Act 3 | Chapter 1

There I was, sitting back down on my little wooden stool. Carefully, I dragged the bristles of my paintbrush across the canvas, creating the black outlines to the flowers I was drawing. Spring was here. The sun had melted the snow away, and I could hear birds chirping mixed in with the sound of cars honking from the street down below. It was kind of hot, to be honest. For that reason, I was only wearing my tank top and a pair of shorts while I worked. The school had been out for a day now, with spring break having technically begun. I was feeling pretty good. It had been a month since I had seen my mother. The police hadn't had any luck in finding either MAria or Hannah, which made me feel even better. I had outsmarted them, at least for the time being. I got away with it.

Not much had happened over the last month. The bloodlust I felt had died down a bit, to where I didn't feel the need to hurt anyone anymore. I didn't have any plans on killing anyone or hurting them. The mask I wore over my face hid that side of me, and no one suspected a thing, except for Maria's old friends of course but they gave up on blaming me not too long after the fight. We both ended up getting suspended for a week for that little incident, but I don't think Lilly has forgiven me yet for making her urinate in front of the whole lunchroom.

I've gotten a lot more time to spend with Riley. We've been on a couple date's since then, and I don't think the two of us have ever been happier. Every now and then Riley will make some sort of push to have sex with me, and most of the time I go along with it, but it's fun to tease her and say no for the time being occasionally.

Carefully, I removed the brush from the painting and stood up, taking a few steps back to admire it. It was the painting of Riley I had done a few months back. It was fully restored, and some of the smaller errors I made the first time had been corrected. The painting was perfect. I crossed my arms and let out a tired sigh, sitting down on the bed and eyeing the painting. There was another thump at my door, causing me to roll my eyes.

"You don't have to keep spying on me," I said out loud. A moment later, the door swung open, and Riley stepped out.

"Sorry, I can't help myself." She chuckled, sitting down on the bed beside me. She too was wearing the same thing I was, I'll be it, different colors. "It's fun to watch you paint."

"Then just ask. You don't have to keep spying on me through the crack in the door." I smiled and stretched my arms up. "So did your mom think about our spring break idea?"

"The New York one? Yeah. She says it's fine for the two of us to go."

"It's like a days drive away though, You sure you can drive the whole time?"

"I'll be fine. Besides, I'll have you for company."

I chuckled and smiled, pulling Riley into a hug. A few days ago, we both came up with the idea to go to New York City for our spring break. The idea was to stop at a beach on the way there and then drive to New York the next day. We would spend a week in the city, and go see the Museum of Modern Art, as well as whatever else we could find.

"So it's settled then, we're going on a road trip." Riley smiled.

"Guess so. I should probably start getting ready then. I don't have a bathing suit or anything, so I still need to get one."

"Let's just to make a list now and go out shopping. Won't take too long."

***

When we walked into the clothing store, we were met by one of the employees. He was passing out a few pamphlets for some event the store was having soon, but it wasn't important to us. We took his flyer and walked towards the middle of the store where they had summer bathing suits. There was a male and female section, each one color-coded in blue and pink. Riley went looking for beach towels, while I searched for bathing suits. I looked around the one-piece suits for a while before something caught my eye. It was a two-piece bikini, that was completely blood red. I wasn't sure what it was about it, but I think the color drew me in. The look of blood had stayed in my mind since that one night months ago with Maria, and although I don't feel a need to see blood anymore, I can't help but long for it sometimes. It's rare, but still.

"Find anything?" Riley asked, carrying over two beach towels for the two of us.

"I think so." I took the swimsuit off the rack. "What do you think of this?"

Riley looked at it and then back at me, she sighed and shook her head. "I know why you're getting it." She smirked.

"I can't help it, I love the color."

"Just go try it on, dork." She gently pushed me towards the changing rooms and followed. It didn't take long to change into the bathing suit, as I was only wearing a tank top with shorts. I stepped out when I was finished and showed it off to Riley.

"Well?"

Riley's eyes looked up and down my figure. The top was big enough to cover my petite figure, while the lower half was a bit more revealing in the back, but not by much. I spun around a few times for Riley to see me from different angles, and I soon spotted that lusty look in her eyes I have gotten so familiar too. I held in a giggle and once she gave me a small nod, I backed up into the changing room and put my normal clothes back on.

"It's decided then."

"Yup." Riley nodded, "I think it looks really good on you~"

"Knowing you, I don't think you want me to wear it at all~" I replied in a teasing voice.

"Oh, shut up." She laughed and blushed. Riley couldn't hide it from me. I know that's what she was picturing when looking at me.

"Anything else you want to get here? Aside from the stuff on our list?" I asked, stepping out.

"Nah. Maybe just lunch, but other then that, I'm fine."

I gave her a nod and the two of us started walking back to the registers to pay.

"So your mom isn't going to be coming with us?" I asked for clarification.

Nope, She has some stuff she has to work on here, so it will just be the two of us."

"Just the two of us~," I said in a seductive voice.

"Yup, just the two of us~" Riley smirked at me.

"Can't wait~"