Bad Decisions

Survival of the fittest

Micah

I was fuming. I was trying desperately not to be mad at her, but the moment I caught a whiff of the liquor on her breath, not even hours after she woke up from her injuries, I could feel my rage boiling over the edge.

I’m not an angry person. I am usually pretty calm. But she’s the one person who knows how to bring the worst out of me.

Kassie had to have been the most hard-headed, infuriating being in the universe. Nothing had ever deterred her from what she had wanted at any given moment. Not even the threat of death could stop her.

At this point, I was thinking she wasn’t even afraid of anything, not even death itself.

However, today proved that wasn’t entirely true. I saw the complete and utter fear in her wide, wild eyes, felt it seeping from every inch of her being.

She was afraid for me. Afraid of losing the only person she truly had left.

I could understand. I felt the same as I watched her crumble to the ground. But I suspect that was more of a result of whatever crazy charades she was up to in my absence. She was bound to topple over sooner or later, with or without a gunshot wound.

I was just lucky that this i***t vampire materialized when he had to help Kassie because it took everything I had left to take out some rookie hunters before my energy was depleted to nothing.

The last few weeks had been rough, and I hadn’t fully recovered from it. Doesn’t help that I didn’t get an ounce of sleep worrying the night before. I couldn’t sleep a wink even if I wanted to, knowing Kassie was in critical condition.

Kassie and I had been surviving on the streets by ourselves for years. Doing that means pissing a lot of people off—mostly Kassie—and making more enemies than one can count. Turned out there was a hit on my head. Some bit.ch thought she could drug me and keep me tied up. Tried having her way with me.

And not in the fun way.

Took a little while, but I got out, and let’s just say she won’t be having any more fun any time soon—or ever.

I killed her. It was the sweet, simple truth. I wouldn’t sugarcoat it for anyone. It was what I had to do, something I had to do many times before to protect Kass and I while growing up. I knew Kassie thought I was soft, that death and killing bothered me. It was the one thing she got wrong about me. I didn’t necessarily enjoy it, but I felt no remorse for the actions that all those as.sholes brought on themselves. It was called survival of the fittest, and I was the fittest.

And they were burning in hell while their bodies were rotting away in unmarked graves.

But having to deal with that bul.lshit for weeks, getting shot was just simply the fuc.king cherry on top. And, unfortunately for her, Kassie was just about the only person I could pass the blame on.

I hustled away, my long legs carrying me farther away from where she stood, temporarily stunned.

It was only a second before she was right at my heels. Vampire speed.

“So you are pissed at me!” She said accusingly.

I refused to get baited into a fight.

“Yes,” I said simply. No going back and forth or avoiding it. I simply bit my tongue other than that.

She whipped around me, her big green eyes piercing into mine intensely.

Here we go, I thought, the fight comes despite my efforts.

Instead, she put her hand gently to my stomach to stop me from moving around her.

“Micah, I’m sorry. I know you have every right to be mad, very mad, but please don’t be.” I stared down at her, her small hands were now at her sides. Her long black nails dug into her flesh, her teeth dug into her bottom lip anxiously.

Heart to heart talks were rare with us. Touchy feely emotions had always been avoided in our friendship. We were two fuc.ked up people, trying to survive in a cruel world. That made opening up and being vulnerable next to impossible, even with each other.

I could see the honest discomfort as she shifted her weight unnecessarily, but the determination on her slim face was set nonetheless.

“I was worried something had happened. I thought you weren’t ever going to come back.”

My anger vanished without a second thought. I couldn’t stay angry when she was looking up at me so innocently. Her lips were drawn in a slight pout and her large green eyes full of such distress at the idea. If I didn’t know any better, I would say she was adorable and sweet. But I did know better. She was still ruthless, wild, and unpredictable.

I threw my head back and let out a quick laugh. “You should know better than anyone that I’m not that easy to get rid of.”

I could see her tension had visibly subsided, no longer biting or digging into herself.

“You’re right. I guess I just had a lapse in judgment.”

A snort came out unintentionally. “You always have a lapse in judgment, K.”

“You’re an as.shole,” she said, but laughed, pushing me playfully, clearly relieved.

We walked around for a while, exploring the surrounding territory, not caring about the day passing us by. It had been a long while since we could revel in simply being. After a while, I led us back to the house, where we were greeted with a fresh cooked meal with Heath and Crystal.

We were more than happy to oblige, eating our fair share of steak, diced potatoes, and mixed veggies. Honestly, I didn’t care what it was. I downed it quickly and before I knew it, I was finishing my third plate.

It dawned on me that we hadn’t sat around a dining room table family-style since Kassie’s parents were killed. And before I had found them…for me, it wasn’t a thing. My family hadn’t been all warm and loving like hers had been, like Heath and Crystal seemed to be. It was hard to have that with a monster at the head of the table, peering down at you.

But that monster was in my past. She, my best friend, was my present and my future.

Feeling content, I glanced at Kassie. Each bite, she closed her eyes in pure ecstasy.

For the first time since the day I stumbled upon my crazy friend, things felt like they were going to be alright.

At least for a little while.

Until our monsters caught up to us.