Unhealthy Attraction

Chapter 3: Threats

A/N: Welcome to the third part of this tale of dark intentions. Last chapter, Popuri met with rejection. Jack had already found another woman in Elli, sending Popuri into a jealous fit, attacking the other woman and kissing the man she has become attracted to. Now watch what happens next.

Mage and I apologize if it seems that Jack and Elli went a little fast in their relationship. We have a reason behind it, but it must remain a secret until we reveal it much later in the story. Personally, I don't even know how exactly it's going to work, but I trust that Mage has everything planned. We're trying to keep Popuri innocent for as long as possible, but where's the fun in that? We'll try to keep her from becoming overbearing for a few more chapters. Enjoy!

(-)

It was exactly five days after the Harvest Goddess Festival incident. The town was abuzz with excitement and gossip. Stories flew from everyone's mouths as they came up with odd and impossible reasons behind Popuri's outburst. Popuri had even heard that there was an illegal gambling circuit being set up to take bets on who would win between Elli and Popuri. Mayor Thomas had to resort to forcing Officer Harris to patrol the town and area for nearly the full length of the day, just in case Popuri and Elli crossed paths.

There were quite a few instances over the past few days where the two found themselves too close together for comforts sake. Upon realizing that their rival was in the same area as they were, both girls tried their hardest to ignore each other. This method proved effective as both girls insulted the other even when the other was within earshot. But every time, Officer Harris or somebody else would separate the two, sending them in opposite directions.

Unfortunately, the law enforcements were unable to keep tabs on Popuri and Elli at all hours of the day. On this third day of stand-off, Elli finally confronted Popuri. It was very late at night, well past the witching hour. Popuri was awakened by the irregular tapping of something striking against her window. The pink haired girl sat up, brushing her hair out of her face. She looked out the window to see Elli below, tossing loose pebbles against the house.

"What do you want?" Popuri demanded after opening up her window. In response, Popuri was struck with another pebble tossed her direction. "Don't make me come down there!" Popuri warned, closing the window. She tossed a robe on over top of her nightgown and began making her way down the stairs.

"Popuri? What are you doing up at this hour?" Lillian's dreary voice drifted through the house behind Popuri.

"Nothing, mother. Just needed some fresh air." Popuri echoed back.

"That's alright, dear. Just don't take too long. You need your beauty sleep."

Elli was waiting for her as she stepped out into the night air. The weather was perfect, not a cloud in the sky. There was one storm cloud forming overhead of the two girls as they came face to face with each other. Flames burned in their eyes as they looked over their opponent, eyeing the other girl up from head to two. "What do you want?" Popuri asked again, knowing that this time she was going to get a response out of Elli.

The brunette got straight to the point. "Jack's mine, Popuri, and there's nothing that you can do to separate us."

Popuri issued a low, angry growl as she replied, "You're wrong. Jack and I are destined to be together, not you and Jack. So, step down."

This brought a laugh out of Elli as she considered what Popuri had just claimed. "Destined? You actually believe in that garbage? That's too funny." Elli burst out into a fit of laughter as Popuri tried to control her rising temper. "Ok, ok. Say that your "destiny" is to be with Jack. Tell me what vision that you've had that leads you to believe your prophecy."

Popuri let out a long breath, trying to calm herself. Hanging at her sides, her fists were slowly unclenching. "It's a long story." Popuri began, thinking back to those lonely years as a child that she had. "Do you remember that one summer when the old farmer's grandson spent the summer at the farm?"

Elli nodded her head, allowing Popuri to continue. "Well, one day, when I was picking wild-flowers up on Mother's Hill, I stumbled upon that little boy. He was having fun on the farm, but felt lonely, just like me. The two of us immediately became really good friends, spending the entire summer together." Popuri felt herself hesitate as she thought of the tearful day when the little boy returned to the big city.

"Come on! I don't have all night!" Elli prodded. Her eyes were a mixture of tears and anger, as if she was fighting some inner struggle. A part of her was deeply touched by Popuri's story, but the other half remembered why she had came here. The victory would come to the side that most believed Popuri's story.

Popuri wiped away a stray tear that had formed in the corner of her eye. It would have been a rather heart-tugging moment if the two conversers weren't on the verge of gauging each-other's eyes out. "Summer came to an end and that meant that the boy was going home. I managed to see him off, and that ended up being the last I saw of him."

Elli shrugged her shoulders, letting out a rather bored sigh. "That's a nice story. Shame that's all that it is. Jack told me that he's never been to Mineral Town before. He just came to inherit his grandfather's farm. He might be related to the boy that you knew, so that's why you're attracted to him." Elli suggested.

The thought had crossed Popuri's mind once, but she had quickly dismissed it. She had known from the very first time she had seen Jack that he was the boy from her past. Jack was destined to be hers and there was nothing that Elli could do to stop her from completing her dream. "Sorry, but your lies aren't going to persuade me to forget about Jack. He was only distracted by a slut…"

Suddenly, Elli reached over and delivered a stinging slap across Popuri's face. The handprint perfectly matched the color of Popuri's hair. "How dare you call me a slut! If anyone's a slut in this town, it's you!" Elli practically screamed into Popuri's face. She could handle Popuri being jealous, but that insult had crossed the line.

Meanwhile, Popuri was seething. "You shouldn't have done that, Elli. All I can tell you is to stay away from Jack. If you don't, I might end up doing something to you that I'll regret. Now, get off my farm before I kill you." Popuri's voice was colder than ice, each word coated with venom.

The threat was so unexpected that Elli was left speechless. Popuri smiled wickedly, slowly backing up a few steps. Her hands were searching behind her for anything that she might be able to use as a weapon. She felt the cold, welcoming feel of metal. Elli's eyes were full with fear as Popuri lifted the axe up over her shoulder, casually approaching Elli. That was more than enough to frighten the poor girl away.

Popuri calmly dropped the axe as she walked up to the house. Inside, it was perfectly quiet, just as she had left it. Too bad, that Popuri's mind was swirling with crazed ideas of what she would do next. "That wasn't very nice." A voice stated from the shadows as Popuri approached the stairs.

"I did what I had to do, Rick. Now please quit showing up after everything that I do." Popuri shot into the shadows where the voice had come from. "Hopefully, I won't have to make good on my promise. Elli should know well enough to listen to what I said. But, if she didn't…" She'd think about it in the morning.

(-)

Popuri woke up, none too pleased to realize that she had slept in. Today was the Local Horse Race and she had no hopes of getting there in time to watch any of the races. It was a shame really. She had been looking forward to the annual event. There was a part of her that deeply loved the magnificent beasts. "Wait a minute." Popuri thought, "I forgot that Jack has a pony of his own. Maybe I'll head over there and ask to see his horse." Plus, it gave her an excuse to talk to Jack.

Lillian barely had time to say "good morning" to her daughter as the girl rushed out the door. "I take it that she want to catch the end of the festival before it's over." Lillian surmised with a chuckle. Popuri's antics were providing the entertainment that Lillian needed in her otherwise boring life.

This second visit to Jack's farm wasn't starting out much better than her first one. Jack, once again, was nowhere in sight. Popuri knocked on his door, once again being greeted by the over-excited barking of a dog on the inside. "Of course he isn't here. He's at the festival with everyone else." Popuri scolded herself for her blond moment.

She was turning to leave when she caught glimpse of an open stable door down along the length of the field. "Jack doesn't have to know that I stopped by." Her mind was beginning to consider the consequences of her actions as only a frail piece of hindsight. "Plus, Jack won't be happy if his horse escapes on him while he's not here."

Popuri timidly peeked into the stable, just in case that someone was already there. She didn't want to stride in like she owned the place, only to find Jack there. That wouldn't look too good, now would it? Inside the medium sized building was an absolutely gorgeous young foal. His coat was a magnificent dark brown shade that blended in with nature. Every muscle in his body was tense, showing off the perfect specimen that he was going to become when he was older.

"This horse is perfect." Popuri stated in awe as she carefully approached the young horse. She had seen some outstanding horses before, but this one was one level above all of those other creatures. The horse sensed that Popuri meant it no harm, lowering its head to Popuri's outstretched hand. Her hand made contact with the beast's nose, lightly caressing the fine hairs that covered its body.

Popuri was stunned by the sheer beauty of this horse standing before her. She stood there, with her hand resting on the horse's forehead, for at least five minutes. The horse seemed to be enjoying the company and love, almost as if this was a very uncommon situation that it was in. Popuri found her eyes roaming over the creature, admiring every inch of the beast. Then, her eyes came to a rest on the saddle hanging on the nearby wall, beckoning her to take the horse for a ride. Even the horse itself seemed to be coaxing her into giving into her desire.

Popuri lifted the saddle off of its hangings, gently transferring the accessory onto the horse's back. The horse snorted lightly, more out of pleasure than annoyance. "I think it wants to go for a ride, too." Popuri thought as she placed one foot in the stirrup, her hands reaching up around the horse's neck.

Just as she began to pull herself up onto the creature's back, the sound of distant voices alerted her that someone was approaching the farm. Popuri dropped back down to the ground, snatching the saddle as she went. "I hope he doesn't notice that the saddle was moved." Popuri began to worry as she tossed the saddle to a place close, but not exactly, where it had previously been.

Luckily for her, Popuri heard the moving voices come to a stop. Judging from the last place she had heard them from, Popuri guessed that the people were standing in front of the farmhouse. Once again, Popuri was drawn forward by curiosity. By now, you would have expected that she would have figured out that she didn't want to know what Jack was up too. This time, after peeking out of the stable and towards the farmhouse, she was greeted with the familiar, unwelcome sight of Jack standing next to Elli, her hands resting in his.

Popuri felt the anger inside her rising. "Elli should have listened." She growled as her eyes attempted to burn holes into Elli's skull. If looks could kill… Popuri kept watching, trying to pick up on the conversation.

Jack's voice was barely audible at this distance. Popuri could only catch fragments of sentences, but she was able to catch the main parts. "… picnic dinner… up on Mother's Hill? … At 7…" Jack was saying. Elli just stood there and smiled, nodding her head in agreement. "What does he see in that twit?" Popuri seethed as she watched the couple exchange a parting kiss before Jack vanished indoors.

In the short second that Jack had the door open, his dog managed to squeeze outside. The tiny mutt came running straight towards the stable, as if it had known that Popuri was hiding there. Then, the beast began barking wildly, trying to inform Jack that someone was there. "Shhh…" Popuri hissed at the puppy.

Jack merely laughed at the actions of his dog. "He really likes the horse. Why don't you go check him out?" Jack suggested to Elli. Popuri felt her heart skip a few beats. If Elli came over here…

"That sounds like a great idea!" Elli giggled, gaily hopping in the direction of the stable. Jack shut the door behind him as he disapeared inside, thinking nothing more could arise out of the situation. If only he knew what he had started.

Popuri found herself curling into an attack position. She tried to conceal herself behind the stable door as Elli approached. Her breathing was filling with tenseness as she prepared for what was coming. Finally, Elli stepped into the stable, immediately noticing Popuri. "What are you doing…?" Elli trailed off as Popuri attacked.

(-)

A/N: In one of life's cruel ironies, an accident has bed-ridden one of the people upon whom a character from Gamer to Farmer was based. In fact the injury is nearly exactly the same as the one that befell Tint in the early stages of the fic. My real life brother, Neil, broke his arm in three different places, all of which were right near the shoulder blade. Of course, this was a result of football. Neil even tried flirting with the helicopter pilot whilst under the influence of morphine. I salute you, brother!