Predator, Part 4
Pairing: Faye Chamberlain/Diana Meade Fandom: The Secret Circle Length: 1000+ Description: The power had been demonstrated, the stakes had been set, and the demands stated. There was no other choice. None. Nothing could be done. Absolutely nothing. She didn't move when the thin silver chained dropped to settle around her neck and only flinched when her hair was brushed back and adjusted behind the necklace. A slightly smaller hand settled in her own, interlocking their fingers and the smile, all bright white teeth and deceptive softness.
Author's Note: Welcome to 2012, members of Fayana fandom who read this! Here is your present for the new year. Sorry, I don't have fireworks.
Warnings: These warnings will be the same every chapter. There's an abusive significant other and angst.
The amused chuckling that greeted her when she entered her home the morning after the sleepover was enough to make her shiver. The silky voice wrapped itself around her almost as tangibly as the slender arms that curled around her waist in a tight bastardization of a loving embrace. The close physical contact never failed to make her heart skip a beat.
"So, who made the move, my pet?" The question was posed in such an innocent voice that Faye didn't register what she is being asked right away. Her brain paused, working through the words as they befuddle her and fail to make sense. When she understood what exactly had been questioned, her face burned deeply. She could almost feel the color moving into her cheeks at the reminder of the night's events.
"You knew?" Faye could stop the accusation in her voice. With the stress of having returned the kiss from Cassie Blake, her normal inhibitions were lowered and her outrage was becoming more prominent. She was questioning something that clearly wash't her place to question. It was a dangerous move but she continued, pushing at Shannon's collar bone to make her back away, "What do you mean 'who'? It was just Cassie."
Her actions, luckily, went unpunished. It would seem that Shaitan's glee was overwhelming her normally low tolerance for even the smallest motions of rebellion. The smaller blonde began to slowly smile. The amount of innate charm that oozed from the demon's very presence was wholly unsettling. A hand reached out to stroke her cheek lightly. The eyes sparkled with something all too deeply in thought and far more cruelly mischievous than she ever liked to see.
There was just something wrong with this situation, Faye felt it in how her muscles refused to stop trembling. She found that she couldn't keep trying to stare the demon in the eyes. She was no match in a fight of intimidation. Shaitan would always win these little nonverbal contests of domination. It was an unwelcome but very true fact of her life.
The demon-disguised-girl, so innocently and captivatingly beautiful in looks and demeanor, bared her teeth in what was obviously a cold grin. There was no warmth in her face, no reassuring tones to her eyes, no kind glint to her smile. It was all hard, frigid lines that promised nothing but more confusion and tension. That was always the expression that heralded trouble.
"Cassie Blake, was it?" A chuckle and then a mocking, "You'd have to be blind, deaf and dumb not to have seen that coming from a couple of miles off. Not all that bright, are you, sweetheart? What's even funnier, and you'll love this, is that she isn't the only one. The Blake girl is not the only one who stares at you and wonders what it would be like to seduce you into bed with her. Blake isn't the only one who gets jealous every time that I show that I can have you but she can't. Blake isn't the only one who so obviously and hopelessly cares for you."
"This…" Faye couldn't think of anything appropriate to say that would end with her broken bones or badly bruised and beaten muscles.
"You'll find out soon enough, foolish Faye." A purred promise close to her ear. She couldn't stop the chill that caused the hair to stand up on the back of her neck.
Faye had to go throughout her day in a haze. Her feelings are a messed up mix of fear, anger and utter bewilderment. What in the hell had caused Cassie to want and act on the urge to kiss her, Faye? From the first day that they had known each other, it hadn't been a secret that the pair clashed. Then at the lake house, when their vicious shouting match broke out, she had been sure that that was the end to that particularly relationship and ever bit of civility related to it. Yet, somehow, her mind still was poking at her. A little voice was murmuring at the back of her thoughts. Everything was getting linked together.
She was obviously intrigued by the new girl's possessed power and Cassie had been interested in her because of the mystery behind her behavior. It was apparent from even the first time that Faye had smiled slowly said, as a way of introducing herself in the vaguest way possible with only a simple statement instead of giving an actual name by which she could be addressed. "You're very pretty." was all that she had said before unlocking the locked locker with magic.
Okay, so it had been an unusual first encounter with an absolute stranger, but Faye had been far too impatient to allow the girl to approach the lure and hook by herself. She had had to do something to speed along her progress. Nick and Melissa were too hands-off, Diana wanted to pull her into the fold as slowly and smoothly as possible, Adam had made gaga eyes at the girl since he first saw her. Overall, Cassie was the subject of a lot of discussion before she even knew that any of them existed. They had been talking about Cassie for quite a while before she even moved into town.
When the girl actually materialized, it was a bit like meeting a mythical figure. It was someone who one wanted to meet and thought about theoretically, but also that one didn't seriously consider appearing in the flesh. Cassie just showed up after a tragedy and that was that. The blonde appeared to be in the lives of the Circle for good. There was an unexplainable supernatural connection between all of them. It was weaker after Nick's death, but it was there. It was always there.
At some point during the day, Diana had showed up on her doorstep. She was nervously occupying her hands by wringing the fingers together. The brunette's appearance was entirely unexpected. Plagued by the thoughts of what she had been told that morning by her demonic 'girlfriend', the visit was very much unwelcome. She didn't want whatever this was to be happening at all. There was too much confusion over what to do with Cassie. It wasn't like she could just end the fake relationship with Shannon; that would result in too much blood shed and torture. Even if she were able to get into a relationship, would she really want that with Cassie Blake? Did they actually have that sort of chemistry together?
Faye found herself thinking back to the kiss. She wasn't opposed to doing it again. Now, that thought was scary.
"She really likes you, you know." It was blurted out. The room was thick with the weight of what had been acknowledged. Faye briefly had to wonder just why this was so heavy between them. That thought brought up even scarier possibilities.
"Who?" Faye cautiously tried to play dumb, begging Diana to derail and move to another topic. Her counterpart wasn't having any of that. Their eyes met and there were so many emotions swimmings in those soulful brown irises that Faye just forgot how to form words for a few moments. She read a lot of things in those eyes, but what did that mean? Was she even reading those feelings right? It wasn't like Faye was the best with interpersonal interactions.
Diana crossed her bedroom floor, moving to pick up a framed photograph. It left her back to Faye but the smile could be heard in her voice. She could picture those lips curling upward at the corners. The picture in question was of an earlier time in their lives. It was before Faye was 'the bad girl' and before Diana was 'the good girl'. It was when they were just Diana and Faye, friends. It had been an easier time, the lives of those eight-year old friends pictured on the pier with small fishing poles.
Faye was excellent with the outdoors, she always had been. It was her natural element. Outside was her favorite place to be. The lakes, the mountains, the beach, the woods. She enjoyed it all. She would lead Diana on magnificent adventures when they had been younger. They would play in streams, catch tadpoles and fireflies. When it came time that Diana's father wanted to try and bond with his daughter over a day of fishing, it had been insisted that Faye go as well. Faye was a natural at fishing. She wasn't squeamish, she didn't hesitate, and she was happy to entertain both herself and Diana while waiting for the fish to take the bait. Diana hadn't caught any fish; Faye had caught three.
"You gave me a fish that day." The words were low, almost whispered as though they were secret. Faye cautiously stepped in closer, listening, "You gave me a fish because I was upset that I couldn't do it. You told my dad that I had caught it. You talked me up so much that trip, Faye."
This was true. It was also information that Faye already knew, so why was it being brought up at all? Diana was acting strange even as she set the frame back down on the dresser. Faye wasn't going to interrupt. She just wanted what needed to be said to be said so that she could send Diana on her way home. She had other things to worry about. Like understanding how she felt about Cassie.
"I'm jealous, you know." These words were even softer. Slender fingers traced the frame of the fishing photograph before moving to another that included the pair of them as well as Melissa and Nick a year or so later. "Cassie just comes into our lives and she knows what she wants. She knows who she wants. She's not afraid to take risks and she goes for it."
Faye's heart sank. Her chest constricted and it felt like she couldn't breath properly as she braced herself against the end of her bed. Something was burning in her face. She wondered absently if her head had suddenly caught fire from the heat flooding her cheeks. This had to be a trick. She was misinterpreting everything. She was just misunderstanding the vocal inflections and body language. It didn't mean what she thought it meant. After all, there was the matter of the boy who came in between their old friendship.
"Cassie made the move. I, I didn't think she would, honestly." Diana cuts herself off.
"Diana..." Faye doesn't even know how to finish the sentence. She has so much trouble speaking these days.
Diana was suddenly much closer than she had been. A hand hovered halfway between their bodies and it was obvious that she was trying to decide on whether or not to touch Faye. But everything was interrupted. The sparks were killed and the tension was snapped in half and pushed away with force as Shannon asked, "Faye, oh, I'm sorry, baby, did I interrupt?"
There was nothing but icy blades in that tone. It was taunting and promised blood. Faye hadn't even heard the demon enter her house. God, she was just damned sneaky like that. She was very quiet. Too quiet; unnaturally so. A hand brushes over Diana's skin. The effects were instantaneous as Diana jerked away, her eyes wide as the hair on her arms immediately stuck up and goose flesh rose. The wide-eyed look of momentary unsettling dread and fear disappears. Diana appeared to be berating herself.
"Do you want to join us for lunch, Diana? It'd be fun to get to know you!" Faye just wanted to cry.
Diana was firmly in Shannon's crosshairs now. The invitation wasn't to lunch. No, the invitation was to her world of cruelty and blackmail and torture. It was an unwitting invitation to submit as Shaitan's plaything. And Diana had just smiled and said yes.