Damned

Chapter Two

I woke up the next morning next to Dara, who was snoring. I rubbed at my eyes, trying to gauge if I could sleep for a little bit longer. Last night, I got home at about ten o'clock. Then, Dara and I watched at least four episodes of The Office before falling asleep. The whole night, I had nightmares about Trevor and the others.

It was difficult, but for the most part, I shooed them away.

Trevor plagued my mind. When I woke up I thought about him. Did he kill himself because of me? Or was he guilty for everything he had done prior? I wished I could ask him, but unfortunately, I couldn't. He was gone. There was no one to ask. 

I turned on the shower, trying to alleviate the pain protruding from my back. As I moved my neck side to side it popped and cracked. Sighing, I tried to convince myself that today was going to be okay. It was Friday, so the week was finally over.

Once I was out of the shower, I shrugged on a lace long sleeve. It wasn't quite a turtle neck but came up to the base of my neck. It billowed out from my waist and stopped a little below my hips. I wore black skinny jeans that had holes in the knees. I had black leather Creepers that squeaked when I walked. I put on a couple of silver chains and curled my red hair.

By this time, Dara had gone back to her room to get ready. I was eating breakfast, chatting with Gran when she joined us. Then, mom came downstairs, heading straight for the coffee. She wore a purple blouse with grey slacks. She was going someplace.

"Where are you going?" I asked her. Since she quit her job, she had been dressing casually. She held the coffee cup with both hands, slowly bringing it up to her lips.

She sighs, sets the cup down. 

"I am going to meet your father." From her curt tone, I can tell she isn't thrilled about it. I don't blame her. "It's nothing, but your father is trying to contend for custody of you two." She rubs her right temple. She's worried. Does he actually have a chance of taking us away from Salem? From our mom? From our friends?

"No way!" Dara yells, setting her spoon down.

"Do we have any say? I don't want to leave." I add, which softens moms expression. She was over the moon about Dara's dramatic change. We were all starting to feel like a family, getting super close and now, Chad was trying to ruin it.

Typical.

"For right now, he just wants to talk about it. He's marrying soon and wants the two of you to be apart of--

"His new family? Forget it!" It's me yelling. This is completely unfair. I won't go. Dara stirs next to me.

"He thinks it's safer for you guys to be up in New York with him," she trails off. There's no denying that since moving to Salem our lives have been in constant danger. Still, Chad didn't know about magic and all the wonderful things it came with. One of the downsides was the constant threat of death. 

Dara and I grew silent. We couldn't argue with that. 

"Let's not worry until we have to," Gran patted me on the back. She was right. Just because Chad wanted custody, didn't mean he was going to get it. I took a deep breath in, telling myself this over and over again. My heartbeat went back to normal.

"Thanks, Gran. I feel better." She smiled, her eyes swirling like orbs. 

"We should probably go to school," Dara slung her backpack over her shoulder. I never thought I would see the day where Dara was in a hurry to go to class. All of us stared at her. "What? I have homework to turn in." She added, only the tiniest bit defensive. We laughed, then said our goodbyes.