Chosen

Chapter Twenty-One: Athena

I was really angry at Julian: why couldn't he see what was right in front of him? But it wasn't like him at all, putting any girl before his family and close friends. Didn't he care anymore?

What if it was my fault? What if I had pushed him away...what if the kiss with Scarlett had been the final straw? Maybe he really didn't care anymore, or was trying not to care, throwing his heart to the first person he found?

Or...

Addi was an evil person. She bit Scarlett, turned her into a monster - no, I refused to think of Scarlett as a monster - a vampire, no doubt; surely she would go through great lengths to kill Scarlett, and that included...

Either Addi was possessing Julian, or she was hypnotizing him.

We had to get rid of her.

But doing so may break Julian...or break the spell from him, so he could see who Addi really was.

That night, I decided, I would kill Addi, even if it made me pass out for a while. I didn't care, as long as Julian and Scarlett were safe.

Speaking of Scarlett.

She has locked the door to her room and wouldn't come out, and wouldn't even let me in. You could hear muffled sobs if you listened hard enough from the door. I wanted really badly to unlock the door with magic and comfort her, but I wanted to give her space. Because I knew she had probably overheard us.

She thinks she's a monster, and it's my fault.

I walked through the dark corridors, all of the curtains closed so it was dark as night. I didn't know exactly what happened when vampires were in sunlight, but it was probably really bad.

"Scarlett," I said, knocking on her door. "Scarlett, let me in. Please. I can't bear to see you hurt like this..."

A choked sob was the only response I got.

"Scarlett, I'm going to come in now..."

All of a sudden, the door unlocked, opened, and I got pulled in while the door shut behind me, impossibly quick. I was stuck in an embrace, Scarlett crying on my shoulder.

"Shh, Scarlett, love, it is okay...you will be okay...I promise."

"I'm a monster. Not only am I one now, I was one before. There are - there are demons inside me, I think...I heard the demons...they wanted to take over my body, I think..." Scarlett sobbed some more.

"Hey," I said, frowning. "You're not a monster...having demons in you, or being birthed from a demon...it doesn't make you bad. I..." I sighed. "Warlocks are born from a human mother and a demon father, or vice versa, but usually demon fathers. That's why they...look different than humans. My eyes are a result of my demon father. My magic, as well. And I...I'm not bad, right?"

"N-no...but obviously I wasn't a  warlock, so I was - am - probably something worse..."

"Scarlett. You are a very very good person. Having your demons doesn't make you bad. Not being able to control your demons doesn't make you bad, either. You can't be blamed for something that is out of your control...okay?"

Scarlett nodded solemnly.

"I love you, Scarlett."

"I-" Scarlett sighed, a smile tugging at her lips. Her face was turning red. "I love you...too." She kissed my cheek and rested her head on my shoulder. "Thank you."

I nodded. I wanted to keep her happy, to kiss her, anything but this.

"We need to make a plan about Addi," I said.

A red tint came to Scarlett's eyes as she pulled away. Her voice came out as a half-growl.

"We need to kill her."

"That's what I was thinking. When Julian goes out tonight. He should come back, and the spell would be broken-"

"What spell?" Scarlett asked, raising an eyebrow.

"I think that she had Julian under some sort of spell, for her to have done this to you and him still not believe it was her."

Scarlett's eyes widened. "Oh! Yes, of course..."

"She could even be extracting information from his brain. I think she wants to kill you."

"Why..? Why would she..." Them Scarlett's face fell. "Oh. Oh, of course, I should have known..."

"Your parents?" I whispered.

Her face hardened. "Yes. They sent her to kill me. I won't. I won't die, I won't let them have the satisfaction of hurting me. We have to...I have to run away. After the Competitions. All we really need to do is survive, then I can run away."

"Alone? By yourself? I won't allow it," I said. "I love you, I'm not going to let you-"

"I'm not going to endanger you like that," Scarlett said sadly. "I can't. And if you go with me, you will be targeted, and..." she shook her head. "And besides, I'm a vampire now. I don't want to...to kill you on accident."

"Scarlett! Shh. Shh. We might be overheard," I whispered in her ear. "Cameras."

Even though we were talking quietly, hardly audible, I couldn't risk her parents finding out her plans. I kissed her lightly on the lips.

"Now, shall we go eat dinner?"

Scarlett smiled sadly. "Yes. Um...please don't cook mine much. Maybe if I eat the animals, it'll...yeah, maybe it'll quench my hunger, or thirst, or whatever."

I smiled. "Of course. Let's go." 

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Julian left at midnight. I waited half an hour in Scarlett's room with her, to make sure he was gone, and then Scarlett and I grabbed our weapons of choice: Scarlett, a dagger with elaborate decorations and a diamond in the bottom, wrapped with silver, and I my glowing hands. We slowly walked down the moon-lit corridors, the moonlight making Scarlett's ghostly white skin appear as if it was glowing. Her eyes were tinged red, something that I assumed happened when she was angry. I didn't blame her.

We crept to the room silently. I knew exactly which room Addi was in, as I made sure it was close to Scarlett's and my room, and had a broken lock. The wooden door was rotted, and a little bit stuck, but I blasted the door open with magic.

Aside from a few protesting squeaks from mice, there was no sound.

The room was empty.

Addi was gone.