Flames and Starlight

51🌘

Laura

One year later. . .

I ran into the living room when I heard the front door open. My heart swelled with relief as I watched Ruben walk in though it quickly morphed into irritation. He'd been out all night. I woke up to him being gone. He hadn't left a note or a text to tell me where he was. I called him and texted him, asking him where he was and if he was okay and he hadn't replied back once.

He stumbled in, his clothes messy and wrinkled, his long hair out of its usual ponytail and in a tangled hornet's nest around his face. Even from where I was standing I could smell the alcohol on his breath. He swayed on his feet, looking as though the smallest gust of wind would knock him off balance. He peered at me with bleary eyes and blinked rapidly as if he couldn't see properly.

"Laura?" he slurred.

I sighed and forced down my irritation. He was too drunk to comprehend how upset I was and he needed my help. I took his arm and led him to his room. He fell on his bed and was out instantly, snoring loudly. I rolled my eyes and yanked his shoes off and covered him with his blanket.

I watched him for a long moment, wondering how things had gotten so bad between us.

A year had passed since Caius's attack. During the year, everyone was still afraid to go outside, to be out for too long, always having to have someone else with them, the city under curfew. Ben continued to have his restrictions in place, not wanting to risk any more attacks. He even had a friend who was a sorceress create a ward over the Clan. He wanted to make sure everything was indeed safe.

When a year passed and there wasn't any sign of Caius, things gradually started to go back to normal. Restrictions were slowly being lifted, people were gradually becoming braver to go out, curfews were being lifted, a sense of peace was finally beginning to fill the air again - for the most part.

A lot of people lost their loved ones due to that monster and faced trauma of their own. That wasn't something that you can easily get over. 

I was still trying to get over it. I kept waking up screaming after having yet another nightmare of Caius, who was trying to burn me alive, then I had to rush to the bathroom and retch my guts out. I was nowhere near comfortable being out by myself. I was paranoid that Caius was still out there, lurking in the shadows.

They still hadn't caught the Silver Cross gang members who'd been helping him. Everyone still had no idea how Caius could've possibly given them some magic that helped with their attacks. How Caius did everything with his magic was a mystery. People kept saying it was because he used Black Magic, but I believed there was more to it. A lot more.

I couldn't go back to school anymore. I couldn't go back there and pretend everything was normal. The one day after the whole aftermath, the day I thought I could do it, I saw a person dressed in all black and had a panic attack in the middle of a classroom. I had to be sent to the nurse's office, where Ben was pulled out of a meeting to come to pick me up. I told him I couldn't go back there. I just couldn't. He was, fortunately, understanding of the whole thing and said I could do school online. I was working on getting my GED. I was only a junior but I wanted to get a head start on graduating, to get high school out of the way so I could focus on the other aspects of my life.

Alison was doing online school as well so she could take care of little Belle, who came three weeks early. Belle Elizabeth Harper was the joy in all of our lives and I never thought I could fall in love with an infant as I did with her. She was spoiled by all of us and had us wrapped around her finger with her already full head of golden blonde hair and bright blue eyes, looking like Ali's exact twin.