Fifteen

Even as the three of us sat around Charlotte’s dining room table together, I felt alone. It felt terrible not being able to look to Miriam for assurance, though she looked my way more than once. And it felt unsettling having a domed meal in front of me, the lid of which I wasn’t yet allowed to remove.

“I hope you don’t mind that it’s a bit cold,” Charlotte warned, her words deliberate. “I expected you sooner.”

Miriam’s eyes again flicked to me for assurance, and mine returned to the dome before me. Miriam didn’t have one; just me. All the women had were empty water glasses.

“Can we talk?” I suggested instead, uncertain of this woman’s insane game.

“After,” she insisted, nodding to my plate. “I wouldn’t want to deprive you of your favorite.”

She kept saying that. My favorite. Whatever was under this dome, I wasn’t looking forward to seeing it. Whatever secrets this woman seemed to know, I was better off not knowing them.

“Go on,” she prodded, her elbows on the tables, hands folded as she watched me. Again, I looked to Miriam. Her face was filled with uncertainty, anxiety even.

I took a deep breath, straightening in my chair. When I lifted the dome, the sweet, fragrant scent of homemade bread released into the air, filling my nostrils as I inhaled sharply. For several moments, I was lost in it, that smell the same I had remembered on the street. Could it be?

When I regained myself, I assessed the plate, an outdated cheese spread in a modern bowl, next to the sliced roll. My eyes flicked to Charlotte. How could she know? Had she been watching me for so long?

“Do you like it, Col?” she asked again in her overly friendly way. “Or do you still prefer Cassius?”

My heart stopped. It couldn’t be. I stared at her, my eyes searching hers for an explanation, and I felt Miriam’s hot gaze on my cheek.

I turned to face Miriam then, dumbstruck. Did she know what these words meant? Her eyes were still soft towards me. Confused, but not hate-filled, not towards me anyhow. Her eyes sought answers, but weren’t suspicious toward me. For all she knew, I was just as confused as she was, and for now, I was grateful.

If it was true though, if it was her, what did this mean? Had she stalked me all this time? Had she been in my house, more than once?

“Did you kill her?” I blurted, desperate.

Charlotte’s smile fell into a glare. “That’s all you have to say to me?”

“Did you?” My heart thudded in my chest. Please, no. Just say no.

She rolled her eyes. “After all this time, there’s still always another woman, with you. No, ‘hi, how are you, Char?’ ‘Oh, so good to see you, Char.’ You’re so fucking selfish. You always were.”

“Tell me,” I demanded then, rising to stand, my hands planted firmly on the table to keep me still. In that moment, more than any other, I wanted her dead. Sophie couldn’t be my punishment. Sophie didn’t deserve to be my punishment.

Charlotte waved me off then, her face rebounding from the hurt. “At least you had a companion,” she teased, her eyes darting to Miriam. “Not like this one.”

“Oh, go fuck yourself,” Miriam growled. I felt myself in a unique position between these women, particularly with the pressure taken off me. Miriam had made her distrustful stance toward this woman clear, her demeanor harsher than I had ever seen it, and my getting defensive had upset her further.

“But there was that one, wasn’t there? Margaret?” She purred the name and Miriam immediately stood, matching my stance as she glared at her old acquaintance.

“Stop,” she insisted, her words a threat. “Leave her out of this.”

“What, afraid I’ll spoil Collin’s image of you?” Charlotte’s eyes flicked to me. My posture eased at the change of focus and the corner of her mouth turned up into a devious smile. “Why don’t you tell him how you met her?”

“Stop!” Miriam screamed, throwing her glass across the table. Charlotte’s face fell slightly as it missed her, but only temporarily, and her unsettling smile returned as she crossed her legs and sat back in her chair, unfazed at our standing.

“What, are you afraid he’ll leave you like she did, Mirry?” Again, Charlotte’s eyes flicked to me, clearly lashing out at Miriam for my benefit. “Just tell him how you magically swooped in at just the right time in Margaret’s life and had nothing at all to do with—”

“STOP!” Miriam lunged for her, toppling the dining table toward me in the process. A small struggle ensued between them before Charlotte had Miriam pinned.

“You think I don’t remember your weaknesses?” Charlotte growled to her, her voice still mocking.

“Stop,” I insisted then, approaching them on the floor. Fighting wouldn’t work with this woman; I needed to manipulate her. “You want to talk to me? We’ll talk. Let Miriam go.”

Charlotte flicked her eyes between us, unsure, but I knew I had her by the curiosity in her gaze, the slight falter of her smile. She wanted my audience for whatever it was she had planned. Finally, she released Miriam.

“Get out,” Charlotte growled to her, but Miriam got to her feet and stood her ground.

“Collin?” Miriam looked to me then, eyes pleading. Let’s go, I could almost hear her, but she didn’t say.

“Just go,” I begged her, eager for her to be out of Charlotte’s sights. “I’ll come by when we’re through.”

Miriam struggled with this, her eyes begging me to come with her, but I couldn’t. I had so many questions to ask this Charlotte. There was still so much to do. Instead, I walked my sweet Miriam to the door, accepting her hug when she offered it, if only to give her the courage to leave. “I’ll see you soon,” I promised, guilty to leave her.

Miriam didn’t say anything to me. She just looked at me sadly, her eyes desperate, before breaking our contact and leaving the duplex alone.

When I turned around again, Charlotte had closed the gap between us. “Her too, then?” she chastised and I narrowed my eyes at her.

“Who are you?”

Again, her devious smile returned, if only to continue to mock me. “You don’t know?”

“I want you to tell me,” I growled, impatient, crossing my arms to feel some distance between us.

“I’m your wife,” she purred, her hands gliding up my arms with her words. “And now that your little Sophie has gotten out of the way, we can finally be a family again.”

“Did you kill her?” I demanded again, taking a step back from her.

Again, her face fell. “Why is that so important to you? She was old. She died. Who cares why?”

“I care.”

Charlotte waved her hand. “It doesn’t matter.”

“It does.” I took a step toward her, looking down at her, but not as much as I used to have to. “What did you do?”

“Me?” she asked innocently, her voice sardonic. “I didn’t do a thing! I was here allllll night, being hassled by that horrible incubus.” She traced her fingers up my chest then, eyeing me seductively. I couldn’t stand it.

“Tell me,” I demanded, shoving her, and she immediately cut her eyes at me as she stumbled backwards.

“What the fuck is your problem? After fucking centuries, I’m here, ready to reconcile with you, and you’re all bent out of shape about an old woman? You owe me a fucking apology.”

“An apology?” I savored the words but they meant nothing to me in regards to her. Any apology I thought I owed her was wasted now, discarded with her discarding of Sophie. “I don’t owe you anything.”

Charlotte looked hurt then, but her face remained angry. “Is that really your concern? Her? Not me? Why I’m here? How I found you?”

“Why are you here?” I asked caustically.

“Well, you self-centered piece of shit, when I traded my soul, I learned what you did.”

“What I did?”

She rolled her eyes, crossing her arms across her chest. “Don’t play with me.”

“Fucking tell me then,” I challenged, unsure about this woman. My wife couldn’t exist. My wife wouldn’t have traded her soul for anything.

“I caught you, asshole. Doing the selfish things you were always doing. And you took it away from me.”

“I spared you,” I growled, angry at her ungratefulness. “It changed you. It took all the light from you. So I took it back. I traded myself to spare you from the realization. To return your spark to you. So that you could live a happier, fulfilled life with someone that deserved you.”

“But you didn’t erase the memory of you, you asshole,” she argued. “I still remembered you. I remembered everything. Except one day you were gone and I didn’t know why.” Her voice broke then, clearly hurt even after all these years. “Until I traded mine. Then I learned what you did. What you took from me.”

“So you killed Sophie? Because I tried to spare you?”

“I didn’t do anything,” she spat then, tears welling in her hateful eyes. “If my boys got a little overzealous, take it up with them. She was old. She didn’t know left from right in the end. Who’s to say why she died?”

“You’re fucking horrible.” My heart caught in my throat and I tried to swallow the lump. “I can’t believe I spared you. You fucking deserved it.”

She stood speechless then but I didn’t regret my words.

“Who are your ‘boys?’” I growled then, half resentful that I hadn’t thought to ask about her plan before getting upset about Sophie.

“Fuck off, Collin,” she whispered then, her eyes piercing. “You need some time to take this in, to learn to fucking appreciate me and this opportunity we now have. I’ll find you when I can bear to look at you again.” She turned on her heel then and started toward the hall, but I caught up with her, wrapping my arms around her from behind as non-confrontationally as I could.

“I’m sorry,” I breathed, my lips pressing to her ear. “I’m overwhelmed. I’m sad about my friend and I never thought I’d see you again. It’s just all too much.”

Charlotte hesitated, but didn’t pull away from me. “You owe me an apology,” she whispered again, and though I had just done so, I apologized again.

“I know. I’m so, so sorry. I was a lousy husband and I didn’t deserve you.” I continued to hug her, stiff where she stood, until she relaxed against me.

“How could you love her?” she asked when she finally turned around, silent tears spilling down her cheeks.

“I didn’t,” unsure of who she was speaking, but certain I didn’t want to inflict any more pain. “She was just there. They’ve always just been there.”

Charlotte hugged me then, a strong, emotional hug, not unlike the one I had just shared with Miriam. “I can’t believe you’re here.”

“I’m sorry I left.” I returned the hug, holding the woman against me, needing her to feel the regret that I had felt for so long.

“I’m sorry about your friend,” she finally sobbed and I tried not to react. “She wasn’t a part of it. Honest. I don’t know what happened.”

“Did they kill her?” I whispered, afraid of the question, but hoping Charlotte’s vulnerability would make her honest.

“I don’t know,” she breathed, hugging me tighter. “They weren’t supposed to.”

I sighed at that, grateful that my sweet Sophie hadn’t been part of the plan. “How long have you been watching me?”

My wife broke from me then, folding her arms over her chest as she took a few steps away from me. “Not long,” she insisted, though she seemed hesitant to actually say. When I didn’t speak, she grew tense. “Fifteen years, at most.”

Fifteen years? My stomach sank. Though not as long as it could have been, it was longer than I was okay with being under surveillance. “Why are you just approaching me now?”

“You had her,” she rolled her eyes then, but her demeanor remained submissive to me. “I didn’t want to intervene on your happy life.” Though her words didn’t seem to come from a genuine place, they also didn’t sound sarcastic, and for a moment I felt sorry for her, seeing me living happily with Sophie.

“But I still had her,” I reminded her, desperately wishing I had just returned to Sophie when that nurse called.

“Not really, though,” she insisted, facing me with her arms still crossed, but her demeanor sympathetic. “She’s been gone for a year, Collin. You just wouldn’t let her go.”

My stomach knotted. I didn’t need to be reminded of my selfishness with Sophie, and yet this woman had watched me through it all, desperately giving to Sophie to keep her holding on one day longer. I was suddenly embarrassed.

“I don’t blame you,” she affirmed then, letting her arms fall with her defenses. “She seemed like a lovely woman.”

“She was,” I breathed, reluctant to share with her but so needing to stand up for Soph. When Charlotte remained defenseless, I approached her again, taking her hands in mine as I drew her gaze to me. “I need to know what’s going on.”

She fidgeted then but maintained my gaze, seemingly lost in my look at her. I felt so sorry for her.

“What do you want to know?” she finally breathed and I exhaled, pulling her into a grateful hug at her compliance.

“Why are you working with the lycanthropes?” I asked first, and Charlotte twitched a smile as she broke from me.

“I’m not,” she spoke easily, as if I believed her.

My eyes tried to pry for more but she wasn’t offering. “What do you mean, you’re not? Did you not have something to do with the archdemon?”

Charlotte couldn’t hide her smile this time, devious as it had been while she taunted Miriam. “I didn’t have anything to do with that.”

I narrowed my eyes at her. “Who did?”

“Why don’t you ask Mirry?” she purred, and I tried not to take the bait. Miriam wouldn’t have done something like that.

“What should I ask her?”

“Ask her about Leviathan,” she offered, slinking again to me. “I’m sure she’ll have a lot to say.” Charlotte leaned up to me then, but I backed away from her.

“And you’ve nothing to do with the lycanthropes?” I asked her again, as if it would make a difference.

“They’re a pathetic little movement,” Charlotte spat, as if she were insulted. “They can’t do anything. Why would I waste my time with them?”

“One more thing,” I goaded, taking one of her hands in mine. “Why did you kill Henry?”

Charlotte’s demeanor faltered and for a moment, I felt sorry for asking. “He wasn’t playing by the rules anymore.”

“And my machine?” So there was more than one more thing. Sue me.

Charlotte shrugged. “Ask Miriam.”

I nodded, pulling away from my wife as I started toward the door.

“Collin?” she tried to stop me, her voice suddenly tense. “Where are you going?”

I turned around in her doorway to look at her. “I’m going to go ask Miriam.” When she looked uncertain, I offered her half a smile. “I’ll be back, don’t worry.”

As I departed the duplex, Charlotte’s eyes hot on my back, I tried to breathe, to take in all of the information I had received, and make sense of what holes were still left. One thing was for sure, though. I needed to talk to Miriam.

“I hope you don’t mind that it’s a bit cold,” Charlotte warned, her words deliberate. “I expected you sooner.” ---Oooooo, that was snakey. Hissss. Her sarcasm is above 9000.

----WHAT IS IN THE DOME!!!!!11!!!!?????? Omg. I want to read on to find out because it's been like a week and a half since I last read and found out this bitch was making him something. But all the same, I want to sit here and wonder for just a little bit. So, here it goes: Do do do do, do do do. What's under the dome? Do do do do, could it be food? Could it be a body part? Could it be something that's not edible? Do do do, do do do, it's probably nothing. Yes, right, it's nothing.

I took a deep breath, straightening in my chair. When I lifted the dome, the sweet, fragrant scent of homemade bread released into the air, filling my nostrils as I inhaled sharply. For several moments, I was lost in it, that smell the same I had remembered on the street. Could it be? ----Omfg, Gf. You are NOT doing this!? Really?! Omg, this bitch. This fucking bitch. Fucking bitch. Fucking revenge wanting bitch. Fucking whore and her whore-ass bread. Fucking cunt licker.

Charlotte’s smile fell into a glare. “That’s all you have to say to me?” ----WTF DO YOU MEAN "IS THIS ALL YOU HAVE TO SAY TO ME?" YOU BATCH! IF YOU EVEN LAID A FINGER ON SOPHIE YOU'RE GOING DOWN, DO YOU UNDERSTAND ME? DOWN, BATCH! DOWN!

“Did you?” My heart thudded in my chest. Please, no. Just say no.----Love. I love him having this inner dialogue. I also kind of like to see Collin desperate, and not just with Mir. I like seeing some woman have so much control over him. It feels good. It feels just, but at the same time, I do feel sorry for him. Rather, I feel sorry for Sophie.

“Oh, go fuck yourself,” Miriam growled.---Uhmm, yasss. Please do. Thanks.

“Stop!” Miriam screamed, throwing her glass across the table. Charlotte’s face fell slightly as it missed her, but only temporarily, and her unsettling smile returned as she crossed her legs and sat back in her chair, unfazed at our standing.----Omg, why couldn't it just hit her. Gawl. I love you Mir. Thank you for trying. Also, love this. Love how she remains seated. Pompous bitch. <3

“I spared you,” I growled, angry at her ungratefulness. “It changed you. It took all the light from you. So I took it back. I traded myself to spare you from the realization. To return your spark to you. So that you could live a happier, fulfilled life with someone that deserved you.”----Okay, hold up, hold up, hold up. WTF are these two talking about? Spared her from what? I'm guessing this has something to do with the reason Col sold his soul? And when I went to the next paragraph, it sounded like she sold hers, then he sold his to save hers, then she sold it again? Idk, is that the wrong assumption? I don't feel like I'm getting the full picture here. They keep saying things but aren't being specific. I think your intentionally doing this. Your holding back some details which has me edging for more. I just don't believe Col would sell his soul to save hers. Idk though, he is an okay guy, super selfish, but obs not heartless.

----Okay, okay. So I'm to the part where Col is all embracing her and junk, and I just want to say that at this point, I don't believe this dumb cuntsack had anything to do with Sophie's death. She's a motard, and her 'boys' really had no reason to kill Soph, unless she instructed them too. I'm on the fence, but I'm leaning toward Sophie's death being natural causes. I think Collin needs to believe someone took her from him, and as the reader I feel that is the case. In all actuality, it's waaaay more heartbreaking to believe she just passed on because of her mania and old age. I think that is harder for Collin to accept. If someone took her away, then he can blame them for never having spent the time with her and treat her the way he should have. If she went naturally, well, his time was just up with her. He just let it run out. And that's more, "well, fuck" than if someone actually murdered her. I don't know for sure what you have planned, but I wanted to let you know my thoughts on this as of now. I see it strategic if you choose either option. But what a devious one you are if you're stringing us along to reveal she just died. That puts me so in Collin's shoes because I totally want to believe this woman was so virtuous that everyone took advantage of her in some way. And I think Col does too. And either way, murder or not, it's still tragic. In the case of cunt-licker-ball-sniffer here, I think Col needs to believe she had something to do with it (offhandedly or not) to not let his guilt over what he did to her get the better of him.

“I didn’t,” unsure of who she was speaking, but certain I didn’t want to inflict any more pain. “She was just there. They’ve always just been there.” ----The way you worded this is super genius. I'm totally believe that he's playing her (as he said he had to before), but the way this is worded "I didn't want to inflict anymore pain" is perfect. It makes me wonder if he's being real. Briefly, hopefully, I'm seeing Collin possibly not playing. And that, briefly, makes me hate him.

“I’m sorry I left.” I returned the hug, holding the woman against me, needing her to feel the regret that I had felt for so long.----Omg. You can't be feeling this, Col! Are you feeling this, Col?

I sighed at that, grateful that my sweet Sophie hadn’t been part of the plan. “How long have you been watching me?” ----Okay. Okay. My whole rant up there. This bitch. I knew it. She is too dumb to orchestrate anything like that. But in the same breath, who knows if those guys did something to Soph? And Col, I'm getting the feeling you're feeling this, and I'm getting angry with you. I mean, I get your guilt and all, but come on, this motard has been messing with your head and shit.

She fidgeted then but maintained my gaze, seemingly lost in my look at her. I felt so sorry for her.-----Love. Noted. Stolen. <3

“Why are you working with the lycanthropes?” I asked first, and Charlotte twitched a smile as she broke from me. ----Omfg. Love. I knew exactly what facial expression you meant by "twitched a smile" and omfg I love it!!!!11!!! Noted and fucking stolen. Goddamn, you're awesome GF.

“And my machine?” So there was more than one more thing. Sue me. ----That fucking inner dialogue. Goddamn. Love. Noted. Stolen!

I turned around in her doorway to look at her. “I’m going to go ask Miriam.” When she looked uncertain, I offered her half a smile. “I’ll be back, don’t worry.” ----This is perhaps the best paragraph in this entire book. Super cinematic. Like, this would totally be the end of the trailer. That's how epic this is. And I'm sorry, but it's so cool that I feel like he should put on sunglasses or something should explode behind him (that cuntlicking bitch *cough, cough*). I absolutely love this part. Omg. Perfect.

----Okay, I haven't addressed much with Mir in this chapter. I'm going to do that now. First off, who the fuck Collin think he is telling Miriam to leave? Lol. Should have gotten slapped again. But anyway, more importantly, what the fuck does Miriam think she's doing hiding shit from Col? I get her having secrets, but these secrets are obvs something that Col needs to know. And can I just say that Leviathan is one of the coolest words in the dictionary. I want it to be somebody's name, oh do I ever want it to, but I get the feeling that it's actually a movement or something of that nature. But I'm going to be super stoked if it's a name. Because I love when awesome words are names. At this point, I'm having mixed feels about both Col and Mir. You made me so sure of how I felt about them. You have written so well. And you wrote this so well, even if you choose not to take this route, because I am so up in the air with the two of them right now. I know I hate Charlotte, however, I know that for sure. Fuck her, Man. She is stupid. And she has nothing to do with the Lycans. So she's no fucking help. I mean, I guess she kinda is. She revealed something to him about Mir and Leviathan. But she's so useless to me, and Col seems to be feeling actual guilt here. I get it, but I don't think it's justified considering she's been super stalking him for the last 15 years. Goddamn, Bitch, get a life.

----If you're going this route, I can tell you that I don't hate it. I think it makes sense. You didn't make her the scapegoat. I like how none of the shit going on with Char seems to be directly related to the real plot. She's just kind of a hiccup at this point. She serves her purpose, and I'm glad it's a small one. She told Col about Mir's secret. Other than that, she's nothing. I hope you have the rest of the plot figured out after this subplot with her. Hopefully, he doesn't have conflicting feelings between her and Mir. I'll fucking kill him. And I def have to go to the next chapter now. So, byeeeeeeeee.

Love, Bf
!!!!!!!!11!!!!!!