Centum Malediction

Chapter 7-2

Monday, October 4th, 2010

After a long night of pushing through a daze Chelsea finally made it home. She lay in bed, the clock reading one a.m. She was incapable of sleep despite her entire body aching from exhaustion. She sat up from her bed, grabbing her phone in hand, and sat on the large window seat. The garden glowed dimly in the night time as the streetlights cast their gaze down upon the flowers.

The neighborhood was illuminated, but not a single soul lurked in the shadows. She remembered Camila's attitude, it fit Chelsea well. She lived in the largest house of a rich neighborhood. She was the epitome of privilege, and while she always knew it and tried to be nice because of it, it was really bothering her.

A stray thought crossed her mind, a dangerous one. What if she was only with Michael out of charity? Chelsea was one of the richest in her class, and Michael was the poorest. Well, he and Simon were. She closed her eyes, a single tear escaping as Damien's charred body reemerged in her mind. She loved Michael, but what if that love was forced? Everyone else thought they shouldn't be together.

Chelsea couldn't take it anymore. She grabbed her phone and lunged on her bed. She bounced on her mattress slightly as she scrolled through her contact list. She didn't know what she was thinking. It was late, he was probably asleep, but she called Michael regardless. He had done the same to her in the past, though in his defense a swat team had raided his house and he needed a way out.

"Hello?" The phone rang three times before a sleepy sounding Michael answered.

"Michael, we need to talk." Chelsea's voice was weak. She was more asleep than she had realized, but now she had to wake up.

"What's going on?" Michael asked groggily still waking up.

"I saw Damien in the hospital." Chelsea cut straight to the point.

"Oh no." Michael muttered. "He didn't harass you again did he? I will go down there right now and make sure he doesn't bother you."

"You don't understand." Chelsea called out louder than intended, her voice beginning to crack. "You didn't see the pain he was in. How could you do that to him Michael?"

"What are you talking about? You asked me to deal with him. I did." Michael became immediately defensive. He was right, she did ask him, but that wasn't the point.

"You used magic, you caused irreparable damage. He'll have those scars for life. You didn't see him Michael, it was horrible." Chelsea pleaded.

"Irreparable damage? You've been spending too much time in the hospital to talk like that. I told you before, it was me or him. He had me pinned down. I don't know if you realize this, but he's much larger than me. If I hadn't used Drakin I would be in the hospital in his place and you'd be with him." Michael grew angrier by the second. Was this the darkness of his heart showing itself? He recalled Damien's words that Michael would turn his power towards her.

"You think I'd be with him after the things he said to me?" Chelsea couldn't believe what she was hearing.

"If I didn't have magic, he would have wiped the floor with me." Michael ignored the question.

"This isn't some contest Michael! You think I'd immediately fall for him because he beat you up? Do you know how I think at all?" Chelsea wasn't going to let go that easily.

"You're with me, aren't you?" Michael countered. Chelsea let out a gasp.

"You really don't know how I think." Her voice became quieter. "Michael, I'm with you because I saw good in you. You're a kind and caring person. Is that just a mask you wear?"

"You tell me." Michael didn't answer the question. What was wrong with him? All he had to do was admit that he was a good person. He was normally so confident in himself, something had happened, something that he wasn't telling her that made him change his views on himself.

"Do you even regret what you did?" Chelsea asked. The phone went silent for almost a full minute before he responded.

"I don't. Given what he said about me, about you, I don't regret it for a moment." Michael said honestly. Chelsea's heart sank as tears formed in her eyes. How could he not regret causing that pain? Damien said he laughed. Maybe if he saw Damien first hand he'd regret it? No, she had to stop making excuses for him. Without saying anything, she hung up the phone and let it drop.

Her body was frozen. The phone vibrated on her bed, but she ignored it until it fell to the floor. The vibrations grew louder on the hardwood floor, but still she didn't answer. She had spent so much time with Michael. She had seen his dark side and even indulged in it. The entire time she told herself that it was just childish pranks and they were being teenagers, but what he did to Damien was more serious than anything he had done in the past. This magic had enabled him. Chelsea kept telling herself that he would outgrow this, but overtime he had only become worse.

"Michael." Chelsea cried to herself.

"One with the kind heart, things are not as they seem." Chelsea heard a voice. She let out a scream and looked around worriedly. "Do not worry, I cannot cause harm even if I wanted to."

"Who's there?" Her room was black. Anyone could have snuck in, but she knew this wasn't anyone. This was a supernatural entity.

"I have been watching you Chelsea. You have shown mercy beyond any I have seen to care for your enemy even when it risks losing the one you love." The voice explained. Chelsea stood from her bed, quickly turning her light on. There, floating only inches from her face, was something that looked human at first, at least until her eyes adjusted. The entity was a human torso hovering above the ground. It had no legs, no hair, no mouth or nose. Just eyes on an almost sculpture like body. The being had two large angelic wings emerging seamlessly from its back. The entire thing was grey as stone, and despite its sudden jarring appearance Chelsea felt no fear looking at it.

"I've become increasingly unstable since my release from the seal. I've been looking for someone to give my power to. You are that person, should you choose to accept me." Chelsea didn't even question how it was communicating with her with no mouth. She just accepted it in silence.

"Her influence weighs heavily on you, as you are the one connected to the man with the dark heart. Do not act rashly. Do not throw your love away." It was almost humorous. This creature, this entity, a spell that was probably created over a thousand years ago was telling her to give Michael another chance. Who was she to argue? She didn't want to end her relationship with Michael either. She may have been making excuses to be with him, well, this was a pretty good excuse.

"What are you?" Chelsea asked trying to remain brave. The floating half angel entity was actually low scale compared to some of the other horrors she had witnessed recently.

"We don't have more time. Accept my power. Aid your loved ones. Defeat the darkness that shrouds this entire city." The being seemed persistent, its voice was changing, becoming irritable. The spell had waited until its last moments of sanity before appealing to her. There really was no time for questions, she had no choice but to accept it or deal with the harm it would cause.

"I accept."