Anger coursed through my veins as I sat opposite of the man who turned my life into a living nightmare. I clenched my fork tightly in my hand and kept my eyes on my plate. I didn't want to look at him, and struggled to keep the bile from rising in my throat.
Mom was telling him the recipe for her pot roast, and he just kept going on about how delicious everything was. It made me sick to my stomach.
I didn't understand how he could just sit at the dining table where Dad used to sit and act like he wasn't to blame for destroying our lives. It would be so easy to grab him by his collar and demand that he tell me where my father was, but I knew that would be impulsive.
Howard Pennington was bigger and stronger than I was, and I would never hear the end of it from Seth. Maybe if I was Mara, I could've been gutsy enough to stab him with my fork, but I knew I couldn't pull it off.
"Honey, you haven't touched your food at all," Mom said. "Are you still in pain from last night's accident?"
"I'm fine," I said, putting some salad in my mouth to appease her.
"Accident?" Lucy's father asked, like the scum of the earth that he was.
"My daughter is a little accident prone," Mom said, chuckling lightly while pouring more sparkling cider for him. "She had to go to the hospital to get stitches, so she's not feeling her best today."
"I'm fine, Mom."
Turning to me, she asked, "So do you know his daughter? Lucy, was it?"
"Yeah." Unfortunately.
"Oh, that's nice. Do you girls ever hang out?" Mom asked.
"We run in different circles," I said, glancing over at her father as I said it.
An emotion briefly flashed across his face, and I would've missed it if I had blinked. If was almost like he was amused to be sitting here, observing the aftermath of his destruction. "That's a shame. I feel you two have much in common."
"Lucy and I are nothing alike," I snapped, more viciously than I intended to.
"Aurora!" Mom chided. "What's the matter with you?"
"Nothing," I said, flicking around some lasagna on my plate.
"I'm sorry, Mr. Pennington. She must still be tired from yesterday."
I watched as his eyes locked onto my bandaged arm, so I moved it under the table while glowering at him. After seeing how disgusted Sheila had been by the stitches, I had wrapped it up so it wouldn't horrify my Mom's boss, but now I wish I hadn't. Then I could show Pennington how I wasn't going to make this easy for him. I could take the blows he'd deliver and stand back up again.
"Sounds like a nasty wound," he said, the corner of his lips raising slightly in a smirk. It was sleight enough that Mom didn't notice, but I saw.
"You should've seen what the other girl looked like afterwards," I said, not breaking eye contact.
Looking back and forth from me to him, Mom asked, "So have you two met before? At the school, perhaps?"
"I've never had the pleasure," Mr. Pennington answered.
"No, but maybe you've met my dad?"
I heard Mom's sharp intake of breath from the other side of the table.
A muscle in his face twitched. "Now why would you assume that, dear?"
"Oh, I just thought Lucy might've told you what happened with him. I mean, he was a patient at your psychiatry ward, right?" I said levelly. "You must've heard about the psychiatrist he took with him?"
"Aurora, that's enough," Mom said. "I don't know what's come over you, but I want you to go to your room and rest. You're excused from dinner. It doesn't seem like you're hungry anyways."
She grabbed my plate and disappeared into the kitchen.
"Gladly," I said, pushing back my chair. Before I left the room, I turned to him and said, "We're onto you. Your daughter let your plans slip, and if you even try anything with my mom, I swear you're going to regret it. You'll never have another sound night of sleep again."
"Some advice, darling. Don't make threats you can't carry out because it'll only make you look weak," he said, dabbing at his mouth with a napkin while staring at me with cold eyes.
"Here's some advice for you. Stop calling me 'darling' and pay more attention to your own daughter before you push her into becoming a full-blown sociopath."
When I got to my room and shut the door, the sound of someone clearing his throat made me jump.
"That went well," Seth said.
He was sitting in my beanbag chair in the corner of the room. As soon as I realized that Mom's boss was Lucy's father, I had excused myself to call Seth and ask him to come over. Strapped to his back was a long sheathed sword, similar to the ones Elijah and AJ used.
"It took everything in me to keep from punching him in his smug face," I said.
"It was better that you didn't. He's dangerous and has a lot of men working for him."
"And that's why I called you here," I said.
He sighed and glanced up at the ceiling as he spoke. "I wish I still had my baton. This damn sword is seriously not conspicuous."
"You're lucky my nosy neighbors didn't see you crawling in my window with that on your back. My house would be swarming with cops, your favorite people on earth."
"Or they might turn a blind eye because they assume you're sneaking in your secret boyfriend to appease your weird sword fetishes."
I rolled my eyes. "Don't be disgusting."
"I can't believe you left your Mom alone with him."
"I couldn't stand being in his presence any longer," I admitted. "I'm beginning to understand why Lucy's so psychotic.They're almost done with dinner so he'll be gone soon. Thanks for coming, by the way. I wasn't sure if he was going to try anything here."
"It's okay. It's not like I have anything to do during the day anyway," he said.
"Don't you have a hobby? Or training?"
He gave me a look. "Does it look like I need training?"
"My bad, almighty God of War," I said sarcastically, tossing a pillow at his head. "Since you're so prepared, I guess you don't need me then."
"As if you can walk away from this now that Pennington has his tentacles wrapped around your family and friends," he said.
He was right.
There was sound from the living room. I cracked open the door and placed my ear to the opening, straining to catch snippets of their conversation.
"Is he leaving?" Seth whispered.
"Shh."
I could barely hear them.
"Dinner was delicious. Thank you for having me over," he said.
"Thank you for joining me. And I apologize for my daughter," Mom said. "She isn't normally so...abrasive. She must have some silly idea in her head that your clinic is to blame for her father."
"No need to apologize. I have a daughter her age, so I understand that it must be difficult. Lucy lost her mother not long ago, and she went through a difficult period as well."
I scoffed and whispered to Seth, "This asshole is sympathizing with my mom, even though he's the one who caused her all this pain. I wish I could feed him to some demons."
I listened to the scuff of their shoes on the carpet as they walked towards the front door and the slam of the door shutting as he left. Then there was the clinking sound of Mom clearing plates from the dining room.
Seth was standing next to my window, which showed the front of the house from an angled view. "He's getting in his car and making a call."
I walked over next to him. "I wonder to who."
We watched in silence as Mr. Pennington hung up and started up his car, pulling away from my house.
"That was anticlimactic," Seth said.
"Why was he even here?" I asked. "To rub it in my face that he has Luke and Mom in his control?"
"And your dad."
"I don't get it," I said, sitting on the edge of my bed. "He came over here just for dinner?"
"It's strange," Seth said, sitting down next to me. "He can take your mother and Luke at any time, yet he hasn't."
"Maybe he's waiting for the right opportunity. He framed my dad and made it look like he ran off, but if everyone else started disappearing, it'd raise suspicion. And I doubt that's what he wants," I reasoned.
"If he wanted to lay low, I think attacking the school with a flock of demonic birds wasn't the way to do so."
"What now?" I asked.
Seth pulled out his phone. "I'll let the others know that nothing happened. They were all ready for a fight if anything went down here, but I'll have to disappoint them."
"Are you going to get another baton?" I asked, gesturing to his sword.
"Hopefully. I'll need to get Elijah to help me up the wattage on my new one too so it's more fun."
"You have a twisted definition for fun."
"And you have a boring one," he retorted.
Grabbing a towel from my closet, I said, "Whatever. Boring is safe. I need to shower before I begin on all the homework I need to catch up on. I feel slimy just from having been in the presence of that horrible man."
"You're not going back to school for a couple more days though."
"Unlike you, I actually plan on graduating and going to college, so I can't fall behind," I said.
"Okay. I'll leave in ten minutes, in case he comes back," Seth said, making himself comfortable on my bed. He kicked off his shoes and leaned against the headboard.
I made my way down the hall to the bathroom I shared with Connor. It didn't seem like long ago when I spent long hours in here cleaning blood from cuts that appeared from nowhere. My makeup bag lay untouched, shoved in the back of my dresser these last few weeks. There was no need for it anymore.
The mirror above the sink clouded with steam as the water warmed.
Being careful not to get my bandages wet, I removed the shower head and soaked my hair. The water was warm and soothing against my aching muscles, still sore from our encounter with Lucy.
Even with years of experience showering with casts, it was still hard and awkward maneuvering in the tight space. As I reached for my shampoo, I accidentally knocked the bottle off the shelf and it clattered to the floor of the tub.
"Dammit," I whispered, shutting off the water. With the water off, I thought I heard the sound of the door bell and Seth arguing with someone. Had Pennington come back? I wondered.
As I reached to pick it up, I thought I sensed someone else in the bathroom with me. But that couldn't be possible because I had locked the door.
But then again, it wouldn't be the first time I forgot to, remembering the time Mom almost walked in on me when I was covering up my bruises.
"Hello? Mom?" I called out, pulling the shower curtain aside so I could peek around it. "Is that you?"
There wasn't anyone in the bathroom besides me.
"Freaky," I whispered, letting the curtain fall back in place and turning back to the shower. I jumped when I noticed there was something behind me. I was standing face to face with a black, wispy being. Its terrifying red eyes glowed bright with malice.
I screamed so loudly the sound echoed off the shower walls. It grabbed at me while I tried to climb out of the tub as quickly as possible.
The demon reached out one twisted arm and wrapped its claws around my hair, tugging me towards it.
Pain flared on my scalp the harder it pulled, and I fumbled around for something to hit it with. My hand closed around a bottle of soap and I swung it at the demon. It screeched in surprise and loosened its grip, just enough for me to climb out of the shower.
Someone was pounding on the door, yelling at me to unlock it.
"Help!" I screamed, slipping on some suds as I scrambled to get out of the tub. I grabbed onto the shower curtain for leverage, but it didn't hold. I yanked the curtain clean off the rod, each of the rings popping as they snapped. I tumbled to the ground and wrapped the curtain around my naked body just in time as Seth came crashing through the door, Luke trailing not far behind him.
"Get her out of here," Seth yelled, pulling the sword from its sheath.
"What the hell is that?" Luke asked in disbelief, helping me up.
Suddenly, the door slammed shut on its own, and the lights overhead flickered a few times before extinguishing. The floor was slick with the water dripping from my hair and body. Luke's hands felt cold and clammy against my shoulder.
He tried pulling the door, but it was locked.
"This isn't possible," Seth said incredulously. "How is it here?"
"I told you guys I saw a freaking demon at the school!" I yelled.
Seth swung, and missed. The demon caught him off guard as it dove for his legs, throwing him off balance and causing him to drop the sword. Then the demon charged towards Luke and me.
Luke gasped and tried to drag me out of the demon's trajectory but he wasn't fast enough. The demon's claws closed around our throats.
I gasped for breath and pried at the cold fingers, trying to peel them from my neck.
Without thinking, I placed a hand against the demons center and blasted it back. It shrieked in pain, touching its gnarled hands to a hole in its chest that was dripping dark purple slime.
Luke was wide eyed as he watched everything unfolding.
Seth had regained his balance. With clenched teeth, he finished off the demon, stabbing his sword cleanly through it, striking the core. The demon let out a rasping growl as the steel blade pierced through its body.
Seth stared at me with wide eyes, awestruck. "Incredible. Even awake, you can... you can..."
"I know." Looking down at my hands, I couldn't believe what just happened. I was just finally starting to wrap my mind around the idea of controlling my dreams, but fighting demons with magical beams in my bathroom? "I thought magic didn't exist in this world."
"Pennington has some nerve, sending a demon here." Seth pulled the sword out and the dead creature slumped to the ground, face down. It twitched once, then went still. He leaned his weight against the sword, and with his chest heaving up and down, he asked, "Are you guys okay?"
The question was mainly for Luke.
He was paler than usual and the skin around his eyes were tight. Faint bruising had already appeared around his neck. I bet there were similar markings around mine.
"Wait, when did you even get here?" I asked.
He opened his mouth to say something, but closed it again. He was at a loss for words.
"And where's my mom? Is she okay?"
"She went to pick up Connor from his friend's house," Seth answered. "And Luke wanted to come apologize for being an idiot." To this, Luke gave Seth a dirty look. "What? I'm paraphrasing."
"I came over to talk about our fight," Luke choked out, "and Seth almost didn't let me in. And that's when you started screaming."
"Does Lucy know you're here?" I asked.
He shook his head.
"Did you know her dad was coming over for dinner?"
"No, I didn't."
"So why did you suddenly decide you wanted to talk?"
"I missed you," he said, smiling weakly. "And Seth's right. I wanted to apologize for being a jerk, and getting unreasonably angry at you. And of course, not believing you, but I don't think you can hold that one over my head."
Seth coughed. "Maybe Rory should get dressed and we can talk about this in your bedroom."
"Right," I said, suddenly self-conscious. I was so caught up with the demon, I completely forgot I was wearing nothing but a faded shower curtain.
They both averted their eyes and made their way outside.
Before leaving the bathroom, Seth turned back to me and said, "I'll just be on the other side of the door. I'm not going to let them take you."
"I know."
He smiled. "Although I'm sure you're powerful enough to take care of yourself."
"Against a demon, maybe, but Lucy is a whole different story," I said, tugging on my shower curtain wrap.
"I believe in you," he said simply, and I knew he meant every word.
He shut the door, and I was alone again. The demon carcass laid in a pool of its own blood. Concentrating, I pictured it vanishing back to the dream world, clearing from my bathroom floor. Seconds later, it was gone. Then I repaired the shower curtain before Mom had a chance to see it.
I grabbed my towel and wrapped it around my damp hair. After dressing quickly, I rushed out of the bathroom, almost knocking Seth over as I flung open the door.
"Ow," he mumbled, rubbing the back of his head.
"Sorry! I just wanted to get out of there as soon as possible," I said.
In my bedroom, Luke was perched on the edge of my bed, his expression unreadable. It was sort of like a mixture of confusion, terror, and fascination. He had his hands clasped together in front of him, and his eyes trained on the floor.
Seth plopped down in the bean bag chair and laid the sword on the floor next to him.
"So, you probably have a lot of questions," I said to Luke.
"I should've believed you. I don't know why I didn't. You would never lie to me about something like that. I'm sorry, Rory," Luke said. "I just wanted to believe that she actually liked me. But whenever we were together, she was always so interested in you. At first, I thought it was because she was jealous, and I was flattered. And then when you said she was using me, I was so mad at myself, but I took it out on you. I just wanted to think that this girl who I've been into for years actually cared about me, and now I feel like an idiot."
"Luke—"
"I'm sorry. I'm an idiot, and I can't believe I almost ruined our friendship over her. I don't know why I let her have so much power over me."
"It's not completely your fault," Seth added. "I suspect Lucy has been toying with your dreams, and that would affect your moods and thoughts even when you're awake. It could explain why you took to her side so quickly."
"Is that possible?" I asked.
"Absolutely. It's like when you have a dream of something wonderful, and then you feel good for the whole morning. If she kept insisting that you turn on Rory in your dreams, then some of that will definitely carry over to this world," he explained.
"I don't know the specifics of it, I'm just glad things are okay between us again," I said.
Luke looked over at Seth. "Thank you for taking care of her when I couldn't. There's no way I could've done what you did back there, to that thing. What was it, anyway?"
"A demon."
"I don't know why I couldn't see it. Everything was right in front of me. The bird attacks at the school and how Mara had those knives," Luke said, running a hand through his messy hair. "I was so blind."
"It was happening to me, and I still found it difficult to believe too. Don't be so hard on yourself," I said. To Seth, I asked, "Is it safe to tell him about everything now?"
"Lucy knows almost everything we do, so might as well."
And so we told him everything, starting with the first nights I woke up to mysterious wounds, how I met the Dream Crashers, and finally our battle with Lucy. Luke was quiet throughout most of it, his jaw dropping at certain points of the story, especially after I told him the part about my father.
I was giddy by the end. "You don't know how happy I am to finally talk to you about this. It was killing me, keeping this secret from you. But we thought you'd be safer if you didn't get involved with all this demon and conspiracy crap, but then Lucy got you involved anyway, which is a blessing and a curse, I guess."
"Even though I finally understand why you didn't tell me, I'm glad I know now," Luke said.
It was funny. Normally, in a situation like this, he would've squeezed my hand reassuringly or pulled me in for a hug, but he just sat there with his hands in his lap. I then realized this was his way of letting me know that he approved of Seth, and would keep a respectful distance.
And even though I had bigger things to worry about than dating right now, a part of me was happy that I had my best friend behind me again, whether it was with boys or demon slaying. Finally, things were looking up.
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A/N: I'm incredibly sorry for taking so long to update, but the electricity was out in my apartment these last few days so writing wasn't my first priority. Everything is fixed now, so I finally got a chance to get this chapter down. I rushed it a little so I wouldn't have to keep you guys waiting for longer, so I might have to go back and edit the first scene in the future. If you find any errors, feel free to let me know :)
And as always, a huge thanks to all of you who have followed this story from the beginning or are new to Rory's adventures. You are all amazing and wonderful and I just can't tell you how much I appreciate your support. <3
Dedicated to the lovely ShadowNinja04 for the wonderful comments.
Please vote and comment and all that jazz. Love you all xx