Nocturnal [COMPLETED✔️2018]

Chapter Thirteen: Arabelle

"Please tell me that this is just a very, very weird coincidence," I breathe, my hand shaking.

"What?" Jonah's brows furrow as he leans in to see what I have discovered.

"Arabelle Frost," I whisper, my eyes going from the Jonah's face and then back to the picture.

"I've never heard that name in my life," Jonah says.

As I look at his face, blank of expression, I'm slightly unnerved by his lack of reaction.

I grab his arm and his eyes shoot up to mine. "Jonah," I urge. "Don't you realise what this means if you're related to her?"

He doesn't say anything.

"If you're related to Arabelle, that means that you most likely have the Miller Curse."

"It's not real, Nyx." Jonah laughs. "I mean, come on, a curse? Like it said in the book, it's a myth."

I shake my head in disbelief. "Jonah. Where have you been for the last few weeks? Oh yeah, you've been helping me fight a demon. Is that not enough for you to realise that this is real? This curse. . . It's real. You were possessed by a demon, I've been tormented by one for weeks. Do you not realise that there is a very high possibility that this is real?"

Jonah pulls his arm from my grip, and although probably not an action purposely trying to hurt me, I find my heart twinge. He stands up and turns his back on me, lining up some jars which are dishevelled on his dresser.

"Just leave it, Nyx."

I feel my face flush with colour as I stand up from the chair. I grab my hoodie from Jonah's bed and put it on.

"You can bring the books back to the library," I say. "I'm going home."

Jonah turns sharply on his heel. "Why?"

If I'm being honest, I don't even know myself why I am leaving. I know I may be being selfish by leaving Jonah alone after him finding out he could be connected to an ancient curse, but there's nothing I can do for him if he's not going believe it himself. But honestly, I think it's more of a pride thing than anything else. I said something and Jonah dismissed it.

Just tell him that then, Nyx. I say to myself. Stop being so stupid and ignorant and communicate.

"Ugh," I groan. "You're in denial, Jonah. You're being stupid. We're never going to stop anything if you don't believe."

Jonah scoffs. "I literally gave up all my beliefs for you. I went from a complete, solid non-believer to going fricking ghost-hunting for you. But this is just too much."

"Don't put this all back on me, Jonah. That's really not fair."

When he doesn't reply, I shake my head and walk to the door. Just before I leave, I turn back to him.

"Are you scared?"

Jonah's eyes are glossed over as he looks past me, into the hall.

He nods. "Yeah, Nyx. I am."

His sigh is one I have never heard before. It's a sigh of a person who is tired. A person who is broken on the inside. He collapses into a sitting position onto his bed and he puts his head into his hands.

"I can't be cursed, Nyx. I can't." He sits up straight as I slowly walk over and take a seat beside him. He continues, "I've spent my whole life dreaming of getting away from here. I hate it. I hate it so fucking much, Nyx. I've seen how Dad and Julie tried to get away from here, only to have it blow up in their faces every time but I never thought about it much. And whenever I've left Harvey in the past, for a holiday or whatever, I became extremely ill. I always thought it was an extremely shitty case of bad luck. . . not a curse. I always told myself that I was going to be different than them. Get away from Harvey and do something amazing with my life. But if I'm destined to be here for the rest of my life, then what's the point, Nyx? It's just bullshit. This whole thing is bullshit."