"Fatale, you do realize that Cassidy is my star student?"
"Of course, Mother," I said, my voice disgustingly sweet. "Of course I realize it. She was just... talking bad about you is all. I couldn't stand to hear it, so I blacked out, and that's what happened." Sinistre's eyebrows raised.
"She was talking bad about me?" she repeated.
"Oh, yes, Mother. She called you a 'dirty whore'--"
"Don't repeat her, Fatale. That filth doesn't belong on your tongue." Sinistre sighed and rubbed at her temples. "I'll handle her appropriately. However, until then, I'm hiring a tutor, to help you get your mind straight. We can't be having this."
"Yes, Mother."
"You remember dear old Aunt Aurora, don't you? From your father's side of the family."
My eyes widened. I hadn't seen Aunt Aurora in years. From what I heard, she was the top assassin in the world, and she taught Sinistre everything she knew. I had to bite my tongue to keep myself from yelling out, "She's still alive?! How old is she now?!" Sinistre smiled at me.
"Yes, Fatale, I just called your aunt, and she should be here by tomorrow. Now, I want you to go up to your room. I'm going to the hospital to... visit Cassidy." Without another word, Sinistre turned and walked out the door. I obidiently went up to my room, still in shock. I sat down on my bed and stared into the mirror.
"My Aunt Aurora," I said faintly. I had always idolized the woman. I wondered if she changed at all. I heard gentle tapping on my window as rain began to pour down, and I shivered. I needed to talk to someone. Anyone. About Cassidy. About Sinistre. About Aurora. About the vision of the strange child I had not too long ago. Only one person came to mind.
I grabbed my coat from the closet and looked over to the window. Rain was now falling in heavy sheets, but I didn't care. I carefully stuffed pillows under my blanket and put one of my porcelin dolls under with them, with the curly black head facing away from the door. Sinistre would probably return drunk, as she almost always did, and wouldn't be able to tell the difference.
I opened the window and carefully climbed out, landing catlike on the wet ground after jumping from the second story. Then I made my way to the Valentine mansion, happy to finally be out of the house after months of being stuck inside. I slipped on mudpuddles, almost tripped on cracks in the cement, but I made it to the mansion in less than thirty minutes. Now the only dilemma that crossed my worried mind was how to get to Nikki. Knowing his father, he wouldn't enjoy seeing me all too much. He only tolerated me because Sinistre was with me whenever we went to visit the Valentines, and that was rare to never, considering Sinistre didn't like me hanging around Nikki anymore.
"Fatale, what are you doing here?"
I nearly jumped at the voice, and I turned. Standing before me was none other than Nikki Valentine, soaked to the bone. The tone in his voice sounded tiresome and annoyed, but I could see in his eyes that he was happy to see me. "What happened?" I asked him. "I hadn't seen you for months!" Nikki looked down at a flower beside him and frowned.
Nikki Valentine, after four months of vanishing from Fatale's life
"So no one told you," he mumbled. "I was in the hospital, in a coma for four months. Sorry about missing your birthday."
Tears welled up in my eyes. "You were in a coma?" I screamed. Nikki looked up at me, his red eyes warning me to shut up. I heard something from inside the mansion, and apperantly, so did Nikki. He grabbed my hand.
"C'mon," he said, and he ran, pulling me with him. "You woke my dad up." So we ran away from the mansion and to the cafe, where the smell of coffee lingered in the air and people smoked stale cigarettes. Nikki and I sat down at a table far away from any windows and doors.
"I haven't got any money," I admitted sheepishly. Nikki grumbled.
"I'll take care of it," he said unhappily. I smiled at him and took my raincoat off.
"So... exactly what happened?"
As Nikki told me, in very little detail, what happened between him, his cousin Vince, the soon-to-be Don Marc Belle and the strange police woman, I found myself forgetting my own problems and worrying more for him. Nikki clearly saw this and frowned at me. "I'm fine," he insisted, though I had said nothing. "I can handle it." His eyes softened. "Is there something you want to tell me?"
My problems came back to me in a rush, and I sighed. "Nothing important," I told him. I didn't want to worry Nikki more than he already was. "I'm just glad you're alive." There was a long pause between us. Nikki lowered his head, so his face was covered by raven black hair.
"You mean that?" he asked quietly. His voice cracked half-way through, and I wondered what sort of emotional stress one as strong as Nikki would have to go through in order to show any sort of "weakness" at all.
"Of course," I said. I reached out to grab Nikki's hand, but he pulled it back, raising his head. It was clear that he had tears forming in his eyes, but he blinked them back before I could see.
There was Nikki Valentine for you, always having to be the strong one.
