The Bewitching - Midsummer Aine - Book 2

Chapter 1 - The Shattered Heart

The sun peeked through her curtains as it had done every morning for the last several months. The old coffee maker downstairs went off with a whistle. Elyssa rolled over in her bed, trying to ignore it's high pitch whine. She could smell the cooked eggs and bacon as it's scented drifted up into her room from the kitchen below.

Leo was already up, just as he was every morning, awaiting for her to roll out of bed and join him. He was a wonderful cook, something she never expected. That, along with his good looks, charm, and politeness made him the perfect guy. He was the guy every girl described when she was speaking of the type she wanted to end up with. He was the knight in shining armor. That was the problem, or at least what she thought the problem was.

He was too perfect. She knew exactly what to expect when he was around. There was always breakfast ready when she awoke, dinner was on the table when she came home. He was loving and affectionate. He was...predictable. There was no excitement or danger when he was around. She wondered if that was what women forgot about when describing the type of guy they'd like to end up with.

Or maybe she was just being silly. Maybe she liked the fantasy of a perfect guy much more than the reality of having one. She couldn't quite tell. She had been so use to being alone that maybe she missed the anxiety it brought. In her dreams there was always something exciting happening. There was the rush of the unknown, the 'what ifs' that played out.

Obviously a real relationship could never match up to that. Every second of every minute couldn't be an adventure into the unknown. Maybe that's where humans failed. They were given these great stories and films that cut out the mundane, and people forgot that the mundane is a large part of life. It's what helps in making the great moments stand out.

"Hun, your breakfast is getting cold."

Leo's words drifted pleasantly from the kitchen as he called up to her. Even his voice was perfect. It was starting to get on her nerves.

"I'll be right down," she called back.

She groaned as she rolled over. She really didn't want to get up. Just once it'd be nice to sleep in, even if just for an extra hour or two. She stretched her body out along the bed, before pulling the pillow over her face to hide the light.

"Just make it stop...," she muttered, her voice muffled by the pillow covering her face.

She rolled over again after a few minutes, tossing her pillow across the room in the process. If she waited any longer she knew she'd fall back to sleep. It wasn't often she slept well these day, but the previous night had been particularly bad. He had haunted her dreams that night more than he usually did, and she wondered if it meant he was thinking of her as she always did of him.

At least, that's the theory she had heard with dreams. If someone was in our dreams it meant they were thinking of us. From her previous experiences she leaned towards it being true, but there were always those questions in her head. It would be completely possible that she only dreamt of him and that's why he appeared. For all she knew, he could have completely forgotten about her.

That was actually the more plausible reason. How else could she explain not seeing him since that fateful night when he disappeared from her window, leaving only a ring to remember him by. He had mentioned parting ways when they first met, after whatever it was after her had been taken care of. Maybe that was the end of it. It's not like there had been any attacks since then.

Quite the contrary. Everything had almost gone back to normal other than Leo now being a part of her life. Annette and her mom still visited, although not as often, to make sure she kept up with her training. Even though they had warned of more yet to come, she had yet to see anything that made her believe that was correct. At times she even questioned why she evened bothered practicing her magic.