Chapter 15: Chapter 15

"So why don't we make a pact?" He suggested.

"A pact? Isn't that a little too early? We just met each other." I mumbled with a small yawn.

"Then let's make a promise?" He said, holding out his pinkie.

"A promise about what?" I questioned locking our pinkies while maintaining eye contact with each other.

"A promise that no matter what, we'll always be there for each other come rain or shine." He said tightening his hold on my pinkie.

"I promise to keep this promise for as long as I live," I said sincerely kissing my hand that was locked with his to seal the deal.

"I promise to deliver the same," he said, kissing my hand, "And I promise no girl will ever get between us," he added with a devious smile, I couldn't help but shake before promising the same thing.

"Good now let's get out of here I'm starving." He said getting up before offering me his hand as he helped me up.

"Ya same," I said stretching my muscles.

"Mind if I?" He asked, pointing to my shirt, I merely raised my brow before giving him a nod as a go-ahead. He lifted my shirt all the while my heart was racing through the roof. His jaw was locked all the while he circled me, what unnerved me was his request for me to take my shirt off. Uneasily I obeyed letting him see all the scars that littered my upper body, I don't know what got over him as he let his anger out and punched the mirror through gritted teeth making me jump out of my skin.

"What the fuck Malcolm!" I said in shock quickly putting my shirt back on. I held his clenched bleeding hand before I got it under the faucet, he fitted his teeth in the cold water before I turned it to lukewarm.

"Why did you do that?" I questioned him with a scowl concerned that tiny pieces of glass might be lodged under his skin.

"I'm angry," he blandly said.

"No shit Sherlock, I noticed," I said before kneeling to check for some gauge under the cupboard sink. Luckily there was a little first aid kit that I pulled out before treating Malcolm's hand.

"You're an idiot, you know that," I grumbled, tying the gauze around his hand.

"So I've been told," he smiled fondly at me as if I was his whole world.

"Why are you looking at me like that?" I asked with narrowed eyes.

"Nothing." He chuckled, stretching his wounded hand before placing a gentle kiss on my forehead as a thank you. I blushed inwardly nodding as a response before I flushed the sink and put back the first aid kit. I was sure Anji was going to kill us for breaking her expensive mirror but now that was the furthest thing from my mind, seeing Malcolm's anger issues was. He told me he had serious anger issues but I didn't believe it until I saw it myself because it was so hard to believe when he was such a carefree funny guy.

"Anji is going to kill you," I told him starting at the broken mirror.

"Tell me about it." He laughed unlocking the door and leading the way out, I followed with a lighter heart feeling like a mountain was lifted off my shoulders.

"What were you guys doing in there?" Anji asked with a scrutinising stare.

"Just having a quicky," Malcolm answered with a lazy smirk, Angelica blushed to the tips of her ears and I choked on my saliva.

"What the hell is wrong with you?" I asked in shock when in reality I should already be used to his behaviour by now.

"You tell me P.B." he smirked, winking at me. Angelica was left speechless before she composed herself and put on her best resting bitch face before she led us to her garage. Malcolm decided to tail us but when I decided to join him, he suggested I side with Angelica because he had to take a detour on the way. I was agitated throughout the ride, Angji and I sat in the while her butler drove us. Anji was on her phone checking her social media while I was staring at the passing buildings and occasionally stealing glances at Anji. I don't think she understood my feelings for her. They run deeper than I would like them to, just sitting here with such proximity had my heart flying out the window along with all my common sense, her floral perfume tickled my nose bringing serenity to my mind.

She honestly had the beauty of a goddess and the way she flaunted it was inspiring but also reckless, I could only imagine the countless men that have harassed her because of her looks but I guess that's the risk of having a beautiful face. Angelica Bloom was in a sense of the word a damsel in distress, she had the damsel part all wrapped up in a neat little bow waiting for prince charming to come save her. On the outside, she may have fooled everyone but not me. I saw all the signs, she seemed to have parental issues by the way she looked every time they were mentioned, petrified. I don't know what her parents did to make her fear them but it was killing me inside not knowing and having no clue on how to help her.

"What?" She asked rudely, catching my eye, it seemed she only got defensive when she had something to hide which is more often than once would expect.

"You look beautiful," I genuinely complimented her, maintaining heavy eye contact. She looked caught off guard but she covered it up, seeming unbothered by the compliment.

"Tell me something I don't know," she scoffed, turning her attention back to her phone.

"You're scared," I muttered under my breath.

"What?" She questioned with narrowed eyes putting her walls up as high as the great wall of China.

"Nothing," I muttered under my breath starting out the window. Angelica Bloom was a lot of things but a friend she was not, she would stab you in the back without a second thought and I think that's why she has no true friend and the same reason why so many people hate and fear her. It's the same reason why I question my feelings for her every day, I wondered why I fell for her so hard. I knew it wasn't just because of her looks but because I was so intrigued by her personality. I wondered what made her so cold and unkind.

But overall I was in love with the type of person she could be if she let her guard down. I've only seen a glimpse of her true self because of one tiny crack in her walks before she closed it up and instantly made me second guess ever seeing it, to begin with. She probably thought I only liked her for her looks but contrary to what she thought I liked everything about her, from her tendency to never take no for an answer to standing high and mighty no matter the weather. I envied her strong leadership on the hockey field, she was almost a completely different person on the field, her team came first and she went through all means necessary to make sure that her team came out on top after every game.

It seemed hockey was her salvation by the way she takes it seriously and never misses a single practice or game or maybe She was just in love with the sport that she decided everything she has into the sport. By the time we arrived at our destination I was so stuck in my head I didn't notice we arrived. I wasn't sure what to expect but when we arrived it sure as hell wasn't a replica of count Dracula's creepy castle, just what type of people owned this house, a mafia king?

"Wow." I gasped taking in the scene before me. Malcolm drove into the parking next to us before he got out with a lollipop in his mouth.

"Hot damn," he said starting at the creepy castle before us. We didn't get another moment to awe at the castle before Angelica led us inside the house, the fact that the sun was down made everything about the house creepier than during the day, I swear I even saw the gargoyle on one of the balconies move a bit sending a shiver up my spine. I hurried towards Malcolm linking our arms together.

"Scared?" He asked with a raised brow.

"No, just creeped out a bit," I said, holding my gaze on Angelica who led us to the main ginormous foyer where the rest of her gang was.

"Hey, guys." She greeted them with a delicate wave like she was royalty. To my utter surprise Eve also showed up and the moment our eyes locked I quickly looked down in shame about what happened the last time we saw each other. The scars on her face were unnoticed unless you looked closely then you would notice the tiny cuts on her face and the red cruise around her neck that she covered with her turtle neck jersey. Knowing everything that happened with Eve and me, Malcolm pulled me towards a one-man couch which he sat on and I sat on his lap still on autopilot as my mind was back in my room the day that I attacked Eve and went batshit crazy.

I could feel all the calculating stares from the people in the room just by how Malcolm was acting towards me. In their eyes, we probably looked like a couple but with the glares, some of the girls were giving me they didn't care what it looked like as they kept their eyes on Malcolm wanting his every attention. Everyone found their place to sit before they began chatting, waiting for the guest of honour to arrive. I found it absurd to have to be waiting for someone who invited us over. In retrospect, they should've been at the door to welcome us in.

"You ok?" Malcolm asked me.

"No," I said through gritted teeth, he nodded his head in understanding. I leaned my head back resting it on his shoulder with my eyes closed, it was comforting that I was so comfortable with being this touchy with Malcolm. All that was going through my mind was how fucked up I was and how I might've ruined the only chance I had of making a real friend with Eve.

"Take it easy," Malcolm whispered in my ear as he held my shaking hands in his.

"Kinda hard to do that when the girl I attacked is right in front of me," I said through gritted teeth.

"She isn't attacking you so she's bound to forgive you, just tell her what's up," he said as if that would solve all my problems.

"No," I said, painfully grinding my teeth to stop myself from acting like a fool and better yet to stop myself from crying my eyes out at the realisation of how fucked up I was. Dark thoughts invaded my mind one after the other, not giving me a second to breathe as I spiralled down a dark hole, feeling the room spin around me as I struggled to focus on one thing in the room to stop the room from spinning.

"P.B take it easy," Malcolm ordered like he was talking to a little kid but his voice went in through one ear and out through the other. I was too disoriented and out of it to pay any mind to what he was saying so I resorted to saving myself by focusing on the one thought that got me hyperventilating like I just ran a marathon: Eve.

She sat delicately on a chair with one leg over the other with her phone in her hand playing with the pop socket at the back of her phone case, I guess I wasn't the only one nervous in the room. Once our eyes locked I found myself apologising with my eyes but she simply hardened her stare and looked away which I admit hurt more than it should've.

"She'll come around just give her some time," Malcolm said, squeezing my hands reassuringly.

"I hope so," I said starting at Eve who starred anywhere but in my direction. I didn't get a second to ponder over Eve before the air was filled with dominance and authority as a rather tall muscular built man entered the room demanding all our attention. He was good looking with a chiselled face, electric blue eyes, black well-maintained hair that was slicked to the side with tell giving him a younger look but what stood out most about him was the right black suit he wore that hugged his muscles nicely gaining a lot of hungry stares from the females in the room.

"Welcome ladies and gentlemen, to the castle of the undead," he announced proudly his voice booming around the room but we couldn't help cringe at his speech," My name is Darren and I will be the supervisor during our little tour of the undead," he said with a wide grin, he seemed excited about this but I found no excitement in the activity I was about to partake in because all my energy was drained out of me the moment I saw Eve.

"Now's the only time you have to use the bathroom'" he informed us but no one got up so he continued, "Alright then without further ado follow me." He said leading us into a lowly lit hallway lined with creepy pictures that were meant to scare us but only managed to scare one of Angelica's goons who held her boyfriend's arm tightly with no complaints from him. I couldn't help but roll my eyes at them. Malcolm and I walked at the back of the group keeping distance from everyone.

"She looks beautiful," Malcolm said, looking at Eve who kept her distance from everyone.

"Understatement of the century." I scoffed with a roll of my eyes, Malcolm laughed watching Eve's every move like he was trying to figure out what type of person she was. Darren stopped at a massive mahogany double door painted with Halloween decorations.

"This is where I leave, through this door you will venture through the land of the dead but be wanted. It won't be an easy road and remember the first person on the other side wins a prize," he said with a sinister smile locking eyes with me as if his warning was directed at me, I gave him a confused look which he ignored and continued talking.

"Let me leave you and remember to have fun." He said before he opened the double door and walked back from where we came from.

"Ladies first," Kevin said motioning with his hands

"Coward." Angelics coldly said walking into the darkroom with little pumpkin lights littered on the floor. I felt a cold hand enlace mine making my heart skip a beat.

"Sorry it's just hard to see," Malcolm said next to me.

"Right." I smiled a small smile, he wasn't wrong it was pretty hard to see where we were going with the only source of light being the pumpkins and the glow in the stickers and arrows pointing our way but the thrilling thing about the place was how organised everything was. Everyone broke off into groups of two or more heading into different rooms linking the hallway. Malcolm and I kept heading straight hearing the screams of my classmates most coming from the girls. I didn't find anything worth being scared of until we turned a corner and some guy dressed in a skeleton costume jumped out in front of us frightening me.

"Jesus!" I exclaimed, holding my chest in fear. Malcolm snickered, making me smack him lightly on the arm for laughing at me. The unnerving part about the guy in the costume was his exposed black eyes that chilled me to the very core of my being, black cold eyes that I saw in the alleyway that day. Fear froze me on the spot, locking up my muscles on the spot. Every instinct in me told me to run for my life but I was frozen in place, shaking.

"P.B," Malcolm gently said my name, the masked guy in the skeleton costume hid back on the side of the corner prepared to scare the next person to walk this way. I watched with bulged eyes as the guy hid behind the corner, heart racing to jump out my chest by how fast it was going.

"Belle?" Malcolm shook my shoulders, snapping me out of my grown state.

"What?" I questioned as memories from that alleyway flashed before my mind one by one.

"You ok?" He asked with concern

"Ya just thought I saw something," I said hesitantly looking back at the corner the guy disappeared behind getting a bad feeling from my gut. The guy was surprised to see me as well so clearly, he has seen me before which just worsened my gut feeling.

"You sure?" Malcolm asked me with a raised bro not believing a word I was saying.

"Ya," I said hoping I just saw something that wasn't there, I quickly walked towards the corner hoping to awe my mind with a second look at the skeleton guy but when I turned the corner there was nobody there.

"Shit," I cursed through gritted teeth. Anger flowed through my veins as I tried to process what just happened, was I finally losing it and seeing hallucinations? Or did I just see reality which only meant my life was in danger once more.

"Did you see that guy?" I told Malcolm with a manic look hoping I saw nothing more than a hallucination of my imagination.

"Oh, you mean the skeleton guy?" He questioned to which I nodded repeatedly," Ya, what's the problem?" He asked with a raised brow.

"Nothing," I said through gritted teeth with my whole body littered in goosebumps.

"P.B talk to me." Malcolm practically begged, holding me in place by the shoulders.

"I thought..." I began my voice trailing off as I looked behind Malcolm by the corner where the skeleton guy disappeared only to see him pop his head out with a malicious smile before he hiding back behind the corner as if taunting me to follow him and I was dumb enough to fall for the trick. I was convinced that my mind was playing tricks on me.

"P.B wait!" Malcolm yelled after I dashed past him to chase the skeleton guy with fueled anger for revenge.