WICKED { #Wattys2016 }

Chapter Twenty: Yer a witch Cordelia

The sound of her own name woke Cordelia up.

"Cordelia?" She heard a familiar male voice ask. She savoured the way he said her name. He made her name sound like a soft caress.

Cordelia's eyes fluttered open, and she flinched from the harsh sunlight streaming into the room.

Once her eyes adjusted to the light, she registered that the Sterling Brothers were leaned over her. Kol on her right, and Cal on her left. The next thing she registered were her surroundings. She was back at the Sterling place, lying down in the same canopy bed she'd slept in last night.

She felt a headache hit her like a ton of bricks and groaned as she sat up. The headache brought back memories of Kyle. Kyle chocking her and throwing her around.

Cal and Kol must've seen realisation cross her features, followed by question after question after question.

"You passed out and we brought you back here to check out your injuries," Kol explained,  "You're fine." He added as an afterthought. "You'll definitely get some brusing, and you hit your head pretty hard but that's about it."

"Kyle..." Cordelia looked wildly between the two, looking for answers. "He attacked me. I-I don't underatand why he would try to hurt me we're friends..." She trailed off, running her fingers through her blonde mane as her throat tightened with emotion.

Emotions like panic and confusion were recurring feelings Cordelia was experiencing right now.

Cal nodded solemnly. Cordelia noticed he was seated closer to her head, while Kol stuck to the foot of the bed. The Sterlings exchanged a look, confirming something.

Cal took a deep breath, and reached for her hand. "It wasn't Kyle's fault. He didn't attack you of his own will. He won't even remember attacking you."

Normally, Cordelia would've savoured his touch, but she pulled her hand away. "What? What happened to him?" She asked, her panic transforming into worry for her friend.

Cordelia caught something that looked like hurt in his eyes when she pulled away, but it was gone so quickly she couldn't be sure it had been there in the first place.

"Kyle was under a hex when he attacked you. A hex put on him by a witch."

Cordelia's eyes widened so much she looked like an anime character. "A witch?" She repeated incredulously. "As in the same kind of witch I read about in my book?"

Cal nodded, averting his eyes.

Kol took that as his cue. "I know you must have alot of questions, and you must be confused. But if you let me, I think I can enlighten you." He said, his normally cold tone, unusually warm and soothing.

Cordelia found herself nodding, as she brought her knees to her chest.

Kol nodded in thanks, and cleared his throat before beginning. "We don't know who put a hex on Kyle, but we do know they want to hurt you. We've been coming across individuals from a group of witches, a coven, stalking you for the past few weeks." A mental image of the dead man she'd found flashed through her mind.

"Was the dead guy a...a witch?" She stuttered. Somehow saying witch felt like she was acknowledging they were real made her feel like she was acknowledging the tooth fairy was real.