Cherry had woken up to the flashing message light on her
phone. She had been sleeping so heavily
she hadn’t even heard the damn thing ring.
She reached over Peter’s still sleeping body and grabbed her
cellphone. She blindly hit buttons until
her screen flashed on.
One missed call. It
was from Charlotte.
“Baby, just ten more minutes.” Peter rolled away from her,
pulling the blankets with him.
Cherry ignored him, getting up and heading towards the
bathroom, doing her best to be as quiet as possible. Once the door was closed, she played the
message.
“Hey, Cherry, your brother is fine, but he got a little
beaten up last night. We have a Mythos
on campus. Keep your eyes open, okay? I
know you don’t… I know being a Hen warrior isn’t what you want in life, but don’t
let that blind you to what is going on around you, okay? I’ll have Whitley call you later, just so you
can hear from the man himself that he’s okay.”
Fuck.
Cherry deleted the message.
This was exactly what she didn’t want.
Whitely lived for this stuff, but her and her brother wanted different
lives. He wanted the tradition, carrying
on the lineage of the proud Hen warriors.
Cherry just wanted… she just wanted to be normal. Ever since she was a little girl she had
trained to be a warrior, just like her father and mother, just like
Whitely.
She wasn’t shocked about hearing that a Mythos was on
campus. She had suspected as much when
Peter had told her about Tim and Lori.
It had been years since she had had to deal with any type of demonic
force, but she could never forget the signs.
The bathroom door creaked open and Peter shuffled in, still
half asleep and very naked. He wandered
towards her, leaning in and giving her a quick peck on the lips.
She wanted to tell him what was going on. She wanted to warn him, but she knew he
wouldn’t believe her. She wanted to
protect him, but if that thing had taken Whitley out of commission, she didn’t
stand a chance.
“You going to get out today?” She placed a hand on Peter’s
shoulder.
“Maybe…” he stood at the sink, his lidded eyes scanning the
counter for his toothbrush. “I don’t
know.”
“Getting a little sunlight won’t hurt.” Her hand gently
began to rub out his shoulder muscle.
Peter had been a wreck for most of yesterday. She had actually been scared to leave him
when she had gone to class. When she had
come back home he had been passed out on her bed, the pillow under his head
damp with tears.
She had seen Peter cry before. He had never been one of those pent up
guys. Still, she hadn’t seen him mourn
like this. He was completely wrecked.
Sure, he and Tim were good friends, but she had a sinking feeling that
this had nothing to do with Tim.
“I just… I’m not sure I feel up to it.” Peter gave up his
search for a toothbrush and headed back to bed, leaving Cherry alone in the
kitchen.
She watched him vanish into the shadows of the dark
bedroom.
She had always suspected that there had been something going
on between Peter and Lori, but she had never confronted him over it. The way he
was acting, the way he seemed almost completely broken right now, was just more
proof.
That still didn’t mean she wanted him getting killed. Especially not by a Mythos. So, for the time
being, she would stay by his side, but once the Mythos was taken care of…
Well, she would deal with it then.
She hated to admit it, but she kind of loved the
asshole. Yes, it was becoming more and
more clear that he had cheated on her, and she was guessing that Lori wasn’t
the first, but there was something about him that kept her around. Even though
he thought with his dick, he never acted like one, at least, not to her. He was actually a good guy. He just kind of sucked at being faithful.
She shook her head, closed the bathroom door, and turned on
her shower. She had time reserved in the
dance studio today, and she wasn’t going to let Peter or her brother or some
horny demon keep her from having a normal, every day life.
At least, until she couldn’t ignore it anymore.
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