Heyo guys *_* (If you want to ignore my mushiness and jump right into the chapter below, it starts right after the dotted line.)

I wanted to dedicate this chapter to author_shagun for being amazing and basically making me feel like my story means something.

You are one of the people who make me not doubt myself, so thank you for doing that xx

Obviously I wouldn't write this if I didn't and I really love where my story is going so far, but sometimes I get scared it's crap and people won't like it.

----------------------------------------------

"Stop screaming," Damien yelled at me, brushing my shaking hands away from our grandmother.

"She's dead," I sobbed, "she's dead, she's dead, she's dead." I kneaded the ground for lack of better things to do with my hands.

Damien looked at me, gaze soft. "No she's not. Look." He pulled my hand and placed it on her beating heart. "See? Still alive."

I breathed a sigh of relief, unable to say anything.

"Maybe she fell?" he theorized.

I shrugged, "At least she's not dead, right?"

Damien nodded. He picked her up in one scoop, one hand under her knees and the other to support her neck. "Whatever happened, I'm sure she'd like to rest."

I moved in front, hefting both of our bags on my back, and opening doors for my brother to pass. In Nana's room, Damien gently laid her on the bed and covered her.

I dashed downstairs to grab Nana a glass of lemonade and a glass of water. I didn't know whether she needed the sugar boost or if water would suffice so I took both up.

When I got there, I placed the drinks on her night stand. Damien was pressing a cold compress to her forehead.

"Is she awake?" I whispered.

I heard a feeble throat clearing. Damien and I both looked down at her. She was so pale, and small. The covers dwarfed her already small frame, making her look like she'd been swallowed by the bed.

"Where am I?" she said, voice hoarse from disuse. Anger followed by worry flashed in her amber eyes. "Abigail, Damien!" My brother gently pressed her shoulder down to prevent her from getting up. I reached around him for the lemonade and helped her take a sip.

Nana's hands gripped mine as she drained the glass dry. She pulled the empty glass out of my hands and lightly discarded it to one side. With her free hand, she reached for Damien, and he gave up his left willingly to her. We sat on her bed, watching her.

"Something's not right," she said, eyes wide. "The last thing I remember was being in a large white room."

She pulled us closer till we were but a hairs breadth away. "It was the Seventh Sanctum," she hissed. "They did something to me. I can't remember anything." Something flashed over her face and she swallowed audibly. "You can't trust me! You need to protect yourself."

"Nana," I said calmly, or at least tried to. My voice wavered. I carried on. "I think you're suffering from heat exhaustion." I didn't believe a word that just came out of my mouth. Nana was right. Something was definitely up; she hadn't cursed at me once. Not that she normally did that, but lately, her personality had drastically changed. Damien and I just didn't know what to do. Could this be our real grandmother warning us, or just another ploy to mess with our heads?

Nana's gaze locked onto my exposed forearm and she let out a shriek. "Dear God, Abigail. Keep that covered at all times around me, do you hear?"

I nodded mutely. I knew she wasn't referring to her now, and that alone raised goose bumps to my flesh.

She carried on. "I don't know how much time I have before it changes me, but I need to tell you something."

"The mark on your arm-it's ancient. No one knows quite what it means but I've found some scriptures that give me some information. I already know a little bit about it from when your mother was younger." I wanted to ask her when she had the time to be her. It hardly seemed appropriate, given what she was telling me. But it was all my mind could focus on.

Damien and I had been living with some kind of impostor- parasite if you will for almost a month. Nana wasn't herself, and while this wasn't the best time to celebrate her return, temporarily or otherwise, I couldn't help a smile.

Nana raised one weathered eyebrow at me, then at Damien, who I'd assumed had a similar euphoric look on his face. "What the hell is wrong with you two," she snapped.

I couldn't stop the laugh that bubbled out of me. She pretended she hated when Damien and I did our 'creepy twin thing' around her but I knew she secretly loved it. I threw my arms around her fragile shoulders, clutching her to me for mere seconds before she pushed me away.

"Listen, both of you. This is important. I've missed you both dearly but this takes precedence over anything else."

I followed her gaze to my exposed arm. The black flower rested on my skin, appearing more like a tattoo. It looked innocent, nonthreatening. But I knew better. It threw Hunter and I to opposite ends of the closet when we put them together. "Can I get it removed?" I asked my grandmother.

Nana cackled. "Abigail dear, can you  stop being Damien's twin?"

My brow furrowed in confusion. "No, he'll always be my little brother."

Damien reached over with his free hand and punched me in the shoulder. "Hey! That was by two minutes, it doesn't count."

"Does too."

"Does not."

Nana cleared her throat and we fell silent. "The same thing applies to the flower; it's a part of you that you can never get rid of."

"What the flower symbolizes," she continued, "is trust, a bond between the two most purest souls, be that magical or otherwise. The mark hasn't been seen in over three thousand years so the details are sketchy at best. But let me tell you something: the person who holds the other half of this flower is the person you can trust with your life."

My mind instantly flew to Hunter. He was the person who I was supposed to trust? I wouldn't trust my non-existent pet ant with him, like hell would I trust him with my life.

"Is he like my...soulmate?" The word sounded foreign on my tongue. I didn't know Hunter and I sure as hell didn't want to be his mate, in any sense of the word.

She cackled again. "Oh dearie, it means nothing...intimate. I'm surprised your brother didn't have the other half. But that makes sense, your mother had the same mark, but your uncle didn't have the other one. It was her best friend who is a girl-" she put emphasis on the word 'girl' "-who actually carried the mark. As you know, your mother married your father and popped the two of you, so nothing went down between the two of them."

"Wait what?" I spluttered.

"Mom had a brother?" Damien said, at the same time I said, "Mom had a mark?"

"Yes, yes." She waved that off as if she hadn't just dropped a ton of proverbial bricks on our heads.

Damien, who had kept quiet for most of our conversation, jumped up. "Nana! You can't leave us hanging. Where is he?"

But it was too late. Her demeanor changed in a blink of an eye. Her lips puckered, turning from a soft smile to a menacing scowl. Her crinkled eyes glowered, losing the warm amber depths and becoming hell fire.

I jumped back, pulling my hand from hers. Damien followed silently, both of us shocked at the realization that our Nana was no more, at least for the time being.

"That's right, leave," she spat, "if I catch you here again, I will turn you into a toad." I gulped, moving faster to leave her sight. And she'd do it alright. Just the other day a neighbor must have pissed her off, because the next thing I knew, there was a large, bumpy toad in our driveway standing where Ms Abelson once stood.

The spell wore off after 24 hours, and it was a good thing it did. Nana was in no mood to turn her back.

I ran to my room and slammed the door, still reeling from what Nana told us.

My mother had the mark? She wasn't around to tell me how to deal with it, nor did I know what it could do, but maybe her friend could help. All I had to do now was find her.

Not only was my grandmother possessed, but she was quite possibly senile. Considering how she basically told us that the make hadn't been seen before but then went and said that Mom had one. I was guessing that my specific design hadn't been recognised, but who know?

Damien and I would have to wait some time before talking to our real Nana to clear up the confusion.

But first and more importantly, I had biology homework due in tomorrow and as much as I would like to deal with the mark and all things magical, I had more pressing matters to attend to.

With a sigh, I walked over to where I threw my backpack and opened it, pulling out the textbooks and a few pens to use. I put everything on the floor, crouched down, and got to work.

----------------------------------------------

A few hours later, Damien knocked on my door. I got up from the floor, giving my sore back a few much needed stretches and opened the door to let my brother in. He was carrying a large tray with a range of different bags on it.

Plopping himself on the carpet, he started to open each bag. I pushed the door closed and followed him.

"Thought you might want to eat some Chinese. I ordered it," he said, pulling out a few boxes and handing them to me. I took it from him and dug in, gulping the noodles down without chewing all the way.

"Thanks, I really needed that," I said after I finished the first box.

Damien smiled. "Listen," he said, putting down his empty carton. "Nana isn't her, which we knew already, but still. Don't feel crappy about the things she said. Now we know sort of what's going on and we have a lead to follow. You can look into your mark thing and I'll help you but we have to do it on the down low. Nana can't know about this."

I raised an eyebrow. "Ya think? Really Damien, I'm okay."

He frowned. "Don't pull away from me."

"I'm not, I'm really fine." I tried to add more oomph to my claim to make him believe me. Sure, I was a little stressed out with the recent developments, but Damien was my brother, and I trusted him.

More than I trusted Hunter, that was for sure.

It sucked to find out that the mark was permanently attached to me, which meant that Hunter was somehow a part of my life. I didn't know how I felt about that yet.

"Do you want to come to my room?"

I shook my head. It was better for me to stay in mine. My fear of spiders was irrational, considering how fake-Nana taught Damien and I how to freeze and unfreeze the little buggers. I was sure Damien wouldn't mind me sticking with him longer, but it was time I tried my own room.

"Okay then." Damien picked up the rubbish, transferring it all on the tray. "Night, Abby," he said, getting up and taking the full tray with him. I followed him, opening my bedroom door to make it easier for him.

"Night, Day."

The door clicked shut behind him. I pulled myself off the floor and ambled to the window. Tall, thick trees stood proud in the distance.

I leaned my head against the cool glass and breathed out. My warm breath instantly condensed when it hit the chilled surface. Mindlessly, I drew a heart in the mist.

Frowning at the deformed heart, I rubbed it out using the side of my hand until it was reduced to a smudge on the glass. Then that too, disappeared. Just as I was about to move away, something in the distance caught my attention. It was small, but fast - I only saw a blurred shadow before whatever it was darted into the trees.

Unnerved now, I pushed myself away from the window, trying and failing to shake the feeling of being watched. On my way to the bathroom, I looked at the time; 12:45am. No wonder I could barely keep my eyes open.

I pulled on my Minnie mouse PJ's and tucked myself in bed, snuggling under the covers in an attempt to warm myself up. My mind rushed over the day's events, playing in replay, slowly lulling me to sleep.

-------------------------------------------

WOOOH!!! End of chapter :) If you liked that

Comment

Vote

And follow me (if you aren't already *blows kiss* I don't mind if you're not, I still love you anyway.)