-Previously in DiT-
I didn't love him.
"I'll do it." He said at last. His face was sombre. "I'll bring her here and give her memories back right in front of you."
Nate nodded. "I hope you remain true to your words. This time I won't forgive you."
"I'll not break the promiseâcross my heart and hope to die." Victor replied. "I really mean it."
There was something in his voice that puzzled me, but I couldn't put finger on what it was. Was he going to deceive us again? I couldn't push down the feeling that kept surfacing in my head repeatedly.
Was he really the worst person in my life?
***
"A true friend is someone who thinks that you are a good egg even though he knows that you are slightly cracked."- Bernard Meltzer
Chapter-27 (Part 1)
-Karen-
"I'm gonna kill that bastard!" Jon shrieked in the middle of the math class.
My eyes went wide and so did everyone's. Our math teacher, Mr. Cunningham who had given us Algebraic equations a while ago, looked up from the textbook with total confusion on his face. I had only seen that kind of confusion on his face once; when Jon had completed his assignment last year. Let's just say, it didn't happen all the time.
The extra classes for the exams were turning into a nightmare now.
"Jon, what kind of behavior is this?" He thundered. "Get out of the class now."
"Iâ" Jon began.
"It wasn't Jon's fault. I told him some bad news and he kinda freaked out." I stood up for him habitually. "I'm sorry."
"I didn't expect this from you, Karen. We're few days away from our finals," He said. "These marks are going to decide your future but here you are, defending your best friend while he curses bluntly in the classroom."
"I'm really sorry." Jon said desperately. "It won't happen again."
"Do you want detention?" Mr. Cunningham asked.
Who gives detention during extra classes?
"Shit, why?" Jon croaked.
My head whipped in his direction. The whole class was staring at up him. Some kids even giggled. I swear if I wasn't included in this, I would've giggled too. Maybe whistled too. He deserved it.
I glared at him. Why did he have to speak in-between when I was already trying to save us from detention? And why was the last year in high school turning out to be the worst year of my life?
"Both of you," Mr. Cunningham said with an angry face. "Get out of my class."
I picked up my books while giving Jon a side eye. I had already practiced the equations a hundred times, but I don't know why I was being thrown out of the classes regularly. Thankfully, he hadn't given us the detention slip he was so proud of.
I hurried out of the class behind Jon.
"What's his problem?" Jon asked.
"If you were a teacher and your student shouted abruptly in the classroom, how would you feel?" I rolled my eyes. "Couldn't you keep calm until the bell?"
"They have practically stopped listening to the bell in the final days of the examination," Jon scratched the back of his neck. "I can't keep calm after what you've told me. Victor is such anâ"
"Language please," I said walking towards my locker.
"I didn't even say anything," He said. "How do you know what I was going to say?"
"I know because I've basically abused him with all the cuss words in my mind already," I replied. I hated Victor with every cell in my body.
"Then you're such a hypocrite." Jon crossed his arms in front of his broad chest. "You are telling me not to curse him while you're cursing him non-stop in your head. That's not fair at all."
I looked at him and took a long breath.
"I know this is a stupid question but...Karen, are you okay?" He frowned. "I'm so sorry. If I had known that he was actually playing with us, I would have never given you the suggestion to think beyond his dark image. Bad people are bad. They can't change."
"Why are you sorry? He lied to us," I whispered. "I was stupid enough to think that we were a team. That we were perfect together."
Jon opened his mouth but didn't say anything. I raised my eyebrows at him.
"What? Why are you giving me that look?" I asked.
"You kissed him, right?" He asked.
"Is this relevant here?" I groaned. Oh God, I could do anything to go back in time and fix it. I wanted to ask Nate to make a time portal. "There is no point of discussing that."
"You just said thatâwait, are you hiding something from me?" He asked suspiciously narrowing his eyes at me. "The way you talk about him is different now."
"Hiding isn't my talent; it's Victor's." I blankly answered. "Of course, it is different. I hate him more than I did in the past. He was always searching for the right time to backstab us. We were wrong about him."
"I didn't mean it that way."
"What are you saying, Jon? Don't be vague."
"I mean, I can sense that you're extremely angry with him but on the other hand, I'm getting an impression that you're more of heartbroken than angry," He shrugged. "Are you in love with him?"
"What the hell do you mean?" I bit back the urge to scream. There were kids around. I turned around and opened my locker instead. I gritted my teeth. "I. Don't. Love. Him."
"Stop it, Karen. It sounds like you're trying to convince yourself." Jon said, moving to lean on the right side locker. "Do you want me to drive a stake through his heart? Or I can sprinkle some holy water on him. I'm pretty sure it is not a myth and it will work."
"No," I said quickly. Even though I hated Victor, I didn't want him to die. Jon's eyebrows perked up. What was wrong with him? "He has promised Nate to bring Kaitlin back, and he'll also give her memories back to her."
"Can I kill him after that?" Jon asked.
I peeped into my locker. I didn't want to look him in the face. He knew my every expression thoroughly. Even I didn't know what my face looked like right now. But I was growing hot with anger.
"I don't know." I replied.
"Can I at least punch him when I see him?"
"Why ask me?"
"Karen, stop trying to find Narnia in your locker and talk to me as an adult would do," Jon sighed. "Did he tell you why is he doing this now? Why is he trying to be good?"
Angrily, I shut my locker and turned to look at him.
"How would I know? I don't even know if this isn't one of his plans." I lashed out, "He is a heartless vampire who wants to be the king. He doesn't care for anyone's emotions or life. Do you expect him to turn into goody two-shoes all of sudden? I know people change and we have seen examples now and then, but I don't have any faith left in Victor to believe that a vampire like him will ever change. The only changes he'll ever make will be in his plans according to the situations."
"I get it," Jon nodded. "I hated him because I thought you weren't safe with him. With him, you're always getting into some life threatening trouble. But when I saw him look at you that day, I became jealous. Remember when I said 'Sometimes I don't like the way Victor looks at you'?"
Yeah, he had said that at my house while he was checking my laptop. Before the Xavier incident; which I believed was one of Victor's plans too. I had spared Jon some details. For example, I still had not told him that I suspected Victor to be the one who killed Adam.
"That's insane," I let out a short sarcastic laugh. Maybe I should tell him about Adam.
"I taunted him, and he replied with his remarks but he didn't look angry. His attention was on you the entire time. When we were coming back from the woods, he was looking at you with hope." He said.
"Why were you jealous?"
"Isn't it obvious?" Jon chuckled. "You're my best friend, and I'm the one who has always protected you."
"Seriously?" I arched my eyebrow. "Isn't that a bit of exaggeration?"
"Listen, every best friend becomes a little insecure when someone tries to take their place," He said. "But when I realisedâ"
"Jon, nobody is ever going to take your place. And Victor is far from making any place in my life ever. Please stop talking about this," I shook my head. "Whatever you saw was a mask on his face. We just need to focus on our next step."
"Okay, let's assume he gives her memories back; what's the next step?"
"Umm...Nate and Kaitlin will get together. Victor will become the vampire freaking king." I replied.
"What about us?" Jon asked.
"We can go back to our normal lives again."
"I was bitten by a werewolf, remember?" He said wearily. "You are a witch. How are we supposed to go back to a normal life? This life we have is anything but normal."
I looked around us. Other kids were chatting, smiling and goofing around.
A girl clutching her books to her chest, smiling nervously as a guy talked to her. She probably had a huge crush on him. I saw a group of girls laughing loudly at stupid things. A boy coming out of the art class with a beautiful sketch of Eiffel Tower, looking satisfied with it.
What was I doing here?
I was talking to my best friend who was going to turn into a werewolf soon. We weren't talking about the exams. We were talking about a vampire who loved ruining others' lives.
And why did suddenly everyone around you looked so happy when you were freaking sad?
That's when I realised; I would love to give away my powers in the blink of an eye, to be normal again. I didn't want to be a witch. I didn't want to be dragged into some sick war of night creatures. And above all, I didn't want to see Victor.
"Penny for your thoughts?" Jon said.
I looked at him.
"We need to go," I said quickly, opening my locker again to get the damn backpack out. I had forgotten it inside. "We need to meet them in wolf woods today. It's the only place where people won't be watching us."
"Remind me again; why do we need to go there?" He asked
"Victor will be creating a portal to the other dimension and then he will bring Kaitlin with him," I explained, "He will hypnotize her in front of us and bring her memories back. We will be watching his every move to make sure he isn't playing games with us anymore."
"We need to go now?" Jon sounded surprised. "You're going to skip next classes?"
"Why, can't I take a break? They are just repeating the same stuff over and over again. The attendance wouldn't count now as these are extra classes." I shrugged. "Didn't you notice most of the kids were absent?"
"Yeah, they probably are studying their asses off for the finals," He shook his head slowly. "And we currently, are not." He paused. "I genuinely tried studying chemistry last night, and guess what; I ended up on my laptop."
"EwwâI don't want to know what you were doing on your laptop." I made a face.
"Whoa! I was just running a search for some werewolf info." He said, clicking his tongue. "When did your mind get so dirty? This isn't my Karen."
"My mind isn't dirty," I lied. Okay, maybe it was. A little bit. But that was normal, right? "What's your schedule for today?"
"I have a date with Maya," He scratched his head. "She seriously can't stop talking about you after she talked to you. She wants to meets the vampire bros now. I have to tell her that they are bad."
"Nate is not bad," I defended.
"The last thing I want is Nate jumping out of nowhere and drinking her blood. Come on, Karen, how much can we trust the Devries brothers?" He asked, staring at me. "I don't think we should trust anyone of them."
He was right. Even if Nate looked totally innocent in this matter, it didn't make him trustable. How come Victor told him everything before he came to tell me his plans? There had to be some crucial conversation between the brothers which he apparently wasn't keen on telling us. What if both brothers were planning something beyond our imagination?
Ugh! Look what you've done to me, Victor. Now I can't trust my own shadow.
"When do you have your date?" I asked, changing the subject.
"At 7," Jon grinned childishly. He looked so cute. I thought that in a brotherly way, of course. "But I can cancel it for you. She wouldn't mind at all."
"There is no way I'll let you cancel your date with her. Just because I don't have a social life doesn't I will deprive you from it." I said with wide eyes. "It is 4 PM right now. I'm sure the work will be done in no time. Victor can use time portal to be quick."
"Yeah, he can." Jon nodded. "I'm not sure he will."
"I can go alone," I suggested. "You don't have to come with me."
"What the hell! There's no way I'm letting you go there alone," Jon scolded. "I can cancel a hundred dates but I can't leave you alone in a situation as dangerous as this."
"Are you sure?"
"Yeah, I am."
"No, are you sure Maya will go on a hundred dates with you?"
"Why not?" Jon chuckled. "She is very understanding, you know. She is not one of those clingy girlfriends who can't bear the sight of their boyfriend with his girl best friend. She basically adores you."
"Who doesn't?" I joked, smiling.
Jon smiled too.
"Karen, no matter what happens; I'll always be here with you." He looked at me intently. "Let's do it together. After all it's a mission to reunite the lovers, right?
I nodded.
I could count on only one person.
And it was Jon.
A/N Here is the list. Whom did you get?
We're getting close to the conclusion.
Take care...
-M_M