20 20. A Fight

[TRIGGER WARNING: Attempts at assault. If you wish to skip, there will be asterisks *** before the scene starts and after it ends.]

A Stranger. A large empty hallway leading to a packed room of uptight party people. The glow of the chandeliers. Maybe a lone leaf floating by here and there.

You guessed it.

The perfect elements for a mystery murder story.

A tight smile is on my face as I look at Vance. I am ninety-nine percent sure that the real Adian did something with this man.

"Let's leave." He says, but it's more of an announcement. I frown at him in confusion and try to take my hand back. It budges only a little.

"Yeah, buddy. I mean—no, no, Could you let go first?" I ask nicely because you have to ask nicely. That's what I learned and it works. At least it's supposed to.

"What's wrong with you?"

"No, what's wrong with you?" I shoot back at him with gusto.

"What's your problem? Speak up."

He jerks my hand, pulling me towards him and I glare at him equally fuming in madness.

"Whoa, calm down. People could get hurt." I sneer at him menacingly when his face comes near my face. Vance has a towering build, and behind him, the guests are laughing without care. I don't believe I am hardly visible to them as he is right in front of me.

"You have been acting smug all evening. Are you still stuck about what happened last week?"

"What happened last time?" I ask, frowning.

"You know what happened last time. Are you trying to make me repeat it?" Vance warns, gritting it through his teeth as the grip on my wrist tightens. I glare back, keeping my composure constant.

"Last time when?"

********************************************************

Under the light which spiced up even the bleakest dress with glitters, Vance's features are contorted in a nasty hostility and he is taking deep rapid breaths of anger. He roams his eyes over my face, gauging my intentions, and his face shifts as though he realized something. Sensing something, I raise my other arm against his chest, as a shield and leverage it to push him away.

"Enough of your games!" He bursts and violently tugs at my wrist again, "Even you should know your limits."

His grip is unusually strong and I can feel the pressure on my bone as he tightens it even more. I raise my free hand up in surrender,

"No games. Don't do this here, let go of my hand." I reassure him.

I jolt in surprise when he grabs my other hand as well. Jesus, this is a problem. Adian's arms are stick-thin but I flex them anyways, some strength gotta be there somewhere.

"I am sorry" Vance sobs out of nowhere, leaning his forehead on my shoulder, "I said I am sorry."

"Erm, mister I don't really understand what this is about but if you could just calm down."

"I am calm." He whispers in monotone, and in the next minute, his arms come wounding around me. Oh no, I whisper to myself in disgust and shrink my shoulders into myself as much as I can.

I take in a deep breath and a significant whiff of a musky scent enters my nostrils. I look at him in alarm. What? Are these...pheromones? This shithead is releasing his pheromones. My mind flashes back to the pheromone dissonance period and for the love of God, I do not want to go through another one of that again.

"Okay, no." I laugh, more to myself as I move my body against his forcibly, putting my all in pushing him off of me. I buck my arm against his shoulders, using it to tear him off my body, and accidentally my hand slips off the fabric of his coat. When I try to grab him again, my hand hits against his left eye.

He yells out in pain, staggering back and away from me. I huff out in relief and make an effort to dash off but it takes only another second before he pulls me and a sharp impact comes down on my cheek. It throbs with stinging pain and I gape at the man in utter disbelief.

Did this bastard just slap me?

Vance glowers at me, looking like a man truly gone mad.

"Seriously." I mumble, wiping the corner of my mouth to check for blood. That slap was too forceful, almost a flat punch. "You bitch." I hiss at him, and his eyes widen.

"Don't get cheeky, omega." He warns, taking steps towards me.

"Ha...that's funny."

His hand appears out of nowhere, grabbing my jaw with strength and he shoves his face right into mine as I immediately turn away, and without delay, I ball my fist and land a blow of his lower cheek. Fuck, that was weak.

Fuck, that was weak. I really overestimated the strength of this body. What was I really expecting when this body is built like a twig? I know that it would be an endgame for me if he recovered and attacked me again so I head in for yet another punch as he is processing the one before. This time my knuckles come into contact with his cheekbone and I wince in pain shooting up from the brunt of the punch.

"You turned out to be one class A jerk." I gasp, shaking my hand up and down in pain and even though my knuckles are screaming in pain, I raise my arm, landing yet another blow somewhere onto his face. But he stops me by the wrist, almost crushing it with his grip. His hand is out for my neck and my back hits the wall when he pushes me as his hand clamps on my neck. But he loosens his hold immediately and shifts it over to my shoulder, keeping me pushed against the wall.

"What in the actual fuck?! Are you out of your mind!" I bellow at him in seething madness.

"You did this to me." He whispers, and in me, a small flicker of fear starts seeing the unhinged eyes.

"You act all high and mighty now. Why? Is it because that bastard put a collar on you?" His tone is mocking and he is sneering at me with distaste now.

********************************************************

"Shut up." I spit at him and bring my knees up to hit his crotch.

It only has to come in contact with it when Vance is pushed off to the side with a forceful pull from the side. He winces in pain as he is slammed against the wall beside me with a loud thud.

"What is this?" Elian demands, scowling furiously at Vance who turns his face away immediately.

Shit. Realizing where I am, I take a look around the hallway. The guests are spilling out of the door which seems much smaller now and they are watching us with open mouths like a theatre play acted out in front of them. Vincent stands in front, all flustered and panicked as he darts his eyes around with nervous eyes. He seems very different from when I first met him tonight.

Vance is tall but he seems to shrink now in front of Elian's furious demeanor and he has slowly raised his hands up in an I-surrender pose while keeping a mocking expression on his face.

"N-now everyone! Please come inside, please! The second course is about to begin" Vincent announces.

I watch as he tries to push the people back into the room along with two of his butlers who look equally perplexed. Louisa is among them as she clicks her tongue and shakes her head at Vance but they begin to slowly filter back into the room.

"Would you care to explain yourself?" Elian seethes as he digs his fingers into Vance's shoulders.

The guests turn back in rapt attention and I raise my hand to cover my eyes but seeing that it is completely red around the knuckles, I quickly put it away behind my back.

"Well…" Vance turns to the side and spits out on the hallway floor. I grimace as he continues defiantly,

"Why don't you ask your 'Fated Omega'?"