Ariella's biggest desire in life has always been such a simple one. She wants to be 'normal.' Unfortunately, that one simple wish has never been within her grasp. Coming from a long line of witches is bad enough, but she's even more different than t...
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I spent the next two days locked in Lucien's basement, only venturing out for food. I refused to go to school, and my phone had long been switched to silent. Lucien had taken off work, so he was around if I decided I wanted to talk, but aside from telling me that, he'd left me alone. I knew Uncle Ben had told him what happened, and it was probably killing him to not know where my mind was at with all the new revelations.
I was slowly starting to come to terms with my entire worldview changing, but I could feel more coming. The heavy weight of dread in my stomach was like a flashing neon sign warning me to brace for what was to come.
With a groan of exhaustion, I gave up on sleep and headed into the main area of the finished basement. I'd always loved this part of Lucien's house, and I had no doubt my friends would have a blast if they ever got to see it.
The thought of my friends stopped me in my tracks. Days later, I still wasn't any clearer on what to do about the situation. Did I continue with my life as if nothing had changed, or did I take over the coven I was born to lead? Plopping onto the couch, I looked around, looking for a distraction from my confusing thoughts and that old loneliness that was starting to creep back in on me.
The room was beautifully done in dark cherry wood and dark teal. Two walls were covered in sports posters and various framed jerseys, and the fourth had an extensive collection of my sketches. The large flat screen perched on an entertainment center across from me drew my attention, but I quickly discarded that possible distraction. A pool table, dartboard, and a couple of antique arcade games were on the other side of the room, but none of those piqued my interest without an opponent.
Not for the first time since I'd been there, I glanced at the wall of temptation. A dark cherry bar top ran the length of the room with alcohol bottles lined up on the wall like an actual bar. The desire to drown my troubles had been hounding me since I'd arrived, but so far, I'd resisted. My father had always said that if I decided to drink when I was older, do it for fun, not to make myself feel better. He always claimed that was how real trouble started, and it never fixed anything anyway.
Lucien clearly hadn't been thinking when he allowed me to lock myself down here. I chuckled under my breath, imagining his reaction if I were to come upstairs drunk. I knew I couldn't do it, though.
It was time to face reality. I couldn't hide in Lucien's basement forever. I'd spent my entire life wanting to actually live and stop hiding, and now that I finally had the opportunity to do just that, I'd let a few hard facts force me right back into isolation.
If Gran was right, and all my friends ended up hating me for what my family had done, would I end up right back where I started... alone? Just the thought sent an ache through my chest. For one second, I thought it might have been better to just stay alone than risk caring about people just to lose them, but I discarded the thought immediately.
