chapter four | coming clean

She paced through the saferoom, the dented locker door causing her to enter alone in suspicion; her bag was dangling from around the neck of a suit of armor, ones that she'd forced herself to grow desensitized to, to prevent fainting anymore. Her bag collided with the floor, causing her to jump and her eyes to meet a pair staring back at her through the suit of armor; her breathing grew shallow, but she knew that she had to stand her ground. She had to fight whoever the hell this was.

That is, until they revealed themselves.

Edgar Dalloway stepped from the suit of armor, a sinister smile on his lips as he stepped toward the girl that once saw him as family. The blue eyed mad stopped in front of her, maybe two feet, before chuckling lightly. "I'm so sorry, Levana, but I guess you'll have to do."

"Mr. Dalloway, what're you-"

Darkness. She was awake, her eyes were open, but she was surrounded by nothing but darkness; dark gray clouds kissed the floor of whatever abyss she was standing in, and she could hear extremely faint voices in the distance. She had no idea how long she'd been in there, but she knew that it was long enough for someone to notice she'd gone missing.

Her throat was tired, weak from screaming; she'd almost ripped her vocal chords apart from the volume she'd reached, but luckily she hadn't caused that much damage to herself.

The inky haired teen sat on the ground, pulling her knees to her chest and beginning to rock back and forth as she tried unblurring her memory.

The dented locker, the suit of armor - Edgar.

It was then when she'd figured almost everything out. Edgar had someone kill her father - he murdered his best friend, just to prove a point. She began to wonder if Ethan had any involvement, but chose not to think of her best friend in such an insidious way; a door slamming caught her attention, and she looked up to see Ethan looking back at her with wide eyes.

"E!" She exclaimed, her voice still hoarse as she leapt to her feet, "E, please, you need to get me out of here."

"How'd you even get in there?" He asked, confusion and concern evident in his tone as he stared at her glossy eyes through the screen. "I don't know how to get you out."

"E, please-"

He muted her as Aggie walked in, tucking the witches glass into his bag as he awkwardly said goodnight to the woman; without saying another word to Levana, he grabbed his bag and snuck from the house. She was screaming, crying for him to find a way to let her out - but it was no use.

Why wouldn't he tell Aggie?

She recognized the sound of the high school doors opening, and the rapid footsteps as Ethan sprinted toward a location unbeknownst to her; she then heard a door open, and Ethan's voice echo through the room.

"Where's my dad?"

"He isn't here yet," Principal Flanagan's voice reached her ears, and everything in her froze. It made so much sense; the feeling of being watched constantly while at school, the dagger on the sidewalk, the metallic sound of footprints the day she had to leave school early.

Principal Flanagan murdered her father - for Edgar Dalloway.

The sound of the portal materializing reached her ears, and it was as if time quickened in her frozen state. The principal complained about the door, to which Edgar snarked back with some sarcastic comment about the dagger that had been drawn.

"What is this?" Ethan asked, removing the witches glass from his bag; when his eyes met Levana's broken gaze, he had to fight to remain composed. "Did you do this to Vana?"

"What? No hug for your old man?" When he got nothing but silence, he chuckled, "Yes, unfortunate, but necessary."

Principal Flanagan widened his eyes, approaching the father-son duo, "You have a girl trapped in there?" He began tapping the screen, causing Levana to roll her eyes.

"Hey, dickbreath! That shit's like a goddamn airhorn in here, knock it off!" She then released an irritated groan, "I swear, when I get out of here I'm gonna fucking kill you."

He rolled his eyes, beginning some tangent about being the last remaining descendant of the Knights of the Iron Dagger, to which Edgar quickly shut him down. It was when Ethan spoke once more, when Levana's blood went from boiling to piercingly cold.

"Dad, how could you? She's my friend, you've known her her whole life! You said you viewed her as family!"

"You didn't seem to care about Levana's wellbeing when you stirred up that trouble in the mall, or when you plunged the dagger in that pumpkin - injuring Levana in the process." Edgar snapped, "You're just lucky that I was there to give you cover, and to help you look innocent in her eyes. You're such a good boy, did everything you were told."

Ethan couldn't bring himself to look at the witches glass in his hand, knowing that he'd see one of the most devastating expressions he'd ever see in his life; it would crush him, to see Levana's reaction to the truth. He wanted to argue back, to do something that would help her - but he couldn't.

"You said no one was gonna get hurt. You said that they would just give up. You said..."

"Yes, I know what I said." Edgar snapped, glancing back to the witches glass in his son's hand; Levana Sylver was staring at him with a look that would strike fear into even the strongest creature of the magical realm.

Her amber eyes were glowing now, no longer mudded by the grief and sadness of the betrayal and loss she'd faced; this look was rabid. Anger, revenge, hatred, even murder could be seen swimming through her glowing orange eyes, and it was enough to cause him to look away.

"But when the good people of Halloweentown realize that humans have not changed, that they are still these lying, backward, wretched creatures... No offense," he said, glancing back to Principal Flanagan. "Then they'll understand that this portal must be closed permanently."

"Edgar Dalloway," Levana's voice echoed, "when I get out of here, and trust me when I say I will get out of here, I'm going to kill you, and all of your little accomplices. And it won't be quick and painful, either. You think what Kalabar and his son did was bad? Just you wait until I get my hands on you... You killed your best friend for the sake of proving a point. You killed my fucking dad! And Flanagan? You're not safe, either."

...

"Ethan..." She drifted as he laid in bed, her voice echoing from his bag causing him to look over to it with a guilt painted expression; he wanted to ignore it, to mute her voice until this was all over, but he just couldn't bring himself to do it. "Ethan, please..."

He sighed, giving into her pleading and pained tone. The blond removed the witches glass from his bag, turning it to face him so that he would come eye to eye with the witch the he'd never deserved to have in his life. This entire time, trying to be a perfect son and a perfect best friend caused him to lose the one person he didn't want to.

"Levana, I-"

"Just... let me speak." She plead, her eyes glossy as she looked at him; she didn't know if it was the betrayal that made him look so insidious, or if she was finally seeing him for who he really was - a cowardice traitor, and an accomplice to murder.

"You knew everything... You knew that he killed my dad, and you just left me in the dark. You abandoned me, Ethan; maybe you were there physically, but you betrayed me so severely that I would rather spend eternity locked in here than ever have to see you face-to-face again. I've lost all faith and trust in you that I had. I can't believe I fucking kissed you."

"Lev, I-"

"Don't call me that."