Her Rejection's Revenge

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN: MOVING ON

My relationship with Miriam improved. I liked her, although I wouldn’t say we were best friends. I no longer had it in me to forge solid relationship with anyone, and she didn’t seem to mind my grumpiness. It was weird that she didn’t expect anything from me, like she knew exactly the position I was in.

I was working for the doctors tending to new patients but none as aggravating as me or Miriam. There was no scope for me to fund my educations – I was not getting paid for the job I did. It was the least I could do for the people who saved my life.

My heart still bled at the thought of Brax and Beatrice together, their visions plaguing me at nights, the long and lonely nights. Aside from her teleporting and telepathic powers, Miriam couldn’t do much either. So, we couldn’t plan anything on our own.

While we worked together tending to those who needed help, her background stories kept raining. Even in my gloomy disposition, I had to admit that the lives of the ancient were fascinating. And totally different from the piteous life that I had been leading, hidden among humans not embracing our powers.

“Of course I’ve met a Leprecon, Zee. They work for us back at the pack – they forge the best kind of weapons,” she told me while we munched our sandwiches on the bench.

I was awed. “Get out of here! What about a dragon?” I improvised as I recalled another mystical creature which I’d only heard about in books but never had the chance to approach any of the folklores in person.

Her eyes darkened with pain making me regret my words. I hadn’t expected that she would be so hurt by such an inoffensive question. “That’s what my brother went after and never came back,” she whispered in a wobbly voice, and I suck in my breath as I understood her pain.

“Dragons? I heard there were the good ones?” I asked the rhetorical question biting my lips in worry.

“Not the untamed ones. Uncle Vince managed to convince us that the dragons were planning an attack on our pack. Abe was so convinced that we were in danger that he prepared a formidable army for a long time. It got all so messed up with all of us diligently training on the ground distracting my brother from the committees. A political game that my uncle played with us of course.”

“He kept your attention diverted while he manipulated his way to the top, right?” The thought of that man disgusted me – the likes of him were found everywhere. I didn’t want anything reminding me of my sordid past, but I figured that I couldn’t escape the reality forever.

“That’s exactly what he did. We were so focused researching about how to defeat untamed dragons that we didn’t see his betrayal coming.” The beautiful eyes took on a telling hue again. “What I would never forgive was my father finding about his brother’s treacherous nature. He didn’t believe it until Uncle Vince told him the truth. It broke Dad’s heart.”

I shivered in face of her sorrow. “Tell me more about the training grounds you created then?” I merely asked conversationally to divert her mind. Miriam being Miriam launched into a full descriptive story of what her brother Aerys was all about. From the tidbits that I could understand, while Aerys Sullivan. Alpha to the Royal Mystic Shadow, descendant of the first warrior to Queen Selina had bene very powerful. So powerful in fact that his mere presence made other wolves stronger.

During the golden days – that was what Miriam used to refer the times when she’d been in her pack, she could shift into her wolf at will and take down any enemy with a single paw. With her brother dead, she’d lost her powers, which made us both in the same boat.

Which was desperately thirsty for revenge, but without the proper resources to execute our plans. I would lay awake plotting the most Machiavellian ways to humiliate both Brax and Bee, along with my sorry excuse of parents and community. I wondered how they were faring.

Attending the wedding was the first step of moving on. Although I thought it was a bad idea at first – it was only after two weeks of crying myself to sleep that the reality of things struck me. Being there helped me accepting the fact that Braxton was no longer available.

Almost eight months had gone by since the betrayal, and although the pain was not as salient as at the beginning, I still flinched when Miriam touched me. Even the most innocent touch made me gag. Braxton had done a pretty good number on me, and if I were honest to myself, I wasn’t sure I would overcome the physical abuse.

I never mentioned Braxton’s name to anyone in my new camp – not even once, not to Miriam. Aside from the weakness which had come over me on the wedding day, I was resolute to push away any thought of him far from my mind. There were mostly bad memories about him anyway.

With hindsight, it was better for me to realize my mistakes, and promised myself never to repeat them again. I would never belong to any other man – that much I knew. Then I met him.

It was one of the typical afternoons when Dr. Kapadia was supposed to bring medicines from the local pharmacy to treat the new joiners. We had two new boys barely of age on the stretcher today. Both doctors needed to assist the patients, and we were asked to discretely bring the supplies to the camp, accompanied by one of the elders if possible.

However, subtlety wasn’t Miriam’s forte. As soon as we reached, she started to gasp loudly staring at the beautiful things displayed in the windows. Anything would get her excited and enthusiastic which should be infuriating, but eventually I got caught up in her fervor.

We were so caught up with our superfluous happiness that we didn’t realize that we were being followed. Miriam, with the capacity of reading minds picked something up, but dismissed it as insignificant when a large ruby appeared in front of our eyes.

“Aww, this is such a nice ring,” Miriam swooned with her hand fanning her face, and I rolled my eyes at her childishness.

“Price’s nice as well,” Mama Juanita scolded her, at least she tried to be austere but sounded more rueful than anything negative. We both gasped again at the six figures and giggled helplessly when the older woman wriggled her eyebrows funnily at us. Then, I sobered, guilty that my heart suddenly felt light.

That was the exact moment my eyes met with a pair of vivid blue eyes which caused the breath to get stuck at the base of my throat. They weren’t actually blue, more like turquoise which instantly reminded me of the ocean, the colors swimming with the same sunlit warmth.

Our gaze held for a long time, and it was only when the earth started to shake that I realized that Miriam was trying to get my attention.

“Earth to Zee. Earth to Zee. Where are you lost again?” she asked broodingly and hooked her elbows with mine inside the jewelry shop. I resisted.

“Miriam, we’re supposed to keep a low profile, weren’t we? The doctors were clear. We won’t get valium and acetaminophen in a jewelry boutique. Come on!” But it was actually trying to load a buffalo onto a truck.

“You like diamonds?” a sexy voice asked from behind making all three of us to whirl around to the sound. It was my mystery man. Up close, he was even more enigmatic, and the shock of his turquoise eyes caught me off-guard once again. Without the sunlight playing with the shades, the golden caramel surrounding each pupil like bright new sun were more visible.

Miriam beamed at him with her usual buoyance while I reacted completely opposite. I mentally recoiled from him and to my subconscious, my feet went two steps backwards. I was wary of good-looking guys.

He frowned at me. “Hi, I am Charles Sheffield,” he offered his hand towards me and of course I flinched in a more obvious way. Blood crawled in my cheeks as I felt too self-consciously aware of being so clumsy. But that didn’t help me unwind, I still gaped at him like he was an alien, and Miriam threw me a look full of reproach.

“Hi, Charles,” Miriam stepped forward to grab his handshake. “I am Miriam. And this is my friend Zee.”

“Alright girls,” Mama Juanita intervened with perfect timing. “It’s time to head back,” she said in a light voice, but I could hear the urgency behind the nonchalant tone. We’ve been warned not to fraternize with the locals as we were not allowed to put the other members of Neverland in danger. That sanctuary was secret only because it provided shelter to the ones who would be unable to defend themselves under any sort of attack.

“And that would be?” Charles was asking oh-so innocently without missing a beat. I threw a desperate look at mama Juanita. It had been a bad idea to send two beautiful young girls to town. We were bound to catch the eyes of the lads, but Mama was not that knowledgeable in medicines.

“Let’s go,” I snapped between my gritted teeth, and Charles finally seemed to accept our reluctance for he made a wide berth with an exaggerated bow to allow us to pass. Miriam giggled at the dramatic gesture, and I only smiled cynically not impressed with his theatrics. I knew the type of exuberant males living to get the attention of a female only to betray him in the end.

Oh come on! Not everyone is like your creepy ex!

“Miriam, I swear if you don’t get out of my head, I’ll start wearing mind protectors as from tomorrow,” I warned in an almost ludicrous frustration, but Miriam immediately straightened her posture.

Give him a chance.

“Are you out of your mind?” I whispered when Mama Juanita frowned as she started to fumble around in the pharmacy. We had what we wanted, and Charles whatever was nowhere in sight. The only thing left to be done was to pay cash for them as we would be back safely in Neverland before we could even breathe.

“What is it?” I questioned more sharply that I had intended.

“I can’t find the money,” Mama Juanita replied with a concerned look at me. Dr. Kapadia had given us quite a formidable amount, and there was no way we could have lost the money. I remembered Mama Juanita placing it at the bottom of her bag to ensure that the bundle was safe. Wait a second.

“We gave it to Miriam at the grocery store,” I pointed a finger at her, and she nodded before searching her jeans pocket.

“Are you sure?” Miriam asked with a frown, her pants nearly falling off against the efforts she was making to remove her hands from the pockets of her tight jeans. With a grim face, I held the rough materials in place and felt for the money when her hands were finally free. Nothing.

“Of course we gave it to you. Remember we paid for the vegetables that I needed for the dinner tonight?”

Miriam’s hands flew to her mouth in consternation. “He took it.”

“Who took it?” I asked gently, knowing that railroading her would only cause her to be more elusive. Then it clicked. “Pretty boy, you mean?” I tsked impatiently when Miriam nodded, somehow pissed with the fact that he’d approached us for an ulterior motive. “Are you sure? How can you be sure?” I insisted.

“Because I can hear him,” Miriam answered pointedly, not caring for my overbearing attitude. I tried to think of something else in case she decided to read my mind as well.

“What’s he saying?” I posed the question which caused my dead heart to beat in trepidation, a premonition gripping me. Charles Sinclair, or whoever he was, was a conniving thief, and I felt a fire burning up inside me which I could barely comprehend.

Miriam licked her lips before she finally opened her big mouth. “He’s saying ‘Silly schoolgirls always make it so easy’.”