"...that's..." Sven hesitated. Karlene scoffed, "rude? Yes. Very much."
Sven turned around and started walking back down. "That was very rude. She just took Ash away from her, locking arms as if she was the one defending her and not us. She acted like Ash was a guest with us she let us borrow for some time."
"It felt like that. Didn't it?" B huffed out a short laughter without humor. Karlene and Sven exchanged a worried look. B was not the kind to speak ill of others in any capacity until they were downright evil.
Karlene pushed Sven by the shoulder and wrapped an arm around B's shoulder, "forget what the rich brat and her friend said. You don't need to take it too seriously. Let's just go back and get to work. We need to put out an opening for volulenteers if Vance agrees to holding the election."
B looked at her blankly before nodding. "I thought I was treating her well but I was not."
"If you are not treating her well. who is? you are contantly in her corner and making sure to include her in all discussions. What more do you have to do?"
B got into the meeting room and met Vance's eyes. Then Vance looked past her and lowered his head. He, too, had picked up that Ash was upset. "what I should have done is not taken Vance's side everytime."
As she took her seat at the table, and asked Vance, "who are you looking for?"
Vance looked down at the papers in front of him. It was a small set of forms he had to finish stamping as the class represntative. When he didn't answer Karn spoke up, "you were in the wrong this time brother."
Vance kept his head down and nodded. What else could he say? He knew he was a little too insistant on his ideas at times. It didn't mean he was neglecting her efforts. Though he had a feeling that she wasn't just upset or angry, she was mad, spitting mad and it came in a surge after she turned away from them. When she told him she'd get behind his decision, he could feel her determination to do so but what changed in a split second?
It was then that he knew he didn't really know her even when he knew her heart. Wasn't attraction electric and undenaiable between mates from the first moment. Why then did Ash always choose to walk away from him?
He looked at Drew, who said, "I am with you on this one. No need to bother about the human."
Wasn't a mate supposed to react like Drew was reacting? But if she did, it wouldn't be a kind of person he could like back, mate or not.
There was an unease in his chest and it was not the irritable feelings of Ash. It was more. It was his own unease at how upset Ash had been. And she had been upset enough to send B away. B was the only one she was comfortable with, for whom she thought for, liked or worried. No matter how many times he had notices the attraction between him and Ash, it didn't compare to the fondness Ash felt for B.
He asked, "what happened out there?"
B did not look up from her work, "she snapped at me for speaking up for you."
"I am with Ash on this one," Akiye spoke up, "she must feel alianted between all of you."
Karn turned to her, "what do you mean?"
Akiye smiled kindly, "you don't know how close knit you can be. One can feel like an outsider at times."
Sven threw his hands up, "what do you mean? We are secret keeping buddies and you are saying I we make her feel aliented?"
B asked softly, "did we ever make you feel that way?"
Akiye and B stared at each other for sometime before Akiye smiled, "not now."
Karlene whispered to Sven. "you have secrets? From me?"
Sven shot back, "you keep secrets from me too."
Karlene frowned, "what secret? You know everything about me. Even the most embaressingly shocking things. Thing you probably should know, you know."
Sven turned to her, not smiling anymore, "really? No secret at all?"
Karlene's frown deepened. "you think I keep secrets from you? Is that why you have been keeping secrets from me? Is that why you have been acting weird?"
The atmosphere was suddenly tense. Karlene threw her head back and laughed. She barked, louder and louder. She laughed and the entire meeting room quietened. Tears streamed down her eyes as she laughed. Sven reached out to wipe them off but she turned her head and growled at him. "Don't you dare get near me right now."
Sven pulled his hand back, surprised. Karlene asked, still laughing through her tears, "and what is this supposed secret that has caused you push me away? what could possibly be big enough? If I was being secretive, couldn't you have just knocked me over and asked me about it. Why did you have to go around and flirt with every girl you found? What did I even do to deserve this? What could possibly make you push me away to such great length. I have been at my rope's end, following you around. What the hell could it possibly be?"
"You found your mate." Sven had tears in his eyes as he spoke, all laughter and smiles snuffed out of him. "you found your mate and your rejected him because of me. You told no one about it."
Vance stilled. In fact, ever vampire in the room still. Karn was beside his sister in a second. Even Arabella sat up. Akiye looked between the two.
"And who the hell cooked up such a ridiculous story?" Karlene screamed at the top of her lungs. Sven blinked. Once. Twice. "Is is not true?"
Vance looked at B who was watching Sven with narrowed eyes. Karlene growled but before she could speak, B asked, "Sven. Who told you this?"
Sven looked at B with a blank look. "Did you guys know this? Is it true?" Sven looked at Karlene, "tell me its not true and I will get on my knees right now."
Karlene growled deeper, "it is not true and no you will not get on your knees, you will repent all your life. If you are going to walk out on me the moment I find my mate, I'd rather not have you in my life at all."
Karn yanked Karlene's chair, "think before you speak. And tell me the truth. Did you really reject your mate? This is a big deal Karlene."
Karlene pushed Karn so hard he hit the wall. "Leave me alone."
Karn pushed off the wall and caught Karlene again, "Listen to me sister. Look at me."
Karlene looked at Karn, her face red with tears and teeth bared in anger. Karn wrapped his arms around her and said softly. "I am sorry. You are right. You are strong. I am here."
And Karlene cried. She cried long and hard and Sven just looked up dazed. B came around to Sven and asked, "Sven, who told you this?"
Sven looked at B with the same blank stare that followed the question of who. B looked at the pair of brother and sister. "sorry to intrupt but I think we have a problem."
Karlene looked at her first. B said to her. "you can break up with him but help me wake him first."
"Wake him? What do you mean?" Karlene looked at Sven who had tears in his eyes. Karlene pulled her hand smacked him over the head. The sound echoed in the room.
Sven blinked. Once. Twice. "Break up. Are you breaking up with me? To be with your mate? You are breaking up with me. I knew this would come eventually. I was just making the decision easier."
Karlene smacked him again but B caught her hand. "Look at this," she said and turned to Sven, "Sven, who told you that Karlene found her mate?"
Sven stared at her blankly and said nothing. Karlene growled, "tell me already. Don't make it worse. Who was it? Is it someone we know? Is that why you can't say it?"
Sven shook his head, "I can. I... He.. It... They..."
Karlene frowned. She had never seen Sven so muddled. Something was amiss. When Karlene looked at B, B was looking at Akiye and signaling something.
Vance asked Akiye, "can you break his hypnosis?"
Akiye went around to Sven and took the seat Karlene had left, "I can sure as hell will try."
None of them had seen Akiye so focused or determined before. She asked Sven again, "Sven, who told you about Karlene's mate?"
Sven looked her blankly again. Akiye looked up at the stricken Karlene and asked, "tell him something that will shock him."
"Breakup didn't shock him enough... perhaps..." Vance tapped Karlene. "Go hide."
Karlene frowned once and looked at everyone. None of them seem to be joking. Karlene looked about the room, then slipped under the table, feeling extremely stupid.
Vance shook Sven. "Karlene has been taken."
Sven shot up, "taken? Where? What happened?"
Vance caught his arm and rushed him, "she ran off after breaking up with you and someone caught her. She is danger. Who told you that she had a mate?"
Sven who had been running with Vance, stopped suddenly, in a daze. Vance looked back at them and shook his head. Akiye stood up, "every hypnosis has a sleep state. To wake someone from the sleep state, you need to shock them awake. But that's just hypnosis for normal creatures. Some of us are capable of a different type of hypnosis. A hypnosis that gets triggered by a word or a phrase. It needs that word or phrase to break it."
"We don't know what triggered it and we definitely don't know what could break it. What do we do?" Vance asked, peering into Sven's face. "Sven. Where is Karlene? Isn't she with you?"
Sven blinked once, twice and looked about. "She isn't here? I thought she was. Perhaps she will come later. She has been going to the restroom a lot lately."
Sven looked away from Vance as he said the last part. B said, "go check on her then."
Sven hesitated. "she will come."
"If she is meeting with her mate, you shuld catch her red handed. Put an end to everything." Arabelle said.
Sven shook his head, "I can't."
Akiye narrowed her eyes, "it seems to be fed into him that he not follow Karlene."
"fed to me?" Sven turned around. Akiye's eyes widened. "Anything they said so far reltive to Karlene's mate had fallen on deaf ears but every time we say Karlene, he hears it."
Sven entered his daze again. Akiye said, "found Karlene," and Sven's eyes lit up, looking around, eager to find her.
Sven looked at Akiye, "where is she?"
Akiye pointed under the table, "there."
Karlene crawled out and snapped, "what was the point of putting me there?"
Akiye raised a hand to Karlene from coming closer. Sven looked at Akiye curiously, and asked laughing, "what are you doing?"
"Sven. Can you tell me what do you remember of our last 15 minutes?"
Sven opened his mouth and pinched his brows together but no words came out. "It's muddled. Why is it muddled? We... uh! We talked about... Karlene's mate. We had a fight. Karlene is leaving me. I knew she would. One day she would."
Sven blinked once and Akiye clapped right in front of his face before he could blink again. Sven shivered from head to toe and shook his head. "What was that?"
Akiye waved her hand, "nothing much. What were you saying again?"
Sven laughed at Akiye's weirdness and said, "alllllll right. Sooooo. I was saying Karlene and I.. we fought? We broke up?" He shook his head. "That can't be. Did I hit my head or something? If we broke up why did Karlene come out from under the table. What's going on?"
"Someone hypnotised you into believing that Karlene has a..." Akiye told him bluntly. Sven and B exchanged a worried look.
"A mate," Sven sighed. "That's why we fought."
Akiye stepped closer to Sven, "who told you this?"
Sven shook his head. "I can't remember. I tried to rememver so many times before but I can't remember."
"have you seen him?"
"I have thought about following her multiple times but never did."
Akiye laughed and threw her arms around Sven, "yes. Ii broke it. I broke the hypnosis."
She released him before Karlene could growl. "He is all yours."
Karlene ran up to him and threw her arms around him, "we are still broken up but I am still relieved."
"You said you don't have a mate. Why are you still breaking up with me?" Sven asked. Karlene pushed him, "payback."
Karn laughed, relief clear in him. Sven looked from one to other. "I am really confused right now. Can someone tell me what's going on with me?"
Karn turned to B and said, "we need to tell Ash about this."
B's eyes widened and nodded. "I will go get her."
But Karlene groaned, "Is that what's important right now? We will tell her tomorrow in class."
Vance looked Karlene. "You have classes together?"
Sven waved his hand, "yes. I will tell her but what do I tell her again?"
"That you were hypnotized into believing that Karlene has a mate and rejected him for you so you shouldn't follow her anytime she goes to meet him."