~BOOK 5/PART ONE~ Paranormal: Too Close To Home (Multi-Bandom FanFic)

Chapter 11 - Third Person

Back at the pack house, the people there were experiencing a peaceful morning. It was as if the war had stopped, even though they knew the war was just beginning. Patrick was roaming the halls, having detached himself from his friends, and stumbled across the room where Rachael was tending medically to a small boy. The corner of her lip was curled up into a small grin as she performed a simple card trick for the wounded child on the brink of death, who Patrick could tell was a vampire.

"Is this your card?" The witch asked the small, extremely pale vampire. He shook his head no, a weak giggle slipping past his chapped lips. "What? You're crazy." She took a quick glance at the card. "I swear this is your card."

"It's not, though!" The young boy exclaimed, his voice scratchy and hoarse.

Patrick smirked as he entered the room, his ex-girlfriend flipping the card back to the boy lying in the bed and giving it a slight shake. "Are you sure?" He nodded his head. "I'd think again." The witch snapped her fingers holding the card, the face of the small rectangle changing within the blink of an eye.

The young vampire's eyes widened in shock as he took in a sharp breath. "No way."

"Hey, uh, Rachael?" Patrick spoke up, attracting the witch's attention, "Do you think we can, um, talk? In private?"

She stared at him for a second or two before nodding her head in agreement and standing up from her squatting position, telling the boy she'd be back soon. The two left the room and Rachael closed the door behind them, asking Patrick, "What's up?"

"Why didn't you tell me Halsey went missing?" He inquired bluntly, crossing his arms over his chest and giving the witch a hard look.

A redness crept up in Rachael's cheeks. "I thought you would've already known."

"No, I found out when I asked that Lynn girl where Kenya was, and she told me that Kenya and Link went to go rescue Halsey." A brief moment of silence passed between the two before he went on to say, "You went to Kenya before you went to me?"

Rachael slipped her hands into her jean pockets, shrugging her shoulders. "I thought we weren't talking, and if I'm being honest, I didn't think you'd want to save her."

He scoffed, shaking his head. "Rachael, she's our daughter! Do you honestly think that just because we weren't talking means that I wouldn't come with you to save her?"

"Patrick, I don't know," The witch confessed, meeting the vampire's gaze, "I don't know who you are anymore. Ever since you let that demon take over, it's like you're a completely different person." He took note of the softness in her voice, as if she was afraid to say what she was.

"I'm the one who's a completely different person?" He questioned, poking his chest before poking hers, "You're the one who I can't recognize. You're making all of these decisions that are nothing like you. I mean, you chose Brendon, for fuck's sake! I thought you hated him! He killed you!"

She brought her hand up and rubbed the back of her neck uncomfortably, "We were young..."

"Young or not, Rachael, you died and it was his fault. He murdered you. And yet when the time came, you chose him over me?"

The witch shook her head. "I thought this was about Halsey, Patrick; not about that."

"This is about Halsey! She's our daughter, Rachael. We're her parents. I'm the one you should've gone to, not Kenya. And I'm the one you should be with, not him." He swallowed the lump in his throat, the hallway feeling as though it had warmed up suddenly. As for Rachael, she shifted her gaze to her feet. "Rachael, I...I miss you," He admitted, "You don't know how hard it's been without you. I-I-"