CHAPTER 143: 143-ONE LAST GAZE

Clementine:

"It is pretty shocking that you decided to come back, even after claiming you were tortured and treated so badly in this pack," Glinda hissed after being silent for too long.

I never thought I would be sitting at the same table with them again. My stepmother and Leysa seemed to be doing very well. In fact, better than when my father was alive, mainly because my stepmother had taken control of everything. She was glowing.

"Let’s not talk about me. The whole time I’m in the North, it’s all about me. Clementine this, Clementine that. Everyone just praises me, so I want to talk about something different. Let’s talk about you, Glinda. Mom," I teased, smirking as I grabbed the glass of wine. I noticed her raising her brow, because I was never allowed to drink before. Drinking was only permitted at 18 in the pack, and I guess it also upset my half-sister that I was able to sit with them and be so confident. They had seen me suffer, so this was a new kind of sight for them.

"What do you want to talk about me?" my stepmother asked, the nasty grin she carried whenever she spoke to me fading.

"You seem pretty happy now that Dad is gone." As soon as I said that, I watched her tighten her grip on the glass of wine.

"You would rather see me cry?" she asked, and I shrugged.

"No, it’s just weird, because I’ve been having strange dreams lately. Especially about my last mission. Oh, by the way, did I tell you there was a monster called Medusa in the North?" I said, and she gave me a blunt look.

"Mom, why are we talking about monsters? So not classy," Leysa muttered, sipping her wine before setting the glass down and picking up her fork and knife to fight with her steak again. She would barely eat.

"Actually, it is a very interesting story. You know this monster, she has hair full of snakes. And whenever you make eye contact with her, she turns you into stone," as soon as I said that, Leysa gasped, her fork slipping from her fingers and dropping onto the plate.

"Mom, what is she talking about? Those things are that deadly?" She turned to her mother, asking if the story I was spinning was true.

Like I said before, nobody else used to come back from the academy. So none of the pack members really knew how deadly the monsters in the North were. They only knew about ogres, giants, the ones they heard about in stories.

"They are even deadlier. But you know what? There was something strange about Medusa," I said, watching my stepmother from the corner of my eye. "She kept saying, ’She’s not a slut. She’s not a whore.’" I pretended to be speaking to Leysa, but I noticed my stepmother zoning out.

"Have you ever called someone a slut, Glinda?" I turned to her so suddenly I almost startled her, and she spilled a little wine.

"Oh, you and your nonsense," she grunted, setting her glass down. "Am I going to fucking send you an invitation to come and clean this mess?" she screamed at the omega maid standing nearby. Her body language alone told me something was wrong.

"Anyway, I’m done. I’ll go back to my bedroom now," I said as I got up, watching the maid frantically clean her lap and the table. As I started walking away, I stopped briefly, only to turn around and lock eyes with Glinda. "Sometimes karma comes in a way you never imagine," I told her.

"What do you mean?" Glinda hissed.

"All I’m saying is enjoy the luxuries while they last," I replied, smirking as I turned back and walked toward the attic.

Once there, I opened the bag and placed the head in my lap. I gently ran my hand through the snakes, even though they were stiff now, like cement.

"I’m so sorry, Maya, that this happened to you, but I want to tell you something," I whispered, lowering my lips to her ear.

Flashback:

I was drifting in and out of sleep when I noticed my stepmother and father doing something with someone. They were dragging a body off the bed. I opened my eyes just slightly, finding myself tossed in the corner of the room, bleeding badly. Then I saw something in my line of sight. It was a woman’s face, her eyes open and bleeding. Her black hair was pulled back as they dragged her across the floor. Her body paused right in my view, and it was the strangest eye contact I ever had with someone because that someone was either long dead or dying. There was barely any movement in her chest, but the blood from her eyes came from being beaten with the hammer my stepmother was carrying.

"Only if this slut had not enticed you, we wouldn’t be dragging a fucking dead body right now," I heard Glinda hiss.

"Well, she’s not dead," my father argued.

"Then she will be. Let’s throw her into the North." Those words stayed in my memory as they dragged her out.

End Of Flashback.

Now I remembered, and I had brought Maya to the exact place where they wronged her. What Glinda accused her of was nothing like what happened. My father was forcing Maya, and my stepmother accused her of enticing him. It was their way of escaping guilt and blaming the victim. That was how Maya ended up in the North.

It was brutal what happened to her. All those years she roamed the streets and roads of the North, looking for the one who, instead of helping her, called her a slut, a whore, and beat her. Then, when she was taking her last breaths, she was left in the North.

Back then, it was easy for anyone to go to the border and toss someone over, or make the warriors carry someone deep into the North, dump them, and return. But now the monsters were spread everywhere, and there were more of them. The only way in was by train, or maybe some other places I didn’t know about.

I held the head in my lap after putting on a black dress. Then I walked through the hallways of my mansion. I reached my stepmother’s room and smiled.

I carefully put Maya’s head on the bedside table, facing the bed. Then I covered it with a thin silk cloth, stepped out of the way, and said my last goodbye as I bowed to her in respect.

"Take your revenge, Queen, because after this night, nobody will ever be harmed in this mansion," I whispered as my lips began to quiver.

I walked out of the room and went straight to the attic. Lying down, facing the ceiling, a hopeless tear slid from the corner of my eye. The next thing I knew, I heard screams.

"No, no! Somebody come here! How did this get in here?" It was my stepmother’s voice. She screamed for a while, and then there was silence. Just like she had silenced poor Maya.