Hell's Love

Chapter 20

The next afternoon, I was able to go home. As I got into the living room, I looked around at what was a scary mess. Now, it was cleaned up. The furniture pieces were set back into their original spots, but they were bare of all family pictures and decorations. 
"It looks a lot better," I said as my dad walked up next to me. 
He nodded. "It almost looks like it never happened."
"Yeah," I responded and used my crutches to get to the stairs. My dad carried my crutches up the stairs and I hopped up each stair as I leaned against the railing. When we got to my room, my dad kissed my head and left me to settle back in. I sat on my bed as I glanced around my room. It had been cleaned up as well. 
Almost like it never happened.  I thought. I didn't sleep last night. The feeling of Zorohm possessing me kept creeping up in my mind. It could happen again. There was no guarantee that it would never happen again. I've always believed in God and Hell, but now that I knew that demons could cross over and reek havoc on anyone they wanted, I was terrified. I would learn to fight it, though. I just had to make it through tonight. 

A week later, I was back in school. I opened my locker and grabbed my books. As I put them into my backpack, Declan came up beside me. 
"Let me take that." He said as he took my backpack. 
I smiled. "I can handle it."
"I know, but you don't have to." He replied with a grin. Relief settled in me as I stared up at him. I wouldn't have survived this without him. 
"I love you," I said and kissed him. 
He put his forehead to mine. "I love you too, beautiful." 
"Long time no see." A voice called from behind me. We turned around and Aidan walked towards us, along with Chester, Kaiya, and Natasha. 
"I missed you guys," I responded as Kaiya hugged me. I hugged her tightly and grinned. 
"We missed you." She said. I hugged Chester and Aidan as Dominic approached us. 
"Hey, Dominic." Kaiya greeted him. She moved back and took Chester's hand. He winked at her. 
"Woah," I said as Kaiya giggled. "Is this official?" 
"It is," Chester answered me. 
Kaiya nodded. "It happened shortly after you left for a while."
"That's awesome," I stated. "I definitely missed a lot."
"You did." Aidan agreed. 
"We'll catch you up over lunch," Kaiya told me as she and Chester left for class.
 "How's it being back?" Dominic asked. 
"It feels good," I replied. 
"Wait until you actually start class," Aidan said as he peeked at his phone. "I should head out too. See you at lunch." 

"See you," Declan responded. Aidan gave Dominic a nod as he left. The two seemed to have become close friends since Dominic started school here. 

"Tasha," I said as Natasha's head shot up. Her long dark hair was pulled back into a ponytail. "How are you?"
"Fine." She replied with her eyes resting on something behind me. 
"How are your classes?"
She shrugged. "You know what happened." 
"I do," I said and fidgeted with my crutches. Declan had told me that Natasha had admitted her feelings to him. I was hoping to avoid the conversation.
"Well," She said with her brown eyes expressionless.  
"I was hoping we could move around it," I responded. "I don't want to ruin our friendship over this."
Natasha rolled her eyes. "Of course you would say that."
"Let's just move on," I stated. Natasha glared at me as her hands gripped her books. 
"I don't think we can." She mumbled. 
"What do you want us to do?" I asked as I pulled my crutches closer to me. 
"I think you know." She responded as she walked closer to me. She looked down at me with her sleek eyebrows pulled in. Her tan face was made up perfectly with soft toned makeup.
"We've been friends for years," I stated with a frown. Declan and Dominic exchanged concerned looks. 
She shook her head. "We were friends once, but for the last couple years, I've been tolerating you."
"I guess I shouldn't expect any different," I whispered. "Especially not from you."
"Expectations limit people." She said and leaned forward. She brought her face inches from mine. "Like Declan expects you to love him and only him forever, but you already have your eyes on someone else."
"There's nothing going on between me and Dominic," I argued as my hands clenched my crutches. 
"So you say." She snapped. "From the day you met, he has been infatuated with you. Isn't that right, Dominic?" She turned around and Dominic's eyes widened slightly. 
"Natasha," Declan said. "Stop it."
Natasha crossed her arms. "Why? You act as if the thought hasn't crossed your mind. How do you know that they're not hooking up when you leave them alone?"
"Natasha!" I called and shoved my crutches out from my arms. She spun back to face me and I hopped up to her. As I stood right in front of her, her face hung a few inches above me. 
"What?"
"I would never cheat on Declan," I stated. "Dominic is a great guy, but we're not together in any way."
Dominic cleared his throat. "She's right. I'm not the kind of person who would interfere in a relationship, especially not one like Ava's and Declan's." 
"We'll see." She said and stomped away. Declan stared at me and Dominic. 
"We should get to class," Declan said. I nodded and hopped over to grab one of my crutches. As I was about to reach it, Declan already picked it up and placed it under my arm. Dominic handed me the other as Declan brushed the hair out of my face. 
"Do you want to join us for lunch?" I asked Dominic. I glanced over at Declan and he nodded. 
"Sure. See you then." Dominic replied and then we separated. Once we were down the hall, I reached for Declan's hand. 
"You don't have to worry. I love you." I assured him. 
"I love you too," Declan said. "Can you just tell me one thing?"
"Yes," 
"Are you drawn to him at all?" He asked. 
"No," I said and Declan nodded. We went to class. The conversation seemed to be forgotten, but my answer was still fresh in my mind.