Flame Inside ✿ Damien and Matthew

Chapter 35

The morning came at last, raising Emma from her sleep. Surprisingly, she was full of energy; ready to go and take on the day's training. However, she quickly realized that she was alone. "Matthew?" She sat up and looked around, not seeing him in the room.

Emma bit her lip as she began to panic, worrying that he was influenced to do something that could hurt himself or someone else. She gripped her bedsheet to remove it from her body when she looked up to see the door swing open, revealing Matthew holding two plates of food. "Good morning!" He sang. She breathed a sigh of relief before she began wondering what Matthew was doing awake. He wasn't exactly an early bird.

Matthew grinned as he walked over and presented a plate of delicious looking fruit, eggs, bacon, toast, and pancakes. Emma smiled and slowly took the plate from Matthew's hand. "Matthew? When did you make this?" She asked him, confused.

"This morning! Duh! When else would I have been able to make it?" He exclaimed.

Emma looked up at him. He seemed very happy and cheerful, despite everything that happened the night before. Did he manage to drive out the influence? She wondered. As she noticed the dark circles under his eyes, Emma could tell the night had become somewhat of a struggle, so maybe that was indeed the case. Still, something in her gut pressed her to be cautious. Something wasn't entirely right about this situation, even though seeing Matthew being happy made her happy too.

Emma slowly began to dig in. "This is amazing, Matthew. Thank you." She told him with a soft smile.

Matthew let out a happy sigh and nodded. "Awesome! Well, I'm gonna head to training now."

Emma suddenly shook her head, trying to take in what he had just said. She looked at him as he began to turn around, holding out an arm for him, "Wait, hold on!"

"Bye!" Despite her protest, Matthew left the room, practically skipping out of it.

"What the hell?" She muttered to herself. Something was definitely wrong.

Emma lowered her plate and stood, racing towards the door, but was stopped by Diana who was about to step in. She yelped in surprise, taking a few steps back before she slammed into the succubus.

"Oh! I'm sorry, I..." Diana said. She looked Emma up and down before looking at the plate of food on the blonde's bed and looking at the plates of food she had in her hands, obviously meant for Emma and Matthew. "When did you...?" The apprentice shook her head. She became more worried as she realized that Diana didn't know Matthew was making her food.

Diana stepped in and placed her plates on the nearby table, crossing her arms in concern, "Alright. Do you now wish to tell me what is going on?" Emma bit her lip nervously. She really wanted to tell the succubus and something about this warning her that whatever was influencing Matthew could have gotten worse, but for some reason she couldn't get herself to tell Diana.

Emma began to internally panic, but kept a look of calm on her face, "Matthew just made me breakfast. That's all."

"When was this?"

She grimaced, looking away, "Apparently, this morning..."

Diana shook her head and pressed her fingers into her temples, slowly exhaling an irritated sigh, "That boy is seriously concerning me now." Emma found herself nodding in agreement, surprising Diana. "You know something, don't you...?" She asked and Emma nodded again. "Just tell me what is going on."

"I can't!" Emma exclaimed, running a hand through her hair as she began pacing back and forth, "If I tell you, then I betray his trust! I can't do that. I... I can't..." The stress of the situation was getting to be too much. Her head was filled with what ifs and she felt tears of fear and frustration fill her eyes.