"How long will you be gone?" Manny asked.
"Just a week." Frida said. "My parents want to see me and my mother's worried so I have to go visit them so they'll know I'm alright."
"Do you want me to come?"
"No I'll be fine and if something goes wrong you'll be able to get to me. Besides you need to search for that crystal remember?"
"Okay just be careful. Let's not forget last week you were abducted by a spider demon."
"Don't worry I'll be fine." She assured him. "And Manny?"
"Yeah."
"Try to stay out of trouble while I'm gone."
The young man huffed at her words then watched her get on the train that would take her back to town. When she arrived she decided to take a short cut through the woods to get to her house. On her way there she had to cross a river, luckily a tree had fallen over so she decided to use it as a bridge. However she noticed something strange about the water. It was red in it, lots red liquid mixing with the river water.
"Is that blood?" Frida wondered.
She followed the redness up the river until she reached a creek and lying in the middle of the creek, motionless and bleeding was Zoe. Frida was shocked, she had wondered what happened to her after the whole Tito incident bit she didn't think she had gotten hurt. She went over to her body and checked for a pulse, she was alive just unconscious and badly injured. At first she thought 'Serves her right for what she tried to do to Manny' and she considered leaving her there but a voice in her head that sounded a lot like her mother's told her not to leave her. It was quite the quarrel between her feelings and her morals, and much to her disappointment her conscience won the fight.
"I know I'm gonna regret this." Frida said as she reluctantly lifted her body on to her shoulders and carried her all the way to her house. She had arrived early so no one was home which was good because she didn't want her father to find a half demon in the house. She laid Zoe in her bed then pulled out her first aid kit and began tending to her wounds. An hour later Zoe started to wake up.
"Oh good you're awake." Frida said. "And here I was hoping you'd sleep through the whole healing process."
"You!" She said angrily but weakly. "What's going? Where am I?"
"You're in my house I found you in the creek and brought you back here for medical treatment. I would've taken you to the hospital but I don't think the doctors would have reacted rationally to finding demon blood in your system."
"You...You saved me?"
"I know shocking isn't it?"
"Why? Why did save me? Don't you hate me?"
"Yeah but I have a rather annoying conscience that refused to let me leave you for dead."
"Where...Where's Manny?"
"He's not here, he's out on a search for something really important."
"In that case leave me alone!"
"Oh believe me I would but you need medicine."
She pulled out one of her grandmother's special herbal medicines and poured some into a spoon.
"Here take this."
"What is it?"
"It's medicine it'll make you feel better."
"How do I know it's not poison?"
"It's not! Trust me if I had wanted to kill you I would've done it while you were at the creek."
Zoe sighed then took the medicine.
"Ick! That stuff tastes terrible!" She gagged.
"Oh I'm sorry next time I'll get cherry flavor." Frida said sarcastically. "You should probably rest for awhile, I'll bring something to eat later and just so you know my heart is not on the menu."
She left her alone to rest. Zoe laid in bed, her whole body hurt. Tito had beat her without mercy for failing him and then left her for dead. During the whole beating Tito had managed to knock out the shard of demon mirror in her eye freeing her from his control but by then she was too weak and in pain to fight back or escape. She thought that she was going to die for sure so you can imagine her surprise when she awoke to find her enemy tending to her wounds.
"I don't understand." She thought. "All I've done to that girl was try to kill her, to eat her heart and yet she saves me. Why? What could she possibly gain from helping me?"
At lunch Frida brought Zoe some soup and tea that was made with special herbs that had healing properties. Due to that and the fact that Zoe was half demon, she was healed by the time she finished her meal.
"So are you feeling better?" Frida said.
"Why did you save me?" She asked.
"I already told you."
"I don't understand. You're not supposed to help the people you despise, if it had been you I would've either left you there or finished you off! So why? Why show me compassion after everything I've done to you?!"
"Well I don't know. Maybe it's because I'm an apostle? Maybe it's because I was raised by a cop and a judge? Maybe it's because Manny once cared for you? Or maybe it's because I feel sorry for you?"
"You feel sorry for me? You? Why would you feel sorry for me?"
"Because you've never really known love and compassion from anyone. Anyone except Manny, that's why you wanted him so badly right? Because he was the first person to ever be nice to you."
"Don't act like you know me."
"I only know what Manny has told me and from what I've seen. On one hand you're a selfish, manipulative, cruel she devil who will do anything to get what you want but on the other hand you're also a poor, sad, unloved girl who's desperate for any kind of affection. So you have both my dislike and my pity."
"I don't want your pity."
"Too bad you have it and you know if you really loved Manny like you say you do you wouldn't have done what you did."
"I did it so we couldbe together."
"Well that's not what he wanted! And you know you're little stunt almost killed him! That demonic transformation threw his body way out of wack! His life started to drain away! He could've died! But he didn't, T.J managed to fix him but imagine if he didn't? What if his life had been drained completely? What if he had died? If he had it would've been your fault! Tell me do you kill the man you love?!"
"Well you...You...You..." But she couldn't finish. Instead she just burst into tears and fell down crying. "You're right! I know what I did was wrong! I didn't want to hurt him! I just wanted him to love me. Back then I thought he loved me, I told him how I felt and I hoped that he would feel the same way but he didn't! He left me! Alone! He said because we were half human he couldn't love anyone! I thought if I could make us full demons than he could love me! But I swear I never wanted to hurt him! I never wanted to kill him! I just don't understand...Why?! Why can't he love me?"
Seeing her crying like this made it very hard for Frida to be mad at her. She remembered when she told Manny that she loved him and he rejected her for the same reason. She was so sad and hurt, it made her wonder if Manny had chosen to leave her would she had done everything Zoe did?
"Okay, okay, stop crying. I sort of understand what you're feeling."
"You do?"
"I told Manny that I loved him and like you he turned me down for the same reason. The truth is Zoe he can't love anyone if he does it...It would hurt him."
"I don't understand?"
"Zoe I can't explain exactly why but if Manny ever fell in love with a woman and suffered the loss of losing her it would send him on a killing tampage, he'd destroy everything in his path and possibly die from a broken heart. So he chooses not to love because he doesn't want to hurt anyone, you know what happened when he was separated mother. What he did then he would release ten fold if he knew the pain of a lost love and I think he left you to protect you."
"Why should I believe you?"
"Because he'll never love me either he told me so."
"Hmmm...Then I guess I don't have a reason to hate you do I?"
"No not really. Do you steal plan to rip out my heart and eat it?"
"No point now, if he plans to never love anyone I don't really want full power. Now if you'll excuse me I need to go."
Zoe got dressed and Frida followed her out of her house.
"So where are you gonna go?"
"I don't know I guess I could- Look out!"
Zoe pushed Frida out of the way of a beam that came crashing toward them.
"Are you okay?" Zoe asked her but she had been knocked out.
Just then a black and green vulture flew down taking the form of none other than Carmelita Zoe's mother.
"Mother?" Zoe said. "Are you crazy?! You almost hit me?!"
"Sorry dear didn't see you." She then looked over at the unconscious Frida. "Good job Zoe, you've captured the girl with a star for a heart. Now we may cut it out and eat it."
"Um...Hello? It's me your daughter! I've been missing for a year and that's all you can say to me?!"
"Zoe I don't have time for one of your moods! Now help me get this girl back to the lair!"
"No!"
"What did you say?"
"No Mother! I'm not going to do that!"
"Zoe are you disobeying me?"
"Yes I am! Do you have any idea what I've been through?! I've been captured by a demon, brainwashed by one, was beaten half to death, and left for dead! Dead Mother! I could've died! We're you even worried about me?!"
"If you won't help me then I'll do it myself!"
Zoe quickly stepped between Carmelita and Zoe. Her purple eyes filled with more anger and betrayal than she ever had in all her life.
"You're not going to have her heart Mother! I refuse to let you be immortal! Because someone like you doesn't deserve to live!"
"How dare you! You ungrateful little brat! I knew I should've aborted you! But I foolishly gave into my maternal instinct and let you be born! How could I have ever loved you?"
"I don't think you ever did! But one thing is for sure I'm not letting you take Frida's heart!"
Carmelita shrieked and struck Zoe across her face while clawing it with her talons in the process. When Zoe got back up the ruthless and vile woman began to beat, kick, claw, and batter the poor girl. Zoe screamed in pain and collapsed to the floor making it looked like she had passed out. But when Carmelita's back was turned, Zoe raised her hand and picked her mother up using her telekinesis powers and sent her flying into an abandoned building. Zoe ran in after her and the two began to fight like birds of prey.
Frida eventually woke up and heard the ruckus. She realized that they were in a building that was about to be condemned. She tried to tell the construction workers to stop but they didn't hear her over their power tools, she quickly went into the building and began searching for Zoe.
"How could you do this to me?!" Carmelita screeched at Zoe. "I'm your mother!"
"You were never my MOTHER!"
Zoe screamed and using her telekinesis again she sent a nearby sharp blade flying into her mother's stomach, hitting her in her weak spot and killing her. She let out a sigh of relief and collapsed on her knees in pain.
"Zoe!" Frida called. "Zoe! There you are! Listen we need to get out of here! They're going to blow this place up sky high!"
"No. I'm staying."
"What?"
"I have nothing left to live for. I'm not long for this world."
"That's crazy! You can't just stay here and die! You have to-"
"You're wrong about Manny Frida." Zoe said interrupting her. "He does love you. He may never act on his feelings but he looks at you in a way he could never at anyone else not even me. Do me a favor will you? When I die say a prayer for me. I don't know where I'm going after to death but I don't think it'll be heaven."
"Zoe."
"Take good care of Manny. Your all he has."
Just then Zoe picked her with telekinesis and carefully sent her out of the building, landing her on a safe area. Then BOOM! The hall building blew up in a huge explosion. Frida was awestruck abd at the same time sad. She found tears streaming down her cheeks, she was crying, crying for Zoe.
"Dear God." She prayed. "A soul has just been returned to you, please welcome her with loving arms and grant her everlasting peace and salvation. Though she sinned she had never known real love and that was all she ever wanted so please have mercy on her soul and give her the love she always wanted."
She continued to cry and cry until she felt something fall on her. It was a feather, a crow's feather, looking up she saw a black crow with purple eyes looking down on her.
"Zoe?"
The crow only continued to stare and then flew away leaving her to wonder if the poor half demon girl was still alive or not.