Original Stories Fan Fiction ❯ Damned ❯ What I've Done ( Chapter 7 )

Chapter 7: What I’ve Done
When I awoke in the morning Connor was laying beside me, playing with my hair; this action caused me to smile: he had stayed. This was a good start. I sat up, stretching and yawning.
“Good morning Sleeping Beauty.”
“Morning… wait, that would make you Prince Phillip.”
“Good morning Cinderella then? I would much rather be Prince Charming.” I laughed outright. Not only did he know Princesses and their corresponding Princes but he was charming; whether he wanted to admit it or not.
“How about I be Cassandra, and you be Connor?”
He seemed to think it over, “How about you be Cassandra and I be in love?”
“Deal.” I kissed him on the cheek and smiled. “I need to get dressed. I have a date in an hour.”
“Oh dear, I do as well.” He suddenly got very serious. “There is something I have to tell you. Menoch is keeping me entirely in the dark but he let it slip that we were going home next week. That tells me that the battle will be sometime before that.”
“Perfect, right during our clan gathering.” I shook my head. We were having a giant clan reunion where nearly every clan was coming from New England. It was going to be bigger than Samhain.
“You didn’t have to betray your clan to tell me that.” The last thing I wanted was for Connor to feel like he had to choose a side. There were sides yes, but we were crossing them, not betraying them.
“I do not feel as though it is a betrayal. It is a warning.”
“I should tell my mother.”
“I have to go eat anyway. Did you still want to go out today?”
I nodded, “Yea, I just have to make sure, that there is nothing I have to do for the coven.”
“Okay. Call me if you are going to be late. Otherwise I’ll meet you in our park.”
“’kay.”
He jumped out my window and was gone. I could not believe what had transpired last night; all that was said, the actions. My mind was blown, and I was in way over my head.
~~
“Mom. Menoch is planning to attack this week.” She nearly choked on her Pepsi.
“What?! How do you know that?”
“I pried into the fledglings mind.” I lied.
“You can read his mind? I am so proud of you!” I smiled, even in a hard time it was nice to be praised. “We have to tell your grandmother! Get your coat.”
~
“What?!” I had never heard my grandmother raise her voice – until this moment.
“I heard it, in his mind. He didn’t have any details; just that they were going home next week.” I admitted.
“So they could be going home to do more reconnaissance from there. Who is to say the attack is this week?” she calmed down.
“Shouldn’t we still treat this as a threat?” I asked.
“We have no festivals coming, we will not be in any large groups – there is no reason to attack this week.”
“What if it’s a sneak attack? What if Menoch is going to pick us off one by one, silently, without a giant battle?”
“Child, we can ‘what if’ all day and it is still just a theory. All we can do is always be prepared, and hope.”
“Fine.” I agreed. “I have to go, I’m meeting some friends.”~~
“They didn’t take it seriously.” I told Connor while we walked.
“Old fools.” He mumbled.
“Hey, that’s my family!”
“Sorry, habit.” He took my hand in his and I was comforted.
“I don’t want to fight.” I admitted. “I am not very good at binding spells, and it’s just so stupid. I don’t want to hurt anyone. I don’t even want to do this anymore.”
“Sometimes, decisions are made for us; other times we make the decisions. Either way, we must live with what has happened.” I couldn’t tell if he was talking to me or himself.
“Thanks Dad.” I said, trying to lighten the mood a little. “Whateves. At least we aren’t fighting yet.”
“Yet.” He repeated.
“Yea.”
We walked in silence for a long time. It was a comfortable silence that didn’t need to be filled up with a lot of nonsense talk – but it was also a pensive silence: we were both lost in our own heads. I couldn’t get over the idea of fighting. It was so barbaric. I cried when I saw dead animals on the road; I hesitated to kill spiders! How was I going to kill humans?
“We aren’t humans.” Connor interrupted my thoughts.
“But… you are.” I insisted.
“We are abominations.” His tone was hostile, a tone I hadn’t heard from him in a while. “We are not humans any more. Your clan is doing the world a favor. Never forget that Cassandra. You fight, and you win.”
We walked in silence a few minutes longer before I broke it; “I can’t kill you.” I admitted.
“I’m sure someone will.”
“I don’t want to think about it.”
“Well we have to think about it Princess because like it or not we are in a war!”
“You don’t have to yell at me!”
“You are so naïve! Do you not understand that I am vicious? Cold. Cruel. Unacceptable. You are warm. Happy. Sweet. We are not compatible. This is who I am. Take it or leave it.”
“Look, you can be an asshole all you want for all I care. I know you’re just trying to get me to hate you so that I won’t get hurt by this battle. I’m not as stupid as you think I am. I know you love me, and I know that you are trying to protect me right now. Don’t. I can take care of myself. I just want you to be there next to me while I do.”
He looked baffled. I had called his bravado. He scoffed, “You are impossible.”
“Haven’t we established that?”
“Yes.” He kissed my forehead. “Yes we have.”
~~
We doubled our training sessions. Between all the work I was doing, and the homework I had to maintain, and school itself, I never saw anyone; even Connor. We texted; which was an amusing thought to me – for some reason it is hard to imagine a vampire texting. But I had not seen him since our date on Sunday. It was now Friday. I saw him in school, but we tried not to be too friendly. If one of my friends got it back to my mom that I was holding hands with Connor, or even having a conversation that didn’t look menacing, she might sacrifice me to the Goddess out of spite.
I collapsed on Friday – exhausted from the week I had had. My sister wanted me to drag my butt up at eight in the morning for more training. I had protested, loudly and with much whining, but she was insufferable – I was to be up by seven, out the door by seven thirty, and training by eight.
My phone rang and I jumped in surprise, I would have hoped it was Connor but he had a special ring tone, this was not it. “Hey Sam.” I answered.
“Hey, come to the movies with me and Danny.”
“I am so exhausted.” I complained.
“What have you been doing? You’re never around anymore.”
“Sorry,” I didn’t feel like coming up with an excuse so I stopped there.
“Whatever.” She was angry. “Call me sometime if you’re not too busy.”
“Sam – don’t be-” she hung up on me.
Whatever. I had more important things to worry about – like stopping an evil enemy so she could sleep peacefully at night.
My eyes drifted closed lazily.