Page 86 of Stone Seduction
Goodbye sympathy, hello loathing. I was ready to toss her back into the lake. “Digging into my memories was a crappy move.”
No answer.
She didn’t ask for this. Likewise. At least we had confusion in common. None of this made sense.
Made to hate each other? By who? Where was the puppet master?
We stayed silent for a while, her on her back, me sitting cross-legged. The more the minutes ticked by, the more I replayed destroying those monsters and humans at the motorway café.
God, all those people. The burning, the stink of death, the chaos.
I didn’t pray, didn’t believe in any god. But I sent prayers after those souls, wishing them the best in their afterlives.
“I didn’t ask for this either.” I broke the silence.
“I know.”
We were trapped on a rollercoaster, the brakes failing, miles of loops ahead of us.
Can I get off now?
I rubbed the back of my neck, my hand coming back sticky from sweat. “Is there something we can do to not hate each other?”
“No.”
A firm answer. “Why?”
“Dig deep, find the answer yourself. I have no desire to be your friend.”
“I never asked you to be.”
“I want to destroy you,” she added.
My muscles clenched in agreement. “And you’re happy with that goal?”
“It’s destiny. I think.”
“You think? It’s not enough to go on.”
“Stop talking.”
I got to my knees, exasperated at the notion of being destiny’s pawn. “No. I?—”
“My head hurts.”
Amazingly, mine didn’t after her attack. “We can be better than?—”
“This?”
“Yes.” Was I getting through? Would we join forces, form a resistance against whatever manipulated our lives?
“Shut up.”
Pfft.
I did a little internal digging for answers, finding nothing but rancid hate. While she lived, I languished in her shadow. She was a stain on existence, me the remover.
A malicious sentence fell out of my mouth. “When we meet, I’ll take your power and end you in the most painful way.” I found myself smirking, my hands trembling.
