CHAPTER 43 LENA. I went home with the school bus today which was uncommon. I had to ignore the students staring at me in curiosity. I usually went home with Leah in her car so I was barely ever joining the school bus back home. I walked all the way to the back of the bus and flopped into my seat before taking out my phone and my airpods and blocking my ears with music. I was just getting drowned into the music when I felt a depression on the space beside me. My eyes remained closed for a while and I willed my body not to respond to the change in atmosphere. But my mind yearned to know who it was because I was already hit by a familiar scent. A scent I was quite getting used to. One that made me feel more comfortable than I ever wanted to be. "Fancy seeing you here. Don't you have a Ferrari or something?" "Don't you have a motorcycle you use to draw nearly every girl in Willow High?" The corners of his eyes crinkled as he laughed and a few students looked back. The
CHAPTER 44 LEAH. I spent the rest of my afternoon searching for a proper dress to wear. I had even contemplated going over to the store to get a new dress but my mother was going to have my head on a platter if I did any of that. My room was a mess now and I hadn't found the perfect dress. "What the hell is going on here?" I turned to see my mother standing at the threshold with a book in her hand and her spectacle resting on the top of her nose. I looked at her and back at the pile of clothes that swarmed around me. What do I tell her? That I met someone who caught my fancy? That I met someone who I believed was my second mate? No fucking way. I wasn't telling her any of that. She loved Luke too much and there was a certainty of her telling me I was being fucking delusional. I had to lie. I was getting good at it and with each passing day, it was hard for her to know if I was telling the truth or not. "I'm going out on a date with Luke this evening and I do
CHAPTER 45 LENA. No one had been home as usual. It was just me and an empty house. After having lasagna for lunch, I went straight to my room. That had been my sanctuary since my mother's death. If she had been alive, maybe I'd have stayed a bit longer in the kitchen or living room before going up to my room. She would have served me her favorite hot, green, matcha, infused with heart-shaped ice cubes and then we would dissect the monthly aesthetic magazine filled with jewelry, kitchen utensils and home essentials. My mother was an angel. She was also my best friend. She was patient and tolerant, listening to all of my daily complaints with keen eyes and a straight back. My father had told me that she used to be a model before she gave birth to me. I had seen it in her. She was so tall, slender with tan skin that made me believe she was a Latina or the sorts. I had the features too but only darker. I had been in my room for the whole of the afternoon, poring over a n
CHAPTER 46 LEAH. My legs moved from side to side as I waited impatiently for Damon to arrive. I had been here for over ten minutes and he was yet to arrive. Luke could never do this. He was always here before me and it didn't matter if I was thirty minutes late. Now, I understood how infuriating it was to be left sitti I alone and being asked by the waitress if I wanted to have anything. At the sound of the overhead doorbell ringing, I looked up to see Damon coming into the diner. I sat up immediately and did a very quick retouch before he saw me. He was dressed in a pair of dark ripped jeans and a baggy shirt that could fit over three bodies. I loved his style. I had never seen him dress in a baggy outfit but this was really appealing to the eyes. Though it was a fashion that was set apart for only the dark skinned students in Willow High, I was sure that if he wore this to school, he was going to start a trend. His hair was left to fall over his forehead and it gav
CHAPTER 47 LENA. I was awoken by the shrill ring of my phone. I had been dreaming of the clouds and sunsets and I was quite upset that I had been interrupted. That was the first nice dream I was having since things changed. I rubbed my eyes, confused for a moment. The phone stopped ringing. I looked out of the window to see that it was dark. How long had I slept for? Ten? How the fuck did it get to ten this fast? Shit. Well, I was too sleepy to even move. I lay back on my bed and just as I was about to go back to sleep, the ring came again. I stretched over to my bedside table and turned on my lamp before picking my phone. It was a call from Luke. Yawning, I picked the call. "Hey, why are you calling?" "That's not a nice way to ask someone who called you. Try to be polite for one." My eyes rolled to the back of my head. "Why have you called? You just interrupted a beautiful sleep." "Oh, please." "Okay. I am ending the call now—" "Fine. I'll talk. Is Le
CHAPTER 48 LENA. I had to be really slow and quiet so I wound up his glass before starting his engine. My heart thumped wildly against my chest, threatening to tear my chest open. My father's ears were as sharp as anything could be and I just hoped he was already asleep. As I backed out of the garage through the driveway, I made sure not to make any sort of noise. I successfully backed out of the driveway without him stepping out of the door or pushing the window open and once I was out of the garage, I kept cruising till I got far enough to drive faster. The streets were empty and that was because of the curfew that had been put up recently. It wasn't as serious as I had expected it to be so I was safe from my father's wrath. He was well known and everyone knew Lena Sherman. I went to the diner first and climbed down from the car before pushing the glass doors open. "We're closed." A woman sang from behind the counter where she stood. I looked around to see that the
CHAPTER 49 LENA. "You're crazy. You know that, right?" Leah said as soon as I shut the car door behind me. "Hell, you can't even drive! You stole your Dad's car, didn't you?" Ignoring her, I twisted the key on the ignition compartment and started the car. I began to drive slowly, not sparing Damon a glance as I drove past him. "I am talking to you, Lena!" I whipped my head to look at her. "I really don't want to get in to a conversation with you right now. I had to steal my Dad's car for this and if he finds out what I did, I am done for. So whatever you have to say to me, keep it till we get to my place." "I actually want to go home," She said. "Back to my house." "Your mother thinks you're at my place," I replied. "Luke must have called her. I am sure you wouldn't want your mother suspecting something off about you, huh? And you know she's going to tell Luke, right? You know how much she adores him." "Does everything have to be about him?!" I winced at the
CHAPTER 50 LENA. " So I asked you not to use my car, I stopped you from using my car but you went ahead to do it?" I was standing in front of my utterly displeased father. Leah had gone up to my room as soon as we came in to my father standing at the porch with his arms folded. "Leah needed my help," I muttered. "Of course, she did! Do you know how dangerous it is okt there? We don't even know what's waiting out there for anyone!" "I do. I do. But Leah was out there. You don't expect me to just leave my best friend out there." He stretched out his hand. "Hand over the key." I pushed the key into his hand. "I'm sorry, Dad. I didn't mean to—". "You can keep that apology to yourself. I will be hearing none of it. You have been grounded for the rest of the week." "But, Dad—" He raised a hand to stop me. "Not another word, Lena. Do you know that things have changed? You are not who you used to be two weeks ago and you're just going to dash all of that on a
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