"You?" Helen pointed a finger toward Vivian. "Get back upstairs right now! Who told you to come down here? Go finish the dishes this instant, you ungrateful brat!"
She looked toward the kitchen. The mountain of dirty dishes was still sitting in the sink.
Vivian did not move. She stood still, keeping her hands inside her pockets. After five years of fighting for her life, her stepmother’s screaming did not scare her at all. It just sounded pathetic. Like a crying goat.
Look at her, Vivian thought to herself. Shouting orders like she still owns me. In five months, those hands will be digging through garbage for rotten scraps. She has no idea I’ve already watched her die once.
"I don’t think so," Vivian said softly. She turned towards her stepsister. "Why don’t you tell Chloe to do the dishes instead? I’m not the only one in this house, am I?" She smiled at Chloe. "Besides, your precious daughter is not.... special, she has all the time in the world."
Chloe gasped, snapping her head up. "What did you just say, you bitch?!"
Before Chloe could jump up, the man with silver hair looked down at Helen with a frown.
"Ma’am," he said, calmly. "When we came into this house, you told us there were only two people here right now. You lied to the Agency."
Helen’s hands started shaking. She didn’t expect Vivian to come out of her room.
"No, no, officer, you misunderstand. I.. I just meant... she’s just the stepdaughter. She doesn’t really count as part of the family."
Vivian ignored her stepmother. She looked up into the men eyes and forced a polite smile onto her face.
"I should have introduced myself properly." She gave a polite bow. "I’m Vivian."
The agent looked at her. "The one who awakened."
Vivian smiled. "Yes. Sorry for the delay. I was stuck doing house chores all morning." She paused, turning her head to give Helen a pitiful look. "And please, don’t mind my stepmother’s behavior," Vivian continued. "She has hearing problems and old age. Sometimes her brain struggles and she forgets things. You understand how it is with old people, right?"
The two men exchanged a glance. "I understand." The first agent turned toward Vivian’s stepmother. "You should be more careful about how you speak to sentinels."
Vivian smiled sweetly.
That went well.
The agent turned back to her. "Vivian, you’ll need to pack your belongings."
Vivian’s smile disappeared. "Why?"
"Because you’re coming with us."
"Now?"
"Yes."
"She won’t dare!" Helen screamed, jumping up from the couch. "What am I going to tell her father when he comes home tonight?! You can’t just take her! She belongs to this house!"
Vivian looked at her. Herfather. That sentence would have frightened her once.
Vivian slowly turned around. The polite smile melted off her face instantly.
"I don’t belong to anyone, Helen," Vivian whispered. "And when my dad comes back tonight, tell him the truth."
Her stepmother stared. "What?"
"Tell him I awakened as a Guide." Vivian shrugged. "I’m sure he’ll be thrilled."
"You can’t just leave!"
Her stepmother’s expression faltered.
Vivian stepped closer. "For years, you’ve reminded me that I’m lucky your husband allows me to stay here. So why are you suddenly worried about where I go?"
"I am your stepmother!"
"And?" Vivian’s voice remained calm.
"You ungrateful!"
"Ungrateful?"
Vivian smiled. That word. She’d heard it so many times. She used to spend hours wondering what she’d done wrong. She’d cooked, cleaned, studied. She’d done everything they demanded.
And it was never enough.
But after five years of the apocalypse, Vivian had learned something important.
People only had power over you when you were afraid of losing something.
And Vivian had already lost everything. There was nothing left to threaten her with.
"I’m leaving," she said, coldly.
Chloe had been silent laughed bitterly. "You really think you’re something now?"
Vivian looked at her.
"Of all people..." She looked Vivian up and down. "Why did it have to be you?!"
She couldn’t stand it. Vivian was supposed to be the maid. Vivian was supposed to be beneath her feet forever.
"Why did it have to be this filthy whore that awakened as a Guide?!" Chloe screamed directly into Vivian’s face. "You are nothing! You are just a servant!"
Vivian’s smile disappeared. She remembered Chloe. Her laughter, when she held Julian’s hands and they both left her to die. The way she’d begged them for help while they walked away, and locked the door on her.
Vivian remembered everything.
And somehow, seeing Chloe standing in front of her again calling her a whore?
Chloe stepped closer. "What are you looking at?"
Vivian didn’t answer.
"Did you suddenly lose your tongue?"
Chloe scoffed. "You’ve always been pathetic."
Smack!
Vivian did not wait. Her right hand hit Chloe right across the face. The sound echoed through the living room.
Chloe stumbled backward, lost her balance, and crashed over the glass table.