VACANT novel Chapter 10

"Poison mixed with pleasure is dangerous."

The aroma of bacon draws her away from the vivid sketch of midnight blue, and she pulls her sweatshirt over her head, snuggling into the fabric and tying her dark hair into a bun.

She sits at the table, her thoughts in a daze, following the aroma downstairs, oblivious to the eyes that followed her movement. She takes a handful of bacon in her hand, cramming some into her mouth and piling the rest onto her plate.

She sighs at the oil and the sour but sweet pungent taste, closing her eyes to savour the flavour as it passes down her throat, but she senses something is lacking, so she walks over to the sink for a cup of water,

"Where were you yesterday?" her mother asks, and she chokes on the drink.

"Morning mother," she says as she turns to face her mother's auburn eyes, "couldn't you just let me finish my water before you tried to kill me?"

"Why did Nicco drop off your unconscious body?" Her mother scoffs as she rolls her eyes at her daughter's theatrics.

Alanis only shrugs as she sits at the marble table, her gaze returning to the bacon in front of her. "Well?" her mother inquired.

"I was at the campfire with Nicco," she continued, "and he made me go to celebrate my birthday," she added, "or wasn't I permitted to celebrate my birthday?"

Alanis couldn't decide whether she should be relieved that her mother was finally feeling things or devastated that that was the only emotion she knew.

"It's my birthday, remember, but I won't hold it against you if you forget, because I did as well."

Alanis could no longer enjoy her breakfast due to the awkward atmosphere between them, so she left her mother in the kitchen and went upstairs to get ready for school.

She spent the majority of her time in the shower, analyzing and surfing through her emotions and memories in search of a recollection of her mother smiling, but she became frustrated when the only memories she could discover were clouded.

She swallowed her pills after getting out of the shower, not wanting to suffer from the horrible headache she had the day before at school, for if she didn't, her mother would bring her down to the pack clinic; at the very least, she knew her mother didn't want her to die. She grabs her coat and drags her feet downstairs, pulling on her trousers and a maroon long-sleeved sweater. She walks around the kitchen, watching her mother wash the dishes, but she knows her mother's attention is elsewhere.

She stands in Mr. Edgar's driveway, listening for anything from his house, but the silence makes her sick, and her anxiety grows in the pit of her stomach.

She sighs as she walks into the school building, her thoughts too preoccupied to see the brown-haired boy standing near her locker.

When she sees him, her brows furrow in confusion, and she wonders, "What's wrong?"

"Nothing… just… your scent's changed," Nicco says as he gives her a hug and inhales her scent.

She pauses for a while, unsure, before calling out to her wolf, only to be met with silence, as her wolf is alone in her cave, refusing to let her in.

The bell sounds, jolting her out of her reverie. She walks to class and sits in the back of the room, watching as people pile in, her mind still attempting to make sense of what Nicco said.

The classes flew by, and soon it was time for lunch. She joins Nicco at their table, and she watches how he keeps his gaze fixed on the ‘The Heads Junior' table.

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