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BETRAYAL AT AN EARLY AGE

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Silence reigned the area as three of them stood there without any word. The two best friends stared at the redhead as Adira bit her lips, her hands crossed at her stomach, preparing to hear the most expected question.

"My gosh, that's fantastic." Selene's face feigned surprise as she put her one hand at her chin, slightly caressing it.

"Indeed it is. I didn't realize. Nice" Darcy exclaimed in mock-surprised voice, mirroring Selene's reaction which only made Adira roll her eyes.

"I'm not joking." Adira deadpanned, staring deeply at them but only if it worked.

"I'm not either." Darcy replied with the same gravity in her voice as Adira.

"Look, even if she was a witch in her very first life, which is probably decades ago, she would've known." Selene stated in a bored voice, crossing her hands in front of her chest.

"Plus it's real life, not a cursed fantasy fiction where I'm a warrior witch." Darcy added with the same enthusiasm as Selene, cocking her head slightly to the side.

"Wait why warrior?" Selene's forehead creased in confusion as she looked at Darcy.

"Mum said my name means warrior or something when I was having terrible cramps just to console me. She still thinks that I'm a 12 year old girl." Darcy scoffed as she tapped her foot on the ground impatiently.

"I saw the mark with my own eyes and you two did too! What's so not unbelievable?" Adira claimed, trying to convince the girls but was it working? No.

"Selene, you can't even properly remember something that you saw a couple of minutes ago. Doesn't that bother you?" Adira asked intently, facing the blonde.

"Of course It does. But whatever you're saying, it makes no sense, Adira. Even the mark part. I just know that there are some times when I feel there's missing parts in my brain but they're like air. I can't grab them." Selene let out a sigh, letting her hands fall to her sides.

"Hey you never told me about that." Darcy turned her attention to Selene, her brown eyes on her.

"Erm I thought everyone goes through that. Even Aiden." Selene shrugged, not giving much attention to this matter.

"That's..... actually serious, Selene. You're bound to forget things which happened long time ago or don't hold much importance to you. But here you're forgetting things that happened just a couple of minutes ago." Adira stated, her eyes shifting on the girls.

"Plus Darcy, you don't even know what happened to you. You were practically whimpering and cursing." Adira intentionally poked Darcy's narcissistic side and what do you know, it worked.

"Me whimpering? Now that's unrealistic." Darcy scoffed lightly as she shook her head.

"Yes, you whimpering."

Darcy rolled her eyes as she let out a breath and finally asked,"Are you sure that you know the mark you saw on my arm?"

"I know that I saw it somewhere else too. I want to make sure that it is what i think it is." Adira sighed, softening her posterior after the wreck of a day she had.

"Okay." Selene said.

"Come with me." Adira started walking out of the woods, in the direction of her house.

They've been walking for at least 20 minutes in complete silence between them. The silence reigning over them wasn't as uncomfortable as they thought it would be. The redhead was trying to join the dots together but nothing was making sense.

Their surnames didn't match to the names she searched that day, they don't have any particular history except for being troublesome duo. They're two girls as ordinary as two town girls can get.

And as for Selene and Darcy, silence between them was the medicine to the pounding ache in their heads. But it wasn't enough.

Soon they reached a maroon and white painted two storied house which appeared as a house as normal as ever could be but the stories kept underneath the stairs weren't known as normal.

Three of them entered into the house as Selene spoke,"Adira, do you have aspirins? My head's gonna burst." She massaged her forehead as Darcy nodded to her words.

"Same." She muttered.

Adira took off in the direction of the kitchen and came back with a bottle of aspirin and water, handing it to Selene. She indicated them to follow her to her room, which was at the second floor.

Adira open the first door from the stairs and led them into a neat ever looking peaceful room. The faintest shade of violet covered the walls, vintage posters on them beautified wall paint in a aesthetic way.

The vases at the corners of the room with little violet flowers in them adorned the wall and gave off a serene calmness to it.

The most sensible thing was the position of the window, the shivering air was flowing through the window and the curtains were wavering to it.

"I thought it would be red." Selene muttered lowly to herself.

"Not everything is my hair colour." Adira flatly said as a reply to Selene's words as Selene nodded and took aspirin with a gulp of water, handing it to Darcy after.

"Make yourself comfortable. I'll be back with histories." With that, Adira walked out of the room with her wavy ponytail bouncing on her back.

Once she was out of hearing range, Darcy spoke,"I really didn't expect this." Appreciation in her voice which was really rare to hear.

"My bedroom looks too plain compared to this." Selene sighed as her eyes swarmed across the room and got stuck at a certain thing.

"Dude, mine looks too gloomy compared to this." Darcy shook her head as she took the med, hanging her head down.

Darcy's head soon shot up as she felt Selene poking on her arm. She glared at the blonde, sitting beside her and soon followed Selene's gaze which landed on a photo frame.

Nice.

Darcy didn't move her gaze from the old photo frame as Selene got up from the bed and slowly walked towards Adira's study desk.

"Woah, she looks pretty young in this." Selene sat on the chair near it, her gaze fixated on the photo.

Being not able to contain the bubbling curiosity in her, Darcy also got up and neared Selene to get a good look at the designed frame.

"Wait, isn't it the man I saw at the grill that day?" Darcy questioned, kneeling in front of the desk, not touching the frame since it was not hers to touch.

"It is the man I saw that day. Damn, it's like he didn't even age that much from the day this photo was taken." Darcy exclaimed, glancing at Selene and the photo back to back.

Suddenly the door clicked, shocking both of the girls to their core as they stood up hastily and hurried to the bed. Adira came in with journals in her hand, her eyes narrowed on the girls.

"What were you two doing?" Adira's smooth voice rang in the awkward atmosphere

Darcy and Selene both uncomfortably shifted in their positions. Adira's scrutinizing gaze was just as unsettling as her words were.

"We were just looking around. Do you mind?" Selene tried to speak nonchalantly, looking at Adira as if she had gone through this same situation over a hundred time.

"Unless you don't break anything, I don't." Adira took her seat on the bed as she opened one of the journals, catching Selene and Darcy's attention.

"Will you look at the handwriting? Wow." Darcy exclaimed, her fingers touching the cursive lines.

"These are dad's journals. He takes really good care of them. And so far from what I have read, Darcy's kind really exists." Adira started flipping the pages and finally stopped at a page titled as "witches" as she rotated the journal in her hand so that Selene and Darcy can get a glimpse of it too.

Selene murmured the lines written, under her breath as Darcy did the same, both of their eyes widening at the simple yet unbelieving words.

They hastily turned to another page as they continued reading and digesting information until Adira stopped them by pointing at the corner of the book.

"That's the mark." Adira glanced at both of them with straightened lips as they didn't believe her earlier but now they had the proof, at least they can't resist.

"The Meness witch? But that's not...you know Darcy's name?" Selene tried to reason as she looked at Adira.

"Exactly my question. Nothing matches yet she had the mark appear on her arm." Adira shook her head dissatisfied as she gathered all of the journals without the one in Darcy's hand.

"What do you think this bold circle means? It looks pretty important out of all things." Darcy pointed at the circle as she held the journal to the girls and looked at their faces for their opinions.

"Um...no idea." Selene shrugged as she turned around, getting up from the bed.

"Might be the moon." Adira said nonchalantly as she got off from the bed too and gathered all the journals in her hands.

"But Adira, how does your father know all this? how do you? What are you hiding?" Selene turned around on her feet, facing Adira as she questioned her.

"How do I know I can trust you two?" Adira questioned back, uncertainty dwindling in her emerald eyes.

"Dude, you literally showed us your father's personal journals which already means you trust us." Darcy dropped her shoulders as she pointed out the obvious.

"That's so not the way to convince someone to tell you something." Adira shook her head in dismissal as she looked at Selene, hoping she would be sane enough.

"You can trust us, Adira. Maybe not Darcy's patience, but you can trust us." Selene assured the redhead as Adira nodded to her words.

Adira took a deep breath as she spoke.

"I'm a hunter."

Her words hung on the air as she stared at the girls who clearly had a long day of surprises and wasn't willing to take anymore.

"For boys?" Darcy asked.

"Oh for God's sake Darcy, now's not the time." Selene exasperated as she tried to cool herself down from these unbelievable informations.

"You two are fucked up in two different ways." Adira was constantly shaking her head all the time but Selene ushered her to go on.

"Tell us everything Owen. Now."

"Even I wasn't aware of the person I really was. Until last year." Adira spoke, her voice barely audible as the cloudy thoughts of the incident swarmed in her head, ready to be disclosed.

Flashback

The fading orange sunrays were falling through the houses and trees at the subways, indicating the end of the day. It was no time before the dark will cover the whole town and it was crucial that Adira had to be home before the darkness hit the sky.

She was walking as fast she could, her hands in her pockets, her feet on the way home. Suddenly she bumped onto someone, causing her to fall backwards because of the lack of balance but the person she bumped into caught her almost instantly.

Adira's eyes locked with the familiar blue ones as she tried to stand properly with his arms around her waist, keeping her in position.

She put her hands on his shoulder to stable herself as she whispered harshly.

"Zidan! What are you doing here??" Adira tried to get free from his grasp but he wasn't about to let go.

"I had to see you." He whispered back, his eyes fixed on her face.

"If my father sees you, he'll kill you. You know how's he with boys talking to me." Adira sighed as she tried to get free but his hold around her was too strong so she finally gave in, staring at his face.

"But tell me why did you have to see me?" She whispered, leaning in his touch as he slowly tucked a hair strand behind her ear.

"Dunno. Maybe you just attract me too much." His lips broke out into a smile as Adira smacked his arm, scowling at his comment.

But Zidan's smile slowly disappeared, placing another emotion on his face which she couldn't decipher.

"Zidan, what's wrong?" Adira spoke lowly, tilting her head to get a nice view of his face.

His skin glistened under the care of the last sunrays and Adira never saw a view more beautiful.

Regret flashed Zidan's face as she noticed Adira staring at him with a gaze he would never forget but he had to do it.

Slowly confusion took over Adira's facial structure as she questioned him.

"Zidan? Did your father tell you something? Did he hurt you?" Adira hastily spoke as she tried to find any bruise on his skin or anything that would say why he was looking at her that way.

"No." He whispered as he finally wrapped his arms around Adira, nuzzling his nose in the crook of her neck, inhaling her earthy scent.

Adira was taken aback for a moment but soon she gave into the hug and rested her head on his shoulder as he held her tight.

Present

"And then he bit me." Adira deadpanned.

"Huh?"

"What the fuck?"

Selene and Darcy's words both synchronized at the same moment as they caught a glimpse of each other's shocked face before turning to Adira again.

"I didn't know he was a vampire back then and he didn't know that I was a potential hunter." Adira spoke as she strolled in her room.

"So as a potential vampire hunter, he couldn't keep my blood down and he escaped from there. I fainted for a short time and when I woke up, Dad had taken me home and told me everything since I already encountered a vampire."

"To become a real hunter, I had to kill him." Adira's lips was set in a thin line as she tried to keep her overflowing emotions at bay.

"Man, you faced betrayal at a very early age." Selene neared Adira as she pat her shoulder as an act of comfort but it only looked awkward.

"I had to gap an year to cope up with my real personality. It was my senior year and I couldn't continue school there with the junior hippies. So I came here." Adira added, her eyes on something out of the window.

"Where it all began," she finally looked at the girls,"—or so the myth says."

Darcy let out a sigh as she shook her head as if to convince herself but who could?

"Darcy? You okay?" Selene asked, benting her knees to get a glimpse of her best friend.

"This is all too overwhelming. Adira killing a guy who was a vampire, me being a witch. This, this is so not what I have expected." Darcy put a hand on her forehead, massaging it as Selene put a hand on Darcy's back for comfort.

"Look Darcy, you don't have to think about it if it stresses you. After all, it's rarely sure that you're a witch. You might be a generation of them but that doesn't mean you have to be a witch too." Selene stated softly as she sat down next to Darcy.

"I hope that's the case, Sel." Darcy muttered as she rested her head on Selene's shoulder.

"If you don't mind me asking, do you two live in this town since your births?" Adira asked with curiosity hanging in her words as she crossed her arms at her front and leaned on the window frame.

"No, I came here when I was seven years old. Though my uncle says this town is Silvester family's birth town, we tried to live at other places but we kept coming back here." Selene told Adira as she shrugged lightly.

"It kept us here like a mother bond."

"That's awful. I would leave this town in any chance I get." Darcy admitted, leaning back with her elbows resting on the bed.

"You would leave me?" Selene pouted playfully as she glanced at Darcy.

"Ugh,you cringe creature."

***

It was almost dusk when Darcy reached the front porch of her house. Putting the key in the keyhole, she unlocked the door as she entered inside.

"Hey, mum." Darcy greeted her mother who was working in the kitchen as she approched her.

"Hey. Where have you been?" Mrs. Emerson asked genuinely as she glanced at her daughter, looking exhausted head to toe.

Darcy plopped one of the couches, benting her knees and rested her back on the soft cushions as she replied,"Went to a friend's house."

"Selene?" Mrs. Emerson raised her eyes from her work to watch Darcy as she asked but Darcy only shook her head.

"No. Adira's."

"Oh. Darcy, give me a hand here, will you?" Darcy jumped off the couch, groaning as she reached her mum and asked what she needed to do.

"Cut me those tomatoes." Mrs. Emerson handed Darcy a knife but as soon as Darcy's fingers brushed with her mum's hand, Mrs. Emerson jerked away her hand and her eyes widened in horror.

"Mum?" Darcy noticed her mother's shocked state as she stared at her,"—what happened?"

Mrs. Emerson said nothing. Backing away from Darcy, she grabbed her phone and walked fast towards the door.

Before Darcy could speak or even protest what her mother was doing, Mrs. Emerson was already out of the house and the last thing Darcy heard was,

"Hello, Silas."

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A/N: at this point, I can cry about how much of a bad writer I am T~T