Mystery: VENOMOUS VENGEANCE: (Mystery, Suspense, Thriller, Suspense true Crime Thriller London ) (Suspense Thriller Mystery Action Short stories True crime)

by STEPHEN HILL

  "Yes, my issue is with you," I admitted. "Congrats, you're smart enough to realize that." Christian rolled his eyes. "Why don't you like me?" "Because-" "Don't say it's because I ruined your life," he cut in. "I've been nothing but nice to you since we've met. I've tried to be your brother. It's not easy and honestly, I'm tired. I'm tired of dealing with you."

  My eyes widened, shocked by Christian's words. This was the first time he talked back to me, and surprisingly I was happy about that. One sided hate kind of sucked, so I was glad I was angering Christian. Glad that he wouldn't be the nice guy anymore. But, I still didn't know what to say.

  "Because," I began angrily. "Because... Because." My anger diminished slightly, realizing Christian was right. He had been nothing but nice to me. Nothing but friendly. And he tried to get along with me too. So why? Why did I hate him? "You don't hate me," Christian said gently, seeing I wouldn't reply. "You're just angry." With those words, my anger returned. I hated it when Christian acted like I was such a fragile thing. That I had these issues that he could possibly resolve by befriending me. It was annoying.

  "You know what Christian!" I shouted. "I hate you because you're perfect!" He blinked. "Perfect?" My cheeks heated up as I realized what I said. I had just called him perfect, but in my eyes that was not a compliment. It was one of the worst things you could be. "Yes, perfect," I snapped. "Everything is given to you on a silver platter and it pisses me off. You don't deserve it. There's absolutely nothing special about you, yet everything comes easy to you." "Everything doesn't come easy to me," he said, eyes darkening. "What are you talking about?" I laughed bitterly. "You don't even see it. Wow."

  Christian took another small step closer to me, so that we were an inch apart from each other. I nearly jumped as all I could see were his bright, blue eyes. His vibrant eyes that expressed anger for the first time ever.

  "Never call me perfect," he growled. "And I don't know why you're talking. You're far from perfect. You expect everything to be given to you on a silver platter, yet you don't deserve it. With your attitude, you don't deserve anything you have in your life."

  My eyes widened as his words sunk in deep. For some reason, they actually hurt. Even though I couldn't care less about what he thought, his words hurt. I found myself looking down at the wooden floor as my heart ached from the honesty in his tone.

  Christian seemed to realize something because he suddenly stepped away from me. I looked up to see him now a meter away from me, his eyes glistening with sympathy. My gut twisted as I realized he pitied me, but I wasn't in the mood to fight with him anymore. I just wanted to be alone.

  "Autumn, I'm sorry," he said, eyes softening. "Just, ignore what I said. I-" "Don't say you didn't mean it," I cut in, throat clenching as he winced. "I know you did." "Let me take you shopping," he suddenly pleaded. "Let me make it up to you." I shook my head and just walked away.

  Thankfully, he didn't call after to me. He seemed to hate me, just like how I hated him. But it seemed like he had reasons. Reasons, I lacked when it came to him. I felt like screaming as I slammed my bedroom door shut, knowing I officially detested Christian.

  I exited the car, tired of hearing my mom and Christian talking. To my disappointment, I heard Christian's footsteps behind me. They were nearing me I could tell, so I picked up my pace. For some reason this city had grade thirteen. An extra grade that gave students an extra year to decide the rest of their lives. I had always thought it was a good idea, but then Christian appeared in my life. He was in grade thirteen, which meant I would have to see him at school too. I felt like God was punishing me at this point in my life.

  Thankfully, I couldn't hear Christian's footsteps as I entered the school. The hallways were already packed with teenagers. Teenagers who were screaming, flirting, texting, and goofing around. I found myself smiling at the sight, glad that I was back at the only place I felt like I mattered. As I walked through the hallways to my locker, I spotted it at the end of a crowded hallway. Dodging past people, I eventually made it to my locker. I smiled and opened it instantly, wanting to put my bag away.

  Before I could put my bag away, I was suddenly embraced from behind. I rolled my eyes and smiled, knowing who it was. "Autumn!" Dee, my best friend exclaimed. "Oh my god! I've missed you!" I pried her arms off of me and turned around, grinning. Her green eyes were bright, alive as they shined with excitement. Only then did I realize how much I missed her.

  "I missed you too," I admitted, still smiling. She hugged me again, curly blond hair flying everywhere as she hugged me tightly. This time I hugged her back, happy to see her again. She had been my best friend since I was ten and I loved her. Eventually letting go of me, she said frowning, "What have you been doing this summer? You were always too busy to hang out."

  "Sorry." I sighed. "My mom was forcing me to bond with my new step-dad and step-brother." "Oh yeah, I forgot. How are they?" "Horrible." I scowled. "I hate them. Especially Christian, my step-brother." Dee frowned. "Why? Did he do something to you?"

  "No." I sighed tiredly. "Let's not talk about it." Shrugging, Dee agreed. We then caught up and I found myself smiling my first real smile in a while. I realized I really needed school. Just because it gave me a vacation from my ruined family.

  Dee and I were standing in line, waiting to buy some fries. By now we had caught up on each other's lives and I was satisfied with my day. My classes were awesome and my friends were all their awesome selves. Although, the best part of today was that I didn't see Christian. Not yet, at least. "Who is that?" Dee suddenly asked, sounding amazed. "He's hot." "Who?" I asked curiously, looking around. "That guy." She pointed to the corner of the cafeteria. "The one dressed in black." My eyes flew to where she pointed and I gasped. I gasped as I saw the boy I detested - Christian, standing alone in the corner looking like a lost puppy. I rolled my eyes, seeing how innocent he looked. "That guy is my step-brother," I snapped. "The guy I hate."

  "What?" Dee's eyes widened. "He's hot. Like, really hot. How could you hate such a beautiful creature?" I scoffed, suddenly feeling annoyed. "He's not hot." "Oh yes he is hun. That boy is fine." If this were any other case, I would have laughed. Gave in even. But this was Christian we were talking about. The guy I blew up to a day ago. The guy who snapped back at me. We seemed destined to hate each other from the start, and there was no way I'd let Dee get at him.

  "Well he's off limits, okay," I said with finality. "Pretend he doesn't exist." Dee frowned. "You really do hate him, don't you?" "I do," I said, tiredly. "Let's end the conversation at that." Dee didn't seem happy, but she agreed. We - thankfully - changed the topic to lighter things.

  Things that didn't involve him. I found myself relaxing at that. After buying our food, we walked to our table. The exact table we had been sitting at for the past two years. My other best friend, Cheryl was already sitting there. "Autumn! Dee!" Cheryl exclaimed once we reached the table. "I've missed you guys." I smiled and Dee squealed. Before I knew it we were all embracing each other thanks to Dee. I couldn't help but hug them back. After not seeing them for two months, I was able to suck up my hate for touchiness. After letting go of each other and sitting down, Cheryl asked, "How are you Autumn? It's been forever."

  "Good, I guess," I replied, smiling. "How's your new family?" "Cheryl!" Dee exclaimed. "Don't ask her about her new family. It's a sensitive topic."

  My eyes narrowed at Dee. Even though I knew she was trying to be a good friend, I still felt annoyed. Deciding to ignore what Dee said, I said to Cheryl, "They're whatever. I prefer them gone." Cheryl's eyes widened, surprised by my brutal honesty. It wasn't that I was innocent around my friends, but I was never an asshole. That was, until my mom married Stephen.

  "Are they that bad?" Cheryl asked, still shocked. I nodded my head. "The son of my step-dad is the worst." "Am I now?" I tried not to show my surprise as I whipped my head around. To my utter disgust, Christian was standing in front of me, raising an eyebrow. I scoffed.

  "What are you doing here?" I de
manded. "We're supposed to act like we don't know each other. Remember?" Christian sighed. He looked exhausted as he shook his head. As usual, I couldn't care less. "Autumn, I'm not looking for a fight," he said tiredly. "Your mom called me. She's wants us to take the bus home." "What?" My jaw dropped. Christian shrugged. "She and my dad are going somewhere."

  "They always have to go somewhere!" I snapped. "Wait... Why did she call you? I have a phone too." Christian shrugged again. This time, he looked uneasy as he looked away from me. "I don't know." "Okay, now leave. I was having a good day." Without another word he obeyed and walked off. I watched him leave the cafeteria, feeling uneasy. She was my mom, yet she called Christian. Christian, the boy who didn't have a single drop of her DNA in him. I didn't understand. "Autumn, are you okay?" I heard Dee ask. I quickly turned back around to face Dee and Cheryl. Both of them were staring at me with wide eyes, causing me to blush. I had forgotten about them.

  "Yeah, I'm fine," I replied, picking up a French fry to plop into my mouth. "You really do hate that boy, don't you?" Cheryl asked. I nodded. "I do. I really do." "Why? He's hotter up close," Dee said jokingly. I glared at her, not wanting to talk about Christian. Especially, about his looks in a positive way.

  "Oh Autumn." Was all Cheryl said after I looked away from Dee. "I'm sorry." I ignored her and focused on my food, wanting to disappear. My mom loved Christian more than me and now I had acted like a bitch in front of my friends. Life seemed to be getting harder to deal with every day.

  I found myself grunting in disapproval as I heard the front door click shut from my bedroom. Stephen and my mom were going out again, which meant Christian and I was home alone. Just great.

  Grabbing a manga book, I began reading Naruto. I was almost done the series and a bit sad about it. In my opinion, Naruto was the best manga story ever created. It might actually have the best storyline too. Suddenly, I heard a knock on the door. Groaning, I knew who it was as I got up and walked to the door. Annoyance filled me as I walked there. I wasn't in the mood to talk to Christian.

  Once at the door, I opened it and said flatly, "What?" Christian's eyes twinkled as he stared down at me. He stared at me expressionless, making me suddenly feel nervous as his blue eyes held my brown eyes. I couldn't help but look away. "I said what," I snapped, annoyed as I looked away from him.

  He sighed. "Are you hungry?" "No." I looked back at him. "I'm not." That was a bit of a lie. I was kind of hungry since I hadn't eaten since lunch, but there was no way I'd admit that to Christian. Not when it would mean he would probably try to help me.

  "Are you sure?" he asked. "I was planning on ordering pizza." "I'm not hungry," I insisted, not bothering to hide my annoyance. He shrugged. "Suit yourself." As he began to turn around, I slammed the door shut. Before I knew it I huffed, feeling the warmth of my boiled blood flow through me.

  Christian had a way of doing that easily. Sighing, I realized I should take a bath. Christian had already stressed me out, so a bath sounded like a good idea. Smiling to myself, I got the appropriate showering items and left the room. I then entered the washroom beside my bedroom and closed the door. Going to the tub, I opened the tap to fill the tub with warm water. No matter the weather I always bathed in warm water. That was just how I was.

  When half of the bathtub was filled with water, I pulled off my hair tie. My long brown hair fell over my shoulders and I sighed as I began to take off my shirt. It was almost sad that just to relax I had to take a bath. Life was never like that before Stephen and Christian came into my life. "Autumn!" I suddenly heard Christian yell as my shirt was about to come over my head. Frowning, I quickly pulled my shirt down. I felt like I heard him yell my name clearly, but I felt like I had also imagined it. Christian and I never talked. Only once in a while when I'd snap at him when he tried to be nice to me. There was no way he's call me over to him like this.

  "Autumn! I need your help!" I heard him shout again. My frown grew as I quickly opened the washroom door and ran out. Before I knew it I was racing down the stairs and into the kitchen. The now smoky kitchen, I have to add. Coughing lightly, I rushed to where Christian stood at the oven.

  "What the hell happened?" I asked, eyes tearing up as smoke hit my eyes. "What did you do?" Christian's eyes widened in panic. "I don't know. I was trying to make macaroni and cheese and then... I messed up." "You messed up real bad!" My eyes flew to the pot overflowing with water and smoke. I realized the stove was still on and quickly turned it off, coughing once again. "You idiot," I said, grabbing the pot off of the oven. "Why didn't you turn off the stove?" "I don't know," he said, eyes still wide with panic. "I don't know how to cook." I shook my head and then exclaimed, "Useless! Go open a window at least!"

  Christian obeyed and rushed over to a window, opening it quickly. I rushed over to the sink and placed the pot in it, hoping it would cool down there. Quickly, I then grabbed a dish towel and began fanning the place. Only then did I realize my heart was racing. As I fanned, I noticed Christian walking up to me. I chose to ignore him as I fanned, wanting to just get rid of the problem and leave. The whole event had left me tired. "Do you need help?" Christian asked. I shook my head. "I'm fine." "Will the house be okay?" he then asked anxiously.

  Hearing the tone of his voice, I looked at him. Really looked at him for the first time since I got downstairs. Only now did I realize how panic he looked. His eyes were wide and bluer than usual. His jaw was clenched, seeming to hold back any feelings of fear. The entire sight of it suddenly amused me. I found myself fighting back a smile, but it soon appeared on my face. Christian must of noticed because he asked, "Why are you smiling?" "This really scared you, didn't it?" I replied. Blush filled his cheeks. "Kind of... Yeah, I don't want my dad murdering me for burning down his new wife's home."

  My smile grew and I suddenly felt annoyed with myself. I couldn't believe I was showing Christian a positive emotion like this. It was almost sickening. Looking around, I realized the place was almost clear of smoke now. The windows had really helped clear the place out. Sighing to myself, I realized happily that I could go back to my bath. Oh no.

  "Christian!" I exclaimed, throwing the dish towel away. "My bath!" "What?" he asked, confused. Ignoring him, I quickly ran upstairs and nearly slipped at the top step. I gasped as I realized the bathtub had overflowed. Water was everywhere and I had no idea how I would get to the bathtub without slipping.

  "I'll get the tap," I heard Christian say behind me. Before I could say anything he began walking to the washroom. Luckily, it didn't seem like a huge amount of water had flooded out, but it was enough for me to get into huge trouble. I hoped I would be able to clean everything up. Feeling my heartbeat accelerate, I nervously watched as Christian neared the washroom door.

  His sneakers squeaked against the ground and I winced as he lost his balance for a second. I couldn't believe he was doing this, knowing he could break his head by falling. Suddenly, he did fall. "Shit!" he shouted, slipping forward and landing on his face. I winced as a thud echoed out from him. My eyes then widened as I realized he wasn't moving. He was just lying there, still. His face firmly planted to the ground.

  Taking a cautious step forward, I asked nervously, "Christian, are you okay?" Suddenly pushing himself up, he looked over to me and grinned. "I'm great." I blinked. I had no idea what was wrong with this boy at this point, but I couldn't care right now. The tap needed to be closed. "Close the tap then!" I exclaimed.

  Still grinning, he nodded and walked into the washroom. Feeling even more nervous, knowing he had a greater chance of slipping again, I began to carefully walk to the washroom. My feet were soaked as I walked, but I was glad to notice I had great balance. It didn't seem like I would be falling anytime soon, but I needed to make sure Christian wouldn't. I couldn't be the blame for his death. As I neared the washroom, I heard the tap go silent. A smile flew to my lips as I realized Christian had did it. He had closed the tap. Now all I had to do was mop the place up so my mom wouldn't kill me. Waiting near the do
or, I saw Christian step out of the washroom. He was grinning, looking completely soaked in his white t-shirt. My eyes flew to his body, noticing that his defined body was now visible due to the water. Blush crept into my cheeks as I took in just how muscular he actually was. Looking away, I said awkwardly, "Thank you." "Shit!" Was his reply.

  I looked at him quickly, wondering why he said that. My eyes then widened as I realized he was falling towards me. I then gasped as I fell along with him, landing hard on my back. Grunting, I then felt Christian's hard body on top of mine, making my heart skip a beat for a second. Quickly propping himself up on his elbows so that only his legs were touching mine, he said with fear in his eyes, "Shit, Autumn. I'm so sorry. I... You can push me down to make things even."

  I studied his face for a second. His face that was only a foot away from mines. His eyes were huge with fear evident in them and his jaw was dropped a little. He looked both surprised and terrified, a weird mix. Staring at the eighteen year old boy who seemed terrified of me, I suddenly began to laugh. A real, joyful laugh. As I laughed Christian just stared at me. At first he looked confused, then weirded out, and then he started laughing too. He laughed his own warm laugh that made me laugh even more. Only when I realized I needed to clean the place up, did I stop laughing.

  "Christian, could you get off of me?" I asked. "Oh, yeah," he said, blushing slightly. He quickly stood up and I followed, now standing in front of him. I was still smiling and so was he. Unlike me though, he seemed confused. "I need to clean up," I said, knowing I really did.

  "I can help," he offered. I shook my head. "You need to clean up your own mess." He smiled sheepishly. "True." I turned around, knowing I needed to fetch a mop. Before I could walk off though, I suddenly felt a hand clamp around my upper arm. A large, warm hand. I turned around slowly, finding myself feeling warm as I now looked at Christian. His blue eyes also looked warm, causing me to look down at the wet ground.