(A/N: Sorry about the ridiculously long wait between chapters here. It was a combination of an insane schedule and plain ol' writer's block, but I'm back on track here and hopefully won't lag behind this badly again.)
Laura Bennett found Jessica standing near a wall in the living room, not surprisingly all by herself. "So," Laura greeted her, disappointed, "I take it you haven't made a play for Reese yet tonight?"
Jessica sighed. "No, I haven't. What am I supposed to do? Go up to him and say, 'Kay never actually cared about you, you were just a decoy so that she could plot to steal Miguel without suspicion, but I'm in love with you so maybe you'd like to go out with me instead'? I really don't think that'd get me very far!"
Laura rolled her eyes. "Of course not, but you should start by trying to spend as much time with him as possible, flirting subtly, so that when he finds out and begins to get over her, he can gradually come to notice you in a 'more than friends' sort of way."
"I'm SO not good at any of that!" Jessica protested emphatically. "I'd just make an idiot out of myself." As she talked with Laura, though, she could sense that her sister was trying to conceal some strong emotion. "Hey, what's wrong? I can't put my finger on it, but you just look really upset about something. Are you alright?"
"Yeah, I'm fine, I don't know what you're talking about," Laura said hurriedly but somewhat shakily. "Anyway, that's a non-issue right now. The important thing is that you get Reese—"
"Get me what?" Reese asked, having seemingly joined them out of nowhere. "What are you guys talking about?"
"Um, well, you see…" Laura started.
"A birthday present!" Jessica finished for her.
"A birthday present?" Reese asked, taken aback.
"We were trying to be secretive about it, but you found us out! The two of us are going in on a gift. I don't know why you should be so surprised; after all, your birthday is next week," Jessica remarked.
"Yeah, but we've never gotten each other anything before!"
"I know, but this is the big one, your 18th birthday. It's special. And besides," Jessica smiled nervously, "you've been a really good friend, when you haven't been ranting about Tabitha and Timmy, that is."
Reese blushed a little. "Aw, thanks Jessica, that's really sweet of you. Though you know, I saw Tabitha and her nephew just now and they were—"
Laura, by now not only used to but also highly amused by Reese's wild theories about her neighbors, nodded to him encouragingly, but Jessica clearly did not feel like another round of his ridiculous notions. "REESE!" she yelled severely.
"Okay, okay! I'll stop!" Reese promised reluctantly. "Say, Laura, why would you get me a present? We barely even know each other."
"I, uh, I just thought that I should try and be more open with everybody, since this is my life now, and you've been really nice to me, so I thought it would be a good gesture. I'm sorry if you think it's really weird," Laura added, knowing that the last bit would definitely win her believability points.
"No, not at all," Reese assured her kindly. "That's perfectly understandable, and very sweet. So, have, uh, either of you seen Kay?"
"Yes, I met her about ten minutes ago," Laura said simply, in a tone that dissuaded either of them from questioning her further. "Have you been having trouble getting to her?"
Reese nodded despondently. "I saw her a couple of times, but by the time I made my way through the crowd, she was gone. She must be completely bombarded with people wanting to speak with her, and unable to get away from them. I'd better go and find Kay now, and assure her that I haven't abandoned her."
Reese took his leave, and both girls breathed a sigh of relief.
"Whew!" exclaimed Jessica. "That was close! And what was with all that shy, 'I hope you don't think I'm weird' stuff? You knew exactly how to play that lie!"
"Yeah, well, you don't get to be raised a Crane without learning how to be somewhat devious," Laura explained casually. "It really comes in useful at times, too. You weren't bad yourself, actually. I liked the way you subtly hinted at how important he is to you. A good start, and not too obvious."
Jessica didn't seem terribly convinced. "Thanks, but you heard him. He's run off to be with Kay again."
"Well, you can't expect too much at first. I'm not a miracle worker. However, I have a feeling that his 'relationship' with Kay won't be much of an issue after he actually manages to speak with her."
"Oh, she's going to break his heart!" the younger sister grimaced.
"Unfortunately, yes," Laura acknowledged, feeling genuinely sorry for the guy. "However, you'll be there for him, and eventually he'll see you in a new light."
"I wish I was as sure about that as you are."
Laura shot her sister a stern look. "Stop being so hard on yourself. You're pretty, smart, and interesting when you're not doing the perfect happy daughter routine. Also, the two of you have chemistry; he just needs a little encouragement to see that."
Their conversation was abruptly interrupted, though, when a honey-blonde girl of about their age decked out in an extremely expensive-looking gown grabbed Laura and forcibly hugged her.
"Sophie!" Laura gasped out feebly while fighting for breath.
"Laura!" Sophie cried melodramatically as soon as she let Laura go. "It's all just so tragic, to find out you're not actually a Crane! We all miss you so much! How are you holding up on the other side?" She asked her question with as much gravity as if Laura had been diagnosed with a terminal illness.
"I'm surviving, Sophie, thank you," Laura replied politely.
"I admire your bravery," Sophie uttered gravely. "So, who is this you're talking to? Is this one of the people in your new life? She doesn't look at all familiar."
Dutifully, Laura introduced the two. "Sophie, this is Jessica Bennett, my sister, as it turns out. Jessica, this is Sophie Remington, of the Philadelphia Remingtons," she made sure to include, as if she'd been reminded of that fact on many an occasion. "We went to school together."
"It's nice to meet you," Sophie shook Jessica's hand gingerly, but didn't bother to look away from Laura. "I think that's so sweet, Laura, that you're actually making the effort to get to know her."
"She is my sister, Sophie, so I don't see anything particularly noble about talking to her."
Apparently, Laura's comment passed right over the young socialite. "So, I take it you're not coming to Rutland this fall, due to your circumstances?"
Laura shook her head. "There's no way, I have nothing to my name. My old family has no interest in providing me with any assistance anymore, and my new family could never pay it, and even if they could, I wouldn't feel right about taking it from them in this situation."
"Oh, it just won't be the same without you! And after you graduated at the top of our class, too!" Sophie cried, looking as if she was about to burst dramatically into tears, until something else caught her attention. "Oh, look, there's Elizabeth Jacobs, and will you look at that awful dress she's got on?! She might as well wear a skinned cat! I'd better go and greet her."
As soon as Sophie had left, Jessica laughed nervously. "Well, she was…interesting."
Laura smiled through gritted teeth. "Oh, how I hate that harebrained two-face."
"You do?" Jessica questioned, surprised. "She acted as if the two of you had been the best of friends."
"Oh, we were," Laura assured her.
"Why?"
"As a Crane daughter, if you want to get along without any trouble, you learn what and who you have to put up with and you do it. The Remingtons are an important family who have frequent business dealings with the Cranes. Therefore, it was prearranged that we would be friends, and it was easier to socialize with her than to go through the trouble of rebelling. The two of us even toured Europe together during a couple of summers."
"Wow, you must've gone crazy!" Jessica exclaimed.
"You get used to it," Laura shrugged noncommittally. "Anyways, it was better than going home and watching Mo—, er 'Ivy,' fawn over Ethan while Julian kept himself too busy chasing after the maids to even notice my existence. I usually went on trips during school breaks; being a Crane, there was never any shortage of invitations from girls whose fathers wanted to get on good terms with my family."
"Didn't anybody just want to be your friend?" Jessica asked, suddenly glad to be middle class.
"Oh, there were a few, but not many. It's easy to tell, now. Those who actually care took the trouble to contact me here, and a couple of them have promised to visit me. As for the rest, you have to realize that these are girls who would fly to Paris just to eat at a certain restaurant, and they haven't even bothered to phone me. This is the first I've heard from Sophie since the accident."
"That's awful, and you hardly ever came home? I'd love to go to Europe and everything, but I certainly wouldn't trade."
"Hey, don't feel sorry for me," Laura insisted. "I was a Crane, after all. I was just about to start college at an elite school, and after I survived that stupid sorority I'd have to join, I would have gotten my trust money, and then I would've been free from it all. It's not like the Bennett house is 1950's sitcom perfection, either. We're illegitimate, we've got TWO half-brothers, Mother has amnesia and makes us eat that awful food while perpetually obsessing over Charity, according to just about everybody that I've talked to the whole family is a magnet for 'evil forces,' and my old mother continually schemes to steal my new father away. I guess I can see why you like to live in denial. It's much nicer if you pretend that everything's just great."
"Hey!" Jessica felt obligated to defend her family. "It's not that bad, and at least you don't have to put up with people like Sophie any more."
"That is one advantage," Laura admitted. "You know, I'm breaking my code by saying this, but you're alright. Definitely an improvement over my old sisters."
"Really?" Jessica asked, curious. "Are they like you?"
Scoffing, Laura replied, "Hardly. Trust me, if you think Sophie's bad, you REALLY don't want to meet them. They're much more intelligent, but far less pleasant."
"Yuck. That must be awful." Then, Jessica happened to throw a glance into the adjoining parlor room. "Oh My God! What's going on over there?!"
Turning her head, Laura gasped at the sight that befell her. "The hell?! It looks like our father and that Mr. Russell—and they're trying to kill each other!" Not wasting a second, the two girls ran over to see what was going on.
*****
Sam and TC were indeed engaged in a violent fistfight, surrounded by an ever growing crowd of spectators. Several people had tried to break them up, to no avail. Desperately wanting an explanation, Jessica and Laura ran to the nearest person they knew—Ethan, who stood just outside of the fray with a sour expression and a bloodied nose from a misplaced right hook of TC's. "What on earth is going on?" Jessica asked.
Wincing from the pain as he turned to look at them, Ethan replied, "Hello, Jess, Laura. I don't know. All I heard was Dad yelling, 'Nobody talks about my kid that way!' and he started pummeling Coach Russell! I tried to stop them, but they're not exactly open to reason right now!"
Having overheard Jessica's question, the nearby Grace, predictably in hysterics, answered, "We were just dancing, and then TC bumped into us. He said he and his family were leaving the party, and we should too, because this house is pure evil. Then, he said that we should be glad that Kay isn't ours because she's pure evil, too. I was upset, but Sam went nuts! He started yelling that he's had enough of TC and his judgmental temper, and took off on him. I'm so frightened Sam will get hurt!"
"Uh, Mother," Laura chimed in calmly, "I don't think you need to worry about Father getting hurt."
Laura was in fact right, for as the fight went on, it became evident that Sam had the upper hand. Although he looked slightly battered, his injuries were nothing compared to TC, who was now suffering from a black eye, a nose similar to Ethan's, and various other injuries, many of which would leave some nasty-looking bruises. Taking a hard punch to the gut, TC finally fell to his knees, sputtering uselessly. Seeing that TC could no longer fight, Sam stopped the attack, and coldly seethed, "Don't you EVER talk about her that way again."
TC laughed, his laughter soon turning into a cough from his injuries. "I was only trying to warn you, man. The girl's evil."
"THAT'S ENOUGH!"
"Fine, have it your way," TC replied with difficulty as Eve helped him to his feet. "But I'm getting my family out of here right now." He quickly glanced over his family: Eve looking worried and embarrassed, Simone avoiding all eye contact with her head hanging down, and Whitney standing next to Chad, both of them looking utterly mortified about everything. "C'mon, everybody, we're going."
Whitney, sick of always being ordered around by her father, and still horrified that her sister had been so readily cleared of all responsibility after trying to kill her, decided that she finally had enough. "No, Daddy, I'm gonna stay here. I don't feel like going home right now, and I haven't even had a chance to talk to Theresa tonight."
TC glared even harder, completely astounded that his always dutiful daughter had openly disobeyed him. "Whitney," he said, his voice violently low, "I said that we're going."
Gathering up her courage, Whitney stood her ground. "And I said that I'm not ready to go yet. I'm an adult, and can go or stay as I want to. Plus, I'm not so sure that Kay was behind what happened out back, and I really don't feel like being around Simone right now."
TC fumed, too angry to say anything other than a furious, "Fine!", and stormed out of the mansion, Eve and Simone following him.
One by one, the satisfied crowd dispersed. "So," one man was heard asking, "Do you have any idea what just happened here?"
"No," his female companion commented, sounding pleased. "Still, that was quite a welcome little diversion."
"Oh, yes," the man agreed. "I've heard some very interesting things about Crane parties, and I would've been very disappointed if nothing unexpected had happened."
*****
Surreptitiously, Theresa ushered Chad and Whitney into an unoccupied room. "Guys, what was that all about?!" she asked as soon as they were in.
With no small amount of anger in his voice, Chad explained the whole chain of events leading to the fight as well as he could, though he obviously did not understand the full story behind all of the bizarre occurrences.
Wide-eyed, Theresa gave a low whistle. "Wow, I mean, I don't know what I was expecting, but not that! If it hadn't been for the demons attacking the Bennett house, or me taking that trip through Hell, I wouldn't be able to believe this. I knew Simone was really upset over you two getting together, but I never thought that she'd actually try to kill you, Whit!"
Still shaking a little, Whitney lowered her eyes. "I didn't think so either, though I don't think she was really her normal self, what with the cackling and the powers and everything."
Theresa frowned. "But neither of you think that Kay was involved in making her do those things?"
"I don't know what to believe," Chad remarked. "I guess it's possible, but you shoulda seen the look on her face when Coach Russell blamed her. Only an innocent person could look THAT enraged when getting accused of something."
Emphatic, Whitney nodded in agreement. "I don't think it was her fault at all. But try telling that to Daddy when he's on one of his anti-Crane kicks. We'll probably never know what really happened now."
The wheels in Theresa's head turned furiously as she tried to process all of this. "Whether or not she caused it, Kay had to be involved somehow if she knew how to stop Simone. Something strange is going on with her, and I'd better find out what."
The slightly diabolical tone in Theresa's voice made Whitney distinctly uneasy. "Why, Theresa, what do you have against Kay?"
"Nothing, specifically, against her," Theresa explained evenly, "but I have everything against Ivy. Unfortunately, Kay actually seems to like her new mother, God knows why, and she's preventing me from taking out my revenge. Therefore, we've become enemies, and I need to keep tabs on her."
"Theresa, you'd better give up this revenge thing right now!" Whitney insisted, alarmed.
"Yeah," agreed Chad, "messing with the Crane heir is definitely not a good idea; there's no way you can win."
"I don't care who either of them are," Theresa replied unreasonably. "If it weren't for Ivy, Ethan and I might be together right now, and she even had me killed! If I'm stuck here, I'm at least going to make her suffer just as much as I am."
Trying to calm down her somewhat delirious friend, Whitney soothingly said, "Maybe, maybe it's not over between you and Ethan. He still wants to marry you; maybe someday you'll be able to get away from the Cranes."
"What fairy land are you living in, Whitney?" Theresa laughed. Then, not oblivious to the irony of her last statement, she added, "The old me must have rubbed off on you or something, because next thing you'll probably be going on and on endlessly about Fate."
Bristling slightly, Whitney defended herself. "Well, maybe you were right before, Theresa. I mean, I didn't think that Chad and I would ever get together, but you kept insisting we would, and here we are, and everybody knows about it, so no matter what happens, there won't be any hiding. I also didn't think that Ethan would ever want you back, but he's still in love you and would marry you in a second if you could get that divorce. Maybe you should just have faith that this is the last of many roadblocks for you two, and everything will work itself out."
"No," Theresa shook her head decisively. "This won't change; it's either Ethan or my baby, and I chose my baby. I don't believe in Fate anymore, and even if it does exist, it's just some force playing with us for its amusement. I can't fight it, but I sure as hell can wreak vengeance on everybody who helped it along."
*****
Slowly, Kay reentered the party, her dignified gait and quiet air of power eliciting notice wherever she went. The change wrought on her since her acceptance could not be seen on the surface, but could be felt by all who saw her.
As she looked around her, Kay felt a confidence and an inner peace that she could not remember ever possessing. Everything seemed so clear now; her purpose in life had been discovered, and all of her guilt and inner turmoil seemed to melt away in the clarity of the knowledge she now possessed.
It was in this frame of mind that Reese finally managed to catch up with her. Panting slightly, Reese grinned practically from ear to ear. "Oh, Kay, I've missed you so much! I've been trying to contact you, but I've never been able to get through. Don't worry, though; I know the truth, and your family won't ever be able to split us up. We love each other, and we'll get through it." Then, suddenly noticing her intangible change in demeanor, he remarked, "Wow, there's something about you that just seems different. It must be everything that's happened, what with being the Crane heir now. I just want you to know that I don't feel threatened by you; I love you just the way you are."
He moved in to kiss her, but Kay pushed him away. Upon seeing his confused expression, her features contorted into something cold, barely recognizable as human. "You really don't get it, do you?"
"What do you mean, my sweet Kay?" Reese asked, a small knot of dread beginning to form in the pit of his stomach.
Getting an idea, Kay decided to change tactics. Seductively, Kay moved in on him until her face was only inches away from his. After gazing meaningfully into his eyes for a long instant, her lips joined his for a long, slow kiss. She was rewarded when she felt his uneasiness dissolve instantly, replaced with a palpable joy and relief. Kay stretched the moment out cruelly, only to break away suddenly with a mocking laugh, leaving him gasping for breath.
"You really are an idiot!" she sneered, reveling in his total bafflement. "Alright, let me spell it out for you: I am not now nor have I ever been your 'sweet Kay'! I don't love you, have never loved you! In fact, I think you're the biggest loser I've ever met, and I only pretended to date you because I couldn't figure out how to get rid of you!"
Trembling and looking as if he had been kicked in the stomach, Reese grabbed Kay's arm. "You don't know what you're saying! I know, the Cranes must have brainwashed you! I've been reading up on the different techniques, and there are several that they could use to—"
"Shut up," Kay ordered as she easily twisted her arm out of his grip. "I don't need to be brainwashed to see how pathetic you are. In fact, I'd have to be under mind control to even tolerate you!" Seeing tears well up in his eyes, Kay smiled, satisfied. "Now, go away, before I have security throw you out for stalking me."
Unable to summon up the will to form any words, Reese turned around and ran away, obviously determined to put as much distance between himself and her as he could. Although she snickered as she watched the boy who had irritated her for so long flee brokenhearted, she gradually became aware of the smallest prick of guilt trying to ruin her fun. Mentally cursing, Kay tried to ignore it; after all, she was the True Heir, bringer of evil and all that, and she wasn't supposed to get all remorseful just for hurting someone's feelings. Nevertheless, there her conscious was, doing battle with the darkness that had set in since she had aligned herself with Cassandra.
It's just doing this out of habit, Kay reassured herself. Some sort of residual effect. It'll get less and less noisy with time, and eventually go away. All I have to do is ignore it.
*****
As Kay resumed walking, she was so busy concentrating on not feeling guilty that she practically ran into Miguel and Charity, who were currently engaged in a playful argument about which one loved the other more.
"No, Charity, there's no possible way that you love me more than I love—Kay!" Miguel exclaimed, suddenly noticing Kay.
"Huh?" Charity said, confused and perturbed, until she too realized that Kay was there. "Oh, hello again, Kay," Charity greeted her, shivering automatically at her presence.
"Hi guys," Kay shot them a forced smile, no longer jealous, but still extremely irritated by their saccharine antics. "Enjoying the party, I hope? I'm awfully sorry about bolting earlier, but there was some stuff I had to do."
"Oh, no problem," Miguel replied reassuringly. "We understand that you're really busy now. Don't we, Charity? Uh, Charity? Charity?!" Miguel repeated loudly when Charity failed to respond to his question, instead staring off into space with an expression of growing fear.
"What? Oh, yes, of course," she replied at last, her voice dazed and far away. "I'm sorry, it's just that I suddenly got this overwhelming sense of that rising evil I've been getting premonitions about! This house, Miguel, the evil is in this house!"
Miguel wrapped his arms around his hysterical girlfriend, trying to calm her down. "I'm sure it's not anything more than what you always feel at the Crane mansion. Haven't you said that there's always been something off about it?"
"Yes, Miguel, but it's more than that. It's gotten a lot stronger, more obvious, and now it comes with this sense that something awful has begun to build itself up."
"C'mon Charity, you must be imagining all of this," Kay smiled at her again, the grin wide and superficially comforting, and yet somehow vaguely threatening. "I've been living here for several weeks now, and I think I would know if something evil was starting up right here under my roof!"
Charity wanted to believe Kay, but something about her ex-cousin was extremely disturbing to the teen psychic, and this made her remember her earlier premonition that Kay would have something to do with the evil. Surely there couldn't be something wrong with her? She nervously glanced at Miguel, who was currently grinning broadly, obviously in complete acceptance of Kay's assurance. Well, if the evil I'm sensing is really this evident, surely he'd be able to tell that something's not right, too, Charity rationalized to herself. "Yeah, I guess I'm just a little paranoid right now, after everything that's happened to us already."
"It's perfectly understandable," Miguel said. "After all, you were trapped in a block of ice for months until a few weeks ago. That's bound to make anybody a little skittish. You shouldn't worry, though. Evil's taken its best shots at trying to split us up, but we're still together. There's nothing we can't overcome with the power of our love. As a matter of fact, I don't even think anything will be coming after us. It's probably just given up by now."
Charity nodded in agreement, secretly far from convinced. Miguel then embraced her, but while he did so, she couldn't help staring at Kay, still smiling that same smile, not changing at all in appearance, and yet somehow becoming more and more sinister by the second.
*****
Nothing more of note happened at the party and the residents of Harmony slowly trickled back to their homes in the late hours of the night. David Hastings went right to bed, hoping to escape his troubled state of mind for a few hours at least in slumber.
Unfortunately, sleep did not overtake him easily. His recently ambivalent attitude towards Grace confused him, as did his increasingly fond feelings for this version of Ivy. Tossing and turning, David didn't think that he would ever actually get to sleep, but he slowly drifted into a fitful, dream-ridden doze…
He was returning home, after a hard day of work, though the exact specifications of that home were, as always, hazy and blurry, not essential to the overall picture, because it wasn't where he was that was important, but who he was with.
As he had a thousand times before, he heard her in the other room: it was Grace, his wife, and she was waiting for him. Grinning contentedly, he called to her, walking briskly to greet her as soon as he could, and found her in the other room, but where he usually found her facing him, beautiful and ecstatic to see him, she instead stood behind a strange sort of thin, semitransparent curtain, her features effectively obscured by the fabric.
Not put off too much by this slight variation of his usual dream, David rushed over Grace and removed the shroud, only to find that it had concealed not Grace, but Ivy, gazing at him with an exhilarating mix of fiery passion and warm tenderness that Grace had never, not even in his wildest dream, been able to come close to matching!
For a second, the sight of the "wrong" woman in his usual fantasy bothered David, but, as it was a dream after all, he forgot all about this cast change almost instantly. Wasting no time at all, they kissed passionately, and it was, if anything, even more exciting than that stolen, insane kiss in the library. All too soon, they parted, and David made to embrace her again, but this time she failed to respond, glancing up at him with a profound sadness.
"What's wrong, love?" David asked sincerely, suddenly reeling from a cold stab of fear. "C'mon, Ivy, you can tell me."
"Oh, David, I have to go away so soon," Dream Ivy replied, barely able to look him in the eye.
"But, why?" David asked desperately, though he somehow felt that he already knew the answer. "Why do you have to go away? I love you, Ivy!"
"I know," she whispered sadly. "And I wish I could stay, I really do. But I don't belong here. You know that, David."
"No!" David yelled, refusing to believe her. "You do belong here, and you can't leave me! Don't you love me, too?"
"Of course I do!" she almost-hissed at him with a little of her trademark venom in her tone, her voice rife with urgency as she seemed to be getting fainter and fainter by the second. "But that doesn't change the facts. You know I can't stay; you've always known that. However, and I have to say this fast because there's not much time left, there's still hope. You have to remember that—"
Dream Ivy never got a chance tell David what he had to remember, though, because she disappeared entirely in the middle of her sentence, leaving a frantic David yelling after her. "No! Ivy! Come back! You can't go away yet!" You…"
David jumped up in his bed, his breath catching in his throat and his heart pumping rapidly. Had he been yelling out loud? He didn't know but he had the uneasy feeling that he had. It took a few moments for the overpowering fear of his dream to subside enough for him to figure out what the hell had just happened.
He could keep on denying it if he wished to, but there was really no point anymore. He had to admit that the surprise he'd gotten in the dream upon seeing Ivy instead of Grace was a pleasant one; in fact, if he was perfectly honest, he'd been downright relieved upon seeing the true identity of the woman. Furthermore, that dream had brought to the surface a range of emotions he hadn't even known he had, and all that desire, fire, concern, and, yes, love, dwarfed whatever it was he had previously felt for Grace. Shaking his head in utter disbelief, he finally came to terms with his revelation—he was desperately in love with Ivy!
Of course, this realization only complicated everything. After all, it wasn't the Ivy who actually existed in the present that he loved, but a ghost from the past, not long for this world. He certainly didn't love Ivy Crane: no, despite a certain attraction that had always existed underneath the hatred, he did loathe her. She was, after all, a monster, and although he now felt a bit of pity for whatever was left of the woman he loved still residing inside that warped creature, he couldn't imagine having any real feelings for her.
And what about Ivy Winthrop? "Hah," David laughed to himself, "she might not even exist for much longer; hell, she shouldn't even exist now. Falling in love with the nineteen year-old version of your current archenemy? Really smart, Hastings. Well, you've always gone for the unattainable women, so at least you're consistent."
David grimaced, knowing full well that if the spell for bringing back Ivy Crane is ever found, he would lose her forever. Well, maybe not, maybe enough of Ivy Winthrop would be left over to change her, make her actually human again. Of course, there was no way of knowing that until the spell was actually cast, and there was no way that she would be the same as she was now.
Then again, there was always the possibility that they would never be able to do the counter-spell. No, he decided after getting his hopes up for a moment, she'd only stay miserable and hopeless, and he was pretty sure that he would never get her that way. After all, from her point of view he was this older man helping her out, but not someone she'd ever think to be attracted to, especially with her relationship with Sam so recent from her perspective. David was not unaware of the irony of his situation: he had more of a chance with the evil version of Ivy than the good one, the one he loved! At least she must be attracted to him on some bizarre level.
Laying back down, David spent a sleepless night trying to come to grips with everything, but unable to find any kind of resolution to this nightmare.