King of My Heart

FORTY

"Why won't you heal these?" I complain to Jade as I stare at the hickies that have once again found their way onto my neck.

"Because I like having them," she retorts. I can almost hear the sass in her voice.

I groan as I make my way out of the bathroom and put on a pair of dark blue jeans and a black turtleneck sweater.

Liam had left before I woke up this morning. I have a vague memory of him telling me something around the lines of him missing out on work in order to hang out with me for the past few days and now needing to go early to catch up with everything. My brain was still too foggy to understand what was going and I just went back to sleep.

Today I visit the witches' house and after seeing how jealous Liam, Jason, and Amy were that I got to see it, I must say, I am very excited to be the first one to check it out.

A hot, delicious breakfast awaits me, thanks to Betty, and after eating, I set out for my day with the witches.

"Hello boys, we meet once again," I greet the two body guards, Jake and Freddy, who have been tasked with accompanying me wherever I go.

"Morning, Luna," they retort with a nod. I inform them of where I'm heading and we begin walking.

They've been around me for days now, and the most we have ever talked was when I asked for their names. They talk to each other sometimes and all I've managed to overhear so far is that Jake has a pregnant wife at home. Freddy seems like a fun guy, but even he refuses to make conversations.

"So have any of you guys ever seen the house," I ask them in an attempt to fill the uncomfortable silence.

"It's off limits for all of us. Only a few of the elders have seen it," Jake informs.

"I got so close to seeing it once," Freddy adds excitedly. "When I was around thirteen, I made it all the way through the woods. I was just about to walk through these tall bushes to see the house when I got caught," he finishes sadly.

"How'd you get so far, man?" Jake asks him, curiosity lacing his voice.

"They've enchanted the woods around the house. It's like a circle and you always end up where you started," he tells me.

"I followed a witch. I thought I was being real smart but she knew the whole time," Freddy answers.

I can't help but laugh at how sad he looks.

"Well, here we are," he clears his throat and announces.

I stare into the woods in front of us. If they are indeed enchanted, how am I supposed to go through them?

As if on cue, I spot Rayna walking towards us. She's wearing a yellow dress with a denim jacket and black military boots. Her blonde hair is braided into a bun and she has a bold, red lip complimenting her outfit. She waves enthusiastically as she nears us.

"Luna, I'm so glad you came," she yells.

"Hi, Rayna," I smile at her as she comes to a halt in front of us. "How'd you know we were here?"

"I'm a witch, remember?" She grins making me chuckle.

"This is Jake and that's Freddy," I introduce as I gesture towards them.

Rayna says hi to Jake and then walks over to Freddy who is standing a couple of feet away from us.

"Are you the Freddy that tried to sneak in that one time," she asks.

"Uh, yeah. How'd you know," he chuckles nervously as he rubs the back of his head with one hand.

"You're pretty famous around here. And not in a good way," she laughs making Freddy's cheeks turn a bright red.