Hey, everyone.
Wow, it's been a while, but finally, I've got this chapter ready. This one was really hard to finish. I guess I can blame school and work for getting in my way, but it's also got to with an overwhelming writer's block.
I am not to happy with it, but its finished, and I think that's what should matter. I hope you enjoy this chapter :)
Chapter Nine: Sweet to Bitter
"Be soft. Do not let the world make you hard. Do not let the pain make you hate. Do not let the bitterness steal your sweetness. Take pride that even though the rest of the world may disagree; you still believe it to be a beautiful place."
— Kurt Vonnegut
April 1962
To Clara's utter dismay, the one person she didn't want to see had to be the one to find her.
She could have avoided confronting Azazel if she hadn't been too busy whimpering. She usually was able to hear the distinctive whooshing noise when Azazel teleported, even if it was a few miles away. He probably heard her loud cries from a mile away. His loud footsteps echoed the alley as he walked crisply and stopped in front of her.
"Clara." She exhaled loudly and shook her head, making Azazel sigh, annoyed. "Stop being a child and get up."
"No," she said sharply, and curled herself up, trying to cover her bare body. Her clothes had burned up, leaving nothing, not even a small piece of cloth. She could feel the grime against her back and the dirty water on her butt, but she was too overwhelmed with everything that had happened.
"I'm not leaving without you."
"Yes, you are," she snapped.
He must have been forced to get her. But just because it was an order, he had no right to be annoyed or irritated at her. It was his fault that everything fell apart. He knew he shouldn't have taunted her. Sebastian always reminded him that if he wanted to rile Clara, he do it in private. But, no matter what he was told, Azazel never listened to Sebastian. He didn't own him.
Unfortunately, it seemed that it wasn't the same case for Clara. No matter how small the order was, Clara had to follow it or else she would have to deal with Sebastian's wrath. And that angered Clara. She wanted Sebastian to tell Azazel to not rile her at all. She wanted Sebastian to let her have some freedom. But none of those were going to happen, so she kept her mouth shut and did her best to avoid Azazel. Which proved to be nearly impossible when he was always forced to watch over here whenever she went out or was at Hellfire Club.
"Why are you acting like this?" Azazel said. "We both know it was your fault."
She shook her head, but the more she thought about it, it was also Clara's fault. She just wanted an hour to herself, and going to church was the perfect excuse. She had a short temper. And when she lost it, everything would go to hell. She had promised to go to mass and then come out soon after it finished, but she had gotten caught up watching a family.
The church was familiar, but she felt out of place. The last time she had been there was exactly a year ago. She touched her cross, feeling a flicker of shame, but ignored it. She shouldn't care when was the last time she went. It was only a building. She had made up her lack of absence all those years ago, when she was a child, practically living in the church.
She sat in the middle, having an entire row for herself. In front of her, sat a family of five. The mother, father, and three little girls. She could see the youngest of the three fidgeting in her seat and playing with a wrapper that was in her left coat pocket. The two oldest just sat there, staring off, bored.
Clara had been so absorbed watching the family, she had missed out on the entire mass. She was surprised when she heard the few people who were there shuffling out. The only ones that didn't get up were the family, who remained where they sat. The parents prayed in silence, while the children remained seated silently if she ignored the crinkling wrapper.
Clara looked down at her lap, feeling an immense solitude at that moment. She had lost the passion she once had towards attending mass but even as years have passed, she didn't falter in going to church on her birthday. She wished she hadn't shown up that day. She must have stayed in her seat watching them for over an hour. Azazel always waited in an alley, but he must have gotten impatient and decided to go himself and fetch her.
Azazel should have never done that. He overreacted. To appear and scare the family was all her fault. She shrunk at the reminder of the woman, her body burned. She was going to help her, but the woman had screamed at her, pushing her away, calling her names. She didn't know what to do, she didn't want to scare the little children, but she didn't want to get caught.
She had felt Azazel grab her from behind which was what caused her to explode. The next thing she remembered was being thrown into an empty alley and scrambling to get away from him. She had no idea where she was going, but as long as it was away from the family and Azazel, she kept running. Her body was covered in scratches and burn marks, her guilt not allowing her body to heal itself.
"Clara, Shaw wants you."
"Leave me alone."
This time he didn't bother. He grabbed her arm roughly, making her stand up reluctantly. The moment she got to her feet, they were already in the familiar living room.
"Jerk," she hissed and pulled her arm from Azazel. She wiped her face hastily, tears and dirt coming off. Remembering she wasn't wearing any clothes, Clara dropped her hands. Her hair was long enough to cover her chest, so she focused on covering the lower areas with her hands.
"What took you so long?" Emma's voice came from behind her. Clara turned around and glowered at her. Emma walked over to them, a coat draped over her arm. Clara snatched it from her, not bothering to ask if it was for her.
"She was throwing a tantrum," Azazel said lazily and teleported without waiting for a reply.
Good riddance, Clara thought darkly and turned to Emma. "I didn't do anything," she defended herself tersely. "It was him. It's always him."
"I don't care. You're still late, meaning we're all late." Clara looked up at her and frowned. "Go get ready, the clothes are in your room. I'll be there in an hour."
Clara hated herself for asking, but she did it anyway. "Can I—Can I just stay in today?"
"No," Emma said sharply. "Absolutely not. I don't care what happened, but you're going to be at the club today."
"Fine," Clara said curtly, hating the satisfied smile that crossed Emma's smile, and walked away, slamming the door behind her as she made her way to her room. Inside, Clara let out a strangled noise and kicked the couch that was next to her.
Despite the room always being stuffy, it brought a sense of comfort to her. It had belonged to Clara for the past five years. Initially, it had been for the clients to have time alone with the girls. But the room was too small and too stuffy, so they decided to leave it as a storage. When Clara was younger, and she needed to be in the club, Emma would order her in the room. Clara hated the room but soon grew fond of the room.
There were few tokens in the room that showed it belonged to Clara. A comb, a book, sweater, pair of shoes, a blanket. As much as she despises Hellsfire club, she loved this room. It was familiar, and most importantly, it was hers. Everybody knew that and made sure to stay clear. She saw that her flowers that were on the dresser were wilted. She leaned over and touched one of the petals. It fell at the light touch, landing on her thigh.
Sighing, she stood up and decided to put one of her records to get her mind distracted. The record made a noise before the song start playing.
"Blue moon,
You saw me standing alone,
Without a dream in my heart,
Without a love of my own..."
The tune filled the room, making the corner of Clara's mouth twitch. If she still wasn't filled with rage, she would have wished Azazel would be there to see his annoyed expression. He hated that song, which is probably why Emma gave her the record in the morning as an early birthday present. Clara wrinkled her nose at the bitter reminder.
My birthday, she thought sullenly. What a fucking joy.
She always enjoyed celebrating, the gifts that she got were wonderful and the attention was nice. But this one, her nineteenth birthday wasn't one she was excited about. So far it hasn't been the most pleasant one, even if she ignored the church incident.
She walked up the vanity mirror and looked herself over. It was strange that Clara was nineteen. She had never really thought of growing up, just focused on the present. She was more at the moment person. The most ahead she thought was a week, but that was because she had to know when her projects were done at school or when she was supposed to appear at the club.
But here Clara was. Nineteen years old. She was in her last year that ended with the word teen. No more eighteen or nineteen, soon it was going to be twenty. She didn't understand why she was having a hard time accepting that she was a year older. When she had turned eighteen, she hadn't dueled on her age too long, she had been too caught up in the celebration. As a present, Sebastian had taken her to France and showed her all the amazing structures.
"Don't say I never do anything for you," Sebastian had told her and she tried to hide her grimace. She smiled at him, and to be on the safe side, stood a few feet away from him.
"Wow, what I would be without you?" she said flatly to the mirror. She shivered when she felt a cold breeze and internally cursed at Emma. She wiped her clammy hands on her bare legs and cringed when she felt the sweat touch her skin. Emma insisted that Clara should be vainer.
But that wasn't Clara, she didn't like the vanity and shallowness of worrying about her looks. Although it has never been said, Clara knew that Emma was pleased with that. Emma had to be the beautiful one of the two. That was fine with Clara. It would be selfish of her to be both smart and beautiful.
She could be the smart one of the two.
Not even for my birthday I can get my way, she thought grimly, looking down in resentment at her birthday outfit, that was almost her birthday suit. She glanced around and hoping to not be seen, she wiped her hand against the nearest curtain.
"Clara."
She jumped at the sharp voice of Emma and turned around, giving her a guilty smile. Clara must have been so caught up in her wallowing that she had not heard Emma.
"What?" Her voice came out sharp, making her look guilty.
"Don't touch that," she scolded and went towards her.
Clara couldn't help but stare resentfully the older woman. As Clara grew older, Emma became colder towards her. At thirteen, she didn't understand, but now, eighteen, it made sense that Emma was insecure with her around. Emma is used to being the only woman, the one that got attention. And now she has to share it with a teenager, a very beautiful, powerful teenager.
"And what did you do to your hair?" Emma scolded, going in front of her. Clara grimaced and let Emma fix her hair.
"Sorry," she said again. "I'm still not used to this new hair."
For some reason, Clara listened to one of Emma's suggestion and had cut her long hair to a short bob that reached her shoulder. She really had wanted to cry when she saw her long locks on the ground but refrained herself, not wanting to give the satisfaction to Emma, who was smiling the entire time as they were being chopped off.
Instead, like always, Clara sucked it up, gritting her teeth and smiling at the compliments she received from the others. The only time she genuinely smiled was when Azazel made a snide comment about how she resembled a prostitute. It made her smile because he would never hide how he felt and what Sebastian said to him when he overheard him. Besides, she got him back by accidentally slashing his tail.
"That was a month ago, Clara," Emma reminded her, smacking Clara's hand, forcing her to drop it to her side. "It looks nice as long as you stop fussing with it."
"Tell me again why I'm dressed like..." She glanced down at her lack of clothes and tried not to glare at Emma. "Well, you?"
Emma smiled at her and pulled a strand of Clara's hair behind her ear. "Because Sebastian said so."
"And Sebastian said that it's my birthday so I should have fun and this..." She motioned her skimpy outfit. "Is not my fun. It's your fun. My fun is not throwing myself into old men that could be my father."
"I don't see why that would be a problem for you. Your father died when you were two," Emma reminded her coolly. Clara dug her nails into her palm to stop herself from burning Emma alive.
Emma, probably hearing her dark thoughts, smiled in amusement for a split second before her face became serious. "You know that today is really important."
"Oh yeah. I know. It's my birthday. I turn nineteen and so far it's been terrible."
"Don't make everything about you," Emma said sweetly, making Clara scoff. That was the most hypocritical thing coming from the vainest woman ever. "Take off your necklace," she added.
Clara touched her small cross and frowned. She never took it off and Emma knew it.
"No."
"Sweetheart, you're already going to hell, why care?"
"I told you guys to stop making fun of me," she muttered but obliged. She took off her necklace and placed it in Emma's open palm.
"I'll make sure it doesn't get lost."
Clara muttered under her breath, knowing that Emma would find a way to lose it. She found the necklace to be horrid and had never understood Clara's devotion to it. Clara kept it more for sentimental value more than to what the cross stood for, but she wasn't going to let Emma know.
"Can you leave now?" Clara asked impatiently. "I have to get changed and I know I'm not your type."
"I expect you downstairs. And don't turn on the music up so you can pretend that you can't hear me," Emma warned her.
"That doesn't sound like me," Clara said as she threw herself on the couch, settling comfortably. She gave Emma a saccharine smile and tapped her ears. "I got bat ears. I'll hear you no matter where I am. You have that voice that just sticks."
Emma gave her a frosted look before she stalked off the room, slamming the door loudly behind her. Clara made a face and looked up at the crack ceiling, enjoying her small victory. Emma needed to get over herself.
As much as Clara enjoyed getting on Emma's nerves, she was beyond exhausted. It had been a long day, and the incident that happened in the church made her want to lay down on the couch and not get up for the next week. But she knew that was never going to happen. Emma was going to burst into her room and drag her down to the club by her hair if that's what it took.
So, she tried to savor the small break and blocked the loud noise that was coming from outside and focused on the record playing. The familiar tuned filled her room, making Clara relax and settled down on the couch. It only lasted a short moment before she winced at the screeching noise the record made and bitterly realized that today was not her day. She got up and went to turn off the record player.
"What a piece of…" she sighed, realizing that this was turning out to be the worst birthday. Which said a lot, since her she never thought any of them would top her thirteenth birthday. She decided to step out of the room, she had grown bored already. She was engulfed in heat and loud noise when she stepped out. Clara went to the rail, to observe all the action that was happening down.
As usual, the club was filled with older men and younger women. The men enjoying the show that the woman was giving them. Everything that was going on was disgusting and filthy. Clara knew that most of these men were from power, money, using their status to get away with obscene things to those innocent girls.
She hated Hellsfire. She avoided it as much as possible. But there were days that she couldn't avoid it. Today was one of those days. Sebastian had warned her that her presence was expected and she knew that there was nothing to argue about. Whenever Clara was forced to be there, she tended to keep to herself. She had no business talking to the men or the woman. But when she would talk to them, to was all business, no pleasure.
Today, she was going to be one of the girls downstairs, forced to deal with the company of lecherous men. She observed the scene below, recognizing few of the men. Her face twisted in disgust at the reminder. She scanned the place, unable to find a female in sight, meaning Emma still hadn't shown up with the girls.
"Come along, follow me," Emma's voice drifted from bellow. Clara turned to look bellow and could see Emma herd a group of girls into the club. The women followed Emma like she was the focal point and if they lost sight of her, they would fall lips curled into a sneer, finding it pathetic how nervous the girls were. They had all willingly agreed to prance around lingerie and get leered by men. They were doing their best to hide their nerves, trying to hold their chin high and square their shoulders. Emma was the only one that had a natural grace while the others all looked like they were in pain.
Clara rolled her eyes and waited impatiently for Emma to signal her. She just wanted the night to be over. It was then when she heard the heartbeat. It was pounding so loudly that it made all the noise around become a faint noise in the background. Clara zeroed into the woman in the back, who stood out like a black cat in the snow.
She watched her curiously, everything about the woman off. She didn't belong there. If her clothes didn't give her away, it was her posture. She was forcing herself to look casual like she belonged there. Clara pushed herself up and effortlessly jumped over the rail. She landed on her feet, and ignoring the sting at the heel of her feet and the attention she drew from the customers, she walked toward the woman.
The music pulsed through the club as she weaved through the customers. Clara ignored the lecherous stares that she received from the men she passed. More than once she had to shove a handsy man, not bothering to politely turn them down. Her attention was focused on the woman in the back.
She stepped to the side, allowing Emma's girls to pass her. Before the nervous woman could go with them, Clara stepped right in front of her. She was startled and almost crashed into her, but stopped in time, leaving them a small space between them. Clara didn't move nor showed any emotion.
"Oh, ah, sorry, I was just…" the woman faltered when she saw Clara. Or more accurately, saw how old she was. The later usually caught the attention of the people from the club, especially when she had been much younger. "What are you doing here?"
Clara ignored her question and took a step closer to her. The woman stepped back and she took another step forward. The woman backed up until she hit a table and Clara was still an inch away from her.
The woman was simple looking. Straight, brown hair. Brown eyes. Tan skin. Black lingerie. There was nothing remotely special about her. Her stance didn't help, as she was slouched over, her eyes darting everywhere. She must be a new girl, Clara realized and felt a twinge of sorrow for her. Clara had no idea how she ended up here, but she didn't belong there. Anybody could see that.
"Clara, where the hell are you?" Emma's voice drifted towards her.
Tilting her head a fraction, she nodded tersely and turned to give the entire attention to the woman in front of her. Clara tucked a strand of the woman's hair.
"They're going to eat you alive," she said and gave her what she hoped was a reassuring smile. "Nothing is worth this."
"I—I—"
"You are so pretty," Clara complimented her, smoothing out a strand of the woman's hair. "No makeup. All natural," Clara noted, looking her over, noticing her simple lingerie. "And black, nothing says sexy than wearing something reserved." She smiled at her brightly.
"Ah, th-thank you," she stammered. "Why are you here?"
"Hmm?" Clara raised her eyebrow.
"It's just, I can't but notice that you're so young. You're a child. You shouldn't be here." The woman glanced around the place and leaned in, whispering, "Are they keeping you here against your will?"
"I should be saying the same thing to you," Clara smiled at her.
"What?"
"Don't worry, if anybody gets handsy with you, whistle, I'll be there."
The woman looked startled but she nodded. "Thank you," she said. "I don't think that will happen."
Clara's smile became more forced and let her hand linger a second too long on the woman's hair. Reluctantly, she dropped her hand to her side, her hand touching her clammy skin. She tilted her head to the side and could hear Emma calling for her again, irritated for Clara being late.
Clara watched the lady walk away, clearly nervous. After hearing Emma hiss her name again, she forced herself to turn around and went to Emma.
"Good evening," Clara said, smiling widely when she opened the curtains and smiled at the seated couple. She took a seat next to the older looking man. "You must be Colonel Hendry."
"And you must be Clara," Colonel Hendry said, giving her a stiff nod.
"I am," she said pleasantly. "My apologies for keeping you waiting."
"Yes," he said shortly, glancing at Emma. "I haven't seen Shaw and I've been kept waiting."
Clara was about to apologize again when she heard that woman's voice, the one she had spoken to.
"I am so sorry. I've been booked by Colonel Hendry. Excuse me."
She's a rat. She's a liar. She doesn't belong here, Clara clenched her jaw and could feel her anger taking over which went noticed by the other members in the booth.
"Wow, it's really hot in here," commented the Colonel, tugging on his collar.
"It's pretty warm," Emma said, her eyes darting to Clara. "It happens but it should cool down right now."
Clara could feel Emma trying to get inside her head, probably to yell at her to calm down. But Clara was too angry to listen to her. She was too focused on hearing what the woman was doing. She could hear her approaching them, mostly like to… Clara wasn't sure what the woman was up to, but it wasn't something good.
Stupid, Clara berated herself. If she hadn't been too busy messing with her, she would have realized that there wasn't something off about her.
"Clara."
Emma's voice forced her to look at her and the colonel. She automatically smiled at them, as if she had not been zoned out for God knows how long.
"Yes?"
"Is there a problem?" Colonel Hendry asked, noticing her tense expression.
"Nothing that you should worry about," Clara assured him, hoping her smile didn't appear forced. The Colonel didn't look convinced but wisely didn't push the subject more. Emma, on the other hand, looked like she wasn't going to let go of it. She narrowed her eyes at her momentarily and then turned her attention to the Colonel, giving him her best seductive smile.
"Shall we?"
"Yes, I don't want to waste any more time," Colonel Hendry said gruffly.
"My apologies," Clara said again. "Let's go."
Not wasting another second, Emma pushed the button to make them turn. Colonel Hendry was startled at the sudden movement, making Clara almost smirk. When they stopped moving, Emma stood up and walked out of the booth. Clara motioned for the Colonel to follow Emma. She walked next to him, and her lips curled up in amusement as she heard how fast his heart was beating.
She stepped back and went towards the rack where her coat was. She slipped it on, instantly feeling more comfortable and went to take a seat near Sebastian. She settled in her seat, crossing her legs and watched the Colonel walk around them and looked at them with disgust.
"I don't think you were that today is a very special day. Today is my dear Clara's birthday," Sebastian said, smiling at her. Clara smiled back at him and quickly dropped the smile when he looked back at the Colonel.
"Happy birthday," Colonel Hendry said stiffly. "Now, for what we're here for..."
"Are you sure we can't get you a refill, Bob?" Sebastian asked, ignoring him.
The Colonel made his feelings clear with a simple no.
Having nothing left to stall, Sebastian went straight to business. "So I hear you blocked the proposal to position Jupiter missiles in Turkey," Sebastian said. "I expect you'll reconsider."
"We've had this conversation," the Colonel reminded him. "You put our nukes in Turkey or anywhere that close to Russia, and you're looking at war. Nuclear war."
Clara looked around the study, bored already. She had heard this conversation before. She knew what Sebastian wanted. He didn't want to start a war, he wanted to start a revolution. He wanted to make the people realize that they weren't the inferior race, there were others that could help them fight their battles.
Clara trusted Sebastian and knew he would be able to convince the Colonel. Sebastian was a determined man who always got on his way, no matter how ludicrous it was. She wished she could have skipped out this meeting, but she was needed as the ears of the place. Sometimes, the person who Sebastian was discussing would get ideas and decided to attack or do something reckless.
A slight rustle that sounded off that first tipped of Clara, but she ignored it. But then:
Thump, thump, thump.
Clara turned her head a fraction and focused on the familiar heartbeat. Her eyes darted to everybody in the room and saw that they hadn't noticed her. Without drawing attention, Clara stood up and went to linger in the back. Subtly, she tilting her head to the side, not wanting to alarm anybody. She had a clear body count, but the number of heartbeats wasn't matching, especially one that was clearly nervous as if they were afraid to be caught.
She decided to tune back into the conversation between Sebastian and Colonel Hendry, who was slowly becoming tenser.
"I don't ask for favors, Colonel," Sebastian said coolly. "I express my expectations. So let me say it again: I expect... you'll reconsider."
The colonel shook his head. "The only thing I will reconsider is having another glass of that delicious champagne."
Colonel Hendry then stood up to reach for the champagne. Clara sighed and glanced at Sebastian, who looked deadly serious. He glanced over his shoulder and gave the signal to Riptide, who obliged. In a second, he formed a small, but powerful, tornado that caught the attention of the Colonel.
"What the hell did you out in my drink?" he asked in confusion. Then Riptide threw the hurricane to the Colonel and it hit him hard in the chest, making him fly across the room.
An audible gasp rang through the air making Clara whipped her head to the side and stepped back, her ear picking up the same heartbeat. The rest haven't noticed, and she planned to keep it that way. Her eyes roamed around the small room and tried to identify where the gasp came from.
But Clara didn't have a chance to investigate because everyone stood up and started going towards Colonel Hendry, with Emma taking the lead. She quickly went with the others, standing in front of the Colonel, who looked disoriented.
"Clara, dear, a problem?" Sebastian said under his breath, for only her ears.
She looked over at him and shook her head. She would deal with it. He narrowed his eyes and nodded slowly. She was relieved that he left her to deal with it. She could handle it.
"Nothing to worry about," she said, more to herself. The person was on the other side of the bookcase. She could hear them trying to take a slow breath. She considered to tell Riptide but decided to keep the new information to herself. The person on the other side was probably a human who accidentally stumbled into the room and was freaking out with what they were seeing. Who were they going to tell? And would they believe what they saw?
Clara remembered that when she first saw Azazel, she almost peed herself. Let the human have their scare. That will teach them for being nosy.
"Magnificent, isn't she, Bob?" Sebastian marveled, smiling and placed his hand on Clara's shoulder. "So is Clara. I would have her show off her gift, but unfortunately, I do not want her to burn down the entire building."
"What...?" Colonel Hendry stumbled to speak, but was silenced when Clara reached over and pulled him up like was a rag doll. He stumbled and fell again, making Clara roll her eyes. She tilted her head when she saw blood seeping from his forehead.
"He's hurt," Clara said and then went back to her place, next to Sebastian. Clara became tense and immediately the entire room temperature rises significantly, making everyone in the room shift uncomfortably in the heat.
"Easy there, Clara," Sebastian said, glancing at her. She nodded tersely, and let her body relaxed, making the room temperature drop to its original one. "I'm sorry about that, Clara has a bit of a temper. She lets it get the best of her. Let's be thankful she didn't tonight. That would have damper out meeting."
The Colonel looked at her cautiously, afraid to even figure out what Sebastian meant. Clara stared at the Colonel blankly, her nails dug into her palms.
"My favorite gems," Sebastian said.
It always bothered Clara that endearment. It sounded like they were just a few of his collections. In a way Clara and Emma's mutation was similar but they were completely different. Emma could turn into a diamond and read minds while Clara's mutation was more than turning her body into obsidian. She was literally a human volcano. She could explode when there was a lot of pleasure. If she got too hot, she would burn or when she cooled herself she would become obsidian.
"Both the same but so different. Genetic mutation. The evolution of the human genome." Sebastian turned to Emma. "Where's Azazel?"
Emma let out a piercing whistle, which made Clara winced at how loud it was and covered her ears. She felt a blood on her right and had to hide her grimace. Great, she thought bitterly, she was going to have a fractured eardrum for the rest of the night. In a flash, Azazel had apparated to the room. Like always, the Colonel was startled at the sight of Azazel.
"Ah. We don't want the colonel to be late."
"Comrade," Azazel said, extending his hand towards the Colonel to take.
Clara stilled when she heard someone take a step back, and as subtle as she could she walked around casually and stopped right in front of. It wasn't soon enough when Azazel left with the Colonel. She avoided the piercing stare of Sebastian and stared at the wall where the lady was.
"Is there anything you need to do?" he asked.
"Yes," Clara said, nodding tersely.
Sebastian stared at her, and she willed herself to not tense up. After long, tense seconds, he asked, "Do I need to worry about it?"
She shook her head.
Sebastian dismissed her with his hand and turned to Riptide and Emma. He had barely said go when she was out of the room. She could hear the woman's heavy breathing as she tried to get out of the club. Clara didn't bother running after her, knowing that she wouldn't get too far in her condition.
Her longs legs helped her keep up with the lady, who was practically sprinting from the club. She was shoving customers to the side, gaining unwanted attention.
"Pathetic," Clara muttered, even though she was resorting to the same thing but with a stronger force. She stepped out of the street, not caring, and scanned the area. She saw the same woman from earlier rushing into a car. She was prattling to the man in the driver's seat. Clara clenched her jaw and crossed the streets not caring if there was oncoming traffic.
Clara slammed her hand on the roof of the car, making the occupants inside the jump.
"What the—?"
"Hello," she said, leaning down to look at them. She smiled at them tightly. "Why are you leaving so soon? You're going to miss you're booking with Colonel Hendry."
"I—ah, well, I, you were right. I don't belong here. I should leave," the woman explained hastily.
"Ah," Clara nodded and glanced at the man. His heart was pounding loudly, clearly afraid of her which made her smile. Her fingers curled around the collar of his shirt. "I see," she murmured and slowly released her hold on the man, smoothing out the wrinkles she created. "Well, I hope that your short time here taught you a thing or two."
"What?" she asked nervously.
Clara's smiled dropped. "What happens there, stays there. And you do not want to know what happens to those that don't follow the rule," she said darkly.
"I—"
Swiftly, where they couldn't see her, Clara's hand became engulfed in flames and she popped the tire effortlessly which created a loud spark because of the fire. She probably caused more damage than she intended but she didn't care. That would teach them to stay out of their business. She went back to her normal state and straightened up, giving them a wide smile.
"No, no, wait. We can help you," the woman stammered and clumsily handed her a card. Clara took it and eyed it in disgust. That woman had no idea what she was dealing with. She was fortunate that Clara was not fond of murder.
"Have a lovely night, McTaggart. It has unfortunately not been a pleasure." She turned around and walked back to the club, feeling much more accomplished than she had earlier. The moment the man thought she was out of the earshot, he started yelling at the woman.
"Oh my God. What the hell did you do, Moira?" the man demanded angrily, slamming his fist in the wheel.
"I just was spying on them," she defended herself.
"Are you out of your mind?" he yelled. "Who is she? She was clearly threatening you about what you saw. What the hell happened?"
Clara decided that she no longer cared about what they were arguing about. They weren't a threat. She looked at the card properly and stopped. She might have spoken too soon. If they were part of the government, they would come back. And all because Clara had threatened them.
Sebastian was not going to be pleased, she cringed at the thought of it and wished she had pretended to not hear anything. The lady would have gone on her way and no one would have believed her with what she saw. Now, she had someone to back up her claim and all because of Clara. Sebastian was going to be furious.
Kill them, Azazel taunted echoed inside of her head. According to him, she was the weakest out of the five because she didn't kill. She always denied that statement, she was the most powerful out of all of them. But there was Azazel's proof. She couldn't kill those two people.
She glanced back and saw that the man had stepped out of the car to examine the damage she had done. He was still arguing McTaggart, who had put on more clothes. She froze when she saw Clara watching them and start motioning the man to go.
"Moira McTaggart," she said under her breath, letting the name burn in her memory. Let's hope we never meet again.
"Miss Welsh," the bouncer said, forcing her to look away. "Mr. Shaw wants you back at the club."
She wrinkling her nose but nodded and made her way back to the club. She stuffed the card inside her bra, knowing that Sebastian could use it later on. Once inside, Clara found Riptide standing to the side, observing the club, waiting for something to happen. When they made eye contact, he tilted his head to the side. She walked over to him and relaxed slightly.
Riptide glanced at her and smirk. "How much hell did you give Emma for that?"
Clara sighed and tugged on her hair. "I really am not in the mood."
"What was that about?" he asked, changing the topic fast.
"Nothing important, I dealt with it," she said shortly.
"If you say so," he said and dropped the subject. Out of the three mutants, not including Sebastian, Clara favored Riptide. He didn't get into anybody's business or caused trouble. That was something she appreciated, especially when the other two seemed invested in making her life impossible. One for being too young and the other for being threatened with another female.
"Sebastian wants to talk to you," he informed her, not looking at her.
"I know," she sighed and glanced around. "Where is he?"
"He'll come and find you. In the meantime, he wants you to entertain one of our guests." He nodded to a secluded table near the bar. A middle-aged man sat there with two other girls, drinking and laughing obnoxiously.
"Do I have to?" she whined, not caring how childish she sounded.
"Unfortunately, just because it's your birthday, does not give you a free pass," he said.
"Fine, whatever. Is there anything specific?"
"Remind him that we are friends, not foes."
"Of course," she muttered, wrinkling her nose, but nodded, smoothing out the little clothing she wore.
"By the way, Welsh, happy birthday," he said and went back to surveying the club. She gave him a small smile and walked towards the man, putting on her charming smile and strut. The girls saw her and quickly scurried away. The man protested but quickly got distracted by Clara. She gave him a smile and slid next to him.
"I believe we haven't been introduced."
"No, we haven't. I would have remembered your body," he said and grabbed her hand, kissing the top of it. Her body tensed for a fraction but returned to her previous relaxed stance. "Major Johnathan Evans."
"What brings you to our humble club?"
"I should be asking you that. You're a little too young to be here. I can see why the other women are here. They're a lost cause. But you..." Major Evans pushed a hair behind her ear and she forced herself to not slap his hand away. "What are you doing here?"
She shrugged. "Just like you said, I'm a lost cause."
"I find that hard to believe."
"Oh, if you only knew." She forced herself to grin at him and tilted her head, examing him. Her piercing gaze made him shift in his seat uncomfortably, which made her grin become slightly genuine.
"Do you like secrets?" she asked him, leaning in closer to him.
"I love secrets," he said, his grin making her smile genuinely, but for all the wrong reasons. He was making everything too easy.
"Really? That's so great," she said. "Then, let's makes this interesting."
"Interesting?"
"I have a secret and it seems that you have one too. But if you want to hear mine then I expect one in return."
"We'll see."
"I don't give something without receiving. And you will tell me a secret if you want to hear mine."
"You drive a hard bargain," he said and took a long drink. "But it's all in good fun. What do you have for me?"
The conversation was one-sided. He boasted about every achievement he's done, going down to elementary school. She would smile and take small sips of her drink. It was always the same. Sebastian only wanted her to entertain them, keep them talking until one of them spilled one of their secrets.
It took less than a minute for Clara to realize that something was going on. Major Evans had gotten too close for comfort. She could feel his breath on her neck. No matter how much she would inch away, his leg would press against her bare thigh.
"Is there some other place you'd rather be?"
"Church," she said and took a long gulp from her glass, really wishing she was in a safe place than here with a perverted old man.
"Shall we take this to a more private area. Give me a private show," he suggested placing her hand on her thigh and giving it a squeeze.
"I don't do that," she told him and calmly removed his hand from her thigh, her smile becoming painful as she tried to not let it falter.
"I don't think so," Clara told him. The man shook his head in disgust.
"You think you're better than me, you freak? You're nothing but a worthless whore," he hissed and smacked her on the cheek. Clara's face whipped back and she breathed heavily.
Sebastian had a strict policy with the girls. He made clear to the customers that hand will not be laid on them. It wasn't the first time a customer would get handsy with a girl. They usually would have them removed for the night, with no warning.
She turned to look at him and ignoring the sting of her cheek, forced herself to smile at him. He knew nothing and was not aware of boundaries.
"Can you please excuse me for a second," Clara said calmly and didn't wait for him to answer, stood up. She went to the curtains and opened them, stepping out. She sighed and whistled, catching the attention of Riptide. He nodded at her and she stepped back into the booth.
"Why did you leave?" the Major asked her suspiciously.
"Do you have children, Major?" Clara asked, instead of answering him. She clasped her hands together and waited for his answer.
He frowned, confused at the sudden change of demeanor. "Uh, no, I don't," he said.
"Good, that's perfect actually," she said, nodding to herself and went over to him, taking a seat next Major Evans. "Although I do notice that you have a ring, so you must be married. But not happily since you're here with me."
Major Evans opened his mouth to object but Clara continued.
"Men are not here for the business, Major, they're here for the pleasure." She smiled at him tightly. "So, gathering that you're nothing but a low ranking major in an unhappy marriage, you won't be missed."
"Excuse me?"
"Unhappy marriage, and while I might not be an expert when it comes to military rankings, but I do know that majors are replaceable," she said and shrugged. "You have no big secrets."
Major Evans looked angry and narrowed his eyes. "You better watch you're saying, girl. You do not know who you're speaking to."
"I should say the same thing to you, but unfortunately you have already stepped over that line."
"What?"
"It's been a pleasure. I hope you enjoyed your visit to the Hell's Club."
The man looked confused and when she saw a flash of smoke, her smile became less forced.
"I think we should have a moment with the owner," Azazel said coolly. Before Major Evans could react Azazel grabbed the man by his shoulder and Clara grabbed his arm before he teleported them to Sebastian's location.
Sebastian was waiting for them and shook his head like he was disappointed. "Major Evans, what a shame."
"What the hell is going on?" he spluttered.
Sebastian ignored him. "You disrespect my people. By hitting them and trying to kidnap them. You hit this young lady, and that's not acceptable," he said darkly and looked at Riptide, signaling him.
Clara shifted uncomfortably.
"Clara, my dear," Sebastian said, shifting his attention to her, "and you too, Azazel, why don't you take this man to, well, you know. When you're finished, please bring me back, Clara. There are a few things we need to discuss."
"Sebastian," she said carefully.
"Clara," he said in his usual patient voice. "We both know that its the only choice."
She hesitated, glancing at the man, who looked pitiful, laying on the ground, gagged. Sebastian had a point. If they let him go, he would come back and harass the other girls and could do something worse.
He doesn't have anybody, she reminded herself. Nobody would miss. I said it myself when we were alone.
"Of course," she nodded, not fully convinced but knew better than to argue with Sebastian. He knew what's best for them. Grasping Azazel's hand, she alongside Riptide and Major Evans were taken to a different room. She could hear a faint noise of the club, so they must in one of the rooms that was farthest from the party.
"You don't have to kill him," Clara said quietly. Azazel shot her a look of disgust.
"Are you defying Sebastian's orders?" he demanded harshly.
"No," she said quickly, her eyes darting to the man. He did disgust her, and she was positive that it wasn't his first time abusing a girl in the club. It only had been his first hitting one of Sebastian's girl. "He never explicitly said to kill him, but we can do other things to teach him a lesson. Killing him won't change anything."
Azazel shot her a look of disgust. "This is because of you. He hurt you and you want to spare him? You really are weak."
"If you don't shut up, I will make sure you have another fucking scar on your eye," she hissed, the room temperature rising as she took a step closer to him, her hands balled into fists, ready to explode. Unfortunately, Riptide stepped in between them, literally defusing an eruption.
"Are we going to kill him or not?" he asked impatiently.
"Yes," Azazel said at the same time Clara said, "No."
"Yes," Azazel repeated more firmly, giving Clara a dark look. "It's final. He's dead. And I will do the same thing to you if you get in my way, Clara. Riptide, get him. Now."
Riptide glanced at Clara, giving her the closest that could be an apologetic look, and went back to the man. Clara crossed her arms over her chest and glared at the bound man. He should have kept his hands to himself. Which made him deserve what he was going to get, those who failed to be good people. She was once told those who follow the path of righteousness would be rewarded.
But what happened to those who failed?
"Don't say I don't do anything for you," Azazel hissed and pushed her to the side roughly. His tail swiped her on her cheek and instantly, she felt something wet. Clara shoved him away from her and took a step back, letting Azazel take charge. Clara forced herself to relax and put on a smile. She turned to the man, still gagged and glaring at them, and went over to him, going on her knees.
"Don't worry. This is for the best. We'll make it as painless as possible," she said and lightly stroked his head. The man started to panic and tried to argue his case, his voice coming muffled. She picked him up effortlessly and threw him towards Azazel, who teleported farther to the right.
"Bitch," Azazel muttered under his breath as he straightened his clothes.
"Would you like for me to read you your last rites?" she asked calmly and prodded the man's chest where she had seen his cross. Realizing he couldn't answer, she pulled the cover down from his mouth.
"Fuck you, you bitch," spat the man.
Clara brushed off his insult and nodded to Azazel. He gave her a wicked grinned and walked towards the man, and like a predator his tail swayed back and forth, ready for the kill.
"Forgive us, Father, for we have sinned," Clara murmured, and her hand went to her chest, where her cross would usually be. She breathed out deeply, feeling a pang of regret, and looked away. She started humming the same prayer every time this happened and when she finished, Clara had one thought:
I can't wait for this stupid day to be over.
So, what did you guys think about? More characters have been introduced and tension is growing.
Thanks for everything, the follows, favorites and reviews. It always means so much to me. If there are any errors, I will go back and fix it.
Disclaimer: I don't own X-Men or anything related to marvel.