Haunted by the Immortals

Chapter 27

Nat

I thought I had lost my mind. Knowing that your girlfriend was the reason why an innocent died wasn't the best experience in life. At first, I knew it was some kind of joke, that I was being tested for my loyalty and trust for Cami. Then it all became clear with one swipe of her brain. She was the culprit.

My nerves were everywhere and my heart was steady only because I was trying to calm myself down. Frantic, I paced down long halls and winding staircases to try and find him. I panted hard as my hope was slowly dying out.

What if they had done something to him? Killed him? What would I do then? He was my best friend and had been so for years. Ever since I moved away from my witch friends and school Stefan had been there for me. He was like Zed. Protective, having my back and it wasn't a coincidence that he forced me to ask Cami to be my girlfriend the way Zed made me with Grace.

Despite Zed having been Grace's brother, and my mate back in Witch School, I didn't feel much empathy for his death. After I figured it was him, Grace's brother, nothing changed between us. And maybe I should have caught up with him, talked. But we didn't. That's not something I regret - not really.

I came to a sudden stop. There they all stood. Almost as if God had heard my thoughts about the Carlyles'. I wasn't surprised they were in on this, too. Pretty much everyone whom I knew was a part of this stupid research.

My legs were frozen; my body was screaming at me to stop, but my mind was telling me to walk towards them. I opened my mouth. "Guys," I whispered. "It's been awhile."

Oakley stepped to the side, getting a good old stare at me. "Hey, man. How ya doing? Heard you flew by to see what's going on here in the Witch World so we came by to give some greets." He laughed and high-fived his brother, River who couldn't stop with the evils - I knew there was still something wrong with him.

And as far as I recalled, out of all Oakley's brothers and sisters, he got on with River the most. We all thought it might be because he was a boy and the closest to Oakley's age - only a year difference - and behaved almost like they were twins. But he was nothing to me. He was one of my older sister's friends - well, boyfriend really - who was in the car at the time of the crash. He was one of the two victims who managed to save their lives, but not Alisa's. And I hated him because of it.

Bonnie pushed her brothers and sisters out of the way and made her way towards me. I swallowed something lumpy down my throat. Out of all Grace's siblings, she scared me the most. She was the eldest, and even though the last child would be the strongest, in their DNA it was the total opposite. Well, as far as I remembered. At her age, thirty, she still looked how she did years ago: so full of herself, sure that her man could give her anything she wanted. She was incredibly immature for a girl - sorry, woman - her age.

"Well," she puffed, "if it ain't the little munchkin of a guy. I see you've been keeping well, sweetheart. Any luck with the girls?"

I sent her a fake smile. "Hello, Bonnie. You haven't done badly yourself. I noticed that your siblings are doing just great."

She laughed and lunged to hug me. Out of all the Carlyles', the day Grace decided to give up her life, I ran to Bonnie. I never remembered why, stupid of me as it was. And it was only her that truthfully knew the full story. She understood my pain, she believed me; she was the one who demanded I escaped out here. She was the reason I was here right now with Cami.

"Oh Nat," she pried. "I've done very well for the past few years, cupcake. Clyde's been helping me with that."

Clyde, her husband, was a unique guy. I remembered how we all used to laugh at the two paired together, because, you know: Bonnie and Clyde - the famous serial killer couple. And it was - literally - meant to be for them. If I got the memory right, the moment they met they knew they were for each other - soul mates. Apparently, according to Grace - as she once told me - Clyde had been talking to Bonnie inside her mind, using telepathy and that was how they knew they were supposed to be. Because if you can hear a person talking to you and therefore you can communicate back to them the same way, it was compulsory to take that into note that this was THE GUY FOR YOU. No matter how fantasy-like it sounded.