The Beast Inside Me

Can I do this?

Lance (in beast form by the way) stood there motionless and just stared at us in complete disbelief and shock. "Mara? You two, are?" Lance asked, "Yes we are" Jullian replied quickly. "What do you want?" Jullian asked as he stood in front of me trying to protect me, I buried my face in Jullian's back, for some reason I couldn't even look Lance in the face, I felt a mixture of guilt and embarrassment. Lance started to move closer, "step back!" Jullian yelled, "I'm not here to cause trouble or anything, I'm here to help" Lance said, "how?" Jullian asked. Lance let out a loud sigh, "Mara, you gotta be prepared, Constantine, he's coming up with something, I know it's big, he's been working on it for a while. He's saving it all for the final moment." He said, "Final moment?" Jullian asked, "Yes, he's not hurrying into battle for no reason, he's waiting for the moment" Lance explained, "what moment!" Jullian yelled, "I dunno okay! That's all I heard" Lance said.

I was silent the whole time but I heard everything, my heart was beating crazy, what was Constantine up to? I gulped loudly, Jullian turned back to me, and he placed his hand on my head, "don't worry, I'll protect you" Jullian said, I looked up to him and he had a very serious look on his face. "Wow, you guys really are into each other huh?" Lance said laughing, he was laughing but I could tell deep inside he was hurt. "As a matter of fact we are" Jullian said as he put his arm on my shoulder, Lance took a look at us and sighed, "guess I gotta go" he said as he sprinted away.

Jullian and I said our goodbyes and I went back to my room. Even though she was healed, Sophie still had a hard time getting over the whole thing. By the way, exams had already started and the Basketball was in two weeks, normally I'm excited for the Basketball but this year, I'M SCARED AS HELL! This year literally decides my fate, I've been so scared lately that I haven't even done any serious prep for the party. Usually I'm the one organizing and stuff but I've been pretty silent this year. I was studying for my economics exams so I headed to the school library, picked an economics textbook and was about to start reading but as soon as I opened the first page something fell out, I bent over to pick it up and it was a sheet of paper and written on it was "I figured you would need this Marabella, turn to page 227" to be honest I was scared as hell but I was curious so I did and when I did my jaw dropped. IT WAS A CRYSTAL! I cursed loudly, everyone turned to look at me, I quickly slipped the crystal into my pocket, "excuse me Mara! I will not condone that kind of behavior in the library" the librarian said, "I'm sorry Mrs. George, I'll leave now" I apologized as I stood up. How did that happen? Who sent me that? And how? I tried to think of somebody but I got nothing, I thought of anybody I knew who called me Marabella but as a matter of fact nobody did, not even my mom! So who could it be I thought, the person didn't leave behind any clues or something to help me find them, probably the person didn't want to be found. But it still made no sense, for someone to have access to the crystals they must be really special because by now I had realized that I didn't need to find the crystals, they always just appeared out of nowhere. So how did this person find it, I was lost in thought but then I saw someone in the library staring at me. It was that lady from my dreams dressed in black. I thought people seeing someone dressed like that would trigger people but to my surprise it didn't, in fact nobody even looked her way, that's when it occurred to me that nobody could see her. "Hey, wait!" I yelled at her as I noticed she started to make a run for it, I chased after her leaving my bag and books behind, everyone turned their heads towards me (I totally know what was going through their minds at that point). I chased her out of the library into the hallway, she turned left and then all of a sudden disappeared. I was speechless, I just stood in the middle of the hallway completely confused.

Even though I was still a little shaken by what had just happened, I was still happy that I got another crystal. I had five now and three left to go, well technically two cos one was with Jullian and the others, I still hadn't figured out how I was going to get that one. I went over to meet Jullian so he could help me keep my newly found crystal. Jullian and I met outside for some reason, I gave him the crystal and he placed it in the bag. I told him about what happened at school and for some reason he was unusually silent. "What's wrong?" I asked him, he sighed. "Mara, remember when you asked why the others were acting weird to you?" he asked, "y-yes" I stammered, "well, you know why?" he asked, "no" I replied. "The reason is, the others felt like you were a danger to them" he said, his words made my eyes go wide, "w-why" I stuttered, "they were angry about us dating too because they thought I was getting carried away and that you would make me forget my duty to the family. Remember we're both after the crystals, they felt like you were using me just to get close enough to get that crystal that was so hard for them to get. They might be wrong, but they were right about one thing, I was getting carried away because of you, and I don't care. When I joined the family I swore my utmost loyalty to it, I swore that I would carry out all activities required, most of all, I swore to never betray them. I've kept this promises for as long as I can remember with no problem, but I'm afraid some changes have to be made. I know we have worked so hard to protect that crystal for years, but it just came to my realization that all these years we've been doing nothing. Assuming we even found all eight of them, what would happen then? We lied to each other that it was for the sake of Dreamland but deep in our hearts we knew it was only all for the power. We have resented Constantine for so long and yet we were so alike, so Mara, I've made a decision, that I would rather give that crystal to someone who needed it, you." Jullian said. "Wait! What? You can't, I-I can't, no!" I said, I just couldn't agree, I wanted to so bad but I just couldn't, it didn't feel right. "Mara! it's okay" he said as he pulled the shiny crystal out of his pocket and placed it in my hand, "Mara, you think I don't know the consequences of my actions? I do, I know they will probably never accept me again, I know they'll probably come after the both of us, but I swear, I'll protect you with my life." He said as he kissed my forehead. "I'm sorry Mara, but I can't keep them with me anymore, you'll have to keep them with you" Jullian said as he handed me the bag, I took it and placed the crystal inside it. I looked at Jullian and started to tear up, why was he such an amazing person, he was willing to sacrifice his own safety and life just to protect me, he was willing to give up something he had worked so hard to protect for years for me. I just grabbed Jullian and passionately kissed him, he was really surprised cos he was usually the one making the moves, but of course he returned the favor and kissed me deeply. When we broke the kiss I pulled him into a tight hug that lasted for minutes, to my surprise I wasn't the only one crying, Jullian was also crying silenly, I wiped the tears from his eyes and said "thank you", " I love you Mara" he said, " I love you too" I replied. We hugged one last time and then he said, "alright, go now" I was about leaving but then he yelled out " Mara wait!" he startled me but then an arrow flew past me inches from my face. That made my heart beat louder than it ever has in my life, my heart was literally begging for me to let it out of my chest. I looked behind me and saw Miranda with a bow and arrow in her hand, she wasn't alone, the rest of the family accompanied her, they all had frowns on their faces. "Bad decision Jullian, bad decision" Miranda said.

What will the others do to Mara and Jullian? Can they escape this? Find out in the next chapter. By the way tomorrow's my birthday,❤ finally turning thirteen! 😁