59

Scarlett and Sienna walked hand in hand, their linen dresses blowing in the hot summer breeze.

Other students bounded past, talking and giggling and playing. They didn't have a care in the world. Not a single one of them.

Things were different for Sienna. She sensed times were even more desperate for the friend at her side. There was no need to ask what had gone on in the bathroom. She knew her friend hadn't been doing anything untoward with her boyfriend.

Her evil boyfriend.

"Do you remember how we were just after we realised Tom was a using, two-timing jerk?" Scarlett asked.

Sienna smiled, looking up at the clear blue sky. "We were just like this."

"I felt so strong at the time," Scarlett said. "So strong and so weak."

Sienna nodded. She understood what she meant. After the Tom incident, she had gone over everything that happened in her head a million times. She had even prayed to God to send her back in time so she could chew him up and spit him out before he tore her down and made her feel like crap.

But God didn't send her a time machine.

God—the universe—whatever was out there—it didn't work like that, and Sienna was old enough and wise enough to know that now.

'Damien is worse than Tom,' she thought. 'And I don't need a time machine or any sort of miracle this time.'

This time, all she needed was a healthy dose of self-respect and the willpower to reject him.

'I don't need a man to validate me,' she told herself. 'I have friends. I have a family who loves me. I have a future.'

One day, she would meet a man who loved her and made her feel happy with no ulterior motives or scheming. A person she could grow with and cherish. She had to believe this was true.

"I have to go and see Riley," Scarlett said. Her voice was shaking but laced with determination. "I don't know what is going to happen after that. I—"

Scarlett stopped and pulled her in for a hug. "I'm sorry for all the times I hurt you."

"I'm sorry too," Sienna cried, becoming worried. "But why does it sound like you're saying goodbye? What's going on."

Scarlett's eyes misted over before she shook her head and laughed. A tear slid down her cheek and she wiped it away, still laughing. "I'm being dramatic. Everything is okay. Just... can you do me one favour? I know it's going to sound weird but—"

"Stay away from Damien?" Sienna asked.

"I texted you when you went to meet him," Scarlett said. "Did you not get my text about Damien?"

As Sienna racked her brain a headache swarmed in like a dark storm cloud. "Uh... I kind of remember getting a text but... why can't I remember?"

"It's okay," Scarlett assured her. "Just... stay away from him. He isn't the person he pretends to be."

"I know," Sienna said. She glanced over at the park, searching for him. He was easy to spot, being quite a bit taller than average. When she saw him standing close to Adrienne it made her heart sting. It made her want to storm over and claim his as her own. The thought of them together hurt so bad she almost didn't want to do what she had to do.

"You've got this," Scarlett said. She spoke the words with such confidence that Sienna believed her.

'I've got this.'

She kissed her friend and waved back at her as she jogged along the grassy verge.

Adrienne gave her a sour look and walked away as she approached, leaving her alone with Damien.

"Can we talk?" she asked.

"Oh?" Damien snickered. "Whenever someone utters those words, I know to brace myself. What is it you want to talk about?"

"Erm, well, the thing is—" Sienna began.

"Come," he interrupted. "Let's go somewhere private. My house."

It was phrased like a question, but it wasn't one. She only now realised how often Damien would do this—pretend he was giving you a choice when there wasn't one. He'd make up his mind and pretend you felt the same way.

Still... the was no point in arguing. She nodded and followed him on the short walk to his house. Instead of going inside, he led her to the garden, which was odd. There was a huge plot of land attached to his house will a well preened garden and allotments, but he'd never once taken her out there.

Something about this unnerved her, though she couldn't put her finger on why.

"Well," he prompted, taking a seat on one of the ornate garden chairs. He tapped his fingers on the glass-topped table, staring at her with hungry eyes. "Say what you need to say."

"I, erm..." Sienna felt sick. Her stomach clenched and her heart raced, and she couldn't find the words.

"I'm waiting," he said. The disdain was clear to see in his face and hear in his voice. He already knew what she wanted to say.

"I don't want to see you anymore," she blurted, saying the words so fast they almost got jumbled together.

"Hmm." Damien smiled. "Any reason for this sudden change of heart?"

Sienna shrugged her shoulders. There wasn't a logical reason she could give.

"I don't want to be begging God for a time machine in a year's time," she said. "I'm being my own time machine."

Damien frowned, cocking his head. A look of true confusion wasn't something he displayed often.

"Well, whatever. Your timing is fortunate because I was starting to get hungry," he said with no hint of emotion.

It was Sienna's turn to frown in confusion. "D—Did you need to go and eat?"

"I don't generally like to play with my food." Damien stopped tapping his black nails on the glass and looked up at her. "I'm not a cat. But still... I'm not going to give you a quick death."

Sienna let out a strangled sounding laugh before stepping backwards. The little hairs on her arms stood up to attention despite the blistering heat.

"The taste and smell of you make me gag, though it will be quite satisfying to feel your bones crunch between my teeth." Damien's eyes opened wide as he stood.

He flexed his jaw, opening his mouth impossibly wide before falling to the ground. As his form twisted and changed, Sienna couldn't process what was happening.

It had to be a dream. A hallucination.

A gunshot from just behind her ear stunned her back to reality. She felt a strong hand encircle her wrist and pull her towards the exit.

Unable to stop herself, she turned back to the thing that had been Damien. Blood and black matter plastered the garden fence and the rose bushes.

Someone was shouting at her, but she couldn't understand a word of it, ears still ringing from the blast. It had to have been something more powerful than an ordinary gun to do that kind of damage. A rocket launcher or something.

"Come on," a voice demanded. "That won't stop him for more than a few minutes or so. We need to get out of here."

"But... what do you mean? H—He's dead," Sienna muttered. She turned to the face of her rescuer. "A—Adrian?"

Adrian shook his head. "Come on."

He threw his weapon into the back of a truck and opened the door. "Get in. We need to move before he regenerates."