♡ chapter 20 - Harry ♡

            Annabelle died the same day I came home to find my mother dead. I lost two loved ones that day, not to mention my own home. Not only had I run away, but I twisted into the dark monster I am today. None of it was meant to happen, but emotions overpower your brain to configure something demeaning out of it. You don't process what you're doing because you're too blinded by what's shielding the light from hitting your senses. Not only is anger a striking factor, but so is love.

            I fucking hate love. It has backstabbed me more than once by taking away each coherent thought I've ever had and turning it into something so implausible, I can't believe I ever thought it in the first place. Love has only been taken away from me, not given. Sometimes I have doubts Annabelle loved me the same way I loved her, but it doesn't matter anymore. It's the past. I tried to remind myself I don't love her anymore, she's dead, but I honestly don't want to believe it.

            But then I think of Rose.

            Rose. The girl who annoyed the living hell out of me for the first week of our time together. The girl who somehow made me wish I wasn't as evil as I was portrayed. The girl who miraculously made me want to be better for her. The girl who—no matter how much of a dick I was—still stayed and gave me more chances than I deserved. The girl who took off her bracelet that shielded her from the evil just to kiss me. The girl who is now distant from me without my single thought of what could be happening to her.

            The girl I don't ever want to live without.

            The girl I fucking adore.

            The girl I love.

            And I fucking hate her for making me this pathetic, but I love her for making me this determined to change.

            Talk about bipolar.

            So here I am now, pissed and annoyed all the same. It's like we've rewound time to where Rose was here, aggravating the shit out of me, but I wasn't enjoying this particular presence.

            No. I was stuck listening to Daniel ramble about how he might turn gay for a fictional character named Augustus Waters, and I don't give two shits about what the hell he's saying, but he won't shut up anyway.

            "I mean, not only is he full of adorable compliments towards Hazel Grace, but he's just so dedicated to steal her heart, you know? He says it would be a privelge to have his heart broken by her. I mean, can I please find a girl that will say this to me? I don't want to be gay, nor do I need to be gay, but Augustus Waters makes it very difficult to choose and—"

            "Oh for the love of God, shut the fuck up." I groaned, rubbing my temples before I dropped to the ground. We were in the midst of walking to this so-called laboratory Daniel was talking about, and I really wished I knew the way and it wasn't so far so I could poof myself there. But apparently my luck has run out, if I ever even had any. My only form of luck I've had is meeting Rose, and look where that has us now.

            Daniel mimicked me childishly, sitting across from me. "I'm just trying to pass the time and get a second opinion."

            "For fuck's sake, he's a fictional character!" I gave him a look, questioning how stupid one human being could possibly be.

            "Well fictional characters are a lot nicer than actual people," he muttered under his breath, and I knew he was directing that at me.

            I rolled my eyes. "Yeah, I'm an asshole. You aren't telling me anything I haven't already figured out."

            Daniel sighed, resting his chin on his knees as he pulled them to his chest. We sat in silence, my back pressed against a tree as my throbbing feet slowly began to feel better. I felt like murdering something, just because I didn't have the assurance that Rose was even alive. The gruesome things I could do to that pathetic lowlife is overwhelming my thoughts and I can't seem to stay positive. Then again, that's not a first. Rose is the only person to ever give me positive thinking, and she's not fucking here to do it.

            "Well," Daniel muttered as he shifted in the dirt. He fell into a small silence, but of course the peaceful quiet couldn't last long. "Hey, Harry?"

            "What? Oh, God, what on earth is wrong now?"

            Daniel pursed his lips, tilting his head some. "Do you trust your brother?"

            "Jessie?"

            He nodded.

            "Not particularly," I said now slightly intrigued. I sat up, my eyebrows pulling together as I met his gaze. "Why are you asking me this?"

            Daniel shrugged, ruffling his short chestnut hair. "I don't know. He just seemed kind of... iffy to me. Doesn't he to you?"

            Pursing my lips, I thought about it. "You have to understand I don't trust anyone, Daniel. Not to mention Jessie and I aren't the best of friends, so that includes him in the no-trust zone as well. If you heard him saying something suspicious or whatever, you need to tell me." I rose my eyebrows expectantly.

            Daniel shook his head, shrugging. "Nah, it wasn't anything."

            My jaw clenched. "Daniel, fucking tell me."

            "It's nothing."

            "What are you hiding?"

            "My sexuality."

            Cue mental face palm.

            "Look," I said firmly, "we are not about to go through thirty fucking minutes of a fictional character again. You tell me what got you suspicious about Jessie or I slit your fucking throat. Deal? Let's try again. Tell. Me."

            Daniel wringed his hands together, licking his lips as he avoided eye contact. He looked everywhere but at me, his brown eyes roaming wildly. It looked as if he were anxious, maybe nervous someone would be eavesdropping or tuning into our conversation. And finally, he met my gaze, leaned in a bit closer, and whispered the words that sent my heart plummeting to the ground.

            "I think Jessie is working for the Council to turn you in."

            My hands curled into tight fists, my lips pressing together as I let the reality sink in. It was definitely possible, especially since Jessie had popped out of nowhere in the middle of the woods. I didn't question it because it was possible that he just happened to be there. Jessie wandered like I did, with nowhere to go, but it made since that he could be working with his own kind against me. But wasn't I his own kind? We're blood related, shouldn't that mean something?

            I suppose not.

            Jessie has always been cynical in his own twisted kind of way. He was an apposed pure White Witch but with an evil Black Witches' mind. He shows less darkness than he truly holds, and it pisses me off because everyone portrays me as the bad guy. Sure, I've killed quite a few people in my life, but it was to protect myself because I had no one on my side. I wasn't going to let backstabbers get the best of me when I know I'm a better human than they could ever be.

            Your title in society doesn't define you, your actions do.

            If only more people realized that.

            "What else do you know?" I murmured through gritted teeth, knowing he said he thought Jessie worked for the Council, but his expression showed he knew.

            Daniel swallowed, scooting further away from me. "N-nothing, I swear. But I heard him on the phone. He was talking about how it wasn't the right time for back up, and that he just—"

            "Back up?" I shouted in disbelief, my eyes bulging. "That little prick is planning on surrounding me, isn't he?"

            Daniel shrugged. "I-I think so. B-but I also don't think he believes you'll fight back."

            I snorted, rolling my eyes. "Oh yeah? And why is that?"

            Daniel lowered his gaze, fumbling with his hands. "Because of Rose."

            My back slowly settled back into the trunk of the tree, cursing Jessie to the end of the earth and back. He knows Rose has me wrapped around her finger. He knows I'll do anything to keep her safe. And if the Council were to find out about our recent kiss together, they would surely lock her up just as fast as they would me. Why? Because opposing witches are not meant to mingle. She's the light, and I'm the darkness. Needless to say we just found out Rose is a White Witch, but the Council wouldn't care about those little details.

            They would punish Rose, torture me, and drive us both apart.

            And I would hate myself even more for letting them get her.

            "I'm sorry, man." Daniel's voice was a whisper that sounded far too distant than it most likely was, but I was engrossed in my own thoughts.

            Before I could drown too deep, an unmistakable ear-piercing scream sounded not too far off. My head snapped up, my feet shuffling for me to stand as I looked cautiously to Daniel. His eyebrows were etched together, concentration pulled over his features, but we were both thinking the same thing.

            I knew that scream, and I was praying because of how close it truly was.

            Rose.

            Even after all the horrifying news Daniel had alerted me of, there was no denying the hope that spread through my body as my legs naturally began moving me closer and closer to the sound.

            Our reunion was near now, and Marcus' death was even closer.

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A/N: Sorry this chapter was short and kind of suck-ish (I have a cousin coming over so we can get ready to fangirl over Teen Wolf in seven hours), but the next will be longer and much more intense! Love you all (: xx 

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