~~***~~
Simion spotted Ana, who immediately gestured him to have a seat, with a look of urgency on her face.
"What's up sis?" He took a bite of his green apple, whiles sitting down.
"There's something I need to tell you. I know it might sound strange, but-"
"Why is something ever not strange when it comes to you?"
"Come on Simion, this is no time for jokes. It's serious."
He looked at her for a little while before sighed, "Fine, what is it?"
She looked around cautiously, before leaning forward.
"After the fight with mom, I came looking for you, and I met someone. A woman," she looked at him carefully, but he only stared at her blankly.
"You're not tryna' tell me you're gay, are you? You know what this place does to-"
"No Simion, I'm not gay!"
"Okay well? What happened?"
Ana told him what happened and as she did, his face remained neutral. It worried her. She didn't know what he was thinking, and she was scared. What if it all was a dream? But then she remembered that during class, she felt a burning sensation on her chest. She'd begged Mrs. Grim to give her a hall pass, so she could check it out.
When she opened up her shirt, she saw the tattoo. It freaked her out and no matter how much water she'd splashed on it, the burning didn't stop. In fact, it increased. It didn't settle down until she did.
"I know I've been acting strange this morning, and I know that you're still freaked out about mom, but you have to believe me."
"Uh-huh okay Ana. You know there's a center... f-for the troubled that see things or 'claim' they see things?"
Ana scoffed as she looked at him to which he shrugged his shoulders. She couldn't believe that he was going to bring that up now. He looked at her every movement with concern, and spoke after biting his apple again.
"I think mom was right. You miss dad so much, you would do anything for attention. Even come up with that."
Ana looked at him with piercing eyes and he raised his eyebrows in question as he chewed. Everything that came out of his mouth seemed like bull shit. Simion was ridiculing her, he thought she was nuts. She laughed, but it wasn't genuine.
"Simion…you don't believe what mom said do you?" she asked hopingly.
"It's hard to say. You are showing the signs of-"
"I am not! Why on earth would you think of sending me to the-! You know I'm not crazy, mom got me tested! Over thirty times for that because you kept telling her that you thought I needed 'help'!"
When he didn't take her on, she smacked the apple out of his hand, before he took another bite.
"Ana...the fu-"
"Shut up! Just shut up!" her eyes looked crazed and it had Simion worried. She began unbuttoning her shirt in front of him.
"Whoa! A-Ana, what the hell are you-"
"You want proof don't you?" she looked at him still unbuttoning her shirt. Everyone around began looking at them with wide eyes. Some began whispering. Someone across the room even whistled and jeered.
'Go Ana!'
"Ana seriously just stop!"
"Here's your proof," she showed him the tattoo above her heart, but he just stared back blankly.
"Ana..."
"Well? Do you see it?"
"Ana there's-"
Out of nowhere, she felt a hand grab unto her hair, yanking her back. She almost fell on her butt, but kept her balance. Everyone in the cafeteria started cheering and some even pulled out their phones.
"Who the hell are you?"
"Excuse me?" Ana looked at the girl who was just mad enough to do what she just did.
"You heard me!"
"Lace come on," Simion tried to intervene.
"Who the fuck are you to think you can just yank my hair back! Do you know what I had to go through this morning, to get my hair like this?"
"Do I look like I give a damn? You have a lot of nerve, making a move on my boyfriend like that. You-"
Ana held up her hand to Lacy who shut up. Immediately stunned by her gesture, "That's the girl you were talking about really? Come on Simion, you can do better than that."
"You bitch!" Lacy walked up on Ana and slapped her, eyes filled with rage as she opened her mouth you speak. "I-"
Before she could finish, Ana punched her in the face, grabbed onto her hair wrapping it around her wrist, before Lacy stumbled as she held her nose. Blood ran down her face, and before she could attack Ana with her nails out, Simion freed Lacy from a fuming Ana, and held her by the waist to restrain her.
"Stop it now!"
"But Si-"
"Lacy stop," he held her, breathing heavily. "That's my sister, Ana. Ana meet Lacy, my girlfriend."
Lacy calmed down and Simion finally let her go, "What the hell are you all staring at?" The jeering stopped and some averted their eyes. As she scanned the crowd, a nerd had his phone out. "Are you videotaping this?"
He shook his head violently and before she could do anything, he dropped his phone on the floor, and crushed it with his feet. She glared at them and they all resumed what they were doing, pretending that they didn't know what just happened.
~~10 minutes later~~
Lacy sat next to Simion, sizing Ana up and down, twitching her nose as if she took an awful smell. Ana kept a straight face, but inside, she was trying to hold in her laughter. That was the girl Simion went for? She was hideous!
Her brother made better choices before her. She'd rather any of them than the one in front of her. The look on her face made her upgrade from ugly to malformed. She could've been mistaken for the sister of Sméagol, in 'Lord of the Rings'. How come Simion or anyone else around them couldn't see it?
"Who are you looking at like that, Sméagol," Ana teased her, a smirk played across her face. "If you want, I can take you to a facial? You know, the one just down the street, relax your face muscles a bit. Oh yeah! Silly of me to forget, they happen to have fifty percent off. I can take you there if you'd like? Or I could fix the problem you're having with your nose myself 'cause it seems to be twitching a lot." Ana said in the sweetest sarcastic voice she could muster.
The corner of Lacy's lip slightly went up giving Ana the stink eye, before she turned to Simion looking hurt.
"Ana. Be nice," he said to her in clenched teeth.
Ana looked at Simion with disbelief, her expression clearly stating that she wasn't the one who started it, and Sméagol here, got what she deserved.
"Why do I have to be nice? I'm nice to whoever is nice to me, Simion. But that thing?" she pointed a finger at Lacy, "was the one who started it. It's only fair that I finish." After a few minutes of Lacy and Ana staring each other down, she felt a strange sensation in the air, increasing by the minute. It was with no doubt an aura.
Remembering what Zapphira said about being able to detect auras. She stood up and followed its pull, only to be walking around in circles and ending up at a pair of pink shoes. As her eyes slowly scrolled up taking in the persons features, a wave of shock washed over her face.
Ana stood there, staring at Lacy in the face speechless. Lacy looked at her half confused and knowingly. Immediately, Ana's face turned serious.
"Who and what are you?" Ana demanded angrily, her index finger now in Lacy's face.
"Ana?"
"Shut up Simion," she smirked, "I'm dealing with Sméagol here. Don't make me repeat myself Lacy 'cause really and truly, I hate doing that. Especially when I know the person that I'm talking to, is not deaf."
Lacy stared at her and chuckled, "Ana, what are you talking about?" her voice had a slight pinch of fear. She tried to sound innocent, but Ana wasn't buying. She'd sensed an aura before, yeah it was her first time, but it gave her an edge. Zapphira's aura was powerful, but not as dark as Lacy's.
'How the hell did she? I've only been here a few months! Bitch shouldn't be able to sense my aura, no angel can. Unless...!' Lacy thought as she watched Ana roll up the sleeves of her shirt.
"Yeah, I know right, the truth hurts, bitch," Ana was able to read minds.
She realized it, when she heard Lacy's thoughts as clear as Claritin. She was supposed to be surprised, but this was not the time to be. She had to deal with this one first.
"Now look, I don't know who the hell you are, rubbing up on my bro like that, but you can't stick around. First of all, I don't trust you, second of all your tongue. Yep, it's gonna be a problem. Even if you didn't have that dark aura around you, you haven't showed me respect. I'm going to tell you straight up that, we gon' have some problems. And I don't take bull shit from nobody, so if you wanna keep your tongue... show me respect. Cause believe me, I'm going to rip it from your throat. Do I make myself clear?"
Simion was unable to stand another argument. He was about to give a statement, when Lacy spoke.
"Oh come on Ana. I swear I have no idea what you're-"
"Oh shove a sock in it Sméagol! There's no point in denying that you're some demon spawn that crawled its way from the depths of hell. I'm not stupid! Do you see the word 'ASS' on my forehead? Hell no, so stop talking to me like I'm dumb!" She yelled.
Everyone looked in their direction again, puzzled. Lacy gave off a satisfied smirk, tempting Ana. 'Oh no this bitch done messed with the wrong chic,' Ana thought. Without thinking she walked around to Lacy, grabbed her by the hair and punched her in the face. After which she slammed it into the cafeteria's table.
Simion sat there paralyzed, until he processed what was going on. He stood up, not letting Ana continue to hurt Lacy.
"That's enough! What the fuck Ana? You're officially psychotic!?" he said, eyebrows knitting together as he looked at her, not sure that he recognized her. He wasn't even sure that she was his sister anymore.
"Simion I-"
"Save it Ana! I don't care if you have been tested over thirty times and came out negative. If you're not crazy or psychotic stop acting like you are!"
For the first time in her life she never felt so ashamed.
As Simion and Lacy walked away from the scene, she turned back and looked at Ana, mouthing the words; "Game on Angel bitch."
"Likewise Demon whore," Ana mouthed back, not backing out on the threat. Oh it was so on.
After school, Ana stood in the driveway leaning on her car, waiting for Simion. She saw him walking towards his car, on the other side of the parking lot. She briskly walked towards him, trying to catch up.
"Hey, look I'm sorry. I didn't mean to but-"
"Save it Ana!"
"But-"
"I said, save it!" he quickly added.
"Please Simion!"
"You punched her in the face Ana! You fractured her nose!"
"They fixed it didn't they?" Ana looked at him desperately. "Look, I know that you're pissed off with me, but did you at least see the tattoo?"
"What tattoo? Ana, there was nothing there."
"But-"
"Hey, Simmy!"
Lacy called out to him, as she walked down the school steps, with a bandage on her nose, totally ignoring Ana. 'Ugh not Sméagol again,' Ana thought as she watched Lacy kiss her brother, her tongue slid into his mouth and seemed to be playing Dora the Explorer with his. 'Gosh, if someone knew where that tongue has been.'
Before she realized it, she puked up her lunch and some of it fell on Lacy's shoes.
"Ugh, you little brat…!"
Ana shot her a look of disbelief, before holding up one finger and puking out the rest she had left. When she was done, she rinsed her mouth and face at the nearby standpipe. She popped a gum in her mouth and walked back to them.
"Me a brat…?! You're the one playing Dora the Explorer in his mouth." she gestured to Lacy's tongue and her brother's mouth, sarcastically.
Surprisingly, Simion laughed and Ana chimed in a few seconds later. Lacy looked at the both of them pissed, especially Simion. She slapped him on the shoulder and he laughed harder. He was supposed to be on her side.
"She's right Lace. You could take it down a notch." he agreed with his sister. "But still Ana, really?" he pointed to Lacy's shoes, "let's go clean it up so we can go."
"Go? Go where, we have dinner tonight Simion."
"Oh shucks! I forgot to remind mom. Tell her for me will ya?"
Ana looked between the both of them unwillingly, "Why do I have to tell mom. You can just tell her yourself-"
"Come on Ana please? You owe me. Remember-"
"Okay, okay! I'll tell her."
"Thanks!"
She watched as they boarded his car and drove off.
"You're welcome..."
After Ana and her mom had dinner without Simion, she decided to tell her mother the encounter she had with Zapphira.
"Mom…?"
"Hmm…"
"Can I tell you something?"
Claris looked at Ana and wiped her mouth, "Of course honey. You know you can tell me anything."
"Really…? Cause-"
"Please let's, let's not go there. What do you have to tell me?"
She told her mother what happened without leaving a single detail.
"Then it morphed into a woman with hair as black as night, skin as white as snow-"
"Zapphira!" her mother interrupted. "Don't ask how I know just, tell me the message."
Ana didn't look surprised at all and delivered the message. Her eyes were trained on Claris, waiting for a response. Zapphira did say that her mother would know what to do. This family has so many secrets; she swore she'd drown in them.
"Ana, there are many things you need to know, but I can't get into detail right now. We're running out of time as we speak. Where's your brother?"
"He went out on a date with that Lacy bit-" she held her tongue, remembering she was speaking to her mother, before she got a special dose of a backhand and that crazy Caribbean language.
"It turns out she's a demon. I don't know how I know she's a demon, but my gut tells me she's a demon. There's something totally of with her aura," she replied, nearly forgetting her brother went out on his date.
"Wow, you can sense aura's now..."
"Mom, what's going on? How come there's so much going on, and no one has ever told me about it."
"You weren't ready yet Ana."
"So…when huh? When were you going to tell me?"
"On your seventeenth birthday..."
"Why would you wait so long-"
"This is not the time to be talking about this Ana. He's in danger; we need to find him, now!"
Claris's chair dragged on the floor, as she pushed it back to get up. Hurriedly, she walked to the kitchen, Ana in pursuit.
"Go? But the party just started!"
Ana stopped and she felt stifled, as the room soaked in darkness. They both turned around eventually, to find three huge, ugly men standing by the door. They had the whole, Demon Bad boy starter pack. Black wings, bald heads with horns, pure black obsidian eyes. Black gums showed as they snarled like varmints.
Ana found herself staring into then, not able to find a hint of light. It was a never ending sea of darkness.
"Hello Claris. Missed us?"
Ana stood paralyzed.
Claris halted, "Shit!"