Charmed into Darkness

five

"Anyway, tell me how you're feeling." Cathy started as she glanced at Dani, who huffed and leaned against a wall.

"I guess I'm getting better, but it's still hard to let it go." She took a huge gulp of her drink, and sighed once again. "Sometimes I'd just blank out and stare at the wall for hours, and I didn't even realized, you know." Cathy nodded her head, understanding the challenges her cousin faced as Dani rubbed her face tiredly. "The only reason I'm here is, because I know I needed to get out there, to be around people. Can't get myself spiraling down into bad thoughts." Dani glanced at Cathy, who was listening intently with a slight pout on her lips. "Damn psychology, am I right?" Dani joked, lightening the mood with a touch of humor.

Cathy chuckled softly, "Well, at least it helps you to be self-aware. I mean, you should try anthropology. The articles I have read can be really disturbing. It's like this dark rabbit hole of human behavior. I mean, sure, it's fascinating to study different cultures, but then you come across stuff like cults and their supremacist traditions, and it's like staring into the abyss, you know? Sometimes it puts my mind in this dark place, almost in a psychopathic way." Cathy shared as she took another sip nonchalantly.

Dani raised an eyebrow at her cousin, "Oh, so you weren't already fantasizing about fucked up things before you took this path?" Cathy stuck her tongue out at Dani, though a smile lingered her lips afterwards. "It's okay, we're both crazy. There's a reason why anthropology and psychology alligns with our interest, we're fucked in the head." She joked, this time they both couldn't help but cackled like witches.

"Imagine if I took a course in criminology." Cathy snickered.

"You'd be having sex with criminals, for god's sake." Dani shake her head, wiping her laughing tears away. Cathy couldn't help but chuckled at the truth behind her cousin's words. She truly is fucked up in the head. "At least you have a good guy to tame you now." Dani nudged Cathy teasingly, which made her blush, knowing Pelle would never ever tame her, he doesn't plan to. Not when he's also wild and crazy in his own way.

Cathy cleared her throat, "Oh, speaking of my good guy..." Cathy motioned Dani to look at the direction her finger was pointing, where Pelle was staring at Cathy with that adorable smile of his, though Cathy couldn't help but noticed the dark looks in his eyes. Cathy bit her lip and glanced back at Dani, who were playfully rolling her eyes at the couple's sweetness. "Well, what about you?" Cathy started carefully. "How's your relationship with Christian?"

Dani immediately looked away, but made eye contact once again after a few seconds. A tired fake smile marred her lips, "We're doing okay." Cathy gave her a look which made Dani sighed out loud. "I don't know, I feel like a huge burden to him. There's no chemistry anymore, Cathy." Frustrations lingered in her words. "Like I said those months ago, what if I leaned too much on him?" Dani sighed.

Cathy grabbed Dani's hand, "and like I said those months ago, he's your boyfriend, Dani. He's supposed to let you lean on him for support." Cathy murmured before sighing in defeat, "Did you talk it out with him?" Dani shook her head, looking guilty. "Sometimes the only solution is talk to each other, seek your relationship in a different light." Dani kept quiet, eyes well with tears as she stare at her cousin. "You deserve so much, Dani. I just wanna see you happy again." Cathy pouted as she squeezed her cousin's hand before letting go.

Dani wiped away a stray tear and managed a weak smile. "Thanks, Cathy," she murmured, her voice tinged with gratitude.

"Anytime, Dani. You know I got your back." Cathy returned the smile, giving her cousin a warm tight hug. "Though I won't be there for you in two weeks, but I'll be sure to text you more often and send you pictures! Wait, I kinda forgot to ask Pelle if there's signal there. It's fine, I'll just send you as soon as I get a si—" Cathy paused the moment she saw Dani's confused expression. Cathy's smile immediately disappeared, "You don't know." Cathy whispered in disbelief.