Reincarnate [Isaac Lahey]

Chapter Twenty-Six

Glancing down at the crystal in front of him, Rob waited for the door to open and for his daughter to return. He'd seen the tornado-like thing, he'd seen the missing urn and he'd seen the scattered books upstairs; he knew exactly what it meant. Fury. Disappointment. Fear. Desperation. Each emotion bubbled around him in prayer that she would still walk through the doors that night and would still be alive.

Steve would occasionally jump up onto the table his tale brushing past his face. It felt like it was a few years back all over again. The coven came before the family, their safety came before her own life, and now she was dead. He'd seen her every day, he'd seen her so well and yet truly he didn't see her. And now he hadn't seen his daughter.

Hearing the sound of the door open, he glanced up just as his daughter just as she came bundling through the door. He could see smudges of blood across her face which had been badly wiped away and she was drenched from head to toe. She'd been out in the storm. "You hate storms," he said in favour of addressing the true problem.

"I had to," she countered, and he could hear how weak her voice was. How weak she was in that moment as she walked forward and leant against the door frame. "It was more important," she added on.

"More important?! What was more important?!"

"Melissa, Argent, and the sheriff. They were all going to die!" She countered, raising her voice just as he did. He opened his mouth to speak but she quickly cut in, "I don't regret it and I'm not changing it now."

"Change what now? That you plastered a bigger target on your back than the one you already had?!" He pointed out, standing up from his chair, "your mother was a high priestess and they were willing to kill you purely for being a part of her bloodline and now you go and do it yourself?! You don't even have a coven, Lena! Who were you hopin' to lead?!"

"I don't care about leading people," she scoffed, "what I cared about was that three more innocent people were going to die! Three innocent people who are the parents of my friends. I wasn't just going to let them die when I could do something about it and I'm glad that it did because it worked!"

He shook his head, tears scratching at his eyes as they fought the battle to fall, "you're just like her."

She fell silent.

"You're just like her and just like her you're going to choose magic over your own family! You'll die not caring about the people who are left to pick up the pieces and for what? Power? Corruption? Because god knows that forsaken coven was filled with it!" He yelled and she flinched upon hearing all the words.

"What?" She asked, her voice a rasped whisper. Not wanting to think about it, she shook her head, "no, don't you dare twist this on her. I am a witch whether you like it or not and if I can use that to save lives then I will do it. I will use it to help people and if someone wants to join me then sure they can join but I did what I did to protect my friends and I will do it again," she countered before turning away and Rob sat back down with his bones aching and crying out in pain as he thought about every single word.

He felt like he'd lost his daughter just as he'd done his wife.

Leaning on her door as she entered her room, she glanced around only to see Isaac sat in the armchair as usual. This time he was perched on the edge as if waiting for something to happen. She'd had a shower and was now dressed in her pyjama's which was just an oversized v-neck t-shirt and a pair of red flannel pants which reminded her of Christmas. Even they were too big for her though.

"You need to start using the door," she muttered between a yawn, and he couldn't help but notice how unnaturally pale she looked. Standing to his feet he walked over to her picking up her arms immediately and running his hands over her skin as if searching for any injuries. "Wha-" she was cut off as he shifted again and this time wrapped his arms around her for a hug. Her face was pressed against his chest and after a second or two, she leant into it and wrapped her own arms around him to return the gesture.