Almost Cursed || Completed

Chapter Twenty-four: Permissions

We decided it was best to leave Friday, after school. It was still trying to figure out what to tell my mom.

Oh, hey mom I'm gonna go spend a weekend with my boyfriend on a witch hunt to track down dad's murderer and relive his last moments. Bye!

Yeah, right. An idea occurred to me during my walk in between classes, and I ran into last period. Kyna and Lolani were already waiting at our table, and they both looked up as I slid breathlessly into my chair.

"I need help." I said, looking at both of the girls.

"Oh, nooo! What did he do? He seemed so nice!" Lolani started.

"What? No! I need help with something else."

Kyna's brow rose, and both her and Lolani gave me the "spit it out" look.

"I need both of you to get together for the whole weekend, and then cover for me."

I gave the best puppy dog eyes I could muster, and both girls laughed.

"Girl, totally." Kyna replied.

"You just have to give us the details after." Lolani gave me a wink.

I didn't mind that they thought I was going to sneak off with Evander for a romantic getaway. I would be driving for seven hours before getting to North Carolina, so maybe we would be be sharing a room for the night. I blushed slightly. The first time we spent the night together, I was so traumatized that any ounce of romanticism wouldn't have effected me in the slightest.

Now? I was so deeply involved that I was sure I would be ready for the next time. This sense of certainty made me blush harder.

By the time I made it home that night, I had my plan devised.

The girls and I would be going to Kyna's beach house for the weekend, to celebrate her made up cousins birthday. Lo an Kyna would really be going to the beach house in case anyone checked in, I just wouldnt be with them.

I brought it up at dinner over pot roast and potatoes. My mother agreed without much of a thought, and my brother just gave a grunt in acknowledgement. I hid my smile the rest of the meal.

I knew I shouldn't be excited about my trip due to the sinister motives, but I had never been that far away from home before- let alone with a boyfriend. I started getting nervous, and soon I was scrounging through my drawer looking for my best lingerie to pack into my duffel bag. I was stuffing the last bit of my nicest clothes into the bag when I heard a knock at my door.

"Come in!"

"Hey." Rowan said, entering into my room and closing the door behind him.

He held my father's book of shadows in his hand, and his face was pursed in confusion. I had left my father's book under my pillow, and I had no idea how he had gotten it. Had he been snooping in my things?

"Where did you get that?" I asked, shock written on my features.

"It was in my room, just laying on my bed. Did you put it there?"

Goose bumps began to creep up my arms.

"No." I replied, trying to busy myself with packing my bag.

"There's something I want to show you." he said, flipping the book open to the last page. My heart sped, expecting him to ask me about the note from my father, but instead another sight caught my eyes. The note had his name scrawled on the top, with a different paragraph as before.

"What is that?" I asked, trying to contain my heart rate.

Rowan looked at me with a pained expression on his face. He caressed the page, and a single tear snaked down his face.

"It's a letter from Dad."

I took the book from his hands and read the letter.

"Dear Rowan,

I know you have questions, and I know you have pain within. Do not let fear consume you. Trust in your sister, and trust in yourself. You will both soon be challenged in ways you have never been before. Things are not as they seem.

It has pained me to write these words, knowing I may soon have to leave you all. Things may not make sense now, but they will soon enough. Just remember that I love you both, more than all of the stars in the sky.

You are both of my blood. You must fear this.

Do not trust the cloaked ones.

Fergus, 2014"

By the time I was done reading, tears soaked my face. This was my father. I knew it in every bone of my body. It had been signed a year before his death. He must have knew what was coming, and then spelled the note somehow.

If he knew what was coming, why did he go? I wish I could go back in time and shake him, beg him not to leave us.

One thing was for sure, my father wanted my brother to know what was going on. I debated on telling him. I didn't want him to try to persuade me not to go, or even worse, tell my mother.

I looked up at him. His face pleaded with me. He wanted to know what was going on, even if he didn't know exactly what that meant. I looked down at the note once more before handing it back to him.

I couldn't tell him yet, but I vowed that I would as soon as I returned.

"I'm so sorry, Rowan. I miss him so much."

That was all I said, and I hugged my brother as tight as I could.