden surge of unknown pain.

Soft sobs echoed around the girl, causing her smaller body to tremble; for a moment it felt as though Cattelaya were back in the field, wanting so badly to comfort her sister- yet not sure whether or not what she would say could even partially take away the brunt of the storm that Alessia was in.

I don't need the right words. Her frustrated thoughts suddenly cut through the overwhelming sadness that had crashed her system just previously- for a moment she sat on the thought.

She had no words that would save her sister from heartbreak or loss; but maybe they could find comfort within their shared experience of it.

Slowly she filled her lungs with the tension filled air of the cab, she felt as though there was no need to further roll the window down nor did she feel the same urgency she once had of changing the topic in hopes of fanning away their grief; not when they had each other to help face it- her free hand reached out to grab Alessia's.

The girl froze, her mouse-like sobs coming to a complete halt as she felt the extra appendage, for a moment they sat like that; with Cattelaya awkwardly half-caressing her sister's clenched fists while neither of them faced the other.

Finally, Cattelaya gave her hand a soft squeeze- this gesture had Alessia's attention even more so, which was evident in the way her head whipped around to face her sister who, to her surprise- had a thin trail of liquid streaming down her face.

"I'm sorry about Ophelia," she said softly, the atmosphere around them seemed to cause her voice to echo- the words bounced up and down her skull; for some reason her voice suddenly sounded too high and loud to Alessia's ears.

She hated the sound of the words her sister was saying and soon the sadness that wrecked her body dissolved into barrels of fury.

She wanted to jump out of the car and run through traffic, rather risk the threat of an oncoming car than sit and hear her sister's pity.

Feeling the sudden shift in her sister's mood, the older girl dared another glance at the younger teen and to her shock- her eyes were met with a tearful glare on her sister's end.

Had it not been directed at the older girl, she felt as though there would have been a sense of pride in the ferocity of her -typically amicable- baby sister's icy stare; however, seeing as there was no other being there to work as recipient, she was stuck with the task of figuring out just what exactly she had done to upset the girl.

For half of a second she pondered trying to talk around the issue until the problem was sorted or revealed itself; sort of like what those old parenting books -she'd occasionally catch her guardian skimming through- had suggested, though in the end she decided to tackle this the way her late mentor would have; by ignoring the book and leading with an unbudging bluntness.

"I have no idea what I did wrong." She stated plainly, the older girl's complete lack of resolve stumped Alessia; she stared incredulously at her sister for half a beat before she began to roar with laughter.

It was a loud belly laugh that sounded too harsh to be genuine, for a moment Cattelaya could only listen to the almost deranged cackles that shook her sister- she wondered whether or not it would be wise to interrupt or if she should just allow the younger girl to just be as she was.

However, she soon began to grow uncomfortable with the uncontrollable chortle and decided that maybe an interruption would benefit the both of them.

"Lessa?" She began hesitantly, her voice was soothing- as though she were approaching an injured animal. "Are you o-"

"You don't know?" Alessia's voice suddenly cut through her wicked amusement, effectively cutting off her sister's query- and despite her sickening gawfing, her voice was void of any emotion and for the first time that afternoon, Cattelaya couldn't decipher what Alessia was feeling- it was as though their connection had shuddered out.

The thought sent a pang of fear through the older girl, for a coven's connection to be broken would be the equivalent to being disowned.

"I'm sorry-" Cattelaya's panicked cry was quickly drowned out by Alessia's gut wrenching wails.

"Stop saying that!" She cried, the hot trail of tears once again beginning their descent down her cheeks- the volume of her voice seemed to shake the windows of their car; or really the car itself.

They both paused as the crinoline feeling of static rose from the girl; she felt as though she were going mad as the blood rushed to her ears and the feelings fled from her hands.

Her body began shaking as if she had turned into a leaf in her storm, the tightening in her chest continued to build up to the point where she was nothing more than an overboiling kettle- she felt like screaming, and so she did.

Alessia almost folded into herself as her screams ripped out of her throat; the sound bouncing off the already too small space. Her sister could do nothing besides gape at the teen as her tears continued to pour from her eyes as fast as the sound left.

She didn't know how long she had been screaming nor did she understand why Cattelaya was allowing her to assault her ears for so long, but what she did know was that when she finally ceased her banshee screech; her throat was raw and it hurt to swallow, she had a slight headache and she was exhausted from everything that had just transpired.

For a while the two just sat there, Cattelaya still reeling from the onslaught of sound and Alessia with her hand clamped firmly over her mouth and eyes.

Maybe I did need the right words, Cattelaya thought begrudgingly, thinking back to all the times her and Liv bonded over their shared traumas. Maybe that was just a mentor thing? She shrugged the thought off just as the younger girl broke the silence that had ensued from her outburst.

"Sorry." Alessia's voice came out small and distant, tears leaked between her fingers as she allowed the pain to once again wash over her body- muting her fury into a pulsing wound that lay right between her ribcage, where her heart continued to painfully beat in a now racing rhythm.

Cattelaya felt herself let out a sigh of relief, having heart-to-hearts were hard enough when things went well; she wasn't sure what she would have done had this one had continued its swan dive into hell.

Alessia felt her heart drop at the sound of her sigh, she felt almost as if she were reliving the exact moment Ophelia and her were separated; her racing thoughts began to compete with her heartbeat as they continued to send her further and further down the rabbit hole of dark thoughts. Reaching over she pulled at the recline feature of the car; hoping that maybe if she sunk low enough the car floor would open and eject her from the situation that she had caused with her outburst.

Her arms crossed tight across her body as if to squeeze the bad feelings out of her body; she'd never felt so overwhelmed in her life and that was a sentiment she'd never thought she'd feel again.

The guilt that stole her breath came full force once more, screaming at her in the same voice that rang through the cab just a moment ago.

She had no one; her guardian was gone and she'd never been one to be able to keep friends her age for long. There was no one that could help her in with this crappy hand she had been dealt.

And now you're pushing Kit-cat away! Her mind screamed at her, her guilt had turned into a razor blade and she felt it slowly slide along her chest; opening it to reveal the gaping wound that was her heart before slashing at the orifice sending sharp pains through her body, before she could open her mouth and elaborate on the weak apology she once again felt Cattelaya's hand on hers.

"Don't sweat it Lessa," the older girl said, her words held a note of finality that made it seem futile for the young teen to even want to argue- instead she reached her other hand to grab the one that held her first, encapsulating Cattelaya's hand in her warm grasp and gave her older sister a gracious half smile.

The returning grin was as warm as the shared relief they felt and once again Alesia felt herself relaxing in the older teens presence.

"Thank you kit-Cat, I'm glad I found you."

Before the conversation could kick back up the car came to a complete halt as they finally drove up to the toll booth leading into the city; behind the paned glass sat a man that looked to be in his mid thirties- with a five o'clock shadow that was a few hours overdue for a shave.

When the teen rolled her window down the man was quick to sit up straighter, his body moved forward as his eyes slid as far down the front of her as possible- without completely hanging out the booth, when his assessment of her was finish his eyes hastily shifted over to Alessia- who, upon seeing the booth, had fixed her seat to the upright position so's to get a better look at the place she would undoubtedly be inhabiting for a while.

The open window allowed the smells that emitted from within the city to waft into the vehicle, the stench of garbage and smog made Cattelaya's nose curl and the overwhelming grease scent that lingered caused her stomach to turn- she wanted to roll the window back up and the grown man giving her sister heart-eyes did fuckall to ease that urge.

Cattelaya's eyes narrowed before following his lead to inspect her sister; a round baby face with big grey eyes that were just barely hidden behind a wall of fringe.

She looked younger than her actual age and her height; or rather lack thereof, didn't help that fact- it looked almost as if she were a preteen rather than fourteen.

Quickly her eyes snapped back to the booth attendant who, to her dismay- remained eyeing Alessia.

It took very little to annoy Cattelaya- a fact that she knew and had gotten well acquainted with, so it came to no surprise when she felt her eye begin to twitch erratically followed quickly by the usual static, as it began to crawl up her arms and legs.

"What are a couple of pretty young things like you goin' into the city for?" He asked in a sly voice- the sound alone caused the current to increase tenfold; she did not like this man.

In fact, she felt such a sudden intense rage at the sight of him that she almost exited the car in an attempt to wop him over the back of the head; the feeling had taken over her abdomen, sending flurries of static through her racing heart- she wanted to hurt him, not as bad as with Arnold's family-

Instead she exhaled, allowing her anger to try to flow away with the air from her lungs. She could not allow herself to lose control; not when she had someone that relied on her to remain level headed.

His glassy stare soon traveled back to the driver- only for him to be struck by Cattelaya's heated glare; for a moment he was taken aback by the intensity that was found but he recovered quickly, bringing his hand up to run it through his slightly receding hair as he turned his smile back to the older girl.

•°•°•°•

The fluorescent tube lights cast a yellowish hue over the small 3×4 cube; his name tag read Tim, even though he was sure his name was Byron at the beginning of his shift.

The shirt that he'd thrown on smelled of booze, sweat and old McDonald's fries; thankfully the dark color concealed the fact that he'd neglected to throw it in the wash for yet another week.

His neck had been bothering him all day, probably from the hard sleep he had on his fold out couch.

He felt his eyes begin to droop as he allowed yet another family to continue through the gate towards their vacation destination; he felt as though he were gonna fall off the stool if he didn't get the hell out of this cube.

Just as he was about to radio someone over with the excuse of a bathroom break, his eyes landed on the driver of the next vehicle.

Her unusual eyes drew him in, halting his plans of temporary escape, for a second he thought about the stench that wafted off of him however his thoughts didn't go too deep as he shrugged off the thought of antiperspirant and opened the small booth window.

"Well looky here," he muttered to himself, fixing himself back up on the creaking old stool- that he was required to sit on for the next four hours.

His thoughts ran wild as he took in the two beauties in front of him, their dark skin seemed to glow in the booth lights, whose illumination flared through

the booth window- and their eyes; which seemed to glow in the dull lights, looked as though someone had melted down solid steel and poured it into their irises.

His heated gaze went from the driver- who looked as though she were the oldest of the two, over towards the passenger as she began to sit upright; for whatever reason the girl looked confused- or maybe worried, even.

Woah. He thought as he allowed his eyes to stop on the chick- she had a baby face that was surrounded by her shoulder length mass of hair with big doe eyes underneath her furrowed brow; she's cute.

He allowed his eyes to rest on the younger passenger as he spoke, hoping that his sultry gaze would provoke a reaction from the girl.

When nothing happened, he took his eyes away from the passenger and back to the driver- just as he let the words flow loud enough for the two to hear.

"What are a couple of pretty young things like you goin' into the city for?" He asked them playfully, leaning forward towards the window- however he was taken aback when his eye met a twisted scowl, with enough heat to stimulate his already perspiring glands.

The woman didn't say a word as she viciously shoved the exact change into the little slot that sat waiting for the deposit; her eyes never left their hardened stare as she did so.

"Tim" was so lost in her angered stare

That he almost didn't realize the flickering of the lights until the girl had turned away; inside the booth the fluorescent above as well as the radio and plugs beside him began to hiss and pop as static showered the small space. Thick grey smoke began coming from the small operational box causing would-be-Tim to run out the small door that led to fresh air, just as the big, black pickup drove by carrying the two women away.

"Tim" took a few steps away from the booth, his eyes opening and closing as if he were waiting for a disturbing dream to disappear before turning and walking away from the smoking box and walking towards the parking lot; he had decided that his day was officially over.

•°•°•°•

Alessia could help but gape at her older sister, who had coincidentally decided that that exact moment was appropriate to fidget with the radio.

The static that had once suffocated the small space had quickly dissolved as soon as the booths lights began to stutter and explode; which so happened to be the same moment Cattelaya's glare disappeared as well.

She watched wide eyed as the girl finally settled on a local hip hop station, comically bobbing her head along with the beat.

She barely registered the heavy bass that ricocheted through her chest as she attempted to gather her thoughts on what she had just beheld; Ophelia had only ever taught her that secrecy was the key to survival, Alessia couldn't imagine how she would have reacted to Cattelaya's blatant usage- and face to face with a human at that.

Having felt her stare, Cattelaya couldn't help but peek over at Alessia who continued to stare, mouth agape at her.

With a raised brow the girl looked forward, merging into even more traffic with a silent "what?"

Alessia began sputtering out a response, "Y-you can't just- how could yo- why would you even-" her words were a jumbled mess as she tried to rush them out.

Cattelaya couldn't help the chuckle that rushed from her; or rather she didn't want to, it felt nice to know she allowed herself to unwind and laugh still, considering all that had happened and despite all the uncertainties that awaited them.

Alessia's eyes widened to an almost unhealthy circumference as she listened to her sister laugh at her; unbeknownst to her she felt her arms move to begin swatting at the older teen. "Cat!" She managed to shriek out.

The older girl laughed once more before copying her sister "Les!" She squawked back playfully.

"You can't do that!" She finally exclaimed with a hint of indignation.

"Oh, and who's gonna stop me?" Cattelaya asked playfully, sticking her tongue out at the girl before sobering up a little bit, "besides, it's not like I hurt him at all," she replied confidently, gaining a quick sigh of relief from Alessia. "I just singed some nose hairs, that's all." The declaration had the younger girl choking on her relief which caused another fit of chuckles to leave the teen.

The two drove down interstate 78 for a while before turning off onto a smaller street; they allowed the roads to take them farther into the city, around the more rotted parts until they finally came to a halt at their destination: The Stallion motel.