When I woke up, I had no idea where I was. I blinked, rubbing my eyes and sitting up. When I looked around I realised I was home. I was at the Witch Castle. In my room. I fell back onto my bed, snuggling with the sheets.
Oh you, pretties. I missed you. I missed you so.
Then, when my body decided to relax, my mind spewed the memories that had escaped my mind for a few blissful hours.
I sobered up immediately, sat up and pushed my hair back. I took a deep breath and realised I still needed to get some ish to be done.
First being, that I needed to get a hair tie. So I walked towards my dresser and opened a small case and pulled out my favourite black faithful tie that never came apart from being pulled so tight around my hair. Placing the tie between my teeth, I ran a brush through my hair, then separated the brown strands into three and started plaiting it.
Oh to have the luxury to do my damn hair. I've missed this.
"Of everything, this is what you missed?" A voice said from behind me.
I jumped up three feet in the air, letting out a yelp. I whipped around and glared at Kiel.
"Excuse me, but you're not the one who has hair to your waist and could star in Rapunzel." I growled, turning to give him my back again. No one messes with my hair-time.
He came and wrapped his arms around me, pressing his chin to the top of my head. I grunted and wiggled to pull my hair in the front and continued to plait it.
God, this is never ending.
"Rapunzel, Rapunzel throw down your hair," Kiel murmured.
Realising I'd dropped the hair tie, I wiggled against Kiel to push him back and look for the damn thing.
I kneeled down, the fingers of one hand wrapped around the bottom of my plait to keep it secure temporarily.
Cursing when I realised I'd probably kicked the hair tie underneath the small gap between the dresser and the floor, I placed my face on the carpet and tried to look underneath.
"Not that I'm complaining, because the view is great. But what are you doing?" Kiel asked.
Squinting with one eye to try to see if the tie was there or not, I replied.
"You scared me so I dropped the tie. I don't know if-"
The dresser lifted off the floor and I let out a triumphant whoop and swiped the tie off the floor.
Wrapping it around my hair as Kiel placed the dresser back carefully, I stood up.
He raised his eyebrows at me as if to say 'What do you say?'
I rolled my eyes, "Thanks," I said, tossing my plait over my shoulder and finally being free of hair on the back of my neck.
My neck weeped tears of gratitude.
He smirked at me, his lips raising in a crooked smile, before pushing his hair back off his forehead.
The strands had grown again, so they came back to fall over his forehead, blocking the sight of his perfect piercing.
"You need a hair cut," I mused.
He smirked at me, stepping forward to press his forehead to mine.
"It's over." He whispered.
I shut my eyes in relief. Yes. It was over.
But...
He seemed to pick up my train of thought, because he leaned back.
"I have to tell you something. But before that, you have to see a few people."
I nodded my head. "My aunt." I said.
He grinned and his eyes flashed for a second in gold. My jaw dropped.
"Kiel, your eyes..." I whispered.
Kiel blinked, before he realised what I was talking about.
"It's part of what I have to tell you." He said, seeming excited. I threw him a dubious look, but couldn't stop the smile that took over my face.
He held his hand out, "Come with me." He said.
Always, I thought.
He took my hand then twirled me around like we were dancing, turning me to face the door and he walked us out.
When I started to walk towards my aunt's room, Kiel held fast and shook his head, jerking his chin to the direction he wanted us to go.
"You don't want to go there," He said, a small frown on his face.
I thought back to the time I had projected and seen my aunt...surrounded by dark magic. Magic that had bled through the reality of the room and affected me in spirit form.
I shuddered a little, and Kiel threw me a sidelong glance in question.
I swallowed and told him what I'd seen, and watched as his eyes took on a faraway look and realised he was watching the scene happen in my memories.
Kiel nodded slowly, "She was trying to break out of Malcolm's hold on her. She was finally free after we won the battle."
I thought about it and mused, "Like how I got my powers once we were really far away from him."
Kiel nodded, throwing me a grin.
He then stopped in front of a room and opened the door. I was immediately enveloped in a hug from Derek.
"You sleep way too long," Derek grumbled before pulling away and letting Jet hug me.
I chuckled as Jet said, "We had to stop him from waking you up like five times."
"Why'd you want to wake me up?" I asked, cocking my head at Derek, who looked like he was ready to jump out of his skin.
But my eyes moved away from him and fell on the figure lying on the bed. I sucked in a breath as I saw my aunt, gaunt and weak looking with her eyes closed on a bed. I could practically hear my heart break as I sped towards her.
"Aunt Glinda?" I whispered, running my hands over her sunken cheeks, pushing away tangled grey strands of hair.
"We found her this way and moved her here. Some of the other Witches here took care of her clothing and bathed her. They said that she was in something like a magic induced coma." Kiel murmured, having come to stand behind me, his hands on my waist.
I pressed my eyes closed.
"Magic induced coma?" I whispered, having not liked the sound of it as soon as I heard it.
"She used too much of..." Kiel trailed off, unsure what to say.
"Bad magic?" I asked, my voice catching on the word. She'd paid a price for it.
Kiel was silent and I took his silence as an answer. I was right.
This was my fault.
"No," three voices said.
I turned to glare at them.
"Can all three of you read my mind now?" I grumbled.
Jet and Derek shook their heads and Derek said, "Nah. Your face is just easy to read."
I muttered rude things under my breath while Jet and Derek sniggered. I threw them a dark look over my shoulder, taking my aunt's limp hand in mine.
I squeezed her hand, hoping she'd wake up now. And give me her disappointed look and tell me I shouldn't have left like that. Something. Anything.
"She's getting better," Kiel promised.
"How'd you know?" I whispered.
"The other Witches are treating her," he started.
"Yeah, they brought the whole forest in here. Leaves and twigs and trees. I thought I'd see a centaur next." Derek muttered.
I heard a thump and Derek yelp.
Kiel and I ignored them.
"Her colour is returning." Kiel promised me.
I couldn't see it, but I trusted Kiel. He wouldn't lie to me.
I sat with my aunt like that for sometime. Whispering to her about everything that happened. I told her about Kiel, about Derek, about Jet, about my father, about Dominic.
I told her how much I loved Kiel. How much he meant to me.
At some point all three guys left the room to give us some privacy.
Pushing away the tears that had collected in my eyes, I pushed to my feet.
"You will get better." I told her.
Then, I left.
There was still two other people I needed to meet.
I walked out and found Kiel leaning against the wall opposite to the door I'd exited from, his eyes soft like he knew what I was going to ask.
"Where's Dominic?" I asked.
Kiel took me to another room, which when I opened was absolutely charred black. Curtains and bedspreads ripped and burnt. Carpet black.
Kiel's eye brows raised along with mine. I saw Dominic standing in front of the window, his palms fisted and shirtless.
Whoa. What happened here?
Dominic turned to look at me, his eyes darker than usual.
"She left." He said.
I had a pretty good idea who he was talking about.
I walked towards him, ignoring Kiel's silent warning in my head to stay away.
"Why?" I asked.
Dominic turned back to face the window as I came to stand beside him. His jaw looked like it was carved from steel.
"She left." He repeated.
"So, get her back." I said, shrugging.
He looked at me, his face blank. He blinked twice and then said, "Okay."
He turned into a tornado then, pulling on a shirt, opening a cupboard, pulling out a bag and stuffing something from the cup board inside.
"Dominic," I said as he slammed the cup board shut.
He looked at me.
I jerked my head in Kiel's direction, "Thank you." I said. For saving his life, I didn't add.
Dominic's eyes flitted to Kiel and back to me.
"Didn't do it for you," he said going back to leaving.
"Doesn't change anything." I said back.
He opened the door to leave when he turned back to look at us, a confused look crossing his face.
"What's her name?" He asked.
"Kathleen." Kiel said to Dominic.
"Kathleen," Dominic whispered, his eyes lightening. He turned to leave again.
"Hey, Dom?" Kiel called.
Dominic looked back surprised. At the shortened form of his name? Or that Kiel had called him? I didn't know.
Kiel gave him a slow nod.
Dominic grinned back, "You owe me."
Kiel smirked, "When you meet Katie, later on you'll realise you owe me."
Dominic glared at Kiel before slamming the door shut.
"Always such a pleasant guy to be around." Kiel said.
I turned to look at Kiel, cocking my head.
"Why does he owe you?"
Kiel grinned, then lifted his hand and showed me his palm. A small white scar lingered on the centre of his palm.
"Wha..?" I asked, taking his hand in mine and tracing the scar.
"The blood oath has been broken." He stated.
My eyes widened.
His connection to Kathleen. Over. Broken.
My spirits soared to new heights. My breath caught.
"Your mother..?"
"She's fine. She woke up. All three of us have this on our hands from breaking the oath."
Was that why Katie had left?
I was immediately filled with guilt.
Kiel shook his head.
"She left because she realised I wasn't the one for her. She needed time and space to clear her head."
That I could understand.
Then something hit me.
He was mine. Totally. Completely.
I was always yours.
I beamed at him, throwing my arms around him.
"I love you," I whispered in his ear.
"I love you too." He murmured back. His arms were on my hips and mine around his neck.
"One more person to meet," I whispered.
Kiel let out a sigh, "Yes."
He led me to the third and final room and I pressed my lips together.
"I'll wait here." He said.
I nodded and entered the room.
I met gold eyes of guilt as soon as I entered.
I walked forward and leaned against the wall and waited for her to speak first.
"I'm sorry," she said, tears leaking out of her eyes as she swiped at them.
"I didn't know what to do." She said.
"Why didn't you ever talk to me, Gina?" I asked her.
She winced and looked away, "Because everything was perfect for you. You had a mate who adored you, friends who adored you, an aunt who adored you. And what did I have?" She asked.
"You had me." I said softly.
She cringed at the past tense.
"And my friends were yours too." I told her.
"What are you going to do to me now? Kill me?" She asked.
I threw her a small smile even though her words hurt me.
"You never knew me at all did you Gina?" I asked.
Confusion and doubt filled her eyes.
"You saved us by saying that my aunt had bugged my phone. That's why we left the Sea House. Or we'd have been caught that very day." I said.
She swallowed, "It was the least I could do."
I nodded, straightening.
"You did betray us," I stated and more tears spilled from her eyes, so I softened my tone, "But we won't kill you. Both you and your baby are safe." I stated.
She got off the bed and walked towards me, grateful sobs wrecking her body, but I stepped back.
"You may live here and your child will be loved. That's all we can give you." I said.
Her face crumpled as she understood that it was over between us in terms of friendship.
I let a tear spill for the years of friendship I'd lost because of a few bad decisions.
"I'm sorry." She said again.
"I know," I said softly, "That's why we'll keep you safe."
She gave me a slippery smile but it fell when my expression hardened.
"But if it happens again-" I started but Gina shook her head vigorously.
"It won't. I wouldn't-" she started but stopped because it did and she would.
I stepped out of her room and curled my fingers around Kiel's hand.
He smiled at me, a touch of sadness lingering in his eyes for my loss.
"I'm proud of you." He said.
I did what I usually do, tried to make a joke about it.
"Hell, me too."
"And me." A voice said.
I turned to look at my father. I smiled at him, walking towards him and hugging him, instinctively.
"Thank you," I said, when he threw me a questioning look as I pulled back from the hug, I continued "For helping us be together."
He smiled at me softly.
"Your mom and I couldn't be together. I would like to think you guys will live our lives for us by being with each other."
I smiled at him, despite the happy pain in my heart.
"So it was for selfish reasons then?" I joked.
"Oh totally." Lazarus said. My dad said.
"Now go, spend some time with your mate. I believe he has much to tell you." My father said.
I gave Lazarus another hug before turned to Kiel.
Kiel jerked his head towards the exit.
"Let's go." He said.
We let our arms swing between us as we walked out of the Witch Castle.
"So what do you think your aunt's going to do once she wakes up?" Kiel asked, looking at me.
I snorted, "What do you think your parents are going to do once we go to them and tell them we want an Us and would fight for it?"
"Kick our asses. But give in." He said.
I grinned, "Wish they'd done that in the beginning."
Kiel had a thoughtful look on his face.
"I think they may have if they'd had the time. Malcolm and Will threw a spanner in that."
I grinned at that.
"Yeah. I think they would've have." I agreed.
"So, guess who is part Witch now?" Kiel asked.
"Who?" I asked, confused.
Kiel turned to grin at me and my jaw dropped.
"What?" What?
"Dominic performed an old ritual referred to as Magic Transfer."
"Magic who-now?" I asked, confused.
Kiel turned, pressing a finger to my lips to shush me. I scowled at him but shit up.
"It's exactly what it sounds like. He shared with me the energy that keeps him alive. His magic. Which means not only did that magic help boost my system to heal me, it also enabled me to basically do everything he can. He was knocked out because he needed to renew he magic he'd transferred to me."
Whoa.
"He did that for you?" I asked surprised, because it seemed like a big deal.
"No. He did that for Katie." Kiel said, a small smirk lifting his lips.
I then remembered Dominic asked Katie if she'd wanted Kiel to live.
I grumbled, "I totally wanted you to live too."
Kiel smiled softly, and we continued walking.
"What do you think is up with them?" I asked.
Kiel shrugged, "Don't know."
We were silent for sometime, our hands swinging between us.
"So what did I do that had all the Witches falling?" I asked.
Kiel snapped his fingers, "Yes. Lazarus was talking about that. He called it Spirit Energy."
"Does everything have a name?" I grumbled.
Kiel laughed, "He said only Astral Projectors who can control their powers can do it. So it was considered a myth for awhile as no one could control their abilities. Spirit Energy refers to when you're in Spirit form and you touch the Spirit of someone who is in their Body form. It shocks their Body because it's something of an overload of energy to the body that can't handle more than one Spirit's energy at a time."
My mind slowly processed all this.
"The reason you passed out was because to everyone you touched, you passed a little energy and were left with very little of your own in the end."
I made a noise of understanding.
"I didn't even know what I was doing." I admitted.
"Now, you can learn. Because your powers are in your control." He said, grinning.
I laughed. "You sound excited."
He threw me a look that said, 'Duh.'
"I slept a Vamp and woke up part Witch." He said, proud.
"Which basically means I'm like you." He said, proudly.
"Except you drink blood." I said drily.
"You don't know what you're missing," he said and I scrunched my nose at him and he laughed.
After some more silence I said, angrily, "You were an idiot to jump in front of the bullet."
"You would've died if I hadn't."
"You almost did!" I said.
He rubbed a finger against my nose.
"Yes, but I didn't," he said.
I rolled my eyes. "That's because we knew the Golden Boy."
"I'm practically the Golden Boy." Kiel said, throwing me a haughty look.
I cracked up.
"No you're not."
"Wanna bet?" He asked and I frowned.
"What?"
"I still have a promise to keep." He said.
"What promise?" I asked.
"Take a deep breath."
I did.
I felt like I was being pulled and there wasn't anything under my feet. My hand clung tightly to Kiel's, unsure what the hell was happening.
When the floor appeared under my feet, I stumbled into Kiel.
"What the hell?" I whispered.
"Did you just teleport?" I whisper-yelled.
He grinned at me, proud.
"How..?" I asked. He didn't even look winded.
He pulled out the hand he had in his pocket and showed me a y'vi.
I huffed realising he could do everything I could.
"What you can say spells now too?" I asked.
Kiel grinned, "Oh yeah."
I muttered and grumbled until I turned around. Then my jaw dropped.
Oh my God.
"Happy birthday, sweetheart." He whispered in my ear.
"It's not my birthday yet." I said.
"I'm catching up for the last eighteen years." He said, wrapping his arms around my waist.
"It's totally working." I whispered, my eyes still glued to what was in front of me.
I couldn't believe this.
"Let's go," he said, taking hold of my hand and dragging me head first into the best thing in the world.
Disney Land.
****
The End
----------------------------------
Annnnnnnd it's over. :)
I hope you guys enjoyed BTAV as much as I enjoyed. We're there typos? Probably. Meh.
Kiel and Kiera love you.
So does Derek. ❤️
*I* love you.
Thank you for your patience. And love. And votes. And comments. :3
Thank you, thank you, thank you!
The song is Fearless by Taylor Swift. :3