Rot & Romance (Rewriting)

Chapter 52

Lainey began her walk back home in quick strides before she began sprinting.

Did everything that just happened, just happen?

Had she really met and spoken with a six hundred-year-old witch? Was said witch really going to free an ancient, evil demigod-like sorcerer to wreak havoc on earth?

Was she really a descendant of that evil sorcerer?

Lainey hadn't realized how fast she was running until a sharp pain in her chest forced her to stop. She bent over, heaving, trying to catch her breath.

"Lainey! Are you okay?" she heard a familiar voice.

She looked up to see a very concerned-looking Benjamin staring at her.

"I-I'm fine," she panted. "I just . . ."

"What happened? What did she make me do to you?"

Lainey shook her head.

"N-Nothing. It's . . . it's not your fault."

"Tell me everything that happened to you, Lainey. I want to know."

When Lainey had finally caught her breath, she stood.

"Ursula, she . . . she spelled you to bring me to your hideout."

"And then what?"

Lainey shrugged.

"Nothing, we just . . . we just talked. . . . A-And she made me give up my blood."

"Did she hurt you?"

Lainey shook her head.

"No, she promised she wouldn't. She kept her word."

Benjamin's eyes softened.

"I'm glad," he whispered, hugging her, which caught Lainey completely off guard. "And I'm so sorry," he whispered into her ear.

Lainey was frozen. She wasn't sure what to say or how to feel. But if her heartbeat was any indication, she was either really scared or really . . . .

"I-It's fine," she stammered into his shoulder. "I'm . . . fine."

He stepped back and looked at her.

"So, Ursula's . . . really planning to free this Demetrius."

"Yeah . . . and I guess you're aware that I'm a spawn of evil. . . . A-And a descendant of Natalie . . ."

Benjamin didn't say anything. He only stared tenderly at her.

"Today was so surreal," Lainey whispered. "I'm still trying to accept dead walkers as a reality. Now there's witches, elemental witches, apparently Nature is a deity . . . I-I don't know what to think about anything anymore."

She looked at Benjamin, who continued to stare silently at her.

"What?" she breathed.

"Why don't you hate me?" he said.

Lainey narrowed her eyes.

"What?"

"Think about everything that's happened to you since we met. What happened to Rita. Your mom. Your close encounter with death how many times now? You should be hating me."

Lainey hesitated.

"H-How do you know I don't . . . hate you?"

"Your heartbeat."