A Twist Of Magic

Chapter Twenty Three

"Amelia?" Mr Winters whispered, sounding slightly surprised.

My feet were frozen to the spot as I stood and stared into the eyes of the person who'd destroyed my life. Thanks to him, my life was still in turmoil. The only comfort that I had was that I would never have to lay eyes on him again....yet here he was, standing right in front of me. I felt Jack glance at me as I quickly took his hand and clung to it tightly.

"I didn't realise that you would be here, I just came to see Daniel." he stated.

"He's busy getting ready for the show." Jack told him. Even though Jack clearly knew that I was uncomfortable in this situation, he had no idea why. He couldn't possibly know who the man standing before us actually was, only Daniel would recognise him from our school days.

"That's no problem, I can easily wait." he replied, taking a seat on the sofa.

"I'm Graham by the way." he added, holding his hand out to Jack, who quickly shook it.

"Jack." he replied shortly, clearly picking up on the tense atmosphere.

"I haven't seen you in a long time Amelia, I forgot how beautiful you are." he stated.

I swallowed slowly as his words rung in my head, causing me to flinch as I recalled the memories of that fateful day. How I'd desperately tried to escape the classroom as he pursued me, but there was no escape. No where else that I could run to. I called out for Daniel, desperately hoping that he would save me, but knowing that it was futile. He was too far away to hear me.

My skin tingled as Graham continued staring at me, the way that he gazed at me, made me feel like I was a specimen under a microscope. Jack glanced at me as I shuffled my feet nervously, I desperately wanted to escape this room and get myself as far away from Graham as possible, but I was trapped. With the FBI hanging around, it wasn't safe for me to be wandering around...I didn't want to get arrested again.

"How long has it been since I last saw you?" he asked me, frowning thoughtfully.

"Six years." I whispered.

"Oh yeah of course, I remember." he smirked.

I felt sick to my stomach as he stared at me with his disgusting sickly smile. It didn't seem possible that this man was now back in my life, and why he would be here to see Daniel. Even though Daniel didn't know it was Mr Winters that abused me, it still didn't make sense for him to be reconnecting with our old teacher.

"So what's new, are you still hanging around Daniel all the time?" he asked, placing his feet on the coffee table.

I glared at him, not quite able to bring myself to answer him. I jumped as the door to the room opened sharply.

"Violet!" I gasped in shock as I laid eyes on Daniel's mother. She smiled slightly and I noticed that Daniel's twin sister Joanne was also with her.

"What are you guys doing here?" I asked.

"Daniel invited us to see the show, apparently he has something special planned." Violet told me.

My heart plummeted for them...they didn't yet realise that he had invited them here in order to say goodbye.

"You must be Jack." Joanne smiled sweetly as she held her hand out to Jack. He smiled back and gently shook it, his other hand still clinging tightly to mine.

"I don't understand why he is here." I sighed, gesturing towards Graham.

"Daniel invited Joanne and me and we brought Graham along." Violet stated.

"Why?" I said quickly.

"We've been dating for a few months and thought now might be a good time to tell Daniel the good news." she said happily.

My legs buckled from under me and I felt Jack gently place his hand under my elbow to support my weight. As I watched the two of them gaze into each other's eyes, I felt like my world was crumbling. She had no idea what kind of man she was with and what she'd inadvertently done to Daniel. His stepfather was the man that had abused me all those years ago.

"I'm going to be sick." I stated, glancing at Jack before quickly running into the bathroom.

Daniel's POV

I quickly walked down the labyrinth of hallways as I made my way to the relatives room. As soon as I opened the door, I smiled at Mum who quickly ran over and hugged me.

"Hey Mum." I smiled. Joanne beamed at me from behind Mum and quickly joined in the hug.

As soon as they let go of me, I turned to Jack.

"You need to get to the rendezvous point, we'll meet you there after the show." I told him.

He nodded slowly and glanced at me. I raised my eyebrow questioningly as I heard what sounded like somebody vomiting in the bathroom.

"Where's Mia?" I asked.

"She said she felt sick and ran into the bathroom." Joanne answered.

"Hi Daniel." Graham piped up as he quickly pulled me into a man hug. Until now I hadn't even realised that he was here. It had been so long since I'd seen him that it didn't quite seem possible. He'd been the only person in my life, apart from Mia who had encouraged me to pursue my dream of becoming a magician, so I found myself pleased that he was here to see me perform.

"Jack you need to get going." I prompted Jack, who seemed reluctant to leave.

He nodded and sighed.

"Don't leave her alone with him." he whispered as he walked past me.