Among Demons : Rebellious Huntress

Chapter 12 : Choking Smiles

It didn’t take me long to find something suitable enough that I wouldn’t be made to change, while also making sure that I was irritating and annoying my mother and sisters-in-law.

But mostly my mother.

Connor has always been pretty clueless when it came to the types of things his wife, my mother Megan approved of when it came to fashion. He was a simple man that had a limited understanding of the many complex things involved in a woman's clothes, make-up and accessories. He only gave enough of a f**k to dress himself so he wouldn’t look like a drunken hobo while at work ,and tossed out compliments to my mother whenever she asked him about a new dress, or blouse or skirt she bought.

The only things he ever barked at me for were things that were stretched, torn or frayed, exposing too much skin around the cleavage and anything that was too skin tight or overly flashy. He deemed all of these things unallowed in my closet and would repeatedly call me a hooker or slut if he caught me wearing anything like that. So, as long as I kept myself from dressing in denim–which he claimed to be unworthy of a fabric for his progeny –and followed his very broad requirements, then I was going to be able to sit at the dining table and enjoy my mothers frustration. Since she clearly wasn’t home right now to check on my outfit before our guests arrived.

Looking over my outfit choice once I was fully dressed, I smiled at my reflection and fluffed up my hair a bit more.

I had picked a lovely, all black dress with cute bell sleeves that were pleated and stopped halfway down my upper arm, each one with a thin silver trim that added a tiny bit of sparkle. The sweetheart neckline was overlaid with a sheer black fabric that connected to a one inch long choker piece that hugged my neck. The sheer material started just under my bust, cupping my breasts nicely before trailing up to my neck. The choker piece also had some of the lightly glittering silver trim on it too, making it look like a cute piece of jewelry. This ensured that my boobies wouldn’t offend daddy-dearest, yet still allowed me to at least show off the silhouette of the girls quite nicely. The bodice of the dress hugged my body just right and cinched around my waist with that same thin silver trim that glittered when I moved. The skirt was pleated like my sleeves and dropped down to just past my knees, which was fun for me since the skirt poofed, swayed and moved with every tiny movement I made. It was also the final place where that silver glitter trim could be found.

I added some light, natural make-up with a smokey eye that helped darken the ice blue of my eyes. I also styled my hair a little, keeping it down and loose, but adding product to make it shine and using my hands to fluff it up too. I liked how my hair stayed in a poofy sort of tousled style, thanks to the product. But it made me smile when I thought about the last time I did this to my hair.

‘Did you have s*x in my house!?’ My mother’s outraged voice had startled me that day, but once her words fully registered, I burst out laughing. And then I laughed harder when I realized that she thought my hair looked like I-Just-Got-f****d hair and I nearly rolled on the ground while she went on and on about how I was becoming an unrecognizable heathen and blah, blah, blah.

Fishing through my small jewelry box, I pulled out some long drop earrings that were silver and had a little pale blue gem encased at the end of it. It was a near perfect shade to the color of my eyes and the silver went with the dress, so I slipped those on before turning to find some shoes. Thankfully, I found my black mary-jane heels just as the sound of voices grew louder through my thin walls and door.

Being as quiet as I could, I slipped out of my room and made my way downstairs, hearing the many voices and laughter grow louder. One voice in particular instantly irritated me and I straightened my spine as I reached the last few steps. Soon enough, I was rounding the corner to the dining room and struggled a bit to keep the disgust and annoyance from showing on my face.

My father, as he always did, was seated at the head of the long adjustable table, facing the archway where I stood. My eldest brother Marshall and his wife Sophia sat to my fathers left, both in near matching, color coordinated clothes. My mother took the seat to her husband's right and sat next to my second brother, Mason. Both of my brothers inherited our fathers dark brown hair and ice blue eyes, though many of their facial features came from our mother, who gave me her softer, caramel brown locks. Mason’s pregnant b***h Emma sat beside him, talking animatedly about the little baby bump and the many things she was excited to buy. She’d been yammering about her ‘pregnancy journey’ in exaggerated ways these past few weeks. So her dramatic words of suffering and struggling with her first pregnancy only added to my bitter mood.

I noticed that Henry, Sophia and Marsh’s little boy wasn’t here, which meant that they brought in his babysitter, who was more than likely playing with him upstairs. This meant that the usual seat reserved from the youngest Evans member was currently empty beside Sophia.

And then there was the Rolche family.

The head of the Rolche family sat in the chair completely across from my father, with his very young and very chatty new girlfriend sitting to his right. One of his older daughters took up the seat to his left and a man I assumed to be the girl's fiance–Since he was holding her hand– took the last seat next to her. And the last Rolche family member that I never wanted to see again, the man currently sitting next to the empty seat that was clearly left vacant for me.

James.

He had his eyes glued to me as soon as I appeared in the threshold and that stupid f*****g smile of his had yet to leave him.

“There she is!” His older sister chirped once she saw me. “Oh, it’s been so long, Morgan!” She got up and came to hug me, beaming as if we were reunited old friends. When in reality, I don’t remember who this woman is, let alone her name or if I’ve even met her before. “Look at you! You’re still as beautiful as I remember!” I kept my arms down as she hugged me, my annoyance clear in my eyes as I scanned everyone else sitting at the table.

My father looked displeased with my lack of reaction to what he deemed as a ‘proper cheerful’ greeting. My brothers both appeared irritated to see me, along with their wives. Though Emma was the most outwardly disgusted and upset to see me. And my mother was nearly vibrating with how hard she was attempting to force her smile to stay in place. She clearly didn’t like the all black dress I chose to wear, nor the floofy way in which I styled my hair. I could see her eyes scanning over my entire outfit and I struggled not to grin or laugh when she locked eyes with me and noticed my clear glee.

The woman, whose name still wasn’t coming to me, pulled away after a few seconds of me stiffly standing there, unresponsive. She flashed me an uncomfortable look that I enhanced with a quick dark smile that made her back away quickly, as if the small curve of my lips made her nervous. Once she was no longer blocking me from the view of everyone else, I calmed my expression and silently went to sit in the only seat available.

“Allow me.” James said suddenly, making my eyes narrow when he stood from his seat and smiled at me, pulling my chair back so I could sit. His gentlemanly act nearly made me slap him, but I stiffened up to prevent myself from doing what I deeply wished I could.

“Remind me to burn this chair later.” I hissed back, plonking my ass into the seat and resisting the urge to punch him when he leaned over my shoulder as he pushed my chair in, getting much too close to me.

“Still so feisty and stubborn.” He whispered with a chuckle, clearly finding my attitude amusing. “It’s been long enough, my pretty little Doll.” I shuddered as he leaned in even closer, his breath fanning through my hair. “You should accept the reality of your situation now, before I get impatient and make things more complicated for you.”

Finally, he moved away and took his seat once more, his eyes boring into the side of my face.

Still, I refused to look at him and made sure that my body was as far into the right side of the chair as I could get without falling off. I didn’t want him reaching out to touch me under the table or have him lean into my personal bubble again.

The food was quickly served now that everyone was present. My mother, no doubt, had hired a highly professional team of servers to come in and quickly place each prepared dish in front of everyone in a timely manner before we could dig in. She was just as careful about the image of the Evans family as my father was and made sure that everything picked out was perfectly made, plated and served as a way to keep up the family’s prestigious standing.

While the meal progressed, multiple people tried to talk to me or drag me into their conversations, seeking my opinion. But I made sure to calmly and coldly reply in a way that would immediately shut down the conversation or make everyone listening confused and uncomfortable.

Oh, have you heard of so-and-so’s family and the wonderful charity work they’re doing?

Why of course I have. Did you also hear about the multiple illegitimate children born to that family? They have so much control over their bastard children that no one can truly know if they’ve met one while out shopping?

Morgan, have you seen all of the wonderful new changes happening to the old neighborhoods with dilapidated houses?

I’ve seen it. Just like I’ve seen the many young and underpaid workers that are being exploited to do all the clean up work. Did you know that the company in charge refused to pay the family of the teenager they had working on site? The poor boy is said to have lost the ability to walk after the ‘accident’.

I’m so very excited for my wedding. You’ll come, won’t you Morgan?

Of course I will! I just hope we don’t have any problems, you know, with the local bear population. You’ve heard how their numbers are increasing in the mountains this year, right? We’ve even had a few sightings within our campgrounds. I do believe a hiker was reported to have barely escaped with his life.

After a while, much to my delight, everyone just continued their conversations without pulling me in. Though, as the night progressed, the more… socially inept date of the oldest Rolche family member decided to go around the table and bring up relationships.

She talked about how sweet and loving my parents looked with each other and how she hoped for something just as wonderful in the future, while eyeing her wealthy sugar daddy. Then she went on and talked about both of my brothers' relationships, asking them for tips and advice on how to make things last after marriage. This prompted the happily engaged Rolche daughter to chime in and ask her own questions too.

I had a bad feeling in my gut that things were going to get uncomfortable for me.

And I was right.

The still chatty, overly bubbly woman who was now leaning closely to Ryan Rolche, turned to me and asked me if I was seeing anyone special. The beat of silence lasted for nothing more than a second before I responded, my mind working quickly in an effort to anger most of the people present.

I leaned closer to the table and bowed my head a little, making myself blush as I pictured a certain buffed up wolf man that was still stuck in the back of my mind. My fingers laced together as I let out a soft, almost shy sounding giggle before I rested my chin on my hands, bracing myself against the table.

“What do you think?” I asked lightly, watching as I looked up and caught everyone's reactions to the way I was behaving.

My parents and siblings looked shocked and a little outraged. My sisters-in-law glanced at each other as if trying to figure out if I was being genuine. The Rolche guests all looked intrigued, clearly wondering who it was that I was thinking about. All of them, that is, except the man sitting next to me.

James’ easygoing smile and charming outer features twisted into a very ugly, angry and jealous expression that filled me with happiness. I wished I had a camera with me so I could forever immortalize this moment and look back on it as many times as I pleased.

“Who?” He ground out, barely able to keep his emotions from coming through in his voice.

I giggled some more, letting my eyes drift over the table as my mind's eye filled with the image of my dream man.

“It’s nothing serious yet.” I began, enjoying the waves of burning fury that were leaving the bastard next to me. “But he’s exactly what I’ve always wanted in a man.” I sighed dreamily and let myself fade away into my own thoughts, allowing the blush on my face to deepen as I spoke. “Tall and big in every way I like. With dark hair and unique, piercing eyes. And muscles!” I groaned a little, getting a bit too lost in my naughty thoughts. “God, those damn muscles. And that smile.” I let out one more sigh and flopped back onto the backrest of my chair, lolling my head to the side and smiling blissfully at the pissed face staring back at me. “Don’t even get me started on his voice, too. It’s the kind of thing you’d pay money to hear for hours and hours.” My smile turned taunting when I caught James clenching his hands over his lap, struggling to regain control of his emotions. “Everything about him is just… perfect.”

I wanted to keep going and mocking this prick who was obviously under some kind of delusion, thinking he was coming back into my life. But my mother cut in and brought up the upcoming wedding in an effort to calm the clearly heated situation.

Still, as everyone else joined in and happily moved on to a different topic, I knew I’d won. I’d made them all upset, uncomfortable and angry beyond words at least once. I’d turned this clear set up, that my parents likely planned, into a s**t-show. And I made sure that every one of them, especially James, all choked on their saccharine sweet smiles.

I just wished I had more of a chance to shove those smiles further down their throats.