To Love Luca

Chapter 3

4 years later

Everyone sat in Magnus's room nervously. It was 2 in the morning and Luca was fast asleep downstairs in his room. It was hard at first, Luca was so used to being able to come into the rooms and cuddle whenever he wanted and now he was left alone by himself every night. It was not pretty at first. The demonic properties in his blood allowed him to...do things. At first, it was lights flickering and then it turned to vases shattering.

Magnus had to resort to enchanting his room since Luca had learned 3 years ago to control his newfound power and could open the lock and leave. It would break their hearts to hear him cry at night, loud ear-piercing sobs that would last for hours, him screaming that he didn't want to be alone. But he had to get used to not having them there at night. If they gave in constantly it wasn't going to help him. On the really bad nights, Magnus would wipe his memory clean. He didn't tell the others since he knew they wouldn't agree with that decision. But his own selfishness won over his logical thought. He didn't want Luca to resent him any more than he already did, and getting rid of those horrible nights would help that.

There was definitely a rift though. The four years from his 12th birthday to today, his 16th were hard on all of them. Luca and Ryland were closest, Ryland often spending nights cooped up with Luca since he still couldn't partake in his nightly activities. Until last month when Ryland turned 18, almost every night since he has been with the others. Luca said nothing and Ryland was in complete euphoria after four years of waiting and didn't notice any change in demeanor either. Tonight they did not partake in those activities. Rather they were all uncomfortably nervous about what tomorrow holds.

"I hope he is," Ryland murmured out. He, Magnus, and Azrael hoped for it the most. Azrael being the second favorite of Luca, and Magnus has simply always had a soft spot for Luca. The rest of them Luca was indifferent too including Magnus, and slowly over the 4 years, the rest of them became indifferent as well. They no longer fawned over every cute thing he did and Luca no longer pined after their attention. It pained Magnus to admit that none of them knew anything about Luca except Ryland and Azrael. To each other, Luca was merely someone who lived here and nothing more.

"I hope he isn't," Cassius grunted out. Ryland flicked his fingers and Cassius let out an "ow" while rubbing the back of his head. "Don't use magic on me you little shit." Ryland only shrugged in response before turning to Magnus.

"What do you want to happen?" He asked him. Doz cut in quickly after.

"And do you think is the easiest one?" Magnus looked between the two before sighing.

"I want him to be a part of the group eventually," Magnus said while looking towards Ryland before redirecting himself to face Doz, "There is nothing inherently wrong about him joining the group, he's not a danger to us he wouldn't ever hurt of us, but it would be more difficult definitely."

"If he's not a danger then why would it be difficult?" Mateo finally chimed in. He was definitely more the silent stoic type so his questions were normally thought through.

"Well, he resents us. Most of us at least" He rephrased while looking to Azrael and Ryland. "He knows nothing about being fated, or even love for that matter. I'm worried that I made the wrong call to keep these things from him but at the same time, I'm not sure how we would have been able to handle it. He is so young and he can't control the demonic urges." Magnus plopped down on his bedside chair and sighed.

"I was pushed into a corner with this situation." He covered his face with his hands and massaged his temples. Levi approached him and rubbed soothing circles on his back.

"We know how hard it is to constantly make these big decisions all the time. I don't think there was ever a right answer in how to approach his demonic nature, and for some of us, it's scary. We watched our parents be murdered by the same demons that are  a part of him-"

"Do you not think he is scared?" Magnus interrupted Levi and his mouth clamped shut.

"He was only 7 years old, he also saw his family get murdered and even put himself in harm's way to try to protect his sister. A 7-year-old child." Magnus stood up and began to pace back and forth while the others watched him silently. "We have all comforted him as a child. Where he would have constant night terrors. Do you remember when we couldn't even say the word 'demon' because it would send him into a full-throttled panic? Imagine if he knew that he was part demon. Imagine how he would feel. Your feelings of fear of him act like he was always a demon. Not like he was an innocent victim who was attacked and now lives with these scars for life." By the end, Magnus' hands were trembling in anger at how naïve some of his fated could be.

"I-I'm sorry Magnus..." Levi fumbled with his hands as the others mirrored his guilty expression. "In all honesty, I never looked at it from that perspective and I guess you're right, I'm treating Luca like he was always a demon when he wasn't. I knew him, his family his sister before any of this. I've just gotten so used to tip-toeing around him that it was only natural for some lingering fear to stem from it."

"That's understandable. I'm not trying to dismiss your—any of your—feelings. I just wanted to point out that you are not alone in those feelings and that the person you've made up to fear is just as--if not more so scared of demons than you, and he is one."

"We should all get some sleep." Azrael opened the door to Magnus's room for everyone.

"Not together?" Bellamy asked.

"I think it's best if everyone takes a night to ponder over these feelings. Tomorrow we will find out if Luca is a part of our fated circle or not. I think it best to mentally prepare for both options."