Chapter 10

Clara didn’t quite know what to say to that. It was no wonder that he hadn’t mentioned this plan earlier, he knew she wouldn’t like it. 

“I have to flirt with this hacker to convince him to help me?” she asked just to make sure she had heard correctly.  

Caiden shrugged.  “I was only joking. He will accept money; he needs it and he will most definitely think something is strange if you flirt with him.” 

Clara threw her pen at him again. This time Caiden side stepped it instead of disappearing. 

“I was trying to lighten the tone,” he protested. “You need to stop throwing things at me.” 

Clara knew that he was doing his best to distract her from everything. After all it was her first day with Clarissa’s memories. She didn’t even know if she was going to sleep well tonight. Sleeping in the hospital had come with difficulties due to the noise, but the lack of silence had led to her being so desperate to get sleep that she didn’t have to worry about getting nightmares. 

“Fine. Was Clarissa friendly with this hacker?” 

Technically she knew the answer before he said it. From Clarissa’s memories she knew that Clarissa had not been close to anyone at school. She had been sociable, but reluctant to be closely acquainted with anyone. 

“No. You will have to approach him carefully. I will feed you lines to say to him if you like,” Caiden offered. 

Clara liked that idea. Caiden was a demon so he would know how to manipulate people and would know exactly what to say. She scanned through her memories to see if she could guess who the hacker was. No one stuck out as being likely to be a hacker. 

“Who is the hacker anyway?” she asked. 

“Arthur Wang,” he replied. “He’s in some of your classes and Clarissa had known him since she was 11. I can attest that he will help you no matter what you say. It will just be easier if things are explained clearly to him.” 

Clara was satisfied with the answer and she was beginning to feel the effect of the long day. She yawned and closed the notebook. She felt she couldn’t do anything else for now. They had already made a lot of progress. 

“Are you going to sleep now?” Caiden asked. 

“I’m tired,” she answered. “I guess I’ll see you in the morning.” 

“It’s a date then,” Caiden said brightly. “Goodnight, Clara.” 

Clara scowled and watched his figure disappear. She was glad he was at her side despite his annoyingly flirty attitude. It was sad that instead of having a human at her side to rely on, she had a demon who was only with her so he could eat her soul later on. 

She got dressed for bed. Clarissa had some very expensive silk pyjamas that felt amazingly soft against her skin. She found through looking through Clarissa’s relevant memories that Clarissa had a night time skin routine. Clara sat down in front of the mirror on the vanity and picked out the products from Clarissa’s memories. 

It felt calming to cleanse her face and apply night cream across her face. By the time she got into bed, she was ready to drop into sleep.  

She fell asleep quickly and was then thrown into a nightmare. She was in the bathroom again, but she couldn’t tell if she was herself or Clarissa. The bath was full to the brim with blood and she kept seeing Beryl and the four bullies around her. 

Clara woke up with a gasp and took a long minute to catch her breath. Having two sets of memories was providing more nightmare fuel. For a moment she wished Caiden was around so she could hold his hand. 

It was strange how she had become accustomed to his presence after five days. Before that, there had been no one to hold her hand and many lonely nights with only her strong will keeping her from shaking with fear. The four bullies had been a constant fixture in her nightmares in different forms. 

Clara looked over at the alarm clock on the bedside table. It was three in the morning now. At least she had managed to get a few hours of sleep. She sat up and decided to read a book for a while so she could get tired again and hopefully get to sleep. It had worked for her in her previous life 

She switched the bedside lamp on and crept across the bedroom to the bookshelves. Clarissa’s taste in books leaned towards the fantasy genre. Clara didn’t usually read fantasy, but she was willing to read anything to distract herself right now. Clara picked a book out randomly and returned to her bed to read it. According to Clarissa’s memories, she hadn’t read this book yet.   

It was a werewolf themed novel and Clara was sceptical at first, but she was soon lost in the story. Clara read the book with close attention and when she finished, she found it was now half five in the morning. She put down the book and her eyelids began to droop. 

She felt very ready to sleep now. She could get through everything; she was going to get revenge against everyone who had hurt her and Clarissa. 

*** 

Clara stood outside the entrance to Westminster Academy and took a deep breath. She was going to be fine. She was the grandchild of a rich man and no one was going to mess with her. On the surface she appeared to be Clarissa St. Clair who did not get bullied in school.  

She walked in after a moment of hesitation and a few girls waved at her. That reassured her that everything really was fine. She smiled and responded to other students who greeted her. It seemed like Clarissa had some popularity at school despite having no friends. 

“Were you badly ill?” the school secretary asked when she turned up outside the office for her arranged meeting with her head of year. “It’s not like you to take an absence from school.” 

That told her a few things. Clarissa had staff at her school who were concerned about her and could identify her clearly despite the hundreds of students at the school. She had only been known to the staff at Trinity Academy because she was the poor scholarship girl and no one had ever shown concern for her. 

“I’m feeling better now,” she said with a small smile. 

The school secretary beamed at her and then showed her into the office for her meeting with her head of year. He was aware of her suicide attempt and Clara had been told he wanted to go through some questions with her. 

Clara got through the meeting by reassuring him that she was fine and she didn’t need any extra help with her studies or counselling. She promised she would let him know if she did need to use the school’s mental health support services. 

When she came out of his office it was time for her first lesson. It was finance which meant a lot of numbers and she liked things like that. Arthur Wang did not take this lesson so she was able to relax and give the teacher her full attention. 

Her next lesson after that was business and she kept a careful eye out for the hacker. For now, Caiden wasn’t with her. He had said he would appear when she approached Arthur at breaktime and wouldn’t appear any earlier. Arthur Wang walked into the classroom just before the start of the lesson. 

She couldn’t see much of his face due to his long sweeping bangs so she gave up on trying to read his face. Clara focused her attention on the lesson instead. Business was a harder subject to understand as it wasn’t just about numbers and the economy. 

The lesson felt excruciatingly slow and she breathed a deep sigh of relief when the bell rang and it was time to corner Arthur Wang. He was fast to pack his books into his bag and exit the classroom. Clara unceremoniously shoved her books into her backpack and rushed after him. She caught up with him in the corridor. 

“Arthur,” she called out 

He turned to look at her and his hair bounced around his face which allowed her to see it properly for a few seconds. He was attractive with wide set brown eyes and thin lips. He also looked very confused to see her. 

“Clarissa?” he said. 

He had a quiet but pleasant voice. Caiden appeared at her side and she did her best not to react to the new presence next to her.  

“I want to request something from you. In private,” she said. 

Arthur silently led her outside and around the school building where it was much quieter. The smokers who hung out around there didn’t give them a second look. Arthur came to stop close to the school gardens. 

“What did you want from me?” he asked. 

Clara glanced at Caiden who was supposed to start feeding her lines. 

“I need your services as a hacker. You can’t deny anything, I know you’re a hacker for hire,” Caiden said. 

Clara repeated the line dutifully. Arthur’s face was unreadable and she wished she knew what was going through his mind. 

“How do you know about what I do in my free time?” he asked with a clenched jaw. 

“That doesn’t matter right now. I’m willing to pay you a lot,” Clara said after being fed her line. 

Caiden’s script had better work or she was going to be having a serious conversation with him later. 

“Fine. What did you want me to hack? There are a lot of limits to my abilities, not everything is possible,” he warned. 

Clara didn’t get the feeling that Arthur had ever had a crush on Clarissa. Caiden must have been mistaken. She could see Arthur’s harsh glare through the gaps in his bangs. She tried to act like his attitude wasn’t bothering her. 

“I need to get revenge on my step-mother so I need you to hack everything relevant to my plan,” she explained after being fed her line. 

“Why do you want revenge?” he asked plainly. 

Clara rolled up the sleeves of her uniform without prompting. Caiden might tell her off later for going off script, but she had a feeling showing him her cuts would be the most effective way to get her point across. 

“I was in hospital last week due my suicide attempt. It’s her fault,” she said. 

Arthur winced and pulled her sleeves down.  

“I’ll help you,” he said softly. “I’ve known you for a long time so I know there’s not much you can do.” 

*** 

Caiden stayed by Clara’s side for the rest of the day at school. She had picked up being in a new body very well and had coped well with an onslaught of new painful memories belonging to the owner. He admired her fortitude when it came to surviving through anything so she could get revenge. 

She had played her part well earlier with Arthur Wang. She had correctly gauged what would get a response from the hacker without his prompting. She was doing well. 

Clara was currently eating an afternoon snack in the dining room of the St. Clair house with a satisfied smile on her face. 

Caiden did a quick check into the end of her future to see if it was still the same as it always had been so far. Normally her life ended with her giving up her soul to him which ended their contract. 

This time the future he saw was different and it perturbed him.  

In this future, they were kissing passionately before she handed over her soul. When he took her soul, there were tears in his eyes.