It had taken Bella far too long to finally buck up and go apologize to that lion tamer girl who she’d left a rather nasty note. She tried several times but couldn’t get the nerve to do it. One day after a few too many sips off the wine, she finally decided to stop pussy footing and find her. It wasn’t a surprise to see her back near the animal pens. She looked like she’d just finished a show with the big cats as she was ushering them into their respective pens. From a dark corner she decided to get the girls attention.
“Jean, isn’t it?” She said as she made her way into one of the beams of light.
The show tonight had been good but the audience was a bit thin. Seemed to her she had to show more of her skin in this time period to get any sort of male attention. They all seemed to be forever looking at their phones. Still, it hadn’t all been bad. King had performed exceptionally well and she was thankful his behavior had improved. A sound from behind her startled her as she locked his cage. Jean turned around to find the red headed school teacher who operated the whip.
“Jesus Christ you startled me.” She said, pressing a hand against her heart. It felt like it was going to beat out of her chest. “Bella right? What can I do for you Bella?” She asked the stranger in front of her.
The curse on their lord didn’t elude Bella and she cleared her throat. She crossed her arms over her chest and tried to think straight. “You shouldn’t use the lord's name in vain.” She said quickly before continuing on.
She noted the look of confusion and offense on Jeans face before she spoke again. “That’s besides the point. I came here to confess something.” She took a deep breath and let her drunkenness get the words out. “Over Christmas I left a note for you, telling you to go home. I want to apologize for that, it was uncalled for and I’m sorry.”
She listened cautiously as this obviously religious woman started to spout off about the lords name. And then came the confession. She was shocked to say the least. “That was you?” She asked, incredulous. She couldn’t believe someone finally came forward about it, and how did she know that Jean was affected by it? Who spoke to her?
“I don’t even know you, why would you do this to me?” It was a fair enough question and she was certain she deserved an answer.
Bella sighed and released the grip she had her arms folded in. She knew this was a possibility, that she’d have to explain but she wasn’t prepared to have to do it so soon. “I saw you and Reverend Conrad together, he looked interested in you. I guess I got a bit jealous, I’ve loved that man since I was a teenager.” She admitted, since the only other person who really knew how she felt besides Willis was Paul, and he’d been distant lately.
Jeans eyes went wide at the mention of the Reverend and she immediately averted her attention toward the cages again. “I don’t want any trouble, I ain’t interested in him and we aren’t really talking no more so, no need to be jealous.” She didn’t want to talk about the Reverend, there was something so wrong about him and she hoped this girl deserved whatever evil he had thrown her way cause no one else did.
Bella was confused. Why was Jean acting strange all of a sudden? The Reverend was a good man who deserved all the attention he got.
“Why aren’t you talking?” She wondered aloud, coming closer to Jean as she did so. The damn woman hadn’t stopped fiddling with the gate and in frustration, Bella shook it with her mind.
Jean jumped away from the gate and regarded Bella again. Clearly this woman wasn’t someone to mess with. “Listen, I don’t know if you know this about him but there is something seriously wrong with Will. He takes joy away from people and it brings him joy. Now I don’t know about you but I don’t think a man of god should be so vengeful.” She replied, trying to keep her cool .
“You should stay away from him, he’ll only hurt you if he hasn’t already.”
The words shook Bella to her core. The truth was that she both believed her and didn’t believe her at the same time. Of course she loved him more than anyone in the world but all he’d done was make her feel like shit. She shook her head at Jean. “You have not idea what you’re talking about. Willis is a good man…”
“Let me ask you something.” Jean interrupted Bella. “Do you notice lately how you can’t ever quite see him well lit? Like in the middle of the day he seems to be under shade. Like, he’s dim or something? Now I don’t much believe in ghosts or God but there is something truly evil about that man.”
Bella stopped breathing for a minute as she listened to Jean. He had been more dark lately. What in Gods name was that about? She shook her head still and began to back away from Jean. This was hurting her brain, making her telepathy surge with power. All the cages shook and Bella ran off quickly away from them to try and calm her abilities.
She couldn’t handle this, couldn’t handle thinking she’d fallen in love with something evil.