Chapter 8

After my run with Axel today, I had gotten to know him a lot better. He and I actually have something in common, enjoying nature. But I also discovered he's a big nerd. Like my brother he's interested in Star Wars, superheroes and supernatural things. In fact, he told me that our town is called Helltown due to mysterious reasons due to our founder, who was also a mystery. Apparently when the founder had founded this land, Native Americans and the pioneers joined forces to combat a lot of the supernatural creatures that lived here. This town was surrounded by folklore and when Axel explained it to me, it actually piqued my interests enough to go to a library. I had decided to take Ember with me since she loved reading. I spoke to the librarian about books from our town and she handed me a big encyclopedia of many different historical events that happened here. Ember and I actually sat down and started reading it. It wasn't long before some of these things caught our attention.

"Wow, Damian, look at this." Ember points to the page. "Apparently witches came from Salem just to get away from the trials." I looked at the page and read about the trials that took place here. Some have even been executed by witch hunters.

"Holy shit." I say aloud. As we read more and more, we discovered that this town is full of ghosts, monsters, alien visitors, and even cults that have been in and out of these places. Something catches my eye. "Woah, my favorite restaurant was once a cult meeting place for witch hunters."

"Your favorite restaurant is the Devil's Inn?" Ember asks.

"What? They had free pizza day and lots of arcade games that I played after the food. My brother and I played the Big Game Hunting arcade game the most and probably have the highest score in the whole town." I reasoned.

Ember raised an eyebrow. "You and your brother are "MStar69" on that game?"

"Yep." Ember's mouth drops and she smacks me. "Ow!"

"You son of a bitch, Bella and I have tried to beat that score for years! Even my brother tried to beat the score!" I couldn't help but laugh as people told us to shush.

"Sorry." I whispered.

"At least I know I can beat you at air hockey." She grins.

"Oh really? You think you can beat me at air hockey?" She nods with a prideful smile. "You're on, kitten."

"Tonight?"

"Tonight." Even though we were competitive with each other at the moment, I hugged her and enjoyed her warmth.

*Ember*

I am preparing for another date with Damian tonight. Every time I'm with this man, he seems to sweep me off my feet like an actual Prince Charming to a princess. I don't know what it is about him but he seems to care and cherish me. He is in love with me! Honestly, I'm in love with him too but I'm afraid to admit it. Deep down, I have this fear that he's going to leave me even though he shows no signs. Our first date was unlike any I've ever been on and getting to know my family was a big step for him. He seemed nervous the whole time but I assured him that my mom really likes him. Luckily my little brother, Jacob, was at his grandmother's for the whole weekend but of course he's coming home tonight. Even though he can be annoying at times, he's always a happy little guy that enjoys life. Ugh, what I wouldn't do to be a kid again! But something else that bothered me was when he was going to ask about my father or any other siblings.

From what I remember, my father never wanted me or Jacob. Instead he was always wanting my big sister, Rose, to be a part of his life. It got to the point where my mother barely got any attention from him. So my mother filed for a divorce and won. My father collected his things and took Rose with him. I haven't seen them since. I hope those two are happy with what they got because I never want to be with them again.

I shook my head from these thoughts as I got ready for my date. I decided to wear jeans shorts, a gray tank top and a black cardigan. I looked in the mirror with a smile on my face. "Not too shabby." I say to myself. I grab my purse that has my wallet and keys inside, put on some sandals and kiss my cat on the head since he's asleep. As I'm heading downstairs, I hear a knock on the door. I open it and my mouth drops. Damian had his hair in a messy style, a nice dark blue shirt, light wash jeans, black boots, and a silver cross necklace that shines with his blue orbs.

"Ready to go, kitten?" He asks, smiling away. I nodded my head as I held his hand. I locked the door as soon as I shut it, walking towards his truck. He helps me into my passenger seat, shuts the door, jogs around to the driver's side, and starts the engine. He and I buckle our seatbelts and head to the Devil's Inn. He plays some country music on the radio while our trip is underway.

From my research on the Devil's Inn, apparently the place used to be an old hotel where new settlers would stay but some dark shit went on in there too. Apparently a Satanic Cult along with a dark coven of witches gathered there one night to have a séance. The old manager supposedly heard screams, growling, and many other noises in the basement ever since. He saw dark shadows in the hallways, objects would be moved on their own, and heavy footsteps were heard in the middle of the night. But one morning, the owner had suddenly passed away in his sleep. There was a look of horror on his face, almost as if he was scared to death by something. Ever since then, people report the same things if they stay there or work there. But Damian and I called bullshit on all of it. We were only going there because tonight is half off steak night with two sides. A nice steak dinner with my boyfriend sounded nicer than going to see ghosts. Plus, I had to beat his ass at air hockey!

We pulled into the parking lot and saw that it wasn't too busy tonight. Probably because it was a Monday night. As soon as we got inside, we were seated right next to the arcade and bathrooms. Damian had ordered a medium rare steak with mashed potatoes and broccoli for his sides. I ordered a medium rare with creamed corn and buttered bread. I kept an eye on the waitress since she had an eye on Damian.

"You like your steak medium rare?" Damian asks, bringing me out of my hate looking.

"Always. I hate undercooked or overcooked." I say. He raises an eyebrow.

"What's wrong?"

"Sorry, that waitress seemed like she wanted eye candy and got it."

He chuckles. "I think she'll have to try harder than anything to get my attention. My eyes are always on you." That alone made me feel better enough to smile. He always knows what to say. Suddenly, my bladder starts to get other ideas.

"Excuse me a minute, I need to go." I stand up.

"Go where?"

"You know, go." I didn't want to say it out loud.

"Oh! Oh! My bad, go right ahead. I'll wait out here." I smile back as I get my purse and go into the restroom.

As soon as I did my business, I began to wash my hands and a group of girls came in. I noticed that they were not laughing or carrying on as normal girls do. I looked in the mirror and saw them staring at me. I begin to feel nervous as I shut the water off to dry my hands. I turn around.

"Can I help you?" I asked. The girls all pull out knives from their pockets.

"Wallet. Give it to us!" The leader says. Oh shit!

"DAM…." I begin to shout but the girl covers my mouth.

"It didn't have to be this way." The girl growls in my face. Suddenly, a boy comes through the bathroom door like he was flying. The guy gets back up with a knife pulled as Damian enters the bathroom. He looks ready to kill.

"You alright Ember?" He asks. I nod my head as Damian sees the knives. I watch him unbuckle his belt to wrap it around his forearm. "Let her go…" he looks around the room. "…or I start fucking up everyone in this room."

"You really think you can beat all of us?" The girl taunts. "You are either really stupid or really brave."

"Is that right?" Damian growls. He locks the door behind him. I hope he knows what he's doing or else we're both dead.