Living with the devil

Emery's point of view 

By Monday morning, I was one humiliation away from completely losing my mind. The hockey arena roared so loudly the walls practically vibrated.

“Xavier! Xavier! Xavier!” Girls screamed his name from the bleachers while the hockey team dominated the ice like they owned the entire damn school, which technically, they probably did.

Blackridge Academy worshipped rich boys with pretty faces and violent tempers, and Xavier Vaughn was their favorite monster.

I tightened my skates silently near the practice zone, trying to ignore the noise while figure skaters warmed up around me. The second Xavier slammed another player against the rink boards, the crowd exploded again.

God, they treated cruelty like entertainment. My eyes drifted toward him before I could stop them.

He moved across the ice like he was born for destruction, then his gaze suddenly snapped toward me, the smirk on his face vanished instantly, replaced by intense coldness. 

A chill crawled through me, I looked away first and I paid dearly for that mistake as a shoulder slammed violently into me from behind.

I crashed hard onto the ice, laughter erupted immediately.Pain shot through my knees as my palms scraped against the surface. I clenched my jaw tightly and pushed myself up slowly while Xavier’s teammates snickered nearby.

“Sorry, Hale,” one of them mocked. “Didn’t see you there.”

I ignored his pathetic lie, that was what I always did, ignore and survive.

Coach Reynolds blew the whistle sharply. “Again!” and the practice resumed. Ten minutes later, another player deliberately clipped my skates during a turn, I hit the ice even harder this time, more laughter erupted. My chest burned with humiliation as I stood shakily again.

Across the rink, Xavier leaned casually against the boards watching everything happen without stopping it once.

Actually no, that wasn’t true, he looked entertained. Another drill started, another shove, another crash, this time my head slammed painfully against the ice. 

Something inside me snapped. “ENOUGH!” The scream ripped out of me so loudly the entire arena froze.

Silence crashed across the rink instantly, even the hockey game stopped. My breathing came fast and uneven as I stood there trembling with fury while every single person stared at me in shock.

Because Emery Hale never yelled, Emery Hale swallowed things quietly. Coach Reynolds skated toward me immediately, furious. “What the hell is wrong with you?!”

I turned toward him so fast, his eyes widened in surprise. 

“What’s wrong with me?” My voice shook violently. “Maybe ask your hockey players why they’ve been knocking me down for the last thirty minutes!”

Murmurs spread through the arena. Coach frowned immediately. “Watch your tone.”

“No.” I stepped forward angrily. “I’m tired of watching everyone pretend Xavier Vaughn and his friends can do whatever they want because they’re rich!”

Gasps erupted instantly, and coach looked horrified. “Emery, enough…”

“No,” I snapped again. “I’ve kept quiet for years while his team treats people like garbage.”

Slow clapping suddenly echoed through the rink. My stomach dropped as Xavier skated toward me lazily, hockey stick resting against his shoulder while amusement glittered dangerously in his gray eyes.

“Well,” he drawled softly. “The scholarship girl finally found a backbone,” laughter spread through the crowd.

Heat crawled up my neck instantly, but this time I didn’t look away. Xavier stopped directly in front of me, mocking me with his silence. Then he shrugged casually. “Maybe you just suck at skating.”

The arena burst into laughter again, my fists clenched. “You know,” he continued coldly, “weak people always blame others instead of accepting they’re pathetic.”

Something dangerous flashed through me.“Funny,” I shot back. “I was just thinking the same thing about spoiled rich boys who need daddy’s money and popularity to feel important.”

Every face in the arena froze, even Coach looked terrified now.

For one terrifying second, I thought Xavier might actually hurt me, then Ophelia stepped onto the rink.“Oh my God,” she scoffed dramatically. “Who gave the charity case permission to speak?”

The crowd instantly relaxed, Ophelia glided toward me gracefully in pristine white skates, “you should really learn your place, Emery.”

I stared at her coldly. “Did Xavier teach you that line or are you naturally pathetic?”

The crowd exploded.Ophelia’s face darkened instantly. “What did you just say to me?”

“You heard me.” She shoved me hard. “Bitch.”

And that was her mistake, because I was already angry, already humiliated, already drowning. I grabbed Ophelia by the hair before she could react.

The scream she let out echoed through the arena, we crashed onto the ice together violently.

Ophelia scratched wildly at my face, but rage made me stronger than pain. I shoved her down hard and slapped her across the face so sharply the sound cracked through the rink.

“Emery!” Coach shouted. Ophelia shrieked furiously and lunged again, but I hit her first. Again and again. By the time coaches dragged us apart, her mascara streamed down her face while blood trickled from her lip.

The entire arena stared at me like I’d transformed into a vampire. Honestly? Maybe I had.

**********

That evening, my body ached everywhere, my knuckles burned, my head hurts, and judging from the expression on Mom’s face while she stuffed clothes into boxes, my life was somehow about to get worse.

“We’re leaving tonight,” she announced casually.

I looked up sharply. “What?”

She barely glanced at me. “The old, dirty loan shark I owe is coming in here any minute and if he finds us, I bet you end up being his tenth wife.“

“What the hell?’

“Get out of my way you slow thing, Marcus wants us moved in immediately.”

I tried to speak but nothing came out, Marcus, her fiancé, the doctor, the man with the dead son who looked exactly like Xavier.

“No,” I word dropped like a bomb.

Mom finally looked at me then. “Excuse me?”

“I’m not moving into some stranger’s house.”

Her expression hardened immediately. “Oh really, then it's fine, you've made your choice, happy marriage life in advance ... .and don't you dare run to me for money when you are pregnant with that bastard's child.”

God! What wrong did I commit to end up with a mother like this. 

********

An hour later, we arrived at Marcus Vaughn’s mansion.

He greeted us warmly at the entrance while staff carried out boxes upstairs.

“Make yourselves comfortable,” he said gently. Mom practically glowed beside him and I felt like an intruder.

A maid eventually led me upstairs to my room, and despite myself, the sight stunned me. The bedroom was larger than our entire apartment, soft gray walls, massive windows, and a king-sized bed.

I barely had time to process it before a loud male voice suddenly exploded downstairs.

“What the hell is wrong with you?!” Every muscle in my body froze.

“You’re bringing another woman here now?” the voice shouted furiously downstairs. “Are you serious?”

My heart started pounding violently.

“She’s my fiancée,” Marcus answered calmly.

“I don’t give a damn!” Xavier roared. “I already told you I don’t need a replacement mother!”

Fear crawled through me slowly. No…..no way.

“Especially not some broke gold digger dragging her daughter into this house!”

My blood ran cold instantly, he knew all along. Suddenly everything clicked together so violently it nearly made me dizzy.

The dead boy in the photograph was his twin brother who passed away.

Oh my God….I backed away from the staircase immediately, panic crashing through me. I couldn’t let him see me here.

I turned quickly and hurried down the hallway, but in my panic I shoved open the wrong door and stumbled inside another bedroom that had dark walls, hockey trophies, and Blackridge jerseys. 

My stomach dropped instantly, before I could leave, the bedroom door slammed open violently behind me. Shit

“What the hell are you doing in here?” My entire body locked.

Xavier stood in the doorway breathing hard with fury, gray eyes blazing dangerously, his voice murderous.

I forced myself not to step back. “My mom is marrying your father,” I shot back quickly.

Xavier stalked toward me slowly. “You think I don’t know that?”

I swallowed hard but held my ground. “You don’t get to threaten us.”

“Oh, I absolutely do.”

Before I could react, he suddenly slammed his hand against the wall beside my head, trapping me between his body and the door.My breath caught instantly.

“Listen carefully,” he said quietly, his voice shaking with rage. “Talk your mother out of this wedding.”

I stared up at him stubbornly. “Why don’t you talk your father out of it?” Something dark flashed across his face.

“You have no idea what you are getting into.”

I scoffed despite my racing heartbeat. “Well, too bad. Looks like neither of us gets what we want.”

His jaw tightened violently, I lifted my chin defiantly. “So you better get used to seeing my face, Xavier. Because I’m done letting you bully me.”

For one second, silence burned between us, then I shoved against his chest to leave.

His hand suddenly grabbed my wrist…hard. “I hate you,” he whispered in raw venom.

His eyes looked almost… unstable.“I hate you so much,” he continued hoarsely. “I hate your kind.”

For the first time since meeting him, I stopped being angry long enough to ask the question haunting me for years.

“Why?”

His grip tightened painfully.

“Why do you hate me so much?”