The Ruler, The Fallen, and The Broken (Slayer 3)

Chapter 18

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            I just finished my visit with Bruce, and was heading to Andrew’s. I didn’t get why I needed to check in. The past two weeks have made me stronger. I’ve gotten back into shape, and I’ve gone to therapy. I’m starting to see the light; that it wasn’t my fault for killing Vlad. Even though the Hunters blame me, it was inevitable that someone would have killed him. I understood that now. Yet, that made me question what I was doing. Should I be with the Hunters? Should I have given them the cure? They haven’t done anything with it yet…. There were so many questions racing through my head.

            Arriving at Andrew’s I opened the door o find Clint and Darren sitting at the kitchen table with Andrew and Alex. They all smiled as I walked in. I sat down and they all looked at me expectantly.

“I had a good week,” I stated.

“So do you think that maybe you’d be able to come back and live with us?” Andrew asked.

Totally caught off guard I stumbled to answer, “I, well, you know…There’s just a lot of, um… No. I don’t want to come home,” I finally said.

“Why not?” Clint asked.

“Because if I’m here, then you all will be looking after me, and I can take care of myself,” I assured.

“Violet, we know you’ve been with the Hunters since day one, and I know you gave them the cure,” Andrew said looking down at the table.

“You can’t prove anything,” I defended.

“Violet, we know. Your time with them is over, and your things are back in your room,” Clint said.

“What? How?” I asked completely shocked by the ambush.

“How else? Magic,” Clint said with a glint in his eye.

“Wait, Andrew and Alex know about you two?” I asked.

“Yes, I told them while you were off training and we’ve been working out a plan,” Clint smiled.

“What plan?” I snapped.

“Calm down. Vi, you are going to stay here, okay? You’re going to live with us, and you’re going to get a real job. If you aren’t going to college, you need to be productive. You can also help with Alex, taking him to school, picking him up. Things are about to change,” Andrew said laying down the law.

“What about Clint and Darren?” I asked giving Clint a death glare.

“They are moving in,” Andrew said.

“What? Since when? Do we even have room?” I asked floored by his statement.

“The house has plenty of rooms. You are staying in your room. Clint and Darren are staying in Alex’s room and Alex is staying in the guestroom. They are staying because they need to stay in touch with Gretta, and I am completely fine with them staying as long as they pull their own weight,” Andrew explained.

“What about the attic?” I asked.

“Daniel is staying up there,” Andrew reminded.

“Whatever,” I said getting up and stomping out of the kitchen.

            Once upstairs in my room I felt so angry that Andrew and Clint went behind my back and arranged all this. There was a knock on my door and Darren peeked his head through.

“Come in,” I smiled.

“Sorry that it was such a shock,” Darren said sitting down next to me apprehensively.

“It’s okay, I just am angry. Angry at the situation, angry at my life…I mean, I’m grateful, but there has been so much death and sorrow,” I said.

            Darren put his hand on my back for comfort. For some reason I felt…a connection with Darren that I couldn’t explain.

“Thanks. Sorry I am complaining. I just haven’t adjusted too well since the wars been over. Just when I was getting on my feet they throw this at me! Wait, does Bruce know about this?” I asked.

“Bruce?” Darren asked.

“Never mind. So are you okay with living here?” I asked.

“Yeah, I’ve been here for three days so far and its been fine,” Darren explained.

“Three days? Okay, then are you locked up in this house?” I asked.

“No, but I haven’t left the house without Clint by my side, and that’s fine so far, I know I still need training and such before I can go out on my own,” Darren explained.

            He looked a bit sad, so I leaned on his shoulder and muttered, “In time everything will be fine.”

            There was a knock on my door and I sat straight up as Andrew walked in.

“Sorry, didn’t mean to interrupt, just wanted to see if you were okay,” Andrew smiled.

“Yeah, I’m fine, just getting over the shock. You could have warned me. But whatever, so what time do I have to get up to get Alex to school?” I asked.

“Depends on if you want to get dressed, if you are fine with hopping out of bed in your PJ’s and driving him over like that, then 7:40 would be fine. Alex gets up at 7:30 so he will wake you up if you aren’t up by that time,” Andrew said.

“Okay, sounds good,” I fake smiled.

“I am sorry that we ambushed you like that, but we didn’t see any other way that you would agree to this,” Andrew said running his hand through his hair.

“Whatever, I’m over it, but does Bruce know I’m back?” I asked.

“Yeah, I told him that you were ready to come home,” Andrew said as he left.

“Who’s Bruce?” Darren asked.

“My boyfriend,” I smiled.

“Oh, I didn’t know you had one,” Darren said looking down.

“Yeah, we’ve been together for like four months or something,” I said casually.

“I got to go train with Clint, see you later,” Darren said getting up.

“See ya,” I smiled.

            I pulled out my cell phone and dialed Bruce’s number.

“Hey Violet, what’s up?” Bruce asked.

“So I’m home, for good, but I guess you know that,” I said.

“Yeah, but that’s good, it means we can spend more time together,” Bruce said happily.

“That’s true…” I said thinking of the possibilities.

“I’m glad you’re back, and just call or text me if you wanna come over,” Bruce said.

“I definitely will. Maybe I’ll see you this week sometime if you’re free?”

“Yeah, I’ll text you the times I’m available. Anyways, I have to run, Nat is nagging me to hurry up,” Bruce said.

“Okay, bye,” I said before hanging up.