Chapter 9- Poisonous Snakes

The next day, my phone goes off while I'm in the bath and I scramble to get it, disappointment surges through me as I see Ariella's name flashing on the screen. It happens anytime my phone lights up and someone's name appear on the screen. It's never a call from the Nephilim who plagues my mind and fills me with such yearning.

This is the second time Ariella's called me since her 'date' with the man who bid on her. The man was old enough to be her father but as I said before, Ariella is a half demon of lust so it didn't faze her. She's insatiable. Ariella wasn't impressed with the man though she appreciates the money. She said she's had better. Ouch! I take it the man couldn't keep up with her.

"What is wrong with you?" That's the greeting I get as soon as I answer her call.

"Hello Ari, good evening to you too. I'm fine thanks for asking, how are you? I say sarcastically, slipping on my robe and tying it around my waist.

"Why did you say you're not going to Charles Fitzgerald's party?" She demands to know, ignoring my sarcasm. "And he invited you to the party himself!."

Charles Fitzgerald is our schoolmate who is having a party on his father's boat this weekend. By 'boat' he means his father's '85 m yacht'. He invited me weeks ago, I even got the invitation extended to Ariella as well since she's my closet friend.

I told Charles that 'I might show up if he promised not to be good'. Back then, I was so sure that I was going to the party.

Back then I haven't even met Sacha Gunther yet.

Now I don't feel like partying and when Charles called me this morning, I told him I wasn't going. I was busy searching for Sacha's home address in Seattle, I know it sounds crazy.. don't judge.

"I just don't feel like going" I tell her as I throw myself on the bed.

"You don't feel like going? Are you crazy?" She's shrieking on the phone, I winch as I pull the phone away from my ear. "It's going to be fun! And wild! It's your kind of party!" She continues. But I have no desire for any kind of party. The feelings I had when I was in Sacha's presence eclipsed the feelings of being in any crazy party that I've ever attended.

"Wait, are you still pinning over the Nephilim who bid on you the other evening?" She asks. I might have told her that I was waiting for Sacha Gunther to come and get me, but I haven't told her about my calls, or my disaster visit to his office yesterday. I don't think I ever will, I still have my pride.

I sign. "I found out that he lives mostly in seattle. I think I'd like to pay him a visit." If only I could find his address. I've been sleuthing through the World Wide Web all day but it seems the Nephilim royal family has concealed their whereabouts very well. I suppose they don't want anyone especially demons or half-demons like me to know where they live.

Ariella groans, "You mean he still hasn't made contact and you're stalking him?"

"Hey! I'm not stalking him! I'm just…" hell I'm stalking him…but if only he'd see me again. Just once and he'll be reminded of how it felt between us. Just five minutes together and I'm sure he wouldn't be able to resist me, I just know it.

"Danica?" Ariella say when I stop talking and remain quiet for a long time. "What is going on with you? You've never chased after boy or a man; They chase after you! 

My sigh is loud and heavy; "they do, don't they?" I run a hand over my face then rub my aching neck and shoulders. I've been hunched over my laptop all day today.

Ariella is right, What is the matter with me? I've never lost sleep over any boy or try to track them down, I have a legion of admirers. I could take my pick of any boy at school. I know I'm reckless and unpredictable, but that's part of my appeal. I'm beautiful, fun, charming and sexy. No, that's not just my vanity talking.. I'm just stating facts.

"You certainly never turned down invitations to parties because of a man before," she muses.

I understand why she's puzzled, disappointed and a little bit alarmed. I'm Ariella's ticket to crazy parties. Being rich and beautiful has its perks.

I've never turned down invitations to awesome parties and Charles Fitzgerald's party is bound to be super insane.

"Well, I'm still going.." Ariella announces. Charles might pay attention to me now that you're not there."

Bitch!

"Spring break is coming and I hope this isn't going to be a trend," she says.

I roll my eyes even though she can't see me. As if she has any say in what I do. 

Ariella is the kind of friend who could stab you in the front and back and steal your boyfriend with a smile on her face. That's why she's perfect for me. You could never truly care for a poisonous snake.

"Well, have fun in Seattle!" She adds later when it seems obvious that I'm not going to say anything more or change my mind about the party.

"Bye bitch." I mutter without much thought or enthusiasm as I end the call. Then I throw my phone on the furry white pillow beside me. My mind is already working on how to find the address to Sacha's residence.

Maybe I could hire a PI to get the address or maybe I'd just give him a little more time. Maybe he's busy right now, I bet he'll come for me when he's no longer busy and has more time to spend with me.

There's a timid knock on my bedroom door before it's slowly opened. Mona, one of the new maids assigned to look after girl's wing poke her head in before she tentatively walks in. She's scared of Adrianna and by extension, she's scared of me too. My sister is scary when she looses her temper and she looses her temper easily and often.

I ignore the maid as she goes towards a few glass tanks that line the wall opposite my bed. There's no need to scare the poor woman more and I have no desire to make nice or talk to anyone.

I pick up the phone again as she begins to feed the snakes and the anole lizards in those tanks. No, those snakes and lizards are not my pets, they're to serve me, but they're not my pets.

I've learned my lesson well. Having a pet means you grow attached to the animal, and when you grow to care, it could be used against you. The pain is unbearable when you're terrifyingly aware of how thoroughly they were tortured before they were killed when you love them. I squeeze my eyes against the guilt; those feelings could haunt you for life.

I spend the weekend loitering around the house, growing restless by the minute. I swim in our indoor pool, I jog around the neighborhood, I stare at my phone, willing it to ring, I climb off the roof to stare at the horizon, I roll around in bed, I play the piano, I try to do my homework… still I hear no word from Sacha Gunther. But on Monday, Ariella sends me a link to the latest news and social gossip section.

It features the Nephilim who torments my waking moments and haunts my every dream. He was here in New York City over the weekend and day the look of it, he had plenty of free time on his hand, he just didn't want to spend that free time with me.

Sacha Gunther, the oldest son of billionaire entrepreneur and philanthropist, Anthony Gunther, was seen leaving the club with the lovely Everly Adams on Saturday evening, it says..

I know who Everly Adams is. She is a model who turned actress. Her latest movie just came out last week. I skip over the article to stare at the picture.

He was wearing a white buttoned-up shirt that clung to his impeccable body and a patterned red tie under a black jacket. His dark brown hair was artfully mussed with a few locks falling over his eyes. My eyes roam over his feature and pause at his lips that were twisted wryly and sexily as she gazed at his companion.

Pain slashes through me as I stare at his arm that was wrapped around another woman that wasn't me. Their bodies were pressed intimately together as they were staring wraptly at each other. He's smiling at her and I realize I never got any smile from him.

I knew he's always seen with different women hanging on his arm all the time, I've googled him afterall. Models, actresses, socialites.., they're all beautiful, but I thought that was all over now. I have no desire to be with other people, and I thought he'd feel the same way. How stupid was I?

Now I remember him introducing himself to me as Alexander Gunther, instead of Sacha Gunther. I'm sure now that Sacha is reserved only for people closet to him or those he regards as friends and I'm not included in that circle. I just thought that it was weird back then but I didn't understand it. Now it becomes clear to me and it hurts. He never meant to call me.

I toss the phone away and wrap my arms around myself my middle as I let myself slide to the floor. It feels as though someone plunged a knife right through my heart and twisted it. It's so painful, it's hard to breathe. I want to curl into a ball and go to sleep and never wake up. How stupid am I to feel this pain. 

This is what happens when you open your heart and let your guards down. I should have known better.