Chapter 55- Whispers In The Wind

The looks she received as she walked through her neighbourhood were particularly vehement. The citizens' faces were filled with hatred. She disregarded their stares and comments and vanished from their sight, slipping through the massive Iron Gate that guarded her house. Those gates wouldn't be enough to keep the demon she had summoned at bay. Nothing would suffice.
Slowly she opened the front door and softly closed it behind her.
“Don’t bother taking your shoes off,” her mother called from the kitchen doorway.
“They know and expect a trial. Until the trial is over you are to be locked up,”
“What?” she said in shock at the calmness of her mother’s voice. Could anything get any worse?
“Don’t look at me like that. You have brought this on yourself,” a man came into view and stood beside her mother. He had a bold head and was on the plumpish side. She had never seen him before, yet he seemed familiar.
She looked at her mother and then to the strange man, hoping an explanation would be given. She got nothing. Too men grabbed an arm each and lifted her off the ground. She didn’t fight them nor did she call out for help. She went quietly as all her hope and faith drained from her.
Her feet dangling a few feet from the ground she lowered her head as they escorted her to the great hall and then not too gently thrust her into a cell. Like a criminal she was left alone, locked up for committing a crime of love. She had done it to save her father. Even though she was in the cell cold and alone she would do it again if it meant he got to move on. She knew what it was like to be trapped. After all that’s what she had been her whole life. One day she would get out of the community and live in the city. A place with no forests or hidden worlds, it was a dream she needed to hold onto otherwise she feared she would surrender to the shadow that was following her.
***
Damon gave Jeanette a look that said you better not be playing games with me, as Crystal was taken from the house.
“Relax. I told you once I have what I want from her, she is all yours,” Damon grinned exposing his crooked teeth.
“If you go against your word, just think of what will happen to you,” he reminded her.
“That is not going to happen. Beside’s you still have your end of the bargain to complete.
“Oh that shall be done,” he said as he disappeared into black smoke.
Jeanette breathed a sigh of relief as she was left alone. The things she had to do to stay on top. Yet she couldn’t help the smile that reached her lips. Crystal would suffer and pay for everything she had done to drag her name through the mud. While she got what she had been dreaming of for centuries. The girl didn’t know what was coming for her and when she did, it would all be too late.
She would give the coven what they wanted. A trial for her daughter. She would play their games and when Christmas day came she would over throw the Carmichaels and become the queen.
She would be worshiped.
All thanks to Crystal. However she did feel an ounce of pity for her daughter. Damon had taken a shining to her and that was bad news altogether. At least she would be out of her hair and causing trouble for someone else that is if she survived.
***
“If I didn’t want to go home and rid myself of this horrendous place then I would kill that girl myself,” Seth roared as he took a seat in an easy chair in the family room. Levi instantly looked up and in the direction of his father.
“Now, now Seth,” Mary said in her sweet voice.
“Not only did she help that idiot,” he pointed to Levi who lowered his head. Is suspicion had been confirmed? His father was talking about Crystal.
“She has gone against her mother. Stole her father’s body and buried him against the coven’s wishes,”
“The girl is trouble,” he added.
“What are they going to do with her? We still need her. Jeanette is not a fool,” Mary said.
“She will be put on trial. Let’s just hope that they make the right choice. We cannot intervene unless absolutely necessary. Another body has been found. Just over the boarder of our town. The covens want answers. I fear they believe the deaths are by our own,”
Levi sat patiently waiting for his father to leave. Another death was bad. If the covens pointed fingers at them then it would cause a rift between them all, the worst outcome a war.
That’s when the idea hit him. It wouldn’t be a bad thing at all, if a rift was created. If all trust was lost then maybe they wouldn’t carry out their plan come Christmas day. If they were divided it wouldn’t be possible. They would be too busy fighting against one another.
When his father left for his study, Levi stood.
“You do know what your doing will only bring you heartache?” his mother said and he sighed. Of course she knew what he was up too. She always did.
“I can see that the girl has won you over. But soon you will have to choose. Her or your family, the choice would be yours and yours alone to make. I hope you choose wisely,” Mary said and Levi nodded afraid to speak. He knew that his mother would expect him to choose his family, yet as she spoke the words his heart screamed for Crystal. However when it came down to it, who would he choose? His family that had stood beside him when he had caused them to lose everything or the girl that sang to his heart. In that moment he didn’t know.
He would be at Crystal’s trial. No one would stop him. She may hate him, but still he wasn’t about to let any harm come to her. Even if he had to take on her entire coven and monster of a mother he would. He wished he could take her away from it all. Show her what life could be like. However he knew that he couldn’t and would never be able to give her the life she deserved. All his past evil and twisted deeds had craved a scar onto his soul, those scars would always be a reminder of the man he really was.
No amount of good he did would ever erase them. Even for an immortal like himself, he would never be able to make up for his past deeds.