War (Book 3 in Destined Series)

34

"That was the cheapest move on the planet!" he exclaims as I squat over him

"But it worked and now you're down. So ha! Christina 3 and Lukey Poo 3. It's tied up the winner of this round, I think deserves a prize."

"Firstly Lukey Poo... Really? And secondly... A prize sounds great. What should it be?"

"I'll decide when I win." I say and he smirks

"Cockiness can get you in trouble."

"Good then. I mean there's no fun without trouble." I say and he rolls his eyes.

"Whatever. Help me up." he says and I laugh then pull him up.

"Last round correct?" he asks and I nod.

"Correct."

~~

"I cannot believe I lost." I say for the fifth time as I walk into the bedroom.

"Oh please, not like I made you do anything too crazy." she says and I roll my eyes.

"Seriously? You made me run inside and scream random gibberish, do the chicken dance, and sing spider pig, plus give you a back massage."

"Which you haven't done yet so get started." she says. I huff in response, but move behind her anyways and start.

"It wasn't all that bad." she says pulling up a video on her phone.

"Oh my god! You recorded it?"

"Hell yeah I did." she mutters and I can't help but laugh.

~~

I laugh at the video again then put the phone away.

"Thank you for finally getting rid of that." he says and I laugh as he continues to rub my shoulders and back.

"You're good at this." I say then a knock on the door sounds.

"Come in!" I call looking down at the amulet. The door opens and I look up as Shane walks in. I quickly close the amulet and know he hadn't seen it.

"Sorry, am I interrupting something?" he asks and I shake my head.

"No, what's up?" I ask standing up and heading over to him. I drop the amulet to the bed as I go, and hear rustling as Luke grabs it.

"There's a slight issue."

"Issue?" I ask and he nods. I look over my shoulder at Luke but he does nothing but stare down at a random book. I guess he grabbed it.

"Uh ok, coming." I say then leave the room and follow Shane down the stairs. We climb down the stairs and I raise an eyebrow when I find nothing going on. Everyone is asleep in their rooms.

"Uh Shane?" I ask and he sighs turning to face me

"I just wanted to get you alone."

"You could've just asked ya know." I say and he sighs.

"But you were with Luke-

"Luke and I are friends. I promise he'd be fine if I came down with you for a minute." I say and he nods again

"So now that you have me alone, what do you want?" I ask and he sighs flopping down onto the couch.

"Shane, what's wrong?" I ask cautiously kneeling in front of him on the floor, and putting my arms on his knees.

"There's this pulling within me."

"What do you mean?"

"Darkness. I feel it pulling at me. Every night when I try to go to sleep, it's right there waiting for me to close my eyes. I think I'm slipping back."

"To darkness?" I ask gently and he nods

"Yes. But I don't want to."

"Is it nightmares?" I ask and he shakes his head

"Far worse. They're these images that are taunting me, pulling at me, voices calling out to me. And for the images, some are even literally clawing at me."

"Let me see." I whisper and he pulls his shirt over his head. I ignore his darkened veins and touch my fingers to the scratches. He winces each time but doesn't shove me away.

"When did it start?" I ask gently, touching another one.

"It's been going on ever since you left me that night." he whispers almost sadly.

"And they haven't gone away?"

"No, they do. But each time one goes away, another appears."

I touch my finger to the scratch and sigh tracing it down to the waist band of his jeans.

"Let me try to clean them." I whisper and he nods as I get up and walk into the bathroom. I grab the first aid kit from under the sink then walk back out into the living room. He moves his hands so I can slide onto his lap. I dig around in the kit then grab the container of vaseline.

"Thank you."

"For what?" I ask continuing to rub vaseline into the wounds.

"For letting me back in. For seeing me, under this." he says and I nod gently.

"Everyone deserves a second chance. Even if they did kill everything I-

"Please don't." he says in pain and I nod gently looking up at him.

"The point is Shane, everything that I told you that night in the woods was true. But I also lied about a few things."

"Like what?" he asks as I move to grab bandages.

"You're not a monster. You just got lost for a little while and fell down a dark path. I didn't believe those words though when I saw you in the woods. But now when you're here in front of me, I do. You came back, risking everything just to bring me a chance to actually leave an impression on this war. You left the darkness and came to us. And though you say you feel a pull, and I can see the proof of it right before my eyes, you haven't gone back to them. You've stayed." I say gently

"This is the Shane that I knew a long time ago. And I think if you think back just far enough, you'll agree." I whisper meeting his eyes.

"Is that enough though?" he asks and I slowly start putting the bandages on.

"Enough for what?" I ask looking back up to him.

"For you to ever love me again?"

I sigh shifting my gaze back down and finish cleaning the wounds.

"I wish I could say yes, I wish I could let you that far back in. But honestly, I don't know if it is enough in the end." I say looking back up at him as I put the last bandage on.

"Do you love Luke?" he asks and I shake my head.

"I don't know that either." I whisper then go to slide off of him. I don't get too far though, as he pulls me back onto him.

"Shane-

"Stay with me for the night?"

"But Luke-

"Please, or at least until I fall asleep." he whispers and I shift my gaze up to my room. The door is shut and I sigh.

"Only until you fall asleep."

"I'll take it."

~~~