Page 21 of Paint the Town, Dove

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It could hurt.

“Cherry Blake,” I tried, posing in the mirror. “Nooo…”

I stepped down from the stool, standing crooked. “Ruby Blake?”Ugh. “No…”

A tear escaped my eye. Then another. I forced myself to face my reflection, flushed cheeks stained by tears. Raw. Real. Red.

Fire. Fire.[FIRE.]

“Scarlett,” I whispered, staring into the deep depths of my eyes. “Scarlett Blake.”

Looking in the mirror was the first time I smiled since I took some of the blueberry pills Sinead left out on the kitchen counter. I was curious. She always left those around the house. Maybe they tasted good.

I remember they tasted funny, but not much after that.

I smiled, though. I would’ve had to. A funny feeling always make me smiley.

From that day forward, I decided to change my name. Not legally of course, I would do that when I got older. But every person I would come to meet would know me as…

“Scarlett Blake.I’mScarlettBlake.”

Born a mistake, I had to assign my own purpose. I wasn’t made for this world, and yet, here I was – like a freak accident, created for something greater than I’d ever understand.

But looking at Ryden Spectre, maybe I’d come around to the reason for my existence. Maybe this was my golden ticket.

Maybehewas my golden ticket.

“Scarlett Blake,” he smiled.

That’s right. That’s me.

No one could touchScarlett Blake, no one. She belonged entirely to me.

A stranger now to the people whoclaimedto love her.

Chapter Seven

Ryden

“… and to you, I’ll take care of you, like I was trained to do… It’s all for you.”

Arc & Sheild Records:‘’Harley’

Composition By: Ryden Spectre

“What did you think of Abe?”

Scarlett leaned over the second sink in my bathroom suite, patting on powder underneath her eyes. She stole a sideways glance, sealing the lid of her compact.

“You know my thoughts on him.”

I ran some gel through my hair, roughed it up a bit. “I want to hear you say it.”

“Why?”

“Dunno. Curious.”

She moved on to drawing some lines on her eyelids, a shimmery grey mist. It made the golden-brown specks in her irises pop out like stars.

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