Chapter Twenty Three

He held her hand all through the walk. They walked down the streets and everywhere until they found an ice cream spot. They sat down, still talking. He ordered a cone for her and went for a smoothie. When they were done, they walked to the park, sat there and talked. It was almost seven when her phone rang. She looked at it. It was Damian. He was probably back and he was looking for her. She pressed the power button and tossed the phone back into her jacket. Her brother looked at her

“I thought you said you and Damian were cool!” he said
“And we are” she said
“So why are you ignoring his calls then?” Alex asked get back
“It’s nothing to worry about. He is probably worried about me. That’s why he is calling”
“That is why you should pick up the phone and let him know that you’re okay instead of ignoring his calls and making him worry” Alex said
“I will see him when we get back home. If I tell him I’m out, he’ll just come looking for me and I honestly don’t want that” she said
“Alright then, let’s get you home”

He said offering his hand again and she took it. They strolled home together. When they got to the door, she stopped mid way

“We should really do this more often. It is nice spending time with you” she said

He walked back and pulled her into a hug. She hugged him back. She let him go and went into the house to see why Damian was calling her. She met him gaze immediately she walked in and she could tell that he was upset

“Where have you been?” he asked her angrily
“I went out with my brother. What is the big deal?” she asked
“The big deal is I came home and I couldn’t find you. You need to know your place in this house!”
“Damian, would you chill out? What’s the problem? I know this place more than anything else” Alex said
“It doesn’t matter to me! You are the reason she doesn’t respect my decisions and wishes anymore and I will not tolerate that in my house. If you can’t abide by my rules, you can as well find somewhere else to stay. I don’t know why you find it so hard to follow simple instructions! You wouldn’t stop until you get yourself killed and really, that is fine by everybody because once you die, then I can finally be free”
“I don’t understand you! Where is all these coming from Damian?!” she asked him, already hurt
“Damian, quit it!” He heard his mother say from the stairs
“Andwho are you to interfere in this? Get your house in order first before you lecture me on how to keep mine in order!” he said
“That is enough! What the hell has gotten over you?” Anna asked him. She knew what the normal Damian was like and this was just uncalled for. Then it struck her. Was he acting out because of the conversation they had earlier about Odette? Did he like her back?
“You will never speak to me in that tone or manner!” he said to her
“Is this about Odette? If you want to be with her, nobody is stopping you. Just stop hurting everybody with your words. It is starting to suck!” she said
“Are you accusing me of cheating now? Where is this nerve coming from?” he mocked. “Only if you had the same nerve to protect your mother while she was killed!” he said

She had had enough. She sped to him and tired to snap his neck but it only turned and he turned it back. She saw that the person who stood before her wasn’t her boyfriend. That was why he was acting this way. It wasn’t Damian. He turned his neck back and scratched her throat away from her neck. She gasped and choked. Sally broke the leg of a wooden table and threw it right onto his chest. He fell to the ground.

“That should do it!” she said as she walked up to him. She pulled up the sleeve of his shirt and she saw it
“What is that?” Arielle asked
“It is some kind of spell, or should I say curse? It makes you hurt and even kill the ones closest to you. It is still pretty early but we have to get rid of it now” Damian’s mom said
“How do we get rid of it?” Alex asked
“We get a witch to reverse it!” she said as she pulled out her phone.

In the hour, someone was there already. Immediately she came in, she went straight to Damian and asked for his victim. Damian’s mom took her to Anna. She walked up to her and ran a dagger through her heart

“What are you doing” Alex asked
“I need her dead. I can’t cure Damian without a sacrifice and she is already dead. I can harness the power of her death and break the spell casted on Damian. It shouldn’t be if any harm to her and she will be fine eventually. I just need her dead for a while. From what I hear, she is an hybrid” she said
“And am I supposed to feel better about a fact that I already know?” Alex asked her
“Waking you shouldn’t be an issue for her!” she said
“And why should I trust you?” Alex asked
“Because right now, I am all you’ve got!” she said to him

He got to find out that her name. She was pretty young to be a witch but he knew better than to underestimate anybody. She might be small but she did know what she was doing. When she was done, she used Anna’s death to cleanse Damian and break the spell. He gasped back to life. Alex could see fear in his eyes. It was almost like he was trapped in his own body with no way of getting out.

“Hey, you’re alright now. You’re fine. What happened?” Alex asked
“It was like someone, something took over my body. I can’t explain what it was. I was trapped in my own body. I couldn’t see anything but I could hear everything. I lost control of my own body. All I could see was darkness and the more I gave in, the more life it snuffed out of me. What happened?” he asked

Alex stepped out of the way and he saw Anna laying down with a dagger in her chest and the marks in her neck, almost like someone had tried to scratch out her throat. He looked down at his hands and saw blood on them. He gasped as everything started to add up. Earlier, he could hear her screaming at him and him returning the screams with the same energy. They must have been in an argument when whatever was on the inside of him made an attempt to kill her. He moved back and tears rolled down his face.

“It wasn’t you” Sally said
“Yes it was” he said back to her
“It wasn’t! You had no control of your body” she said
“I hurt her Sal. Whether I had no control or not isn’t important. I still hurt the one person I swore to protect!” he said as he walked up to her. He touched her neck and then he pulled the dagger out of her chest before walking out of the room.

He didn’t want to be around her for that moment. He didn’t trust himself. He felt someone’s presence in the private living room

“I don’t want to talk” he said
“Well, I’m not here to talk to you either” he heard Alex say
“Then why are you here?” Damian asked, looking back at him
“I don’t know but I think you do need the company. You can tell me you don’t and I’ll leave with this sweet wine but we both know you do need the company and the wine would only make things better do what do you say?” Alex asked
“Fine. Maybe you have a point this time” he said as he turned back to the wall he was facing. “How is she?” he asked
“She woke up some hours ago but she is asleep now” Alex said. “She asked for you though” Alex said
“What did you tell her?” He asked
“That you were out, feeling bad. I explained everything to her”
“What was her reaction?” he asked
“I couldn’t say. She was really tired though so I let her get the rest she needed. You can talk her in the morning when she wakes up” Alex said
“That wouldn’t be necessary. I am leaving home for a while and I want you to take care of her” Damian said
“and where are you going?”
“Anywhere away from here. She is not safe with me. I can obviously see that now. It’s better I am far from her. I don’t know what came over me. I don’t know how or why anybody will put a curse on me just so I can kill the one I love. Of it can happen once, it can happen again and I don’t want that to ever happen so I have to go” he said