Rot & Romance (Rewriting)

Chapter 79

Lainey placed a hand over Benjamin's.

"At least there was a silver lining to everything that happened that unfortunate night. I don't know if you believe in anything like fate, but maybe it was fate that you left home."

Benjamin looked at her.

"Being born in my time . . . after everything that has happened to me to lead me here . . . and being here with you today . . . there's no way I can deny fate."

At that moment, Lainey was sure she was ready to welcome love back into her life. She had given up on love because love had given up on her.

Benjamin was not only standing at her heart's doorway, he was forcing his way inside.

He narrowed his eyes at her.

"Everything alright?"

"Yeah, why do you ask?" Lainey breathed.

"Your heartbeat just accelerated. And not just a little bit. There was a significant--"

"I'm fine, I'm just . . ."

"Just . . . ?"

"Maybe I'll tell you later," she said, opening her bottle of water. She drank about half the bottle before standing. "Think I'm good now. Let's go."

Benjamin stood as well. Taking her hand into his, they continued on their way.

* * *

Vivienne stepped into Clara's home, immediately knowing her magic wouldn't work inside.

And just as fast, she knew why.

"Please, just leave me alone," Clara begged. "I don't want anything to do with witch business."

"Too bad," Vivienne said, making her way past Clara and into her kitchen.

"Wh-What are you doing?" Clara stammered.

"These are really nice plants," Vivienne said, running her fingers through the flowers in the vase on her kitchen counter. "Rare, though, that people keep plants like these indoors." Vivienne turned to the shivering Clara. "Unless they're trying to disable a witch."

Clara whimpered.

"I don't want any problems."

"Well we won't have any if you'd cooperate," Vivienne cordially said as she made her way into Clara's living room to take a seat in an armchair. "Ball's in your court, hun," she added, taking a magazine from a coffee table.

"What do you want from me? You want me to call my niece and ask her to risk her life? Is that it?"

After a minute or two, Vivienne finally looked up and tossed the magazine onto the coffee table.

"I never understood our fascination with celebrities. Can you believe people are making a living off of detailing these people's lives? It's crazy . . . but that's neither here nor there."

"What do you want from me?" Clara asked again.

"You know, Fawn lied to her mother about where she went today. Told her she wanted to spend some time with her best friend in case the worst happens tomorrow. I decided to follow her because I didn't believe her, and fortunately I did."

"Get to the point."

"Fawn is a good person. In fact, I think she's too good for her own good. For her to lie to her mother, then attempt to use magic against you should show you the severity of our situation."

"It has nothing to do with me or my family."

Vivienne stood and slowly approached Clara.

"If this Taylor person is a witch, then it has everything to do with her. She can't run away from fate forever."

"I'll ask a third time," Clara said through clenched teeth, "what the hell do you want from me?"

"The truth," Vivienne softly replied. "Is your niece, Taylor, an elemental witch?"

It took a few moments but Clara finally nodded.

"There we go," piped Vivienne. "Now was that so hard?"

"You can see yourself out now," Clara whispered.

"Oh, no, hun, we're far from finished." Vivienne stood before Clara. "You see, I need to get in contact with Taylor so she can start fulfilling her duties as a witch. She has a lot of catching up to do."

"You're crossing the line now," Clara fiercely said.

"No, crossing the line would be me burning those fennel plants in your kitchen so that I could use magic. And I will do just that, then use my magic to get what I want from you anyway. I'm playing nice. But I'm not Fawn. I have a limit. I will get what I want from you the nice way or my way."

"Why are you doing this?" Clara pleaded. Her dog, Sophie, shared her owner's agony, whimpering by her feet. "You're far from what witches are supposed to be. Threatening me with magic? You're a psycho."

With those words, a flame ignited within Vivienne that hadn't been triggered in a very long time.

"I'm done playing nice!" Vivienne roared. "Being nice gets you nowhere--it never does!" Burning tears were now filling Vivienne's eyes as she made her way into Clara's kitchen before rummaging through cabinets and drawers before she found a box of matches. "What's about to happen to you is not my fault."

With those words, Vivienne struck the box with a single match and dropped it into the vase of fennel plants.

---

To be continued in Chapter 80...