16 Chapter SIXTEEN

"Are you high?" she asked him with a serious expression on her face. That made Ryker laugh out loud. Amelia stared at him, unsure of what to say as the guy continued to laugh at her.

"You said you wanted us to talk. So talk," Amelia pushed for the conversation, hoping to regain Ryker's attention on to why he had called her.

"Let's go outside," Ryker said, motioning with his head to the door.

The two started heading out. Charlotte, who was still on the dining room table, got a glimpse of them. She almost lost her footing out of shock.

"I want to know more about you," Ryker started the moment they were out.

Amelia eyed him suspiciously before replying, "No."

"Come on," Ryker urged. She remained silent for a few seconds as she looked at him.

"Why?" she said out of curiosity. "After how we've treated each other, why are you coming to me now to ask this question?"

"Um, have you met you?" he stated. "It's hard to start a conversation with a person who is hard to read, let alone a witch who is as powerful as you."

"So this is what it's about," Amelia said, staring at the distance. "You don't care about m—my human side, do you?"

"You have a human side?" Ryker echoed with a disbelieving look.

"I was born. It's not like I was dropped from the sky like some freaking meteorite or that thing in 'It'!"

"What?" Ryker did not understand the reference.

"Never mind. What I'm saying is that you are doing this for you."

"I'm doing this for everyone here," Ryker stated as fact. "I don't know you. No one here knows you. And those werewolves… they just complicate things."

"Are you really that desperate to know?" Amelia questioned with a raised eyebrow.

"It would be nice to know something that wouldn't have us all anxious about you deciding one day to nuke us all with a large fireball or something."

Amelia sighed, averting her gaze to the ground.

"It does not matter," she said, earning a look of disbelief from Ryker.

"Are you serious right now?" he said, getting pissed off.

"What if I tell you I've had a shitty upbringing?" she only let out, staring at him. Ryker stared back, not letting it faze him.

"I know many people who've had a shitty upbringing," he countered. "You've got to try something better than that."

"Look," Amelia sighed, "I won't hurt the vampires if that is what you are afraid of."

Ryker did not push for more.

"I'm right, aren't I?" she continued, noticing his reaction at her guess for the reason why they were talking, and he cursed himself for letting it slip.

"Don't worry. You might still not believe me when I say this, but my issue was only with the werewolves. If I wanted you dead, you all wouldn't be here right now. Besides, you don't pose a threat to me."

"What did you just say?" Ryker commented, shocked by the audacity of Amelia to say such words. "I could take you down right now if I wanted to."

"And I could teleport your ass to a volcano and watch you burn in beautiful lava. That would be a wonderful show for the evening…"

He choked on his own voice, not knowing what to say after that.

"I'm kidding," Amelia deadpanned. "Learn to take a joke."

"Kidding?" Ryker ground out. "Are you sure you even know what a joke is?"

"I wouldn't do that to you, no matter how much of a dick you've been to me."

"Wha--"

"And I've had bigger. Even though he is dead, I wouldn't lie and say Declan was a saint. He was always there. Always behind me. Never leaving me alone until I scream out of frustration."

Ryker let a chuckle accidentally slip out. Amelia looked at him in confusion.

"You don't--?" he cut himself off, noticing he was right before he laughed out loud.

"What?" she said, but he still laughed. "What is it?"

Even if it was something small, Ryker felt glad to know something that Amelia did not.

"You do not want to know," he said. "It's something dirty."

Amelia looked at him with an unamused look.

"I shall be leaving now," she said. "It was nice talking to you. I doubt we'll do it again sometime soon. Or rather, I doubt we'll be able to talk like this again. Now remember, you and the vampires are safe. I won't touch a single strand of hair on them, okay? Bye-bye."

Amelia turned, heading towards the back of the house. Ryker stared at her retreating form, his mind filled with thoughts as he watched her retreating form. He was still not sure of what to make of her, but something seemed to stand out. The talk they had seemed to reveal more than what he had hoped for. Even though Amelia did not tell him a lot about her, Ryker was able to make out her character.

He had noticed there was an innocent side to Amelia. He had no idea how small or large it was, but it provided him hope that she would keep her word of not hurting anyone. However, that did not mean that he completely trusted her.

At a turn, Amelia moved toward the forest as she headed for her house. The night air was fresh, and there was nothing but the melodious sounds of crickets at night. She sighed as the cool wind softly blew, rattling the leaves on the branches above her.

It was silent as she continued moving, until a sharp scream caught her attention. She instantly recognized whose scream it was, and so she ran towards the source.

"Come here, you!" a guy yelled, dragging a kicking girl back on the ground.

"No! Let me go! Somebody hel--"

The guy slapped the girl so hard, the sound echoed in the silence.

"Shut up, bitch! Now, you've had this coming for a while. Let me see what's under this--"

Amelia loudly cleared her throat. The guy stopped his actions, turning to face her.

"If you don't want trouble, I suggest you get your ass out of here," he growled, breathing vehemently. "Or are you into voyeurism or some shit like that?"

She just raised an eyebrow, lighting a fireball on her hand. The guy seemed to recognize who she was, and he tensed in fear.

"You have abruptly five seconds to get off of her before I throw this flame on your ass. Five, three, 1.5 …" she started counting quickly, smirking as the guy crawled on the ground as he rushed to leave the scene.

She threw it toward the guy, and she cursed when it hit a tree a distance in front of her.

Another ball of fire appearing on her hand, Amelia went to approach the girl.

"I thought your habit of keeping to yourself meant you are smart. But what I just saw proves you are an idiot."

"Thanks for helping me," Charlotte said, wincing as she moved to sit on the ground. Her hair was all over the place, and there were dirt marks on her clothes. Furthermore, her cheek was red from the impact the guy had left when he smacked her.

"Thanks for helping me," Amelia mocked, moving to sit beside her. "I just saw you inside there. How quickly did time pass for me to find you here?"

Charlotte did not say anything.

"Shit. For how long has this been going on?"

The vampire girl stiffened at that point.

"What do you mean?"

"Don't give me that crap," Amelia stated with narrowed eyelids. "That guy… I saw him with you the first day you all came here. Let me ask you again: for how long?"

"It's been going on for a while, okay?" Charlotte quickly replied with a glare. "He's got some weird kind of infatuation with me or something. Now would you get off my back and go back to being the most hated person on the island?"

"No," Amelia stated. "Now, you listen to me. You should tell someone."

"I can handle it on my own. Besides, it's none of your business."

"Don't be stubborn!" Amelia spat. "That's how it starts. That's how it always starts. It begins as something small; a taunt, an insult, and you make up excuses for it. But then it goes on to full abuse without you noticing. It does not matter whether it is emotional or physical. It just is, and it happens."

"How would you know?" Charlotte narrowed her eyes at her. Amelia was unsure of whether to tell the vampire, but she saw she had no choice.

"Because, stupid, I've been there before."

"What?" Charlotte was baffled.

"Take a look at me," Amelia said. "Take a good look at me. What do you think would push me to become the person I am today?"

Charlotte did not know what to say. She was taken aback, looking at Amelia as her brain was overwhelmed with thoughts.

"You have your brother," the witch continued. "You have Ryker. Go to them and tell them about this. Asking for help does not make you weak if that is what you think."

"But that guy is Axel's friend," Charlotte revealed.

Amelia seemed to understand Charlotte's predicament. However, it was important that she sought out help.

"To hell with Axel," Amelia sighed. "I don't know why, but I can swear everyone tenses when he is around. Anyway, you should tell them."

"But--"

"I have to go," Amelia interrupted, standing up as she resumed her walk to her home. "I believe you can manage your way home. Remember to tell them!"

"What?"

"Or else you will end up like me!" Amelia yelled, disappearing into the forest.

Charlotte moved back to support herself on the tree. She wondered what Amelia meant when she said she would end up like her.

'The hell she's talking about? There is no way I could end up like her,' she thought to herself.

It was at that moment that her surroundings changed before her eyes. She could still feel the earth she was sitting on, but the image in front of her was different. It was among the first incidents that she had experienced, but she usually chalked them up to daydreams.

She could make out the hallway during the day. The walls were marked with dripping blood and dead bodies of vampires. They were bundled together, one on top of the other with others spread all over, and Charlotte could smell the horrid stench of their decaying bodies.

'Wait. What?' she wondered. 'How can I smell this? I'm not supposed to--'

"Calm down, Charlotte!" she heard Amelia's voice. In the vision, she turned, seeing her hand raised as a ball of fire was lit on her palm.

'Where did that come from?'

"Don't you dare tell me to calm down!" she heard herself yell as she threw the fireball at Amelia. She missed as it landed above the witch, and it seemed to piss her off.

"I can't calm her down," she saw Amelia turn to Ryker. "We must do something."

"I don't want to kill her!" Ryker yelled at Amelia, and Charlotte heard him, making her confused.

"Well, it's either her or the remaining vampires," Amelia spoke. For some reason, there were drying tear streaks on Ryker's face. "And I don't think we want to risk their lives again."

Ryker's voice seemed to break before he said, "I can't believe she did that to Emmett."

'Emmett?'

Her brother's name rang in her head. In her vision, she saw herself turning to look around the dead bodies of the vampires on the hallway. It was when she connected with the blue eyes of her brother's blood-drenched body on the floor that she screamed.

The vision ended, bringing Charlotte back to the present. She stopped screaming, soon panting loudly for breath as a headache formed in her head. She was yet to comprehend what that had been. She thought it was fake, but it looked terrifyingly real. She was rattled, more from that than with the guy who had attacked her. Without wasting time, she made quick work of running to her home.