Crossed Spells

Chapter 20: Family Confrontation (Part 1)

The morning sun filtered through the half-open curtains of Lucas Blackwood's room, casting golden rays on his sleeping face. His eyelids fluttered before slowly opening, revealing eyes still clouded by sleep. For a brief moment, the peace of waking enveloped Lucas, but it was quickly swept away by the flood of memories from the previous night's events.

The abandoned church. The hooded figures. The mysterious portal. It all came back to him in a flash, making his heart race.

Lucas sat up in his bed, running a hand through his tousled hair. His gaze swept across his room, stopping at the desk where books and hastily scribbled notes were piled up.

Shade, his shadow familiar, emerged from a dark corner of the room, his form gently undulating. "Good morning, young master," he said in his deep voice. "Did you sleep well?"

Lucas shook his head, a sigh escaping his lips. "Not really, Shade. I spent half the night reliving what we saw at the church. I need to talk to Aria, we need to understand what's really going on in this town."

He was about to get up when his father's voice, Damien Blackwood, resonated from downstairs, sharp as a blade.

"Lucas! Come down immediately. We need to talk."

Damien's tone left no room for discussion. Lucas felt his heart speed up, a wave of panic threatening to overwhelm him. He exchanged a worried look with Shade. What did his father know? Had he discovered something about his investigations with Aria?

"Be careful, young master," Shade whispered as Lucas headed towards his bedroom door.

With deliberate slowness, Lucas descended the stairs. Each step creaked under his feet, as if to emphasize the tension that reigned in the house. He found his father in his office, standing in front of the imposing oak desk that dominated the center of the room. The morning light filtering through the windows cast unsettling shadows on Damien's face, accentuating the hard lines of his jaw and the hard glint in his eyes.

Spread out on the desk were various objects that Lucas recognized with a mixture of horror and resignation: his diary, scribbled notes on sound portals, sketches of strange symbols he had observed. Damien's face was a mask of anger and disappointment, his eyes fixed on his son with an intensity that made Lucas shiver.

"What is all this, Lucas?" Damien asked, his voice barely louder than a whisper, but charged with contained fury that was more terrifying than if he had shouted.

Lucas felt his heart racing. He tried to keep calm, but his voice trembled slightly when he replied: "Dad, I can explain..."

But Damien didn't give him the chance. His voice suddenly exploded, resonating throughout the house with a force that made Lucas jump. "Explain what, exactly? That you deliberately disobeyed my orders? That you put our family in danger? That you investigated that Luminosa girl despite my warnings?"

Lucas, taken aback by his father's vehemence, tried to defend himself. "You don't understand, dad. Things are happening in Ravenswood, things we need to understand. I was just trying to..."

"You have no idea what you're getting into, Lucas," Damien interrupted, his voice laden with contempt. "You're playing with forces you can't understand, forces that could destroy us all!"

Anger rose in Lucas, fueled by years of frustration and secrets. "And how am I supposed to understand if you don't explain anything to me?" he shouted back. "You vaguely told me about the curse, but you never gave me details. I'm tired of half-truths and secrets, dad. I want to know the whole truth about our heritage, about this pact you alluded to!"

A tense silence settled in the room. Damien stared at his son, as if seeing him for the first time. The shadows in the room seemed to thicken, unconsciously reacting to Lucas's tumultuous emotions. Finally, Damien sighed deeply, sagging slightly as if a great weight had just fallen on his shoulders.