Chapter 6 My nightmare
Rain's POV
“Rain! Rain! Wake up!”
Annabelle’s shrill voice stabbed straight into my skull, dragging me violently from sleep. I jolted upright so fast my neck cracked.
“What’s happening?” I groaned, rubbing my eyes.
Annabelle was bouncing on the bed like a deranged squirrel on energy drinks.
“Come see this. Come see this right now. You turned into a celebrity overnight!”
I blinked at her. “What?”
“No, you don’t understand. YOUR FACE IS EVERYWHERE!”
Okay.
I definitely did not have the brain cells for this level of dramatic enthusiasm at 7 a.m.
I stumbled into the bathroom, squeezed toothpaste onto my brush, stuck it in my mouth, and mumbled.
“Annabelle… calm down. Take a deep breath and tell me what’s going on?”
She didn’t calm down.
Instead, she read out loud like a town crier delivery the king's message.
“ROSEE KNIGHT KISSES UNKNOWN WOMAN AT MOONLIGHT GALA!”
I froze. The toothbrush halfway out of my mouth.
Annabelle shoved her tablet in my face.
And there it was.
A crystal-clear picture of me, kissing the coldest, richest, rudest man alive.
My toothbrush fell straight into the sink.
I stared. My brain lagged, then crashed.
“You’re joking, please tell me this is a lie.” I whispered.
“Oh no, baby girl, I’m not.” Annabelle scrolled. “Look babe, there are videos too!”
She played one.
Oh God.
No. NO!
People had edited it. With music, slow motion, sparkles, love effect and fan-made ship names like #KnightFall and #MysteryKissGirl.
I choked on air. “Turn it off.TURN IT OFF!!”
I was so speechless that I stood for minutes without saying a word.
“Rain, you’re trending!” Annabelle cackled.
My life officially ended at that moment. I took the tablet from her hand and started reading comments.
“She seduced him on purpose.”
“She set the gala on fire just to kiss a billionaire.”
“She’s so desperate.”
“She should go to hell.”
“She belongs in the brothel.”
“She looks cheap.”
“She’s trash.”
My throat tightened and I swallowed hard.
Annabelle snatched the tablet when she saw my expression.
“Ignore the comments,” she whispered softly, placing a hand on my shoulder.
“Yeah,” I replied hollowly. “Sure.”
I dragged myself back to bed like a depressed zombie. Wrapped myself in my blanket. Peeked out again and looked at the screen.
“Who the fu-k even posted this? WHO?”
“Baby… that’s the least of your problems. You're, uh… kinda infamous now. Let's focus on how to solve that.” Annabelle winced.
An hour later, I got dressed. Tied my black gloves tight. Slapped on lip gloss, hair tied into a bun and an eye liner because looking homeless wasn’t helping anyone.
“Let’s just go to work,” I muttered. “Normal people work. I'm okay. Everything is fine." I bit my lower lips, shaking slightly.
Annabelle gave me the side-eye but didn’t argue, she volunteered to drive me to my workplace.
The moment I entered my workplace, Manager Paul nearly fainted.
“There she is!” he pointed dramatically, like I was an abomination.
“What?” I muttered. “I’m literally three minutes early.”
“You’re fired.” he rolled his eyes.
I blinked repeatedly.
“What are you saying?”
“You’re fired, Rain! FIRED! You caused a fire at a billionaires’ event! Do you know what the news is calling you?! We can’t have criminals working here!”
“I’m not a criminal...” My voice cracked.
“You caused damages worth millions! You even burnt an A-list actress.”
“It wasn’t my fault, she attacked me.”
“You’re fired and that's final!”
"But I did nothing wrong! I could have died, her claws were digging into my skin."
"Well it's better to be dead than to be cursed."
I snapped.
“Oh yeah? WELL F**K YOU, PAUL!”
Everyone gasped.
“And f**k your stupid job! I hope all your customers disappear and your business crashes!”
“Rain, shut the fu-k up!" He glared at me.
“F**K—YOU—PAUL! You can keep your stupid job and eat my ass!” I spat and left.
The doors slammed behind me.
Annabelle sighed. “Let me guess, you were fired." She said as she climbed down from the car.
I snarled. “Whatever. To hell with Paul and his job. I still have two more jobs."
But I did not, because by noon, both remaining places kicked me out. One after the other.
The first one pretended they didn’t know me. The second one was kind enough to give me a reason:
“Um… we don’t want the billionaire-kisser-fire-starter working here. Customers are scared.”
“PLEASE,” I begged. “I need the salary. I didn’t even do anything wrong.”
“Nope.”
Door shut.
I sank onto the pavement, defeated.
I'm dejected, broke, unemployed, and hated by the entire internet.
Great.
I drew a long deep breath.
Annabelle rubbed my back sympathetically. “You can come work for me.”
“Annabelle… you own a dog spa.”
“So?”
“I burn living things.”
“…Oh.”
We sat there in silence for some minutes until suddenly there were screams, flashes and noises.
Reporters swarmed towards me like hungry wolves.
“Raine Lancaster, are you in a relationship with Rosee Knight?”
“Did you seduce him?”
“Are you his mistress?”
“Did you burn Melissa out of jealousy?”
“Are you after his money?”
I stumbled back as microphones, cameras, hands, bodies shoved into me.
“Move! Give me space! I said MOVE!”
A woman yanked my hair, another slapped my face. A man grabbed my shirt. Someone stepped on my foot.
My gloves almost slipped off.
They started throwing raw eggs and flour at me.
“Rain, RUN!” Annabelle screamed at me.
I shoved through bodies, dodging cameras.
My lungs burned as I sprinted down the street.
They chased me.
“STOP FOLLOWING ME!” I shouted, running with everything in me.
I ran into a corner, turned to another and another. I don't even know where I'm going, I just want to escape from these people.
Finally I slipped into a dark alley.
I pressed against the cold wall, holding my breath.
Footsteps rushed past.
They didn’t see me.
Oh thank the moon goddess.
I inhaled shakily.
“That was… horrible.”
I adjusted my shirt, smoothed my hair, sighed heavily, and continued down the alley to exit the other side.
Then I saw a figure standing ahead.
Tall, slender, not muscular but long and unnerving like a stretched-out shadow.
He wore a red suit, over it was a black cloak that moved despite the still air.
His head tilted slightly, like he’d been waiting.
My skin prickled. Every instinct screamed run.
But curiosity won, as usual so I stepped closer.
“H-hey… w-who are you?” I asked, voice shaky.
The man didn’t answer, he just lifted his head slowly.
And his eyes?
They glowed red.
What the f--k! I screamed within.
A slow smile stretched across his face.
“Rain Lancaster,” he whispered.
My blood ran cold. The hair on my arm rose.
“H-how do you know my name?” I breathed.
The man took one step forward.
The cloak dragged behind him like a liquid shadow.
“Because…”
His smile widened unnaturally.
“You are cursed and your curse does not belong to you.”
My heart slammed into my ribs.
“What… what do you mean?”
He leaned closer.
“It belongs… to him.”
"Him? Who?"
Before I could ask, the alley lights flickered. The air shifted and the man's silhouette blurred.
Something moved behind me.
