Harry

Well, that's Ze's supposed mafia boyfriend!

I scanned the area for what he was looking at, I could tell he was most likely following that girl from the bread section, he was staring at her for more than ten minutes, from the moment he caught my attention. 

I was rushing towards the candles and gifts section of the store fifteen minutes back, to get the necessities quickly and get back to Avyanna's, Leila wasn't safe until we return but when I checked the candles, I was confused, there were so many different kinds of candles in unique shapes, sizes and fragrances. I had no idea what to pick, Leila said candles but not what type, moreover why were there so many candles? I was theoretically frustrated. 

I picked two packs of normal white, and two packs of lilac fragmented candles, that would make forty-eight candles in total, I've seen the number of candles she used at Aini's place to create her circle, that was a lot and total waste of products, why cant the witches stick to LED lights? That can be reused.

I checked the list mentally, candles, done! Clay pot, done! I only need to grab two bottles of water, that was when I saw him from my peripheral vision, he was talking over his phone. He looked similar from the last meeting, in a dark suit and his hair gelled perfectly to his scalp, do men still follow the rules of hairdressing? well, I don't. 

He stopped at the dairy section for too long which caught my attention, I knew Zara did discover something about him but she hadn't yet said what it was, so I decided to follow him in the meantime. He stares in the opposite direction, initially, I thought he wants to buy bread but after observing him for a little while, I found out that he was following a girl, not romantically I might add, the girl was tall, probably a teenager, she carried textbooks in a hand, with glasses. She didn't recognize him when she passed him to the counter behind him.

The whole ordeal was suspicious. suddenly a girl ran towards her calling her name, "Leena! I got it," she screamed, shaking the paintbrushes and bottles in the air and the girl Leena went with her to the counter to pay, the mafia followed her. 

I walked behind them, I was interrupted by the ping of my phone, it notified me of a mail from the office, that was when I noticed the time, I was here for more than an hour. A remainder of Leila with the wicked witch created an unsettlement in the guts and I ran towards the car after paying the bill quickly, the drive only took five minutes. I prayed that Zara was with Leila. 

I parked on Avyanna's garden, she will be dead soon and won't have time for lawn maintenance, Ze would be proud of my action, if Aini was here, I wouldn't have heard the end of it. I miss her but it won't be long before she returns to us, that thought kept me going.

I heard noises traveling in the air when I was about to knock, Avyanna was talking to Leila.

"No Leila, it will not end that way, even if you save your daughter, she will still suffer much more than the rest of us, the curse was strong."

"Why should my daughter suffer more than us, wasn't our pain enough for a lifetime?" Leila inquired, angrily from the way she spoke.

"I'm the third born Leila, when I discovered my powers and started using it, Valerie's spirit promised me of great pain from the rest of us, she promised more pain than mine for the curse breaker," she informed, she was using her pity tone, making me roll my eyes in frustration. if she cares for her, she would have spared Aini's soul. 

"I'm sorry Leila, I know what happened to you but your husband is fine," she insisted, I wondered how she knew about Mr. Malcolm, I knew it was bad to eavesdrop but I wanted to know.

"How do you know?"

"I'm roaming the land for too long, I watched when your daughter was born, poor her."

"Well then you might have known, how was he?"

"Why are you outside," I heard Zara whisper scream in my ear.

"Jeez women, a warning would be nice," I barked at her, annoyed and my best friend grinned.

"Shut up and listen," I scolded and pointed at the door, together we eavesdropped on the two ladies.

"... Carlo, one night stands and his science experiments," we heard Avyanna list.

"Bro, we missed half of it," I yelled at her, she shushed me, listening intently. that's what I did as well.

"He had a son," we heard Leila state.

"He was older than Aini wasn't he?" Avyanna asked, Leila, didn't speak. maybe she gestured because Avyanna spoke again.

"He's grown, runs his own business empire, trust you don't want Aini anywhere near him, keeps her away Leila and she will be fine, as much fine as she was allowed to be."

"But why, he is her brother," Leila argued, I looked at Zara in shock, she was stunned than I'm but the ladies were not done, they conversed more.

"Half brother Leila, keep her away, protect her, she is the chosen one-"

"What do you mean the chosen one?" Leila shouted, cutting the witch off.

"Please stop pretending to yourself like you don't know, she's the seventh girl in our bloodline, you know what that meant."

"But I had a sister," Leila insisted.

"Miscarried before birth, Leila please, don't you see your daughter's powers? Powers that are destined for the curse breaker?" Avyanna asked, Zara nudged at me to listen more intently. 

I am worried at their discussion, a part of my brain whatever that is coming won't be good, "this isn't going to end well Ze," I whispered and she nodded, we heard them argue.

"No, my daughter can only see the future, nothing more." 

Avyanna laughed sarcastically, Ze whispered back, "yeah! this is bad."

"You think? Your daughter can see the future of someone, true but that was not all. She can raise the dead, haven't you spoken to Zara? She can manipulate the minds, she can convince anyone to do her bidding, isn't she the one who attends your business meeting? She wasn't your lucky charm Leila, it was her power. She can manipulate resources, create an illusion, mess with a person's mind." Avyanna informed me it was shocking for me and Zara, I could imagine what Leila was going through, Aini was her daughter. 

"No!" Leila's voice broke, she said something inaudible for us but we heard Avyanna reply.

"She's the one."

I couldn't listen to their conversation anymore, Avyanna didn't state the fate of Aini directly but the message was clear, Aini will be the one to put an end to the curse along with her life. 

"It's true, isn't it?" I mumbled to Zara.

"Yeah," that was all Ze could reply to as well, she was broken, tears build up in her eyes.

"Aint powers a good thing though? she could save herself using them," Zara asked hopefully but I know better.

"With great powers comes great responsibility, haven't you heard that saying?"

"I think we should go in," she suggested, I nodded, and together we went in with the necessities.

1240 words

Total word count - 48,438/-