Next day, Vivi went to a place. She had been in this place before. Kellen's house. The same place where they'd had their first real fight, the kind that didn't end in kisses or apologies. The kind that cracked the ground beneath them.
Now, she wasn't here for Kellen. Not exactly. She was here for answers.Sienna stood in the living room. A glass of red wine dangled from her hand, careless, almost mocking.
Her sharp cheekbones caught the evening light. The way her eyes narrowed when she saw Vivi at the door made one thing clear: she hadn't been expecting her. And she wasn't happy.
"Well, if it isn't the ghost of ex-girlfriend's past," Sienna muttered, lips twisting.
Vivi didn't flinch," I'm not here for Kellen".
"No?" Sienna's voice dripped sarcasm. "You're just haunting the halls of your ex's house for the ambiance?"
Vivi stepped inside anyway.
She wasn't intimidated. Not anymore.
"I need to ask you something.
And you're going to answer me, Sienna."
Sienna laughed, "Cute. You still think you have power here."Before Vivi could respond, footsteps echoed from the hallway. Kellen appeared, dressed in black, sleeves rolled up, eyes flicking between the two women.He froze.
Sienna raised an eyebrow.
"You should tell your little visitor I don't play nice." Kellen looked at Vivi, "You shouldn't have come". She ignored him, "It's about Vincent".Sienna's smirk faded just slightly."What about him?" she asked, but her voice had dropped half a note. "You hate him," Vivi said.
"But you know more than you're letting on."
Sienna's fingers tightened around her glass.Kellen stepped between them, voice low. "Vivi, this isn't your fight." "It isn't?" she snapped. "He's my enemy too, remember?" Kellen's eyes darkened, but he didn't speak.Vivi turned to Sienna again. "Why does he hate you?
Why do you hate him?" Sienna didn't answer right away. Her eyes locked on Vivi's, colder than glass.
"You wouldn't understand".
"Try me".
Sienna looked away, her mask slipping just a little. "He's not who you think he is ". Vivi stepped closer, lowering her voice, "Neither am I" Then, from behind them, a small voice piped up. "Vivi?"
She turned sharply to see Mark. He looked smaller than usual in Kellen's big hoodie.
"I heard yelling" said Mark. "Go upstairs, Mark, Vivi said gently."
Mark hesitated. "Are you okay?"
Vivi forced a smile. "I'm fine.
Just talking." He nodded and disappeared again. Sienna was already pouring herself another drink. "You brought your brother into this mess? That's new." "I didn't bring him, Kellen offered to keep an eye on him while I...""While you storm into people's houses and demand answers like a detective?" said Sienna. Kellen cut in, sharp. "Enough! Sienna." But she wasn't done. "You want to know what happened with Vincent? Fine. He used to be obsessed with me. Like unhealthy obsessed." "Wait, what?" exclaimed Marivel. Sienna continued, "Back in high school, He was just some weird guy who followed me around. I ignored him. But,
He started crossing limits. He broke into my car, wrote me letters, stalked me online, and he was a whole psychopath... He denied all of it, of course, Said I led him on. Said I deserved it. And when I didn't play along, he got mean.
Really mean.
You want to know why he came after you? Because you're close to me. Whether you like it or not, you're part of the circle now."
Kellen's voice was tight. "Why didn't you ever tell me?"
Sienna gave him a side eye-"What would you have done?
Gone and beat him up? Please.
He'd love that."
"Where is he now?" Marivel asked.
"Not your business." said Sienna.
"You dare to! Tell me now" replied Marivel.
"Ugh, I don't know!"
"Liar! You know where he is!" was Vivi's response. Something flickered in Sienna's eyes.
Not fear, but guilt. "You think I'm the toxic one," Sienna whispered. "But trust me, Vincent is the real monster. I just survived him." Then Kellen said,"If he's coming back, we need to be ready."
Vivi nodded.
And for the first time in a year, she and Kellen stood on the same side.