Susan sat by an empty table at the same cafe she had been to the previous day, and she was reading a newspaper behind dark shades which somehow made her feel concealed under the morning sun. A duo of officers came by the cafe to see the owner who was present after he had heard of the sad news of his manager. Susan knew they won't really know what happened, nor would they know how he died. They would sum it up as suicide. That was to be their only conclusion.
But to be sure, she eavesdropped just in time to hear one of the officers tell the owner that he thinks it was suicide, Susan stopped listening and focused on her reading.
Stocks were high today. Business was looking up. Matters of insecurity would always be the case, she flipped to the next page to read other news.
Beatrice came by Susan's table feigning a smile to hide her grim look with a jug of coffee, but Susan saw right through her without really looking.
"Need a refill, ma'am?" Beatrice asked.
Susan pushed her cup closer, and asked. "Why the long face?"
Beatrice briefly glanced at her, her smile disappeared. "My manager. He died yesterday. And it's hard to believe that he actually is dead. He was so healthy." She shook her head. "No one ever gets used to this tale of death. No one saw it coming. Someone should have seen it coming at least, maybe in a dream. They said he left alone. And that he killed himself right after he finished masturbating. Why would he do that?"
Susan looked at Beatrice.
"I mean, he normally used force to have any of the girls here, and could have, but why go that length to kill himself?"
Susan held back black fumes from leaving her nostrils. "Do you wish you were his target?"
"No. That's not what I'm saying."
"Almost sounds like it."
"I just feel pity for him."
Susan arched a brow, and lowered her face to the newspaper. "Pity is fine. After all, many people die for less every day. See it as divine justice. More like the supernatural sought him out. A force he couldn't withstand." She sent Beatrice a beautiful smile. "Now get back to work. Don't deprive others of your warmth and love."
Beatrice looked at her in an odd way, and went back to work.
She would tail the waiter tonight. She would follow her down to her apartment, the very one she shared with that crude fellow. Susan knew what would happen. She had set so much in motion already. When she comes to her aid, as she planned to, Beatrice better see her as her saviour, but for now…
"Is this seat taken?" a man asked.
Susan lifted her gaze to his, she didn't pause for a moment to look at his handsome face, her eyes lowered back to the newspaper. "No, it isn't."
He sat down.
Susan knew his name. She knew where he was coming from, where he lived, where he was born, and literally everything about him. She saw good traits and qualifications in him unlike any other she had ever been with before. She wished to talk to him, but decided to totally ignore him, hoping he doesn't get to talk to her first.
Normally, she would start the conversation, become flirty, make him fall in love, then kill him. But she would restrain herself. He was too good to die by her hand. After all, on her calendar of death, she had more names to add to today's date, and he wasn't part of those names.
He got out a snack from his bag. "Want some?" he asked.
Susan briefly looked at him with a smile and said, "No, thank you." She continued with the newspaper.
"I'm Jake by the way. Jake Tucker."
She now looked at him. "I'm Susan. Susan Hills." She was about to lower her head.
"Such a beautiful name."
"You think?"
"I've never seen a lady who goes by the name Susan that wasn't ever beautiful. I bet if you take off your glasses, you'll have me spellbound."
More like fall in love, Susan thought. She had the most beautiful reddish-brown eyes written in blood, danger, and death, but no one ever saw that. All they saw was beauty, the woman of their dreams, their future, but never what came next.
"Do you normally frequent this place?" he asked after she lowered her head again. "I'm sorry to disturb you."
"It's fine. For now, it's my best spot." She almost lowered her gaze, but thought to ask as any civil person would. "What about you?"
"Trying out new places. New scenery. A change of environment. And Possibly a new job. Was just fired from my last job, you see." Jake sent her a charming smile. "You won't believe why I was fired."
Susan already knew, but she said to play ignorant. "Tell me."
He leaned his head forward. "My boss was having sex with my girlfriend, and I caught them both in the act. Now, I wasn't fired because I challenged him at work which I didn't. I was fired because I walked in on him having sex with her. When I asked her how long this had been going after he left," he said, and laughed, "she said a whole year."
Susan tried to conceal her smile, for behind Jake's own smile was pain written all over it. "Seems you like to pretend."
"More accurately, I like to act like nothing is there. That way, I can get over anything. If I ignore it, then it doesn't see me. If I look at it, there's every tendency I'm bound to be noticed."
She smiled. "I like you."
That came out too quick.
"You're fine, and you speak true," she added, "but you lie to yourself the most not to feel pain, and I guess, you've been through your fair share."
"You have no idea."
But Susan had an idea. She knew everything.
Beatrice came by to take Jake's order.
Susan knew he didn't have much money on him. "Put it on my tab. Whatever he orders."
Jake eyed Susan whose head fell to the newspaper she had been reading. "Thank you."
She didn't raise her gaze to look at him. "You're welcome."
Jake removed his gaze from her, and ordered something light. He didn't want to overbill the sweet, generous, beautiful lady.
Susan heard his order, and interrupted, telling Beatrice Jake's need, and what he really needed since she could read his mind.
"Do you have a place to stay?" she asked as Beatrice left.
"No," Jake said. "But I intend to find a place before sunset."
Sunset. Her hour of hunting. She didn't want to suggest it, but it came to her. She pushed it back, then it fell out. "Would you like to stay with me?"
"Oh, no, I couldn't. That would be too imposing on my part. Look, I could be a bit annoying sometimes."
All that was to scare her away, but Susan knew better.
"The offer is down," Susan said. "Eat. And when you're done, I'll be taking you home with me."
That meant so many things to Jake as his mind ran wild with different possibilities.
To Susan, it only meant one. And she wished he'd lived long for her to fulfill it. But at the moment, she changed her mind about tailing the waitress. Best she meets her street with shock, and surprise.
Susan lived in a white two-story building surrounded by trees, and located in a secluded part of the city. No one, save for Susan, lived here, and she loved and appreciated the serene environment.Susan led Jake (who stood to have one more look at her surrounding) to the door which Jake didn't notice opened to her with a single nod."This place is a bit far from the city," Jake said."It's on the outskirts of the city to be precise," Susan said and walked in. "Come in."Jake went in, the door slowly closed behind him as he took in the grandeur of Susan's beautiful home."Take the stairs to the second floor, Susan said, "and pick any room you like, but avoid the room on the first floor to the right.""You hide charms in there?" Jake said jokingly.Susan turned to look at him, her expression bland."Hey, I was just joking," he added.She smiled. "I know you were.""There are no taxis here. At least, I barely saw any. How do I
Beatrice was standing before Susan's house with a paper that bore Susan's home address. She was about to knock when the door opened, and before her stood Susan.Beatrice lifted the paper. "My colleague gave it to me."Susan nodded. "Glad it found its way to you.""Yes, it did. Is your offer still on?"Susan stepped aside. "Come in. Pick any room you like.""Thanks." Beatrice walked in.Susan looked at the darkness outside, she turned to show Beatrice upstairs, the door closed behind her.The first room Beatrice was shown was the very one she chose, for she had a belief that beggars aren't choosers.
Susan woke to feel the metal bars beneath her, she looked up to see she was surrounded by darkness."Fire!" she said.A circle of flame appeared on the ground with Vivian in the middle and in a white gown, both hands before her, Susan realised her sister had locked her up in a cage.Susan tried to stand, but her bones didn't give, so she remained in a sitting position. "What's this, Vivian?""There are things, Susan, things that may forever remain a secret to you," Vivian said."Why am I in a cage?""I just wish to talk.""I can do so quite effectively outside here. Let me out." Susan looked around. "And what's this anyway? What did yo
Susan was in the comfort of her room, filing her nails when Jake left for the city with one of her cars. He had gone to find himself a job, and she knew today, he won't be so lucky because she had wished it so. She needed him to return, at least, for his own safety.Beatrice on the other hand was supposed to be out by now, but the death of her manager and the incident of yesterday at Els Street came rushing back to her, making her eyes blurry with tears, and she considered not going to work today.In a flash, Susan was before her door, she knocked.Beatrice looked at the door and hastily wiped her eyes. "Just a second."
"The lightning leaves its mark," Hannah said as she cleaned the wound on a lady. "She could die if not attended to.""How many of them are wounded?" Susan asked."A lot.""Bring them all here."Hannah passed the order, and they brought all the wounded, and bleeding, and dying ladies who had been subject to the scattered flash of the lightning of death before Susan."The beauty of life," Susan said. "Being able to kill, and make alive. Heal."Everyone was awestruck as their wounded comrades healed, and those dying returned to life.Susan turned to Hannah. "Now, take me to him.""Who would ta
"Our tribe is known for hunting," Susan told Vivian over breakfast the next day at a diner named B's Place. "I had to throw mother off our scent. Although, I'm sure she did ask where we went.""And knowing the Hex Sisters," Vivian said, "they would die rather than talk.""Hence, the perfect distraction.""How did you manage it?""Easy. I knew mother had her gaze on me, so to throw her off my scent, I presented her with the immediate problem. I left a bit of me in one of the Hex Sisters, and that's how she discovered their location. If I had met the Chief priest without doing that, it wouldn't take anything for her to discover me. I don't want her knowing what I'm up to.""And that's the problem, dear sister. Mother knows."Susan sighed, and leaned forward, placing her hands on the table. "What works?"Vivian shrugged."Does she know you're here?" Susan asked."Mother always knows where we are," Vivian said. "A word of advice, sis
"How did yesterday go?" Susan asked Jake over breakfast the next day.Jake shook his head. "Not so good.""What happened?""No one wanted to go through my application. They kept saying there was no vacancy." He sighed. "I fear that soon, I'll be a burden to you. When a man like me lives with someone and is unable to make a contribution, he feels it, and..." He couldn't finish his words.Susan and Beatrice had their gaze on him."I just—I'll do anything to prove I'm not a failure," he said. "However difficult, I'm teachable, so I'm willing to learn."Susan didn't want to say it, but today, he would get the opportunity he wished for. He would get a job."Well, try again," Susan said. "Hope you don't think of quitting?""No." He shook his head."Good. Life can be frustrating. Even with certain privileges, it sure tends to throw the monsters our way. You're resilient enough. I'm sure what you want, you'll get.""Thanks."
Susan, Beatrice, and Jake met at B's Place to celebrate Jake's new job, for as Susan had silently predicted, so had it been for Jake. She couldn't tell anyone the number of people that had to die for him to secure the job he now had. She had promised a celebration, and that's why they were here."You were so optimistic," Beatrice said to Susan. "I for one wasn't certain knowing how this world works and all."They were all seated around a circular table between them under night skies and the cold air gently caressing their skin."No one really knows how the world works," Susan said. "Sometimes, you can either sit in hopes not to offend anyone, or you can step out and get what you wa