The Haunted’s Kiss of Regret and Repentance

Angela approached Amy and the two had a stare down. Unfortunately, Amy was a lot shorter than Angela, so she just rolled her eyes in annoyance at her defeat.

“Wow, Angela, I never expected the infamous rebel to be back in the city. I thought your daddy had you thrown into a boarding school on a remote island or something.”

Amy’s sarcasm was thick, but I saw how Angela just smirked and walked towards me.

“Hey, Shyne, I didn’t know you were back. I guess we both chose the perfect time to come home.”

Angela ignored the annoyed Amy, and proceeded to hug my little sister.

“Izzy! I can’t believe that you’ve grown so much! I thought that you would have been shorter than your big sister. I guess there’s going to be a model in the family.”

She winked at Izzy and the three of us laughed. I completely forgot about the annoying dwarf that began to tap Angela’s shoulder.

“Excuse me bitch! I was talking to you, so how dare you ignore me?!”

I rolled my eyes and didn’t even bother to stop her. Knowing Angela De Marco, she could handle a woman with a tantrum like Amy. Angela did her usual graceful hair flip and faced her.

“Excuse me, whore, but please stop touching me. I don’t know where you have been, and I have no idea what virus you’re bringing. Now, if you would excuse me, I’m talking to important people, and I have no time for losers who have more time gossiping than actually being useful. I don’t like talking to people who add no value to me in any way at all.”

I saw that Angela struck a nerve, so Amy turned around quickly and left mumbling to herself. I looked back at Angela and saw her staring at me with a small smile. I returned the gesture, and the three of us laughed at what had happened.

“Thank you for the assistance, Ange, that woman caught me off guard. I didn’t want to exert too much effort for someone who isn’t worth it. It was a good thing you said everything that was on my mind.”

“It was my pleasure, Shyne. Besides, that woman has been on my nerves ever since we were in high school. She needs to pay for gossipping after I leave.”

“Oh right. Amy was the one who made that issue about you and Dean Johnson who had a mad crush on you. She said you and Dean almost had a kid but you left because you lost it.”

I said the last words a bit quieter, and I saw the anger inside of her surface out.

“Yeah. The issue got to my mother’s ears and she had me check if I had or haven’t. In the end she found out that it was a lie, but she also found out that I wasn’t a virgin anymore at the age of sixteen.”

She grimaced at the thought of the nagging and punishment that her mother gave her.

“Thankfully my dad never found out about it. I remember you had the same close calls too a few times, right?”

I nodded at her question, and we both laughed at our dilemmas back in high school.

The three of us decided to just do a bit of window shopping while we tried to catch up with each other’s lives. Angela De Marco was one of the most famous girls in our school. She is now living in Beverly Hills, California, and is training to take over her father and mother’s chain of boutiques, and shirt lines.

The two of us were never close aside from the clubs we entered in, so talking to her like old friends was a bit odd for me. However I could see the sincerity in her eyes and decided to go along with it.

“So, Shyne, I partially heard what that lowlife Amy said before I got annoyed. You really shouldn’t let her get to you.”

My smile faltered as I blindly looked at the shirt’s price tag without any interest.

“Don’t worry, Ange, she doesn’t affect me. I was caught off guard because I wasn’t expecting to see her here, and hear those words instantly.”

“That’s good to know. No matter what she says, you know yourself better than her. That woman should just work for the media since she’s great at gossiping and making fake stories.”

“Angela’s right, sis. That woman is like a public restroom that has all the dirt and gossip in town.”

“You guys are too much, and I hate that I agree with everything you two said.”

We were having lunch, and I found out that Rian did tell others about what we were doing, but only a few believed him since they either think it was impossible or they just don’t care and are afraid of my clan.

“By the way, Shyne, the last thing that I heard about Rian was that he went berserk and got into illegal substances. They also said that he died suddenly because of suicide.”

Angela looked at me with both pity, apology, and curiosity. I nodded my head and decided to focus on looking at the food on my plate.

“It’s all true. His dad died and his brother got into an accident, and I guess everything else caused him to just end everything himself using a rope.”

An eerie silence was between us, and I could see pity in Angela’s eyes, while Izzy tried to hide the anger that began to build in her eyes. I looked at Izzy, and her eyes turned soft as she held my hand over the table.

“I’m sorry to hear that Rian is gone, Shyne. Though you guys never really worked out, I know it still affects you.”

“It does affect me, but I guess I just decided to accept it and not let it affect me any more than it should.”

Angela held my other arm and smiled brightly at me.

“That’s a great way to face this kind of problem, Shyne. I’m glad that you think that way.”

After a few more minutes of talking, we got each other’s contact number and bid our farewells. It was a dramatic day, but I was somehow able to enjoy it.

“Hey, Izzy, before we go home, do you want to go to the ridge? I feel a little sentimental today and it’s getting dark, so the city would look amazing.”

“Sure! It’s been a while since we went somewhere else aside from the mall.”

Izzy and I rode in the car and told our driver to go to the ridge. It was thirty minutes away from the mall, I was sure that my guards were already tired of chaperoning us.

“Izzy, we really need to go back to the mall tomorrow and give gifts to our guards. These guys have been through multiple shits just to guard us. Though I don’t appreciate mom and dad’s rules, I appreciate their efforts.”

“That’s a great idea. They might just let us go off the hook if we want to do little things. Keeping your friends close and your enemies closer is the best example.”

I softly hit her arm at her comment, and I made a mental note to also get my sister a gift.

We reached the ridge faster than expected, and Izzy and I, along with about four guards including two drivers, stood near the edge. The place overlooked the city, and the city lights were breathtakingly beautiful.

“I know that there’s another reason why you wanted to go here, Shyne. What’s wrong?”

The tears fell from my eyes and I wiped them away. I kept looking at the city while taking a deep breath.

“I just felt like my life is no longer mine. I just wanted to do something random, and just take hold of the steering wheel of my life again. I felt like I have been in the dark for months because of what’s happening to me, and I just needed something to remind me that even during the dark, there can still be light. Just like these city lights.”

A sad silence overtook us, and I could feel the tears in my eyes continue to fall. Izzy rubbed my back, and I couldn’t help but tear up all the more.

“Thanks, Izzy. I’m sorry for getting you involved in this mess.”

“What are you saying? You’re my sister, and this mess can still be fixed. Everything won’t be back to normal, but I’m sure you can get through all of this and win.”

I felt lighter, and as I looked once more at the city lights, I tried to remember shadows I saw. I shivered at the thought of them, and I knew that they were around despite the fact that I couldn’t see them.

I closed my eyes and told Izzy and the others to go back home. We took the car ride back, and at the corner of my eye, I saw a shadowy hand on my shoulder.ConTEent bel0ngs to Nôv(e)lD/rama(.)Org .

I prayed internally, and I felt the hand grip tighter. I tried to ignore it, as I could slowly hear whispering near my left ear.

“Shyne.”