Ophelia

Chapter 23

Ophelia's POV

Something was off about Casper. His energy was muted, like he was buried under an avalanche of snow. We sat in the dark theater, watching some stupid scary movie that I paid no attention to. His eyebrow twitched every now and then almost as if he was getting frustrated with something. I stared at the screen but my mind focused on picking away at the hard outer shell Casper was putting up. He wasn't usually so sealed up, he was like a Russian nesting doll of steel safes. Whatever he was hiding, he definitely didn't want anyone to know about it. 

Wait... did he know? Does he know that I was trying to get in his head? 

As soon as I stopped and looked at him, a smirk crossed his face. The smirk slowly crept into a hollow smile and his head turned, his eyes meeting mine. "Good movie right?" He nearly hissed.

I forced a smile, "Uh... yeah. Really good." I turned back to the movie but I still didn't watch. 

After Casper dropped me back at home, I immediately ran to the apartment. Ben's scent was everywhere. In the living room, the office... my bedroom. I searched around, finding papers moved around in the office and residual energy coming off of things he touched; information on the rabids. That's what he was looking for. I ran to the bedroom, hoping he didn't find what I suspected he did. The drawer was opened. My pictures, my papers, everything was all over the bed. Except my grimoire. 

"Oph-" I didn't spare a sec to blast a ball of energy at the approaching figure. It hit him full force before I realized it was just Elliot. He groaned, sprawled out on the floor.

"The grimoire, Elliot!" I hurried out of the bedroom. 

"Yeah, no. I'm okay, thanks!" He got himself off the floor. "What were you saying?"

I stopped and spun to face him, raging. "He took the grimoire." The last thing I saw was Elliot's face of panic before I teleported. 

The wind whipped around me as I marched towards the house of vampires. I closed my eyes and focused on the location of my book. I projected through the walls, passing people I didn't know through the halls until I came across a large mahogany door. On the other side was my grimoire and Benjamin. My concentration was broken when a presence walked towards me. "Ophelia? What are you doing out here?" Elizabeth walked out from behind the trees. She saw the fury behind my eyes and froze. "You are Ophelia... right?" 

I growled, "Yes but I am very close to not being me." The lycanthrope stirred anxiously, knowing all of our secrets were in that book. "Your brother stole from me. Something important and dangerous." 

Eliza nodded, a little shaken with my tone. "So you're here to get it back?" I nodded, focusing back on the house. "Are you going to go in?" 

"No. That's a little dangerous for others at the moment. Too many people in the way and I'm too angry. What I need is for everyone to get out of the way. Including your brother..." 

"So... you need a distraction?" I nodded again. "Can't you do some... ya know..." She wiggled her fingers. 

I glared at the house and then looked at the dark sky above. I reached my hand towards the swirling clouds, feeling a flow of static coming down and wrapping around my hand. As if it were an invisible rope, I closed my hand around it and whipped at the air with all my strength. A single strike of lightening followed, connecting with the ground outside the house. The ground shook and with a deafening clap. A fire started, creating a wall of flames across the lawn. I could hear people from inside rush out. I turned to Eliza and she gave a single nod before rushing to the others. I waited before teleporting inside, slipping past those going the opposite direction. I found the mahogany door wide open and went inside, shutting the door behind me. The book wasn't out in the open, points to Slytherin for that. I followed my instincts to the desk drawer, which upon opening, I discovered a silver lock box. If I was normal, that would mean something. Unfortunate for him, it didn't. With a simple spell, the silver melted around the lock, dripping a little and scorching the wood of the drawer. I opened the box and found a small collection of things. None of it interested me other than my book. I snatched it and looked up. 

Casper stood there, a smirk on his face. I said nothing and got myself the hell out of there. 

Benjamin's POV

I ran out of the house along side everyone else. Seconds ago, there was a flash of light and a loud clash and rumble. The ground shook and the lights in the house flickered, it stirred panic in every room. I made my way to the front of the crowd that formed on the lawn. Before me, the ground was split and crumbled, blackened by fire. A line was literally drawn, separating our home from the woods. "What the hell happened?" I shouted for all to hear. 

"Sir, there was a strike of lightening! It came out of nowhere!" A woman said next to me.

 I could still feel the electricity coming off the dirt. I watched as random members of the house worked to put out the fire. Behind the rising smoke I noticed my sister staring at me, arms crossed. I narrowed my eyes but her gaze never let up, accusing me with her eyes. I looked back at the site of the strike and back to Eliza... and back to the crumbled earth. Eliza's gaze said it all. Ophelia was here and she was pissed.

I ran towards my office, following the smell of burnt wood. My desk, slightly burned, was now missing the grimoire and there was no sight of Ophelia.