Hysteric

In a trance, I enter my room and lean against the door. What just happened? I'm not sure why Logan did that. What made him kiss me? Technically, it isn't a kiss, but you get the idea, don't you?

Memories of what happened on the balcony a few days ago resurfaced in my mind. I was in the same boat back then. Why does he always put me in it? I despise him. I despise him for causing me to feel this way. This is not acceptable. He kisses me while his ex-girlfriend, who will soon become his girlfriend, is two doors away. He's just fooling around with you, Karrie. This is not something you should fall for.

As I consider what I should do, I straighten my back. I should disregard him. Yes, ignoring his entire presence is preferable. I decided to vent my rage on the person who had put me in this situation. I scanned the bed, expecting to see Scarlet in deep sleep, but instead found it empty. What happened to her last night's sleep? Is she with Patrick?

I shake my head as I recall Scarlet's discomfort when she is in an unfamiliar environment. She is, in fact, in Patrick's bedroom. I no longer have any doubts. I'll tell her what's on my mind when I see her later.

I decided to take a shower because I was feeling very awake right now. I guess I haven't had a good night's sleep in a long time. I wonder why? It's definitely not because of him, nope.

I take a long hot shower to relax my muscles and lose myself in thought. I notice Scarlet sitting on the edge of the bed, biting her nails, as soon as I exit the restroom. When she notices my cold glare directed at her, she looks up at me with puppy dog eyes.

"I'm truly sorry, Karrie. I didn't expect the plan to backfire so badly. I know I should have listened to you, but I'm sorry that my curiosity got the better of you." She begged for forgiveness. I simply ignore her and proceed to my dressing table to dry my hair.

"' I'm sorry, Karrie. I panicked as soon as I heard the crash sound and had no idea what to do. I wanted to walk in and tell him it wasn't your fault, but I didn't have the courage to do so."

"I believe it was a good thing you didn't come in. It would have worsened." I told her, thinking about how things might have turned out if she had come in.

"How bad was it then?" With a worried expression on her face, she asks.

"You don't have to be concerned about it. I handled it perfectly." I told her this while trying not to spill anything. I don't think it's a good idea to tell her everything, especially since I'm not sure what happened there.

"Why didn't you return then?" She inquired, puzzled.

"Uhh, well, I—wait, where did you sleep the night?" Instead, I asked her with my brows raised, and she immediately blushed. I changed the subject, and it worked.

"You were in Patrick's room, weren't you? " With a smirk, I asked her, and I noticed her eyes widen.

"Nothing happened. I was scared standing in the corridor, and I didn't want to sleep in this room alone, so I went to him. But because he was sound asleep, he didn't even notice me sneaking into his room and slipping out before he woke up," she explained, and I narrowed my eyes at her. Her eyes were wide, the one which she gives when she wants others to believe her.

"All right, I believe you." I rolled my eyes and watched her visibly relax.

"I'm hungry; I should go downstairs and make something. Pancakes?" I ask her despite the fact that I know she will accept my offer.

"You are well acquainted with me. I'll be down shortly after my shower." She gives me a thumbs up and walks into the restroom.

I enter the kitchen in a good mood and gather all of the ingredients for my pancakes. I open the fridge to get some eggs and immediately feel a warm and hard body press against me. I came to a halt as I felt Logan's breath on my ear as he took a water bottle from the fridge. I'm sure he's doing it on purpose, pressing his body against mine.

"Good morning, love." When I heard him say it close to my ears, goosebumps appeared on my skin.

"How did you sleep?" I take a deep breath and remind myself not to acknowledge him. I ignored him and removed three eggs. I straightened up and purposefully hit his nose with the back of my head. I smirked with delight as he let out a slight groan. It wasn't my fault he was so close to me. The egg was then cracked into the bowl in which I had mixed my raw ingredients.

"What are you working on?" Logan approaches and leans against the counter beside me, attempting to elicit a response from me. I make every effort not to be affected by his intense stare. I can't concentrate on anything when someone is staring at me, let alone him.

"Is this a silent treatment?" I guess he realized I wasn't ready to talk to him because I hadn't even given him a glance until now. He'll just walk away when he realizes I'm not going to open my mouth. He wasn't going to wait for a lost cause. But boy, was I mistaken.

"Just as I silenced you this morning, I also know the perfect medicine for you to scream... love," he said in his gravely sexy deep tone, making my insides flip for a second. I clenched my teeth as I realized the innuendo in his sentence.

"Leave me alone," I gritted before elbowing him hard on the ribs, which caught him off guard.

"All right, chill out." Before leaving the room, he rubbed the affected area with a deep laugh that echoed throughout the kitchen.

Out of frustration, I stomp my feet on the ground. Karolia, it was only one task. You couldn't do that. I mentally slap myself as I realize how easily I succumbed to him. He is engaging in a risky game. I continue to mix the batter, but I soon notice someone standing behind me. My rage boiled over as I realized how wrong I had been in thinking he would simply abandon me like that. What part of "leave me alone" didn't he get?

"Logan did you no-" As I come face to face with Natasha, I am taken aback. My mouth was open, but it quickly closed as I began to squirm in my place. I gave her an awkward smile and turned around to resume my work.

"Good morning." Natasha stood next to me, a wry smile on her lips. I return her greeting, hoping she will end it on that note.

"I saw you coming out of Logan's room this morning. What exactly were you doing there? Or, perhaps, a better question would be, "How long were you in there?" I came to a halt and stared at the bowl, blinking my eyes. She didn't mince words and instead got right to the point.

"It's not what it appears to be. I'm having trouble sleeping at night." I try to persuade her, hoping that she won't misinterpret anything.

"Please spare me your petty explanations," she rolled her eyes. "I don't want to know what happened between you and him before I came here, but now that I'm here, I don't want to see you near him." I only looked at her in shock.

"I hope you know what Logan and I had between us, and let me tell you this Karolia," she hissed, "it's not something he would forget because I was his first everything."

"What you are right now is nothing more than a temporary source of pleasure for him. He will return to me sooner than you think." She looks at me with such intensity that I know she wants to bury me deep in the ground. My anger was unlike anything I'd ever felt before. How dare she think so little of me?

"I think you have it all wrong here, Natasha. I'm not important to him. In fact, I'm only here because Grecia requested it. I don't have anything with him and believe me, I don't want to." I stand up for myself. I'm not looking to start a fight, but someone is clearly on to something.

"Would you like me to believe that? Huh. I understand what you're attempting. A petty girl like you trying to entice him with all your charm and innocent looks. Isn't he the one who has everything you're looking for? Money, appearance, social standing, and everything else"

"However, I assure you that you will never be able to have him. You're nowhere near what he's looking for. We are both in the same position. He wouldn't even turn around to look at you. I hope you realize you don't belong here. You are simply a homeless girl to whom he has decided to provide shelter." I lowered my head because I knew the last part of what she said was true. I never felt like I belonged here. I knew it already, but hearing it from her made it stick out even more. I gulped as I couldn't come up with anything to argue.

"I hope I've made my point, Karolia. Stay away from my man, or things will get ugly." She declares, then walks out of the room, as if she couldn't stand my presence. How quickly did this get out of hand? She only arrived here yesterday and managed to make me feel like crap in a single day.

I wiped a single tear from my left eye and took two minutes to compose myself before returning to my work with a heavy heart.

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

"Stop screaming, Karrie," Scarlet scolded, covering her ears. I ignored her and covered my eyes with my fingers, peering through my fingers. We're sitting in the living room, watching 'Lights Out' on the 75-inch Panasonic TV. Why in the world did I agree to watch this movie?

When I saw the same figure of the dark lady slowly approaching the protagonist, I yelled at Scarlet, "Forward it, forward it!"

"NO," she warns me. "Now stop kicking me," she says as she pushes away my leg, which had been nudging her ribs to advance the clip. I closed my eyes and held my breath. But I can hear music, which creeps me out!

When I heard them speak, I breathed a sigh of relief because the terrifying segment was over. I then dig my hand into the bowl of popcorn and munch on it, my gaze wandering away from the movie.

I screamed as the light went out, leaving the entire mansion in complete darkness.

"Who turned out the lights?" I shrieked as I drew closer to Scarlet. I heard the popcorn bowl fall from my grasp and land on the floor. Popcorn, rest in peace.

"I don't know," she replied, clutching my hands in hers.

"I told you not to put this movie here," I say, my voice shaking.

"Stop blaming me right now," she tells me. "PATRICK," she exclaims loudly. Natasha, Patrick, and Logan are in Logan's game room in the basement.

"GUYS, WHERE ARE YOU?" I yelled back, hoping they could hear us, which I doubt.

"Let's go look for them," Scarlet suggests, and I shake my head.

There's no way I'm getting off this couch!

It was completely dark, and because the windows were closed by huge curtains, there was no light from the moon. In fear, the hair on my neck stood up.

"All right, Karrie. Come on. It's pointless to stay here. At the very least, we could try to find some light," she said, and I felt her rise from her seat. I can't see anything because of the darkness.

"I warned you that we should have watched it from my room. Now that we don't have our phones" I blamed her once more.

"You sit here blaming me while I go find some light," Scarlet scoffed.

"Wait, I'm coming," I said quickly as I sprang to action. No way, I'm sitting here by myself. "I'm sorry, the fear in me is causing me to say things," I explain as we walk slowly forward.

"I know Karrie, but try to stay positive. "I'm here with you, and it's just a power issue," she says softly. I squeezed her hand tightly, unconcerned about whether it hurt or not. Then there was a loud crash, which caused both of us to scream. Scarlet's bravery vanished instantly, and she joined me in the scream.

"Is anyone there?" She inquired loudly. "Do you think it's a thief?" she asked, her voice quivering.

"I d-don't know. I'm going to cry now." My voice trembled as well. We took a cautious step forward, calling out to the people in the house, who magically vanished into thin air. A scream pierced the air, followed by glass shattering. My heart was in my throat as I jumped a few feet high.

"Wh-who is that?" Scarlet screamed.

A large hand suddenly grabbed my mouth from behind, making me widen my eyes and pulling me away from Scarlet. I screamed into the palms of my hands, but it was muffled. Suddenly, the events of that day flooded back into my mind, causing me to stop breathing.

My eyes finally welled up with tears, and my body went limp. The sound of the gunshot, my parents' hopeless expression, and the way they tortured me in that cramped basement entered my mind. Everything from my past, everything I had buried in the back of my mind, had finally surfaced.

I let out a loud whimper, and the person whose hand was covering my mouth continued to drag me until they stopped.

"Didn't I tell you I'd make you scream, love?" a familiar voice said into my ear as I froze. The lights were then turned on. I blink my eyes open, trying to make sense of the situation. Scarlet was hitting Patrick with a cushion and yelling at him for scaring the life out of her. Natasha laughed from afar, her hands clutching her stomach. So she was the one who screamed first. I turned around to face Logan, who smiled triumphantly. It was all a prank.

I couldn't even move or yell at them. I came to a halt, tears streaming down my cheeks. I wished I could stop them, but they kept coming.

Logan laughed and pointed at me, saying, "See, she's speechless." I didn't say anything and simply stared at them. When he realizes I'm still in shock, all of his sarcasm fades from his face.

"Lia?" Logan took a step forward after noticing my stiff posture and never-ending tears. He put his hands on my shoulders and gently shook mine. Something inside of me snapped, and before I could stop myself, my hand shot up and slapped him.

The piercing sound reverberated through the walls. Everyone froze as the time came to a halt around us. His eyes were closed, and strands of his hair were falling on them. He clenched his jaw and gently touched his cheek.

"That was so low of you," I hissed in a trembling voice, my trembling hands stinging from slapping him.

I sobbed loudly, my heart wounds bleeding. I wish I didn't react like this, that I could enjoy it like everyone else. But that is no longer the case. That Karolia passed away five months ago. They assassinated the old Karolia. Darkness always brought my past back to me, a haunting past that always followed me.

"Lia-" he began, but I interrupted him.

"Save it," I yelled angrily as I stormed out of the room.

Third POV:

The room was deafeningly quiet as everyone stared at Karolia's receding figure. No one dared to speak up, especially Logan, who is still trying to figure out what he did wrong. His intention was purely for amusement, but it appears that things did not go as planned.

He'd been waiting for an opportunity since learning she's afraid of the dark. Logan has always thought Karolia is more beautiful when she is angry, and he looks for ways to rile her up, just as she does to him. Just to see her face turn bright red and take her rage out on him. It was sadistic, but he enjoyed it until now.

Natasha finally broke the silence. "What the hell!" she sputtered, her veins boiling with rage and hatred.

Natasha spits, crossing her arms, "That bitch is overreacting. Who does she think she is to slap Logan?" She raised her hands in the air. Her hands were trembling as she prepared to punch Karolia. Natasha was not going to let her get away with slapping her man.

A low voice says, "You guys shouldn't have done that." Scarlet, who had a pained expression on her face, drew everyone's attention. She was aware of what had happened to Karolia. What shaped her into the person she is today. Despite the fact that she was not present when the incident occurred, she has played an important role in mending her broken heart.

Natasha hissed, "It was just for fun." The boys were watching them silently. "She was clearly exaggerating. Trying to attract attention."

"Enough" Scarlet glared at her, her eyes ablaze with rage. The flames of rage. Natasha was surprised. She was the queen, and she made sure everyone knew it. Scarlet was unfazed when she took a threatening step forward. Scarlet turned around to face everyone knew it. Scarlet was unfazed when she took a threatening step forward. Scarlet turned around to face everyone. "She is correct, that was extremely low of you, and she is not exaggerating," she told Natasha. "If you knew what she went through, you'd understand. Her life had shaped her into this. She was not at all like this. Not before....." she came to a halt, biting her lower lip.

Not before what, exactly?" Logan finally said something. Scarlet gave him a brief glance before shaking her head.

She mumbled, "Forget it." "Excuse me," she said as she exited the room in search of her best friend.

"Whatever, both are reacting," Natasha said again. "They are both the best actors-"

Logan gave her a firm look that silenced her. His hands are trembling as he tries to break something to vent his rage. The rage he felt towards himself. No one has dared to raise their hand in his direction. Since he became an adult, not even his mother has slapped him. But he can't bring himself to be angry with the petite soul he's grown fond of in recent days. Deep down he knew it's his mistake.

But this finally piqued his interest. Logan was intrigued and wanted to learn more about Karolia. Who exactly is she? What became of her?

****

"

"Hello," Scarlet said softly as she opened the door. Her heart shattered when she saw the sobbing figure on the bed. Karolia's knees were drawn up to her chest, and her eyes and nose were red. Scarlet had always hoped to never see Karrie in that situation.

Karolia wiped her tears away and smiled weakly at her best friend. Scarlet walked towards her, closing the door behind her. She sat beside Karolia, taking her hand in hers and lightly squeezing it.

"I overreacted, right?" Karolia inquired softly. Scarlet sighs and shakes her head.

"No," she replied, rubbing Karolia's trembling hands.

Karolia whimpered helplessly, "It brought back all those memories, Scar." "I c-couldn't assist-"

Scarlet hugged her, tears streaming down her cheeks as well. She silenced Karolia, not wanting her to return to her misery. She recognizes that the three weeks of counseling she received in Worcester are insufficient for her, and she reached for her phone several times to schedule an appointment. But Karolia always stopped her, saying she can handle it on her own.

Scarlet also let it go. She was overjoyed when Logan entered Karolia's life. He was able to restore the gleam in her eyes and the naughty Karolia without much effort. Logan Watson, she knows, is the only one who can bring her back, who can fill the void in Karolia's heart. Scarlet, on the other hand, realized today how the same person could make Karrie cry as well.

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A/N - Anyone already hates Natasha? Leave your opinions and likes about the chapter. Stay tuned.

Stay safe and be healthy