Amber’s eyes flared with terror and she broke into hysterical sobs, her head shaking frantically.
Lucy patted her cheek patronizingly. “Good girl.”
Sliding back out of sight, Eden struggled to draw breath, the scene playing over and over again in her head. She’d seen bullying going on at South Salton her entire time there; she’d even been a victim of that bullying, and probably the bully herself sometimes when she was in a bad mood. But what she had witnessed was worse than her and Maria Roth. It had been sadistic and vicious, and born of petty jealousy. Eden knew Lucy’s boyfriend. Doug Brown. A senior. A jock. A sleaze bag. Although he’d rather die than admit it, he’d even come on to Eden once when she and Noah had stupidly crashed his birthday party. Eden could read between the lines. Doug had hit on Amber. Amber had turned him down. Doug had told Lucy that Amber was flirting with him. Lucy, who was apparently a psychotic bitch, had now found a new toy to play with; a toy that was clearly already broken by an abusive home life.
Eden knew what that was like.
The thought sent this crazy red haze sparkling across Eden’s eyes; her chest tight, her hunger howling at her as if she were insane to pass this up.
Yeah. Today she felt insane. And no Jane Austen was going to help.
She knew she was acting like a stalker.
Uh correction, like a serial killer.
But Eden couldn’t get Lucy and Amber out of her mind.
So there she was, standing outside Lucy’s class instead of sitting in her own. Watching and waiting… for what, she wasn’t quite sure.
When the classroom door opened and Lucy ducked out with a bathroom pass in her hand, Eden’s eyes widened.
See, her hunger whispered, it’s like the universe wants you to do it.
Stealthily, she followed Lucy along the hall, keeping a distance, watching her disappear into the girls’ bathroom. She waited a beat and then swung open the door, shutting it quietly behind her. Eden ducked her head under the four stalls. They were alone.
She strode back to the door and turned the lock.
“Who the hell is there?” Lucy snapped from inside her stall.
Eden dropped her backpack, leaning against the sinks casually although her heart pounded so hard she swore her shirt was vibrating. “Why don’t you come out and see?”
She may be nervous about her own intentions but Eden wasn’t afraid of Lucy Stevens.
She wouldn’t have been even if she wasn’t one of the Blessed.
“What the f**k is this?” Lucy huffed. Eden’s smile was one of twisted mockery at the sound of clothes rustling and Lucy’s harried breath. She couldn’t have planned on catching the girl in a more undignified situation. The toilet flushed and the stall door banged open to reveal a pissed off Lucy Stevens in her cheerleading outfit. She grimaced. “You?” She rolled her eyes as if Eden were inconsequential, and glided over to the sinks to wash her hands.
“Me.” Eden grinned at her and enjoyed the way Lucy flinched at the expression, like she could see there was something not quite right about her.
“What do you want, freak?”
Eden shrugged, crossing her arms over her chest. “I heard an interesting conversation today. No, sorry.” She shook her head. “Attack. An interesting attack.”
Lucy heaved a sigh and grabbed at paper towels. “Whatever, freak.” She made to leave and Eden stuck her leg out to block her path. The cheerleader narrowed her eyes on her. “You better move that skank.”
“Or what?” Eden taunted.
Lucy took two leggy steps towards her. She fluffed her golden hair over her shoulder and bit a couple of French manicured fingernails into Eden’s shoulder. “Or I’ll make your life a living hell, you goth bitch.”
“You’re kind of an ignoramus, you know that.”
“You’re making a mistake, Winslow,” Lucy promised with a cruel smirk on her pouty lips.
The hand that had been dangling innocently by Eden’s side shot out faster than a human could compute and wrapped itself around Lucy’s throat, shoving her back into one of the stalls. The senior tripped, collapsing over a toilet seat as she clawed at Eden’s hand, her face growing red before turning horribly purple.
“Sorry, princess, my life already is a living hell.” Eden squeezed tighter, getting a sick enjoyment out of terrifying this girl. “I saw you torturing Amber today, Luce. Not cool,” she whispered, breathing in the scent of Lucy’s soul, tainted as it may be. This was a girl who wouldn’t miss it… or if Eden went too far, wouldn’t be missed at all. “You make me sick, you know. You sadistic bitch.” She jerked Lucy’s head back and her eyes rolled. For a moment Eden frowned as she drew blood with her fingernails on Eden’s hand in an attempt to fight back. Releasing her hold on Lucy’s throat, she barely gave time for the girl to draw breath before she was holding her head in her hands and pushing her will onto her. Lucy stopped struggling, her lips parting.
The hunger licked its lips.