Hallow's: Witch's Brew

Twenty-One

Alex Clare- Too Close 

Noah

"You fucking knew," she cries as soon as I walk through the front door of her little house. The place smells like her now. It's warm and inviting just like her. 

"What are you talking about?" I ask. She hands me a tablet. It's a video—surveillance footage. 

"-you do this all the fucking time, Flora. Gaz isn't a fucking weapon. She's a child. She's eleven fucking years old," her father's back is to the camera but there is no mistaking him. His dark hair, his three-piece suit. The same one he died in. 

"This is what she's meant to be doing, Leon. She's the fucking storm," Flora Periwinkle shoves him. This angle catches her perfectly. Where the fuck did she get this? 

"Not yet, she isn't," he shouts. "She's a little girl. You can't put her under all this stress. If you push her she will fail. The storm isn't meant to be alone. There is someone out there for her, Flora. We have to wait. I will not allow you to hurt my daughter," 

"She's my daughter too," she throws something at him but it doesn't reach him. Flora takes advantage of his distraction. 

"Flora," he groans, falling to his knees. 

Her baby blue aura swirls around him boiling his blood. I lower the tablet because, yes. I did know. I just never saw it before. He told me. Left a few details out, but he made me swear I'd help him protect her. No matter what it took to get her the fuck out of here and away from the coven. 

"You fucking knew," she cries again. 

"I did," I nod. 

Fuck. I've been trying to keep her from this shit for years. I've been trying to get her as far away from here as possible. I knew the moment she showed up here that it was only a matter of time before she would piece it all together. There is nothing else for her to do. I thought I'd have more time. I thought I'd be able to find a way to get her away from all of this again. Even if it meant losing her all over again. Even if it meant breaking the bond. 

"What else are you hiding from me, Noah?" 

"Protecting," I correct her. Her eyes meet mine and her tears turn to anger. 

"Tell me, you fucking asshole," she shouts. "How did you even find out? This was before you got here," 

What am I supposed to tell her? How do I admit everything without her getting angrier with me? I know she's going to hate me for all of it. For sending her away, for everything I did to keep her away from me. For all the lies I knew I'd have to own up to one day. 

"Your father told me," I say softly. She stares at me for a long time and I almost convince myself that she didn't hear me. "He's still there,"

"Noah," she chokes out. The sky rumbles outside. The way she says my name breaks my heart because I see it all piecing together in her head. "No," she shakes her head. "Why would you do that?" she shoves me hard enough to make me take a step back. She turns around burying her hands in her long hair. "Fuck," she cries out. The black pot with the red heart-shaped succulent on her dining table flies across the kitchen and shatters against the stone wall. "This is not happening," 

"Gaz," I try to reach for her but she moves. 

"Tell me everything you know, Noah," she demands angrily. 

"Okay," I agree. "I need you to calm down. It's been drizzling since you arrived but if it keeps raining like this you will flood all the storm drains, Gaz,"