CHAPTER 20

The faint lyrics of 'Only One' by Alex Band were playing. I was literally re-living the horrors of the previous day. I forced my eyes open and let out a relieved breath. Just a dream!

I hugged the covers and breathed in the familiar scent of my room. I was about to drag myself out of bed when my bedroom door swung open and startled me. Caleb jumped in fright at the same time as I did.

"You're up!" he beamed.

"And you're in my room without permission," I said with a grin.

"Hey guys, she's awake," he called into the hallway. Then he strode forward and pulled me into a hug.

Tyler and Pogue stumbled into my room and jumped onto my bed, hugging Caleb and I at the same time.

"You guys, I can't breathe!" I whined.

"Oh hush! You big baby," Pogue said back.

"It's my turn," my mother said as she pulled the boys arms away from me and took their place. I hugged her back tightly and then looked around the room again, "Where's Reid?"

Pogue scratched his head while Tyler looked at the floor.

"He was here earlier. He left to go do something. Didn't say what," Caleb spoke up and shrugged.

I tried not to show my disappointment. The previous events were a blur in my mind but I still remembered the words Reid had said to me. 'Caley, I love you'. That was when the spell had broken, at that precise moment. I loved him too and I needed to tell him that.

"Where's Chase?" I questioned after a long silence.

"We locked him up in the shed and put a spell on it, deciding that you should be the one to pick out the punishment," Tyler explained.

My eyes widened. Oh boy! Just what I needed!

An hour and 45 minutes later, I walked briskly to the shed in our backyard. After having breakfast and taking a long soak, I felt relaxed and calm. I rounded the corner and opened the shed door. Chase was sitting with his back against the wall and his legs stretched out away from him. He knew I was standing there but he didn't look at me.

"Hi," I started off.

He looked in my direction and nodded, still keeping his eyes away from mine.

"The boys told me that I'm in charge of your punishment,"

"You want my Power?" he spoke for the first time.

"Unlike you, Power isn't everything to some people,"

He laughed and looked me in the eyes for the first time, "It did to you, only a few hours ago, you were willing to help me get it," he pointed out.

Those words angered me so I lashed out, "That is only because you poisoned me, and you used dark magic on me and fed me lies!"

He just sat there with a vacant expression on his face.

"Anyway," I continued, "I've decided your punishment. I wouldn't call it punishment, more like an ultimatum."

When he didn't speak, I carried on, "You have two options. One, you can stay here with us, live in our house and be a part of our family. Or two, you can leave and never come back."

He smiled a wide smile and turned to look at me again, "Firstly, why on earth would I want to live with you? Secondly, why would you want me too? And thirdly, if I leave, what's stopping me from never coming back again?"

"Well, firstly, I know that you're troubled Chase. All you ever wanted was a family and I'm giving you a chance to be a part of one. It's not the Brady Bunch but we're a unit and we stick together through good and bad. Secondly, I would like it if you stayed because it would help us all become a proper covenant; to function as a group and serve the purpose we were meant to serve. Thirdly, I'd like to think of you as a friend, even though you almost killed me, you also saved me and for that I'm grateful. So what's stopping you from coming back would be- guilt. You have enough guilt for what you did to me to last you a lifetime." I finished off and took a deep breath.

Chase stood up and moved closer. "I've made up my mind, now tell Caleb to get this stupid charm off the place."

"I removed the spell an hour ago, Danver's linkage" I said.

Chase looked at me with wide eyes and stepped out the shed. I, in turn, moved backwards. I wasn't scared of him anymore. I literally died and came back alive; he couldn't do any more than he had already done.

"What's your decision?"

"I wanna leave."

I was a bit taken aback since I thought he would choose to stay. Was I disappointed? No, simply because, out of sight is out of mind.

"Okay," I said. "Good bye Chase,"

I turned to go but he blocked my path, "I never meant to turn you into a monster," he placed a hand against my cheek and I shrugged it off.

"Whatever Chase! Just go, before Caleb sees you."

He lifted a brow, "He doesn't know what your plans for punishment are?"

"No, but he'll forgive me, however, I can't say I'll do the same for you." I gave him one last look before I walked to the front of the house where my neon green beauty sat. I hopped in, revved up the engine and then took off speeding through the dirt roads towards Marblehead.

I pulled to a stop and got out the car. I could distinctively make out the silhouette of a person sitting on the edge of the cliff. It was Reid; I knew I'd find him here. I walked towards him trying not to make a sound but the gravel beneath my feet was proving rather difficult to silence. When I reached the edge, I sat down next to him, letting my legs dangle below.

I placed my head on Reid's shoulder and remained quiet.

Finally he broke the silence, "How are you felling?"

"Much better, it would have been nice if you were there when I woke up."

"I was there, I stayed with you the entire night," he argued as if I had accused him of something.

I lifted my head off his shoulder and stared into his sparkling blue eyes, "I didn't mean it like that. Why did you leave?"

"I'm the reason he took you and the reason you almost died!" his fist began to clench so I grabbed them and tried to calm him down.

"You're also the reason the spell broke,"

"That's not important, you could-

I silenced him by placing a finger to his lips. Then I moved forward until our lips met. I closed my eyes and gave him the most passionate kiss I could muster. My hands wrapped around his neck while his wrapped around my waist as my fingers traced the back of his neck, slowly making their way into his hair. I was about to say those three words when suddenly we lost our balance and went plummeting towards the ground below. I gasped as Reid's arm tightened around my waist bringing back the nostalgic memory of when he first dove off the cliff with me a month ago.

We landed softly and I turned to find him grinning, "You did that on purpose!" I playfully smacked his chest

"Maybe I did," he said with a wink, "After all, what's life without a little thrill and plus I heard you're a real bad ass at heart.

"Shurup," I said as I pulled him in for another kiss. Then I broke away and looked him straight in his baby blue eyes, "I love you too, Mr Garwin."

AUTHOR'S NOTE

Thank you for reading my story and going on an adventure with me. This is my first story and I know it's not perfect. They say 'practice makes perfect' and I do hope that that is true. I want you all to know that this isn't the end….. in a few weeks' time I will be posting up chapter's for book 2 so stay tuned for that.