Strings of Fate

5- Neighbours and nastiness The more t| spend with this Shifter, the more | begin to think fate got it wrong.

| wonder if there is a way to break threads or get rid of them in sway. I've never seen it happen before. Even in death people are tied together.

| once walked past a cemetery and saw an old man visiting his wife's grave. The red thread still flowed from his chest and vanished down into the ground connecting him forever to his beloved. It was depressing but also sort of romantic in a morbid kind of way.

| glanced back at the man sitting at the table across from me. | can’t imagine being linked with him forever. | really hope fate knows what it’s doing, givingthis man as my soul mate.

“Yes, | will be friends with your twin sister. It is fated.” He scowls at me.

“You aren't even a Shifter, why would fate want you to be friends with my sister?” Now it's my turn to scowl back at him.

“What does that have to do with anything? Everyone has a fate Mr Kane, regardless of the circumstances of their birth. When I look at someone, | see the threads of their fate, not their species.” | am feeling incredibly annoyed. This man is my soul mate, how can he be such a jerk? This was definitely not the first meeting | expected when | finally met the holder of my red thread.

I had hoped for something a little sweeter, maybe cute or romantic. But no, | get yelled at and insulted. Yay for me. He stares atfor a moment.

“Bellamy.” he suddenly states.

“What?” | am totally confused, he already toldhis name, didn’t he? The Shifter looks very serious.

“CallBellamy. Mr Kane was my father.” His expression is sad. | don’t know what happened 1/5 5- Neighbours and nastiness to his father, but | am certain that he can’t be alive and well, not with his son looking so miserable. | nod.

“Fine. Bellamy then. You can callRyann.” | offer, mostly because it would be super awkward forto use his first nwhile he uses my last name. Besides, the guy is my soul mate, we're going to have to pass the awkward ‘using each other's names’ stage eventually, why not get it out of the way now? The Shifter- | mentally remind myself to call him Bellamy, seems relieved that | agreed so easily and... is he breathing weirdly deep? Maybe it’s a Shifter thing, | heard they can tell a lot about how a person is feeling and reacting from their scent...

which is kinda weird but | guess it would be useful.

“Well Bellamy, now | have squestions for you.” | begin. He looks annoyed. You would think | had just told him he had a dentist appointment or something.

“Wow, calm down would you. I'm not asking anything difficult, at least it shouldn't be.” hesitantly, Bellamy nods and gestures forto continue.

“Well, first | really would like to know how you found me. | didn’t even put my full non the note, and you didn’t know it until | told you, so | doubt you got my details from anyone at Borderline.” | reason. Bellamy shrugs.

“Your scent was all over the note. | assumed that it was placed in my sister's bag at the restaurant since that’s the only place she went that evening, so | went there. It didn’t takelong to find you from there. Your scent was... exceptionally easy to follow.” he observes with yet another deep breath. | shrug.

“Maybe it's because | walked hbarefoot.” | say nonchalantly. He seems confused.

“Barefoot? Why would you do that?” he asks curiously. | point to the heels | had abandoned in the doorway.

“Because those shoes are evil and | am pretty sure they were biting my feet off or something. Sadly, they are part of my uniform at work.” | explain. He raises an eyebrow.

2/5 5- Neighbours and nastiness “Biting your feet off? Surely they can’t be THAT bad...” he trails off. | lift my foot up and pull off my bunny slipper to reveal the blisters and red marks that marr the pale skin of my foot.

“They are definitely that bad.” | state as | hold my foot up so he can see. It is almost comical how horrified Bellamy looks. He actually leans forward and grabs my foot, pulling it towards himself.

He seems to realise how weird that is because he suddenly freezes and, almost as quickly as he grabs me, he releasesagain.

There is an awkward silence as | pull my bunny slipper back over my foot. | decide to move on to my next question and try not to think about the fact that he figured out my location by scent. It kind of seems like an invasion of privacy or something, but who am | to talk. | literally spy on everyone's personal relationships constantly. Besides, | did leave a note.

“I... how did your sister react when she saw the note?” | find | am actually terrified to hear his response. | don’t want her to hate me. Bellamy drops his gaze to the floor.

“She hasn't actually seen it. | scented something different in her purse, you | suppose, and | took it before she saw. She was excited and didn’t seem to notice it. I'm not sure if I'm disappointed that my warning never made it to her or relieved.

“I'm surprised you took the effort to trackdown.” | comment. He shifts uncomfortably in his seat.

“She’s my sister, | had to know if there was anything to the note. Besides...” he hesitates.

“I'm not too sure about Tristan. I've never really bonded with him.” | interpret that as his tactful guy way of saying he hates Tristan and thinks he is a total ass. | open my mouth to say so, but | am interrupted by someone at the door.

Paul is standing with his arms crossed over his chest in my doorway. We have been so busy arguing, neither of us thought to close the door. Bellamy is on his feet in an instant and steps forward to meet the stranger. Paul speaks, his tone is one of complete disgust.

“A Shifter?” he bites out, staring at Bellamy’s mark.

3/5 5- Neighbours and nastiness “I thought you were such a nice girl Ryann, | hope you don’t intend to have Shifters coming at all hours in my building.” He snaps. Bellamy takes a step closer, his stance is defensive. | get to my feet and stand between them.

“Bellamy, ignore my neighbour. It seems he has poor manners. Paul, get out of MY apartment. This building belongs to Maggie, not you and there is no reason why | can’t invite whoever | please.” | remind him. So Bellamy is a bit of an ass, but I'm not going to let my neighbour be insulting because of his species. Paul glares at me.

“Well sorry for coming to check on you after this brute almost knocked your door down. | could hear it from downstairs. Magics really all act like rules don’t apply to them, don’t they?” he directs the last statement towards Bellamy who looks like he wants to knock Paul out.

| don’t really blhim. Paul is grating on my nerves too.

Without saying anything, | push the sleeve of my pyjamas up as high as | can on my arm. It’s just enough that the bottom of my mark is visible. Paul's expression darkens.

“What the hell? Maggie promised that everyone in this building was safe. | guess a little old lady is pretty easy to fool huh?” I snap. It's one thing to insult Bellamy, | barely know him. Insult me? Sure, why not. It’s not like there aren’t tons of people doing it already, | can take it. But Maggie? She is the best person | know, and | can’t stand to hear him speak about her that way. | probably shouldn't get physical but I just can’t help myself. My hand flies before my brain registers that it’s moving and | slap him hard across the face.

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