Chapter Twenty Two

(Bryson's POV)

I'm a guy.

Typically, if a guy - a hormonal one, might I add - would confront a cat fight, the normal response would be "Wow! That's hot!", "Damn!", "Hell yeah!" or whatever was generally said to such circumstance.

To such event graced the male populace, they viewed it as live sadistic lesbian porno.

But, I wasn't your typical normal guy.

A cat fight between two female Alerians; an ex girlfriend and a girl whom I had slept with two years ago, wasn't considered hot on my vocabulary.

Brutal would be appropriate.

I was shocked to say when Rebecca landed on my car's windshield with a crash, followed by a pissed off Ciara, charging like a red bull to finish her off...

All I could do for five seconds was stare.

45 minutes earlier...

I sighed. Reagan has been incognito for two days now.

I'd been trying to reach her, but as always, it went straight to her voicemail. Where on earth could she be? Of all days where I was ready to pour my heart out and tell her how she still meant to me, but what? She wasn't here, and here I was looking for her high and low or worst, checked if she was in one of her classes like a stalker.

I couldn't help it. I needed to see her.

I needed to tell her.

I needed Reagan back to me.

The hallways were empty, seeing school ended an hour ago. I wasn't keen in going home yet, because my deranged ex girlfriend was hounding me like mad woman, convincing me to reestablish the relationship.

I thought, maybe she was going through a phase of mending her broken heart, denial at its pique. But, her unstable behavior had proven that she wasn't going through a tough time.

She was delusional.

As I got out of the building, I wandered to the parking lot where my car was parked. I clicked on the child safety lock with my remote, got in, and threw my backpack at the backseat in the process. I started the car and heaved out a sigh. As I drove away, I'd only hope that Ciara wasn't there to bother me.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

I was relieved there was no sign of her at the front door. Well, usually she would wait outside, or in my bedroom, but half of the time was at the front door. If I pegged myself as a stalker looking for Reagan, then she was 10 times worst than I am.

Before I got out of my car, I heard a loud bang and a stream of profanities thrown by two shrieking banshees had me frown.

I was about to scrutinize the commotion but something, or someone, crashed on my windshield, causing the glass shards to shower in my direction. Good thing I ducked, or those sharp things would have made me blind.

When everything was settled, I slowly got out of the car to inspect the damage but, I was rooted to the ground. A pissed off Ciara was charging full speed ahead at a groaning Rebecca.

What the hell was going on?

All I could do was stare as Ciara threw powerful punches on Rebecca's gut repeatedly with a sadistic expression on her face.

"You!" punch "pitiful! "punch "two faced! punch "hag!" she growled at each blow she'd thrown at her.

Rebecca didn't retaliate. She took the blows openly, not defending herself. Ciara just called her pitiful two faced hag. She should be mad, hell! She should be furious!

Regaining some of my sense back, I jumped on the hood of my car to grab Ciara's rampaging body off Rebecca.

"What the hell!" she screeched as I flung her a few feet away.

I turned my attention back to Rebecca for injuries. Alerians weren't fast healers, like the converted vampires and purebloods. The more you were banged up, the more days it would take to heal you, but for human standards, it was quite fast, because for humans, intense injuries took weeks or months. For our kind, it would take hours to days.

"Rebecca?" I said as I held her head. "What happened?"

As a response, a groan escaped her lips. I guess Ciara got her good.

"Get away from the traitor, Bryson," Ciara sneered behind me.

I frowned. Traitor? What was she on?

I hop off the hood and strode towards the spot she stood. "What do you mean, traitor?" I asked as I crossed my arms over my chest, bunching my tense muscles.

She smirked evilly. Had I known she was bound to end up like this was beyond me. I've always thought that she was sweet and caring, but this girl standing in front of me was a total overhaul of the Ciara that I once knew. She was now a criminal in the making.

"I caught her talking to him on the phone," she said.

Him? That pompous pure blood Rebecca fell in love a year ago?

"What? When?" I asked.

"A few minutes ago. She said she was leaving and she doesn't want to be part of us anymore," she said as she flipped her copper colored locks to the back of her shoulders.

I heard a clinking sound coming from my totaled car. I glanced over my shoulder and saw Rebecca getting off the hood on shaky legs. She used the outline of my car as support where she stood her ground, glaring at the person who punched her like there was no tomorrow.

"Go kill yourself, Ciara," she growled.

Ciara scoffed. "Yeah, right. You first, hoe."

Their banter was giving me migraine. The thing I hated about cat-fights was the hissy fits and trash talks. "Enough!" I cut in.

Ciara snorted, but I shot her a warning look, clearly implying I had enough of her female dog act.

I turned back to Rebecca, who was now regaining most of her strength. "Tell me, is it true?" I asked. I had to know. If it was true, then her head was on the chopping block. She was supposed to be my second in command when I step in to carry on our legacy, but apparently, it was not happening anytime soon. The Pillars were going to be pissed. I knew she valued her life, but hanging on a thread for that pure blood she coerced a year ago, was insane.

"Yes," she said simply.

That was the only confirmation I needed.

"I hope you know what you're doing, Rebecca. Your parents are going to be so disappointed in you. Are you willing to throw away your life just for that pure blood?" I asked.

She nodded meekly, smiling for real. I hadn't seen this side of her in years. All throughout our teenage lives, she was dubbed as the school slut, a whore who slept with anyone with an one eyed snake. This was a strange revelation.

"Yes, very much," she said. "I wouldn't care less about our kind, nor what the pure bloods have to say. We love each other. Being away from him was too much."

"But this is strange. At school you would flirt around and hook up with a random guy. I thought you were back to your old self Rebecca. Why now?" I mused.

She smiled. "I had to keep up appearances. I had to pretend so that no one would be suspicious. I used persuasion on the guys that I so-called hooked up with," she said, doing air quotations on the hook up part. "I persuade them that we actually hook up, though we didn't. I can't see myself getting intimate with another guy after what happened."

She continued."The day I was warned to stay away from him was the day my world came crumbling down. I had to be with him again. He made me feel wanted. He treated me like a queen, not a princess. He never saw me as an Alerian, a race which purebloods meant to hate. He sees me as a woman."

I frowned. Unbelievable.

"I'm sorry I blackmailed you before. That was the old, crazy me," she said, chuckling at the memory. "I shouldn't have slept with you. That was the stupidest thing, and as a matter of fact, you should tell Reagan what happened. The day Ciara kissed you wasn't your fault. She came on to you because she knows that you would never give her a second glance. If you want, I could help you, but I don't think it would make a difference this time," she said sadly.

Yes, Rebecca walked in on us two years ago when Ciara kissed me at the Chemistry lab. Ciara, at that time, declared her love for me and told me to ditch Reagan, because I was better off without her. Unfortunately, I had to shut her down, because I loved Reagan, so she ran away crying but for Rebecca, it was a different story. She used it to her advantage, and the price? To have sex with her. If I declined, she would squeal like a pig to Reagan and not only that, she would divulge our legacy.

The reasons were shallow, but there were no options laid out, so what could I do? It was either lose Reagan, or compromise our kind. Sad, I know. I could finally admit I was the most dumbest male specie that had ever lived.

"What do you mean that it won't make a difference this time?" I asked as I came to realize her last sentence.

"I think she's over you. She's in love with someone else," she said.

I tilted my head to the side. "What do you mean?"

She sighed but smiled nevertheless. "It takes one to know one, Bryson. I'm a woman in love too."

I felt a tingle nipping at my skin, but this one was different. It wasn't the usual tingle that normal Alerians had when teleporting. That could only mean one thing.

The Pillars were coming. But, who contacted them anyway?

"Get out of here, Rebecca," I whispered.

She frowned. "What?"

I had no time to explain. The words that came out of my mouth were the only thing that could preserve her life, even though we knew it wasn't enough. You couldn't hide forever from them, but it was a chance she had no choice but to take. "LEAVE IF YOU VALUE YOUR LIFE!" I growled.

Her eyes grew wide, finally getting my drift. Without hesitation, she vanished out of thin air, transporting to where the hell she decided to.

I'd hoped that pure blood was worth the trouble. The Pillars wouldn't hear the end of it.

"Darn it," Ciara grunted.

I spun around and glared at Ciara. "What?"

She scowled. "I sent a telepathic message to The Pillars telling them about the situation."

I glared. So she was the one who informed them. "You have gone on the deep end, Ciara."

"Like I freaking care," she retorted.

I snorted. "If this is your way of getting into my good books, you fail miserably. I will never look at you the same way again," it was true. When her true colors came out to play, I became disgusted with her.

She swung around to leave, but she glanced over her shoulder to say her last two cents. "That will change, soon."