Exiled

Chapter 20

Eventually, Finn and I found ourselves entering a house that was unfamiliar to me, but seemed to mean something to him. The exterior was painted a soft blue with crisp white trim, and its slanted roof gave it a quaint appearance. It blended seamlessly with the other houses in the neighborhood, each one mirroring the same charming, yet ordinary aesthetic.

"What are we?" I asked, scanning the spacious living room.

"My childhood home... I think the medallion transports you to the place where you felt the most joy." Finn said, his eyes filled with bittersweet nostalgia. A slight smile curved on his perfect face. "How have things been? What happened after Kane stripped my powers and then tried to strip yours?"

"Well, I managed to fight them off and escape. I took Michael, who now goes by Calluna, with me." I explained. "We left and I sought out witches who were exiled or had left their covens for whatever reason. They're basically the only family I have now"

"So wait, your like a parent now, huh?"

I laughed. "Raven annoyingly calls me 'mom', so in a way... yeah!" I replied with a grin.

"So, I'm guessing Michael transitioned, and that's why her name is Calluna now?" Finn guessed, I nodded happily. "That's amazing! It actually doesn't surprise me at all!" He beamed, his face lighting up with genuine joy.

"The worst part of all this is that Kane had your mom under a mind control spell. When she watched you die, it wasn't really her. She hates herself for it" I revealed. His face shifted from shock to deep sadness, and eventually, his expression went blank, as if the weight of the news drained him of all emotion.

His eyes narrowed and he let out a deep sigh. "If this doesn't go the way we planned, tell her I love her, and I forgive her. I don't want her beating herself up over something she had no control of." I nodded, offering a small, understanding smile. "So, I'm guessing you and Kane had a little reunion recently... why?"

"He came to me, spewing all of this nonsense about vampires being real, which turned out to be true actually. He said I was being hunted by one, that they wanted revenge because of a spell my ancestor performed" I said all in one breath, his face twisted in disbelief. "But of course, in typical Kane fashion, he double-crossed me and was actually working with them" Finn shook his head in disgust. I was sure nothing except for the vampire revelation surprised him.

"Wow, so vampires are actually real?"

"I know, I couldn't believe it either. Surprisingly, they're not all bad. I met some of the good ones—Zarya, Carrington, and Julia. But Zarya and Julie are gone now; they died helping us." As my expression
grew somber, he gently grabbed my hand to comfort me. I wouldn't have known unless I saw him do it.

"Is the vampire still alive?" He asked.

"Yes, he had this whole master plan to meet me, pretend to be human, make me care about him, and then reveal who he really was." I admitted, looked down in embarrassment. "He's the first guy I let in since you died... and I felt so guilty for that. I felt even more naive after finding out it was all a lie." My voice trembled, and I couldn't even bring myself to look him in the eyes.

"Don't feel guilty because of me! The entire time I've been in this stupid medallion, one of the only things I hoped for was for you to be happy, and find someone that could love you even a fraction as much as I did. All I wanted was for you to stop worrying and just... live." He said, his voice cracking as he started to tear up. "I seriously doubt that it was all a lie. There's a reason he didn't quickly kill you when you thought he was human—because he could have"

What he said made sense. If Ezekiel truly wanted me dead, he could've done so at any time before he showed me his true nature. It would have been easier that way. Which means that he had to care about me in some capacity, no matter how small. Even after I double-crossed him, he had the chance to kill me and didn't. The realization hit me like a ton of bricks, hard and strong.