“That fucking asshole.” Victoria banged the door to her store with a lot more energy than expected. The sound made her pause as she glared at the door, too angry to mind it, yet a little bit concerned as her eyes turned to the hinges. It seemed good, so she stormed her way into the store, her anger too raw and too hot, she barely smiled at the men and women who were picking up clothes and jewelries and she didn’t make an attempt to flatter them as she always did. For a woman who smiled a lot, it took them by surprise.

Victoria made her way to her office, her chest tight in anger and her hands closed into a fist. There was a rumble in her chest, a need to scream, to curse, to let something hidden loose. Her anger had always been dangerous and she had secretly feared letting go completely, so she always held tight to it. Reining it together as much as possible.

“That fucking bastard.” She groaned. Her feelings raw and growing, it made the blood in her veins hot and almost impossible to hold tight.

“Victoria.” Her door opened as a friend walked in. Celestine. He had been at the store for a while and had frustrated the hell out of her life earlier and completely ruined her plan for the day without sympathy and with all intention. But at that moment, she didn’t want to look at him or smile like he always knew how to make her to.

“Are you okay?” He stepped closer, shutting the door behind him. His voice was serious and less of the taunting one she knew.

“Yes.” She lied as she always knew how to. He smiled, knowing her too well.

“I am leaving.” He announced, dropping all playfulness. Her heart fell as a little guilt sipped in.

“Rein in your anger.” The voices in her head said but it seemed she was speaking to a wall as they pushed against the walls of her heart and she pushed back, holding in tightly, too scared to let loose. But the thought of being sabatoged by someone she has been so good to couldn’t leave her head.

“Won’t you at least smile? You look like you want to strangle me. When we both know you don’t even have the strength to talk back.” He quipped, his taunting returning with an evil smile on his lips. That did the trick. A small smile made its way to her lips as her heart eased and a need to refute him made her open her mouth. But she shut it back soon after, knowing she could never win against him.

“Give me a hug, come on.” He smiled, clearly satisfied at his victory . She didn’t want it, yet she drew him closer.

“I love you sometimes.” She was going to say but that would have only fanned his ego, so she remained quiet and grateful that the bastard was still sticking with her.

“Don’t let him get to you.” He advised. Things had happened so fast outside, she hadn’t quite expected that he noticed but he did.

“I swear I am going to kill that bastard.” She cursed, her annoyance returning like a fierce wave. And it only increased when she noticed the person standing by the door. He looked ready to leave as well. And she didn’t want to stop him. He wasn’t going to understand why she was so angry, even if she explained. And he barely took her seriously whenever she complained about the series of attack she had gotten from her next door neighbor.

Soon enough, they both left and once more, her anger burned. Returning like a storm, it swooped her, leaving her skin hot and her heart burning with a thousand ways to kill the man next door.

She had been there first, she had been nice to him when he packed in and decided to start thesame business as her, she even recommended people to him when she didn’t have what they wanted. Yet he went about lying to those who either wanted to do business with her or he would claim that her store was his too, preventing people from entering. She groaned, feeling that tightness in her chest again as something grew hotter and tighter. She always knew people were bad and envious and not to be trusted. But fuck, this was her business and sabotaging it was the height of it.

She walked over to the bathroom, seeing as her skin became hotter and the tightness around her chest painful.

“Should I confront him?” She asked herself, while staring at the mirror before her with her face wet from the water splashed on it.

“Yes. But what good would that do?”

“Should I ignore him?”

“Probably.” But she knew herself enough to know that she would literally glare at him every time she saw him if she did that. He was ruining her and every time, he had the perfect smile on his face, acting all friendly and good, she would definitely want to gauge out his eyes.

“Bastard.” She snapped. This time, the hurt returned against her chest with a force that had her whimpering. She placed her hands on it, hitting it with her fist, pushing it back but the pain only grew and her anger disappeared.

She should have known.

“Fuck.” She turned to the shower, slowly taking off what she wore as the pain grew and her skin became hotter, it’s almost burned. This was why she never allowed herself to get angry. She stepped into the shower with a lot more effort and turned the water on. Ignoring that her hair might get wet, she needed the pain to go away. And the water had always helped it. But when the water touched her skin, it burned, making her pull away. It was worse than before. It was the first time it had ever been this bad. The doctors didn’t have a name for it, but the water had always been her prescription. But cold as the water was, her skin burned and the pain around her chest grew, expanding slowly and painfully almost like there was something there that needed to be let out. There was no other choice, so she jammed her lips together and stepped back in. She screamed, a tear slipped down her eyes as she went down on her knees taking the burn and pain as it came. The water ran, her skin burned and her chest hurt till her skin began to prickle with pain. Spreading from her arms, to her legs. Like tiny pins were poking through her. She let it, she cried silent and she allowed herself that pain knowing the water was the only way, knowing it would pass away after an hour or two. It always did.

An hour later, the burst in her chest, the burn in her skin, the pinch on her skin. They disappeared like she hadn’t been in pain from the beginning. But her body felt too numb and exhausted to simply get up, so she allowed the water run more. Till a bang on her door had her opening her eyes.

“Bitch.” A familiar voice came.

“Are you dead? You’ve been there for hours.” She banged harder against the door. She groaned, knowing exactly who it was.

“Stay there.” She yelled and got up from where she stood. Ignoring the numbness or the need to simply be alone, she turned off the shower and picked a towel before walking across the bathroom to the door. But something caught her eyes as she passed the mirror. She stopped. Her heart skipped. There was something there, and somehow she knew. Whatever had been hidden inside of her was finally out.

“No..” she shook her head, refusing to believe it. Slowly, she took a step back.

She gasped when she saw her reflection one more time. Parts of her skin was covered by something and it glowed blue around her arms, parts of her neck and her cheeks. Her heart raced. Appalled, she raised her hand to her cheeks, they glowed, yet felt slightly rough like they were scales.

“Oh my God!” She fell back, hitting the floor. Unsure if it was because of shock or the feeling that wrapped around her numb legs.

“Victoria…” The person at the door yelled, her fist banging harder against the door.

“Are you alright?” Concern laced her voice. But her throat was too dry to answer and the sight of her legs turning blue and different before her left her shaking.

“Victoria….I am coming in.”

“No…” her scream came loud and scared as legs had painfully turned to tails, shinny and blue.

“No…please.” Her voice shook. And more than ever, she realized what she had set free.