Page 24 of The Blackened Blade

Her lip curls up, “And now I’m going to make sure you suffer heavily for it, for eventhinkingyou could stand up to me.” She leans toward me as she whispers. “Whatever little hope you’ve clung to, I'll break it like I broke you before, except this time you won’t be getting back up. You’ll wish you had stayed buried in your own misery…I’ll make you wish you never even made this littleattempt.”

The gaze she gives me reminds me of one I’d seen before, a look that's filled with twisted excitement. A sadistic gaze, as if she was looking at some easy prey.

Of course that's what she thought, what they all thought.

Does she think I’d back down with her words, begging for forgiveness?

A laugh so gravelly and humourless peels from my lips and has all their annoying voices falling silent.

“Payback?” Another dark chuckle falls from my throat as I look toward the mess and then back to Ivy.“Do you feel like you’ve paid for everything you’ve done to me over the years?” I shake my head, “No. How could something so miniscule be payback? It's not even the beginning.”

Ivy scoffs and rolls her eyes. “And what exactly do you thinkyoucan do? You don’t have magic Micai, or friends. Your own family doesn’t even care about what happens to you.” She pokes a bony finger into my chest and sneers.“There's no one who would help you or stand up for you, or they would have done it already. Years of humiliation and misery, why do you still put up with it all? Why exist where you're not wanted? Where there's not even one person who wants you around?” She places her hand on her chest, a mocking smile stretching her lips as the boys around her snicker. “EvenIthink that's sad.”

Her words ring out in my head, feelings from years before trying to claw their way through my chest, old wounds trying to open and break free. The loneliness, the fear, the pain of being unwanted and feeling worthless and empty–No.

I shake my head. I had survived, lived through worse things thanIvy fucking Harris.

This was my second chance, and I would have them pay for all they’ve done to me and more.

I open my mouth to speak, when suddenly a hand grabs me from behind. A cold shiver works its way through my body with the contact.

A rush of blonde hair flows in front of me as a familiar voice calls, “What's happening here?” She looks toward Ivy and then to me, “Micai?” Seria’s blue eyes meet my gaze as a gentle smile curves her lips. “Is everything okay here, Micai?”

A feeling like ants burrowing under my skin stretches across my body with my name falling from those small pink lips.

She gazes back and forth between me and Ivy, waiting for my usual quick reply. And the longer I wait, the longer I see what I never had before.

The expression on her face looks so sweet and warm, but that smile never really reaches her eyes. Something darker moves about behind them, something scheming and calculating, that sits waiting and watching.

There's a little tick in her jaw, a tight clench as she waits impatiently for my usual compliant answer, her grin slightly faltering on her lips before she schools it again into its usual soft smile.

How was I ever so blind? How did I not see it before? And what else will I notice now that I’m not completely oblivious?

She shakes her head, a small gentle sigh leaving her lips as she turns back toward Ivy. “Whatevers happened here, I’m sure we can resolve it amicably, right?”

Ivy gives her a small smile and nod. “Of course Seria. Me and Micai just had a little disagreement. But we’re all good and clear now, right Micai?”

“Disagreement?” Seria tilts her head slightly, a brow raised as she looks toward the plate and mess on the floor.

“Micai got a little upset when I tried to explain something,” Answers Ivy, a fake frown lacing her lips, “And she…threw her food at me.”

Seria’s eyes widen, turning quickly back to me as I watch on, taking in their annoying little charade.

“I don’t know what happened here, but violence is never the way. Ivy is a classmate of mine, and an underclassman to you Micai. You should lead by example, not take your anger out on her because of whatever was said.” She continues to drone on, spewing crap about ‘keeping the peace’ and‘school etiquette’ as Ivy and the boys around her grin and sneer at me.

Bile rises in my throat with the anger at just having to listen to their nonsense.

I’d rather listen to a monkey screeching while scraping a chalkboard all day than hear another word of bullshit from their mouths.

Why was it that even though all this wasn’t my fault, everyone seemed to be so okay with blaming me?

What had I ever done wrong to the students in this school? Was pedigree and power really everything in this academy,this world?

The funny thing is, when you're locked in a cell to rot, none of it matters. Not power, not prestige, not wealth…we all die the same.

I open my mouth, ready to put both of them in their place when the cafeteria door swings open with a bang and in they walk.

My four old childhood friends. The ones who left me for Seria.

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