Chapter 50
Earlier
The room's door slammed shut as Domitor followed Shayla into it, both fuming as they prepared to fight.
“Is this such a good idea?” Vanilla asked as she and Floria stepped up to the door, hearing the two inside talking. “I mean, will they get hurt?”
“Oh yeah, they’re gonna get hurt,” Floria laughed as she stood there, hands in her pockets. Moments later the sounds of crashing and yelling could be heard. “And off they go.”
Vanilla stood there, looking antsy as she clasped her hands under her chin. She was shifting from foot to foot, the sounds only getting worse as they listened.
“Calm down, Cakehurst, they’ll be fine,” Floria said with a smirk as she leaned against the wall by the door.
“Will we go in there if it sounds like it is escalating too much?” the Halwen asked as she sat down by the foot of the door, not liking how aggressive they were sounding.
“Calling me fat doesn’t bother me, retard!” they heard Shayla bellow.
Floria let out a laugh as they heard this, shaking head, “these two idiots. I wish we could see this fight in all its glory.”
Sighing, Vanilla looked up at the short Kejtdra, “we can, if you’d like. It’s quite simple.”
“What’chu talkin’ ‘bout, Hurst?” Floria asked with a raised eyebrow, looking intrigued.
“I can make the fake window on the door a real one way mirror,” she said, twiddling her claws.
Floria looked at the door, nodding her approval, “fuck yeah, do it!”
With a little flair the Hawlen jumped up and turned to the door, placing a single hand on it. After a moment the blacked out window began to clear, slowly revealing the room within.
“Cakehurst, you might be growing on me,” Floria said as she playfully slugged Vanilla’s shoulder.
“Oww,” she muttered, rubbing her arm as the two of them pushed up to the window, looking inside.
The fight had gotten pretty bad as Domitor had just slammed Shayla to the ground and was currently choking her out.
“We should stop this,” Vanilla said as she reached for the door, but she was stopped by the other woman.
“Nah nah, let it play out,” Floria said as they watched Shayla break out of Domitor’s grip and sling him across the room. “See? Your little girl crush can handle herself.”
“I know. But fighting of this caliber can not be healthy for anyone,” she said, winching as the fight continued.
With a chuckle, Floria patted her back, not taking her own eyes off the battle, “trust me, these two will feel a lot better once this shit is done. The bickering is getting to absurd levels.”
“There are better ways to handle anger,” she commented, causing the shorter woman to laugh.
“Says the Cakehurst. Aren’t you guys supposed to feel no emotions and just do your masters bidding?” Floria asked, poking at the Halwen’s side.
“That is the preferred state, yes,” she admitted, grimacing a bit at a few unpleasant memories. “We are born to be perfect, and it is expected at all times.”
“Aw, and you’re scared of not being perfect? Don’t wanna disappoint your family of assholes?”
“No, I’m tired of always being perfect. I just want to be…” she stared at the fight, eyes trailing Shayla. “... me.”
“Then just do it,” Floria replied simply, “just drop the little Miss Perfect act and just be yourself.”
“It’s not that simple.”
“Sure it is,” Floria laughed, rolling her eyes. “Look at me for example; I’m all kinds of fucked up, and I’m still going forward.”
“I don’t understand how,” she said, shaking her head. “With all your faults and problems, you shouldn’t be this happy.”
“Who said I was happy?” she scoffed, taking on a more somber tone. “My life is a complete mess, run by a crime boss who has me dead to rights with a stupid contract. If I tried to be perfect I’d just implode. People aren’t supposed to be perfect, we’re supposed to just enjoy life. Do what we can to etch out a bit of existence for ourselves. Sure, it comes with all kinds of shitty moments and pain, but we all end up in the same place in the end. So we might as well enjoy the ride as best as we can.”
Vanilla looked at the shorter woman, eyes wide in surprise. “Those are… some very wise words from one such as yourself.”
“That sounds like an insult, but thank you,” Floria said with a smirk, giving Vanilla a gentle punch on the shoulder.
“To be honest,” Vanilla sighed, watching as the two inside the room just wailed on each other, no longer trying to block anything, “I’d love nothing more than to just drop out of the family completely and be my own person.”
“Do it, fuck those assholes,” Floria encouraged her, giving her a genuine smile.
“No,” she replied in a shaky voice as she grabbed her hand as it started to shake as well, “the last time I even voiced such a thought; I was forced to kneel on tiny shards for hours while the family mocked me. Then when I didn’t appear hurt enough they locked me in a tiny closet till I almost died of starvation. I-I can’t do that again.”
“What the actual fuck?!” Floria growled, eyes flashing with anger. “They punish you all like that?”
“Just the ones of us who don’t… conform properly. My twin sister, Cocoa, has always been the one to enjoy giving out punishments. Especially to me…”
“Yeah, you’re not going back,” Floria stated firmly. “I know I’ve said some fucked up shit to you, but no, fuck no! You’re a good person and I will not let you go back to that shit.”
This completely shocked Vanilla as she looked at the furious Kejtdra before her, feeling a different feeling inside of herself. As this was the first time someone had shown actual concern for her well being. “I… Thank you, but I don’t really have a choi-”
“Yeah yeah, fuck that, you’re with us now. Fuck the Cakehursts,” Floria reached over and grasped Vanilla’s shoulder firmly. “You’re one of us now, Princess.”
A soft smile floated onto Vanilla’s face as she relaxed her shoulders for the first time in a long time. Allowing herself to slouch a bit.
“That’s the spirit!” Floria laughed, looking into the room to see Shayla and Domitor were now broken apart, just talking to each other. That didn’t last long as Shayla roared and charged him, slamming him into a wall.
“This will take some getting used to,” Vanilla said with a little joy present in her voice. “But I look forward to it.”
“Well, this looks to be about to end,” Floria commented as they both looked in, seeing that Shayla had Domitor pinned against the wall, both of them growling into each other's face. “Not as bad as it could have been I guess.”
“I hope Shane didn’t get too hurt,” the Halwen muttered, not liking how much blood covered both of them.
“Fuck you, Dom!” Shayla sneered right into his face, pressing him harder against the wall.
“Fuck you, Shay!” Domitor spat back, their eyes basically touching.
“You know, I actually really would like too-” Vanilla was cut off as the two rivals suddenly began to kiss each other, very aggressively. Her words flew from her mind as she stared at the confusing scene before her, her mind not actually processing what she was seeing.
“Oh fuck…” Floria cursed, eyes wide.
The women watched in shock as the two inside the room began to move to the center of the room, still latched onto each other. They stopped, seeming to be speaking as Shayla moved a bit.
After a few moments they watched as Domitor began to strip the clothing from Shayla.
“That’s enough for me,” Floria exclaimed, turning away from the door as she took a few steps forward, mind reeling. She stood there, letting her breathing calm down as she tried to keep her mind straight. It took a few moments, but she was able to collect herself.
However she didn’t hear Vanilla move, so she turned around to see that she was stun locked, just watching the display inside with wide eyes, her mouth hanging open and trembling.
“Vanilla, you don’t want to see this!” Floria hissed as she rushed over and grabbed the other woman, seeing that the two in the room had progressed to actually having sex.
“I don’t understand…” she muttered as she was dragged away, her eyes still locked on the two passionately making love. “... what happened?”
Floria forced Vanilla away from the door and over to her room, pushing the doors open as she pulled her in. She sat her down on her bed and stood in front of her, placing both hands on the woman's shoulders.
But Vanilla didn’t seem to register anything as she sat there, face blank but covered in tears.
“I just don’t understand…”
“Yeah, it came out of nowhere,” Floria muttered, doing her best to not have a reaction right now. She’d do that in private somewhere else. “Vanilla?”
The Halwen just sat there on the bed, eyes shaking as her mind went crazy with questions. She did not know how to process what she’d just seen. “I… Shane loves Domitor?”
“I don’t know,” Floria sighed, shaking her head. “It doesn’t really matter now though, what’s done is done.”
Vanilla didn’t seem to hear or care for what she’d just been told as she clasped her hands together in her lap, sitting up straight, “I was finally… going to get to be myself.”
“Calm down, princess,” Floria rolled her eyes at the dramatic reaction of the other woman. “This doesn’t change what we talked about. We’re going to-”
“You don’t understand,” Vanilla said in an eerily calm voice. “I have been told my entire life to conform, or else I’ll regret it. I saw you three, acting like close friends and talking about a distant world, and I saw my chance to escape this life in you three.”
Floria frowned at the woman, a bit worried at the tone of voice she’d adopted.
“Then you all made me feel wanted in the short time I’ve known you, caused me to feel things I didn’t know I was capable of feeling,” she reached up and grabbed her chest, “I don’t know what love feels like, but I believe I felt it for Shane.”
“Whoa whoa crazy chicka, you can’t love someone after a SINGLE DAY!” Floria said a bit roughly, hating this overly dramatic turn Vanilla had taken.
“My family… My sister… they were right,” she said in a voice that was slowly becoming more and more emotionless. “Trying to be unique just hurts you. There really is no point in trying.”
“For fuck sakes,” Floria groaned, rage boiling up in her. She felt like she was talking to a wall. “Stop acting like this was a massive revelation to you and just sleep it off. Trust me, this little crush you had on Shane was nothing. You’ll be hurt in the morning, but you’ll live.”
But Vanilla just placed her hands on her lap, her eyes looking dead as she stared at the wall ahead, “Cakehurst’s do not cry, nor do they care for silly things such as emotions. We are perfect as we are and we do not need to change a thing about ourselves.”
“Okay, yeah, that’s not creepy at all,” Floria muttered as she waved a hand in front of Vanilla’s face, but she didn’t react to it. “Look, I know it hurts to see Shane and Domitor like that, but I promise, the feelings you had for Shane were small in comparison to the ones you’ll have with someone else one day.”
Vanilla’s eye twitched as she had a moment of regret flash through her. She’d finally felt something for the first time in all her life, and now it was gone. This wasn’t about Shane, exactly. This was about the fact that her family had been right. She tried to leave the family behind and she got punished for it.
If she hadn't been thinking such… bad thoughts about the family, then Shane and Domitor wouldn’t’ve done what they’d done. This was her punishment for defying the family.
She deserved this.
She deserved this.
She deserved this.
“Vanilla!” Floria snapped, seeing the other woman's eyes slowly dimming, in fact it seemed she was losing all color. “Snap the fuck out of what ever funk you’re letting yourself slip into. You are blowing this whole thing out of proportion!”
Yet her words meant nothing to Vanilla as she recounted the Cakehursts family motto over and over again in her head. Praying they’ll forgive her without punishment this time.
“You can leave me alone now,” Vanilla suddenly said in an emotionless voice, a wide smile forming on her face. “I am fine.”
“No, you are not,” Floria said sternly. “You got worst mental shit going on than me from the way your fucking acting.”
“I am perfectly fine. I just made a mistake, it is fixed now,” she replied, her smile never leaving her face. Her eyes gave her away though as they looked both sad and dead at the same time. “Please, vacate my room so I may rest.”
“Vanilla…” she said, eyeing her hard. “Sleep this shit off. In the morning, we’re ALL going to talk about this. Trust me though, once you wake up the pain will subside. It always does.”
“Thank you for the advice, I will heed it well,” Vanilla said as she stood up, putting her hands behind her back. “Good night.”
“Yeah, night,” Floria said with a frown as she stared at the other woman, not liking how she was acting. But this was one of those things you needed to deal with in time.
Besides, she had her own emotional problems to handle in regards to this situation. And to do so, she’d need to go to a vacant floor to vent her frustrations.
“If you need me… I’ll be ten floors down,” Floria said as she backed up to the door, holding eye contact with the other woman as she smiled back at her.
She didn’t get a response so she stepped out of the room and made her way to the elevators.
Now that she was alone, Vanilla’s eyes and neck twitched as very confusing and conflicting emotions ran through her body. She could never hope to process all of them, as none of them made sense to her.
There was an intense pain in her chest, causing her to have trouble breathing, but she couldn’t pinpoint the cause of this.
“It hurts…” she groaned as the pain within her chest increased to unbearable levels. Her body didn’t know what to do either, so the moment she took a step for her bed, she stumbled, ending up in the corner of the room.
She gave up, realizing she didn’t deserve the comforts of a bed. So she decided to punish herself just as her family would; no bed. She’d sleep on the floor to atone for her bad thoughts against the family.
But one single punishment wouldn’t be enough. Her sister alone would demand more.
All she could do was curl in on herself and think about what she’d done wrong.
Fullscreen this.