80-slayer

[80-slayer]

-I hate that I love you-

One-shot

General Armitage Hux X Fem Reader!

Warnings: Smut, language, fighting, possible violence (depends on if you consider it violence)

After returning from a mission in a planet called Naboo with Ren and a few officers, you were exhausted. As soon as you stepped off of the ship and into the hangar, you were bombarded with officers asking questions.

"General Hux would like to see you, should I accompany you?"

"Should I start the report?"

"Would you like your bubble bath now? Or after dinner?"

You sighed, only paying attention to the first question. You were basically the 4th in command. The higher-ups went Snoke, Kylo, Hux, and then you. So you had a lot of responsibilities to fulfill. Nodding to the officer, you allow him to escort you to the red-headed general's office.

"Good evening Lieutenant."

The officer bowed his hand, his arms on his sides, before walking off in the opposite direction. You turn your attention to the large silver door before you, bile rising in your throat. Recently, just being in the same room as the hot-headed general set your body on fire. You weren't sure why he made you feel this way. You weren't even sure what to do about it. Surely he didn't like you back? Right? Right. He hates you. Thats how he acts. But his anger towards you always turns you on even more.

"Hes a general, I'm a lieutenant. Know your place y/n."

You murmur to yourself before pressing the button next to the door that tells him your here. A hissing sound comes from the door as it opens painfully slowly. You walk into his office, arms on your sides, your knuckles, white from balling your fists so hard. He's sitting in his chair, fingers intertwined in front of him on the desk. He looks up at you, you aren't able to tell what he's thinking. His face is stone cold.

"Good evening general. You wanted to see me?"

"Yes, I did. Sit."

He points to the chair across from his. You comply, pushing out the chair and sitting. Your hands are now in your lap.

"How was the mission lieutenant? Successful, I presume."

You look up at him from your lap. This is the first time you've ever been this close to him. You study his features, noticing his freckles, large nose, and pale skin. Your mind starts to wonder about how his nose would feel against your-

"Lieutenant?"

He asks, furrowing his eyebrowa. He startles you. His gaze is cold and he looks agitated.

"Yes, my apologies general. Yes. The mission was successful."

You continue to spill details about the mission to him, noticing his body language. Everytime you break eye contact, he looks at your lips. And as soon as you look back, he looks back at your eyes and plays it off. Butterflies start to fill your stomach.

"Is that all you needed, General?"

You ask, desperate to get out of there and to the nearest bathroom.

"No actually."

He stands up and begins walking around the desk. You stand up and meet his gaze. He looks extremely nervous.

"I have a question for you."

You cock your brow in confusion, you already told him everything about the mission already. So what would he need to know?

"What is it?"

You blurt out, sounding more eager than intended.

"Do you enjoy what you do to me?"

You furrow your brows, confused. You weren't expecting a question like that.

"What the f*ck are you talking about?"

You asked, getting agitated at his lack of explanation. You can see your response has pissed him off.

"Good gods y/n, are you really gonna make me say it?!"

"Yes! I don't know what the f*ck your talking about!"

"Are you really so oblivious?"

He asks, stepping closer to you. He sighs.

"Dont make me say it. I can't."

He puts his face in his palm, dragging it down his face.

"Well I'm not gonna guess??"

He steps closer to you, taking your face into his hand.

"I can't pretend anymore. I can't act like I don't want to love every part of you y/n. It hurts me how much I ache for you. It's you. It always has been. And I knew if I couldn't have you for myself, I could have your anger."

A grin creeps onto your face.

"So you've been annoying on purpose?"

He chuckles, he smiles and it reaches his eyes.

"You are all I can think about. You consume me. My dreams. I dream nothing but you y/n. I f*cking breathe you. I eat, sleep and breathe you. You consume my entire being."

Instead of responding, you grab his face and bring it to yours. What starts off as a sweet kiss quickly ends up being something more passionate. You moan in his mouth, he takes the opportunity to stick his tongue into your mouth. He picks you up, placing you on the empty part of the desk. Your hands quickly find his belt, starting to unto it. Once his pants are down to his ankles, you quickly move onto the buttons of his uniform. You can feel him start to undo your belt. You lift up your ass so he can pull your pants down to your ankles. Once you finish with the buttons, you take the moment to admire him. His pale skin, glistening from the light of the galaxy coming from the large windows. behind the desk. You run your hand along his chest before looking up at him to see him smirking.

"You like what you see?"

He asks, his ego as large as ever. Shut up and kiss me. You pull him down and kiss him. He skillfully removes your shirt and bra in one go. He starts to kiss your neck, kneading your boob at the same time. Your hands scratch up and down his sides before finding the hem of his briefs, pulling down. He pulls away for a moment, taking the time to remove your panties. Your eyes widen, seeing him.

"Stars..."

You sigh before taking him into your hand. You stroke up and down before thumbing his tip, precum coating your finger. You pull him closer to you before lining him up with your entrance.

"Oh f*ck."

You moan, not being used to someone so large. He entraps your lips in another heavy kiss before slowly starting to move in and out of you. Breaking the kiss, you place your hands behind you on the desk for support.

"Harder, Armitage."

He moans in response before starting to slam into you, making you yelp. He watches the way your boobs bounce with every thrust. He places one hand on your hip, and the other gets lost in your wet folds, making you moan his name.

"Do you like this?"

He asks, panting.

"Y- yes."

It's hard for you to form words with him absolutely destroying you. After a few more thrust, you can feel yourself clench around him.

"F*ck."

He moans. You look up at him before moaning.

"Slap me."

His thrusts falter for a moment.

"W-what?"

"Just do it."

You moan out. He hesitantly lifts his hand and slaps it across your face, pushing you over the edge.

"Oh f*ck."

Your seeing stars. You claw his back, screaming his name. You can feel him start to twitch inside you as he finishes. He moans loudly into your ear, riding out your orgasms. You sit up and grab his shoulder, trying not to fall off the desk. Your legs feel like jello. After recovering from your orgasms, he pulls out of you. He then puts his hands on either side of you, bending down and putting his face into your cleavage. He pants heavily, his hot breath on your chest. You run your fingers through his firey hair.

"Please tell me I wasn't just a quick f*ck."

You say, fear rising in your chest.

"No, of course not."

He straightened his back before placing a loving kiss on your forehead.

"You are everything. My everything."

[80-slayer]

AS THE WORLD FALLS DOWN CHAPTER 2

𝐓𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐧𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐉𝐚𝐫𝐞𝐭𝐡 𝐟𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝 𝐡𝐢𝐦𝐬𝐞𝐥𝐟 𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐥𝐞𝐬𝐬. 𝐇𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝𝐧'𝐭 𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐩 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐨𝐟 𝐡𝐞𝐫. 𝐀𝐟𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐬𝐢𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐧𝐨 𝐥𝐨𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐫, 𝐡𝐞 𝐠𝐨𝐭 𝐮𝐩 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐜𝐞𝐝 𝐚 𝐫𝐨𝐛𝐞 𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐧𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐰𝐞𝐚𝐫. 𝐇𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐥𝐤𝐞𝐝 𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐫𝐫𝐢𝐝𝐨𝐫, 𝐦𝐚𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐬𝐮𝐫𝐞 𝐡𝐞 𝐝𝐢𝐝𝐧'𝐭 𝐦𝐚𝐤𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐲 𝐧𝐨𝐢𝐬𝐞. 𝐇𝐞 𝐬𝐥𝐨𝐰𝐥𝐲 𝐦𝐚𝐝𝐞 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐰𝐚𝐲 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐞𝐧𝐝 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐛𝐚𝐥𝐥. 𝐇𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐦𝐞𝐭 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐭𝐰𝐨 𝐥𝐚𝐫𝐠𝐞 𝐠𝐫𝐞𝐞𝐧 𝐝𝐨𝐨𝐫𝐬. '𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐥𝐨𝐭𝐭𝐞'𝐬 𝐟𝐚𝐯𝐨𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐥𝐨𝐫' 𝐇𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐡𝐢𝐦𝐬𝐞𝐥𝐟. 𝐇𝐞 𝐬𝐥𝐨𝐰𝐥𝐲 𝐩𝐮𝐬𝐡𝐞𝐝 𝐨𝐩𝐞𝐧 𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐝𝐨𝐨𝐫𝐬, 𝐤𝐦𝐨𝐰𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐬𝐡𝐞'𝐝 𝐛𝐞 𝐚𝐬𝐥𝐞𝐞𝐩. 𝐇𝐞 𝐬𝐥𝐨𝐰𝐥𝐲 𝐜𝐫𝐞𝐩𝐭 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐫𝐨𝐨𝐦. 𝐇𝐞 𝐬𝐦𝐢𝐥𝐞𝐝 𝐚𝐬 𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐨𝐝 𝐧𝐞𝐱𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐛𝐞𝐝. 𝐇𝐞 𝐬𝐨𝐟𝐭𝐥𝐲 𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐜𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐛𝐚𝐜𝐤 𝐨𝐟 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐨𝐧 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐞𝐤, 𝐜𝐚𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐢𝐭. "𝐎𝐡 𝐡𝐨𝐰 𝐈 𝐰𝐢𝐬𝐡 𝐈 𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐭𝐞𝐥𝐥 𝐲𝐨𝐮" 𝐇𝐞 𝐰𝐡𝐢𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐝 𝐬𝐚𝐝𝐥𝐲. 𝐒𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐥𝐨𝐰𝐥𝐲 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐨𝐬𝐬 𝐚𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝, 𝐚 𝐬𝐜𝐚𝐫𝐞𝐝 𝐥𝐨𝐨𝐤 𝐨𝐧 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐟𝐚𝐜𝐞. 𝐈𝐭 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐥𝐞𝐝 𝐉𝐚𝐫𝐞𝐭𝐡, 𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐰𝐢𝐟𝐭𝐥𝐲 𝐦𝐚𝐝𝐞 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐰𝐚𝐲 𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐫𝐨𝐨𝐦 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐛𝐚𝐜𝐤 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐫𝐫𝐢𝐝𝐨𝐫 & 𝐛𝐚𝐜𝐤 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐨 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐛𝐞𝐝𝐫𝐨𝐨𝐦. 𝐒𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐮𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐠 & 𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠, 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐝𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐡𝐚𝐮𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐡𝐞𝐫.

" 𝙔𝙤𝙪 𝙘𝙖𝙣'𝙩 𝙙𝙤 𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙨!" 𝙎𝙝𝙚 𝙝𝙚𝙖𝙧𝙙 𝙖 𝙫𝙤𝙞𝙘𝙚 𝙘𝙤𝙢𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙛𝙧𝙤𝙢 𝙖𝙗𝙤𝙫𝙚 𝙝𝙚𝙧. 𝙏𝙝𝙚 𝙥𝙚𝙧𝙨𝙥𝙣 𝙬𝙖𝙨 𝙝𝙤𝙡𝙙𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙝𝙚𝙧 𝙩𝙞𝙜𝙝𝙩. "𝙔𝙤𝙪 𝙘𝙖𝙣'𝙩 𝙡𝙚𝙖𝙫𝙚 𝙢𝙚." 𝙏𝙝𝙚 𝙫𝙤𝙞𝙘𝙚 𝙬𝙝𝙞𝙨𝙥𝙚𝙧𝙚𝙙 𝙩𝙤 𝙝𝙚𝙧. 𝙎𝙝𝙚 𝙘𝙤𝙪𝙡𝙙 𝙝𝙚𝙖𝙧 𝙛𝙖𝙞𝙣𝙩 𝙩𝙖𝙡𝙠𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙞𝙣 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙙𝙞𝙨𝙩𝙖𝙣𝙘𝙚, 𝙗𝙪𝙩 𝙨𝙝𝙚 𝙙𝙞𝙙𝙣'𝙩 𝙥𝙖𝙮 𝙢𝙪𝙘𝙝 𝙖𝙩𝙩𝙚𝙣𝙩𝙞𝙤𝙣 𝙩𝙤 𝙞𝙩. 𝙎𝙝𝙚 𝙡𝙤𝙤𝙠𝙚𝙙 𝙙𝙤𝙬𝙣 𝙩𝙤 𝙨𝙚𝙚 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙧𝙚 𝙬𝙖𝙨 𝙖 𝙡𝙖𝙧𝙜𝙚 𝙜𝙖𝙥𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙝𝙤𝙡𝙚 𝙞𝙣 𝙝𝙚𝙧 𝙖𝙗𝙙𝙤𝙢𝙚𝙣. 𝙎𝙝𝙚 𝙝𝙖𝙙 𝙗𝙚𝙚𝙣 𝙞𝙢𝙥𝙖𝙡𝙚𝙙. 𝙏𝙚𝙖𝙧𝙨 𝙨𝙬𝙚𝙡𝙡𝙚𝙙 𝙪𝙥 𝙞𝙣 𝙝𝙚𝙧 𝙚𝙮𝙚𝙨. "𝙈𝙮 𝙡𝙤𝙫𝙚.. 𝙋𝙡𝙚𝙖𝙨𝙚 𝙙𝙤𝙣'𝙩 𝙜𝙤." 𝙏𝙝𝙚 𝙫𝙤𝙞𝙘𝙚 𝙘𝙧𝙞𝙚𝙙. '𝙒𝙝𝙤 𝙖𝙧𝙚 𝙮𝙤𝙪?' 𝙎𝙝𝙚 𝙬𝙖𝙣𝙩𝙚𝙙 𝙩𝙤 𝙖𝙨𝙠 𝙗𝙪𝙩 𝙝𝙚𝙧 𝙢𝙤𝙪𝙩𝙝 𝙗𝙚𝙜𝙖𝙣 𝙩𝙤 𝙛𝙞𝙡𝙡 𝙬𝙞𝙩𝙝 𝙗𝙡𝙤𝙤𝙙. 𝙎𝙝𝙚 𝙝𝙚𝙖𝙧𝙙 𝙢𝙤𝙧𝙚 𝙩𝙖𝙡𝙠𝙞𝙣𝙜, 𝙗𝙪𝙩 𝙞𝙩 𝙬𝙖𝙨𝙣𝙩 𝙘𝙤𝙢𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙛𝙧𝙤𝙢 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙫𝙤𝙞𝙘𝙚. 𝙄𝙩 𝙬𝙖𝙨 𝙘𝙤𝙢𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙛𝙧𝙤𝙢 𝙝𝙚𝙧. "𝙄 𝙡𝙤𝙫𝙚 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙅-" 𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙧𝙮𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙛𝙖𝙙𝙚𝙙 𝙩𝙤 𝙗𝙡𝙖𝙘𝙠 𝙗𝙚𝙛𝙤𝙧𝙚 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙨𝙚𝙣𝙩𝙚𝙣𝙘𝙚 𝙘𝙤𝙪𝙡𝙙 𝙛𝙞𝙣𝙞𝙨𝙝.

𝐒𝐡𝐞 𝐣𝐨𝐥𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐚𝐰𝐚𝐤𝐞, 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐭 𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐢𝐧𝐠. 𝐒𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐚𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐚 𝐦𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭, 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐦𝐚𝐜𝐡 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝 𝐰𝐚𝐬. 𝐈𝐭 𝐟𝐞𝐥𝐭 𝐬𝐨 𝐬𝐮𝐫𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐥. 𝐒𝐡𝐞 𝐡𝐚𝐝 𝐝𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐦𝐬 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐛𝐞𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐞. 𝐀 𝐦𝐚𝐧, 𝐰𝐡𝐨 𝐥𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐝 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐧 𝐚𝐧𝐲𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠. 𝐘𝐞𝐭, 𝐬𝐡𝐞 𝐧𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐬𝐚𝐰 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐟𝐚𝐜𝐞. 𝐒𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐥𝐨𝐰𝐥𝐲 𝐠𝐨𝐭 𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐛𝐞𝐝 & 𝐦𝐚𝐝𝐞 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐰𝐚𝐲 𝐭𝐨𝐰𝐚𝐫𝐝𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐯𝐚𝐧𝐢𝐭𝐲. 𝐒𝐡𝐞 𝐛𝐫𝐮𝐬𝐡𝐞𝐝 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐡𝐚𝐢𝐫 & 𝐰𝐚𝐬𝐡𝐞𝐝 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐟𝐚𝐜𝐞. 𝐓𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐚 𝐤𝐧𝐨𝐜𝐤 𝐨𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐝𝐨𝐨𝐫. "𝐂𝐨𝐦𝐞 𝐢𝐧!" 𝐒𝐡𝐞 𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐩𝐨𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐝. 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐝𝐨𝐨𝐫 𝐨𝐩𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐝 𝐬𝐥𝐨𝐰𝐥𝐲 𝐭𝐨 𝐫𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐚𝐥 𝐚 𝐬𝐦𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐠𝐨𝐛𝐥𝐢𝐧. 𝐒𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐜𝐮𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐬, 𝐪𝐮𝐢𝐭𝐞 𝐚𝐝𝐨𝐫𝐚𝐛𝐥𝐞 𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐮𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐲. 𝐒𝐡𝐞 𝐡𝐚𝐝 𝐛𝐥𝐨𝐨𝐝 𝐫𝐞𝐝 𝐡𝐚𝐢𝐫 & 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐚 𝐬𝐦𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐛𝐫𝐨𝐰𝐧 𝐝𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐬. "𝐄𝐥𝐥𝐨 𝐦𝐢𝐬𝐬! 𝐈'𝐦 𝐄𝐦𝐢𝐥𝐲! 𝐈'𝐦 𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐡𝐞𝐥𝐩 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐠𝐞𝐭 𝐝𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐞𝐝 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐝𝐚𝐲!" 𝐒𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐦𝐢𝐥𝐞𝐝. "𝐇𝐞𝐥𝐥𝐨 𝐄𝐦𝐢𝐥𝐲." 𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐥𝐨𝐭𝐭𝐞 𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐨𝐝 𝐮𝐩 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐢𝐫. "𝐋𝐞𝐭'𝐬 𝐠𝐞𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐝𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐞𝐝!" 𝐄𝐦𝐢𝐥𝐲 𝐞𝐱𝐜𝐥𝐚𝐢𝐦𝐞𝐝. 𝐄𝐦𝐢𝐥𝐲 𝐰𝐚𝐥𝐤𝐞𝐝 𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐥𝐚𝐫𝐠𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐫𝐝𝐫𝐨𝐛𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐨𝐩𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐝𝐨𝐨𝐫𝐬. 𝐒𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐮𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐝 𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐚 𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐭𝐭𝐲 𝐲𝐞𝐥𝐥𝐨𝐰 𝐬𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐬. "𝐇𝐨𝐰'𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐦𝐢𝐬𝐬?" 𝐒𝐡𝐞 𝐥𝐨𝐨𝐤𝐞𝐝 𝐮𝐩 𝐚𝐭 𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐥𝐨𝐭𝐭𝐞, 𝐬𝐦𝐢𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠. "𝐈𝐭𝐬 𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐟𝐞𝐜𝐭" 𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐥𝐨𝐭𝐭𝐞 𝐬𝐦𝐢𝐥𝐞𝐝 𝐚𝐭 𝐡𝐞𝐫.



𝕋𝕙𝕖 𝕕𝕣𝕖𝕤𝕤:

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"𝐖𝐡𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐡𝐞𝐥𝐥 𝐜𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐧𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠?" 𝐒𝐡𝐞 𝐲𝐞𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐝, 𝐝𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐜𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐝 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐬. 𝐒𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐢𝐩𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐦 𝐨𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐚𝐩𝐫𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐢𝐞𝐝 𝐚𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝 𝐦𝐲 𝐰𝐚𝐢𝐬𝐭. 𝐇𝐞𝐫 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐬𝐜𝐚𝐫𝐟 𝐤𝐞𝐩𝐭 𝐟𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐨𝐟𝐟 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐝. "𝐃𝐚𝐦𝐦𝐢𝐭!" 𝐒𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐮𝐫𝐬𝐞𝐝. 𝐓𝐲𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐢𝐭 𝐭𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐨𝐧 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐝. 𝐒𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐥𝐤𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐫𝐧𝐞𝐫 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐫𝐨𝐨𝐦 𝐭𝐨 𝐠𝐞𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐛𝐫𝐨𝐨𝐦. 𝐒𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐰𝐞𝐩𝐭 & 𝐬𝐰𝐞𝐩𝐭, 𝐡𝐮𝐦𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐨 𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐞𝐥𝐟. 𝐄𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲 𝐨𝐧𝐢𝐜𝐞 𝐢𝐧 𝐚 𝐰𝐡𝐢𝐥𝐞, 𝐚 𝐠𝐨𝐛𝐥𝐢𝐧 𝐰𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐞 𝐢𝐧 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐚𝐥𝐤 𝐲𝐨 𝐡𝐞𝐫. 𝐒𝐭𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐡𝐮𝐦𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐠, 𝐬𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐢𝐧 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐨𝐰𝐧 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐥𝐝. 𝐒𝐡𝐞 𝐝𝐢𝐝𝐧'𝐭 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐟𝐨𝐨𝐭𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐩𝐬 𝐛𝐞𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐝 𝐡𝐞𝐫. 𝐣𝐚𝐫𝐞𝐭𝐡 𝐬𝐦𝐢𝐥𝐞𝐝 𝐚𝐬 𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐭𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐝 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐦𝐨𝐯𝐞 𝐚𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐫𝐨𝐨𝐦. "𝐈 𝐬𝐞𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐞𝐧𝐣𝐨𝐲𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐬𝐞𝐥𝐟." 𝐒𝐡𝐞 𝐣𝐮𝐦𝐩𝐞𝐝, 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐯𝐨𝐢𝐜𝐞. 𝐒𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐡𝐢𝐩𝐩𝐞𝐝 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐝 𝐚𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐟𝐚𝐜𝐞 𝐡𝐢𝐦, 𝐞𝐦𝐛𝐚𝐫𝐫𝐚𝐬𝐬𝐞𝐝. "𝐎𝐡, 𝐘𝐞𝐬. 𝐒𝐨𝐫𝐫𝐲." 𝐒𝐡𝐞 𝐫𝐞𝐩𝐥𝐢𝐞𝐝, 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐟𝐚𝐜𝐞 𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐨 𝐚 𝐝𝐞𝐞𝐩 𝐬𝐡𝐚𝐝𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐜𝐫𝐢𝐦𝐬𝐨𝐧. 𝐇𝐞 𝐥𝐚𝐮𝐠𝐡𝐞𝐝. "𝐍𝐨 𝐧𝐞𝐞𝐝 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐞𝐦𝐛𝐚𝐫𝐫𝐚𝐬𝐬𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐝𝐞𝐚𝐫." 𝐇𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐮𝐞𝐝 𝐥𝐚𝐮𝐠𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠. 𝐒𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐨𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐚𝐰𝐤𝐰𝐚𝐫𝐝𝐥𝐲. "𝐒𝐨𝐨𝐨 𝐮𝐡. 𝐇𝐨𝐰'𝐬 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐝𝐚𝐲 𝐠𝐨𝐢𝐧𝐠?" 𝐒𝐡𝐞 𝐚𝐬𝐤𝐞𝐝, 𝐭𝐫𝐲𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐨 𝐛𝐞 𝐥𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐚𝐰𝐤𝐰𝐚𝐫𝐝. 𝐇𝐢𝐬 𝐥𝐚𝐮𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐝 𝐚𝐬 𝐡𝐞 𝐠𝐨𝐭 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐲 𝐭𝐨 𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐩𝐨𝐧𝐝. "𝐅𝐢𝐧𝐞 𝐝𝐞𝐚𝐫, 𝐡𝐨𝐰'𝐬 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐬?" "𝐈𝐭'𝐬 𝐛𝐞𝐞𝐧 𝐚𝐥𝐫𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭, 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐤𝐧𝐨𝐰. 𝐉𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐜𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐚𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐜𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐠𝐨𝐛𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐬." 𝐓𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐚 𝐥𝐨𝐧𝐠 𝐩𝐚𝐮𝐬𝐞. "𝐔𝐦, 𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐢𝐬 𝐢𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐝𝐨 𝐞𝐱𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐥𝐲?" 𝐒𝐡𝐞 𝐪𝐮𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐞𝐝, 𝐠𝐞𝐧𝐮𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐥𝐲 𝐜𝐮𝐫𝐢𝐨𝐮𝐬. 𝐇𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐚 𝐦𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐚𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐡𝐨𝐰 𝐭𝐨 𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐩𝐨𝐧𝐝. "𝐖𝐞𝐥𝐥, 𝐈 𝐭𝐚𝐤𝐞 𝐜𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐨𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐥 𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐩𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐢𝐛𝐢𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐞𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐛𝐞𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚 𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠. 𝐈 𝐚𝐥𝐬𝐨 𝐝𝐞𝐚𝐥 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐞𝐨𝐩𝐥𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐢𝐧 𝐦𝐲 𝐥𝐚𝐛𝐲𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐡. 𝐀𝐧𝐝 𝐈 𝐤𝐞𝐞𝐩 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐠𝐨𝐛𝐥𝐢𝐧 𝐜𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐬𝐚𝐟𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐬𝐞." 𝐇𝐞 𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐩𝐨𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐝 𝐰𝐚𝐫𝐦𝐥𝐲. 𝐒𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐞𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐛𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐩𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐞 𝐬𝐨 𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐮𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐚𝐥𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠. "𝐃𝐢𝐧𝐧𝐞𝐫 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐛𝐞 𝐚𝐭 𝐚 𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐩𝐚𝐬𝐭 𝟕. 𝐉𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐬𝐨 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐤𝐧𝐨𝐰." 𝐒𝐡𝐞 𝐥𝐨𝐨𝐤𝐞𝐝 𝐮𝐩 𝐚𝐭 𝐡𝐢𝐦 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐬𝐰𝐞𝐞𝐩𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐧��𝐝𝐝𝐞𝐝. "𝐀𝐥𝐫𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭." 𝐓𝐚𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐚𝐬 𝐚 𝐬𝐢𝐠𝐧 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐛𝐞𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫, 𝐡𝐞 𝐥𝐞𝐟𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐫𝐨𝐨𝐦 𝐬𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐬𝐰𝐞𝐞𝐩𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐢𝐧, 𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐯𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞.

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𝐃𝐢𝐧𝐧𝐞𝐫 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐧𝐢𝐜𝐞. 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐭𝐚𝐛𝐥𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐫𝐢𝐝𝐢𝐜𝐮𝐥𝐨𝐮𝐬𝐥𝐲 𝐥𝐨𝐧𝐠. 𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐥𝐨𝐭𝐭𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐉𝐚𝐫𝐞𝐭𝐡 𝐰𝐞'𝐫𝐞 𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐜𝐞𝐝 𝐨𝐧 𝐞𝐢𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐬𝐢𝐝𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐭𝐚𝐛𝐥𝐞. 𝐀𝐟𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐰𝐚𝐫𝐝𝐬, 𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐥𝐨𝐭𝐭𝐞 𝐥𝐞𝐟𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐫𝐨𝐨𝐦 𝐭𝐨 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐞 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐨 𝐚 𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐚𝐛𝐥𝐞 𝐰𝐡𝐢𝐭𝐞 𝐝𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐬. 𝐒𝐡𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐧𝐞𝐚𝐫 𝐛𝐲 𝐛𝐞𝐚𝐜𝐡 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐚 𝐰𝐚𝐥𝐤. 𝐖𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐬𝐡𝐞 𝐠𝐨𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐬𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝𝐧'𝐭 𝐡𝐞𝐥𝐩 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐤𝐢𝐜𝐤 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐞𝐬 𝐨𝐟𝐟 & 𝐫𝐮𝐧 𝐭𝐨𝐰𝐚𝐫𝐝𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐫, 𝐥𝐚𝐮𝐠𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠. 𝐒𝐡𝐞 𝐡𝐚𝐝𝐧'𝐭 𝐛𝐞𝐞𝐧 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐛𝐞𝐚𝐜𝐡 𝐢𝐧 𝐚𝐠𝐞𝐬. 𝐒𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐬𝐮𝐫𝐩𝐫𝐢𝐬𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐥𝐨𝐨𝐤 𝐮𝐩 & 𝐬𝐞𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐤𝐲 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐢𝐧𝐟𝐚𝐜𝐭, 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐜𝐫𝐢𝐦𝐬𝐨𝐧 𝐚𝐧𝐲𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐞, 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐚 𝐛𝐞𝐚𝐮𝐭𝐢𝐟𝐮𝐥 𝐬𝐡𝐚𝐝𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐛𝐥𝐚𝐜𝐤. 𝐀 𝐛𝐥𝐚𝐧𝐤𝐞𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐬 𝐚𝐛𝐨𝐯𝐞 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐝, 𝐩𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐧𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐬𝐤𝐲. 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐦𝐨𝐨𝐧, 𝐟𝐮𝐥𝐥 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐲𝐞𝐥𝐥𝐨𝐰, 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐛𝐚𝐜𝐤 𝐚𝐭 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐚𝐬 𝐢𝐟 𝐢𝐭 𝐬𝐚𝐰 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐨𝐨. 𝐒𝐡𝐞 𝐠𝐚𝐳𝐞𝐝 𝐥𝐨𝐧𝐠𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐥𝐲 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐤𝐲.

"𝙄 𝙡𝙤𝙫𝙚 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙗𝙚𝙖𝙘𝙝. 𝙄𝙩'𝙨 𝙢𝙮 𝙛𝙖𝙫𝙤𝙧𝙞𝙩𝙚 𝙥𝙡𝙖𝙘𝙚 𝙩𝙤 𝙜𝙤 𝙞𝙣 𝙢𝙮 𝙨𝙥𝙖𝙧𝙚 𝙩𝙞𝙢𝙚." 𝙨𝙝𝙚 𝙧𝙚𝙢𝙞𝙣𝙞𝙨𝙘𝙚𝙙. 𝙏𝙝𝙚 𝙗𝙚𝙖𝙘𝙝 𝙬𝙖𝙨 𝙝𝙚𝙧 𝙛𝙖𝙫𝙤𝙧𝙞𝙩𝙚 𝙜𝙧𝙤𝙬𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙪𝙥. 𝙄𝙩 𝙝𝙚𝙡𝙥𝙚𝙙 𝙝𝙚𝙧 𝙚𝙨𝙘𝙖𝙥𝙚 𝙛𝙧𝙤𝙢 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙥𝙧𝙤𝙗𝙡𝙚𝙢𝙨 𝙤𝙛 𝙗𝙚𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙖 𝙖𝙣𝙜𝙨𝙩𝙮 𝙩𝙚𝙚𝙣. "𝙒𝙚𝙡𝙡, 𝙄 𝙘𝙖𝙣 𝙢𝙖𝙠𝙚 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙤𝙣𝙚." 𝙃𝙚 𝙧𝙚𝙨𝙥𝙤𝙣𝙙𝙚𝙙, 𝙛𝙪𝙡𝙡𝙮 𝙨𝙚𝙧𝙞𝙤𝙪𝙨. "𝙒𝙝𝙖𝙩? 𝙃𝙤𝙬 𝙬𝙤𝙪𝙡𝙙 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙙𝙤 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩?" 𝙎𝙝𝙚 𝙖𝙨𝙠𝙚𝙙, 𝙝𝙚𝙧 𝙚𝙮𝙚𝙗𝙧𝙤𝙬𝙨 𝙠𝙣𝙞𝙩𝙩𝙞𝙣𝙜. "𝘿𝙞𝙙 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙛𝙤𝙧𝙜𝙚𝙩 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙄 𝙝𝙖𝙫𝙚 𝙥𝙤𝙬𝙚𝙧𝙨?" 𝙃𝙚 𝙡𝙖𝙪𝙜𝙝𝙚𝙙. "𝙊𝙝" 𝙨𝙝𝙚 𝙨𝙖𝙞𝙙 𝙢𝙚𝙚𝙠𝙡𝙮, 𝙛𝙚𝙚𝙡𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙛𝙤𝙤𝙡𝙞𝙨𝙝.

"𝙒𝙤𝙬" 𝙨𝙝𝙚 𝙡𝙤𝙤𝙠𝙚𝙙 𝙤𝙣𝙩𝙤 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙝𝙤𝙧𝙞𝙯𝙤𝙣. 𝙒𝙝𝙚𝙧𝙚 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙧𝙚 𝙤𝙣𝙘𝙚 𝙬𝙖𝙨 𝙖 𝙟𝙪𝙣𝙠𝙮𝙖𝙧𝙙, 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙧𝙚 𝙬𝙖𝙨 𝙣𝙤𝙬 𝙖𝙣 𝙤𝙘𝙚𝙖𝙣. "𝙄 𝙘𝙖𝙣'𝙩 𝙗𝙚𝙡𝙞𝙚𝙫𝙚 𝙞𝙩" 𝙨𝙝𝙚 𝙧𝙖𝙣 𝙩𝙤𝙬𝙖𝙧𝙙𝙨 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙬𝙖𝙩𝙚𝙧, 𝙡𝙖𝙪𝙜𝙝𝙞𝙣𝙜. 𝙃𝙞𝙢 𝙩𝙧𝙖𝙞𝙡𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙗𝙚𝙝𝙞𝙣𝙙 𝙝𝙚𝙧. 𝙎𝙝𝙚 𝙧𝙖𝙣 𝙞𝙣𝙩𝙤 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙬𝙖𝙩𝙚𝙧 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙨𝙬𝙖𝙢 𝙩𝙤 𝙬𝙝𝙚𝙧𝙚 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙬𝙖𝙩𝙚𝙧 𝙬𝙖𝙨 𝙖𝙩 𝙝𝙚𝙧 𝙘𝙝𝙚𝙨𝙩. "𝙏𝙝𝙖𝙣𝙠 𝙮𝙤𝙪" 𝙨𝙝𝙚 𝙨𝙩𝙖𝙧𝙚𝙙 𝙖𝙩 𝙝𝙞𝙢 𝙡𝙤𝙫𝙞𝙣𝙜𝙡𝙮. "𝘼𝙣𝙮𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙛𝙤𝙧 𝙮𝙤𝙪." 𝙃𝙚 𝙧𝙚𝙨𝙥𝙤𝙣𝙙𝙚𝙙 𝙬𝙞𝙩𝙝 𝙢𝙤𝙧𝙚 𝙡𝙤𝙫𝙚 𝙛𝙤𝙧 𝙝𝙚𝙧 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙣 𝙖𝙣𝙮𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙣𝙜. "𝙄 𝙡𝙤𝙫𝙚 𝙮𝙤𝙪." 𝙃𝙚 𝙩𝙤𝙡𝙙 𝙝𝙚𝙧, 𝙝𝙚𝙧 𝙝𝙚𝙖𝙧𝙩 𝙗𝙚𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙤𝙪𝙩 𝙤𝙛 𝙝𝙚𝙧 𝙘𝙝𝙚𝙨𝙩. 𝙎𝙝𝙚 𝙥𝙡𝙖𝙘𝙚𝙙 𝙖 𝙨𝙤𝙛𝙩 𝙠𝙞𝙨𝙨 𝙤𝙣 𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙡𝙞𝙥𝙨 "𝙄 𝙡𝙤𝙫𝙚 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙩𝙤𝙤 𝙅-"

𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐥𝐨𝐭𝐭𝐞 𝐛𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐤𝐞𝐝, 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐛𝐚𝐜𝐤 𝐭𝐨 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐬𝐞𝐧𝐬𝐞𝐬. 𝐈𝐭 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐝𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐦 𝐬𝐡𝐞 𝐡𝐚𝐝 𝐛𝐞𝐞𝐧 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐢𝐧𝐠, 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐧𝐨𝐰 𝐢𝐭 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐧 𝐣𝐮𝐬𝐭𝐬 𝐝𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐦. 𝐈𝐭 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐚 𝐯𝐢𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧. 𝐒𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐥𝐨𝐰𝐥𝐲 𝐦𝐚𝐝𝐞 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐰𝐚𝐲 𝐛𝐚𝐜𝐤 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐫𝐞. 𝐒𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐚𝐭 𝐝𝐨𝐰𝐧 𝐜𝐫𝐢𝐬𝐬 𝐜𝐫𝐨𝐬𝐬 𝐨𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐚𝐧𝐝, 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐜𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐬𝐡𝐞 𝐣𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐬𝐚𝐰. 𝐒𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝𝐧'𝐭 𝐦𝐚𝐤𝐞 𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐰𝐡𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐦𝐚𝐧 𝐬𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐢𝐬. 𝐒𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐞𝐝.

𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐝𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐬𝐞 𝐝𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐦𝐬 𝐦𝐞𝐚𝐧?

[80-slayer]

~𝐀𝐬 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐖𝐨𝐫𝐥𝐝 𝐅𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐬 𝐃𝐨𝐰𝐧~ 𝐋𝐚𝐛𝐲𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐡. 𝐉𝐚𝐫𝐞𝐭𝐡 𝐱 𝐎𝐂.

𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐄𝐧𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐏𝐚𝐫𝐭 𝟏

"𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐤𝐧𝐨𝐰 𝐈 𝐥𝐨𝐯𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐫. 𝐈𝐭 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐚 𝐦𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐤𝐞. 𝐒𝐡𝐞 𝐦𝐞𝐚𝐧𝐬 𝐚𝐛𝐬𝐨𝐥𝐮𝐭𝐞𝐥𝐲 𝐧𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐨 𝐦𝐞" 𝐇𝐞 𝐥𝐚𝐭𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐝 𝐡𝐢𝐦𝐬𝐞𝐥𝐟 𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐨 𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐥𝐨𝐭𝐭𝐞, 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐫𝐚𝐢𝐧, 𝐩𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐭𝐰𝐨 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐦.

"𝐘𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐝𝐢𝐬𝐠𝐮𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠. 𝐈 𝐰𝐚𝐧𝐭 𝐧𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐧 𝐭𝐨 𝐧𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐬𝐞𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐚𝐠𝐚𝐢𝐧." 𝐒𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐮𝐬𝐡𝐞𝐝 𝐡𝐢𝐦 𝐨𝐟𝐟 𝐨𝐟 𝐡𝐞𝐫, 𝐚 𝐥𝐨𝐨𝐤 𝐨𝐟 𝐡𝐮𝐫𝐭 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐟𝐮𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐩𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐨𝐧 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐟𝐚𝐜𝐞. "𝐋𝐞𝐚𝐯𝐞. 𝐈 𝐧𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐰𝐚𝐧𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐬𝐞𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐟𝐚𝐜𝐞.. 𝐄𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐚𝐠𝐚𝐢𝐧." 𝐒𝐡𝐞 𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐧𝐞𝐝 𝐚𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐡𝐮𝐫𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐝 𝐛𝐚𝐜𝐤 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐨 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐚𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐛𝐮𝐢𝐥𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠. 𝐇𝐞𝐫 𝐧𝐨𝐰 𝐄𝐱, 𝐁𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐲, 𝐲𝐞𝐥𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚𝐭 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐚𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐦𝐚𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐬𝐮𝐫𝐞 𝐬𝐡𝐞'𝐬 𝐧𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐬𝐞𝐞𝐧 𝐚𝐠𝐚𝐢𝐧. 𝐒𝐡𝐞 𝐝𝐢𝐝𝐧'𝐭 𝐩𝐚𝐲 𝐦𝐮𝐜𝐡 𝐚𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧. 𝐇𝐢𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐬 𝐰𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐨𝐧𝐥𝐲 𝐭𝐡𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐬, 𝐫𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭? 𝐇𝐞 𝐝𝐢𝐝𝐧'𝐭 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐛𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐮𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐲 𝐝𝐨 𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐨 𝐡𝐞𝐫, 𝐎𝐫 𝐬𝐨 𝐬𝐡𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡𝐭.

~

𝐒𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐟𝐞𝐞𝐥 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐩𝐡𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐛𝐮𝐳𝐳𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐢𝐧 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐩𝐨𝐜𝐤𝐞𝐭 𝐚𝐬 𝐬𝐡𝐞 𝐫𝐨𝐝𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐞𝐥𝐞𝐯𝐚𝐭𝐨𝐫 𝐮𝐩 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝟒𝐭𝐡 𝐟𝐥𝐨𝐨𝐫. 𝐒𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐮𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐝 𝐢𝐭 𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐬𝐞𝐞 𝟐𝟒 𝐦𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐚𝐠𝐞𝐬 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐧𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐧 𝐁𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐲.

"𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐬𝐭𝐮𝐩𝐢𝐝 𝐁𝐢*𝐜𝐡"

"𝐘𝐨𝐮'𝐥𝐥 𝐫𝐞𝐠𝐫𝐞𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬"

"𝐘𝐨𝐮'𝐥𝐥 𝐧𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐬𝐞𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐲𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐚𝐠𝐚𝐢𝐧"

𝐒𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐟𝐞𝐞𝐥 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐬𝐤𝐢𝐧 𝐩𝐫𝐢𝐜𝐤𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐠𝐨𝐨𝐬𝐞𝐛𝐮𝐦𝐩𝐬, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐡𝐚𝐢𝐫 𝐨𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐛𝐚𝐜𝐤 𝐨𝐟 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐧𝐞𝐜𝐤 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐮𝐩. 𝐁𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐲 𝐡𝐚𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐝 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐛𝐞𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐞, 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐡𝐞 𝐡𝐚𝐝 𝐧𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐬𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐝 𝐬𝐨 𝐬𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐨𝐮𝐬. 𝐇𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐞𝐥𝐞𝐯𝐚𝐭𝐨𝐫 𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚𝐭 𝐚𝐫𝐫𝐢𝐯𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐨𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝟒𝐭𝐡 𝐟𝐥𝐨𝐨𝐫, 𝐬𝐡𝐞 𝐦𝐚𝐝𝐞 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐰𝐚𝐲 𝐛𝐚𝐜𝐤 𝐭𝐨 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐚𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭. 𝐒𝐡𝐞 𝐮𝐧𝐥𝐨𝐜𝐤𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐝𝐨𝐨𝐫 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐦𝐚𝐝𝐞 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐰𝐚𝐲 𝐢𝐧𝐬𝐢𝐝𝐞, 𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐨𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐥𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐥𝐨𝐜𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐝𝐨𝐨𝐫 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐜𝐞𝐬𝐬, 𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐨𝐢𝐝. 𝐒𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐥𝐤𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐫𝐨𝐨𝐦, 𝐦𝐚𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐬𝐮𝐫𝐞 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐢𝐧 𝐨𝐫𝐝��𝐫 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐧𝐨 𝐜𝐫𝐚𝐳𝐲 𝐞𝐱 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐡𝐢𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐡𝐚𝐝𝐨𝐰𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐚𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞. 𝐒𝐡𝐞 𝐤𝐢𝐜𝐤𝐞𝐝 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐞𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐜𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐦 𝐧𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐥𝐲 𝐛𝐲 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐛𝐞𝐝. 𝐒𝐡𝐞 𝐲𝐚𝐰𝐧𝐞𝐝, 𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐢𝐩𝐩𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐨𝐟𝐟 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐜𝐥𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐬 𝐭𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐬𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐢𝐧 𝐧𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐰𝐞𝐚𝐫 & 𝐛𝐫𝐚. 𝐍𝐨𝐭 𝐟𝐞𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐰𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚𝐧𝐲𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠, 𝐬𝐡𝐞 𝐥𝐚𝐳𝐢𝐥𝐲 𝐦𝐚𝐝𝐞 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐰𝐚𝐲 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐤𝐢𝐭𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐭𝐨 𝐠𝐫𝐚𝐛 𝐚 𝐛𝐨𝐭𝐭𝐥𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐰𝐢𝐧𝐞. 𝐍𝐨𝐭 𝐟𝐞𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐝𝐨𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐝𝐢𝐬𝐡𝐞𝐬, 𝐬𝐡𝐞 𝐝𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐤 𝐢𝐭 𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐛𝐨𝐭𝐭𝐥𝐞. 𝐒𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐜𝐤𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐝𝐨𝐨𝐫𝐬 & 𝐰𝐢𝐧𝐝𝐨𝐰𝐬 𝐰𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐥𝐨𝐜𝐤𝐞𝐝 𝐛𝐞𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐦𝐚𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐰𝐚𝐲 𝐛𝐚𝐜𝐤 𝐭𝐨 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐫𝐨𝐨𝐦 𝐭𝐨 𝐰𝐚𝐭𝐜𝐡 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐟𝐚𝐯𝐨𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐞 𝐡𝐨𝐫𝐫𝐨𝐫 𝐦𝐨𝐯𝐢𝐞, 𝐒𝐜𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐦. 𝐀𝐟𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐚 𝐟𝐞𝐰 𝐣𝐮𝐦𝐩 𝐬𝐜𝐚𝐫𝐞𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐬𝐢𝐩𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐩 𝐰𝐢𝐧𝐞 𝐬𝐡𝐞 𝐟𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐞𝐲𝐞𝐬 𝐠𝐞𝐭𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐯𝐢𝐞𝐫 & 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐯𝐢𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐮𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐲, 𝐬𝐡𝐞 𝐟𝐞𝐥𝐥 𝐚𝐬𝐥𝐞𝐞𝐩.

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𝐀𝐟𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐞 𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐞 𝐩𝐚𝐬𝐬𝐞𝐝, 𝐬𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐟𝐞𝐞𝐥 𝐰𝐚𝐫𝐦𝐞𝐫 & 𝐰𝐚𝐫𝐦𝐞𝐫. 𝐒𝐡𝐞 𝐭𝐨𝐬𝐬𝐞𝐝 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐧𝐞𝐝 & 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐮𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐲 𝐨𝐩𝐞𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐞𝐲𝐞𝐬, 𝐟𝐢𝐧𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐬𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐬𝐧'𝐭 𝐢𝐧 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐚𝐛𝐥𝐞 𝐛𝐞𝐝 𝐚𝐧𝐲𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐞, 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐢𝐧 𝐚 𝐛𝐞𝐝 𝐨𝐟 𝐟𝐥𝐨𝐰𝐞𝐫𝐬. 𝐒𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐰𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚𝐧 𝐨𝐥𝐝 𝐥𝐨𝐨𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐝𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐬. 𝐋𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐨𝐧𝐞𝐬 𝐬𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐚𝐰 𝐢𝐧 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝟏𝟖𝟎𝟎𝐬 𝐭𝐯 𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐰𝐬, 𝐢𝐭 𝐰𝐚𝐬𝐧'𝐭 𝐚𝐬 𝐞𝐱𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐯𝐚𝐠𝐚𝐧𝐭, 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐚 𝐥𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐬𝐮𝐦𝐦𝐞𝐫 𝐝𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐬. 𝐒𝐡𝐞 𝐥𝐨𝐨𝐤𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐬𝐞𝐞 𝐚

𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲 𝐮𝐧𝐟𝐚𝐦𝐢𝐥𝐢𝐚𝐫 𝐬𝐮𝐫𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬. 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐤𝐲 𝐥𝐨𝐨𝐤𝐞𝐝 𝐚𝐬 𝐢𝐟 𝐢𝐭 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐨𝐧 𝐟𝐢𝐫𝐞, 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐚𝐢𝐫 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐬𝐰𝐞𝐞𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐝𝐞𝐧𝐬𝐞. "𝐖𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐚𝐦 𝐈?" 𝐒𝐡𝐞 𝐚𝐬𝐤𝐞𝐝 𝐧𝐨 𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐢𝐧 𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐢𝐜𝐮𝐥𝐚𝐫, 𝐬𝐮𝐫𝐩𝐫𝐢𝐬𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐫 𝐚 𝐯𝐨𝐢𝐜𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐬𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐝 𝐬𝐨 𝐟𝐚𝐦𝐢𝐥𝐢𝐚𝐫 𝐚𝐧𝐬𝐰𝐞𝐫 𝐡𝐞𝐫. "𝐖𝐡𝐲, 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐢𝐧 𝐦𝐲 𝐥𝐚𝐛𝐲𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐡"

𝐒𝐡𝐞 𝐥𝐨𝐨𝐤𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐯𝐨𝐢𝐜𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦, 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐞𝐲𝐞𝐬 𝐚𝐝𝐣𝐮𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐛𝐫𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐬, 𝐬𝐡𝐞 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐚𝐧 𝐚𝐫𝐦 𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐞𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐝 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐟𝐨𝐜𝐮𝐬𝐞𝐝 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐞𝐲𝐞𝐬. 𝐋𝐨𝐨𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐮𝐩 𝐬𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐚𝐰 𝐚 𝐬𝐥𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐫 𝐟𝐢𝐠𝐮𝐫𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐚 𝐦𝐚𝐧, 𝐡𝐞 𝐡𝐚𝐝 𝐨𝐧 𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐛𝐥𝐚𝐜𝐤 𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐧 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐰𝐡𝐢𝐭𝐞 𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐫𝐭, 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐜𝐚𝐩𝐞 𝐬𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐤𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐮𝐧. 𝐒𝐡𝐞 𝐥𝐨𝐨𝐤𝐞𝐝 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐨 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐞𝐲𝐞𝐬, 𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐬𝐨 𝐟𝐚𝐦𝐢𝐥𝐢𝐚𝐫, 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐝𝐢𝐝 𝐬𝐡𝐞 𝐤𝐧𝐨𝐰 𝐡𝐢𝐦 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦? 𝐒𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝𝐧'𝐭 𝐪𝐮𝐢𝐭𝐞 𝐫𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐦𝐛𝐞𝐫. "𝐖𝐡𝐨 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮?" 𝐒𝐡𝐞 𝐪𝐮𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐞𝐝, 𝐧𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐚𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐞𝐲𝐞𝐬 𝐨𝐟𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐦𝐚𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐨𝐝 𝐛𝐞𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐡𝐞𝐫. "𝐖𝐞𝐥𝐥 𝐰𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝𝐧'𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐤𝐧𝐨𝐰." 𝐇𝐞 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐝. "𝐄𝐱𝐜𝐮𝐬𝐞 𝐦𝐞?" 𝐒𝐡𝐞 𝐥𝐨𝐨𝐤𝐞𝐝 𝐚𝐭 𝐡𝐢𝐦 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐟𝐮𝐬𝐞𝐝 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐨𝐟𝐟𝐞𝐧𝐟𝐞𝐝. 𝐇𝐞 𝐬𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐞𝐝, 𝐜𝐡𝐮𝐜𝐤𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠. "𝐈 𝐚𝐦 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐆𝐨𝐛𝐥𝐢𝐧 𝐊𝐢𝐧𝐠. 𝐖𝐡𝐨 𝐝𝐢𝐝 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐤 𝐈 𝐚𝐦?"

𝐒𝐡𝐞 𝐡𝐮𝐟𝐟𝐞𝐝, 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐮𝐩. "𝐀 𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐨𝐦 𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐫 𝐰𝐡𝐨 𝐤𝐢𝐝𝐧𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐞𝐝 𝐦𝐞, 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐝 𝐦𝐲  𝐜𝐥𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐬, 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐥𝐚𝐢𝐝 𝐦𝐞 𝐢𝐧 𝐚 𝐛𝐞𝐝 𝐨𝐟 𝐟𝐥𝐨𝐰𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐰𝐡𝐨 𝐰𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐤𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐦𝐞." 𝐒𝐡𝐞 𝐫𝐞𝐩𝐥𝐢𝐞𝐝 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐩𝐥𝐞𝐭𝐞𝐥𝐲 𝐬𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐨𝐮𝐬. 𝐇𝐞 𝐥𝐚𝐮𝐠𝐡𝐞𝐝 "𝐍𝐨𝐰 𝐰𝐡𝐲 𝐰𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐈 𝐝𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭?" 𝐇𝐞 𝐬𝐦𝐢𝐥𝐞𝐝. "𝐈 𝐝𝐨𝐧'𝐭 𝐤𝐧𝐨𝐰." 𝐒𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐡𝐢𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐝, 𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐲 𝐜𝐮𝐫𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐞𝐥𝐟 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐛𝐞𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐰𝐫𝐨𝐧𝐠. "𝐈 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐧𝐨 𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐚. 𝐈 𝐝𝐨𝐧'𝐭 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐧 𝐤𝐧𝐨𝐰 𝐰𝐡𝐲 𝐈'𝐦 𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞." 𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐥𝐨𝐭𝐭𝐞 𝐞𝐱𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐝. "𝐖𝐞𝐥𝐥 𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐥𝐨𝐭𝐭𝐞, 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐰𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐰𝐢𝐬𝐡𝐞𝐝 𝐚𝐰𝐚𝐲. 𝐒𝐨 𝐧𝐨𝐰 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞. 𝐈 𝐣𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐧𝐞𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐟𝐢𝐠𝐮𝐫𝐞 𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐝𝐨 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐲𝐨𝐮. 𝐓𝐮𝐫𝐧 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐨 𝐚 𝐠𝐨𝐛𝐥𝐢𝐧, 𝐦𝐚𝐤𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐦𝐲 𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐥 𝐬𝐞𝐫𝐯𝐚𝐧𝐭..." 𝐇𝐞 𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐢𝐥𝐞𝐝 𝐨𝐟𝐟, 𝐡𝐨𝐥𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐜𝐡𝐢𝐧. "𝐅𝐢𝐠𝐮𝐫𝐞 𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐝𝐨 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐦𝐞?! 𝐈 𝐰𝐚𝐧𝐧𝐚 𝐠𝐨 𝐡𝐨𝐦𝐞!" 𝐒𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐭𝐞𝐝. "𝐈'𝐦 𝐚𝐟𝐫𝐚𝐢𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭'𝐬 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐩𝐨𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐛𝐥𝐞 𝐦𝐲 𝐝𝐞𝐚𝐫. 𝐒𝐞𝐞, 𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐧𝐨 𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐢𝐬 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐨 𝐬𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐦𝐲 𝐥𝐚𝐛𝐲𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐡, 𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐛𝐞𝐥𝐨𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐨 𝐦𝐞 𝐧𝐨𝐰."

𝐇𝐞𝐫 𝐣𝐚𝐰 𝐝𝐫𝐨𝐩𝐩𝐞𝐝. 𝐒𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐚𝐤, 𝐃𝐚𝐦𝐦𝐢𝐭! 𝐒𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐲𝐞𝐥𝐥! 𝐁𝐮𝐭 𝐬𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝𝐧'𝐭. 𝐇𝐞𝐫 𝐥𝐢𝐩𝐬 𝐰𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝𝐧'𝐭 𝐦𝐨𝐯𝐞, & 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐫𝐨𝐚𝐭 𝐦𝐚𝐝𝐞 𝐧𝐨 𝐧𝐨𝐢𝐬𝐞. "𝐂𝐨𝐦𝐞, 𝐥𝐞𝐭 𝐮𝐬 𝐠𝐞𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐭𝐨 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐫𝐨𝐨𝐦." 𝐇𝐞 𝐭𝐨𝐨𝐤 𝐚𝐡𝐨𝐥𝐝 𝐨𝐟 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐝 & 𝐦𝐚𝐝𝐞 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐰𝐚𝐥𝐤 𝐛𝐞𝐬𝐢𝐝𝐞 𝐡𝐢𝐦. 𝐇𝐞𝐫 𝐟𝐚𝐜𝐞, 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐮𝐩 𝐚𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐮𝐝𝐝𝐞𝐧 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐚𝐜𝐭. 𝐒𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐭𝐮𝐝𝐢𝐞𝐝 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐟𝐚𝐜𝐞, 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐦𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐬, & 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐧𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐬𝐦𝐬. 𝐉𝐚𝐫𝐞𝐭𝐡, 𝐟𝐞𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐠𝐚𝐳𝐞 𝐚𝐥𝐨𝐧𝐠 𝐡𝐢𝐦, 𝐬𝐩𝐨𝐤𝐞 𝐮𝐩 "𝐘𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠." 𝐇𝐞 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐬𝐢𝐦𝐩𝐥𝐲, 𝐨𝐩𝐞𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐥𝐞 𝐝𝐨𝐨𝐫. "𝐒𝐨𝐫𝐫𝐲, 𝐈 𝐣𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐜𝐚𝐧'𝐭 𝐬𝐡𝐚𝐤𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐟𝐞𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐰𝐞'𝐯𝐞 𝐦𝐞𝐭 𝐛𝐞𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐞." 𝐉𝐚𝐫𝐞𝐭𝐡'𝐬 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐭 𝐝𝐫𝐨𝐩𝐩𝐞𝐝 𝐚𝐬 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐦𝐞𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐬 𝐟𝐥𝐞𝐝 𝐛𝐚𝐜𝐤 𝐭𝐨 𝐡𝐢𝐦. 𝐇𝐞 𝐝𝐢𝐝𝐧'𝐭 𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐰 𝐢𝐭. "𝐈 𝐝𝐨𝐧'𝐭 𝐛𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐞𝐯𝐞 𝐬𝐨, 𝐧𝐨𝐰 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐞 𝐢𝐧𝐬𝐢𝐝𝐞." 𝐇𝐞 𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐚𝐛𝐫𝐮𝐩𝐭𝐥𝐲, 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐟𝐮𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐥𝐨𝐭𝐭𝐞. 𝐇𝐚𝐝 𝐬𝐡𝐞 𝐝𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐰𝐫𝐨𝐧𝐠? 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐥𝐤 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐫𝐨𝐨𝐦 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐬𝐢𝐥𝐞𝐧𝐭. 𝐄𝐯𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐮𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐲, 𝐚𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐞𝐧𝐝 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐡𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐰𝐚𝐲 𝐨𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝟐𝐧𝐝 𝐟𝐥𝐨𝐨𝐫, 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐰𝐨 𝐥𝐚𝐫𝐠𝐞 𝐬𝐚𝐠𝐞 𝐠𝐫𝐞𝐞𝐧 𝐝𝐨𝐨𝐫𝐬. 𝐉𝐚𝐫𝐞𝐭𝐡 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐞𝐝 𝐚𝐭 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐜𝐢𝐩𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧. "𝐆𝐨 𝐨𝐧." 𝐇𝐞 𝐬𝐚𝐢𝐝, 𝐚 𝐬𝐦𝐢𝐥𝐞 𝐜𝐫𝐞𝐞𝐩𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐮𝐩 𝐨𝐧 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐟𝐚𝐜𝐞. 𝐒𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐮𝐬𝐡𝐞𝐝 𝐨𝐩𝐞𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐝𝐨𝐨𝐫𝐬, 𝐬𝐥𝐨𝐰𝐥𝐲 𝐫𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚 𝐥𝐚𝐫𝐠𝐞 𝐫𝐨𝐨𝐦 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐰𝐡𝐢𝐭𝐞 & 𝐠𝐫𝐞𝐞𝐧 𝐭𝐫𝐢𝐦𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚𝐥𝐨𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐬. 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐫𝐨𝐨𝐦 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐦𝐨𝐬𝐭𝐥𝐲 𝐠𝐫𝐞𝐞𝐧 & 𝐰𝐡𝐢𝐭𝐞. 𝐒𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐥𝐤𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨𝐰𝐚𝐫𝐝𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐛𝐞𝐝. 𝐒𝐡𝐞 𝐛𝐮𝐧𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐟𝐚𝐛𝐫𝐢𝐜 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐡𝐢𝐭𝐞 𝐜𝐚𝐧𝐨𝐩𝐲 𝐢𝐧 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐝. "𝐖𝐨𝐰" 𝐬𝐡𝐞 𝐦𝐨𝐮𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐝. 𝐅𝐞𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐡𝐞𝐞𝐭𝐬. "𝐒𝐢𝐥𝐤." 𝐒𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐡𝐢𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐝. "𝐎𝐧𝐥𝐲 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐛𝐞𝐬𝐭 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐦𝐲 𝐂𝐡-" 𝐉𝐚𝐫𝐞𝐭𝐡 𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐩𝐩𝐞𝐝 𝐡𝐢𝐦𝐬𝐞𝐥𝐟 "𝐌𝐲 𝐚𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐧𝐭" 𝐒𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐡𝐢𝐩𝐩𝐞𝐝 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐝 𝐢𝐧 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐝𝐢𝐫𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧. "𝐀𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐧𝐭?" 𝐒𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐟𝐢𝐫𝐦𝐞𝐝. 𝐇𝐞 𝐧𝐨𝐝𝐝𝐞𝐝. "𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐬𝐡𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐝𝐨 𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐭𝐚𝐬𝐤𝐬 𝐈 𝐝𝐨𝐧'𝐭 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐝𝐨. 𝐒𝐮𝐜𝐡 𝐚𝐬, 𝐠𝐨𝐛𝐥𝐢𝐧 𝐚𝐟𝐟𝐚𝐢𝐫𝐬, 𝐜𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐚𝐟𝐟𝐚𝐢𝐫𝐬, 𝐜𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠, 𝐦𝐚𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐬𝐮𝐫𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐠𝐨𝐛𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐬 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐢𝐧 𝐨𝐫𝐝𝐞𝐫." 𝐇𝐞 𝐬𝐮𝐠𝐠𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐝. "𝐀𝐧𝐝 𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐝𝐨?" 𝐒𝐡𝐞 𝐪𝐮𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐞𝐝, 𝐭𝐚𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚 𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐩 𝐭𝐨𝐰𝐚𝐫𝐝𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠. "𝐈 𝐝𝐨𝐧'𝐭 𝐛𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐞𝐯𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐢𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐲 𝐨𝐟 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐜𝐞𝐫𝐧, 𝐥𝐨𝐯𝐞." 𝐇𝐞 𝐩𝐚𝐮𝐬𝐞𝐝, 𝐬𝐞𝐞𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐟𝐚𝐜𝐞 𝐟𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐢𝐧 𝐝𝐢𝐬𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐨𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭. 𝐅𝐞𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐛𝐚𝐝 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐛𝐞𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐬𝐧𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐲 𝐡𝐞 𝐛𝐥𝐮𝐫𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐨𝐮𝐭 "𝐊𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐝𝐨𝐦 𝐚𝐟𝐟𝐚𝐢𝐫𝐬, 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐢𝐬 𝐚𝐥𝐥. 𝐍𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐨 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐫𝐲 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐭𝐭𝐲 𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐭𝐥𝐞 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐝 𝐚𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐝𝐞𝐚𝐫." 𝐒𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐡𝐢𝐦 𝐜𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐝𝐞𝐚𝐫, 𝐢𝐭 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐬𝐨 𝐟𝐚𝐦𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐢𝐚𝐫 𝐭𝐨 𝐡𝐞𝐫, 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐚 𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐠𝐨𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐧 𝐬𝐨𝐧𝐠, 𝐨𝐫 𝐚 𝐝𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐦 𝐬𝐡𝐞 𝐨𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐡𝐚𝐝. 𝐒𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐚𝐭 𝐝𝐨𝐰𝐧 𝐨𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐛𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐡 𝐢𝐧 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐧𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐛𝐞𝐝. "𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐢𝐬 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐧𝐚𝐦𝐞?" 𝐒𝐡𝐞 𝐚𝐬𝐤𝐞𝐝 𝐜𝐮𝐫𝐢𝐨𝐮𝐬𝐥𝐲. 𝐉𝐚𝐫𝐞𝐭𝐡 𝐟𝐞𝐥𝐭 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐭 𝐬𝐡𝐚𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐫. 𝐒𝐡𝐞 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐲 𝐝𝐢𝐝 𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐠𝐞𝐭. '𝐎𝐟 𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐬𝐞 𝐬𝐡𝐞 𝐝𝐢𝐝' 𝐡𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡𝐭. '𝐈 𝐦𝐚𝐝𝐞 𝐬𝐮𝐫𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐢𝐭'. 𝐇𝐞 𝐩𝐚𝐮𝐬𝐞𝐝. "𝐉𝐚𝐫𝐞𝐭𝐡.. M𝐲 𝐝𝐞𝐚𝐫.. 𝐌𝐲 𝐧𝐚𝐦𝐞 𝐢𝐬 𝐉𝐚𝐫𝐞𝐭𝐡." 𝐖𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐬𝐡𝐞 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐝 𝐡𝐢𝐦 𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐚𝐤 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐧𝐚𝐦𝐞, 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐭 𝐝𝐫𝐨𝐩𝐩𝐞𝐝, 𝐬𝐡𝐞 𝐤𝐧𝐞𝐰 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐧𝐚𝐦𝐞. 𝐘𝐞𝐭 𝐬𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐨��𝐥𝐝𝐧'𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐤 𝐨𝐟 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐬𝐡𝐞 𝐤𝐧𝐞𝐰 𝐢𝐭 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦. "𝐖𝐞𝐥𝐥, " 𝐡𝐞 𝐛𝐫𝐨𝐤𝐞 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐢𝐧 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡𝐭. "𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐦𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐭, 𝐲𝐨𝐮'𝐥𝐥 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐚 𝐛𝐮𝐬𝐲 𝐝𝐚𝐲 𝐭𝐨𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐫𝐨𝐰." 𝐖𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐡𝐞 𝐥𝐞𝐟𝐭 𝐬𝐰𝐢𝐟𝐭𝐥𝐲, 𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐞𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐬𝐬. 𝐖𝐡𝐲 𝐡𝐚𝐝 𝐡𝐞 𝐠𝐫𝐨𝐰𝐧 𝐬𝐨 𝐜𝐨𝐥𝐝? 𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐡𝐚𝐝 𝐬𝐡𝐞 𝐝𝐨𝐧𝐞? 𝐀𝐧𝐝 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐝𝐢𝐝 𝐬𝐡𝐞 𝐤𝐧𝐨𝐰 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐧𝐚𝐦𝐞 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦? 𝐒𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐚𝐭 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐚𝐰𝐡𝐢𝐥𝐞, 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐮𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐲 𝐠𝐫𝐨𝐰𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐢𝐫𝐞𝐝. 𝐒𝐡𝐞 𝐥𝐨𝐨𝐤𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐝𝐫𝐚𝐮𝐫𝐬, 𝐟𝐢𝐧𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚 𝐬𝐥𝐞𝐞𝐩 𝐠𝐨𝐰𝐧. 𝐀𝐟𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐢𝐧𝐠, 𝐬𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐥𝐢𝐦𝐛𝐞𝐝 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐛𝐢𝐠 𝐛𝐞𝐝, 𝐢𝐭 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐰𝐚𝐲 𝐭𝐨𝐨 𝐛𝐢𝐠 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐡𝐞𝐫. 𝐋𝐲𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞, 𝐬𝐡𝐞 𝐟𝐞𝐥𝐭 𝐚𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡 𝐬𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐦𝐢𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠. 𝐒𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐨𝐧𝐞.

𝐁𝐮𝐭 𝐬𝐡𝐞 𝐝𝐢𝐝𝐧'𝐭 𝐤𝐧𝐨𝐰 𝐰𝐡𝐨.