"Are you alright?" Luke carefully asked Marina as he set her down on her bed. Marina avoided his gaze and looked down at the raw skin of her wrists. There was no point in lying to him.
Luke had this thing where he could tell when someone was lying. Marina had told him it was because he was a vampire and had supernatural hearing so he could hear the person's heartbeat rise when they lie. Luke insisted that it wasn't just that, that he was just good at reading people. Marina said that was bullshit.
"No. No, Luke. I'm not okay." She whispered and absentmindedly rubbed her wounded neck. Luke quickly bit into his wrist and held it out to her but she only she shook her head no.
"You can talk to me about it you know?" He said, his voice full of concern.
Marina looked up at him, her tear filled eyes meeting his concerned ones. Her lips parted and she hesitated before speaking up. "He killed them, Luke. He caused the car accident. He murdered Derek. It was his fault my baby died. What else is there to say? I..I just feel so stupid. I should've known. I should have recognized him."
Luke stayed quiet, listening to Marina attentively. He had never known she was pregnant and was in love. She never mentioned it. But whenever they were hanging out around town Luke took notice of the distant and sad look in Marina's eyes whenever they'd see a couple with a child. He never pointed it out though. And he was glad he never did. He could tell that it was a sensitive subject.
Luke also didn't believe Jai did that. Sure this happened when they were first turned and hadn't learned control but Luke knew that Jai never wanted to kill. Maybe feed then erase his victims' memories. But never kill. So it didn't make sense to him.
Jonathan must've compelled her to think that. Marina wasn't wearing her vervain necklace and she never drank it so that made it easier for Jonathan. He fucked with her mind. He took the happiness she felt and crushed it with one simple look and a few words.
And Luke was furious.
He couldn't bare to see his best friend hurting. It physically hurt him to see her sobbing her heart out. But there was only so much he could do right now. And that was comfort her and then convince her that it wasn't Jai.
"I don't want to push you to it, but I'd like for you to tell me more about it." Luke kindly told her.
Marina rubbed under her eyes and took in a deep breath. "No one knows about it. Only Chelsey and she doesn't even know the whole story. So you have to promise to keep this between us, okay?"
Luke nodded and brought Marina closer against him, her head leaning on his chest. "We were only 18. No one believed Derek and I would last, especially now with a baby on the way. I won't bore you with details but I loved him. I really did. And he loved me. We were more than thrilled to become parents, get married and build a life together." A small, sad smile formed on Marina's lips as she said that, remembering how happy she was.
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"Then it all went downhill when we graduated high school. Derek and I were growing distant with each other. He would always be working and I was left alone at my parents house. After the accident, my family didn't view me the same. They thought it was my fault that both Derek and our little girl died. They didn't blame the car accident for the baby's death. They blamed me saying it was a miscarriage and I should've taken more care of myself to prevent it."
Marina frowned slightly at the mention of her parents, her tone quickly changing from sad to angry. "And I believed them. Eventually, it became too much for me to keep living there so Chelsey and I left and made a life for ourselves. I haven't talked to my parents or sister since. It's been over 2 years, Luke."
"Can I ask you something?" Luke carefully said to Marina. She looked up at him and nodded her head slowly.
"Why did you keep this bottled in? It's not healthy. You could've told me before.." He said, hurt evident in his voice. Marina felt slightly guilty. She never told anyone. Chelsey only knew some of the story but she never pushed Marina to tell her all of it. And she now mostly felt closer to Luke in the short months they've known each other. She should've told him. If she had, they wouldn't be in his situation right now. But she didn't know that.
Marina pulled away slightly from Luke and went to her dresser to look for some fresh clothes to wear. Luke patiently waited for he reply, beginning to regret his question.
Marina turned around to face him as she was walking to her bathroom, a sad look on her face. "Because, Luke, sometimes you have to learn to forget about it."
Luke frowned at her response. She couldn't possibly feel that way, right? "You don't have to put up that facade around me, Marina. I know you still hurt over it and it's okay. It's understandable. You lost two precious people. But you don't have to make yourself forget about it. Your past doesn't define you, it makes you stronger."
Marina was silent after that. She whispered a "You're right" and went into the bathroom to clean herself up. Luke sighed deeply and layed back on the bed. His phone began to go off and Luke answered it once he saw it was Jai.
"Does she really believe it was me?" Jai's voice cracked slightly and Luke felt awful knowing his twin was hurting as well.
"Yes. But we'll figure this out okay? We both know it wasn't you. We have to find out why Jonathan made her believe it."
"Take care of her for now, Luke. You're the only one she trusts and I know you will protect her."
"I will. Don't worry. It'll be okay."
>>>
A/N
Sort of a filler chapter. More stuff will go down after this!
