swivelling around to face her.
"Ah, you wouldn't do that," she replied, taking a seat on the large armchair and propping her feet up on a nearby desk. "You wouldn't be able to go without my wonderful company
for more than a day." I scoffed at that, seating myself on the end of the bed, folding my legs underneath me.
The dizziness had faded for the most part, but I was still worried that if I kept on my feet, it would make an unwelcome return. "You're probably right," I sighed, earning a surprised
look from Rashel. "I don't how it happened, but at some point during these last few days you've become a friend, Rashel. And I'm grateful that you care enough to keep an eye on me."
I swear I saw a small smile turn up the corners of her mouth, but it disappeared before I could be sure. "Ash is really worried about you, you know?" I nodded my head, unable to
pretend that I hadn't noticed his fretting and concerned looks. "I know."
"I think you should tell him that you haven't been feeling too well." At the look I threw her, she raised her hands in the air, saying, "Don't worry, he won't hear it from me. I made a
promise, and I'll keep it as long as you want me to. But still… think about it, okay?"
I felt my chest tighten at her words. I hated having to hide things from Ash, but I knew that warning him about my current state would just stress him out. I loved him enough to
want him to have peace of mind. "I can't," I replied in a hushed voice, as if afraid of being overheard. "He's already overly anxious about this whole picture and note thing."
"Overly anxious?" Rashel questioned with raised eyebrows. I nodded my head in reply, because that was the only appropriate way to describe how Ash had been acting ever since
I'd received the threat. Rashel didn't seem as if she agreed with my statement, by the tone of her voice as she continued.
"Don't you think he has every right to be? MaryLynnette, I don't know what you think it is, but that threat you received was not sent by some harmless high school student. Whoever sent that picture and that note was insane enough to kidnap a wild power in order to get our attention." I opened my mouth to protest, but before any words could escape,
she ploughed on, cutting me off. "Look, I know you want to believe that you're not in danger, but you are. This witch, whoever the hell she is, is more powerful than anyone we've
ever come across. It's no easy task to subdue a wild power, especially one like Jez, but she did it. Do you understand that, MaryLynnette? If she can take down one of the chosen
people to stop something as big as the apocalypse, she can squash you like a fly."
"Was that supposed to make me feel better?" I asked, trying to make my voice as cutting as possible to hide how hard it was to keep it from wavering. By the look of sympathy on
Rashel's face, she wasn't fooled for a second. Her words had relentlessly driven the cold, hard truth into me and now I just had to cope with that.
"It was supposed to make you see sense," she replied. "And to get you to understand why Ash has been scared witless over the days just gone. He is absolutely terrified of losing
you, so I think his reaction has been entirely understandable." I lowered my eyes, thinking I may have been a little harsh on Ash. I hadn't processed everything that had been going
on, I hadn't really thought about whom the threat had come from, or what they might be capable of. Ash clearly had, and he'd come to the same conclusion Rashel had. Whether I
wanted to believe it or not, my life could possibly be in danger. Again.
"So now what?" I asked, looking up to stare at Rashel. Just because whoever this witch was seemed allpowerful, it didn't mean that I was just going to take this lying down. If she
came for me like she said she would, I wanted to be ready. "Am I supposed to just sit here waiting for her to come to me?" From experience, I knew that was probably the worst
idea possible. That's what we'd done with Jeremy, and it had resulted in Ash almost ending up dead.
Rashel shook her head, her face deep in thought. "No, we need to be prepared," she trailed off, her green eyes almost glowing in anticipation. "We need to set up wards, warn
everyone to be on lookout. It'll also help if you had some sort of guard." I held my hand up, stopping her mid thought. "There's no way I'm just going to rely on everyone else to
protect me. They already have enough on their plates with the apocalypse approaching without me being a nuisance as well. This is my problem, so I'll be the one to deal with it," I
said, giving Rashel a hard look, daring her to disagree with me. Instead, a slow smile spread across her face, mischief glittering in her eyes.
"Okay," was all she said, giving me a small sense of triumph. That triumph soon withered as I spotted her looking me up and down, scrutinising my every inch. Before I could ask
her what she was looking for, she said, "First you're going to need to learn how to fight, how to defend yourself. And most importantly, how to survive."
I was caught on her every word, nodding along as she spoke. I knew she was right; there was no way I could take on this mystery witch with my current skillset. Taking on Jeremy
in the heat of the moment was one thing, plotting to take down a powerful witch was another thing entirely. Despite the fear that was running through my veins I also felt an odd
sense of excitement. I'd never been one to enjoy violence, but the idea of fighting off an enemy sent a thrill down my spine.
"And who do you suppose will be my teacher?" I asked, feigning innocence, because there was undoubtedly no better choice than the girl sitting in front of me. I could see that she
thought so too by the way her entire being seemed to be thrumming with excitement. "Looks like I just found myself a new hunting partner," she said with a wink.
At some point after Rashel left, a killer headache had set in, gradually sawing away at the back of my skull. The gentle knock at the door made me cringe into the duvet on the bed,
as what felt like a knife jammed into my brain. "Come in," I called weakly, although the last thing I wanted right now was company.
"Hey," Mark said cautiously upon entering, no doubt hearing the irritation in my voice. I peeked at him around the mound of covers, squinting against the light flooding in from the
hallway. "Hey," I replied.
He walked further into the room, plonking himself down on the bed beside me, causing me to groan as the mattress jiggled beneath me. Looking me up and down, a frown appeared
on his face. "What happened to you? You look like hell."
"Gee, thanks," I replied, burying my face back into the pillow. I hadn't looked in the mirror lately but I could imagine what my hair must look like after the amount of times I'd run my hands through it, and from the way I was feeling I wouldn't have been surprised if my eyes were bloodshot.
"Seriously, what's up?" Mark asked, and although I couldn't see his face, I could hear the concern in his voice. "Headache," I moaned, wishing that he would just leave me alone. Whilst I usually enjoyed my brother's company, right now I just wasn't in the mood. "What do you want?" I asked when he didn't say anything else, just continued to sit there. I
knew the question came off as harsh but I couldn't help it.
"Uh, oh yeah. Rowan wanted me to ask you when you think we should head back to Briar Creek. According to our original schedule we were supposed to be leaving this weekend,
but we thought you might want to stay on a bit longer, you know to spend more time with Ash. The sisters are fine with it either way, they're having a whale of a time out here."
As Mark continued to ramble I barely took any of it in, only catching the odd word. "Yeah, sure," I answered, praying that he would leave if I gave him an answer.
I was pretty sure that Mark then went on to say something else, maybe about the chaos that was still going on downstairs, but it was lost on me as a faint burning sensation started
up on my arm. It started o
ff as a dull throbbing, but as the seconds passed it became more and more searing, less and less bearable. I pressed my hand against it, only to pull
away again, hissing in pain.
Mark didn't notice anything until suddenly I jumped up off of the bed and ran into the ensuite bathroom. I remembered when I was younger I had once spilled a kettle full of boiling
hot water on my feet and my mom had told me to run them under cold water immediately.
The sensation I was currently feeling in my arm felt a lot like the hot water had, so I launched myself at the sink, whipping on the cold tap. The water brought no relief to the skin
that felt like it was scorching off, and I had to bite down on my lip to prevent myself from screaming.
As my eyes focused on the epicentre of the pain, all I saw was skin that looked just the same as it always did, silky smooth with a light tan. There was no horrible burn, or flaking,
sizzling flesh. As I realised there was nothing visibly wrong with my arm, the pain abruptly cut off, leaving me staring at the limb, the water still running. The faint chimes of
tinkling laughter echoed through my head, fading away as I blinked rapidly, pulling my head together.
Perhaps this headache really was driving me insane. Imagining injury that wasn't there, hearing voices, surely that was a sign of madness. My heart pounded in my chest as I lifted my gaze to the mirror, scared of what I might see. Thankfully all I saw was my usual reflection, albeit a little unruffled. The only thing that was slightly off was the wild look in my
eyes, but that could be expected of someone in my state of disarray.
A footstep sounded behind me, and my eyes automatically looked to who it was in the mirror. I sprang back about a mile away from the silver surface as I saw the image of a girl
standing in the doorway. Her dark hair tumbled down to her waist and her piercing blue eyes bored into me like knives. Realising that by jumping backward I was moving closer
towards her, I spun around to face the intruder, ready to call for help, because radiating off of her was just pure evil.
Before any sound could leave my mouth I took in the scene before me and saw that it was just Mark standing in the doorway. The girl wasn't there anymore, she never had been.
Like the burning in my arm, and the laughing in my head, the girl had just been a figment of my imagination. I felt tears prick the back of my eyes and a sob rise in my throat.
"What the hell is happening to me?" I whispered to myself, burying my head in my hands and sinking down into a crouch.
"Mare?" Mark asked nervously, his footfall coming nearer. "Are you okay?" His voice sounded so anxious and unsure that it almost made me chuckle. I breathed out a shaky breath,
readying myself to put on a strong face.
Looking up I gave him the sincerest smile I could manage. "I'm fine," I said, keeping the quiver out of my voice. "Just not feeling good." Mark nodded, looking in no way convinced,
but didn't push the matter. "Do you want me to get Thea or Gillian, or Ash?" He asked carefully, eyeing me like I was a wild animal that could attack him at any moment. I felt like
a wild animal.
I shook my head furiously. The last thing I needed was for more people to see me in this state. No, no one could find out that I was probably losing my mind. "I'll be fine," I said in my sweetest voice. "I just need to sleep it off." With that, I rose to my feet, steadily making my way out of the bathroom and over to the bed. I could here Mark trailing closely
behind me.
"Are you sure you don't want me to go get Thea or Gillian? I'm sure they could rustle something up for you."
"I'm fine," I insisted, pressing my eyes closed in the hope that it would lessen the storm in my head. Mark let out a concerned sigh but didn't press it any further, not wanting to
bother me any more. "Do you want me to stay with you, or?" I cut him off with a wave of my hand. There was no point in Mark staying here when there was nothing he could do to
help me. What was the use in both of us being miserable?
"Nah, you don't have to. I'm sure I'll be fine once I get a little rest. Go find Jade, see if you can help calm down the chaos downstairs." When I didn't hear him move, I peeped open
an eye to see what he was doing. At his worried look I tired to give him an encouraging smile. "Really, go! I'll be fine."
It took a little more convincing before he finally left with a promise to check up on me later. Once I was alone I let out a long sigh, pressing the palms of my hands against my eyes
and trying to block out the unsettling events that had unfolded earlier. But even as I tried to forget, flashing images lit up my eyelids, making it impossible to push everything out of my mind.
A solid, pounding rhythm swirled through my head, interrupted only by the occasional shrill of the same tinkling laughter that I'd heard before. Startling images played on a
continuous reel, each more terrifying than the last: A red lipped sneer, sharp bared fangs, and sizzling burning flesh. I couldn't escape the overload on my brain; no matter how
hard I tried. It was becoming more and more unbearable by the second, more and more roaring until it became allconsuming, and I couldn't escape.
I don't know how much time had passed when I heard a faint knock at the door. I'd settled into a fragile state of unawareness where I wasn't quite asleep, but also wasn't awake
enough for my mind to spin out of control. I had no good way of explaining what had happened earlier, just that it had gradually eased until it was faint background noise, barely
noticeable.
The knock sounded again and I realised it had been several minutes since the last. Maybe I could pretend to be asleep so that whoever it was would go away. Whilst I felt
considerably better than I had earlier, I didn't want to risk the dull throbbing in my head to ramp back up into a fullblown headache.
When the knock came again, I sighed irritated, calling, "Come in." I was surprised when the person who walked through the door was not my brother or one of the sisters, or even
Rashel, but Ash. A frown of confusion formed on my face as I processed how rotten my soul mate looked. Why had he knocked? Ash never knocked.
I pushed myself into a sitting position as he gently closed the door behind him before taking a seat beside me. "How are things downstairs?" I asked, thinking that the trouble going
on down there must be the source of why he looked out of sorts. As he answered he didn't look at me, in fact he was looking everywhere but me. "It's being handled," he said
simply, and I nodded, not wanting to push him further. There was clearly something going on with him.
"Are you alright?" I asked, laying a gentle hand on his knee. At my touch he seemed to soften, the hard lines of his face relaxing slightly. "Yeah, I'm fine," he answered absently,
staring at the closed door but not really seeing it.
Maybe it was because I'd used the same line on Mark countless times that I recognised that his answer meant he was anything but fine. Squeezing his knee, I leaned closer towards
him, forcing his eyes to meet mine. At the moment they were a rich honey colour that made my heart melt with their beauty.
"I can tell something's up," I pressed. "What is it? Maybe I can help." He shook his head, clearly not believing that I could fix whatever was bothering him. Frustration boiled up
inside of me, but I forced myself to keep a level head.
"Talk to me," I whispered, half pleading with him. As his soul mate, it was my duty to be there for him, and I wanted to fulfil that duty more than anything else in the world. Before
I could do that though, I needed to get him to open up to me.
At my encouraging smile, whatever defences he'd had in place crumbled and I could fully see the lost look in his eyes. My heart fluttered in concern at seeing such an emotion
there. I'd seen a lot of different expressions cross Ash's face, and not all of them we
re pretty, but this type of unreal sadness had never made an appearance before.
"Have you ever heard the expression: if you truly love someone, you should let them go?" He whispered, his voice the most fragile I'd ever heard it. It took me a moment to find my voice after such an unexpected question. "Yeah." I didn't say anything more, knowing it was important for him to continue in his own time.
"Do you believe in it?" As he spoke, his eyes found mine, and they were filled with love and secrets and something else I couldn't quite place. I couldn't explain the feeling that
began to stir in my core, something like fear, but also sadness and wariness. It was the feeling you got when you were approaching something dangerous, and you know you
shouldn't go near it, but you also can't help yourself.
I gulped back the uneasy feeling, nodding my head slowly. "I believe that if the love you feel for someone is real, then you would want them to be free. No matter the cost to
yourself."
He was silent for a long time after that, and I was left to stare at his profile, wanting more than anything to know what was going through his mind. I could tell from the turmoil I
saw across the plains of his face that he was at war. His jaw was clenched, but his eyes had a glassy sheen to them that warned me of the shadow of tears there. And that, more
than anything else, was what scared me, because Ash didn't cry. Ever.
I carefully brushed my fingertips along the back of his hand, before entwining my fingers with his. It amazed me how despite the callouses he'd gained from all of the fights he'd
been in, his skin was still soft. But maybe that described Ash perfectly. His experiences had hardened him, leaving him rough and maybe a little damaged, but even after everything
he'd been through, after everything he'd done, he was still gentle, caring, loving, soft to the touch.
The contact broke whatever trance he'd been in as his eyes were drawn to where our hands connected. For just a second he closed his eyes as if in physical pain, before pulling our
joined hands up to his face. I felt him press a gentle kiss to the back of my hand, making my heart flutter, just as it always had at the touch of his lips.
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