《Burned (Hate at First Flight #2) ✔️》21. Frost-like Atmosphere
Advertisement
Life is and will always be a mystery. And mysteries are what make up life. That I had learnt from Nancy when I was eleven after I wondered out loud why us humans just happened to survive on an ideal planet that was coincidentally enough placed in the perfect spot in this universe we call home.
I learnt that life sometimes had mysteries that were worth solving and sometimes it didn't.
Now, life decided to throw me another one.
In this case, who was Georgia Frost, really?
Now this mystery, unlike the many I have yet to understand had many answers I discovered as we sat down seconds after our weird and on my part, paranoid, introduction. The answers came after Georgia talked about her visit to the Amazon rainforest to study wildlife. This of course threw me into another confusing twist. She didn't look like the type to enter a dangerous place like the Amazon rainforest, with its exotic and toxic wildlife. She also at Will's behest said that her brother, Jace would be coming for a visit in February after six years away, studying.
So far, I learnt that she was pursuing a degree in Biology and Wildfire or whatnot. She was more than her outward appearance which would lead others to believe she was the type that wouldn't hike through a rainforest. She was the epitome of 'don't judge a book by its cover'. She had a brother named Jace and that he had been away from Los Angeles for the past four years, who she adored highly. They had all been childhood friends, and all grew up together. Her parents owned Frost and Frost, one of the cities biggest law firms that incurred an annual income of $60 million from their equally renowned clients.
And the one final fact that surprised me the most of all?
Douglas Burns was undeniably in love with her.
The fact wouldn't have escaped me even if I was blind.
I wanted to laugh as this thought developed.
Douglas Burns, the demon spawn, was in love with Georgia Frost.
Then the pieces started to fall together.
Georgia. The name of his thoroughbred. He most likely named it after her.
This was the leverage Will had against that prevented him from telling his father about last Saturday. This was what Will meant when he had said he had something Douglas wanted.
Advertisement
This was why he had been so nice to me for the past week. This was why he had let me go out with Will today, so he could spend some time with her.
My gleeful attitude soured as it all made sense. And here I was thinking the ass had developed a conscience and wanted to mend broken fences. Then again, I had thought he was the second coming of Regina George.
Georgia Frost.
Her name was a near fit to the infamous Mean Girl. She also somewhat resembled her, blonde hair, perfect fair and proportions. Perfect everything really. I would've steered clear of her instantly just by her outward appearance.
But something didn't fit right. Her smiles looked too genuine. Her laughs were joyful and her manner of speaking was humbling really.
I watched from my seat, by the small armchair to Will's left as she relayed their childhood memories about how she had been bullied by Douglas and her brother, Jace because they didn't want her to follow after them when they were seven and her six.
"What about you, Krystal?" She asked me all of a sudden, breaking into my thoughts. "Have you got any older brothers making your childhood hell?"
I stiffened as I gathered myself, wanting to not come off as mean and the only one not following the direction of the conversation. "B-brothers?"
She nodded as she smiled at me encouragingly. "Yeah. Or older sisters?"
I shook my head as sadness dawned at the thought of siblings which led to my thoughts drifting to my parents. "No, not really," my voice was low. I had always wanted siblings. I remembered begging my parents for one, that is back when I thought you just magically went to the hospital and the lovely doctors there just handed you one baby to take home.
"Younger ones?"
I shook my head again. This time unable to muster up my voice to answer.
She frowned before she smiled at me again. "Oh, your parents didn't want another one?"
I shook my head. "I gues-"
"Her parents died three years ago, Georgie. Let it go."
I looked up at his words, shocked to see Douglas watching me with an almost pitying look. The atmosphere had tensed instantly as no one knew what to say.
Advertisement
"I'm...I'm sorry," I heard Georgia apologize seconds later. I could almost feel her looks of pity directed at me.
I didn't bother to soothe her conscience as my eyes darkened to a glare as I stared at Douglas. He looked almost surprised.
What was he expecting? A thank you for divulging my life story?
"What?" He asked me after I continued to glare at him. "I was just telling her the truth and to save you the time of explaining it to her."
"It wasn't your story to tell," I gritted out as I felt Will's hand on mine and patting it slowly to comfort me. "It is mine!"
"What?" He scoffed. "Do you expect an apology now?"
"Yes, you degraded spoilt fool! You damn well owe me an apology. I respect your privacy and you owe me the same courtesy. You don't go around telling people my story when I told you that expecting you to not go around mouthing it off to everyone you know."
"I haven't been mouthing off to everyone I know!" He argued as this time his eyes darkened.
"You just did, Douglas. It might not be a lot of people but it's still enough. You don't see me going to the press and releasing every single detail of how much of an ass you are and how you got me fired from an internship I didn't even start, now do you?"
He looked at me with shock at my words before a look of confusion dawned.
I sighed before I added, "That would've been an insult to you and would have removed any sense of humanity I have. I know its not the same with what you just did, but it still is something. My private life and what happened in it should be told by me. You can only talk about it after my expressed permission, not before. And I don't care that you thought you were helping me out, I could have explained everything myself!"
I felt my tears threatening to fall, so I pulled my hand away from Will's and walked out of the room as fast as possible. I didn't like it. I didn't like the looks of pity that I got from people when I told them about my parents. Pity should only be awarded when there was an ounce of regret or a lack of something gained.
I didn't like pity. It made me feel like people thought that in the short time time I'd known my parents that they didn't give me enough love. They did. They always did. That was why I didn't like it. If anything, people should smile at the happy memories they left behind. I didn't like the fact that they died but it couldn't be helped. It was in the past now, and all I could do was remember them fondly. The pity just made me lose my resolve. It made me want them back. It made me rethink and question why they had to die when they did. It also made me bubble over with grief.
Pity also made me dwell on what would have been, what would it have been like if they still were alive. If that happened, it would be an insult to Nancy, who had always been there for me for the past three years. The one person who had done everything she could to give me a sense of normalcy.
I didn't like that Douglas said those words so easily, with no restraint of forethought. He had said it like he was saying 'They're on a trip to the South of France'.
I was now by the picnic table out in the backyard, overlooking the masterfully trimmed hedges in the form of Greek deities, trying to gather myself and calm down. I still had an hour to go until I could leave this place and until then I couldn't, not if I wanted to get into trouble with Mr Burns. And something told me, Douglas would not be giving me any form of leniency anymore after what had happened in there.
I felt someone hug me from behind tightly, leaving me stone frozen.
Who could it be?
"I'm sorry."
Advertisement
- In Serial17 Chapters
Turn Me Back!
A fast-paced comedy/fantasy adventure starring a sassy female warrior striving to break a curse. Regaining your youth isn't all it's cracked up to be. At 23 years old, expert mercenary Willa Lang isn't exactly old to begin with, so she's less than thrilled when an 'undeserved' curse turns her back into a younger version of herself. A MUCH younger version - meaning she now looks like a six-year-old. Willa needs to turn herself back to normal, and quickly. But the woman who cursed her is being a complete witch, insisting that Willa show herself to be kind, generous and unselfish before she'll lift the curse. Kind generous and unselfish... Go on a quest and help a few people. It can't be that hard, right? Wrong. A light-hearted comedic fantasy that will appeal to fans of Terry Pratchett and Diana Wynne Jones.
8 208 - In Serial47 Chapters
Flame Beneath The Snowfall
Alto is a world governed by Tones. Magic, as one might call it. Manifested through deep mental and physical conditioning, one can control the Tones in a way that is unique to them. The power to store items in gems, transfer life, affect a person's mind, and even the more primal abilities such as control of the elements. Those who have these supernatural abilities are called 'Vassals.' People that fully manifest their abilities are not as common as one might think, and not all Vassals acquire their ability through practice, given if conditions are met. In fact, those who had received much trauma manifest the Tones more frequently, albeit spontaneously. However, the rare kind of Vassals are those who manifest it from childhood. A gift, but not without its repercussions. Alto is stuck in a transitional era, where the line between modern and dated technology is blurred. One can travel to a city that has a tall skyline, bustling with people in sophisticated clothing, or a mere town governed by a lord, all the while riding on a powered vehicle. Cultures vary: Some turn to the more dated practices such as castes, others are more inclined to set equal footing on their people, led by nobility. Some are dedicated to become scholars, studying Alto's Tones, while others set foot on hunts, protecting lone towns from the creatures of some of the still-untamed lands. And the Vassals? Those willing are took under The Organization, an elusive group, its presence said to permeate all throughout Alto, taking care of Rogue Vassals that abuse their abilities and other businesses related to their side. But what is this story all about, you may ask? Well, set your sights on the upper portions of this huge landmass that is Alto. Yes, the 'whole' world is called Alto, but that is because the majority of the known people live on this large continent. Relieve yourself of the worrying tensions everywhere, and see the white snow. Trace the piercing mountaintops and focus your eyes between the valley. A town sits there. Mido. After realizing that the memories only left in his mind was the night of his town's imminent destruction in flames, a boy finds himself grasping for every fiber of his life as he lays down flat on the ground. Beneath him was soot mixed with the white snow. Fortunately, a group of investigators, who were supposed to answer their call for help, saved him from his sorry state. With a newfound second wind, but hampered by his loss of memory, he must solve his own case: Who had the audacity to set Mido, his town, aflame? Flame Beneath the Snowfall focuses on action, with a sense of adventure, but mostly the discovery of an outside world, and the protagonist's exposure to it. Add in a whisk of soft magical elements, and you get a story that I hope will be interesting to the readers. That is not to say that my work is without the sense of unnerving atmosphere, however. As a forewarning, there are elements of gore, horror, minor elements of mental trauma, etc. so it is not for all audiences. *The book is already completed. Although I have plans to continue the story (it would have to involve much larger scope in terms of world-building), I have yet to decide when to start the next entry.
8 149 - In Serial20 Chapters
Journey to Elvander
Journey to Elvander will be available on Kindle, iBooks, and Print on 2/14/2018. If you read it here, please leave a review on release day. Your help is greatly appreciated! Feel free to contact me via Twitter to get yourself a FREE advanced eBook copy. Deacon Maynard may be young, but he is hardly idealistic. A Tech Repairman, he spends his days surrounded by tools and broken phones, watching the news unfold on the television while carefully trying to avoid the reality that seems inevitable. There is a war out there… and it is creeping closer and closer to his home. Elvander, a high-tech country miles away, is locked in a colossal battle with the deadly terrorist organization, Shadow Cannon… and it’s a war Deacon wants nothing to do with. Until he spies a flash of light outside his apartment window and discovers Ragnar, a giant machine Golem meant to be a Shadow Cannon secret weapon – a machine that is now asking for his help. Suddenly thrust into a war he wants no part of, Deacon must struggle to discover the truth, save his strange new friend and possibly save the world.
8 157 - In Serial12 Chapters
Bloodpunk
The age of gods ended aeons ago with their departure from the mortal plane. After several millennia of conflict, the myriad races they left behind have finally settled into uneasy peace. Although corporate towers have long since replaced holy temples, reminders of the bygone age of gods remain in megacities built on the ruins of fallen kingdoms. Valen Vasilis, a vampire living the city of Dragon's Rest, arrives in his old neighbourhood to visit his dying sister only to be thrown into the world of ancient conspiracies, violent cults, and greedy corporations where the slightest mistake could get him killed or worse. Although the young vampire knows he is in over his head, he must fight to save his sister and the city that ostracised him. If you like my work, please consider supporting my Ko-Fi if you can!Cover art by Ceriseblossoms
8 64 - In Serial7 Chapters
Little Death
Not quite immortal, but certainly not human, Tabitha and Sam blended in for years as a seemingly normal couple-- hitting the bars together, scraping out a living on the edge of society, never revealing that the violent ends of their human lives had rebirthed them as Mara--a succubus and an incubus. But when a mutual mistake brings down punishment upon them, forcing them to separate, each loses the only thing that matters--their lover, partner, and soul mate. Tabitha, determined to placate the entities who control her fate, takes to the streets of New York City to find a long-lost relic she hopes will win their favor; by night, she pursues the dreamers who welcome her into their beds and, sometimes, their wallets. Sam, despondent and struggling, escapes deeper and deeper into a relationship with a human woman enchanted with him--and one that could risk all he has left. Until a single encounter changes everything, and he will have Tabitha back no matter what the cost.
8 121 - In Serial15 Chapters
Re: Corruption
A man gets butchered by a person he considered a friend, when he finally tasted death, he wakes up, thinking it was all a hallucination.He relives the last moments of his life, how he was brutally murdered, for a reason, which is now unknown to him.He slowly loses more and more of his old memory, until he only vague remembers, that he was once a human.Follow him, as he is reborn, reincarnated, as one of the lowest living creatures. And how he is destined to rise again.---------------------------------------Before you think wrong of my choice of race for the mc, I want to inform you that although he starts as a Goblin, he will be nothing like Rou from Re:Monster (which is one of the main inspirations for this).---------------------------------------This is my first fiction, so I would love some feedback or your opinions in general. English isn't my main language either, so if you see any mistakes regarding grammar or anything else, please inform me. I don't plan on ending this fiction anytime soon, but due to school and work I may not have time to write chapters on a frequent base. Btw later on there may be Romance included, so I will put these into the categories, but don't expect anything sexual to happen in the first few chapters.
8 174

