He jumped and looked down at her briefly, giving a vacant smile, "No one you need to worry about, sweetie. I want you to promise me something, Ivy."
She eyed him skeptically, "What?"
"Promise that you won't go out into the woods alone. At least take someone with you, okay? I just want you to be safe. The demons can't be trusted right now, okay? Please, baby."
"Yes, daddy," Ivy agreed, knowing it would be pointless to argue with him. He would simply ground her, just to 'keep her safe'.
"What was the boy's name?" Raine asked absently.
"Uh, he said his name was Zeke," Ivy supplied. "Daddy-"
Raine leaned down and kissed her on the forehead, "Thank you, sweetie." He turned and walked briskly out of the room, calling for Finn, Fletcher, Paxton and Jed to join him in the meeting room they had finally set up.
Ivy watched him walk away with mingled irritation and frustration. He never told her anything, just expected her to stay safe. Growling, Ivy slammed her door shut, but realized she didn't feel any better. She was worried about Zeke and what her daddy would do to him. Even though she was angry with him, she didn't want him hurt; she just wanted to be left alone.
"You're never alone," Zeke's voice whispered softly in her mind. Ivy froze in place and moved her eyes slowly, looking for any sign of Zeke. "I'm not in the room, little girl," he chuckled.
"Then how can I hear your voice?" she hissed angrily.
"Look at your wrist, little girl," he teased.
"Stop calling me that!" Ivy said angrily. She was tired of being made fun of and teased by everyone and she certainly didn't need some arrogant stranger adding to the mix. She glanced down at her left wrist and didn't see anything so she scoffed and looked at her other, just for good measure, and nearly screamed. "Oh my god, what have you don't to me?" she asked shakily, holding her wrist away from her body like it was going to come to life and attack her. "What did you do to me?"
"Relax," Zeke said casually. "I just marked you so that I can find you whenever I need to. It's how I can talk in your head. Anyways, I won't be bothering you until you're eighteen, cupcake, so don't freak out too much." He laughed softly and his voice seemed to fade as he said, "See you in two years."
Ivy released a ragged breath and glanced at her right wrist again, scared to see if the mark was still there. "Daddy!" she called out shakily, not sure how to handle the situation. "DADDY!" she screamed louder, hysteria setting in. Ivy threw open her bedroom door and raced throughout the mansion, trying to find her dad's scent. "DADDY!" she cried again, hearing his muffled curse a floor below. She scrambled down the stairs, listening for his thundering steps.
"Ivy?" she heard Raine call out frantically. "What is it baby?" He met her halfway up the steps and pulled her into his arms in a comforting embrace. Raine wiped the tears off her face and stared intensely at her. "Ivy, sweetheart, what's wrong?" A thousand different scenarios were running through his head when he heard Ivy cry out for him. He was on edge because of the demon and because of the recent threats to his family.
"L-look," she wailed, holding out her arm to him. "Make it go away, please!"
Raine gave her a worried look before glancing down at the arm she had thrust out. "Oh gods," he choked. He blinked a couple times, hoping it would go away, but the black X stayed there, just like it had on Noelle.
"Raine, Ivy, what's going on?" Noelle asked worriedly, making her way up the stairs. She saw the mark on Ivy's wrist and sucked in a quick breath. "Oh no, not again," she whispered.
KHC Sequel [Chapter 5]
Start from the beginning
