CHAPTER 17 LENA. Vice Principal Agatha and a few other teachers came into the scene with the paramedics right after we left. We didn't want to be seen or asked questions as we had our own plans to make. Yes, we were sorry for her but the faster we solved this mystery, the better for whoever was next in line to be killed. Well, there was no class for the rest of today. It had been announced and we all knew it was because of Mereba's death and even if they didn't, a lot of people were going to miss classes anyway. Luke and Leah had gone to get snacks and drinks for us as we had missed lunch for this. I sat in the empty classroom, noticing how awkwardly Trevor moved. I knew he wanted to talk to me and was afraid to do so. Burying my attention into my phone, I stared at the zoomed in photo of Henshaw's body. I stared at the marks till they were like imprints in my brain. I was sure I was never going to forget it again. Trevor cleared his throat and before he spoke, I r
CHAPTER 18 LENA. Gina's home was quite far from school. She lives with her father on the outskirts of Willow Town. They had moved two years ago after the death of her mother. She had died of a fast spreading blood cancer that wasn't detected on time. It had been hard on Beta Reinhardt and Gina. Really hard that they had to sell off their large beautiful house for a smaller one and ever since they moved, Gina, who used to be a social butterfly, suddenly stopped attending events. We thought it was only going to last for a while. I mean, she was grieving her mother's death. But it's been a year since she attended any social gatherings. She came to school and missed some days off, calling in sick. It was strange. This sickness that she couldn't tell us about. Also how her father who was nice and open to everyone suddenly shut everyone out. We rarely visited and whenever we were lucky to, we were always timed. After trying a few more times, we stopped. I am still worried
CHAPTER 19 LENA. Fortunately and surprisingly, the gates to their home were open. I exchanged shocked looks with Leah. "They never open their gates," Leah said. "Unless he's starting to see the meaning of life again," "If that's true, then I am happy for them. At least, Gina can get to hang out with us again," She's in our friend group but a loner. Aloof. She's not close with anyone which makes her the person we go to whenever there's something we have to settle. For her, there's no sides to take. Leah drove into the surprisingly large parking lot. We didn't even take up so much space. "That car parked in front of us looks familiar," "It's a Lincoln Navigator, Luke," I said. "Which is why I said it looks familiar," He pointed out. "That's Dylan's car," "I thought he went to his grandmother's burial?" Leah said as she killed the engine. The doors were unlocked and we all climbed out of Leah's car. And there he is, pushing his car door open and taking ou
CHAPTER 20 LENA. Gina spiked up our curiosity. Everyone in the room sat up immediately. Luke left his position. He had been seated right before her monitor. He drew close to her bed, where I and Leah sat along with Dylan whose arm was draped across her chest. "You know something? What is it?" She leaned away from him and he followed her movement. "Uhm," She blinked. Something flashed in her eyes but it was gone as soon as it came, right before I was able to decipher what it was. "I was there when Henshaw died. Not there per se. I was close and I witnessed his death" There was an edge to her voice. Like she was about to cry. She fluttered her eyes and masked her sniffle with a cough. Dylan rubbed her back soothingly. "That's..." Leah began but I placed a hand on her leg. I knew what she was about to say. Better not let the cat out of the bag yet. Dylan was already starting to frown in confusion. "Uhm," She continued. "I was just coming into the gym. I went to ge
CHAPTER 21 LENA. Shit. Leah's mouth opened slightly in surprise, I acted like I wasn't surprised by what she said. I mean, I was. And as for Luke, his eyes remained on his friend who's expression was filled with anger. "Dylan," Gina began. She looked really nervous. She climbed out of her bed and went to meet him. She tried to touch his arm but he moved away from her. "I just need a fucking explanation, Gina. Why are you in a relationship with Henshaw and me too. You said you cared about me, didn't you? So why the fuck would you lie to someone you care about and go behind their backs to be with someone else? That's bitchy!" Gina sank her fingers into her hair and pulled at it. She looked really frustrated, like she was trying to hold back from saying something. "You don't get it, Dy!" Gina said. Her voice broke again. Tears rolled down her cheeks as she spoke. "I cared about you. I care about you and when I told us how I felt, I wasn't lying or trying to deceive y
CHAPTER 22 LENA. "You don't seem like you're alright, Lena," Leah said. The girl could see through me. "So spill it now if your head is working Mach five." "I heard a voice. Did you hear it, too?" "No, I did not." Leah negated. Gina's reply was the same. "What did it say?" Gina asked. I shook my head immediately. "Nothing important. My ears are probably playing tricks on me," I said with a nervous laugh. Both girls looked at me with looks of confusion on their faces. "Well, we have to go now," I said and pushed to my feet. Leah followed suit after patting Gina on the shoulder. "Thanks for having us," Gina nodded with a smile. "It feels good to see some of my friends after a long time of being cooped up at home," Leah cocked her head to the side. "I don't think we're sure about that," Gina sighed. "Fine. I've been sneaking out. Cut me some slack, you both," We both raised our hands in the air in surrender. "We don't mean to judge you, Gina. I really fee
CHAPTER 23 LENA. Slipping my hands into the pocket of my hoodie, I slipped into the house and shut the door behind me. "What the hell..." I muttered as I crossed the hallway into the living room. Even with the hoodie I had on, it felt like I was about to freeze. I began to shiver, my muscle spasmed as I tried to create more heat for my body but it did nothing. "Oh... Fuck..." Speaking was hard for me and my speech was starting to slur. I slid my phone out of my pocket and painfully dialed my father's number. My fingers tapped haphazardly against my phone and dialed my father's number. He picked up after three rings. "Hey, cupcake," "D-dad. I don't know what's wrong," I began to ramble. "The house. It's— it's really cold and I— I just feel cold!" Just after saying that sentence, I felt a wave of weakness hit me as I tried to breathe. It was nearly impossible to breathe properly and when I got the idea of the possibility of experiencing hyperthermia, I slid to the
CHAPTER 24 LENA. "gods," I muttered as I climbed out of the bed, trying hard not to hit his frozen hand. If I made one mistake, his hand could break out of his wrist. I couldn't imagine something terrible happening again, all because I couldn't control whatever was going on inside of me. Finally, I was out of the bed. I stared at my father's frozen body in shock. My mouth was agape and just as a sob escaped my throat, I clamped a hand over my mouth. I had to do something. Standing and staring at him wasn't going to do a damn thing. I knew what could happen to him if he stayed frozen for one hour and as I rushed to the window to push it open with the hopes of bringing in some warmth from outside, Mr Finn's words from AP Chemistry came to my mind. If a person is frozen with ice, which is one of the rarest things to ever happen to man, their body goes into a state of suspended animation, causing all biological processes to slow down to the point of stopping. Though, fre
CHAPTER 127 (Epilogue) LENA. "Do you think this is a good idea?" I asked Damon as I slipped into a simple gown. One I usually wore when going to important meetings. Damon, who had slept over, all thanks to my Dad who gave him the permission, was still on the bed typing away at his phone. He looked up at me. "What's that? The meeting?" I nodded. "Yes." He climbed out of the bed and placed his phone on it before walking over to where I stood and cupping my cheeks. "Yes, love. It is an absolutely good idea. An opportunity for me to make it up to everyone and I don't think I can do it without you. So get dressed and let's go to the council meeting." "Okay?" I nodded. We arrived late. The meeting had started about an hour ago and just as we stepped in, everyone turned to look at us. Master Choi was at the door. He smiled at me. "You did it." I looked at Damon who shook his head. He didn't want me telling people what happened. It was our little secret and I was going to keep it f
CHAPTER 126 LENA. We were back in Willow Town. Directly in front of the tree close to the portal. Damon decided that closing it for good was the best idea. And I agreed to it. As soon as it was closed, I turned to him with a bright smile on my face. "I still can't believe that this is already over. It ended as soon as it began." "It wasn't easy anyway." Damon replied as he parted a branch for me to pass through. "I thought I was going to die for real. Metheus he...he makes me so afraid." "But he's gone now," I took his hand in mine and we intertwined fingers. "He's gone for good." "And I am happy." He sighed and looked at me. I pushed back a lock of his hair that fell over his face. "I am so happy, Lena. I am happy to be here with you. I want to help now. This is my way of repaying my sins." "It wasn't your fault," I said to him as we burst out of the woods. I smiled, seeing that my car was still there. It was almost dawn and I could tell from the way the skies
CHAPTER 125 LENA. "She is the weakest of them all," He snarled, his feet leaving the ground as he floated into his air and commanded darkness. "I thought we were bringing some challenges. But this one? She's going to be dead before this ends." "Don't listen to him, Lena. He's trying to make you afraid of him. It's what he does." This was definitely harder than I thought. I was just coming out from the shock of seeing everyone that had died in the attack and having to let them go for good. There was this pain and burning hatred in my chest and it was all directed at the man standing before me. He was evil, menacingly cunning like the Devil and I saw why Damon was so afraid of him. I would be too. But I wasn't. All I wanted to do was avenge the death of my mother and everyone else. I had vanquished all of his demons, had his sons all locked up in abyss and it was just me and him against the whole fucking world. He was strong, I had to admit that. None of
CHAPTER 124 DAMON. Wyverns. I hated them with everything in me. They were the bane of my existence and my father had used these creatures to traumatize me a whole lot of times. I didn't even want to think about it. But Lena was standing beside me and she didn't look the least afraid. "They are an illusion, Lena," I informed her. "Created in his mind and brought to life like a hologram." She nodded. "That means we go for him?" I nodded. He wasn't here yet but that was the memo. "Yes." From the tower, we could see the Palace. There were several entrances on each floor and I knew which he was going to step out from. More wyverns flew out through the dome of the castle, flapping their dark, veiny wings and screeching into the night air as they flew around. One swooped down to our level and I ducked, pulling Lena along with me. "Their talons are sharp enough to kill you." "Not if we kill them first." "My father, remember?" She nodded. Just as we mo
CHAPTER 123 LENA. My smile didn't falter. Not even when uncertainty creeped in. "Trap?" I burst into laughter. "That's nice. What type of trap though? A bobby trap?" I burst into laughter when I noticed how their frowns deepened. "We have no time for that. You're going to calmly walk to us and you're going to surrender. Unless you want us to force you." Slowly, my arms spread out. My eyes darted over to the other side of the wall. It was just Damon there. Just as he shook his head at me with panic in his eyes, he was pulled off the wall forcefully. I frowned and darted my eyes back to the men before looking back at the fort. Damon was in combat with Stefan. What the fuck? Something was wrong and Damon was unaware. Closing my eyes, I felt my powers bubble up from my insides. My eyes opened and I didn't miss the shock on the men's faces. A smirk curled up my lips and I drew close, feeling frost coat on my fingers. One of the guards broke out of the others and
CHAPTER 122 DAMON. We both took a seat on one of the tree logs and maintained an awkward silence. She probably didn't care but I did. I wanted to tell her that I missed her and that I wanted to kiss her full on the lips. That I wanted to touch her and sink my fingers into her hair. But she didn't seem to be in the mood for all that. If there was someone more determined than Stefan, then she had to be the one. She placed her backpack on the floor and zipped it open before grabbing a bottle of water and a croissant. She looked at me and raised it into the air in a way of asking me if I was going to eat but I shook her head and smiled at her in appreciation. Nodding, she sank her teeth into the croissant and began to chew slowly as she took a look around. She gulped down her water and kicked at a stone. I knew she was avoiding me. I knew she was avoiding getting into a conversation with me. Sighing, I leaned against the tree trunk close to me and watched her while she a
CHAPTER 121 LENA. Everything on my mind right now tethered towards ending all of this and defeating Metheus. I couldn't process anything other than that and even if a tiny bit of me still felt something for him, I decided to process those feelings first before saying anything. "So what do we do now?" I asked as I kick started the engine. "Uhm, we should see your father before doing anything else. He's missed you." I gave him a hard look. "If we do not do this now, I don't know when we will. Someone else is going to die." A look of hurt flashed in his eyes but it was gone as soon as it came. He nodded. "I wasn't planning on killing anyone after that but you're right." "Where are we driving to?" I asked as I slowly backed away before making a turn in the middle of the road. "And know that if you lead me down the wrong road and try to kill me, I'll rip you apart before you blink." He's not going to harm you. "I don't care!" I snapped back at her, not minding
CHAPTER 120 DAMON. We were seated in her car now. It had taken a lot for her to let me sit in the passenger seat. What hurt the most was how she avoided me when I tried to touch her. It felt like she was repulsed by me and it hurt really bad. It wasn't her fault anyway. I had brought this on myself. I had hurt her terribly and I knew she wasn't going to ever forgive me. Hell, I wasn't going to forgive myself for putting her through too much pain. Her fingers were wrapped around the steering wheel and her knuckles had turned white from having to grip it tightly. Once again, it was my fault. I wasn't even going to blame her for something I did. I wanted to reach out to her. I wanted to touch her so bad. I had planned a lot for her return. I had made a lot of collages of both of us and we had even set up a surprise party for her when she returned. I had set up a date for us both together before I took her back to my place. But today of all days, tragedy struck and I cou
CHAPTER 119 LENA. Why did everything seem to turn sour on my return? From finding out that Gamma Fred had died to meeting Alpha Lance who had lost all hope in this cause and seemed not to care. He had looked like he was waiting for the downfall of Willow Pack and now...Damon? It had to be a dream. I shook my head and tried clearing my head but he was still standing before him, shock written all over his face and for the first time, I saw who he really was. For the first time, it clicked. It all started to make sense. The dark aura, the confusion that had come with him. It was all starting to manifest right now and I couldn't find my Damon anymore. I didn't see the boy I was in love with. All I could see was a murderer. A beast. A fucking killer and a demon. I tried to speak but my words got caught in my throat. My eyes darted over to the dead bodies. The amber glow of the streetlights around it burnished against the pale skin of the dead bodies, making them look ethe