Bailey
"You've been quiet ever since you came out of that house." Liliana says, her eyes on the road as she drives us back to campus. "I swear if that old man did anything creepy to you, I'll go back and rip his heart out."
"Oh my….no. Just no." I sigh "He did nothing, I just have a lot on my mind." I glance at her "Thank you though. For coming with me and for having my back."
"No problem, I'm here if you want to talk."
I nod and just stare out the window and I frown when I recognise the road "Can you drop me here?"
"What?" She sends me a questioning look "We're in the middle of nowhere."
"I know but I know where I want to be so you can just drop me off here. Please."
She sighs as she stops the car before turning to me "You've been acting really sketchy lately and I don't know what to think about it."
I shake my head "I swear if I could tell you then I would've but I can't and I need you to not question me, Lili."
She huffs "Fine. Are you at least safe here?"
I don't know but I nod "Yes."
"Alright we'll just call me if you need anything."
"Will do."
I hop out of her car and watch as she drives away before making my way through the woods and I smile in victory when I see the waterfall. I let out a sigh before dropping to the ground and just staring up at the sky as I listen to the flow of the water.
Everything is so confusing right now.
I take out my phone and text Eli to meet me at the waterfall and a while later I hear the sound of footsteps. I open my eyes to see him standing over me while looking down at me "You okay?"
"I don't know."
He sits down next to me while I sit up and he pulls me onto his lap "Talk to me, angel."
I let out a sigh as I wrap my arms around his neck "Don't be mad at me but I went to that address."
His jaw clenches "I told you not to go alone, I would've gone with you tomorrow."
"I know, I know. But Liliana went with me and look, I'm not harmed."
His eyes scan over my body like he's double checking before nodding "And what exactly did you find out?"
My nose crinkles "Turns out Natalie's father lives there." He immediately tenses and I say "But he didn't know me."
"It doesn't matter whether he knew you or not, he's still a cunt who kept me away from my sister."
I frown and I rub his shoulders to make them less tense "What do you mean, love? Why would he do that?"
He scoffs "He had a vendetta against my mother and had it in his head that I was exactly like her. So not only did he take Natalie away from my mother but he also kept me from getting to know her."
"Oh, I'm sorry." I cup his cheek to make him look at me "I didn't know."
"Of course you didn't, because I never told you."
I tilt my head as something comes to mind "But that night when we were working in your dorm apartment, you said it was your sister's toothbrush in the bathroom."
He stiffens "It was. I saw her behind Joey's back."
I nod and I say hesitantly "He did have something to say about your mother though and mine. About their sisterhood."
His eyes narrow "What did he say?"
"Well according to him it was well known that once a month The Shadow Sisters would sacrifice a human to make them more powerful."
His expression darkens "That's bullshit."
"It could be true though, Eli." I say gently "He said someone put a curse on them and that's how they died."
"They died because of a house fire!" He snaps "Which they caused."
"I know but he said-"
"Fuck what he said!" My head pulls back in surprise and he stands up with me before putting me on my feet "I don't believe a single thing that come out of that man's mouth, I knew my mom and I know that she would never sacrifice innocent people."
I put a hand on my chest "I know my mom too and I don't want to believe it but we need to think of the possibility that it could be true, Eli."
"And I'm telling you that it's not true. So are you just going to believe this fucker over me?"
I shake my head "I never said that."
"But you're acting like it." He shakes his head this time "I knew this was a fucking mistake."
I frown "What do you mean?"
He gestures between the two of us "This cluster fuck of a relationship. It was a mistake. We're done."
My heart drops "No. You don't mean that."
He glares at me and I shiver at the absolute darkness of his expression "I do."
He walks away and my bottom lip quivers "Eli! Eli, wait!"
But he doesn't. He just continue walking, leaving me alone in the darkness with a broken heart.
"Thank you for picking me up."
"Sure."
"Can you not tell Liliana that I called you? She said I should call her if I needed anything but it felt stupid when she probably just reached campus to have her turn around again."
"No problem, Bailey." Marcus says as he drives and I stare out the window to stop myself from breaking down "You good?"
"Mm-hmm."
"You don't seem good."
I shake my head and say in a shaky whisper "I'm fine."
"Alright, if you say so."
This is also part of the reason why I had Marcus pick me up instead of Liliana. She would've demanded to know what was wrong so that she could fix it and I can't let her fix it because that would mean telling her I was dating my professor. Marcus is different. He minds his own business. He won't pester you over something that you clearly don't want to speak about.
I frown in confusion when he pulls up to a fast food restaurant and parks the car "I'll be back in a second."
Before I can even reply, he's already gone and I just sigh and pull out my phone. Eli hasn't replied to a single one of my text messages and has been declining my calls, I can't believe that he's ignoring me. The rational part of me knows that I should give him space but the lonely part of me is scared he actually meant what he said.
I let out a heavy breath as I send him another text 'I'm sorry for believing Joey. You're right, nobody knows our mothers better than us and I believe that they would never do something like that for their own sick needs. I'm also sorry that he kept you away from your sister. Please don't leave me, Eli.'
I almost feel pathetic when I send the text and read the last sentence.
Almost.
Marcus hops back into the car and all but shoves a bag of food at me and I raise an eyebrow "What's this?"
"I heard some women love to eat in sadness." He shrugs as he starts the car up and drives away "Especially after a breakup."
My head snap to him but he doesn't pay me any mind as he continues driving to back to campus, I should probably clear the air up that I'm not going through a breakup but I just can't bring myself to lie right now. Especially after he bought me food.
I check what's inside the bag and I hum in satisfaction "Burger and fries."
"Yeah, I overheard you mention to Liliana that's your go-to takeout."
I nod in confirmation and glance at him "Thank you, Marcus. For picking me up and for the food."
"It's the least I can do after you carried on the message from Aurora."
"Yeah." I can't help but ask "What's going on between you and Lili lately?"
"Nothing." He says way too quickly
I raise an eyebrow "Is that so? I could've sworn I saw her wearing your 'die hard' chain."
He scoffs "Well she's an obsessive freak."
I frown "That's so mean, Marcus. I thought you two were friends."
"If by friends you mean her constantly in my personal space while I don't want her to be then sure. We're friends."
I sigh "I know that she can be sometimes a lot to handle but I swear she means well. She just wants to be there for you."
"Well I would appreciate it if she left me the fuck alone rather"
I go quiet because what else am I supposed to say to that? Here I thought they were making progress but he looks like he can barely stand her presence.
Sounds similar to my situation.