Chapter 2 Vanna
TWO
VANNA
Stone helps me tug my latex dress back on with gentle hands. One overtaken by a black rose and the other an octopus, its tentacles crawling up his wrist. He’s a walking work of art, this man. Right down to the two silver hoops in his right nostril and his sharpened canines.
A part of me wishes it was him inside of me and not Hunter. Though, having him watch me was... indescribable.
Staring into his eyes was like staring into the morning sky. Blue and infinite. There was no end to his depth, and I felt like I was drowning inside of him. All the while my ex stabbed me from behind.
Honestly, I had no intentions of ever fucking Hunter again, but desperate times call for desperate measures. It also doesn’t help that he’s been begging to get back together for months now. Months that have been dry and sexless.
Then Stone shows up, looking like a tangible orgasm. There’s just something about him, maybe the way he looks at me or perhaps how certain of us he is, that forces me to forget that Hunter even exists.
Hunt must’ve seen it the moment I set my sights on Stone because he went searching for me, and the only way I thought he would leave is if I pushed him too far. I never thought he would take me up on the challenge, but I was wrong.
Do I regret it? Not a single bit. Not after watching the way Stone dived headfirst into my request, without an ounce of hesitancy. I simply wanted it, and he gave it to me.
Hunter had never entertained a third, or even anything past doggy style, and it became monotonous... boring.
He in general became the definition of a tool.
Useful for some things otherwise pointless to have.
The five years we were together he never entertained a future with me.
When I eventually brought up the idea of getting married and having kids, he flat out told me I was delusional if I thought I would make a good wife and mother.
But the history between us felt like too much to lose. It wasn’t until I discovered him cheating that I finally walked away.
“How about that tattoo?” Stone asks once we’re both dressed.
“I can’t say no to that.” I shrug.
“But-” He begins, pushing me onto the chair once more, “-I choose what it is.”
My eyes widen apprehensively, “I don’t-”
“Trust me. I won’t give you anything you’d hate. I do this for a living.”
I stare at him a moment and really contemplate if I actually trust him or not. I did just meet him after all, but there’s something about him that makes me want to relent.
“Fine but make it small.”
He flashes his teeth in an excited grin, then turns to his worktable and begins prepping.
“How long have you known Jace and Daphne?” He asks me while busying himself.
“I just met Jace a couple months ago, but I’ve known Daph since college. We were in the same Psych class together and just sort of hit it off. Moved in with her halfway into Sophomore year. How do you know Jace?”
“We ran in the same circles for a while. We moshed at the same concerts, and I think by the fourth one, we finally exchanged numbers.”
Turning to me, he places a stencil on a small clearing inside of my wrist between two different designs. A triangle within a circle.
“What’s it mean?”
With a mischievous smile, he says, “I told you it would be a commemoration of the best night of your life.”
“Wow, okay.” I scoff. “But seriously.”
I watch as he assesses the placement and decides it’s good enough to continue. There’s a long moment where he doesn’t answer, just cleans and gathers his gun. The buzzing of the needle eats away the silence between us, and I watch as he carefully marks me forever.
“Well, this,” He finally explains as he finishes the triangle, “is our beginning and this,” he traces the circle around it, “Is our future.”
Suddenly, my skin starts to prickle with apprehension.
“I still don’t get it.”
He pins my hand down to the table when I start to retract my arm, and begins the second half.
“You will.”
Despite the panic starting to burn a hole in my chest, I fight the urge to ruin the tattoo and run. I can always cover it up.
“And what if we don’t have a future? What if this is the last time I ever see you?” I challenge.
“I find that highly unlikely, Darkness.”
“Stone?”
“Hmm?” He answers me without so much as breaking his concentration from his work.
Words seem to evade me in this moment. What was I supposed to do? Ask him to stop halfway through? Scream at him?
His eyes finally flick up to mine. “I’m almost finished.”
“I don’t want this.”
He flattens my fingers out again when they start to curl into a fist.
“You will. Maybe not today, but you will.”
His promise feels more threatening than anything else, and before I can protest anymore, he’s done.
The tattoo is small, just a triangle inside of a circle. So simple that there can’t be any real meaning behind it, but the ominous way Stone explained the design tells me otherwise.
I watch him in complete shock as he cleans my wrist and wraps it up. The sheer audacity of etching a permanent symbol into my skin without my consent baffles me.
“All done, Darkness.”
I stare at him bewildered. “You know I’ll just have this covered up, right?”
“And why would you do that?”
“Because it’s insane! You’re insane!”
A smug smirk tugs a corner of his mouth up and ignites a searing frustration to burn inside my veins. It’s a tipping point in this moment, solidifying my resignation for the concept of us. How dare he?
Shoving his shoulder, I slide off the chair and begin to walk away, but he catches me by the back of my neck. Spinning me around to face him, he lowers his lips to mine, but I have enough sense to push him away.
“I’m leaving.”
As I reach the door, he calls out behind me, “See you soon.”
I only growl at his arrogance and then head to the living room to find Daphne. Unfortunately, I find someone I’m very much not looking for.
Hunter’s eyes catch mine from his place on the couch in the living room. I try to pretend I don't see him, but he jumps up and follows me into the kitchen. When I pay him zero attention, he grips my unwrapped wrist and spins me around.
“What the fuck, Vanna?”
I glower at him in answer.
“You just let him do that to you? Why didn’t you follow me?”
Suddenly exhausted, I cross my arms and lean against the counter. The once mild chatter has grown louder the longer the night crawls on, so his tone barely carries over the noise.
I shrug, “Why would I have done that?”
He looks off to the side before returning his gaze to me, completely baffled by my response.
“Vanna, we have a history together. He’s no one.”
“No one, huh?” A deep voice cuts through our bubble.
Snapping my gaze to the left of me, I find Stone approaching. This is my cue to get the fuck out of here. Except, that idea is derailed by the grip Hunter has on me. He pulls me behind him as if he’s protecting me or some shit.
Yanking my arm free, I try to step around him.
“She didn’t want that, you know. She didn’t ask to stay and get her throat fucked. You fucking psycho.”
Rearing my head back, I turn my rage onto Hunter. “Excuse me?”
Stone just smiles bitterly, his gaze never leaving my ex’s.
“He basically ra-”
The next three seconds happen in a blur.
One moment, Hunter is accusing Stone of rape and the next, he’s laid out on the floor with blood gushing from his nose. Stone stands over him; his fist clenching the front of his shirt and lifts his head off the ground.
“Accuse me of that shit again and you’re dead. If she didn’t want it, she would’ve told me to stop, but she didn’t and now you’re butt hurt.”
It isn’t the crimson waterfall flooding from Hunter’s face that strikes a well of panic inside me or even the welts forming on Stones fist, but the crowd in the room that’s fallen silent. A hundred pair of eyes are staring at us as the scene unfolds.
Stone’s threat echoes clearly throughout the condo, and mortification bleeds beneath my skin in a red hue.
“Fuck both of you.” I shake my head, holding the tears back and bolting for the front door.
With bleary eyes, I order an Uber through my phone and pace the sidewalk outside. Behind me, the sound of a door slamming shut spikes my irritation all over again.
“I don’t ever want to see you again, Hunter. I’m so fucking over-”
It’s not Hunter, though. Of course it isn’t. He’s too concerned with his face.
Stone saunters forward, approaching with caution.
“Hey, I didn’t mean to upset you.”
Rolling my eyes, I check the status of my Uber. Two minutes.
“Please, just leave me alone.”
He inches closer until he’s hovering over me.
“You would’ve told me, right? If you wanted me to stop?”
His presence should enrage me, but there’s a calm that radiates from him, reaching inside of me in a way I wish it wouldn’t.
I nod, “Yes.”
He releases a breath as if he was actually worried he might have done what Hunter accused him of.
As the Uber pulls up, Stone hooks two fingers into the front of my dress between my breasts and tugs me forward.
Lowering his mouth to my ear, he says, “Catalyst. Safe word for next time.”
Despite the heat in my cheeks, I push him away and roll my eyes. “Yeah, not happening. See you never, Lover Boy.”
By the time I get home, I’m exhausted and still a little tipsy.
I don’t want to think about the way the strange blond man watched my soul emerge from my body as I got fucked from behind by my loser ex.
I don’t want to think about the way he so easily marked me and talked about a future.
I don't want to think about the way he knocked Hunter on his ass and played a part in my humiliation.
So, when I get into my room, I pluck my favorite vinyl from the stand and place it into my record player.
A soft, melodic melody croons from the speakers and instantly cradles my heart. The urge to numb myself is strong tonight, stronger than it’s been in a while and though I’ve quit the habit, sometimes I give in.
Reaching for my dresser drawer, I pull out a small Altoids tin. Hidden inside is my favorite razor blade. The only one I haven’t been able to bring myself to dispose of. I stare at it for a minute. Giving myself to the count of ten. Sometimes just looking at it helps, other times...
Well, tonight’s just not one of those nights. Indulging myself, I pick it up between my fingers and lift the hem of my mini dress. The tip stings as I bring it down against my flesh and let it linger there.
I take my time dragging the edge across my thigh and watch as the skin splits open. Blood pebbles until it accumulates enough to drip down my leg.
Just one.
Just the one tonight.
That’s all I will allow.
I place the razor blade back in the little box and shove it deep in the drawer as if I won’t be able to find it for next time. Then, I lay down on my black shag rug and count the little glow in the dark stars I put up on my ceiling when I moved in.
It reminds me of my happy place. Far from the city, deep out in the middle of Michigan on the serene lakeside. The sky there is so clear, and the traffic is near nonexistent. There’s no perpetual honking or pedestrians screaming out on the street at each other. Just pure, blissful peace.
I don’t know when I fall asleep, but I’m woken by my bedroom door swinging open. In stumbles Daphne, still a little wobbly on her feet. She looks around my room before finding me lying on the floor.
Before she can notice, I slide my dress down and wipe away at the blood that’s basically dried against my thigh. When I realize it’s not going anywhere, I stand and strip with my back to her, crawling into a black satin pajama set.
“Jeez, are you okay?” She asks, plopping down on my bed.
“Yeah, why?”
“When I went to come find you, all I found was Hunter raging at the kitchen sink, cleaning a bloody nose.”
I snort. “Well, he’s an ass.”
“Stone punched him?” She tests, wondering if I’ll give her the full story.
“I guess.”
I climb into bed on the other side of her.
“Someone said they were fighting over you.” She whispers.
“Not over me.”
“Mmm.” Daphne says. “I was hoping you would hit it off with Stone. Then maybe we can all hang out together, you know?”
“He’s-”
Before I can finish my thought, Daphne grabs my wrist. “What is this?”
The desire to sleep outweighs my desire to conjure up a believable lie, so I tell her.
“Stone gave me a tattoo.”
“Of what?!”
“Something stupid.” I murmur.
“Van, spill.”
“Mmm-mm.” I refuse to talk about tonight anymore.
Instead, I pass out with Daphne cuddled up beside me.