Chapter 113 - Sting Operation

  Morrigan could feel Pepper’s unease as they made their way down the hall to the breakfast table. “Hey, don’t stress,” Morrigan said, giving Pepper a reassuring pat on the back. “Everything’s going to be fine, and if this works, we won’t have to deal with those… uh… them messing with us anymore.” She carefully avoided referring to Jenna’s crew as “those bitches,” knowing that swearing made Pepper uncomfortable.

  “I-I know. I trust you, but…”

  “You’re worried it won’t work out?” Morrigan prompted gently.

  Pepper hesitated, glancing down. “I mean... the counselors trust her. I-I think trying to convince Sarah will be harder than that.”

  “It’s not about actually getting them in trouble,” Morrigan explained. “It’s about making sure they know we have leverage—something to keep them in check. Think about it. Their reputations mean more to them than they ever will to us. They get away with so much crap because the counselors think they’re the fucking golden children of this place.”

  Pepper hunched into her shoulders, and Morrigan realized she’d accidentally slipped in a curse. Chuckling, she softened her tone. “Sorry about that. But seriously, trust me on this. It’s going to work out.”

  “O-okay,” Pepper murmured. “So, after breakfast, I just go back to my room?”

  “Exactly. I’ll pretend to take a shower—leave the water running—and use my perception-blocking to sneak back into the room. I’ll hide... well, I’m not totally sure where yet, but I’ll figure it out. Maybe I’ll trick them into thinking I came out from under the bed or something when they weren’t paying attention. Either way, I’ll be recording everything.”

  “Um, so what do I do?” Pepper asked nervously.

  “Just stand up for yourself—let them know you’re done putting up with their crap. If you can do that, Jenna will probably lose her cool and end up showing her true colors.”

  “A-and that’s when you’ll step in?”

  Morrigan smiled. “Yeah, you got it. They’ll cut the crap the moment they realize they were caught red-handed."

  Pepper nodded slowly, her expression uncertain but trusting. “Okay. If you’re sure this will work, then I believe in you.”

  Morrigan gave her a confident wink and lowered her voice. “Good. Now just act normal during breakfast. Don’t give them any reason to think something’s up.”

  As they entered the dining area, they saw Jenna, Livy, and Tyler bustling around, setting the table with all the poise of the model Tiffany Youth Shelter residents they pretended to be. Their polished smiles and cooperative demeanor masked the cruelty Morrigan and Pepper knew all too well. Morrigan shot Pepper a quick glance, silently reminding her to stay calm, as the game was about to begin.

  “Morrigan, Pepper, good morning!” Jenna greeted, her tone overly pleasant.

  “Uh… g-good morning,” Pepper stammered, her voice barely audible.

  Jenna strolled over to her, her sharp eyes raking over Pepper as if she were sizing her up, perhaps looking for evidence to disprove Morrigan’s claims from the bathroom. “You know, Pepper, we haven’t seen much of you lately. I was really hoping you’d take us up on the offer to watch TV with us the other day.”

  “Oh, I’m sorry,” Pepper mumbled, her gaze fixed firmly on the floor.

  Morrigan hung back, watching, silently willing Pepper to find some of the confidence they’d talked about.

  “So, how about you help us clean up after breakfast and hang out for a while afterward?” Jenna pressed, her tone as sweet as honey. “We can even watch whatever you want to.”

  “Oh… I don’t really…” Pepper trailed off, her words crumbling into silence. Morrigan suspected if she did take them up on the offer, watching whatever she wanted would last all of five minutes until they picked something else and told her she'd like it better.

  Morrigan glanced across the room, catching sight of Mrs. Sarah settling into her chair as Livy and Tyler finished arranging the dishes and silverware. “Come on, it’ll be fun,” Jenna coaxed. “You really shouldn’t keep hiding in your room the way you’ve been lately.”

  “Yeah, what kind of shows do you like, anyway?” Tyler chimed in, joining Jenna. Their voices were friendly, but the way they closed in on Pepper made Morrigan’s skin crawl. But, she had to resist the urge to interjected. Pepper had to stand her ground on her own this time—Jenna wouldn’t feel threatened unless Pepper broke the status quo herself.

  “Hey, Pepper,” Morrigan said, forcing a casual tone. “I’m going to see if Cersi or Beth need anything.”

  “O-okay!” Pepper blurted, then quickly added, “I mean, uh… I’ll come too!” She tried to follow, but Jenna stepped in her path, blocking her way.

  “So,” Jenna continued, her smile tightening. “Are you watching TV with us this afternoon or not?” Her brow lowered slightly, a subtle but unmistakable demand for an answer.

  “No…” Pepper whispered. Her voice was quiet, but Morrigan felt a swell of pride at that one simple word from the small, younger girl.

  “No?” Jenna echoed, one perfectly arched eyebrow rising.

  Pepper emphatically shook her head in her usual fashion. “Thanks, but… I-I’m learning to sew, and I just want to stay in my room and work on that. Um…” She twiddled her fingers nervously. “That’s all. So… bye.”

  Morrigan stepped in with an easy grin, taking Pepper’s hand. “Yeah, maybe another time, Jenna,” she said lightly, then leaned in just enough for her next words to sound almost conspiratorial. “I don’t think Pepper is interested in getting leashed up like your other two dogs.” She straightened and flashed an innocent smile. “Right, Pepper?”

  Pepper giggled nervously, “Uh—th-that’s right!”

  Taking the victory, Morrigan whisked Pepper away just as Jenna recoiled. It seemed the tall girl didn’t quite know how to take that, and Livy and Tyler likewise glanced at each other, perhaps silently wondering if they were supposed to be the leashed dogs Morrigan was alluding to.

  Jenna clearly wanted to say something else, maybe even threaten Morrigan, but she held herself back, since causing a scene right now wouldn’t work out in her own favor.

  As they made their way into the kitchen, Morrigan whispered one last piece of coaching to Pepper. “Now just ignore them through breakfast. You might not be able to keep your nerves in check if you glance their way, so just put on a poker face.” Morrigan winked. “Got it?”

  To Morrigan’s surprise, Pepper returned a much more confident smile than she ever thought she would see from the girl. “Okay, I got it.” She nodded enthusiastically.

  Breakfast went about as it normally did, but with one notable difference that was probably lost on everyone other than Morrigan. The other side of the table had a certain level of tension radiating from it, and when Morrigan let her eyes drift that way, she was sure to keep a smug slant in her eyes, as if she had all the power in the world, and honestly, she did legitimately feel that way.

  Morrigan glanced to Pepper to see how she was doing, and to her pleasant surprise, Pepper seemed steadier than she had expected. The small, nervous girl who had been trembling earlier now sat a little taller, her shoulders less hunched, her eyes flickering with a spark of newfound confidence. It was a subtle change, but to Morrigan, it was like watching the first trickle of a dam that was getting ready to crack.

  As for Cersi and Beth, there wasn’t much to report there. Cersi continued to lead most of the conversation. Morrigan only cut in to compliment her on her cooking. Morrigan imagined she would one day have a career in cooking, as long as whatever disabilities she had didn’t get in the way of that. But, based on how well she kept things together here at the shelter, Morrigan imagined Cersi would have no problem when she moved on from the shelter. Though, working as a private chef or something would probably work out better, something where she could cook what she wanted. Otherwise, she might get a little more “creative” than some restaurants might appreciate.

  Once breakfast was over, Morrigan and Pepper were quick to put their dishes away, and then they headed upstairs, back to their room. “So here’s the plan. The biggest problem is Tyler always guards the door, and my perception blocking won’t let me slip past her unseen. Espeacilly not if she is specifically looking out for me. Therefore…”

  Morrigan laid out the remainder of her plan, then went downstairs to grab a fresh towel from the laundry room, making sure not to look at Jenna’s group too directly, but she was aware of them taking note of her. Morrigan then went back to her room, grabbed a change of clothes, and brought it to the bathroom. She tossed her clean clothes messily on a stool by one of the showers, then reached past the curtain and turned the water on. Then she engaged her perception blocking and walked back to her room, where Pepper was sitting on the bed waiting. The blanket she was working on knitting was draped over her lap while the sewing needle was threaded up and doing its work.

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  “E-everything okay?” Pepper asked quietly as Morrigan stood in the threshold.

  Morrigan put a finger to her lip, keeping her eye on the stairwell. “We’ll see if they took the bait in a minute.”

  Sure enough, it didn’t take long. The three bitches made their way up the stairs, not missing their golden opportunity to corner Pepper while she was alone.

  Livy popped her head into the bathroom but didn’t go fully inside. She simply gave the other two a thumbs up. They looked Morrigan’s way, but their eyes saw right through her thanks to her perception blocking and she quickly slipped back into the bedroom.

  “Get ready,” Morrigan whispered, then went over to her own bed and crawled under it. She decided that was the best place to hide for now. She realized that due to the prodding she and Pepper had done this morning, Jenna might be suspicious that they were up to something and be a little more aware of any prying ears.

  Sure enough, as Morrigan watched from under the bed, she saw Livy start to look around the room while Tyler took her place at the threshold of the door where Morrigan was just moments ago.

  “Hey there, Pepper. Just thought we’d drop in and say hi,” Jenna said as she came over to the smaller girl.

  Morrigan’s fingers quickly tapped the screen of her phone, opening the camera app, as Livy went right for the nightstand. She picked up a book, then opened a drawer, very rudely riffling through Pepper’s personal belongings without a single word of permission.

  “Uh… L-Livy? W-what are you—” Pepper stammered as Jenna grabbed her by the wrist and pulled her off the bed. She wasn’t overly rough, but firm enough to force Pepper away while Livy checked the sheets, presumably looking for anything that could be recording them.

  “Just shut your mouth,” Livy said.

  “Livy,” Jenna hissed.

  “Right… I mean uh…” Livy rolled her eyes upward. “I’m just curious about your uh… books and stuff.”

  Morrigan noticed Tyler palm her face and shake her head. Livy was clearly not as skilled at the art of pretending to be nice. Though that probably worked further in Jenna’s favor in some ways, since from the counselor's point of view, Livy was a troubled kid who’d shown a lot of improvement ever since the kind, benevolent Jenna took her under her wing. It made Morrigan sick.

  “A-are you looking for something?” Pepper asked shakily. Morrigan angled her phone, doing her best to keep them in frame from her poor vantage point. Once Livy was satisfied in her search, Morrigan would risk taking a better camera angle.

  “Like I said, we just wanted to check up on you,” Jenna said. “After all, you’ve been so elusive lately.” She then pushed Pepper onto the bed once it seemed Livy was done there. “So what’s this? You’re working on sewing a blanket?” Jenna asked as she picked it up, paying no mind to the fact she caused the needle to fall free and lose the thread Pepper had been working with.

  “Um… I-I’m fine so… you can…”

  Livy crouched down and looked under Pepper’s bed, then glanced across the room to see under Morrigan’s bed as well. She was staring right at her, but Morrigan set the phone at her side and made like a pile of clothes, or at least imagined herself as one, and Livy moved on without a second thought. The redhead did, however, move over to Morrigan’s bed and start checking her sheets and nightstand.

  “Alright, I think we’re clear,” Livy eventually said.

  A silence came over the room. Jenna’s back was turned towards Morrigan, but she could all but imagine the kind of look she was giving to Pepper right now.

  “Pepper… Did we do something to offend you recently?” Jenna said.

  “N-not really…”

  “Oh, then maybe you can explain to me why you’ve had such a fucking attitude lately.” It seemed Jenna was ready to fully drop the act. Her voice was harsh and direct, and anyone who could talk like that to someone as sweet and unconfrontational as Pepper was a real piece of human garbage in Morrigan’s opinion.

  Pepper flinched at the venom in Jenna’s voice, her hands instinctively clutching the edge of her bed. “I-I don’t have an attitude,” she stammered, her voice barely above a whisper.

  Jenna’s eyes narrowed, and she leaned in closer, her tone sharp and condescending. “Oh really? Because from where I’m standing, it seems like you’ve been avoiding us, giving me and the girls the cold shoulder. That’s not very friendly of you, Pepper.”

  Tyler, still standing at the door, smirked as she pulled out her phone and started idlying flipping through it. It didn’t seem she was doing anything important, she had the energy of a security guard passing the time with tweeter or tik-tack during working hours. Meanwhile, Livy sauntered over to Jenna’s side, apparently ready to join in on the intimidation.

  “Seriously, its like you’ve lost your mind lately. What? You having some smug goth girl as a friend making you feel tough all of a sudden?”

  “I-it’s not like that… I just…” Pepper glanced around the room, desperate for a way out, but Morrigan knew she couldn’t intervene just yet. Pepper had to hold her own long enough for Jenna to fully reveal her true colors.

  “Look, we’ve always been nice to you,” Jenna continued, her tone mockingly sweet now. “And this is how you repay us? By acting like you’re too good to hang out with us?”

  “I… I just want…” Pepper began.

  “Want what? To hole up in here and practice sewing all by yourself?” Jenna asked.

  Livy snickered. “Yeah. Super lame. Come on, we can have more fun than that.”

  Pepper’s voice was still soft, but she was trying. “No. I want you to… l-leave…” Pepper finally said.

  Morrigan slipped out from under the bed, crouching on the other side of it but getting a much better angle to record them from.

  “Leave?” Jenna asked as if it made no sense.

  “Yes…” Pepper took a deep breath then looked up, locking eyes with the tall girl. Morrigan realized, try as she might, Pepper just didn’t have a loud voice, but her words were still firm and direct. “Leave me alone. Get out of my room.”

  Morrigan moved the camera over to Tyler so that her video had full context of how they operated. Then she quickly brought it back to Livy and Tyler.

  Livy just laughed. “Okay, okay, now you’re just being adorable.”

  Pepper stood up, turning her glare to Livy. She raised her voice a little more, which again, wasn’t very loud, but at least she was trying. “I said get out!”

  They both froze, staring her down. “What did you just say?” Livy asked, stepping towards her until she backed her up against the wall. She the grabbed Pepper by the collar of her shirt. “You're really fucking pressing your luck. Do you have any idea what we can do to you?”

  “G-get off!” Pepper said. It was an effort for Morrigan to hold herself back. She’d jump in soon, but not yet. Jenna would still be able to talk her way out of this.

  “Know what? No,” Livy sneered. “I’m not letting you go, and what are you going to do about it?”

  “I-I’ll tell Sarah!”

  Livy chuckled. “She won’t beleive you. We’ll just convince her Morrigan has been putting weird ideas into your head and then we’ll get Morrigan kicked out. Trust me it’ll be easy.”

  Pepper struggled, trying to break free. “I said let me go!” Livy laughed but then something completely unexpected happened.

  Pepper slapped Livy, and based on how the sound cracked like a whip, it was clear that Pepper got her pretty good. As proud of Morrigan was, she feared what would happen next.

  Livy let go, backing up a step and touching her face as if she couldn’t believe it. “You…” Livy spoke slowly, her eyes locking onto Pepper with fury. “You little bitch!” She pulled a fist back, came forward, and Morrigan almost lept over the bed that instant, but Jenna stepped in first.

  Jenna held Livy back when her punch was half thrown and just a moment from socking Pepper in the face. Pepper was hunched into her shoulders like a frightened turtle, eyes shut tight in anticipation of the blow. She cautiously peeked one eye open when it never came.

  “Livy,” Jenna said calmly, “Honestly. Were you really about to punch Pepper?”

  “She hit me first!” Livy sneered.

  Jenna chuckled. “Yes, you’re right, but it’s not so bad is it? Your cheek is just a little red."

  "Yeah? Well it frikken stings!" Livy complained.

  "I'm sure. But punching Pepper in the face would have been a stupid thing to do. Right?”

  Pepper was twiddling her hands together, eyes wide. Then, Jenna came closer, kneeling down to be closer to eye level with the small girl, made even smaller by her poor posture. Jenna just stared her down like a snake.

  Pepper swallowed and said, “Um… I-I said. I want you to lea—”

  Jenna’s body suddenly pivoted, her fist driving upward into Pepper’s midsection. A scream caught in Pepper’s throat as the air was forced from her lungs, and she doubled over, trying to gasp for breath. Jenna chuckled and turned her gaze to Livy. “See? Don’t be an idiot and put a bruise on her face.” She drew her foot back, preparing to kick. “Now, Pepper, this is for your own good. You need to learn your—”

  She would have kicked Pepper, Morrigan knew that. They were going to beat the crap out of her, upping their bullying to actual physical violence. But Morrigan couldn’t watch anymore. She had the punch on camera, and she wasn’t going to sit around and watch Pepper get assaulted anymore. She never intended for it to go that far in the first place, but Jenna turned out to be an even more sadist bitch Morrigan had given her credit for.

  “Get away from her!” Morrigan yelled, leaping over the bed.

  Jenna turned, caught completely off guard, and the look on her face was priceless as Morrigan pushed her. Morrigan was in no laughing mood, though. She was pissed. Jenna stumbled and fell onto Pepper’s bed.

  Morrigan didn’t hesitate, stepping in front of Pepper to protect her from Jenna and Livy. “I said, get away from her,” she growled, her voice low and dangerous. Her fists were clenched at her sides, her whole body vibrating with adrenaline, and a familiar bubbling sensation suddenly went wild across her back.

  It’s fine. The seal will hold.

  Jenna got back to her feet as she and Livy fanned out to keep Morrigan corned against the wall with Pepper right behind her. “Where the hell did you come from?” Jenna said, both her and Livy’s gazes pivoting around the room for an explanation.

  “Let's just say I’m good at being discreet. And I got the whole thing on video, so you better back off.” Morrigan waved the phone a few times, showing Jenna that the camera app was on and still recording.

  Jenna’s eyes widened, her face physically paling, but then she reached behind herself and pulled something from her back pocket that made Morrigan’s heart skip a beat. For just a moment her mind flashed back to that day in the graveyard, on the day she had died and the last time she was threatened with a knife.

  Morrigan’s teeth clenched as the changeling smashed hard against its seal.

  “Hand it over,” Jenna said slowly, pointing the pocket knife at her. “Or I swear to god I’m going to kill you.”

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