I hate it when people say "It could have been worse."

Those people have never sat nearly naked in a room with the guy they'd most like to kill. And I think it will happen soon, that is, if looks can kill.

It must have been half an hour since we just looked at each other. Without a single word. It's as if one of us is waiting for the other to look away. It is even more intense when we sit on the opposite side of the room. A few meters apart.

Basically, it's a competition. A competition I don't intend to lose.

If he thinks he can beat me at something as primitive as this, he is sorely mistaken.

I tried to fall asleep before this "competition" of ours started. But it was unsuccessful. I was shivering from the cold, even though I was sitting right next to the fireplace.

Being half-naked really doesn't help. And the thoughts of having to be here until morning, neither.

"How long do you plan on staring at me?" He finally spoke first.

"How long do you plan on doing it?" I answered his question by asking one, what I personally hate.

"This is ridiculous." He snorted.

"Then stop looking at me." I smiled.

Killians jaw clenched and that put an even bigger smile on my face. I love with all my heart when he is frustrated. It fills me up. I feel like I really accomplished something.

I am proud of myself for that.

"Unbelievable." He mumbled under his breath and closed his eyes. He tilted his head back and hit the wall, against which he was leaning with his bare back.

Guess who just won this idiotic game.

"You should get some sleep." He spoke again. "Not that I care." He added, his head still bowed and eyes closed.

Is he planning to sleep? In this cold? How!?

"I would sleep, if I wasn't freezing." I pulled my knees up to my chin and wrapped my arms around myself. "Whose fault is that." I whispered.

"I saved your life."

"After you put it in danger." I frowned.Is he serious? Does he really think he saved me? This guy is unbelievable. "I was the one who saved you." And I regret it.

"Excuse me?" He snorted and finally looked at me.

"If I hadn't pushed you, you'd be dead. So you're welcome." And by the way, I lost the chocolate. Does he even know how much they have increased in price?

Although, I probably shouldn't care how much one chocolate costs when I have thirty thousand stashed away in Luna's car.

But my point is, that even if I have a million, food is not to be wasted. I learned that the hard way.

"Our cooperation will be really simple." He said sarcastically and leaned his head against the wall again, breaking our eye contact.

"If I bother you so much, get rid of me." That probably sounded bad. "It's not that I want to work with you any more than you want to work with me."

"Too bad. We already agreed. Next time, be careful with your things. Especially those that mean something to you."

I grabbed the bandana on my hand at his reminder that I almost lost it.

"Why is it even so important?" He asked without looking at me.

"Why don't you like being touched?"

Always answer a question with a question. Especially when you don't want them to know your answer.

"Forget I even asked." He said annoyed.

I think he finally gave up on his questions. Maybe he understood that I wouldn't answer any of them. He is the last person I would confess to.

Closing my eyes, I leaned my head against the wall behind me and tried to fall asleep even for a moment. Even five minutes would be enough for me. I'm not asking for anything more.

'Every choice has consequences. Whether they are good or not. Once we make a decision, there is no going back. We must accept the consequences for our actions.'

My mother's words kept repeating in my head.

'Every choice has consequences.'

The moment I heard the door open, I stood up from the bed and straightened up. I put her hands behind my back and looked straight ahead, holding my head high.

I made a choice and now the consequences will come.

"You've only been here a few months and you're already causing fights? Really Eris?" Minor disappointment could be heard in Charles's voice.

I wanted to scream that it wasn't my fault. I didn't start the fight. I was just defending myself.

But I can not. Not without permission.

Out of the corner of my eye, I noticed that he went back to the door and closed it. "You can relax, Eris. It's okay."

My hands fell to my body and I relaxed. The pain in my stomach was excruciating. I grabbed my stomach with one hand and fell back onto the bed. I wiped the blood from my nose.

"Do you want to tell me what happened?" He slowly sat down next to me and took out a handkerchief from his pocket, which he placed under my nose.

"Corvina." I said quietly. "She thought I took something that was hers."

"And did you?"

"No."

"So why does she think you took something from her?"

"Because I'm new here?" I shrugged my shoulders. "She's been here a long time."

"And yet she's the one who ended up in the hospital room. For someone who's been here as short as you, you learn quickly and efficiently."

"Everybody's gonna hate me now." I looked up at him. "I don't want them to hate me."

"Hate you?" He laughed. "They will fear you, Eris. Respect. Corvina, she is three years older and has two years more training than you. You came out of that fight with a bloody nose and a few bruises. I can't say the same about her."

"Will she be alright?"

"In time. Now let's get you sorted. You'll be working with dangerous chemicals in a few minutes. You should be focused." He placed his hand under my chin and lifted it slightly. "While I'm glad you weren't the one who started the fight, don't let it happen again. Don't give the leadership a reason to see you in that light. Do you understand?" He raised an eyebrow.

I nodded slowly.

"Good girl." He smiled. "Let's get you cleaned then."



It's really hard to understand anything around her.

You ask her a question, and she answers it with another.

I'm starting to think it's impossible. It's hard to find out about her when there's nothing about her anywhere. No past, family or anything.

If I asked her about it, she would answer me by asking about me.

But what I found out is that she is not completely unreadable after all. She had worry in her eyes when she couldn't find her bandana. She couldn't be worried about her looks. It means something more to her. And what is it? God knows.

When I looked at her to see if she was still staring at me, I found out that she wasn't.

Her head was leaning against the wall and her eyes were closed. Her still wet hair fell on her bare shoulders. Her black bra was barely visible as her knees were pressed against her chest. A snake tattoo was visible on her arm, which was just above the bandana.

I would like to know why she is here. Simon said the white snakes were an organization full of assassins. What would they do in New York?

"Stop staring at me." She said without opening her eyes.

"Then answer me one question."

"Fine." She opened her eyes and looked at me. "I'll answer one of your questions, If you answer two of mine." She smiled.

"That seems a little unfair, don't you think?" I snorted.

"Take it or leave it. It's up to you."

"Fine." I said between my teeth. "What are you doing in New York?"

This is a trap and I stepped into it. No. I jumped into it. Without thinking.

She thought about her answer for a moment. She probably didn't want to say something that I could use against her.

"I wanted to avoid certain people. Plus, I also wanted to see Luna."

I feel tricked. This is the safest answer there is.

"Now it's my turn. What's the real reason I'm here? I mean, I know I'm good, but that still doesn't explain why you didn't just let me go when we were in harbor. Why am I here?"

"Shouldn't you be asking yourself that?" I frowned. "I didn't force you to come here. You went on your own."

"That doesn't answer my question. Try again."

"Because this was the only way to get you to work for me again. What better way to convince you than somewhere where we're alone?"

That's basically a lie. I didn't plan to convince her right here. I don't know why I stopped her and told her to come with me.

"You still have one question."

"Why did you break Theo and Luna up? Don't get me wrong, I'm glad you did. Luna deserves more, but still. What was the reason?"

"She was a threat. To me and my family. I didn't know anything about her, I couldn't trust her." This is the truth.

"But why are you...."

"You wasted your two questions." I interrupted her.

We both got answers to our questions. Neither of us is happy, but there's nothing we can do about it.

This conversation of ours is over.

The bell rang about four times before I finally got to the door and opened it.

"Finally. I'm not as young as you, don't waste my time, I don't have much of it." Simon slipped past me and headed straight for the living room. "Where is everyone?" He turned to me as I followed him.

"School. Like every day of the week. They're still kids Simon."

"Don't you happen to be graduating this year?" He frowned. "You should be at school then too."

"I don't have time for that." I walked past him, trying to look as normal as possible and not show how much pain I was in.

"Come on Killian." He stopped me as I passed him and accidentally hit my chest with his hand. I hissed in pain which caught his attention.

Shit.

"Are you okay?" He frowned and pulled his hand away. "Killian?" He asked again when I didn't answer. "Roll up your shirt."

"I'm too young for you Simon."

"Killian, I won't repeat myself." He said with a very unpleasant tone.

"It's nothing."

"Killian."

With another warning from him, I gave up. He won't leave it alone.

I slowly rolled up my shirt and red colored bruises started to show on my stomach and chest.

"What the hell....How the hell did you come to them?" He looked at my stomach with fear in his eyes. He carefully touched the edge of one bruise, but no matter how gently it hurt.

"I needed money." I pulled my shirt down to cover the bruises.

"Then you should have asked me instead of getting almost killed. What were you even thinking?" He raised his voice. "You're lucky your face is fine. Can you imagine how everyone would be worried about you?"

"You think all this is free?" I pointed around. "They need a roof over their heads. Something to eat and clothes they won't be laughed at at school. Water, electricity, everything I can't afford with the money I get for part-time work. I'm the only one who cares about them. Dad hasn't come back in a week, and I doubt he ever will. If I don't take care of them, no one else will."

"So your solution is illegal fights." He norted.

"I got paid for it."

"I can't believe you Killian." He exhaled heavily. "That's how you get yourself killed or put in jail. That's not really going to help those kids." He took his wallet out of his pocket and cut me off before I could say anything. "You'll take this," he pulled out a few hundred and put them on the kitchen counter, "and you won't object. You'll pay me back when you have money for a normal job. You should go to the hospital and get checked out. And by the time you get there, don't do anything stupid. It's in your nature."

*****

I don't even remember when I fell asleep. When I opened my eyes, I saw an empty room.

The fire in the fireplace was already out and the only things on it were mine. I'm not surprised she left. I didn't expect to find her sleeping here.

I should probably be worried if she's gone from New York, but something tells me she's not. After all, we have an agreement, she wouldn't break it just like that. I take her to be someone who keeps her word.

Plus, if she went somewhere, I could find her anywhere with Luna's help. She means a lot to her.

She is her weakness. She shouldn't have told me that yesterday.

A really stupid mistake.

*****

Hope you enjoyed. <3