XIV | Taunting Obsession

Persephone's point of view

♕︎ ♕︎ ♕︎

"…up. Wake. Up. Scarlet," Pride-Niklaus's hissed, his full attention on me.

I blinked annoyed, "I am not sleeping."

"No. But you were daydreaming while they were explaining what is going to happen now," he mocked bitterly. "And as much as I don't want to even talk to you, we have no way out of this, yeah? So, could you focus here? Your ADHD seems to be getting worse and worse at each day that passes."

How does he knows I have ADHD? "I was focused."

He arched his eyebrows is dismay, "Were you? Then tell me what they said before they left!" What?

Turning my eyes around, I looked for the headmasters but they weren't there, only professor Ophelia who was saying some bullshit at the front of class, eyes anywhere but on us. Did I really got caught up in my mind for so long?

"So?" The jerk purred with a smug on. A smug I absolutely hate.

Clenching my jaw, I stared at him again, noticing how he was keeping his tone low, probably not to catch the professor's attention. "What did they say?"

He game a you-are-full-of-shite look and played with those wavy perfect locks of his ebony black hair. Too damn perfect. He's always too put together, too perfect, looking too good, making everything he tries on work on him. Not many males would ever be able to put up the eyeliner, highlighted high cheekbones, the hair, or any of the fancy styled clothes he uses.

If I were to sum Pride-Niklaus's as any of the male main characters of the books I've read so far, I would set his style as a mixture of a Aaron Warner from Shatter Me, Cardan Greenbrier from The Cruel Prince, Hudson Vega from Crave, and Rhysand from A Court of Thorns and Roses with those amethyst eyes of his. But take all the good parts of their personalities, leave the annoying shite and the condescendence and egocentrism all of them have, and you will have this jerk.

In fact, take out anything likeable on them, keep what I just said, the looks and how strong they are, mix it and Pride-Niklaus will be left on the plate.

"Are you going to say it or will you keep playing with your damn hair?"

Slowly, a naughty grin curled up the sides of his full lips. "Distracted?"

"But the likes of you? Never, but dreaming is free. Now, spill it, Pride-Niklaus, 'cause I ain't saying the magical word to you," he can put the 'please' on his head that is stuck up on his arse. "What did Diana and Samuel say?"

"Should I tell you?" He ponded tauntingly, still with his hand on his hair.

"Will it benefit you if you don't?" I crossed my arms over my chest.

"Nope," the arsehole beamed, with that breathtakingly gorgeous smile of his that always angered the hell out of me. How can he smile at me like that? "But I still like the mystery, and making you annoyed. Furious too. Angering you gives me joy in a way you can't imagine."

Well, I could say the same. "You won't be happy when I stab my dagger in your seven hearts again, lil half demon," no shit some call them hellcats.

"Are you flirting with me, Scarlet?" He purred mischievously.

"You should get your head checked, if you think this is me flirting."

"Is that so?" He whispered with a grin that told me he wasn't buying my words at all, then he averted my gaze and stared at the professor, his deep raspy voice a whisper, but loud enough for me given our forces proximity. "There won't be any group works this year, it'll all be in these set duos, with the trio in the back being the exception. They will also be testing us in a different manner this year and in two steps: on pair and individually. So," his amethyst eyes turned to me, "we'll have to suck this animosity up and try working together because I have no desire in losing my top spot in the Academy ranking, and I believe you don't want that for yourself either, got it, Scarlet?"

What the fuck were the headmasters thinking? "This absurd," I clenched my jaw and turned my furious gaze to professor Ophelia. "Ab-fucking-surd."

"You really are addicted to that word, aren't you, Scarlet?"

"Excuse me?" I side-glared him, only to find his eyes on me.

"Fucking," he whispered and the word sounded way too unholy coming from him, and I hated the way my body burned by hearing him saying it. "You say that a lot. Fuck and fucker too. And you say it way more frequently when you talk to me. Why is that? Is it a cryptic message for me or something?"

This… jerk. "I simply cannot help but to curse at you. Nothing cryptic. I wonder why you are asking that," I licked my lips very slowly. "Are you trying to tell me what you want in a reversal way or something?"

His pupils grew exponentially wider, "You're not ready for the answer," his words came out in a breath that took my breath away.

What the hell does he mean by that? "Even if I was ready for it, I would rather prefer you do not tell me about it," I teared my gaze from his again. "Ever."

"Keep telling yourself that, maybe you will believe it, Scarlet," he purred. "Regardless of anything, we are stuck together for the rest of the year. Liking or not, we will have to do everything academically related together. So, you better get your pretty head out of your pretty arse, and focus on what is important for you."

Did he said I have a pretty face and arse? Why the hell was he looking at my arse? "I do not need you to tell me what to do, Pride-Niklaus."

"Yeah?" I could tell he was smirking even without looking. "There's one more thing that they told us Captains, Scarlet."

Ugh, I have a terrible feeling about this. "What is it now?" I hissed.

"As the Captains are now academically tied to their pair, the houses will also be tied together this year, and will have to work together in all the festivals, competitions, and anything house-related," why the fuck does he sound so amused?

The simple idea of my house working will a full-male house scares the hell out of me. I can't even explain how that creeps me out. "Fuck."

"The pairs are Inferno and Tartarus, Elysium and Jotunheim, Paradise and Olympus, Themyscira and Atlantis, and as Asgard and Valhalla were left they are now paired with each other, even though Heimdall and Freya aren't paired, just to make sure it's a fair competition," what a bloody hell.

"Fair," I scoffed. "As much as I loathe having to pair with the likes of you, together we are literally invincible, I almost feel pity towards the other houses. Almost. If alone none of the girls were in pair with me or the boys with you, together they have zero to no chance at all. Tartarus is still the strongest house, as we keep winning even though I have a lesser amount of members and all of my girls are in this class. We are like Slytherin in Hogwarts."

"Gryffindor is usually the winner though."

I glared at him, "That's a plot hole. They only win 'cause Harry Potter is there, and he actually suits Slytherin better to me. Just as Hermione is an absolute Ravenclaw and is only in Gryffindor for the plot. Slytherin are the best in there."

To my dismay, he didn't counter me on it. No. Pride-Niklaus grinned and licked his lips in amusement, "For once, I totally agree with you, Scarlet. Slytherin are the best house," hah, he says that 'cause he's definitely a Slytherin too.

"I'm shocked you even knows what I'm talking about," not really.

"I enjoy books and I enjoy Harry Potter, so how could I not? I'm not the smartest male in Sky-Eden Academy for nothing, Scarlet. What? You thought I wasn't a book-guy? You would be surprised." He tilted his head softly, "Countering what you said yesterday, you are the one who knows nothing about me, Scarlet. We know each other since you were 7 and I was 8, and you only see what you want to see, uh? Tsk. What a half-arse nemesis I have," but he didn't sound offended in the slightest.

However, I have to differ, but only mentally, since that's what I want him to believe. It's not like he can know that I stalked him and his sister, and all of their lil friends. Or that I know everything that is to be known of them on the outside. From their favorite book, color, song, to how they consider each other family and not just friends.

It's not that hard, since they are ridiculously open and love the attention of others and being under the spotlight. So, I mentioned Harry Potter 'cause I knew he would get the reference. In fact, the first time I saw the Harry Potter books were on his hand on our first year, way before I began to hate him, and I only bought all of them 'cause I had a crush on him and wanted to know what he liked to read.

That was also the start of my book addiction. Thanks, arch-demon.

"That's where you are mistaken, Pride-Niklaus. I am not obsessed you and with destroying your life. I am obsessed with destroying your mother's life, you are just a paw in the big board that I want to break and defeat in order to get to the White Queen. The less I know about you on a personal level, the better it will be. The real villain of my story is your mother, you are just a mid-plot antagonist. But I don't care about becoming the villain of your story if it means killing your oh-so-dearest mother."

Let's keep it like this. There's a vision I need them to see, and that does not includes them seeing how obsessed and insane I actually am, or ever getting word of the three investigation rooms in the penthouse, each dedicated for one of them, Lust-Rhae and Vain-Dove and him.

But knowing all that is to be know in the surface is different than knowing what goes on under it. That is something I do not want to get myself into 'cause it would mean knowing them in depth, and if I were to see something that could possibly relate with myself, I'm scared my determination would wave.

And something deep inside my bones and soul tells me Pride-Niklaus has a darkness underneath his pretty façade, that might resonate with my own. I do not need that. Not when he's already under my skin in a way I refuse to acknowledge.

"You are as sweet as a thorn-full red rose, Scarlet," he purred softly.

Too. Damn. Softly.

"You have no idea."

"Maybe I want to."

"Even if those thorns are made to murder you?" I grinned viciously.

"That only makes me want it more, Scarlet!"

Let's ignore that. Ignore it.

Ignore it and don't let it get to you.

Pretend he didn't just say that to you at all.

Yes, ignoring is the best course of action in her.

"That will get you a slice throat, Pride-Niklaus," I whispered.

"You've done it before, I'm starting to get used to it."

This bitch is asking for it, I swear. "And I am the psycho."

"I never said I wasn't, Scarlet. We're more alike than you imagine."

That's precisely what I'm scared of. "In your dreams."

"More like in my nightmares," he scoffed, but there was a dark tone on it.

"Nightmares indeed," 'cause my life is definitely a live of one.