Chapter Forty Nine: I Refuse

Cedric had been sitting with a glass of whiskey in his hand watching Lorraine, who had been on the floor holding Suzan’s hand. The woman remained unconscious, an induced coma by the doing of Cedric. He gave Lorraine a choice, one she was yet to make, whether to make her mother forget all that had taken place, or keep the memory in tact. However, she couldn’t decide, and for the past hour she had been staring at Suzan’s face as if she would wake up and make the decision for her. Meanwhile, he sat lost in his own thoughts. *“She could have died tonight.”* The realization came to him, but he wasn’t sure how to handle it. He imagined, while watching her, that she was no longer there, that Suzan had succeeded in killing her. The thought pained him more than it should. It was like a wake up call; he had feelings for her; he knew as much. But he didn’t know how deep they ran, *“Apparently, deeper than I thought.”*

There were many things going through Lorraine’s mind. One of them being Judy; Lorraine knew that it was Judy who had taken something from her house. She decided it was the only possibility. She had a free access to her house and maybe when she didn’t find the grimoire, she got the second best thing. There was a feeling of betrayal that she couldn’t shake. However, there was also the decision she needed to make. To make Suzan forget and be blissfully ignorant of all the horrors they were surrounded by seemed like a better option. She was so close to agreeing to it. *“Wouldn’t that put her in more danger? She had already been attacked twice.”* Yes, there were risks. But Lorraine didn’t know if Suzan would handle the reality of everything all that well.

“You know, staring at her like that won’t give you an answer.” Cedric said while swirling his drink in the glass. His eyes didn’t meet hers, “I’m not saying it’s easy, but you kind of have to make up your mind.”

Lorraine ignored him. Knowing he was right didn’t provide her with any comfort. It was at moments like those that she wished Aiden was around. He always had something to say, whether it was to comfort her, or help her make a decision. She remembered how he talked to her back when she wasn’t sure she was a witch, and he had helped her feel slightly better. She let out a sigh, “Where’s Aiden?” She asked in a whisper. Another thing she didn’t want to talk about was how angry she was at Cedric. It was the way he spoke to her earlier in the car, how he refused to talk to her, and last but not least, Darla. Lorraine couldn’t believe that she was competing against a dead woman, vampire.

“I don’t know, nor do I care.” Cedric retorted tightly. “Do you want him to make the decision for you?” The sarcasm dripping from his question only angered her more.

She turned to him with fire in her eyes, “At least I can talk to him, unlike some people who snap an threaten my life!”

Cedric wasn’t particularly surprised that she was still mad about his behavior, but he didn’t like that she would go for Aiden. While trying to form a suitable reply, he watched her getting up and heading for the stairs. “Where are you going? He’s not upstairs.” He followed after her.

“I’ll wake Bates up, I think he could be a better help than you.” She snapped towards his, “He doesn’t have any ulterior motives, he doesn’t hide things from me, and he’s actually decent.” She believed every word she said. Bates was the second best thing right after Aiden, if not even better. It was her familiarity with Aiden and the friendship they formed that made him her first option. His feelings for her aside, Lorraine trusted him.

Cedric scoffed, “So anyone is okay as long as it’s not me.” He advanced towards her, “You know I taught him everything he knows. Without me, he would be nothing.”

“Can you stop being an absolute asshole for a hot minute here? What’s wrong with you, Cedric? Is this about Dalra or is it about Erik? What the hell is wrong with you?” Lorraine fired her questions one after the other in a yell-whisper.

“What’s wrong with me? I don’t know, Lorraine. What do you think is wrong with me?” He fired with equal vigor. She was giving him the chance to let out all those feelings he had been curbing, and at that moment they just morphed into anger. “You could have died, do you realize that? And what you think about is Aiden? Do you think I can’t see the puppy-eyes he makes at you? Do you think I don’t know how he feels for you?” His tone turned threateningly low and his eyes squinted. “And you’re giving him the chance, the hope. Aren’t you?”

She furrowed her eyebrows, blinked a couple of times, trying to process his words. “Are you saying I’m leading him on?” Cedric didn’t give a reply and she chuckled humorlessly, “Look who’s talking! I would never stoop that low. I mean, it’s more of your thing, isn’t it?” Lorraine was seeing red, her skin burned, the fire felt like it was coming from within her. She took a step closer, and looked up at him. “Isn’t that what you were trying to do with me? Leading me on to resurrect Darla.”

“I told you it wasn’t like that.” Cedric denied heatedly. “I tried telling you that over and over again!”

“What the hell is going on?” Bates shocked voice came from the bottom of the stairs, when they turned his eyes were not on them, but on something behind them. “Why is my chair on fire?”

Lorraine glanced shocked at the chair that Cedric had been occupying earlier, she then turned her head away and back towards Cedric, “This is wrong.” She shook her head about to cry. “This is so very wrong. I can’t do this anymore.” She looked him in the eyes, “I refuse to do this anymore.” With that she walked away from the two, and sat on the floor next to her mother.

Bates stared at Cedric and only shook his head. It was a scolding look, and Cedric took it for what it was. He didn’t mean to say any of that, he knew Lorraine wasn’t leading Aiden on, and he knew she was not that kind of person. *“Why did I say this?”* He asked himself, *“Because I only know how to screw up.”*