Forever Changed

chapter 20



I awoke the next morning to an empty bed, Landon had left. I got up and got ready for school. I was originally going to stay in bed all day, but I decided I didn’t want to be alone. I was happy that Landon stayed with me last night and for him being a demon, he was a very well behaved gentleman. He said he had a choice and I couldn’t help, but if he would elaborate on his choice.

I had been lost in thought the whole ride to the school. I sighed, got out of my car, and walked into school. The day moved rather slowly. With just the last class remaining, I was so ready to go home.

I walked up to my locker and noticed that there was a piece of folded up notebook paper sticking out. I grabbed it and unfolded the note. It was written in bright red ink and read,

I know what you are, but you don’t scare me. Looks like you owe me if you want me to keep my mouth shut. Give me a ride home today after school, so we can talk more then. I will be waiting by your car. See you soon, Elizabeth.

Lucas



I slowly lifted my head up and looked around the crowded noisy hall. No one was paying attention to me and of course, I was thankful for this. I had one class left to attend and I rushed to get there.



What was going on? What was Lucas talking about? He didn’t know who I was at all and he never will. Riding alone with him in the car was just not something I was not comfortable with. He said he was not scared of me, but I was now a little scared of him.





******

Class had ended a little early, so I stopped by the girl’s restroom before I went outside. I made sure that the bathroom was empty by looking under all the stalls. Then I called out to him.

“Landon? I need you! Please come out!” I said in a loud whisper.

In less than a minute, Landon appeared by my side.

“What is wrong, Elizabeth? Are you ok?” Landon asked with concern on his face. I noticed that he was wearing the new clothes, which I had bought him at the mall.

“How do you appear so quickly?” I asked, “never mind we will talk about that later. I am worried and I am kind of scared,

Landon.” I said with worried eyes looking at him.

“Why what is wrong?” Landon asked with concern in his voice. Landon was so sweet, that I had a hard time believing he was a demon.

I quickly told him about the note in my locker and that Lucas would be waiting on me at my car. I even told him about the tormenting that I had endured from him, during school.

“Take him with you, Elizabeth. If you need me all you have to do is call. He may know something you don’t. He is able to tell you, but I can’t.” Landon said with a sigh.

“Ok,” I said, feeling a little bit better. I knew Landon would be there in a heartbeat, if I needed him. “See you when I get home.”

“I will be there waiting. Bye Elizabeth!” With that Landon disappeared.



I splashed cold water in my face, dried it off, and headed out the door to the parking lot.





Sure enough Lucas was standing at my car, waiting on me. People were looking at Lucas as if he was crazy, but he just smiled and cracked up with a few of them.

When he seen me however, his smile dropped and he turned pale. What in the world? What did he know that I didn’t know?

I hated confrontation, but I put my big girl panties on and walked right up to Lucas.

While grinning, I said, “Hi Lucas. Did you miss me?”

Lucas looked up at me, stared and very quietly said, “More than you know.” We were actually putting a show on for all the people standing around. Making it sound like we missed each other and had been friends for years.



Lucas walked up to me and leaned over so close that I could feel his hot breath on my ear. “Hug me and let’s make this look real, but don’t try anything funny.”





I giggled, I had no idea what he was talking about, but I wrapped my arms around him all the same. I heard a little growl from somewhere and looked over his shoulder. He smiled while turning in circles swinging me around. It looked as if we had been together and dating for years.

I caught a glimpse of Landon standing behind the crowd, of the kids who had gathered around to watch me and Lucas. My eyes connected with his and I winked at him. I knew he was watching out for me, but I noticed a little bit of jealousy in the deep dark black of his eyes.

When Lucas sat me back on the ground, Landon was nowhere to be seen. The kids around us were all whispering and Lucas told them, smirking at them. “We didn’t want anyone to know we were dating,”

He opened my car door for me and I slid into the driver seat. I started the car and waited for him to walk to the passenger side and get in.

“Where to?” I asked Lucas through gritted teeth.

“Anywhere that no one will hear us and no one will find us.” He said stiffly, I noticed a hint of fear in his words.

“I know just the place,” I replied while a little smile appeared on my face. I sensed Lucas looking at me and I just kept looking out the windshield straight ahead.

*****

We ended up behind my house, on the path that leads to the waterfall. We were walking side by side. All of a sudden Lucas said,

“I know your secret, Elizabeth. I know you are some kind of witch.”



My mouth dropped open in horror as I asked, “How could you possibly know this.”





“Because you showed me your secret at the mall,” he said smiling.

I didn’t know what he was talking about. How did I show him this? What did he see? All I could really think about was what my father said in his note about our secret.

“I have no idea what you are talking about Lucas.” I said annoyed.

“Oh but I think you do Elizabeth your face tells me that.” He said smiling.

By this time we were at the falls. We were standing on the same rock that I had been laying on taking pictures.

“So what do you want?” I asked him seriously.

“I want you to make me rich. You have the money. I can tell that by your mansion you live in and you have that gorgeous car. I want to be rich like you. Since you are a witch, I want you to cast some kind of spell on me so that I can be rich for the rest of my life.” Lucas slowly finished talking to me as if I didn’t know how to speak English. He stood a little straighter when he finished.

I started laughing and Lucas looked at me like I had lost it. “Do you seriously think I would do this for you? Do you think that I would cast a spell on you? Do you really think that blackmailing me will do you any good?”

I was getting closer to him as I was saying this and he kept backing up. “You better, Elizabeth or everyone will know your secret. I will make sure I tell everyone and trust me they will believe me considering your family history!!”

“NO ONE WILL KNOW ANYTHING ABOUT ME!” I screamed.

All of sudden he lost his footing and was falling over the side of the falls. I grabbed his hands, slamming onto the rock with my stomach. The pain was intense, but I held onto Lucas with all my strength, trying to pull him up.

“Don’t let go Elizabeth” Lucas screamed at the top of his lungs.

“Please don’t let go,” he whimpered.

“I can’t hang on much longer,” I cried out.

Lucas was hanging on to both of my hands, for his dear life. He was dangling over the edge of the 300- foot waterfall. I locked eyes with him, my blue eyes to his crystal blue. At that moment, we both knew that I was going to let go. There was nothing else I could do? I couldn’t hold on to him and I was losing my grip.

At that instant, memories flashed before my eyes of all he had put me through. That was enough for me. Something grew within me. Something changed. My eyes turned red as blood. He seen this change and he knew what I was about to do. Terror struck his crystal blue eyes as he bore into my red ones. I heard the rushing water! I felt the wind whipping wisps of my dark brown hair in my face. The clouds grew dark and the wind picked up, thunder rumbled, and streaks of lightning flashed all around.

“Don’t do this, Elizabeth!! Please don’t let go.” Lucas screamed. You could hear the terror in his pleading voice.

“It’s time to let go” I told him with half a smirk on my face.

I let go!

It took him a minute, after trying his best to hang on to my limp hands. I was entertained, but he couldn’t hang on long. I listened to Lucas scream as he plummeted 300-feet into the pool of water below. I watched as his body slammed into the rocks and I was half hoping that he would resurface and come after me. He never did though. I watched as his body was washed down the river, leading through the woods. I felt nothing other than anger.

I was still lying on the side of the waterfall, with my arms dangling over the edge, as if I were still holding on to him. I was looking down and afraid to take my eyes off the water, for the enjoyment I would have if he would resurface. I laid there for only God knows how long waiting. Then, with a small grin on my face, my body went limp with the relief that for the first time, for as long as I could remember, I relaxed! My secret was safe, but I knew at that moment, I was forever changed.