THE LIGHT IN THE DARKNESS - BWS

twenty-one

"It's not working!" I shouted at William, pearls of sweat rolling down my forehead. We spent the entire morning trying to 'unlock' my powers– Caelan's words, not mine, and so far it wasn't working. I was exhausted, and my head was pounding. I just wanted to lie down.

"You need to focus, Charlotte," William answered, losing his patience and making Caelan chuckle. I shot the latter a death stare, which only made him smile.

"I'm trying!" I exclaimed as I turned my head back to William who was standing in front of me on the other side of the table. A broken glass was sitting in the middle of it, and despite all my focus and willpower, I didn't manage to fix it.

"Not hard enough!" William snapped back.

My  nails dug into my palms, and this time, I was utterly aware of it. I didn't try to stop myself, the only other alternative to my anger was me lunging at him and hitting him until he begged me to stop— and that wouldn't end well for me. Dee, who was sitting next to Caelan, gave me a sympathetic look.

"She needs a break," Caelan pleaded as he detached his back from the wall he was leaning against. I wanted to hug him. A break was exactly what I needed. Or simply being away from William and his insane expectations.

"Time is a luxury we don't have," William snapped, and I suddenly became too aware of the fact that I was only a pawn to him. I knew it already, but it still stung for some reason. Why did that upset me?

"She's human, Will, give her a break."

"She's not entirely human," William emphasized the word 'human'. A chill travelled down my spine. I wasn't human, not completely at least. The knowledge came with so many questions, and most of them were directed at my parents. I missed them, and yet I was angry with them. I was furious and hurt that they never told me what I was, that they spent their life lying to me. Maybe if they'd told me, I would have embraced this power at a younger age and I would have been able to save them from the attack.

"Half human– whatever. Pushing her like this is not gonna work," Caelan said, pulling me out of my thoughts. "You need to eat something."

"I'm not hungry," I answered as I sat on the hardwood floor. My body was shaking from concentrating so hard. I just wanted to sleep. Was that too much to ask?

"I don't care if you're not, you need energy," Caelan said while William walked around the table.

He stopped before me and crouched down to be at my level.

"You're thinking too much. You need to clear your head and focus on what you want to achieve."

I struggled not to roll my eyes and blew out a frustrated breath instead. That was exactly what I had been doing for the last hours, focusing on fixing that damn glass. Maybe he was wrong about me, maybe I wasn't who he thought I was. Or maybe I could only fix myself, and what happened with Dee was a one off?

Before I could answer, William, Caelan and Dee turned towards the door. It opened not even a second later, and a tall, gorgeous young woman entered. She was clearly a vampire, no one was that pretty. Her long dark curly hair flowed behind her as she walked in, a smile on her lips, the pearl white of her teeth contrasting with her dark skin. The dress she was wearing was as short and provocative as the one Caelan had brought me the day before, and I knew now who it belonged to– Veronica. Only the dress fitted her perfectly, enhancing the curves of her breasts and hips. She was stunning.
Dee jumped to her feet and stood guard in front of me.

"Hello boys," Veronica greeted them, not looking at me once. I was surprised she didn't have a Scottish accent unlike her brother. "I've heard you brought me a toy."