Revenge- Let it get nice and cold before you throw it in their fucking faces, beating them to death with the silver platter.

It was cold, bitterly so. I thought that Zarek might have thrown me out into the snow, and given his psychological unbalance it was honestly a possibility. I looked up, however, to find myself in the darkness of the cabin, as the fire had gone out. I felt a warm body against mine and looked down to see Nikitas huddled against me, shivering and tiny, his little fists clenched and his mouth a set straight line.

I stood and looked around the small cabin- we were alone, and it was pitch black outside, which would have meant that Zarek was prowling the frozen hell for the Daimons who never really seemed to come up here, except the brave few who felt the need to challenge him.

"Hello?" I called softly, looking for any sign of life. There was a flash of bright light, and I squelched up my face, trying to see in the blinding glow. I saw the figure of a woman behind the electric yellow light and I covered my eyes with my hands, closing them. The light dimmed and I looked up to find myself in the presence of the goddess Aphrodite. I nodded to her as she looked around the tiny, dirt-floored cabin.
"Eugh!" She screeched, pulling a face of disgust that was very un-Goddess-y. She shot me a look that said that I probably blended in with the setting. "I thought you were staying in a hotel!" She whined, stomping a foot on the ground. She looked out of place with her ocean blue Greek gown and golden sandals, her long blond hair flowing down her back like a waterfall, her features and make up perfect.

"I thought gods didn't like Hunters or their servants," I said, ignoring her semi-question semi-complaint.

"Well, you're different," She said, pulling a pout, and I snorted.

"You've got that right," I muttered, rolling over in the tiny bed to see Nikitas on the other side, snuggled against the blankets and sound asleep. I was silent for a minute and I turned back to see if she had gone away. I was dismayed to find that she hadn't, and she was surveying the intricately carved bookshelves with miniscule interest. She turned back to me, and I felt that I should shrink back in her presence. As it was, I was too exhausted to do so, so I met her gaze head on.

"Have you been sleeping alot, lately?" She said in a manner that so obviously said that she was trying to hard to be nonchalant. I was suspicious immediately.

"Um, sort of. Why the sudden interest in my sleep patterns?" I said slowly, as to not seem as suspicious of her intentions as I actually was. She shrugged, and then with some hesitation she came to sit at the edge of the bed, brushing her hands over my arm like my mother used to. I closed my eyes and felt the sleep I had been fighting urging me to give up and fall into my dreams.

"Well, those nasty visions you've been having drain you pretty quickly. Any mortal who finds that they have a family member on Olympus usually end up having them. But you, you have a twin. Every vision is amplified, especially after the pasts that you and Ebony have had. The visions you have are a little more taxing. They're draining your soul and pretty much turning you into something out of an icky zombie movie."
"So I'm turning into a Dawn of the Dead zombie?" She shrugged and nodded. "What can I do to stop it?"
"Nothing. You're always going to have the visions until you find out what kind of a connection Ebony is trying to create with you here in the mortal world. Or until you die, whichever might come first. Until you go, you're going to go on having them, sleep for days after you have them, and wake up a little deader."
"Is that even a word?" I snapped, hiding the fear that shook my soul-what remained of it. She shrugged again, brushing a hand through her long blond hair.

"I don't know," She said airily, "But that's what's happening." She crossed the room and turned back to glance at me, hands on her hips. "If I were you, I'd go out with a bang. I'd do something crazy and make people remember me. But I remind you, that's just me." She winked to me and threw me a kiss. "Bye, baby cuz. Call if you need anything." And just like that, she disappeared, leaving the faint perfume of orchids and pomegranates in the cold winter air around me. I took in her words, wide eyed and silent, and then just like that, it really hit me.

I was dying.

As I lay in the bed, I remembered what had befallen my father only months before his death. He had become gaunt, his eyes sunk in and his hair falling out. He'd never been a body builder, but even the simplest of tasks gave him trouble. He'd been fading before our eyes.

And now it was happening to me. I sickened me to even think it, but it was true. I would be a skeleton in a matter of weeks, if the visions didn't stop. They were going to drain me dryer than a Daimon's last meal, and I honestly didn't see a way to stop them. It's not like I was shouting, "Hey, Ebb! Can you show me a little more warped shit and teach me more about myself than I've ever wanted to know in, like, my entire life?"

She'd probably comply gleefully, but hey, that was her deal. I didn't want her killing me and she probably knew what she was doing. Damn her to hell for all of it, for ruining my perfectly 'normal' (loosely phrasing this, please forgive me) life.

The only thing that I couldn't understand was why. Why right now? Why not when I was younger, less likely to fight her for control of my life, less likely to know what the hell was going on? Why had Ebony waited such a long time to kill me?
Because even sheep are given time before they are sent to the slaughter. There are things about this world you will never understand, imora, and running from your problems does not mean that you shall ne'er have to confront them.

I stopped dead in my tracks and looked around, my eyes wide. "Hello?" I asked timidly, looking for the source of the voice, even glancing to Nikitas for reassurance that he had not been the source of the noise. He slept soundly, rolling in his sleep and talking, but it was mostly the broken speak of a small child, most of it pertaining to his dreams. Mumbling something about avocados, he seemed so unaware of the voices in my head. Lucky him.

"Hello?" I tried again.

Hello. I miss you, Akra.

"Wait, wait, wai-Akra? I'm not Atlantean. I'm-"
Of the Atlantean Parthenon, not the Greek. Ebony is. You, Apollymi, Apostolos-You are the remaining Atlantean gods. All pertaining to destruction, death, and Genocide, might I add.
"Oh. What a- um...a happy thought. So, who are you, all-knowing-voice-inside-my-head? Because no offence, but I don't know who the hell you are."
Don't you dare speak that way to your mother.

"Whoa, back that last statement up- my mother? You died like, a year ago. Why are you talking to me? And how do you know all of this?"

Forgive me for being a skeptic, but I wasn't really raised to find the best in people. I was raised to find the lies they tell. A drug dog, if you will. Metaphorically, of course (No offence to Vane and Fang, who were honestly semi-friends of mine).

That woman-the human. She was not your real mother. She was a human and you are not.
"She looked like me." It was true-I had my mother's dark wavy hair and her blue-grey eyes, but none of her grace and ability to calm absolutely everyone in any room she walked into. I inherited quite the opposite, in fact. I had once tripped over a sheet of paper. No joke.

You think that you are the only one in history to have a twin you could never get along with? Imora, my sister and I never had a hope of 'getting along', as you say today. We fought like monsters, and-oh, another story for another day. But you are my daughter. She stole you from me and threw you to earth, Akra. She followed you and swallowed your soul, draining your god-powers and entrapping you in her womb. She gave birth to you, married the man you believed to be your father, and his sons became your siblings. She bore him more children, but I had my revenge. On them both.

"Gross," I whispered. "But-I always believed that I was a Greek diety...for as longs as I've known that I'm a 'goddess', I mean. So...How can Ebony and I be twins if we lived in Greece and I was Atlantean?"
You were both stolen from me before. Ebony embraced her power, but you always knew something was wrong. You are like me, Imora. You could tell, and-well, you fought with her. You were thrown to earth, where you died. I claimed you back for a while, my darling baby, and when you were about to be reborn and save our Parthenon, my wicked sister stole you away and ate your soul.
"What is your name?"
Aria.

"And what is my name?"
Your real name is Ivorisulia Ryssali. Ebony's name was Ebonaillia Konous. I did not want to give up either of you. I wanted you to save our Parthenon, but to do this you must return to the land of your birth.

I paused, hating my next question. I was still pretty suspicious of mommy dearest. "Which would be Atlantis, right?"
You are correct.
"Newsflash-the place sunk 11,000 years ago."
Did the area where it once stood disappear as well?
Oh. She had a point. As much as I hated to admit it. "Well...I have a life here. I can't really go around resurrecting pantheons. I think that would piss of the wrong kinds of people."
Apostolos.

"Well...yeah, Ash, but I'm thinking more along the lines of Stryker. And the other Daimons. And the Spathi Daimons. And the Appolites. And the other Dark-Hunters. I mean, the place sunk for a reason, right?"
Because of the self centered goddess of the hunt and her twin.
"Come again?"
Nothing, my dearest heart. But please, daughter-the hopes of the remaining goddesses and gods of the Parthenon rely on you. Would you really damn us for the actions of another? I thought I raised you well enough to know the difference between right and wrong.

"You didn't raise me," I said through grit teeth, speaking the truth to whomever the fuck this was.

True. This is true. You were raised by Helen...But still. You are my baby. And please, if I ask for nothing more in my lifetime from you, I ask you this. Save me from my eternal hell.

She fell silent and I was almost certain that the voices in my head had left the vicinity. I took a deep breath, took out my phone, and saw a message from an unknown number. It was as follows:

From: (453)-864-6627

Message:
Appolite boy, huh? Damn, no wonder Ash is

P.O.'d. But hey, I can help. Just meet me my

house 3. OK? Promise not to kill him. Just

need to see why exactly Ash is on the rampage.

Hell, maybe I can help you keep the kid in line so

the lightning doesn't fly. Lock your doors and

get ready for the Apocalypse, kid.

(Directions below)

SPAWN

Below was a link to MapQuest, where I found a detailed map to the middle of no where. Awesome directions, M. All-knowing, Oh-I'm-So-Cool-'Cus-I'm-an-Immortal-Warrior.

Oh yeah. I was fucking losing it.

Luckily, and this is hopefully the only time in my entire life in which I will ever use this sentence, Zarek returned within the hour. He knew exactly where Spawn lived, and so I would not be trekking out into the wilderness blindly. Unfortunately, he insisted on accompanying me.

"My last squire got killed, and they thought I ate him. I'm taking no chances with this one," He grumbled, glowering at me and tossing me a helmet, acting as though it was my fault Spawn had summoned me. I rolled my eyes and fixed the zippers of Nikitas' jacket, leaning down to speak with him seriously.

"Now, Nik, we're going to see a friend of ours. You are going to be very nice to him, because he is going to help decide if you get to stay with me." I made sure to make eye contact with him so my words would stick in his mind.
"If I stay with you or if they kill me, right?" He inquired, nodding. I stared at the little blond boy, my eyes wide and frightened.

"N-no," I said slowly. He glared at me, narrowing his little eyes. "What would make you think that, sweetheart?"
"You're lying," He said, eyes still trained on me. I shook my head again, and he pushed me away. He was so forceful that I actually fell backwards, my back hitting a buffer of snow. "LIAR!" He screamed.

Zarek looked back at us. "Hey!" He shouted, as Nikitas started at me again, tiny fists raised. I was still sort of shocked and didn't really know what to say to him or how to defend myself. Zarek held him back, seemingly using a lot of strength for subduing a five year old, who was still thrashing and actually screaming curses at me. Zarek grabbed a hold of something on his shoulder and he fell unconscious like a mechanical toy with no batteries. He fell to the icy ground and lay there like a corpse.

"Well," Zarek finally said, after a moment of silence. "That certainly was not within the norm."
"Is he dead?" I cried, checking for a pulse on the small boy's neck. It was there, but very faint. "What the hell was that?" I wondered aloud, and Zarek shrugged.

"I assumed most people did that after spending too much time around you. Either that or they would spontaneously combust." He grinned and I flipped him off.

"Fuck you," I muttered, picking up the tiny Appolite boy. "C'mon. We better see how Spawn reacts to the latest little...incident."

"So, what you mean to tell me is that five minutes before you left the psycho's, little Mr. Towhead here went ballistic and tried to attack you, calling you a liar, and then Zarek knocked him out, which is why you darken my doorstep holding an unconscious little boy who is covered in snow?" Spawn laughed, crossing his arms and smirking at me. He was a tall blond man, an inch or two taller than Zarek, over a head taller than me. He was handsome, disturbingly so, but I was used to the drop dead gorgeous hotties in my line of work, so I sort of shrugged it off. Blondes weren't my thing, anyway. "You're more of a head case than I thought."

"Can you help us or not?" I snapped angrily, peeling off my jacket and putting it around Nikitas' shoulders, since he was shivering and his lips were quickly turning blue.

"Us?" He smirked, leaning against the door. "What, are you categorizing yourself with the Zarek-in-training?"
I glowered at him, giving the man the best you-are-the-gum-on-the-bottom-of-my-shoe look that I could manage. He laughed, shrugging it off.

"Well, yeah, I've kind of taken over as his guardian since his mom is dead. I mean, he has no one else and it's not like I'm just going to leave him to die out here all alone." Something I said must have his home, because his ebony eyes flashed with a sort of recognition and then he nodded slowly.

"Okay, I'll help you, but only because you look like you're going to start crying and I really hate waterworks. Now, get inside. I'm giving you permission to enter," He said, mainly speaking to Nikitas, and it took me a minute to remember why. I helped Zarek carry the little boy inside, and then I turned to him.

"Thanks," I said begrudgingly, "But you should leave."
"Why," He said with a sardonic smirk. "My perky attitude too much for you?"

"You need your strength," I said smoothly, "And I know the way back to the hotel. I'll go straight there with Nik afterwards." Zarek glowered at me, and I could tell he didn't like being ordered around, and I honestly didn't really care. I glared right back, hanging Nikitas to Spawn so I could stand in his way, hands on my hips. He rolled his eyes, sneering down at me.
"You are such a girl," He said, apparently trying to insult me, and I snorted.

"Either that or I've been bleeding from the wrong place for many, many years," I snapped back. He pretended to be shocked, plugging his ears and sticking his tongue out at me like a five year old. "Now don't be such a dick. Leave." I pointed to the door and he flipped me off, heading for the exit. When he slammed the door behind himself, the hallway grew quiet.

"What a well mannered, kind young man," Spawn muttered. "You are so lucky to have him."
I snorted and shook my head. "In his dreams," I laughed quietly. Then I smiled. "So, should we being with the questioning?"

"How exactly did you come into possession of this...kid?" Spawn asked, offering me a seat on one of the couches in his living room, which was bigger than Zarek's entire home. I balanced a cup of tea on my knee and then lifted it to take a sip, his eyes still on me.
"Well," I said after my drink, "It was a few days ago. I discovered him near Zarek's home, in the woods. His mother was...dead and he didn't really seem to notice that. I took him with me to the hotel so he didn't die of hypothermia or something, and so I'm his 'aunt', I suppose. I don't know how long he can stay with me, but..." I trailed off, brushing Nikitas' blond hair back from his forehead, trailing my hand lightly across his cheek. "I'm an orphan," I confided in him with no amount of pain absent from my voice, "My dad died before I became a squire. I don't want to see him go without someone there for him..."
"He'll die anyway, even without a parent there to help him," Spawn reminded me, being painfully honest. I closed my eyes and nodded. "His mother-she was still there?"
I opened my eyes again, and the strangeness of this hit me. "Why-yes, she was, but...How could that be, if she was-wait, what?"
"That's what I thought," He muttered, and then he took a book down from the built in tall bookshelf on the wall. "The woman-was this her?" He held out a snapshot of a laughing young woman holding a small baby, a baby I recognized as Nikitas. She had her hair pulled back into a bun and held the baby like he meant the world to her, which he probably did. She wore a blue shirt with a pair of dark blue jeans and the little baby was pulling on her hair. I recognized her eyes and the silvery white sheen of her blond hair.

"Yes," I confirmed with a nod. "But why do you have her-"
"I found this in a home that had been cleaned out by Daimons," He continued. "All the inhabitants had been killed. Including her. They found her body in the kitchen, along with those of two smaller children. It was the day after Christmas, forty miles east of Fairbanks. The bodies were all taken to the morgue- including those of Georgia West, 25, and her four year old son Alexander West." He looked down to Nikitas. "Those bodies, along with four others, disappeared from the morgue that night. They assumed body snatchers and it became a cold case. Everyone just thought the Daimons didn't want to leave behind evidence, and we pretty much dropped it to. But someone mentioned seeing Georgia in town, and we decided to check it out. You found her body a few miles outside of town, less than a day later. The Daimons are still covering their tracks.

"And it looks like we've found Alex."

"That can't be right," I said nervously. "He told me his mother was a Daimon. He drank blood, like he'd been doing it his whole life. It's almost impossible for him not to be an Appolite."
"Have you considered the fact that he might have been hypnotized into thinking he was an Appolite?"He inquired, looking down to the kid. I paused and shook my head.

"I kind of trusted him, up until now; I didn't really doubt the fact that he was one." I admitted. "I would have never thought that he was a part of the body snatching project."
"The what?" He inquired with a small smile.

"Oh, I thought that if this was going to become some internationally known, 24/7 news broadcasted scandal, it deserved a fitting name." I smirked. "It fits, no?"
"It does," He agreed. "But the circumstances…they just don't make sense. What long-term use could Daimons use a human family for? They're useless once their souls are gone. I mean, it might be one Daimon, using a family member at a time to replenish his body, but a mother, a child, and her house guests? The attacks didn't seem random. They were carefully planned and executed. There has to be a reason that these humans were taken in particular."

"Or maybe not," I offered. "Maybe they were just really hungry Daimons and that was the only house for miles around. Maybe they took other humans who we didn't know about."

"But why return to the morgue for these ones?" He questioned aloud, and then he ran his hands through his own blond hair, sighing in irritation.
"I can smell your hair burning, maybe you should calm down and try and think this through with someone other than the voices in your head," I told him smoothly, and then to illustrate my own suave nature I accidentally tipped the tea cup over my knee onto the carpet. I cursed, loudly, and Spawn jumped, looking down to the spill.

"It's okay; I'll just get a paper towel for it. Be right back." When he left, the door that had been blocked by his form was visible to me, and I looked through the small window over the handle out into the wintery evening. I saw a pale head stalk past the door, and then return, catching my gaze and then looking down to the little boy on my lap, rage filling its contorted and disgusting features which at one time might have been pretty.

Pale hair, now dirty and slick with blood. A pair of round, bloodshot and hungry eyes with no pupils, simply tiny black irises staring, ringed with dark grey bags. A mouth contorted and screaming, and bloodied and mottled cheeks which were dirty and cut. A ratty old tee shirt, torn at the neck and too spotted with her blood.

Georgia West.

"SPAWN!" I screamed. "We have company! KITCHEN WINDOW!"
I heard a loud crash and Spawn's curse, and I knew that I had been right. She had taken something to the window to smash it and was trying to break her way in. I rushed to the kitchen, leaving Nikitas on the couch by himself. Spawn looked shocked and had pulled a hand gun from the drawer under his cutlery display, aiming it at her.

"It won't do any good, she's already dead!" I cried, but he riddled her with bullets, anyway.
"Really?" He snapped, reloading and continuing to fire, "Well, it's making me feel much, much better!" He shouted. I shrugged, picking up one of the kitchen knives. I held it up for my own protection in case she squeezed herself through the window after all. She seemed to be having difficulties, snarling and struggling and all the time cursing us. Spawn stopped shooting after a minute or so, and then she spoke real words, much to our shock.

"MY…BABY…" She shrieked, and her voice breathy and deep, halting and slow. "YOU STOLE MY BABY!"
"No…Me? I didn't…you were dead!" I shouted. "Your neck was broken!"
"NOT…DEAD…" She spoke like a zombie from a low budget movie. "Out of commission. Sent someone else. Left baby and Georgia…In woods. Re commissioned and found baby gone, knew who took him…"I turned to Spawn, who looked almost sick as he watched her. Yeah. She looked pretty gross.

"What do you mean-who commissioned you?"I asked, and then the sound of breaking glass from the other side of the house grabbed my attention. She looked toward the living room and then wormed her way out of the window, out into the snow. She ran off, and then I breathed a sigh of relief. "Well, that's taken care of, but I wonder what broke in the living…"I felt my eyes go huge, and Spawn watched me, a slightly confused expression on his face.

I ran into the living room, and found my worst fears had been confirmed. There was snow on the couch, and on the rug. The window had been shattered into a million pieces.

And Alexander 'Nikitas' West was nowhere to be found.

"We'll find him," Spawn promised me, sitting down across from me at the small kitchen table. I was still in shock, shaking my head and fighting back tears, and the new cup shook in my hands in a very violent manner.

"It's my fault!" I cried, "I should have been there to help him, to keep him safe. I should have taken him with me into the kitchen. I should have never left him alone," I finished with a groan, resting my head on the table. Spawn sighed, not really knowing what to say.

"We are going to get him back," Spawn promised again through grit teeth. I looked up at him and saw the determined expression on his face. I nodded, shrugging my shoulders.
"I mean, I saw her moving quickly, but how could she have gotten all the way around the house in that short of a time?" I gasped. "Nikitas couldn't have run away, could he?"

"Of course not. He's too young. Who'd run away from someone like you, anyway? You seem harmless enough."He smiled, showing off sharp teeth. I rolled my eyes, smiling too despite the circumstances.

"I don't know if I should be insulted or complimented, but under these terms I think I'll be going with complimented," I laughed. He laughed, too, and I took another sip of my drink. It went down with some difficulty, and I closed my eyes, feeling the tears well in my eyes, and I shook my head, setting the cup down.

"I can't believe this happened," I whispered, my throat thick. I stood and crossed to the window, looking out at the snow which looked too bright against the black sky. White, like the pallor of Georgia's skin, like her thin, blood matted hair. I started sobbing all over again at the thought of Nikitas ending up like that, like some bloodthirsty, angry monster.

"Hey, he's not going to end up like that. We're going to get him back before anything like that will happen." I turned to see Spawn standing up, a look of determination on his pale face. I nodded, and then for some strange, strange reason, crossed the room and threw my arms around his waist, hugging him tightly. I have no fucking clue what possessed me to do that, at least I didn't until a second later, when mama's voice rang in my mind;

Gather your allies, my child- they have an army…

"God damn," I muttered under my breath. Spawn had frozen with his arms half around me, and then he looked down at me with a strange, unfathomable look on his face.

"What?"He said.

"Nothing, I-"

"Am I interrupting something?" A sharp, irritated voice inquired, and I turned to see Zarek standing in the doorway of the kitchen. It was my turn to freeze, and Spawn pulled away from me, clearing his throat. I've noticed over the years that most men do this during awkward situations, even Acheron.

"No, I-"I began, but Zarek raising a finger to me as a warning, crossing his arms and then nodding to Spawn.

"Nothing. She's had an emotional day. And no," He said, answering a question that Zarek apparently wouldn't state aloud.

"Where's the kid?"Zarek asked me, turning in my direction once more. I hung my head, too sad to speak. Zarek motioned to the living room. "He didn't-"

"No. His mother did."
He rounded on me. "You told me she was dead!" He shouted.
"She was!" I screamed back. "And now she's back!"
"Well, congrat-u-fucking-lations!" He snapped. "That's not my problem."

"Well it's mine, and if I die, the squire council is going to have your head for a hood ornament!" I shouted, throwing my hands in the air. He approached me, probably with half a mind to kill me, which was why Spawn intervened, stepping between us and crossing his arms.

"Okay, children, break it up," He told us, placing one hand on my shoulder leaving the other hovering over Zarek's shoulder. Zarek gave him a look that stated that he should drop dead and Spawn merely laughed, telling him, "You're not brave enough."
"Want to bet, asshole?" He snapped to his fellow Hunter, cracking his knuckles and glaring at him. It was my turn to push between the two of them.

"Cut it out, you two!" I cried. "Nikitas is gone, and we have to find him before you settle whatever fucking score you have to settle with each other, okay?"I took a deep breath, and shuddered. "I don't want him to be with those Daimons any longer than he has to, those stupid blond Dracula want to bees, those sons of bitches…no offence, Spawn."

"None taken," He said with a slight smile, brushing his own platinum blond hair from his forehead. "And like I said, we're gonna get that kid back."
"Yep," I said, brushing my eyes to free them of tears. "I'd better go," I told him, and then I added. "Thank you. For helping, I mean. I appreciate it."
"Of course," He said with another small smile. "Come back to visit any time. That invitation is exclusive, of course," He said, eyeing Zarek with what looked like a bit of contempt. I glowered at him, raising an eyebrow. "Well, if you ever need anyone to…talk to, I'm here, I suppose." He added with a shrug. Zarek sneered at him.

"I don't need your fucking attention," He laughed. "Save it for your boyfriend." He led me to the door, and on the way, I yelled at him,

"Jeez! Would it kill you to be nice to someone for once? I mean, he was trying to be nice! At least act like you were, at some time in history, a human being!"

He slammed the door so loudly and with such anger I thought it was going to shatter. "Look at you! You're acting like a slut, panting over Fabio in there! You're the one being too nice to him, practically a written invitation to get into your-"

"SHUT THE FUCK UP!" I screamed at him, clenching my hands into fists. "I FUCKING HATE YOU; YOU ARE SUCH A FUCKING ASSHOLE!"
He stopped short of his tirade, and then turned to me, his eyes on fire with rage and barely controlled murderous urges. He turned away, cursing under his breath and taking deep breaths. "What?" I growled. He turned his head to look at me.
"I've never intentionally killed a woman, so I'm actually trying to stop short of-"He stopped talking when I flipped him the bird and stormed towards my snow mobile. "Well, that was certainly uncalled for. Why'd you-"

"Fuck you and leave me alone," I said with a shaking laugh, pulling on my gloves and turning the key, climbing onto the machine. I didn't hear his response over the roar of the engine as I pulled away from the house, leaving him with his shocked expression and his mouth hanging open.

I have to tell you, having the last word felt really, really good.