"Have you ever cooked before?" Veda asked, laughing. "Of course I have!" Ian defended. "Then why did you just skin a tomato?" She chuckled, pointing at the newly deformed vegetable.. "Do you not skin tomatoes?" He asked. "No Ian, you do not skin tomatoes. You cut them." She demonstrated.
"Not that different." He scoffed. Veda walked backwards, attempting to not drop her cutting board. She knocked into Ian, who caught the board with his dominant hand, sliding the other arm by her torso to keep her stable. "Real smooth, you should have let the food fall. There's plenty of extras Ian."
Veda twirled out of his grip and stuck her tongue out. "And yet you let me catch you." He smirked. "Let you, was I supposed to just fall to the floor?" They both began to laugh when Veda apologized and said, "seriously though, thanks." Ian opened his mouth, but her mom intervened before he could answer.
"Oh, looks like dinner's ready! I'll go get your dad." Her mom added. "No need, I am right here." Her father walked down the stairs. "Oh, deare-, sweetheart? I need to speak with you outside."
Ian shot Veda a knowing look, and scooted over to her. "We'll be right back." Her father sighed, and they walked out the back door. "I know all about that." Ian scoffed. "Yep, didn't start until", she let out a long sigh. "Oliver." Ian finished for her. "Yeah, let's move on now." Veda said. "Don't you want like a hug or something? You're obviously not close with your parents, you a masochist when it comes to comfort?" He chuckled lightly, attempting to hide the face of pity. "No, it's fine. Let's just get all the food out and set the table, the quicker this is over the better." Veda sighed yet again.
"The quicker what is over?" He asked. Before an answer could come, Veda's father opened the door. "Oh, you look serious. Am I interrupting something?" He asked. "No, dinner's finished though!" She feigned excitement. "Oh, well it smells good. Right hon-dear, um, love?" He turned to Veda's mother. "Yes love." Her mother agreed and they all sat down synchronously. Veda and her mother on one side of the table, with her father and Ian on the other.
"How was school today, you two?" Her mother asked. "Fine", Veda answered, stuffing her mouth with green beans. "It was pretty good actually. We had a nice encounter with a bully." Ian added, shooting a smirk in Veda's direction. "Oh, Veda! Why didn't you tell me? I-your father and I could have gone to the school and dealt with it!" Her mother asked.
Veda jumped a bit, she was zoning out. She thought about the encounter, Ian holding her. She could feel herself starting to blush, so she covered one side of her face with her palm. "Sorry, I just..I kinda forgot. It was pretty minor actually, he handled it for me." She pointed her fork at Ian and kept eating. "Well that was nice of you." Her mother told Ian. "Of course." He answered with a polite undertone. The rest of dinner was spent awkwardly, until Veda decided to retreat to her room. Alas, she was caught while walking up the stairs.
"Veda, where are you going? We have a guest." Her mother scolded with a stern look. "He'll be here all week and we have school together mother, I'm sure he doesn't mind. I'm tired." They made brief eye contact. "You're always tired. Your exhaustion rules everything that happens in this house. Stop making excuses." Her mother lectured rudely. "Hey!" Her father cut in, his voice was raised. "Why don't you go up to your room and get that homework done, if you have any. Or there's board games, card games, just go have fun. I would say go out but it's sort of late for that." His hand rubbed the back of his head. "But there's plenty to do here, that door stays open though." He smiled faintly. Veda nodded and retreated upstairs, Ian shortly behind her.
"So, that was…" He trailed off. "Normal actually. Now that the important child is gone, I've become the punching bag. It's okay, we're all breaking from the loss, eventually she'll get over it and things will go back to normal." Veda sat down on the floor and rubbed her head.
"You don't mean that. No one just gets over someone dying. I think you're just in pain and you don't want to address it. It's okay to feel, what's not okay is to hide it for so long that you break down in your room." He sat down next to her.
"Yeah it still sucks though. I spent my entire childhood striving for good grades, good friends, I fixated on my appearance so that I could be the pretty one that the loved. All just to impress them, but he was always the favorite. Always was, always will be. It's hard to care now though, you get what I mean?" She asked, burying her head between her knees.
"Yeah, I get it." Ian paused, pursing his lips.." You are being slightly masochistic now. Why do you make yourself suffer alone? There's a whole world of people that would be willing to let you spill your guts out to them, Veda." He said.
"Because they don't need to know. I shouldn't burden them, I'll figure it out. I always do." She stood up, "so where are you going to sleep?" Ian laughed, "oh am I not sleeping with you dearest?" They exchanged looks. Ian's being amused, while Veda's was terrifying. "No, no way in hell sweetie." Veda added.
"Aww, I guess I'll crash on the couch then. You know, I need to explain something to you." Ian announced. Veda shot a confused look, and he reached into his hoodie pocket. Ian pulled out a blade, Veda took a step back. "You are kidding me, you said I can't touch them. How would a knife help?" She asked, now frightened.
"It's not a knife, It's a viro." He explained. "A viro?" She asked. "A viro. Looks like a switchblade, which I guess it kinda is. It only works on entities from the 2nd realm though. So, I could stab you and nothing would happen, no pain, and no marks on your body. It would go through you." Ian clarified. "Okay, what does this have to do with me?" Veda asked, watching him in anticipation. "I have one for you, next time you see one of those spirits, 'staby staby' and it won't be your problem until the next one comes around. Keep that up and maybe they'll go extinct since they all seem to be coming to you." Ian chuckled, handing Veda a small orange colored blade.
Yeah, okay. I need help with something. You're not a witch, correct?" She asked. "No, I am not a witch. I hunt witches Veda." The conversation was taking a serious turn.
"Is there a way for you to see my dreams?" She asked bluntly. "Maybe, I would have to talk to Isran, but it's probably not impossible. Why?" Ian asked, tilting his head ever so slightly.
"Isran, I've heard that name before." She fell quiet. "Listen, why don't we try to go meet up with them tomorrow after school?" He asked. "Yeah, sure. You know I'm kinda tired. I think I'm going to lay down." Veda yawned, and walked by her dresser. "I guess I'll go to the couch." Ian grabbed his bag from the floor and walked downstairs, leaving Veda alone.
She climbed up to her bed when she heard her mother raise her voice. "No, no, no. You are not sleeping on the couch. We have an air mattress, you can go sleep in Veda's bedroom with that. Okay?" Her mother asked. "Sure." Ian replied. And great. Veda thought sarcastically. She lied down and tried to fake sleep.
"Oh there is no way you went out that fast." Veda's mom soffed. "No, but I want to mother. Night." Veda turned the other way. She heard Ian lie down on the newly inflated mattress, but he didn't try to talk like she had expected. Before Veda knew it she was asleep, back in the hell she so desperately wanted to escape from.
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"Well look at you. Ignoring every warning I sent. The shadows would have left you alone if you would have left him in the forest, girl. Are you that stupid?" The raspy voice was back. "He's helping me." Veda replied. "Really? Okay then, let us wager here for a moment. I'll bet your life, for my assumption that as soon as he finds out what you are, he'll make an attempt on your life. If I'm wrong I'll leave you alone, and let you decide who you need to fulfill who you're supposed to be. But if I'm right, I'll take your life and make you one of us." Suddenly Veda could see, there was a black crow standing in front of her in what seemed to be a hideout. "Is the wager fair to you?" It asked, lifting it's wing. "Make me what? You said make me one of you? Are you a phantom or a familiar?" She asked.
"Oh, I suppose your dear friend told you about that, did he? Familiar, not that you couldn't figure that out on your own." It cackled. "So you think all I want is to be rid of the phantoms, and you? I want my brother back if I'm right." It twisted it's head. "I can't-" Veda cut it off, "yes you can. If you could travel here, you could go to whatever realm he's in. I think it's fair now, don't you?" Veda made a mischievous smile.
"Wow, smarter than you look young Ve." It remarked. "Don't you dare call me that. Do we agree, or not?" She asked. Rage began filling Veda, though she wasn't exactly sure why. The world began to spin around her. "Yes, we do. But you know, I could take your life now just for the hell of it." It cackled, and Veda began to fall.
She was thousands of miles up in the sky, all she could do was fall and scream. She kept falling at no end until a plane came at her. When it was just a few feet away, Veda jumped up in surprise.
She was back in her bed, sweat dripping down her face. Ian was standing on the side of her bed, and whatever he was saying, Veda couldn't hear. She could see his mouth moving, but no sound seemed to come out. She mouthed, I can't hear you, and he turned to search through his bag.
"Here we go." Ian walked over and gave her a piece of an herb. She mouthed, what? He turned and looked around, searching for something. Veda watched him come to a realization, as he grabbed her phone off of the dresser diagonal to her bed. He held the screen up to her, pointing at the passcode. She pressed her thumb on the key and it unlocked.
Veda watched him type for a moment, before he turned the screen over for her to read. It read, eat that. It tastes terrible but it'll keep it from getting in your head until we go to see Isran later, okay? I'm still not a witch. She laughed at the last part, and forced the herb down until it was gone.
"Can you hear me?" He asked. "Yeah, what was that?" Veda asked in return. "My way of magic. It's a lily of the valley flower, which would normally be poisonous to you. But since you're almost like a witch in training, the spirits want you alive. Hence the immunity." Ian explained. "Great. How long does this work?" She asked. "About 12 hours." Ian answered with a grateful sigh. "Great, let's get to Isran as soon as possible."