Enamored | ✓

12. Comfortable

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We woke up at the same place in the cramped living room of my home. Ted began to complain. "I can't do this anymore." he whined.

Angelo began to speak. His next words will soon haunt me the rest of my life. "Daemon will hunt each and every one of us in our dreams if we're not together. Wherever you are, he will get you, whatever you do, my brother is not someone you can get rid of easily."

As the dark mark Daemon gave me throbbed softly, I knew Angelo was right. Afraid to fall asleep again, Angelo went over the rules of the game that Daemon haven't told us to soothe our fears.

"This game is different. Usually, Daemon would grab your souls individually once you fall asleep. However, he's grabbing all of us; including me." Angelo muttered. "The Nether Realm's hold on me is weak, but it's still there."

"What do we do then? I'm too afraid to fall asleep." Ted muttered.

"That's exactly what you should do; sleep. However, be wary of the dreams you might have during your slumber. Daemon might alter them to the point they become a nightmare and he could use it against you."

The whole time Angelo was speaking, I was thinking to myself how Daemon decides who faces their nightmares. After thinking long and hard, I finally realized that the answer has been in front of me the whole time.

Cursing softly under my breath, I shared to my friends my findings. "Daemon decides who faces their nightmares the order we all ate the apples he gave us." I declared.

Angelo tilted his head questioning my logic but I continued, "It was Brittany who ate the apple first, and then it's Daniel." Turning my gaze to my friend I said, "if he's going in order, then Summer must be next."

I didn't know what to do. Sweet Summer began to sob softly. I didn't know tears where falling down my cheeks before Angelo walked next to me and pulled me to his embrace. Daemon's mark on my soul caused me to weaken when Angelo hugged me. Instead of pulling away from the pain that threatened to course through my body I pulled Angelo closer to me and sobbed on his chest.

When I finally pulled away from him I was exhausted that I stumbled and almost fell to the floor if it wasn't for Angelo's warm hold. My friends walked over to me worried before Angelo caressed my face and took the arm that bore Daemon's mark. Warmth spread throughout my body before my vision went dark pulling me into a dreamless slumber.

I woke up the next day exhilarated. Although deep in my heart I know that troubles that laid ahead. The mark that Daemon forced upon me was now mixed with golden ink. I stared at it for the longest time before Angelo pulled up to the street to pick me up from school. I was still confused about Daemon's motives but I realized that I must have strength in order for me and my friends to survive. Two friends down, three more to go.

"Do you like it?" Angelo asked me as we drove down the street to school.

"Like what?" I asked, confused.

"The mark I gave you." he answered.

The gold.

"What did you do? I don't feel like I'm suffocating whenever I'm near you anymore." 

"I should've done this earlier but when I saw Daemon's mark on you I gave you a rune to make you feel at ease when you're around me."

As I looked at the rune, it does made the somber mark look beautiful. And I don't know if I could keep my distance from Angelo anymore.

"Thank you," I smiled at him warmly. The reminder of Daemon's "love" remained but Angelo's rune replaced the symbol of the mark into something better.

As we pulled to the school's parking lot, Angelo got out of his seat and opened the car door for me. He offered his hand to me and I gladly took it, blushing when I realized students around us looked at me and Angelo in interest.

The heat of the sun blazed against the gray concrete of the parking lot giving the school a hellish heat. I didn't care because Angelo's next movements surprised me the most. He took my hand pulled me close to his side before we started walking. I yelped before relaxing against his strong side.

Although the heat of the weather was unbearable, I would be able to stand it knowing that Angelo is by my side. However, despite the heat of the weather and the stares of my classmates, there was a hot gaze that grazed my spine to the hairs of my neck giving me a foreboding feeling.

Angelo opened the large mahogany doors of the school for me as the cold wind of the air conditioner blew against my face, momentarily forgetting the foreboding feeling I had before. Angelo walked me to my locker and on the way there, Brittany choked on her Starbucks frappuccino when she saw us holding hands. Ted, Summer, and Daniel murmured to themselves "Finally."

And I couldn't agree with them more.

As I sat in Mythology class with Angelo and the rest of my friends, I couldn't help but feel uneasy with the topic we were about to learn.

"The story of Hades and Persephone," my teacher, Mr. Simons bellowed "was one of the most well known and popular story in Greek mythology."

"Tell me students," he continued, "do you justify Hades' decision to take Persephone from her world as right or wrong?" he ended his sentence while landing his gaze on me.

As half of the class raised their hands to answer the question, I couldn't help but remember Daemon, his offer, and the riddle he gave me to solve. It's surprising that I still remembered each word although I knew deep inside, it was because I love the sound of his voice.

"I am an involuntary force of nature;
I am the alpha and the omega of allure.
I am the mother of millions
and when taken by force, I can last for eons.
What am I?"

What was an involuntary force of nature? I ran a list in my head on anything that was an involuntary force of nature. Any ideas that came to mind didn't match the following lines of the riddle. I groaned in annoyance before a buzz in my front pocket took me away from my thoughts. Pulling out my phone, I read the text that I know will change my life forever.

Please don't forget to comment and vote!

Xoxo,

Angelique