The Queen of Hearts a.k.a Karma: Quip Pro Quo

Refer to blog post ‘Buckle Up’ for further character descriptions before beginning.

Little Tom was messy. Days upon days, she caused havoc everywhere they went. Although Zalena, a higher self working on a soul contract, was leading the group, for the most part she chose to stand back and observe: let them unfold how they would. She wanted to see what she was dealing with in each reflection of this woman. Little Tom had an attitude problem and fought with everyone. She even made Squid, the child reflection in her Dorothy Halloween costume, cry. Mayhem, the strength of the group, side eyed Little Tom hard. The rest of the reflections looked at Zalena, waiting to hear the word. Zalena sighed,

"Grab her."

Aran and Mayhem both grabbed Little Tom by each arm and started shoving her towards the steel cage.

"GET OFF ME!!" Little Tom resisted, kicking and screaming, trying to hit each of them.

Mayhem with one last shove made Little Tom topple over and stumble into the cage. Disheveled, Little Tom worked her way back on her feet quick to try and escape, but not before Mayhem locked the cage.

It was a code lock and Mayhem latched it so fast that nobody could catch what the actual code was, except Blaze; not much got past her. Mayhem didn't have to worry about Blaze though, since this day was Blaze's favorite day: to see Little Tom locked up once and for all.

Mayhem and Blaze shared a glance with each other then walked away.

After only a couple of hours under lockdown, Blaze minded her own business while walking passed the cage, but not before a big 'SPAT' hit the ground before her feet. With a disgusted look she looked up to see Little Tom smiling with her arms crossed as she chewed on the rest of her gum that was still in her mouth, save for the bit now resting before Blaze's feet. Blaze kept walking passed trying to not pay Little Tom any mind.

Jasmine, the massive scarred up tiger, was posted up to guard the cage. They didn't trust Little Tom to stay put. They needed her calm and tame during this time for My sake. March was the worst month for Me.

As days started to pass, Little Tom got bored. She'd do anything she could to antagonize Jasmine; trying to get a rise.

'What fun would it be to have this massive beast of a tiger lunging at her knowing she couldn't hurt her?' Little Tom thought.

She stuck out her finger and poked Jasmine trying to startle her and catch her off guard.

*Poke*

Jasmine ignored. A few moments later,

... *Poke*

A low rumble released from Jasmine's throat.

Little Tom caught on and with a crooked smile she went in again slowly,

............... *POKE*

-- In less than a second Jasmine was on all fours now turned towards Little Tom and bellowed the most terrifying roar, low and raspy yet fierce and scary. Slobber oozed from her mouth underneath her fangs as she stared at Little Tom with deadly eyes.

Jasmine and Little Tom were now eye to eye with only a steel cage separating them.

Aran came around the corner, "That's enough guys." Aran was the most levelheaded out of everyone, her green aura came direct from Mother Nature.

And with that Jasmine collected her cool and repositioned herself. Little Tom was now laying upside down, playing with her gum in the cage with her feet propped up on the ceiling of the box; in a sad attempt to relax on the cold, hard steel floor as if she didn't just come close to the death; absolutely unfazed.

Eunice. I had to test her. Multiple times and in many ways. She was smart and beautiful, but there was a sinister vibe to her. Something evil lurked deep within her depths. Although, I had no proof. Many times upon discussions she'd claim she was a "girl's girl" but in the pit of my intuition, I felt something different. Yet, I am always a sucker for giving everybody the benefit of the doubt. I had no proof, but a gut feeling. It would be unwise to assume every gut feeling of mine is right, for there has to be room for mistakes in order to learn.

As much as I wanted to hate her due to the fact that the man I wanted was rumored to be in love with her, I couldn't. I saw it too: beautiful, petite, blonde, tan, successful, smart, traveled all over, the list goes on. She had claimed numerous times she didn't want him. Something deep in me found that hard to believe. The dude had great qualities and was very handsome. Everybody has a type I guess. But the occurrences that followed after our initial meeting between her and I is what stumps me. A coworker of mine was good friends with Eunice and, unfortunately, had a big mouth. I knew it wouldn't be long before she found out that I was asking about her. It didn't matter though, I am woman enough to ask my own questions and I had full intent to do so. I worked the closing shift at the gym one night when I noticed Eunice loitering the front desk area. It wasn't unlike her to talk to some people at the front desk, but the people she knew were gone. I also never saw her at the gym that late. She sat at the table as if she was waiting for someone. Maybe she was waiting for me to approach her. So I took the opportunity to ask my questions about this guy. She went over how he's just not her type and gave me information about him; I hate to admit, I was looking for any excuse to not be into him because quite frankly, he scared the shit out of me. In the best way possible.

None. If she was trying to tell me things I wouldn't like, it backfired. After that, I calmed down a little bit and decided I may want to actually be friends with her. Oddly enough, she left after our conversation.

I came in to work out late stoned one night, which meant I did not want to be around people. Smoking makes me socially awkward, but it gives me the opportunity to hone into my lift. I wore my hood up and was just going about my business. There she was again: Eunice. Late at night. What is she doing here? Her people weren't here, she wasn't working out, and she doesn't frequent the late night lifting time. Maybe she was switching up her routine. I scowled under my hood. It was also ironic. I had a feeling that now with her knowing who I wanted and me being well known in the gym for working there, it probably made her catch eyes for him. So now maybe she was scoping me out. Her actions confirmed my suspicions, but I'll never actually know for sure. Just a hunch. I was in the group fitness room to get away from everyone, but I could see her on the green turf diagonally behind me. I could see her from the group fitness mirrors that plastered the front and left wall, once again not working out, but instead she was watching me. Typical alpha female behavior whenever they may catch some competition, yet in my eyes I was not. She had everything going for her; including him.

She was already one up on me. There's nothing to be threatened about. So why was she watching me? I recall telling her numerous times, "Yeah I'm interested in him but if you want him then I'll back off I just need to hear it," in which she never did. I prayed to hear it. She looked like someone he'd be with and he looked like someone she'd want. It felt destined. Either way, I had to respect it wasn't me he wanted and to back off anyways. But still, she had him, why is she watching me?

I debated on maybe she went both ways and may have developed a little crush on me but shook the idea off. There was something not good about the vibe and the way she watched me.

Because of the way she seemed to obtain hate and jealousy in her eyes whenever she saw me, it did make me want to keep some sort of tab on her. I was simply curious what it was about me that made her feel so negative about my presence and what I could do to fix it and make her more comfortable..

Who is it that she wants? Maybe she would just prefer I stay away from them. I tried to decipher who she may be interested in so I could make a point to respect her and the man she did want by keeping an extra distance from them, but she talked to so many guys and seemed extremely territorial of all of them. I couldn't figure it out. These guys weren't anything to me though. With her being as smart as she was, I had a feeling she was lying about how she felt about the guy I was into. Deep down it hurt to know that they were probably talking, flirting, or fucking. Either way: none of my business.

We had a mutual friend, Joey, who would always approach the desk when I was working. The dude was absolutely gorgeous and was a farmer. He was the package deal.. Other than the fact that he was a victim of this world. If you recall Eyore from Winnie the Pooh; that's him. Deep down, he was a huge sweetheart and would give the shirt off his back to be there for most people, but he couldn't figure out how to be there for himself. Day in and day out we'd have our conversations on how he can work on loving himself more. I knew pretty early on I wasn't attracted to him due to his mental state, But Eunice seemed to like his attention.

I would simply walk past Joey and he'd stop me to say hi, in which, we were buds so it's not out of the normal for us to say hi in passing. Even though Eunice seemed territorial over most guys in the gym, I still wanted to respect her. I wanted her to know we could genuinely be friends and I was easily catching what she was putting down. So even the mutual friends we did have, I stayed away from them. Maybe she had eyes on all of them, and that's fine, I didn't mind staying away from those guys. I just wanted one. Still she was giving me an evil eye across the gym. I'm sure you're thinking that I may have overthought everything, but something hard to ignore is intuition and energetic tugs; good and bad. I felt her tug and it was always bad.

Either way, I had to consider I was overthinking it and that I'm not psychic and didn't really know how she felt about me. All I had to go by was what I for sure knew, deep down. When we talked, everything seemed fine. I thought I could confide in her and trust her, regardless of what my intuition told me. My best friend was also a mean girl, she ended up being a soulmate of mine before she passed on, even though she was, in fact, mean. Hell bent at her request. I remained open minded that maybe Eunice was similar in a way.

We did start talking more. I learned that she did not like any of her old flames talking to any other girls at the gym. I was a little put off by that, considering they weren't a thing anymore. Yet, she still seemed possessive. I guess that's a little normal for females to feel a bit territorial towards exes, but Eunice acted like she owned them. Every man's attention she wanted; she acted as if she owned them.

It also was a little odd to me that there would be times she would approach me at the desk to go on about how she didn't want to date anyone right now; usually those were the times my intuition was showing me things to point that she was interested in the guy I liked. It was rumored that he was leaving for the military. I'd get updates from other people in the gym saying it'd be at the end of this month or that month; resulting in one Hell of a depressing weekend following the news. Only to discover a new month has arrived and he was still showing up. Eventually, it started to piss me off. In all, it was emotionally getting me ready for the inevitable. I had asked her to keep me informed if she would ever find out when he would be leaving.

"Don't tell him I'm asking though, please."

"Oh no, I won't, don't worry."

Randomly, we'd get into discussion about him from time to time. She'd bring up how he'd constantly snapchat or message her trying to share his food, which I thought was super sweet. Her being a psych major, I figured she would as well. If anybody, I figured she'd catch on to his good qualities. I had a gut feeling that with me bringing it to her attention and her possibly being competitive with me, she'd want him more. Maybe I was highlighting his good features by the amount of attention I was giving him. I wasn't unaware of that. I knew how The Universe moved. And I was moving them towards each other. He already wanted her, she just needed to see what she was missing out on.

From time to time, I'd see her give him eyes, thinking I didn't catch it. I had just prayed it was genuine and didn't have anything to do with her competitive nature towards me.

I duly noted any time a new occurrence happened between him and I, then I'd catch her absolutely seething on the gym floor and speed texting after I'd inform her of the new occurrence. I had figured she was drilling in on him giving me any attention. Or maybe she was fighting with a dude she was talking to. I don't know, all I knew is that it was ironic timing. Something I was spinning in my mind to confirm my suspicions of them. I had hoped they were both into each other and getting what they wanted. I would never want to stand in the way of true feelings; especially for someone I cared about.

I recall one night I awoke at five in the morning, not from the dreams I had, because there were no images, just a conversation. Eunice was questioning him about us exchanging numbers,

"I just don't understand why you had to give her your number.."

That's why I decided to tell her about it. She seemed happy for me. Maybe she really was. Towards the end of the conversation her voice's echo rang in my ears as she said,

"I just don't understand why he would give you his number..."

She wasn't saying that in a malicious way. Moreso over the fact that I had admitted to him not replying when I tried texting him, which we can all agree is a message in itself. I had always questioned if my dream was her asking him that or me.. It wouldn't be the first time I had dreams that told me information that later hinted at things bound to happen. Either way, it had my mind swirling that she was giving him shit for us exchanging numbers.

I shook my head in exhaustion. Like "what the fuck, take him then. If you guys want each other so bad, leave me the hell alone and out of it," I'd keep snowballing their love story created by her sabotage. Or maybe I was a nuisance in their love affair.

But she didn't. She couldn't and wouldn't. Him and I hardly had any interactions, and I felt her energy stab me from all angles whenever we were at the gym at the same time. It didn't matter if it was him or someone else giving me attention, she seemed to hate it. Even when I would show up in a sweatshirt and not be looking any sort of appealing, she still was on my ass. It annoyed me. Most of all, it upset me. She was putting negative energy and attention on me, and it brought me down. It was distracting for my workouts.

March came. My mind knew what was coming and it was going to be a rough one for me. I wanted to see if she really did have any negative intent towards me. I was tired of teeter-tottering between if she's genuine or not.

So, I made a post about my two angels on snapchat on March 5th letting people know to stay in their lane, for this was the worst day of the year for me. I wanted to see if anybody would take the opportunity to kick me while I was down. Before I went in for my shift that day, she had viewed my story with that post.

Joey had come up to talk to me, which was normal, but she knew I wasn't interested in him. Not long after he came up, so did she. Those two were supposedly exploring the possibility of talking.

In this instance she could have genuinely been feeding me information I had wanted about the guy I was into. She had said he was leaving soon, in April. I wasn't quite sure why she was telling me when I had already told her I was done after I watched him exchange phones with another girl. I had told her I was not interested anymore and that I was ready for him to leave, as to make getting over him easier on me. Seeing him kept me on it and I wanted off that roller coaster; I was exhausted.

It didn't work. I wasn't about to tell her that though. I wanted to see what happened next.

"Yeah, he sent me the dates he's supposed to be leaving. Said this was my last chance to hang out if I wanted to."

"What were the dates?"

"Here let me check." She got out her phone, she started scrolling a little bit on her phone, "I must have deleted the messages."

Hm.

Either she didn't want to pull up the messages between them to reveal what else was in the conversation, or there were no messages. Either way, I had already told her I was no longer interested so I was puzzled as to why, she approached me on this specific day to tell me, not only that the only guy I had been into for the past year was leaving, but that he was also still trying to fuck her. She didn't seem like the type of person to lie, not like her bestie that worked with me who was a compulsive liar. I still wouldn't put it passed her though.

"I love your tattoos; see I want something that detailed!" She said while eyeing the tiger etched into the inside of my forearm.

"You have tattoos already, why don't you get something done?"

"I don't know."

The conversation veered in another direction.

"I don't want to date anybody right now."

My eyes glanced up. My intuition always told me that when she said something like that, it was when she was feeling him, whether it was true or not, all in my head, or reality, I had a gut feeling. Any other time, she'd make it a point to let me know who was hers.

I had also noted that she was wearing a baseball cap, which she never typically wore. That was more so my gym look. I couldn't claim it though. I had seen her wear a hat a few times. But if she was wearing it to get his attention due to her thinking he liked me in a hat, we were going to have problems.

My style came from one of my angels when I had no direction. I was no girly girl and needed help. On my 21st birthday Randee gave me a little black dress and I wrapped my olive-green button up shirt around my waist. It was edgy: a little dark, and a little green. I ran with Randee's idea. The gym outfits I wore were different than most and I enjoyed having my own style in the gym. If I inspired her, that's one thing. I wouldn't have minded if someone wanted to look similar to me because they enjoyed my style. But with Eunice, there was always a malicious intent behind everything she had done, I felt, involved me. Still, I chose to tell myself it's because in the back of her mind, she somewhat admired me.

One night she was with one of her minions. Wearing her baseball cap with her tits out. She had 'em. Girl, flaunt them. No hate. But what I did hate was what I witnessed next. She was near the equipment to do back extensions with her minion, and I was doing glutes that day; minding my business. I got on the hip thrust machine and was already self-conscious because it's in the middle of the gym. I was a little stoned and I caught it. In the middle of a set she and her minion were both watching me and started giggling; hinting at that they were possibly making fun of my form. There was no mistaking. She was looking right at me when she did it. Typical mean girl behavior. I had to remind myself she was young and may be a little insecure.

She either wasn't enjoying the attention I was receiving on the machine, or she was trying to make herself feel less insecure about me if her and dude were now talking. Before I got insecure about my form on it, I realized the hip thrust machine is pretty straight forward and it's difficult to get the form wrong.

I approached her at the end of my workout.

"Hey, if you ever saw me doing a workout wrong, you'd tell me, right?"

"Yeah of course! I haven't seen you do any exercises wrong."

"Okay, cool. By the way, I have something for you for Valentine's Day."

At first her eyes lit up and she said, "What? Really??"

I wanted to hand out green roses to everybody that has impacted me in the gym in a positive way. Especially the good souls I felt needed more recognition.

But then it was as if she caught herself slipping, her posture changed, and her eyes glared at me from their corners. As if my kindness may have offended her.

But why? I was trying to be friends with her. She had always said we were a lot of like. Which, to be honest, I couldn't disagree more. My late best friend and I were polar opposites, but we meshed well. I wasn't about to shoot down the idea of another friendship such as that one.

Valentine's Day came and I messaged her, but she made sure to dodge me like the plague. I never got to give her one. So, I handed it to another soul that left me with a good imprint on my energy.

She failed my test.

I put myself out there in a vulnerable position for the public to see and she took the opportunity to send a swift kick right to the gut by unwarrantedly coming up to me to remind me of how much the dude I liked wanted her, on supposedly one of my weakest days. Anybody who's dealt with grief though can agree on one thing:

To mess with someone on a day of grief and remembrance is equivalent to slicing your hand with a knife and diving into shark infested waters.

Not everybody views Snapchat stories and actually "views" them. Yes, I have considered that. But this girl is smart and conniving. I later got confirmation she randomly sold out one of her best friends at a job they worked together. For no reason what-so-ever; other than potential jealousy and natural ways of sabotaging the people she's jealous of. Maybe this wasn't a 'me' thing. Maybe it was a 'her' thing. Either way,

She was not a friend of mine. She couldn't be. I couldn't trust her. And this instance confirmed that she had been fake with me this whole time. I wasn't about to not say something though.

The next time she came in she had her hat on and her tits out... And then he walked in. I felt a shift in the energy. He seemed to be avoiding me. If she didn't want her men looking at me, he was making it obvious he was part of that flock now.

My buddy, and probably my guardian angel sent to chill with me for a short time, was closing with me during our regular shift.

I should be thanking her. My rage from the seventh anniversary of losing my two best friends in a car accident was now being diverted towards something else; it was a distraction. A good one too. Any pain involving him was a good distraction from other pain, because his pain hit deep to the core. As it should. I'll move on and when I do, looking in his direction will never happen again. That's just the way I've observed me, as a person, to be. Once I'm gone, I'm gone. I cannot bring myself back. I outgrow people: mind, body and soul. I've tried multiple times to go back to past lovers and it has always turned out to be me, emotionally, not being there anymore.

"Hailey... Don't."

"What? I'm not doing anything."

Will knew. He knew me very well. Usually, we'd be cutting up and making fun of each other, but he could tell I was in no mood. In fact, I was very peeved about how many good shifts with him I had missed out on due to me being down over this guy. When really, I should have been laughing with Will the whole time. He tried to stop me.

But those two, Eunice and this dude, were too close in energy and my mind was on fire. My father's blood coursed through my veins like a Harley motorcycle during a high-speed chase making its way up to my face. The heat and temperature rose on my cheeks as my heart pulsed with the beat of an 80's classic rock song. The beginning of Kickstart My Heart by Def Leppard rang in my ears. This self-awareness could only mean one thing and I had myself questioning who let Little Tom out.

"Hailey, what are you doing?"

"Just filling up my water bottle."

But Will knew better.

As I made a B-line for the water fountain to fill up my bottle, Eunice was walking on the treadmill. While ole boy was directly across from her on a piece of equipment. I knew it'd be obvious, but I didn't care. I knew he knew that I liked him. But this time, it actually had nothing to do with him and had everything to do with her and me. Woman to woman.

The last thing anybody wants to do is to try and kick me while I'm down on one of my, supposed, weakest days. Because when I get up, I'm going to show you how strong I really am; especially on this kind of day.

I know about the mirrors. I thought it smart to watch people from the mirrors as to not directly be looking at them so to not make it weird. Simple observations for security purposes, on my end. I know all about the mirror trick and the angles. But I was never looking at her in them because I never cared. Until this moment. She mean mugged under her hat in distaste of my closer approach as she turned her head to watch me in the mirror to her left only to see that I was already looking at her in the reflection of the mirror. Startled, she went back to looking forward after being caught.

Jasmine roared.

Aran came around the corner, "What? What is it?"

Then she saw the cage was open and empty.

"Where is she?! Who did this????"

Every one of the reflections looked around at each other. Except Blaze.

Blaze's low, red eyes stayed put with her arms crossed as she leaned against the Vasa counter.

"Blaze... No." Aran said with disappointment.

"Wrong day. Wrong woman," Blaze said with a drawl while twirling the lock around her finger. Looking closely, the code read: 3517. How she got passed Jasmine was beyond all of us, and knowing Blaze, she wasn't willing to give up her secrets so easily. Mayhem looked at her in shock and disappointment as she slowly approached her. Blaze looked hard to the left to try and escape Mayhem's gaze although her feet stayed firm, validating that she stands by the decision she just made regardless of what anybody else thought.

Little Tom was already on her way. Like Hell on wheels, she was unstoppable. Her fiery atmosphere set flame to her surroundings with every step. With hunter green eyes under furrowed brows, she was making a B-line right for Eunice. For the first time in Her life, she wanted to hurt someone. And that's when she saw it for the first time in her sight:

Red.

On natural instinct another reflection ran up behind her, untamed and wild, Jasmine cut in front of Little Tom's eyes reflecting the same blood red that hers did. Every one of the reflections now carried the same red hunter green eyes as they headed for Eunice, save for Zalena. They were all raging at this point and that rage coursed through the lot of them; for March 5th of 2017 was one of the worst days of my life and I didn't blame each of them for losing their cool. As they raced towards Eunice, they prayed they had the will to stop before bloodshed.

Suddenly, Little Tom felt a prickle of breath upon her neck that gave her goosebumps all over. It was steady and harsh, like a million little daggers beating against her skin. The atmosphere now beating to a steady heartbeat African drum.

First, she is felt.

Jasmine sniffed the air and smelled the metallic hint of blood.

Then, she is smelled.

With a blood curdling laugh and cry, The Queen of Hearts appeared before them, balancing on a tightrope not far ahead of them.

She had red curly long hair that swam in the oxygen we breathed. She had daring yet enticing red eyes taunting the one she came for to cross the line she just drew. Her body, as sexy as that of a grown woman, but intellect of the wisest man. Her energy was good and bad, and she did not favor nor lean on one or the other. She was simply both;

She was simply Karma.

One thing I learned early on about Karma is she loves her job and she does NOT tolerate anybody doing the work for her. Anybody that attempts would suffer in the end. Whatever they originally had coming for them when she does her bidding, would then receive in a tenfold.

Zalena watched from the Vasa counter as the rest of the reflections of myself stopped in place, weighing their chances. She realized they were all fragile on this day and could be victim to Karma if they didn't act accordingly. Still, Zalena wanted them to decide for themselves what path to take. Testing them all to see who would cross the line.

Jasmine and Little Tom at the head of the group both ready to pounce while Mayhem kept eyes on Karma without blinking; she cautiously wrapping an arm around Squid's chest and pulled her back with her to keep her toes from accidentally crossing the line. Although, Squid had no idea what they were running towards, but she was running with the pack, nonetheless. All of them in the presence of Little Tom's fiery atmosphere now, all, reflected her rage. Their green eyes glowed under furrowed brows as they all, in unison, hunted Karma down with their eyes as they followed her as she balanced on the tightrope.

Karma being an entity, such as herself, Zalena decided to go say hi to her work colleague.

"Long time, always see," Zalena said with a smirk.

Karma glared at her from the tightrope. She knew Zalena wanted to talk and snap her out of this charade.

With glaring, hunter red eyes, she hopped down. And like the steady flow of time, she approached Zalena.

"You of all people should know that when I'm called, I must go."

"Yes, Your Majesty, we all have our job duties," Zalena rolled her eyes and said sarcastically. Wondering if Little Tom had rubbed off on her.

Regrouping her thoughts, "They've got this handled."

Karma with a wise ass smile nodded up towards the group, "looks like it."

"Either way, I've got it from here. You can be on your way. I'm sure you've got bigger fish to fry."

Karma with her silky presence, wrapped around Zalena like a snake and whispered, "small order of vengeance or large; they’re still mine," as she twisted her attention back on the group.

"Yet you're overlooking one thing. They have yet to cross the line, every one of them have not done so. Besides,

Rumpel told me to tell you hi."

Karma, who was now working herself back towards the group of my reflections, honed deep into that of Zalena. Her eyes roared Hell's fires as she ran up on her and with her own energetic presence lifted Zalena off both feet with her grip in a tight hold on each side of Zalena's black robe.

Zalena and Karma worked together in the Council of Souls, but on different ends. Although, when it came down to it they all knew they had to work together. Some entities were closer than they were to the others. Karma worked closely with The Grim Reaper, who was the least favorite of Zalena. They didn't get along. It had a lot to do with the fact that he had a staring problem. No matter how hard Zalena stared back in an attempt to gain dominance, he never faltered. The Grim Reaper was intrigued with Zalena and her work. What she didn't know is that he watched her closer than she thought. He kept his work away from her as much as possible, while still making his presence known. Much like Little Tom, who antagonized the group any chance she got.

Sometimes The Grim Reaper and Karma worked closely together, which naturally formed a better relationship between them.

But being the sadistic prick, Rumpelstiltskin was, in his beautiful chaos of destruction, he loved but one woman. And that one loved him that much more. Karma and Rumpel didn't take but one glance before they fell head over heels in love with each other when they met.

They've lived many lifetimes doing their biddings on Earth, but being the adrenaline junkie he was, he liked a bit of a chase. So, he hid from her in each lifetime, willing her to seek him out. It was the ultimate chase of cat and mouse. But it absolutely infuriated Karma when it would be her turn to chase because Rumpel was an expert at hiding in plain sight. Naturally, the masculine would be the one chasing the feminine... Deep down Zalena thought she understood where Rumpel was coming from by running away from the one's he loved most.

But Karma was addicted to the way Rumpel made her feel. Being an addict with a craving, it only makes sense why she was so insane.

"WHERE IS HE?!?!" Karma screamed into the very essence of Zalena's existence.

Zalena laughed, feeling a bit refreshed to be communicated with in such depths, since at the time, her job was to deal with mortal beings; to see and hear another entity in her true form was like a breath of fresh air; even if it was to be screamed at.

"Who?

What?

Where?

How?"

"I DON'T HAVE TIME FOR YOUR SILLY RIDDLES!" Karma seethed.

I believe you're asking the wrong question, My Queen," Zalena laughed.

Karma contemplated what she was saying. She knew Rumpel was still hiding in this lifetime; she had been through hell and back trying to find him.

"Haven't you wondered why it's been so hard to find him this time," Zalena genuinely questioned.

Karma gave Zalena a quizzical look.

Then it dawned on her as she set Zalena down on her feet again.

"When," Karma hissed through her teeth.

Zalena with a twinkle in her luminescent green eyes smirked and answered quickly, "1960."

Karma looked Zalena dead in the eye before disappearing and said, "I still do my job if that line gets crossed, do you understand?"

"Yes ma'am, of course," Zalena nodded.

Opposites, they may be, Zalena still very much so respected Karma. Nobody in the Soul Council would ever admit to it, but everyone, including her, feared Karma tremendously. Karma was vengeful; and vengeance she got--always. Much like Mother Nature; she was sure to come. And come she would, let it be slow or quick; she showed up for work. Every second, every minute, of everyday. Her work ethic was unmatched.

With that Karma was gone, yet still very present.

The moment still on pause, I wrapped around the corner.

With the group still on full throttle, I showed my face.

In my green and black striped dress, I walked barefoot in front of them and before the line.

My presence was enough to let them know my thoughts on the next action we were about to take.

I admitted, "I was feeling weak in my emotions of rage over this and reached out to Jimmy. Hoping, he, out of everyone would tell me to kick her ass." Jimmy was my late best friend's father. Spending seven years with my best friend, he easily became family.

Me: I told myself and God I wouldn't fight anybody unless they spoke about my family or my angels... I feel like this is close enough.

Jimmy: You just said it though. You won't fight unless anybody speaks about your family or your angels; she's done neither.

Me: Jimmy I've never seen red like this before. She knew what she was doing.

Jimmy: Listen. You're a good person. When it comes down to it, when it really comes down to it, you know what's right. You know what to do.

"With all the rage and hurt in my heart over the absence of them, I worried about the next person I fought. Worried it may be too much and I may not be able to stop. Without hesitation, Jimmy assured me, being a good person, if I ever got into a fight and I saw someone go limp, on instinct, I most definitely would stop. As if he knew me better than I knew myself in that moment. He doesn't. But during this time, I may have forgotten."

"Spit it out," Little Tom yelled, not just for her, but for the rest of the group.

I made eye contact with each of them.

"My answer is no."

"What?!" Are you crazy?! She's probably been sabotaging you this whole time, and this day of all days!!!!!" Little Tom went on a rant.

I deflected her anger and waited for her to stop talking before starting in a calm, even tone:

"This isn't our fight. Not the one we're going all in on. Blaze, can you tell us why?"

Blaze, with bloodshot eyes, angry and seething, turned her head hard to the right.

I walked right up behind her and pulled out her flask from her back blue jean pocket with the words 'Polyjuice Potion' labeled on the front. Lover of all Harry Potter, this was no Polyjuice potion, but it might as well have been. I twisted the cap off to smell the sweet smell of Tennesse Honey Whiskey.

Us, as a whole, knew Blaze was constantly stoned from the weed. But we knew what the crossfade did to her. Alcohol and weed no longer went together for me.

Her emotions, now naked to us all, her eyes spoke in volumes as tears welled up. The very essence of who she was quivered. Everyone but Squid understood and they all bowed their heads in defeat as empathy took over.

"Blaze, it's okay," I stepped towards her to comfort her.

When the girls passing, the following summer I attempted to drown myself in the crossfade. It had the opposite effect on me. It wound up forcing me to feel, to the depths of my sorrow and anger, uncontrollably. I would be the life of the party, drunk and having fun. But as soon as that blunt got passed around, I was a different person. I'd go and hide in my room or on my isolated balcony, to be alone while I had to watch myself become undone over and over again. After the summer of 2017 I learned that the crossfade was not for me. Ever since I do my best to be mindful of getting to that point. I have to be in very high spirits to allow it to happen. But any stoner will tell you, once you enter the circle, it can be difficult to pass up the rotation. We all desire to get to that next level and to get there together. Passing up a rotation left you lingering in a lower level of 'high.' Your friends simply just want you to be a part of the good time, no hidden malicious intent; it was like a stoner custom.

"This isn't about him. Most Importantly," I said while lifting Blaze's chin and looking her directly in the eye, "this isn't about her."

I stepped back to talk to all of them now, "If she is full of sabotage and jealous and hate, that is 100% her problem. We all know he wants her. And who are we to come in between the real thing? If she wants him, and he wants her, then we must let it go. Let it be."

They all darted their eyes away from me.

"If a man wants a woman enough, he will come and get her. We've all seen it with our own eyes: he's showed up for her. We have to respect that.

Another thing. Many times, God and The Universe have spoken. They have interfered multiple times and we HAVE to respect that. We have to let it go. Love is great and if it's happening for them, we need to let it. It's a beautiful thing."

Little Tom shook her head, but agreed, nonetheless.

"C'mon guys. Let's save that fight for someone more worthy. Plus, we all know how it would end."

Hit play.

I knew he was directly across the gym from us, but I didn't care.

I approached her on the treadmill, treading carefully so as to not get hit in the face with her tits damn near out of her bra.

(I detract, that wasn't nice. But it made me giggle so I'm leaving it)

"Hey, Eunice. I just wanted to talk to you about something."

"Sure, what's up?"

"So the other day when you came up to me, you randomly told me how that guy is leaving soon and how he's still trying to hang out with you. I've told you before I was done with that, so I honestly felt like it was kind of a jab since you knew it was the anniversary of my best friend's passing."

I watched as she stared him down, speaking to him with her eyes that I was talking about him to her.

"Oh goodness! No! I'm not like that! I just thought you'd want to know since you were always asking when he's leaving and talking so bad about him."

Correction: I never talked bad about him. Only that I was ready for him to leave so I can finally move on. Either way, I had a feeling she was saying it in hopes he was reading her lips or listening to the conversation somehow in hopes to sabotage even further. But then again, I tend to over analyze situations and all of this very well could be one. I'm not in denial of that. But my experiences with her are quite fascinating to me.

"I just thought you should know if you ever did become interested in him or have a thing, please, by all means, do your own thing. I want you happy," I said genuinely. Hoping, if they were a thing, she'd woman up and tell me the truth.

"I'm not like that. It's been like a year, and I still haven't been interested. I can't just start liking someone out of nowhere when I haven't liked them for the longest time, I don't work like that. He's not my type."

Either she's being honest or she's not, but this was my last time trying.

"Alright, well thank you for hearing me out. I'll see you around," I gave her knucks and we parted ways.

I then watched as she approached one of her minions to talk her shit. She's young, and scared. I just hope one day she would grow out of that. Her and her minion went to leave so I made sure to say bye to them both, but not before they walked out giggling to each other over me and what I just did. That was the last straw for me. I blocked her and her minions on all social media. Come to find out that the blocking did bother them a lot. To not have access to me. For what? To laugh at me? To make fun of me? Who would want that energy lingering their socials? No thank you.

I did decide to let it go. But I wanted to test her one more time. I wanted to know if she did have feelings for him if they were genuine, or if this was all about the competition. I had assumed she was talking to him, which gave me the freedom to talk and flirt with whoever I wanted. Even if I didn't want them. I would never give anyone the wrong idea; I was always straight up with how I felt and if I wasn't interested. So I kept the flirting to a minimum.

I came to the gym to work out one evening and she was on the treadmill. Joey stopped in front of me to block my walking path, in which this time, I giggled and gave him a flirtatious push. I watched within five minutes as he approached the treadmill, only to come back around and tell me how she texted him and told him to come say hi to her on the treadmill after watching him and me.

'Alright, that could have been a fluke.'

I continued my workout, in which, I was honing in on, and got on the machine for back extensions. Before I had done so, I gave one of my buddies an up nod of acknowledgement, simply because we were both about to do an exercise in the same area. It was a 'bro' gesture to both of us, it seemed.

Within one minute, she approaches him to hug him. Any guy I came into contact with that night, she was all over right after.

I sighed to myself. "This isn't about him. It's about me."

This dude seemed to be a super sweet genuine guy. Any smart woman would be able to recognize that. If they were talking, she was doing it to sabotage me. It was a power trip. Unfortunately, it had nothing to do with him. He could have been any guy and it wouldn't have mattered. But I had already decided on letting things go.

After his said of departure from the gym for good, she ironically stopped showing up so often. It's as if her job was done. She had no reason to come to the gym so often. Maybe she finally got him, maybe they finally hooked up. Maybe they had been the whole time and it finally ended. I'm not sure. But it seemed the rush was no longer there for her. The whole gym community knew she wouldn't be there to workout. She'd do two exercises and stand around and talk about everyone, this is coming from an outside source but it's easy to see when someone is standing in the same spot just talking the whole gym session while you're sweating your ass off. She exercised that mouth more than anything. I try to have nice thoughts. Reliving this experience makes it difficult.

In the last moments of our interactions, I had decided not to do Karma's job for her. And however long it takes, Karma will, inevitable, come for her; as she comes for all of us. That is, if she's deserving, then again I get told by many I'm delusional. It would be unwise for me to not consider that I'm over analyzing it.

Side Note: I hope that not only me, but others, can learn how to accept and embrace that some people choose not to be a part of our lives. Let us start holding people accountable for their actions, or lack of. I've known too many people who hold onto hope that their exes or loved ones will come back for them and are just scared. But I promise you, if someone loves someone, nothing will scare them enough to keep them away.

I am also 100% aware that my interactions with Eunice may be a product of overthinking and over anyzing. I don’t disregard that. What I can’t ignore is what my intuition told me about her.