I squeezed my eyes shut, swallowing hard as I pulled away a bit from Liam to pull off my turtleneck so I was only in my tank top. I dropped it beside me and let them see my bruises.
They all gasped, "Did Austin do that to you?" I heard Kayla asked, sounding like she was about to cry.
"No," I said, feeling tears prick my eyes, "Caleb did."
"Caleb?" Matt asked, his voice sharp. "He's dead."
"No, he's not," I whispered, curling into Liam's chest, "He's not alive but he's not dead," I said.
"I don't understand," Lena said, sounding astonished.
"When Austin killed Caleb, he only killed the body," I shook my head, "Not his soul."
"So what does that mean? If Caleb's like a spirit thing how could he do that to you?" Liam asked, and without even looking I knew he was frowning deeply as he tried to understand.
"He's in Austin," I whispered, shrinking even further into Jared's chest. I remembered Austin's words and shuddered.
He isn't in me, Carmen. He's a part of me.
"In Austin?" Matt asked, and I could hear the doubt in his voice.
I opened my eyes, struggling to see through my tear blurred vision, "He possessed him."
"Possessed?" Liam asked, "How's that even possible?"
"I don't know!" I snapped, then covered my face with my hands as I breathed deeply, trying to calm down, "I don't know," I repeated quietly. "But Caleb even said so himself, he changes bodies every few centuries."
"When did he tell you that? And why did he strangle you?" Matt asked.
"In the cave," I said curtly, refusing to revisit those memories for any longer than necessary.
"And strangling you?" Liam prodded.
I closed my eyes, "Two nights ago."
Gasps echoed around the room, "Why didn't you tell us?"
"I couldn't! I was too worried about Austin!" I cried, feeling tears start up again.
"Dammit, I told you it was dangerous, Carmen. You should have known Austin was going to hurt you eventually," Matt said and I opened my eyes to see him glaring at me.
"You don't understand," I whispered, "It wasn't Austin it was Caleb. It wasn't his fault; Austin would never hurt me."
"How can you be so sure of that? How do you know Austin isn't lying to you and telling you its Caleb when it's really him?" Matt protested.
"Because Matt! I smelt Caleb, I saw his eyes! Austin's eyes turned black when he strangled me; his scent was a mix of his and Caleb's!" I burst, feeling so annoyed that I just wanted to hit something hard.
Matt didn't seem any better; he was shaking so hard and had his eyes closed.
It took me a moment to figure out what was happening and when I did I leapt out of Liam's lap to sit in front of Matt. I grabbed his shoulders roughly.
"Look at me, Matt," I growled, "Look at me!" I repeated when he didn't.
He lifted his head, panting.
I inhaled deeply as I cupped his face with my hands, "I knew it was dangerous to be around him, but I wanted to help him after what he did for me. You can't change the past; what happened happened, okay?"
His face creased with pain, his fists curling around the comforter tightly.
"Matt, I'm fine. I swear I'm fine," I rubbed his cheek with my thumb, "Austin didn't have to tell me what happened; I saw it with my own eyes."
His eyes closed and he breathed deeply for a moment and I saw his body relax slowly.
"So what now?" Matt breathed, his eyes still closed.
"I don't know," I whispered, pulling away from Matt to pull my knees up to my chest. "I really don't know."
Everyone was quiet after that, until Liam tried making jokes to make us laugh. It took a while since none of us were really in the mood, but we finally did start laughing a little bit and everyone seemed to relax slightly after that.
When everyone left, I checked my phone. Most calls were from my pack and there was one from Alex
I would talk to Alex tomorrow so there was no need to call him back. So instead, I curled back under the covers and promised myself that tomorrow I'd make an effort and at least try to look happy for my pack. They didn't deserve to be stuck with me when I'm always acting so depressed.
And if I saw Austin...or Caleb...I'd just have to suck it up and try my best to ignore him.
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I UPDATED SORRY IT WAS LIKE THE SHORTEST CHAPTER YET XD
SO SHES GOING TO START IGNORING THE LOVE OF HER LIFE :0 OMG WHAT DO U GUYS THINK ABOUT THAT?! AND ILL UPDATE AGAIN LATER AT NIGHT :)) IT WILL BE LONG PROMISE!
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Chapter 15: Misery Loves Company
Start from the beginning
