Touch of Darkness

Chapter 30: I Will Stay with You

The next time I opened my eyes, I was in my own room. Cain was holding my hand tightly as he sat next to my bed snoring away. Elijah came from the other side of the bed, a book falling from his lap onto the floor. Before he said anything, I spoke first.

"Where's Alice?"

Immediately Chris and Alice both came in, and at that moment Cain awoke as well. Elijah must have sent out the message to them. As Alice came over I felt guilt and tears coming to my eyes, that seemed to be mirrored on her as we hugged.

"I can't believe I almost killed you," I said, "I'm sorry ."

"That wasn't you," she comforted me.

"No it was. That was a dark part of me. But I won't ever hurt you guys again."

"You were amazing, Victoria," Elijah said, "You fought and you won, don't forget that. After you did that, the magic you were holding was released back."

"We took a day to recover, but we're fine now," Chris said.

At that moment, I realized Cain's hand was still on mine. When I looked at him, he didn't take it off. Rather, he gripped it tighter. "We're glad you're okay Victoria "

It turns out that after that whole incident, I was passed out for a few days. The mana in my body was in chaos after I managed to suppress the darkness, so it had to recover. That was what Zedd had told them. When I asked about him and Alessia, there were mixed expressions among the group.

"They didn't want to stay, but Alice and I convinced them to wait until you woke up," Elijah explained, "I think they feel responsible for everything that happened."

In my head I remembered yelling at Zedd to leave. I should still be angry at him. No, I am angry at him. But they can't just leave. There's a lot I need to say to them.

"I need to talk to them," I pulled the blanket off and tried to get out of bed. But the moment my foot hit the ground, it was like all my strength was gone. If Cain didn't catch me I definitely would've fallen. As he helped me back onto the bed I let out a sigh, "Guess I'm not going anywhere any time soon."

"We'll let them know you're awake," Alice said, "But you should rest more for now."

Even if I wanted to argue, I couldn't stand up on my own. Everyone left me alone for the meantime, but I didn't feel like sleeping. Instead my mind began to wander to the events that transpired. When the dark version of me had taken over, I could still sense everything that was happening. I could feel my hand wrap around Alice's neck, but I couldn't stop it. Horrible words came through my mouth, and I hurt everyone that was trying to save me.

There was a buzzing in the back of my head, but I shook it away. You're never getting out again. Everyone worked so hard to help me stop this, and I would make sure Lukas's villainy ended here. Zedd and Alessia as well, I didn't want everything that happened to hold them back anymore. Adam's influence was over, they were free now.

The door to my bedroom clicked open, and the two I was just thinking of walked in. There was a wash of relief over their faces when they saw me, but both of them, particularly Alessia, didn't seem to want to get closer.

I spoke before they could, "So you guys thought you could just leave without saying anything?"

"It was because of us that all of this happened," Alessia admitted, "What right do we have to stay here any longer? We tricked you, I hurt you, and it's because of us that you went through what you did, and the others got hurt."

"You did trick me," I stared pointedly into Zedd's eyes, "You lied to me. You made me trust you with the intention of breaking all of that down." I let the words linger and then added, "But you helped end all of it too. If you weren't there, the others might have gotten even more hurt, or worse."

"It shouldn't have happened in the first place though," Alessia squeezed her fist, "I was so stupid."

"You guys were victims," I told them, "Don't think that all of this was your sole responsibility. Adam kidnapped you both. He brainwashed you with his own admiration of Lukas. Everything that happened lies in the fault of selfish adults that didn't think about us." I gave them a small smile, "We forgive you. Can you forgive yourselves?"

We spent some time talking with just the three of us. I learned more about their experiences growing up under Adam, and I told them everything in detail about what I recollected about our parents. It seemed like it would take them a while to get some normalcy back after working for Adam their whole lives. If Adam hadn't taken them back then, if Lukas didn't force their parents to sacrifice themselves, they wouldn't have had to go through all of that. Maybe we all could've been friends from the start. It's no use lamenting over the past though. Now they're free to do whatever they want.

After talking for a while, they decided to leave and let me rest. Everyone is really making sure I'll fully recover. Alessia left first, and Zedd was about to follow after her but then he stopped. He came back and sat next to me, and took my hand in his.

"Do you really forgive me?"
"Zedd, I told you. You and Alessia-"

"No," he stopped me, "Do you forgive me? For betraying your trust? For hurting you the way that I did?"

I understood what he meant, but couldn't say anything.

"I can't even say that I never meant to hurt you, because that was what I first came here to do. But ever since I met you, all this time that we've spent together, you've made me realize different parts of myself. You helped me break free from Adam's will," he interlaced my fingers with his, and his thumb gently brushed the top of my hand, "I understand if you never forgive me. But you have changed me for the better Victoria."

His words sunk into my head and stuck somewhere in my chest. Gingerly, I asked the question that I didn't ask earlier, because I wasn't sure what I'd do if I heard the answer. "Are you really going to leave?"

He pulled back his hand from mine, "I don't want to stay here if it'll only give you more grief. You told me to leave before, so I'll leave."

Instantly I thought of what it would be like with him gone. We wouldn't sit together in that office anymore, there'd be no more training sessions with him, in that abandoned warehouse that was starting to feel like our own little world. Would I ever get to see him again? Holding his warm hand like just now, hearing him say my name, would I ever experience those anymore?

"What if..." I started and took his hand back. My fingers traced along his slightly rough palm, "What if I wanted you to stay?"

Zedd stood up and leaned over me. One hand still held mine, and his other gently brushed my hair back before cupping my face and pulling our faces closer together. I closed my eyes and felt the tender impact of his kiss. As he pulled away, he leaned his forehead against mine, and I could still feel his breath on my lips as he softly whispered.

"Then I'll stay with you, and never let you go."