Laconic » a.i

5.3

//ashton//

It didn't take long for Calum's mom and Mali-Koa to show up, and when they did, the three of them picked up where Calum had left off.

The thing about the bullets in those fancy ghost hunting guns was that they had this stuff in them that released some sort of poison that was deadly to ghosts. Unless removed, Michael and Emily would definitely die. So that was the hard part for the Hoods. It was difficult trying to remove a bullet that was lodged in their insides but it still had to be done.

"I'm afraid we'll have to cut it out," Mrs. Hood reported. She was currently standing over Michael while Calum tried to give a few things to Emily to try and make her feel a little better. "Fair warning, it'll just hurt like hell."

"This hurts like hell," Michael choked out. "Do whatever you have to."

I decided to take Cooper back to Luke's before Michael started yelling. I knew that would probably scare her and/or make her uncomfortable. As soon as we got there, though, I grabbed her face in mine and kissed her like she did before. I could tell it had taken her off guard so I stopped and pulled back to test her reaction. She didn't say anything, she just looked at me.

"Sorry," I coughed. "I just- You said-"

"No, no, don't be sorry," she laughed. "You're my boyfriend and I meant what I said. I don't know, it's like I can still feel it. When I first saw you in the cemetery I felt it but I didn't know what it was for a while. I guess it was when you showed me all those memories that I realized it was love."

"And you didn't say anything until then?" I asked, cracking a smile.

She shrugged, "You don't say it."

"Because I didn't want to freak you out!"

She just shrugged again, "But you're my boyfriend."

Before I could lean in and kiss her again, the door opened. A very tired-looking Annie walked in with Jeremy behind her.

"What happened?" I asked, the words flying out of my mouth.

"They're gone," Annie sighed with a shrug as she walked into the living room and plopped down on one of the smaller couches. "Sarah didn't want to kill Marcus even thought she said she hates him, so she told them to get lost and never come back. Before I could even react -- trust me, I tried to -- Vira had grabbed Marcus and used her stupid fucking watch to get them gone."

"Shouldn't you be with Michael?" Bridgette quizzed, remembering that we had explained Annie and Michael were together.

She pressed her fingertips to her temples, "Mrs. Hood's cutting... I can't deal with it. It's too hard. I can't believe that fucking bitch shot him. I'm glad she's fucking dead. And I'm so proud he killed that little troll. But him and Emily should be okay once they get the bullets out of them. Mali-Koa and her are getting them out while Calum and Noel work on making potions to help them heal faster. Sarah won't be as affected by the bullets since the poison only affects ghosts but they still need to fix up her wounds. I wasn't surprised that Mrs. Hood knows a person who can help with that."

"They'll be okay," Jeremy assured his sister, putting a hand on her shoulder. "As far as deaths go, the only person we lost is Ella. Carson decapitated her. Sarah said vampire hunters can take these special pills to give them the speed and strength and senses of a vampire to trick vampires into trusting them. Apparently, they're not the only creatures out there."

"Werewolves," Annie grumbled. "While they're typically more vicious when in their wolf forms, they're a lot nicer when they're people. But the hunters are fucking asshats."

"Then there's demons," Jeremy added. "But they're dying out."

"And their hunters are those who study black magic," Annie said, looking up at Cooper and I, "which means Calum is a hunter in some way. But since there aren't any of those creatures around, his hunting instincts haven't kicked in. But it's a good thing they're going extinct because they cause nothing but trouble."

"You learned all of this in a span of a few minutes?" I quizzed.

She shrugged, "I already knew some things."

"Who's Ella?" Bridgette wondered, remembering what Jeremy had just said a moment ago.

"She was a girl that you use to be friends with and you brought her with us, but she ran away," Jeremy explained to her. "She was a girl who had schizophrenia and then she got turned into a vampire. Vampire hunters killed her today."

"The one who got decapitated?"

"Yeah."

"Oh. So...is it my faul-"

"No," I cut in, "it's 100% not your fault. She ran off and wouldn't listen when we tried telling her not to go with him. Trust me, you're not to blame."

She nodded and looked at the floor, "So, other than that, is everything okay?"

I looked at Annie and Jeremy. Both of them looked tired but managed to have smiles on their faces. The witches and hunters were mostly taken care of and they wouldn't be bothering us anymore. For once, there was no danger.

"Yeah, Bridge," I smiled, taking her hand. "I think so."