Burned

Chapter Thirty-Seven

When I woke up the next morning, flashes of the day before struck me. Slowly, then all at once, I remembered everything: Dolls betrayal then death, Bo and his goons attacking us then me killing Knoll, then we tried to preform the spell but Daniel's family broke the potion. They had been a dozen of them -- Cursed Ones. Each one seemed stronger than the last, which none of us had accounted for. It didn't help that the Lycan's were gone, leaving us to fight them alone.

Fortunately, (and somewhat, unfortunately) it hadn't been much of a fight. After Naomi smashed the vial she knocked me out. Then, the rest of the Coven. They left us there to spend the night in the cemetery. I'm not sure what time it was when I woke up, but I opened my eyes to Erik's grey ones. He and I woke up the others as we groggily tried to comprehend what had happened. No one was happy, but we all were so tired there wasn't much talking going on. I had called my mom, who had left me over a dozen texts and voicemails.

She picked us up at the cemetery. She brought Dara and when I saw her I collapsed in her arms, crying profusely. I told her about Dolls and then led her to her body. Everyone cried. It had been really hard, trying to explain to my mom why her sister was dead. Then, she called the police and I fell asleep in her car. She took us home and the Coven dispersed. I'm not sure where everyone went. I kept going in and out of consciousness. Thankfully, my mom and Dara let me sleep without asking too many questions.

Dolls is dead.

I push myself out of bed and head for the shower. I can't think about Dolls because then I would have to deal with that. My chest felt heavier with all sorts of feelings. I tried to push them aside. I would worry about that another day. I had the whole summer to sulk and mourn Dolls death and the death of breaking the Curse. I hadn't even begun to deal with Dolls betrayal, little lone her murder. Another family member lost. I couldn't bear the thought of losing some else. Dara and my mom need to be more careful. I don't know what I would do if one of them died.

That was just the tip of everything. I was avoiding Erik and all of his messages. He wanted to talk and check in on me. Of course, I would have welcomed that considering that Addie had left last night for California. I was supposed to drive her to the airport this morning, but then everything happened. Things got really messy and Addie sent a message to our group chat with the Coven and Lycans. I still am in shock by what she said.

"Hey guys, I'm heading for Cali now. I think it's best if I remove myself from the Coven. I know it's lame of me and I totally understand if you guys are upset, but I need to focus on myself and not dying. See you guys September fifteenth. Bye, Addison Roux."

It wasn't just that she was leaving us all for California and the big screen, but how she signed her full name. It was as if she was unfriending us. I knew that wasn't true. She wanted to live long enough to get famous -- I got that. Still, it hurt my stomach to think about. I thought she was one of my best friends. We had really grown close this last school year. I guess everyone leaves eventually.

Then, there was Erik. He had freaked out about Addie's message. We talked a little bit as I tried to calm him down. He wasn't my problem though and I needed to let Sage do her girlfriend duties. Plus, with our history given I knew Sage didn't like him talking to me at all but especially coming over to my house. Of course, I couldn't tell Erik that and part of me didn't want to. I didn't want to admit any of that. So, I was avoiding him.

Still, every time my phone went off I jumped towards it, hoping it was Daniel. I had texted him this morning, filling him on his families extracurricular activities, but he had yet to respond. As the hours passed with no response my anxiety intensified. I was beyond worried about him and what happened. What if his family attacked again? Or what if they had done something with Daniel? The way Naomi had talked about Daniel made me think she didn't really like him. Was he hurt or worse?