002 Dark Little Secret

"Lilith, please don't cry..." Jacob pulled Lilith in to comfort her, but she just felt like she was a doll with her soul floating somewhere that she couldn't find.

Ann burst into laughter.

Lilith didn't feel the anger when she run into them. She didn't feel the anger when Jacob was still going on about "explaining" when there was no room for misunderstanding.

But Ann's laughter did it. It was what lit everything up.

Lilith suddenly remembered all.

All the innocent lines he said, now sounded like lies; all the time that they weren't together, were now filled with images of their kissing; and all times when he yelled at her for some silly, small stuff became this fuel that drove Lilith to turn and run towards Emma's car.

Borrowing Emma's car was the best decision she made that night.

"Lilith! Lilith, please! I have never cheated on you before! This was just a misunderstanding!"

Jacob followed Lilith impatiently as Lilith ran for the car, and then she understood why he didn't run --

She couldn't open the door.

Taking a deep breath, Lilith turned around to face Jacob with the first word out of her that night: "Misunderstanding?!"

Shouting felt so good.

She could see the shock on his face. After all, She had always been this mild, sweet girlfriend that never talk back.

"Y-yes..." Jacob managed a word out, "I swear, I really DO love you. Why else do you think I would stay in a relationship with a human for four years?!"

"Because I was stupid!" Her yelling sounded so unreal to her, but the shaking of her hand was real as hell, "Unlock my car and let me go!"

"Lilith!" Jacob bellowed as he grabbed her arms, "What about tonight's meeting?! We have been waiting for this for so long! We are so close! Please!"

"We are not close! Not anymore! We, are, over!" Lilith pushed him on the chest and he allowed her to push him away.

Silence filled the air and he finally snapped his finger.

Lilith got into the car as soon as she heard the click of the door unlocked, and drove away as tears blurred the road.

When she came, she came with shaking hands for excitement, she came with love filling her heart and a sweet future planned with the man she thought was her whole life.

And now, all that she had left, was her shaking hands.

"What was that all about?!"

Jacob stormed back to his room, shouting at Ann who had settled herself comfortably into the sofa.

"A favor." She curved her lips and Jacob lost the fire in him to yell.

"Your mom asked me to, and I quote," Ann hooked her fingers in the air to make a quote gesture, "solve your problem."

"She's NOT my problem!" Jacob grunted, rolling his eyes, "The high priest already allowed my request to turn her tonight!"

"She won't have too much power even if you make her a witch." Ann shrugged at Jacob with an indifferent tone, "There is no way for it to work out for you two."

"Not everyone is a power freak." Jacob said viciously but Ann just chuckled:

"So what's your plan? To live like the laughingstock of the coven for being the weakest couple? Come on..."

"You don't get it, do you?" Jacob grabbed his coat from the sofa, "I, LOVE, her! I don't care about the rest, alright?!"

"Ohh really?" Smiled Ann as her scarlet lips curved into a perfect angle, "Then why didn't you push me away when I leaned in?"

Jacob bit his lips in silence.

"The truth is," Ann played a shred of her hair, "You have always had feelings for me, so the second you get a chance, you went for it."

"That's not true." Grunted Jacob, but it sounded like more of a mumble to himself.

"Ohh, please... You think I don't know how you stare at me ever since you were a little boy?" Ann chuckled, "It's okay. You are still my best friend, despite your little secret."

"She is the one who I love, and we have been together for years." Eyes fixed on Ann, Jacob sounded like he desperately needed Ann to believe him.

"Sure, whatever put you to sleep at night." Ann waved her had indifferently, apparently bored at this topic, "But please don't tell me you are going after her."

"Of course I'm going after her!" Jacob glared at Ann, "YOU, kissed, ME! Okay? She will believe me and we will put this behind us."

"What about the prophecy convention tonight?" Ann said it casually as if it was just a family dinner plan, but her words worked magic on Jacob.

He stopped with his hand on the doorknob.

"That's what I thought." Ann nodded as she stood up, "The most powerful Mage of our time would appear tonight. Everyone has to be there."

"And I WILL." Said Jacob slowly with his teeth clenched, "WITH, my girlfriend."

"How are you gonna find her and make her go through the process now?!" Ann shook her head.

"It's just a stupid kiss. She will understand."

"Tonight decides the fate of all Mage. You don't want to cross the coven on this one." Said Ann with a shred of danger in her tone.

Jacob hesitated but in the end, he just threw himself on the sofa defeatedly: "So the most powerful Mage will appear tonight, so what? There's always a No.1 all the time, that's how numbers work, okay?!"

"You don't know?!" Ann exclaimed with a little chuckle, "It's not just A powerful Mage, silly! This prophecy is about, The Shadow."

Her dramatic tone didn't work--

Jacob shook his head in confusion: "Where do I know that name from?"

"You are unbelievable..." Ann sighed as she fell back onto the sofa, rolling her eyes, "Really? Born in a Mage family, and you don't know THE legend of our time?"

"Just tell me!"

"There was once this legendary couple, the most powerful Mages of all time, and with all their power they created this sacred wand and named it, The Shadow."

"Okay." Jacob shrugged, still with that indifferent face, "So if this wand is so powerful, then how come no one is using it to rule the world already?"

"Because no one can wake it up, silly." Ann rolled her eyes, "Where have you been when we were having history classes? Jesus!"

Jacob sneered sarcastically, ignoring her bragging about history,  "So the most powerful Mage will appear tonight and wake up the most powerful weapon. What does that have anything to do with us?"

"Well, how about the fact that The Shadow is going to save us from our doom?" Sneered Ann coldly, "Sounds important enough to you now?"

"What doom?"

"Ugh...where have you been your whole life?!" Ann let out a frustrated groan.

"Well, the doom doesn't matter anyway, right?" Jacob fell back into the sofa in distress, "Because the prophecy promised that The Shadow WILL be wakened tonight. Problem solved."

Ann rolled her eyes: "It doesn't work like that. Prophecy is only one possibility of the future. It has to be fulfilled to happen, and that's exactly why we need to be there, to be TESTED by The Shadow."

"To do what? To save the world?" Jacob sneered, "No thanks. Sounds like a lot of work to me."

"It's not work, it's power!" A frantic smile appeared on Ann's face, "Because whoever wakes the wand, gets it!"

Jacob started at Ann with first confusion, and then it came to him --

"You think it's you, don't you? Oh my God!" Jacob's sneer soon turned into a loud laugh, "That's ridiculous, even for you."

All laugh disappeared from Ann's face.

"What did you say?" Said Ann with a cold voice that could freeze the air.

Still laughing, Jacob rose both his hands to surrender: "You ARE a powerful witch, I admit, but not legendary powerful, yet."

The last words saved his life.

Ann snorted as she stood up with her coat coldly: "It's not about how much magic you possess now! Stupid. The weapon recognizes its owner when the one who's worthy appears."

"Does it ever occur to you that you just might not be the chosen one tonight?" Taunted Jacob, knowing how much this hypothesis would scare Ann.

Ann frowned.

"I'm sorry, but do you know ANYONE who's more powerful than me at my age in our town?" Said Ann annoyed.

"Prophesies is only a glimpse into the future." Jacob followed Ann to her car, "And future can change. Isn't that why the high priest stares at his precious crystal ball all the time?"

"He's never wrong!" Ann growled frustratedly, "And he said the vision was clear and stable for years now! It WILL happen tonight!"