Our Demonic Hearts - The Craven Pact Book 1

Chapter 9: Maelstrom

The room fell to silence as Judas shut the door behind him. Beau looked surprised to see him there at first before he nervously glanced at Ana. Judas smiled and gestured to the room.

"Leaving so soon? I just got here, and it looked like you two were in the middle of a spell." He commented, his eyes glancing down to her bookbag.

Ana hadn't bothered to clean Beau's blood from the bowl, and it now leaked from the corner of her bag. She didn't reply to him, and that seemed to bother him. She glanced down and realized she had forgotten about the stone slab, and bent down to quickly retrieve it. Judas set his foot down on it, preventing her from taking it.

"Tell, me something, Ana—" He bent his knees until he was eye level with her. "What has your daddy told you about that night in the basement, hm?"

"Judas, stop." Beau warned.

The younger brother raised a pale hand in the air. "Wait a moment. Hasn't your little deal been complete? You know where mommy is now."

Was it complete? Beau and Ana exchanged looks. The answer they received from the spell was incredibly vague at best, and they only had a small theory about her whereabouts but it was nothing to go off of.

Ana stood, ripping the slab out from under his foot and stuffing it into her bag. "I'll look for more spells tonight. Maybe I misread the one we used."

Beau nodded, but Judas didn't seem satisfied. He appeared annoyed with her answer, as if it wasn't the one he was looking for. He drew his mouth into a thin line and narrowed his eyes at her.

"All this time, and you've never questioned once what your father has said? But suddenly Beau appears and you actually think for once," He murmurs.

Ana pulled her shoulders back. "I don't need to explain my reasoning to you."

She made a move to the door, but he quickly blocked her way. He was an inch shorter than her, only a slight improvement from when they were in highschool. Ana looked down at him, glaring at his peridot eyes.

"I don't know why you don't have any memory of what happened, but it seems awfully convenient, doesn't it? No memory, so it's easy to blame us for what happened. Why don't I just say it right here and now who caused all that pain and trouble?" Judas murmured.

Ana leaned in. "I have nightmares of somebody chasing me through the woods. A dark monster, set on dragging me into the ground, into that basement. You tell me whose fault it is, hm?"

Judas laughed. She wasn't expecting him to laugh. She was expecting him to shut up and get away from her, but he didn't.

"Maybe you should lay off the binge-drinking, hm? Too much whiskey at night?" He replied, smiling.

Ana searched his eyes, confused. How did he...? She looked over at Beau, who quickly glanced away from her with an ashamed look. Bastard.

She pushed past Judas and went to the door. She pulled the handle open, but Judas slammed it shut with his hand, trapping her inside. Her heart started to beat faster and she felt her hands quiver with anxiety. Trapped. I can't be trapped again with the Motloes. Not again.

"The entire time Beau and I have been healing from our injuries that your father inflicted on us, you have been living a normal life without any care for what happened. Not a single scratch on you while we suffered for six damn years. You're a coward, Ana Kravens. Always have been. Can't stop being afraid of your father for one second to see the pile of lies he has built his throne on." Judas seethed, his green eyes twinkling with gold and blue flecks in the morning light.