The Beautiful Monster

Chapter 266  Frenemy

Early one morning, a knock sounded on Melina's door. She jolted awake, looking at the door with wide eyes before checking her phone for the time. It wasn't even seven in the morning yet.

Who could possibly be knocking on her door? Thinking it was probably someone from the school, she hurriedly hopped out of bed and opened the door.

"Blair?" Melina said with a surprised look on her face. She didn't even know that Blair got up this early.

Blair smiled sweetly at Melina.

"Hey, want to go foraging with me? Final exams will be here before we know it. We should stock up our ingredient supplies," she said as she held up two cloth bags.

Melina gave Blair a surprised look.

"Oh, you want to go with me? Don't you usually go with your other friends?" she asked out of pure curiosity.

She was used to foraging in the nearby forest alone because Blair and her popular group of friends usually made a girls' day out of it.

Blair waved her hand dismissively.

"Ah, forget them. I want to go with you," she replied as she motioned for Melina to come with her.

Melina didn't have plans with Tyler today because he had physical tests today. He would be too tired to even eat dinner tonight, much less hang out with anyone. She wanted him to rest anyway.

"Sure. Let me get dressed," she told Blair with a smile. It would be nice to get some fresh air and take a walk too.

She hadn't caught up with Blair in a while too. Maybe it was time to tell her the truth about her and Tyler. She didn't want to have to keep hiding any longer.

Melina pulled on a pair of pants and a t-shirt with a jacket, wanting to keep her skin covered in case she touched a plant she wasn't supposed to.

She often returned from foraging days with bites and rashes. She wanted to try to avoid that this time at all costs.

"Let's go," she told Blair with a nod.

They ventured out of the building and past campus grounds to the nearby forest. There was a path in the forest that students were allowed to take, but they were forbidden from going off the path in case of any dangers lurking around.

The forest was vast too. It would be hard for anyone to find their way out if they got lost.

"How have you been? It's been a minute since we last hung out," Melina asked as they walked down the path side-by-side with their bags in their hands.

"Good. How are you? Up to anything interesting?" Blair replied, lifting an eyebrow at Melina.

Melina smiled stiffly and shrugged.

"Studying a lot, trying to prepare for finals. I can't believe we'll graduate soon," she said. It would be here before they knew it. She would get to see her dad at the ceremony too after not seeing him for a while.

Blair merely hummed, not actively replying.

Melina scratched the back of her neck as silence surrounded them. It was rare for Blair to be so quiet. She glanced around and spotted some yarrow, stopping to pick some off the ground.

"Want some?" she asked Blair.

Blair shook her head, continuing to stand on the path. She glanced around quietly.

Melina gave her a confused look before adding a few more yarrow leaves to her bag. She then stood and joined Blair on the path.

"Okay," she said with a nod.

Blair led Melina down the path, going farther and farther into the forest and passing right by important herbs.

"Are you looking for a certain herb?" Melina asked her, speeding up her pace to catch up to Blair.

"Yeah, I think it's out there," Blair replied as she motioned to an area of forest off the path. She walked off the path and went through the trees.

"Blair, wait! We're not supposed to go off the path," Melina called to Blair, hurrying to catch up with her. She slipped through the tall trees and thick bushes, hearing crunching and crackling from up ahead as Blair kept walking.

Melina had no idea what Blair's deal was, but she didn't want to get in trouble because Blair wanted to play around.

Before Melina could shout for Blair again, she stepped out of the trees and into a small clearing where Blair was standing at. She caught her breath and shook her head, feeling annoyed.

"What are you doing? We have to stay on the path," Melina said as she gave Blair a confused look.

Blair stared at Melina with hard eyes.

"I know about you and Tyler," she said.

Melina's eyes grew big as she stood across the clearing from Melina. She figured that Blair would know about them eventually, but she had hoped to be the one to tell Blair.

"I was going to tell you today. We talked, and I know he's not the one who tried to hurt me," she explained, not wanting Blair to be upset.

"Of course, he isn't. He doesn't have the skill to create a spell bag," Blair said as a smirk steadily crossed her face.

Melina narrowed her eyes, feeling her heart jolt.

"I never told you about the spell bag," she said quietly.

Blair rolled her eyes at Melina.

"I told you not to get close to that vampire, Melina. He's bad news," she said as she took a step closer to Melina.

Melina matched her by taking a step back. Panic started to seep into her very bones, but she tried to keep herself together. She had to focus because she had a feeling that she was in danger.

"Bad news for you, not for me," she murmured. She couldn't believe that Blair tried to hurt her. But why?

"Precisely. I have a job to do, and he's making it hard," Blair spat, looking as upset as she sounded.

"What job? Why did you try to hurt me?" Melina asked.

"Hurt you? I tried to kill you! Twice," Blair scoffed as she crossed her arms over her chest. "I sent you to the cafeteria to get yourself torn apart, and you had to take the long way."