AMELIA. Alura. The witch. She possessed Valerie's body. The realisation hit me hard and I knew that whatever would happen in this place would be worse ten fold. She has started fulfilling her promises. I knew that something was wrong when I didn't get choked overnight today. I shuddered, my heart beating wildly in my chest. I was scared. Like I was terrified to my bones this time around. Alura was using Valerie's body to hurt me. Fuck. Then I felt another slap across my cheeks. “You think you can talk back at me?” She asked and gave me another slap. She kept slapping me and my head kept going sideways, I heard the laughter of the two girls holding me. Valerie stepped back and the girls holding me hit my head on the counter of the restroom, I groaned in pain. This shit hurt. I knew I was bleeding already, there wasn't anything that could stop that. The both of them dropped me to the ground, I really didn't have the strength to stand up on my feet again, then I started feeli
DYLAN. The room smelled like antiseptic and something else. Something colder, regret maybe. I sat in the creaky hospital chair that barely held my weight. But it didn't matter. None of that mattered. The only thing I could focus on was the girl lying motionless in the hospital bed in front of me–Amelia. My Amelia. She was so still. Too still. Her usually expressive face was pale, bruised, swollen. I couldn't even tell where some of the injuries ended and where her skin began. The machine beside her beeped in a steady rhythm, a cruel reminder that her heart was still fighting even if she looked like she'd already given up. And I wasn't there, I wasn't fucking there. I clenched my fists and looked away, the guilt so heavy it made my chest ache. My throat burned from holding back tears, but one slipped down anyway. Tracing a hot, salty line down my cheek. “I'm so sorry, Lia.” I said, barely above a whisper. My voice craked, like something was breaking inside me and maybe it was. “
AMELIA. The pain was unbearable, but it wasn't the physical kind that hurt the most. No, it was the silence that hung around me–thick, suffocating. I could feel the weight of it in my bones. My eyes were heavy, but I couldn't open them. I wanted to. I tried so hard to make my fingers move, my legs twitch, anything. But my body wouldn't cooperate. It was as if something was holding me in this endless limbo between sleep and waking. Then, through the haze of my mind, I heard his voice. Dylan. His voice broke through the fog, clear and full of emotion. I could tell it wasn't the same Dylan if seen before–this version was raw, vulnerable, and completely undone. He was….hurting. I felt it in the way he spoke, the desperation in his words. The way he confessed everything I'd been waiting to hear for so long. I didn't even know that I was waiting for him to say all these things to me. “I love you, I love you so fucking much that it hurts. And now I might never get the chance to say it
AMELIA. The door slammed open with such force that it rattled the walls. And in the blink of an eye, my mother was standing in the doorway, her face pale and panic-stricken, her eyes wild with worry. She looked like she hadn't slept in days-like the weight of the world had settled on her shoulders and she was on the verge of breaking under it. “Amelia!” Her voice cracked as she rushed to my side, almost tripping over her own feet in the frantic urgency to get to me. “Oh my God, what happened to you? Who did this to you, sweetheart?”She dropped to her knees beside the bed, her trembling hands reaching out to touch my face as if she were trying to reassure herself that I was real. That I was alive. Her touch was soft, but her fingers felt like ice against my skin. Her face was streaked with tests, her makeup smudged, and the raw emotion in her eyes made me feel like I was about to crumble. “I…I don't understand. Baby, you look ..you look like you've been through hell. What happened
AMELIA. The hospital room was quiet–too quiet. The kind of silence that wrapped around your chest and make it hard to breathe. The air was cold and sterile, but I barely noticed. I lay still in the white bed, the soft hum of the IV drip the only sound in the room. My fingers trembled slightly as they curled around the edge of the blanket, my knuckles pale from the pressure. My heart thudded in my chest, not fast, not slow, but heavy, like it was dragging me down with every beat. Dylan had gone home. My mum had insisted. Something about needing to change clothes and get some rest, even though I knew that wasn't the real reason. My mother was trying to give me space–space that I hadn't asked for. Space I wasn't sure I wanted. I needed people around me, but no one could possibly understand what I was going through. Not even Dylan. Not anymore. I stared blankly at the ceiling, my mind replaying every horrible second of the past few days in a loop. Dylan blowing my mind with great sex
AMELIA. “But then….she came back. She said I owed her. You remember when she said that there was one thing she would ask me for?” I asked Ava who paid extra attention to what I was saying. “Yes.”“It was Dylan.” I said. “What? What do you mean it was Dylan?” She asked me and I shrugged. “She wanted to use Dylan for a certain type of scarifice.” I explained to her and for some weird reasons, she looked like she understood what I was saying. “She said I had to give her Dylan or I'd die.” I let out a humourless laugh that ended in a sob. “I thought it was a joke. But then she started coming every night, scratching at my skin, whispering in my dreams. She chokes me when I sleep, Ava. I wake up gasping, I can't breathe.”I pressed my hands to my chest. “I tried to ignore her. To stay strong which I did, not even Dylan knows about the choking she does in the night. Anytime we sleep together though, she doesn't show up. I don't know why, then she possessed Valerie. It was like she wa
AMELIA. The days passed by very fast. The past few days brought relief, finally I didn't have to carry the burden of the secret alone. I had Ava with me and I didn't regret telling her. If anything she was the only person I could trust with this information.I could also trust Dylan with it, but the problem was that I didn't know the way he would react to it. I didn't want to see the disappointment on his face when I told him. I wanted to enjoy the moment we had until it had to end. Which I hoped wouldn't happen anytime soon. But all good things came to an end. I dared to wish that Dylan wouldn't find out, because with Ava being on this with me, she told me that we would have to go on some very scary journey's and read a few ancient books. I really appreciated her because she didn't even know how she was going to tell her mother that we were doing this. She said her mother didn't like hearing witch business, apparently there was some scar that it left on her and Ava promised to t
VALERIE. I haven't been able to sleep properly since that night. Not because I'm afraid of what might happen to me, hell, I've been through worse. But because every time I close my eyes, I see her face. Amelia. Bleeding, broken, still. It didn't make sense. I mean yeah, I've hated her for a while. I'm not even going to pretend like I was one innocent bystander in all this, I said nasty things, spread rumours, in fact did nasty things. Laughed at her in front of people, hit her once or twice. But what happened that night? That wasn't me. That couldn't have been me. Because when I replay it in my head, her screams, the way my fists connected with her skin over and over again, I don't recognise the girl doing it. It wasn't even rage. It felt like….something else. Like I wasn't in my body. Like I was just watching it happen from somewhere far away and screaming at myself to stop, and no one was listening. Especially not me. But I can't tell anyone that. They'd laugh, or worse, the
AMELIA.I've been at the door for over one hour now, Ava was sitting on the floor beside me. She got tired at one point. I didn't know what I would do if she wasn't here with me, she was my emotional support. I knew he was inside, the car he brought to school was outside and I was just pretty sure that he was inside. I was emotionally drained, I have cried, I have tried to be strong, but I was tired of everything. I also decided to sit down on the floor with Ava, I sighed. “Maybe he actually doesn't want to talk to me.” I said. “Maybe we are just wasting our time and he's not inside.” Ava sighed. I could tell that she was discouraged. “Maybe.” I said and we both fell into a very comfortable silence. Maybe I should just give up and then go back to my house, I knew I fucked up. I wanted to talk to him so bad and actually apologise to him, I wanted him to be in my arms again, I've missed him so much, within that short period of time. “Wait, hold on.” Ava said and stood up, I looke
DYLAN. The doorbell has been ringing for a while now, but I couldn't even Stand up to open it, I was so fucking drunk and out of my mind. After my uncle dropped me off at my apartment, I brought out the vodka I had stashed away. Amelia was messing with my head. I didn't know what else to do to make her know that I was really sorry for all those times that I hurt her and it only hurt her more because she still thought about all those moments. She still thought about the time that I hurt her, she still thought about the evil things that I unknowingly did to her, could it be that just looking at me reminded her of all the things that I've done? Was that it?I didn't know how I was going to make her understand the fact that I was actually very sorry for the things I did, I was going mad and I was even okay enough to be sober while thinking about it. It all helps when I'm a little bit numb. At least, I can try to think on the things I'm doing wrong. Was Rowan trying to take her away fr
NATE. My heart was racing wildly, badly. I feel like my heart could combust any second at how fast it was racing. The things that made me scared were a lot of things, I was scared of the woman that I just saw right now, the woman who broke me and and left me high and dry. The woman that almost killed me, she was right there, looking all innocent and sweet. Nora. Oh, how I've tried to keep her name out of my mouth for these last few years but I just couldn't do it, she's the reason why I can't think of having anybody to myself as a lover, I can't even think of being in a relationship with anybody because she would always be there. She has always been there, in my head, in my mind, and most of all, in my heart. As brutal as I can be, I don't lie to myself, I'm very very truthful with myself, I still love her. Even after all the painful years, even after all the hurt that she made me pass through, those years of almost going crazy. How does she remember my name though? I was so c
DYLAN. “How do you even know that I and my girlfriend fought?” I asked him and he rolled his eyes. “Do I look like a baby to you? I basically just know when people are dealing with real life problems and just small issues like your love life.” My uncle said and shrugged. “You're so starved of love, you know that right?” I asked him and he just shrugged again.“I don't need love in my life, I've seen your father miserable a lot of times because he was in love, I've also seen him miserable a lot of times because your mother fucked him in the head. Now, you're repeating history. “ He chuckled lightly.“I so pray for a woman that would fuck you in the head, it's then you'll know that love is not something you anticipate. It's something that just happens. Love is a respecter of nobody.” I told him and he looked bored. I knew what I was saying. I didn't know how much I wanted Amelia, I just thought it was a crush that would go away with time. That was my thought, but then, she just barg
DYLAN. I was wrecked. I came to the family bar that we owned, it didn't look good, I know. The golden son, drinking in daylight, it fucked with me and it's not something I would normally do, but it's Amelia. She fucks with me in the most impossible ways. She just has that ability, to make me the most miserable and also the most happiest man on this earth. But nobody except the workers would know what was going on, I told them not to let anyone come in, I needed to keep the embarrassment on a tight leash as much as I could. If my parents found out about what I was doing right now, they would kill me. I sighed as I downed another vodka. “More.” I said and the bar mistress didn't think too much about it, she did as I asked and that's how I've been spending my afternoon, getting drunk and high on the thought that Amelia still hated me for what I did that time. For her to say that thing, it hurt and scared me. Maybe Rowan was the opposite of me, someone that had courage to do what I
AMELIA. I kept on looking at her like I was starstruck. I couldn't figure out why. All I knew was that I was scared. Deep down, I knew that Dylan wouldn't leave me but anything could happen and he could decide that he didn't want me again, I wondered if I should tell Ava.“I'm fine.” I told her and she shot daggers at me. “Don't make me ask again, Amelia. Spill it.”“I really am okay.” I said and she sighed. “Do I look like a fool to you? Ever since we got back from the second break, you've been acting so weird and spacing out, and Dylan is nowhere to be found. It doesn't take rocket science to know that you and Dylan fought, he's probably the one that fucked up, and you're trying to protect him, so spill,” She said and I shook my head. “No, no, no, no. He didn't do anything, it was all me. I fucked up and I hurt him.” I told her and she frowned. “What do you mean?” Ava asked me and I sighed. “While you were out for the second break, I went under the elm tree behind the gym and
AMELIA. I've been awfully quiet. After the encounter I had with Dylan earlier, I've been in a terrible mood. The moment Dylan walked out, I started looking for him everywhere, but he was no where to be found. I really hurt him and I knew that, I didn't mean for it to happen that way. Today was the presentation we had in Mrs Williams class and I couldn't focus, first of all, one of my group members were missing and I was supposed to give the presentation, but I wasn't even in the right state of mind for that. I was so distracted.I kept hitting my pen slightly against my book, thinking of the different ways that I could apologise to Dylan. I knew for sure that he was too obsessed with me to leave me alone just like that, but at the same time I didn't like that he was vexed. So I had to do something very fast. I felt a nudge at my side and I looked at Ava and she tilted her head to the front, a sign telling me to look at something. Then I looked at the front of the class, Mrs Willi
AMELIA. Dylan walked away. We’d been fine all day–better than fine, actually. He'd walked me to history class, brought me a hot chocolate during lunch, even brushed his fingers against mine in that accidental not-accidental way. He always did when he was trying to tell me he cared but didn't know how to say it. I was confident that I knew Dylan to a point now, I knew that he wasn't all that good when it came to communicating openly, but he made his intentions clear through his actions which I appreciated a lot. And then, he saw Rowan. Or maybe it was the way Rowan saw me. I didn't expect him to show up under the elm tree again, he made it his mission to always find me under this tree. It was like he knew that this was my safe space and he was taking advantage of it, but I find all of it innocent. He was just trying to be nice, or maybe he was trying to get closer to me, regardless of all these things that I think, mainly because Ava planted them in my mind, I still think he's a
AMELIA. It all started with a knock. Nope, scratch that.It all started with him saving me from Valerie and her minions. And ever since then, Rowan has been a constant part of my life, at least he has tried to be. I was sitting alone beneath the old elm tree behind the gymnasium, my knees tucked to my chest, the pages of my sketchbook fluttering in the breeze. I hadn't drawn a thing. The pencil dangled between my fingers like a forgotten weapon. I couldn't get my thoughts straight–ever sinve I made that deal with Alura, my life had been a pendulum swinging wildly between excitement and despair. I didn't hear Rowan approach, but I felt him. He had this particular atmosphere to him that I couldn't decipher. It was nothing like that of Dylan. Dylan would always be special. “Mind if I sit?” He asked, his voice smooth like running water, a little too calm, a little too perfect. I looked up and blinked at him momentarily, caught off guard by the way the sunlight hit his eyes. Haze