Creating a fake eviction was part of the false memories in order to explain why the Jensens were unable to live in their old Marywood house. Thus, they were stuck living in the run-down apartment until they had enough money to afford another house.
Rebekah wandered into the kitchen, noticing the sudden silence her parents created in regards to her presence. Forging around in the refrigerator, she found an apple, quickly rinsed it off, and bit into it, letting the juice flow down her throat.
“Rebekah, honey,” her mother called, approaching her, “would you like to carpool with us today to school?”
Rebekah shook her head. “Jamie said she’d pick me up,” she said. Jamie Simpson was once the most popular girl at Marywood Middle School and the leader of Eternal Division, and to an extent, she still was all those things. Jamie was another person who had suffered from the memory loss in Roseway and forgot that Holly, along with Andre, had saved her life. In her eyes, Holly was a toy she could play with, someone she took pleasure in harassing.
Rebekah didn’t know what to make of Jamie. In no way was she fond of the girl, and the fact that Jamie tried to trick her into believing Jake cheated on her with Mandy via a fake journal entry only aggravated that feeling. But she spent a lot of time in Roseway, some of which with Jamie, and she found herself wondering if there was more to the girl than the bitchy persona she chose to exhibit.
“I guess that’s fine,” said Katie, quickly grabbing her car keys off the kitchen counter. She and Paul filed out of the apartment, and Rebekah followed shortly after, carrying her backpack on one shoulder.
In the cold, she watched her parents pull out of their parking spot and drive out onto the open road. Scanning the frequent cars that passed the apartment complex, Rebekah looked for Jamie’s black limo. Within moments, she spotted the limo as it pulled into the parking lot, and Jamie opened the car door without getting out.
“Are you coming, or are you just going to stand there?” Jamie called, seeming impatient.
Rebekah made her way to the vehicle and piled into it alongside Jamie and the other three members of her clique.
“Now,” Jamie started to say once the limo began moving again, “do you all remember me telling you about applying for this year’s ICW?”
The rest nodded reluctantly, including Rebekah, since she knew false-memories Jamie wouldn’t stop taking about it. The ICW, called by its full name the International Clique Wars and of which Rebekah hadn’t heard of until Jamie had brought it up before her move, was nothing short of a game show…for teenagers. From around the world, eight cliques were chosen to compete and represent their chosen countries. This year, the United States was chosen as well as France, Russia, Germany, Italy, Spain, Japan, and Estonia.
“Well, I heard from them this morning, and,” Jamie paused as if to create suspense from her clique, “we got accepted.”
The other three members—Teri, Sabrina, and Sam—cheered their leader on, whereas Rebekah, though happy with Jamie’s accomplishment, was more silent.
Not noticing Rebekah’s behavior, Jamie continued, “Now, I haven’t read the letter yet, nor have I opened the package they’ve sent me, which I was planning on doing today, if you all want to go home with me.”
This time, a chorus of yesses chimed throughout the limo, of which Rebekah was a part of. After all, she had nowhere else to go after school.
“So, Rebekah, we’re all dying to know how your parents managed to get evicted,” said Teri, and all eyes turned towards Rebekah.
Rebekah glanced at them, wishing no one had brought up that unfavorable topic. In no way was she as wealthy as the other four members of the clique; she had been to Jamie’s mansion, and Teri, Sabrina, and Sam apparently lived in the same part of town. In fact, she used to live in a rather petite lower-middle-class neighborhood that was closer to the trailer park than it was to where the rest of Eternal Division lived. Now that she lived in an apartment, that put her at the bottom of the Eternal Division standards, a clique that usually in the past had discriminated against poorer classes. Yet, Teri’s question seemed friendly enough, and the group hadn’t shunned her yet, so she began her answer.
“My parents missed a loan payment,” she began. “The bank confiscated their house.”
“Are you suggesting you’re now poor?” Teri fired the next question.
I never was wealthy like you, Rebekah thought, knowing the dangers of Teri’s questioning. It was as if Teri was testing her worthiness as an Eternal Division member, but before she had a chance to rebut, Jamie spoke to Teri in a calm, but threatening, way.
“Teri, just because Rebekah doesn’t have as much money as us doesn’t mean she’s necessarily poor. She’s just rich in other ways besides money,” Jamie said, soon turning towards Rebekah, “am I right?”
“Yeah,” was all Rebekah could reply. How else am I rich? For a while, she had dated Jake, one of the most popular guys in school, and in a way, she was still technically dating him because of the false memories, although she was planning on officially ending that soon after having been practically avoiding him for the past few days.
The limo cruised into the school’s main parking lot, and the clique scooted out of their seats. Rebekah retrieved her crumpled-up schedule from her backpack, and together, the five of them walked through the school’s main doors and into the hallway.
Already, the school was buzzing with excitement. Those who were nearest to the front of the school turned their heads to stare at the new arrivals, and after word had spread, everyone began to clear the hallway and cling to their lockers. Eyes swept over the clique as they made their way to Jamie’s locker first.
Jamie began to open her locker, shoving her small backpack inside and grabbing only what she needed for her first block class. “Do you guys think you will be able to come home with me? I realize it’s kind of short notice.”
“Yeah,” said the others.
“Then, we’ll meet by this locker, and I’ll take you to my house,” Jamie concluded.
Suddenly, two girls approached Jamie’s locker, whom Rebekah had only seen a couple of times.
“Here’s your work from yesterday,” said the first one—a blonde. Quickly, she and her brunette companion handed out papers to Jamie, Teri, Sabrina, and Sam. Rebekah stared at Jamie oddly as she accepted the papers.
“Thank you,” said Jamie politely before turning towards Rebekah. “Oh, and this is Rebekah, the newest member of our clique.”
As soon as Jamie said those words, Rebekah’s eyes widened in surprise. After all, she had never officially joined Eternal Division, and it was as if Jamie took Rebekah’s acceptance to hang out with them as a means of being inducted into the clique. Either that or the false memories gave me Eternal Division membership status, she thought as a gulp ran down her throat. Then, Rebekah glanced at the two girls, still confused. Both of them greeted her, but she didn’t return it.
“Rebekah, this is Hannah Jones,” Jamie began, motioning towards the blonde before turning towards the brunette, “and this is Ariana Campbell.” After she was done with the introductions, she turned towards the two girls and ordered, “Here, you can help me carry my stuff to my first class.” The two girls nodded, and when they finally had her materials in hand, they disappeared down the long hallway.
“Those two are, like, the biggest suck-ups,” Teri noted.
“To me,” said Jamie, “whatever I tell them to do, they do it.”
Rebekah barely paid any attention to Jamie’s talk of her “slaves”, who seemed to worship her. Slowly, she became invisible to them as she slipped away in pursuit of her two best friends, who weren’t a part of Jamie’s coterie.
The first person she ran into was Holly, who was waiting patiently by her first hour class. With her orange hair barely resting below her shoulders, she had on a pair of jeans and a blue blouse—the first thing Rebekah noticed.
“Part of Mandy’s present?” Rebekah guessed, studying the outfit.
H
olly nodded. “I love everything she gave me,” she gushed. “The first thing I did when I got home was try everything on.”
“Did everything fit?”
“Mostly.” Holly blushed. “A couple of the items were a tad too tight.”
Rebekah nodded slowly. Besides Holly and Rebekah, the only other one who attended the school and retained her memories of the months during the Roseway incident was Mandy, a human who could catch glimpses of the future in dreams, hence why she was called a Foreseer.
A few moments later, Mandy had joined them, her long, blonde hair in a disheveled mess. She pulled Rebekah into an embrace, and Rebekah tensed slightly but awkwardly returned it. “I know everything,” she cooed, choking on her words. “Rebekah, I’m so sorry.”
Rebekah pulled away. “None of that matters anymore. It’s over.”
Holly shook her head. “Not even for you is it over. We can’t be separated again.”
Rebekah turned towards Holly. “Holly, I’ve been dealing with this crap since last November. It may not be over for you, but for me, I’m just…done.”
“Do you honestly believe that since Roseway is under Jason’s control this is going to stop?” questioned Holly, her voice rising. She took a step closer, lowering her voice. “I know Henri’s character, and the fact he still has my parents is proof of that. He’s planning something.” Her voice choked on the mention of her parents. Rebekah knew Henri had taken them while Holly was at her summer academy, and their absence still affected Holly negatively, not knowing whether or not they were still alive.
“Holly, this is your war. Not mine, and not Mandy’s,” Rebekah said.
“This is your war as much as it is mine,” Holly growled.
Rebekah glanced between her two friends. “You’ll have to do this without me. Jamie’s clique was accepted into the ICW, and I’ll be going with them.”
Holly’s eyes never left Rebekah’s, but she didn’t seem shocked that Rebekah just admitted to somewhat joining Eternal Division. In a way, it was as if Holly knew something Rebekah did not. “Make us a part of that,” she growled.
Rebekah took a step back and said nothing. The last time Holly became mean and overprotective, she nearly destroyed their friendship. Now, Holly’s meanness was back, and Rebekah wanted nothing to do with it. She was glad when the bell finally rang, saving her from having to answer Holly, and she couldn’t leave that conversation quickly enough.
She was done no matter what Holly said. Just thinking about Henri and what he did to her was enough to churn her stomach. She needed the distraction the ICW would provide, and perhaps by going, she would be able to get her life back on track.
~~~
The first thing the clique did after school that day was get their passport photos taken. “The ICW this year is being held in Munich, Germany,” said Jamie proudly before arriving at the post office. “Therefore, we must get passports.”
In what was one of the most tedious hours of Rebekah’s life, the passport photos were taken and paid for, the clique members loaded themselves back into the limo, and off they traveled to Jamie’s house.
“You need to see the acceptance letter,” said Jamie once they arrived at her house. With her clique following, she dashed up the stairs and retrieved an unopened envelope that was on top of an unopened package. She tore it open, reluctant to read it aloud:
Dear Jamie Simpson,
We are pleased to inform you that your clique, Eternal Division, has been chosen to participate in this winter’s International Clique Wars for females. However, there is one problem that prevents your group from participating: you will need two more members in order to compete in a few of the activities, as I am sure you are aware of. As soon as you find two more people who can fill that position, Eternal Division will be eligible to represent the United States.
Sincerely,
Jason Speirs, host of this winter’s International Clique Wars.
“We need two more members,” Jamie whispered, obviously flabbergasted. “Who will we choose to be our temporary teammates?”
Teri shrugged obediently before picking up a list, which showed all of the participating cliques from the chosen countries. “Umm, Jamie, you might want to see this.”
Jamie turned her attention to the list of clique participants that Teri showed her. “Great! Les Fleurs Cramoisies is participating!”
“Who?” Rebekah wondered.
“Les Fleurs Cramoisies, or, in English, The Crimson Flowers. It’s a clique from Paris, France,” Sam explained.
“And their leader is Julie Duvall,” Jamie added. “How her clique got in, I don’t know.”
“Rebekah, can I see you for a minute?” Teri led Rebekah out of the room. “Please don’t ask about Julie Duvall when you’re around Jamie.”
“Why?”
“She’s kind of Jamie’s arch enemy. Jamie will kill me if she found out that I told you this, but she and Julie used to be very good friends, or pen pals. They had met online a couple of years ago, and until a little over a year ago, the two of them were inseparable,” Teri explained. “That is, until the two of them got into a fight about something. Jamie actually never really told us what the fight was about, but it must have been pretty serious for them to end their friendship over it.”
Rebekah pursed her lips together, somewhat speechless. As Teri told the story, she couldn’t help but suspect there was more to the story than what she was told.
Soon, Jamie exited the room, interrupting Teri and Rebekah’s conversation. “Help me find two more people!” she demanded. “Name some people.”
“Rosalie Franklin and Kendra Laurent,” Teri suggested.
“Oh, god no. Those best friends will only ruin Eternal Division’s reputation with their weird rituals and their Eternal Division wannabe attitudes.”
“Sarah Stevenson and Melissa Young,” Teri tried again.
Jamie shook her head, making an icky face. “Those two have even weirder rituals than Rosalie and Kendra.”
“Okay, how about Ariana Campbell and Hannah Jones?”
“Possibly,” Jamie considered. “But then again, those two are major suck-ups.”
With no more suggestions, Rebekah knew she had to do something. Holly wanted so desperately for her and Mandy to stay with Rebekah, and she knew who she was going to suggest. She was done with Henri, but perhaps having her two best friends there wouldn’t be so bad. Her palms became drenched in sweat, and a lump formed in her throat. In a way, she was scared to see how Jamie would react to such a suggestion, but in that moment, she didn’t have much of a choice. “Holly White and Amanda Palmer,” Rebekah piped up, hoping Jamie wouldn’t take the suggestion the wrong way.
Jamie looked at Rebekah funny. “Why them?”
“Because you’re desperate, and they don’t bother you as much nor do they have any weird rituals.”
“Maybe. I mean, Mandy, I think, writes, and Holly…isn’t she, like, super nerdy or something? I mean, I guess she kind of has to study so much, since she practically has no life outside of school. That’s it! We can use them for the writing portion and the trivia portion!”
Rebekah flinched slightly when Jamie started talking about Holly in that manner. Then, she flashed back to Roseway and how Jamie acted then. Perhaps still, there was more to Jamie than what meets the eye. And compared to Midnight, the spirit who had temporarily possessed Jamie, Rebekah would always choose the somewhat bitchy girl over the alleged murderer.
The rest of the evening involved digging into the package of ICW materials and planning for what Rebekah hoped would let her get back to normalcy.
CHAPTER
TWO
Kat: Greenwich, England
D
eep in the bowels of the Greenwich castle, Katherine Reid rubbed her hands up and down Henri’s lean torso as she rode him, her hips bobbing up and down. She was panting as sweat coated her brows and collected on her arms and stomach. Her fingernails dug into his side as she tilted her head back
and let out a howl, letting her orgasm rip through her as if she were nothing more than paper. A moment later, she felt Henri’s release fill her, and she collapsed to his side, tucking herself underneath his arm.
This was not the first time she and Henri had made love to each other—or as close to love as immortal beings could get. Often, she would steal moments with him since she was first made immortal, and because she was unable to conceive a child due to her immortality, neither of them bothered with contraceptives, instead deciding on pleasure instead of safety.
Delicately, his fingers traced her naked back, and she arched her body like her namesake with each stroke. “I’m going to miss this,” she purred, low and deep, as her own fingers grazed the muscles on his abdomen.
“Mmhmm,” Henri hummed, moving his fingers upward until they tangled in her hair.
Kat cocked her head to gaze into his eyes. “I could stay here with you. Let the mortal prince do our bidding.” She trailed her fingers down until she grasped his length, rubbing slowly. “I can think of more ways to be useful than just a simple spy.”
Henri’s fingers stilled as his body tensed. “Kat,” he said sternly.
Kat let out a sigh. “Remember the last time I spied for you and how that turned out?” Four years ago, she was sent to Ivanestible and lived with Henri’s mortal ally while also attending Witchcraft Academy as a student. She had always been a master of illusion and was able to play the role of a mortal fourteen-year-old, even though she had been twenty-five when she was made immortal, and Henri utilized her skills then in order to spy on the mortals. She managed to convince him to let her useless brother trail along as well, and it certainly didn’t help that her brother became consumed with lust for the mortal witch, Andre. Of course, she had told Henri everything, including the trip to Rochester, New York, that resulted in a human’s death as well as her and her brother’s banishment. Then, the mortals discovered she and her brother were really immortal and therefore acted accordingly.
Bleeding Misery (Threatening Souls Book 2) Page 2
