3 - Nathan

3

Nathan

Kate’s eyes were fucking glowing. They were fucking glowing. Growing brighter every moment as she went off on me. I was caught between backing away and moving closer. The red glow was becoming more intense, filling my room with fire-like light. Kate’s skin - which was more sunken and dull but no paler than the rich brown I was used to - should have been flushed red, but the only redness I could see was the reflection of her eyes like lanterns with red lenses.

She was beautiful when she was angry before, but now, fangs flashing, eyes - gods, her eyes - glowing hot and intense, she was breathtaking.

“Kate-” she cut me off with her rant, not even seeming to hear me.

“Listen, babe, I-”

“-you fucking cunt ass bitch! You selfish conceited whore!”

“Katherine-” big mistake. I knew as soon as I said it that that would only make this worse, but she didn’t seem to hear me. She was in her own head, seeming to want to cry even as her deceased body refused her the right.

And then she was gone, storming off in a rage without listening to a word from me.

I stepped out of my room a minute later to find my brother in the hall, a head taller than me, his chiseled features arranged into the sort of expression big brothers give when they’re waiting for you to explain your own fuck-up, eyebrows raised, mouth somewhere between an amused smirk and a concerned frown.

Jeremy waited.

I shook my head.

“You really pissed her off,” he commented.

“Doesn’t take much,” I joked.

His eyebrows shot up to his hairline. “Oh?”

I brushed past him.

He pushed off the wall where he leaned and followed closely behind me, shoving his hands in his pockets as I made my way to the front door. I hardly spared him a glance as I dodged clutter in the gloomy hallway and paused by the coat rack to grab my jacket. I glanced at hers. I’d taken the baby blue coat off of her when I took her back here. The last thing anyone would want would be to take up uncomfortable and overheating after the transformation she just went through.

I grabbed the coat. It could get chilly and, besides, her meds were in the pockets and…would she still need those? Would they still work? She may as well have them either way. I’d take her to the coven tomorrow to ask questions.

“You’re going to go after her?”

I shrugged.

“She’s going to eat you alive.”

“I’m not alive.”

“She’s going to eat you dead then.”

I rolled my eyes. “She’ll cool down.”

“What did you even do, dude? I don’t think I’ve ever seen Kate that pissed off.” He leaned against the wall again - gods, he loved to lean against walls, what a prick - and crossed his arms.

“Nothing.” I brush him off.

“That bad?”

A twinge of annoyance sparks between my eyes. “No, nothing bad.”

Jeremy didn’t seem to believe me. He grabbed his own jacket and brushed past me to grab the door. He held it open for me. “Come on, I’ll walk you.”

“I don’t even know where she is.” I don’t want him to come. This was between me and Kate, and I could probably calm her down better on my own. I was her boyfriend, after all. She loved me, and I loved her, she couldn’t stay mad at me for too long. She never really did. Except for that one time she stayed pissed at me for several weeks after she found out that I’d ratted our mutual friend - Jenna - out for cheating. I’d only done it because she was being a bitch, and we were in fourth grade!

Kate and I weren’t together then, and she’d matured over time. She wouldn’t stay mad at me for more than a few minutes. Once she remembered how much she hated magic classes she’d thank me for making her exempt from them.

“We’ll find her,” Jeremy said, “Where does she go when she’s mad?”

I hesitated. Where did she go? I searched my memory for every time I could remember her getting angry. At me, at anything, at nothing. Kate never seemed to not be a little angry, I realized. She was eminently combustible in a world of matches. Despite the eternally smoldering nature of her personality, she never seemed to run out of fuel.

But when she was especially angry? She just vanished. She’d never dream of letting me follow her. Even before I turned her, she had the wort of presence you cringe away from. Her heat was uncomfortable, her intensity nearly unbearable. And I loved it.

Jeremy snapped his fingers in front of my face. “Focus. Where does she go?”

I shrugged, “I don’t know.”

“She’s your girlfriend.”

I shrugged again, “She usually calms herself down.”

“You’re a shit boyfriend,” my brother commented, earning a shove from me.

“She’s just not very open-”

“She would be if she loved you.”

“-and she’s always like this anyway.”

Jeremy shook his head in disbelief. “Where does she feel calm?” he asked, dragging us back to the start of the conversation.

“I don’t know,” I said honestly, “She’s not really the calm type.”

“‘Not really the calm type’,” Jeremy stared at me. “She’s a person, Nathan, everyone is calm sometimes.”

“Not Kate.”

We found Kate at the lake.

The light from her eyes shined red on the mirror-still surface of the pool. It was a Moon Pool. Still, perfectly clear water in a clearing with marked stones all around the perfectly round perimeter. The grass surrounding was lush and green, and the tree line was several paces away from the edge of the water.

Kate knelt at the stone rim, tracing the markings lightly with her fingers. She had to be thirsty by now, but she showed no signs of restlessness. No signs of thirst. Her eyes shone brighter than they did when she was in my home, practically lighting up the pool.

It was Jeremy’s idea to come here, reasoning that she’d want to get away from people, and this place was abandoned when it wasn’t a holiday.

“What the fuck are you doing here?” she growled. A chill ran down my spine, and I froze. It was as though I was being stared down by a snarling wolf, my unlife in Kate’s rage-trembling hands.

“We’re here to see if you’re alright,” Jeremy said when I didn’t answer, though there was something off in his tone. He was staring at the pool, or maybe at the back of Kate’s head. He stepped forward. “Um, Kate, what happened?”

Kate tensed.

Jeremy and I stepped back.

“Go away.” Kate tapped the surface of the pool. It rippled out in rings, growing ever bigger. The sound of the tiny waves upon the rocks was deafening in the silence.

I hesitated, “Kate, I love you-”

“I said fuck off,” she interrupted me. Jeremy did as he was told.

“I’m sorry,” I wasn’t sure if it was a lie. Not like it mattered. Kate now had me pinned against the nearest tree. My head throbbed.

“I. Said. Go. Fuck. Yourself.” Her glowing glare bore into my eyes, which squinted away from the light.

I pushed her off of me and immediately pain erupted from my arm, and my face was shoved against the rough bark of the tree behind me. I hardly had time to process that before the bark was replaced by dirt and grass and Kate’s boot was pressing into my back. “You fucking glitter-thieving bitch,” she growled. I couldn’t even feel magic, it’s not like I could take it from her. I didn’t steal it from her. She loved me, and I loved her. Now we could be forever together-

Kate’s boot dug into my back. My arm throbbed. Maybe it was a bad idea to make her stronger. For a moment I thought she was going to rip my throat out. The tense silence suffocated my airless lungs, choking me like thick dust.

Then, she kicked me, and stormed off. “We’re done.”

“Wait,” my voice came out wheezy and weak. I propped myself up and tried to awkwardly climb to my feet, “I thought you loved me.” I was pleading, begging her to come back. It was finally sinking in. This wasn’t just one of her regular outbursts. This wasn’t something she was going to get over in a day or so. My future, my forever with her, they were in jeopardy.

She spun around to face me. The glaring light had faded somewhat. She stared at me, her expression twisting with rage and sadness and…something else.

“I’m a shit boyfriend,” I said, and I meant it. I’d fucked up. I’d fucked this up so bad. “I should have- I shouldn’t have turned you without waiting for you to ask. I knew I didn’t mean that much to you. I just….I hoped you really did love me.”

Kate examined me. “I do…” her voice broke. She was lying to me. Lying to make me feel better. I really was worthless. A tearless sob threatened to overtake me. I cradled my arm and fell to my knees.

When I looked up, Kate had disappeared.