Trinity returned to her room to change clothes. She was shocked that she didn't notice that the dress had been ripped.
Inspecting herself in the mirror, she confirmed that there was no way these had been done by Zyxel. The torn threads seemed stress cut, rather than clean cut. 'Did I do this myself?' she wondered.
In her corner of the mirror, she noticed her window curtains ruffling in the wind. 'That's odd. Was the window open before? I don't remember.'
She went over to close the window, and as she turned around she saw some new additions that were placed on her bed, that definitely wasn't there before. The clothes she recognized immediately as being the clothes that Zyxel had given her while she was with him. But the last item made her freeze in her tracks.
Heart pounding, and cheeks blushing a bright red, she opened up the bag from the lingerie store that she had bought three weeks ago. Peering into the bag, she saw the matching red bra and pantie set. She covered her face with both hands, mortified at the thought of him having seen this. 'Did he have this the whole time? How did I never see it before? When did he deliver this, and why didn't he stay?'
This last thought had her conflicted. Although she didn't approve of his past actions, that last day, he showed a side to him that she had never seen before. He had opened up to her, and in the end, she rejected him. She ran back over to the window, threw it back open and searched the skies for if he might still be hovering, but she didn't see him anywhere.
Slowly closing the window, she walked over to her dresser and changed into a pair of black pants and a black and white swirl shirt. She frowned into the mirror. Something was different and felt off. 'Is it the clothes?' she thought. 'But I love this shirt!'
She felt a weird sensation deep in the pit of her stomach. Placing her hand over her stomach, she felt like something was wrong. 'No, this isn't the clothes.' She couldn't figure out what it was. All she knew was that something deep down didn't feel quite right.
She walked over to the wooden staff that Zyxel had made for her. Smiling, she ran her hand gracefully down the curves of the staff. He really had put in a lot of effort for her, even if she hadn't seen it at the time.
A knock came at her door and after answering that it was safe to open, her father opened up the door. Looking at his daughter, he observed the peaceful smile that was apparent on her face. "What do you got there? It seems new. When did you get it?" he asked.
Dropping her hand from the staff, her smile began to fade. She didn't know how to go about telling her father about Zyxel, let alone any of the conflicting feelings she was now harboring inside. To be honest, even she wasn't quite sure how she felt about everything yet.
"A friend made it for me." she replied.
Her father's eyes narrowed at her. "What friend might this be?"
Trinity turned and looked at her father. She could tell that he knew that she was hiding something from him. She smiled at him to reassure him that everything was ok. Walking up to him, she wrapped him in a hug. "It's just a token that a friend made, when I needed it the most."
Sighing, her father wrapped his arms around his daughter, returning her hug; but his eyes never left the wooden staff. "Let's go call your friends and invite them over. I know they are dying to make sure that you are ok! But you won't be leaving this house!"
"Deal!" Trinity grinned up at him "I can't wait to see them again! I've missed them both so much!"
When her father made the call to her friend's parents, he requested to keep it a surprise, and just to let Rachael and Jessica know that he wished to speak with the both of them. Both of the parents agreed, and before long both Rachael and Jessica were standing at the door of his house, with their moms directly behind them, smiling from knowing the secret.
"You wanted to see us?" Rachael asked Father Kiran. They both looked gloomy and sad.
Father Kiran nodded. "I know the two of you have been diligently working very hard with the police to locate and find Trinity. I thought the two of you might want to meet here and discuss a few things!"
As both Rachael and Jessica nodded, Father Kiran stepped aside and waved them in. "Please come inside!" he said as he grinned and winked at both of their moms.
Both of the mothers were finding it difficult to keep from laughing. They ushered their two daughters inside, waiting for them to realize why they were really here.
As Rachael and Jessica walked inside the house, their eyes fell on Trinity who was sitting in the middle of the couch. Eyes wide, they both ran over to Trinity, hollering and jumping with excitement. The three parents giggling at the scene.
"Oh my god! Trinity, are you ok?"
"Where have you been?"
"Are you hurt?"
"You don't appear hurt."
"Let me know everything!"
Trinity laughed nervously, as she smiled at her friends who were both smothering her in hugs. "You guys! I have missed you both!"
Jessica was holding back from crying as she clung onto Trinity. "I am so, so sorry that we left you back in that alley! It's all my fault that you were taken!"
Trinity stared at Jessica in shock. "No! Don't think that! Those boys would have hurt you if you hadn't tried to go get help! I do not blame you at all!"
Tears began falling as Jessica heard those words.
Rachael placed her palm on Trinity's shoulder. "What happened to you after we left to go get help? When the police arrived, all five of the guys were dead and one had their heart ripped from his chest." She looked up at Trinity's father, before looking back at Trinity. "The police told your father that they spotted evidence on one surveillance camera that the demon might have taken you away. Is this true?"
Everyone went quiet as they waited for Trinity to speak.
Nervously, she dug her nails into the palms of her hands. "When they managed to run the both of you off, the guy who grabbed me had dragged me to the far backside of the alley. He held me pinned, and covered my mouth to keep me from screaming, while the four younger boys used a knife and began carving at my skin. They kept the cuts shallow, wanting me to feel the pain longer. They..." Trinity bit her lip nervously, "they called me a traitor, for what happened after I was no longer possessed."
She looked up at her dad and she could see he was having trouble keeping his temper under control, while both Rachael and Jessica's mothers stood there with their hands covering their mouths from shock.
Trinity looked back down. "That wasn't all of it. After I became weak and dizzy from the blood loss, and was no longer fighting against him. They dropped me to the ground where they took turns punching and kicking me."
Father Kiran turned away. His blood was boiling right now, and his knuckles were showing white as he gripped the edge of the kitchen counter.
Reliving the encounter of what happened, Trinity began feeling guilty for having rejected Zyxel when he had tried opening up to her. He had saved her life more than once, and how did she repay him? By rejecting him and trying to kill herself so that the link would break. She closed her eyes tight from the guilt.
Rachael traced the jagged line that was directly over Trinity's right eye. "Is that where you got this?"
"No, that actually happened after. I sorta fell, when trying to escape."
"From the demon?" Her father spoke.
Trinity only nodded. 'But I shouldn't have done that.' she thought quietly.
There was no way she would be able to make them understand what she had seen from him. Yes, he had a violent past, but could she really fault him for something that happened three thousand years ago? She hadn't given him the chance to explain when he tried. Now she just wished she had listened to what he had to say.
The feeling in the pit of her stomach resurfaced again, this time stronger than before. Along with a tightening around her heart. The air around her felt like static electricity. She jumped up and ran to the door, but before she could open the door, her father grabbed her.
"Where are you going?" he demanded, in a panic.
"The air." Trinity replied. "Something's happening in the air."
Everyone just stared and looked at each other in confusion. "Trinity, there is nothing-"
A loud rumble shot through the sky as thunder was heard from above.
Father Kiran let his daughter go and walked to the window as he looked up at the sky above. Thick, dark clouds swirled above.
"That's strange." Rachael's mother commented. "It was clear blue skies when we drove over here."
Jessica's mom nodded in agreement.
Trinity stood there worried. She could feel that something wasn't quite right with the storm. As she walked to the window and looked outside. Holding her right palm over her heart, she whispered softly. "Zyxel, what's wrong?"
__________________________
Books I am currently writing:
- The Forbidden Luna
- Divine Banishment