Chapter 23: Chapter 23

Mary stepped closer to me. She was so close I could see the tiny veins in her angry eyes. "It is none of your business, Mary!" I shouted. My voice was trembling, but I tried to look brave. "What do you even want from me? Why can't you just leave me alone?"

Mary let out a low, mean laugh. "What do I want? That is simple, Amanda. I want you dead. That is all I want in this whole world. The only thing you can ever do to make me happy is to stop breathing and die."

I felt a cold wind blow across the balcony, but I didn't back down. "Fine," I replied, looking her right in the face. "I will die. But only after you go first. You should try dying today, Mary, and then maybe I will follow your footsteps. How does that sound?"

Mary’s face went dark. She looked like she wanted to slap me right there. "How did you push me like that at the practice?" she hissed. She was thinking about how I knocked her down on the stage. "How did a weak human girl like you get that much strength for a second?"

"Are you surprised?" I asked. I felt a tiny bit of power growing in my chest. "I thought you said you were the strongest girl in the pack. Are you scared of me now? Is the big bad wolf afraid of a little girl?"

Mary narrowed her eyes. "This girl... you are really hiding something, aren't you? You have a dark secret."

Suddenly, she rushed forward. She was too fast for me to move. She grabbed my hands with her strong grip and pulled them from behind my back. Her eyes went wide when she saw the red stains.

"Eww! Disgusting!" Mary shouted, pushing my hands away like they were trash. "You have blood on your hands? You were touching that dead monster? I wouldn't have expected anything better from a low person like you. You truly live up to my expectations. You are a freak."

I wiped my hands on my dress, not caring anymore. "Surprised? Did you think that was the secret weapon I used to push you down? Maybe you should be afraid of what you don't know, Mary. You might be starting a fight that you won't see the end of."

Mary laughed so hard she almost tripped. "The end of what? Your death? Or do you want to end up like that headless guy right there? Because I would be more than happy to put you in that same position. I would love to watch your head roll on these stones."

I looked her straight in the eyes. I didn't feel like a victim anymore. "Maybe you are the one who should be in that position, you fool," I said. My voice was cold like ice. "You are just a nuisance to everyone. You are intimidated by another woman's success. That is a big sign of low self-esteem, Mary. And apart from that, physically you are actually weak. You try to hide it by being loud, but it is all over you. You act like a strong bully, but deep down, you are just an empty, lonely bitch freak."

The air went silent. Mary’s face turned a deep, scary purple.

BAM!

Before I could breathe, Mary’s fist hit me right in the face. I went crashing onto the hard stone floor. My head hit the ground and everything went blurry for a second.

"How dare you!" Mary screamed. She jumped on top of me and started punching me again and again. Each hit felt like a hammer breaking my skin. "How dare you speak to me like that!"

Whack! Another punch hit my jaw. I started coughing up red blood. My mouth tasted like metal.

"Show me that power now, you bastard!" Mary yelled. She was hitting me so hard I felt like my bones were going to turn into dust. I was starting to lose my sight. Everything was turning black and gray. I couldn't breathe. I thought I was going to die right there on the balcony next to the dead vampire.

Then, something inside me snapped. It wasn't a thought. It was a reflex. It was something old and hungry.

As Mary raised her hand to hit me again, I moved. I grabbed her arm and pulled it toward my face. I opened my mouth and bit her hand with everything I had.

Mary let out a scream so loud it echoed across the whole square. It was a sound of pure pain. I didn't let go. I could feel my teeth burying deep into her thick flesh. I could taste her wolf blood. It was different from the dead man's blood. It was hot and wild.

I bit harder and harder, and I realized my teeth felt longer. Sharper.

Mary was hitting me with her other hand, trying to get me off, but I was like a locked trap.

I wanted more. I wanted to tear her apart.