I had two options right now. To believe what Aathy was telling me and get the hell out of here, depressed and broken.

      Or to trust my gut and find out what’s really going on.

      I knocked on Tiana’s door and waited for what seemed like forever before she opened it.

      Her eyes widened and lowered the phone that was at her ear.

      “Hey!”

      I smiled. “Can we talk? Is this a good time?”

      She nodded right away. “Yeah, hold on.” She said as she turned around. “I’ll call you back, kay?”

      A second later, she hung up the phone and looked at me. “Come in!”

      She walked me into her living room and pointed at a couch. “Sit down!” She smiled, a little awkwardly.

      I could see that she was trying to hold back the attitude that these girls usually had towards their best friends ex’s.

      I mean, I guess I’m not really just a regular ex.

      I sat down and looked at her.

      “So… what’s wrong?”

      “Do you think Aathy’s acting strange?” I asked, getting straight to the point.

      Her thin eyebrows rose. “Um… what do you mean?”

      I took a deep breath and let it out. “She’s acting different.”

      Tiana pressed her lips into a thin line and was clearly trying to think of something nice. “Listen. Kero…” She pouted her lips for a second then relaxed her face. “You broke her heart.” She said. “I think it’s normal for a girl to act differently around a guy that broke her heart.”

      I leaned back on the couch. “I know. I know!” I said. “But I said sorry and why doesn’t anyone understand that-”

      “Darius or whatever was in your head. Yeah, we get it. But that really doesn’t change much. I mean, yeah it gives you an excuse, but at that moment, Aathiray was totally broken up.” She said. “You can’t possibly understand what she went though. She was crazy about you. Do you know how much that hurt her?”

      I really didn’t want to hear this. But I knew I had to.

      “I have never in my life seen her cry that much before… it was literally tears all day every day for a long time.” She sighed. “You weren’t just her boyfriend Kero. You were her best friend and almost everything she can possibly remember had you in it.”

      I nodded my head. “Yeah, I know. And I’m sorry.”

      “Keroshan-”

      “Listen. Tiana.” I said. There was a reason I came to her instead of Aathy’s other best friends. “I know you’re mad at me and I don’t blame you… but for a moment, I want you to stop looking at me as Aathy’s ex and look at me as your boyfriends best friend. Brother, practically.”

      Tiana raised her eyebrows.

      “It’s important. Aathy might be in danger if what I’m suspecting is right.”

      Now I had her attention. “What?”

      “You have had to have noticed that she’s acting differently.”

      Tiana shook her head slowly. “No, Keroshan. She’s still a little hurt from what happened but we worked really hard to try and glue back the pieces you broke.”

      I shook my head. “No.” I said, rather stubbornly. “Tiana, you know Aathy as well as I do. You know she’s been acting strange.”

      She sighed and looked away.               

      “Do you know Jace?”

      Her eyes shot up. “Jace… so this is why you’re here.”

      “You know him.”

      “He’s a cool guy.” Tiana said. “A Raakshyan. You probably know that though.”

      “I do.” I said. “But I don’t trust him.”

      Tiana let out a small laugh. “Kero… I think it’s natural for you to feel that way.”

      “No, listen, Tiana.”

      I could tell by the look on her face that she was seriously feeling some form of pity for me. But I really didn’t have it in me to care about my own image right now. “Just a while back, Aathy was all fine with me, like, I honestly thought she forgave me.”

      Something flashed across her face.

      At that moment, I knew Aathy had talked to her about this.

      “You know?”

      “Well… she mentioned that she was going to try and be your friend again.”

      My heart was slightly lifted when I heard that. Only slightly though.

      “But listen to this. A few hours ago, I saw her again, she was giving us advice and everything. Then she got a phone call, saying it was her mom. And she left.”

      Tiana was listening a little more carefully then I thought she would be.

      “Then a little while later I felt this really bad feeling in me… then I heard Aathy’s cousin Veena start screaming right outside of Seretha’s house.”

      Tiana’s eyes widened.

      “We go outside and see her on the floor and she’s changing into a Raakshyan. But a second later, it just stops, and she’s fine.” I said. “But I still had that weird feeling in me so I went where my senses told me to go. And do you know where it took me? To Aathy. Who was passed out on the floor with this Jace character.”

      Tiana swallowed hard. “What’s wrong with Aathy.” She asked, worry all over her face.

      “Then.” I continued. “Aathy wakes up, says she has no idea what happens and leaves Seretha’s house. I run after her cause I was worried she’d pass out again and she start’s freaking out.”

      “What do you mean freaking out?”

      “Like… I’ve never seen her like this, Tiana.” I said. “She was… she was being a bitch.”

      Tiana’s eyebrows rose.

      “Even though we seemed like we were ‘okay’,” I air quoted ‘okay’, “she was suddenly bringing everything back up.”

      She narrowed her eyes.

      “You know her, Tiana.” I said. “You know she’s a forgive and forget type of person.”

      “But Kero… you-”

      “Tiana, please.” I said. “All I’m asking is that you and your friends keep an eye out on her and tell me if you sense she’s acting weird.”

      Tiana looked at me. “You want me to spy on my best friend.”

      “How can you expect me to be at peace with this when everything that’s going on here is pointing at Darius?”

      Tiana’s eyebrows shot up. “What? Darius?” She asked. “You aren’t saying that… you think she’s being controlled by him?

      I hesitated. “Yes.”

      Tiana shook her head. “Kero, just cause she’s mad at you doesn’t mean-”

      “Tiana, trust me on this one, please.” I practically begged. “I know the difference between mad Aathy and… not Aathy. You know I do.”

      She looked at me for a moment.

      “Please.”

      She looked down at her hands and after a moment, she sighed. “Fine. I’ll tell the girls and I’ll let you know.”

      I smiled. “Thank you!”

      She then looked at me. “Is she in any danger?”

      “If she is…” I started, “we can save her.”

      She nodded.

      “Thank you, Tiana.” I said as I turned around.

      “Yeah…”

      “Oh…” I said as I turned back to face her. “I also want you to keep an eye out on Jace.”

      She smiled and nodded.

      I turned around and walked towards the door.

      I was about to say thank you again, but she spoke first.

      “Keroshan.” She called.

      I looked at her.

      She looked at me carefully. “Do you still love her? Like, all things aside.”

      I smiled. “I do.” I said without a thought. “I love her more than anything and that’s never going to change.”  

      She smiled at me sympathetically.

      “She’s my soul mate. Whether I’m hers or not, I don’t know… but I just want her to be happy.” I said. “None of you know how much I hate myself for letting Darius take control. But I did. And what’s done is done. And I swear I’m trying to do everything I can to fix what he... I broke.”

      Tiana walked over to me and placed her hand on my back. “I always did like you more then Jace.” She smiled. “I’ll do everything I have to to find out if you’re right.”

      “Thank you, Tiana.”

      I did trust Tiana. A lot. But honestly, I didn’t expect anything to happen for a while. Let alone the next day.

      It was when Seretha got a call from Master Odysson that I realized something weird was happening.

      Why?

      Well, it was during school hours.

      And apparently it was an emergency.

      Aunty Seretha left for the school before me and when I opened the door to leave I saw Ivana and Tiana running for their life towards Seretha’s house.

      My heart sank to an all time low because I knew at that very moment that something was wrong.

      “You were right!” Tiana yelled, gasping for breath. “Hurry!”

      And now I was running for my life.