Damned

Chapter One

 "You don't have to take me home," Dara told me for the third time. I looked down at her and then back at the party. It wasn't like I wanted to be here anyway. Well, that wasn't totally true. Of course, I wanted to be there, it was Mir's sixtieth birthday. The theme was "Pretty in Pink." Ivelyn had truly outdone herself this time.

There were pink balloons that curved in an archway, leading into her house. There were fruity pink drinks with cotton candy flavored vodka. There was a bubble machine that blew pink bubbles. There had been a strict dress code that everyone wore pink or they weren't invited in. That had meant a couple of us: Addie and I had to go to the store to buy something pink. I adjusted my dress. It felt weird wearing pink.

My dress was strapless and poofed out at the bottom. I had paired it with black tights and black shoes, to try and make it more comfortable. It hadn't worked. Although, I couldn't place all the blame for my discomfort on the dress. It was seeing Erik here. I hadn't realized how it affected me to see him. Obviously, Daniel hadn't been invited and even if he had I couldn't see him showing up here.

It had been five days since I made my decision. It had been five days since I broke Erik's heart by the lake. It had been the hardest decision. I never wanted to hurt Erik, but I couldn't lead him on. At the time, it had seemed like a better option to cut him loose. I had meant everything I had said, but that didn't erase my feelings for Erik. I think he knew that too. I hope he knows I didn't say those things to just hurt him.

When Dara and I first showed up at the party, Erik was the first person I saw. He wore a black button up with a pink tie. I'm pretty sure Addie had bought it and brought it with her, in case Ivelyn tried to kick him out per the lack of pink. Addie stuck close by him, not letting him out of her sight. Addie had taken the news the worst. She told me she was disappointed and that she might be hanging out with him more for a little bit.

It hurt.

It hurt a lot.

I felt like I lost them both and that was what I had tried to avoid. Neither of them seemed to see why I was so afraid of picking Erik. Everything I had feared had happened.

It wasn't all bad. Daniel and I were back together. I told him I wanted to take it slow, but that was impossible with us. Even when we first started dating things felt like we had done it all before. Turns out, we did. We had known each other in the 1600s, but we were known as Abigail and Matthew. Even back then, we had a complicated relationship. Thanks to Sarah Good, we now both knew this wasn't the first life we had been together.

That being said, it made taking it slow hard.

"No, it's fine I want to go anyways." I finally told her. She sighed next to me. We were quite a pair -- a pair of sad sisters.

I hadn't said goodbye to anyone, but that was okay. Lately, I felt like background noise. I think everyone was a bit confused about my choice and I didn't blame them. It had surprised me too. Gran had been the most surprised, but the most supportive. Although she told me she didn't support the idea of me with a Cursed One, she wasn't going to try and stop us. My mom had tried though, by banning him from the house, which didn't really do much. I was welcomed in his house.

His mom still didn't trust me or my family, but she trusted her son. She tolerated me. Still, it was more than my mom had offered with Daniel. He didn't seem to mind. When we first started dating, I had never stepped foot inside his house. Now, he was always texting me to come over. I think in these past five days, I had spent more time at his place than my own house. It was the progress I wanted.

Dara followed me to the car. She wore a mauve dress that trailed on the ground. It drug against the rain covered ground, but she didn't seem to care. I slung my arm over her shoulder, pulling her towards me.