Affinity

Chapter 25: Redirection

Nastia woke up in the back room at Headlight with black specks dancing in her vision. Her eyes burned with salty tears that now soaked her pillow and stung her cheek. The vampire's assault had left her with what could only be defined as a migraine from Hell. In her haste to get out of bed, she fell onto the floor with the sheets tangled around her legs.

"AJ?" Hoarsely, she spoke her first and only thought out loud, but there was no one in the room with her, not even Pam. She stumbled to the door but stilled when she heard raised voices in the training room.

"Why are you leaving?" Ivy shouted. "You just got back. You said you would be here at least till the end of the year!"

"Plans change. They know I am here, which puts all of you in danger," Ethan said.

"Take us with you."

"No, it's too dangerous and AJ is hurt, in case you haven't noticed."

"AJ will heal up in no time. What happened to not hunting alone?"

"This is different."

"The others can stay, but you need someone to watch your back. AJ and I are ready. We're not kids anymore. You want us to be normal teenagers, but we're not, and I never asked to be. Help me out here, AJ."

There was an audible silence from AJ before Ethan said in a soothing tone, "Ivy, one day you will understand that I am doing this for you, both of you. This life can consume you. I can't stop you from making it your own, but there is no need to rush into this. Enjoy what you have right now. Revenge won't make you happy. It can and will make you careless. You need to let go..."

"Let go?" Her voice broke. "She is still out there! You said you would help me---"

"I'm sorry, Ivy. I have to go. We will talk more when I get back."

"When will that be?"

"When it is safe to come back. In the meantime, AJ?" Ethan trailed off.

"Yeah, I'll tell them," AJ simply said. There was more said in an unspoken communication between the three of them before Nastia heard Ethan's receding footsteps travel up the staircase. A moment of silence elapsed before the repeated dull thud of the punching bag's grunts was heard. "Ivy... please don't be mad."

"Where the hell were you, AJ? Better yet, where the hell have you been?" The hunter demanded tightly in between staggering breaths.

"I'm right here..." he said softly, even. There was something in his statement that acknowledged that he knew this wasn't entirely truthful, a quiet apology beneath his words that did not beg forgiveness.

"No... you're not. Just a few months ago, we were on the same page. But now? You said when Ethan came back that you would help me convince him that we were ready to go with him. You said you had my back--"

"I do have your back---"

"But it's like everything changed after you brought her here--"

"Come on, Ivy, I thought we were past this."

"No, you were past it! God! You are so back and forth. It's not fair to me or yourself. You just can't have it both ways, AJ."

"What do you want me to say? You said you wanted to stay friends, then you said you couldn't be just my friend. So now what is the verdict, Ivy? Huh? I've said I'm sorry, but that's not enough either."

"Don't act like I am the one who is making things complicated. You're the one changing your mind about everything. Everything you said and we did... it's like that person is gone. What do you want now, AJ? You want to stick around? Stay in Portland and finish high school? Why? Because of her?"