Pov, William.
"Clara, where'd you get this ring?"
She raises her eyebrows and looks at the ring for a moment. "I don't know."
She tries to take it off, but she can't.
"Back off." I'm talking to the young guy in front of me but I'm also keeping my eyes on Clara. She lowers her head and doesn't say anything, which is fair since she has nothing to say. Or any justification.
I say, feeling let down. "Leo loves you very much and trusts you."
I see a tear streaming down her cheek, and she looks me right in the eye, as if trying to justify something. "We've had a lot of tough moments recently."
"If you want separate, at least be honest with him instead of hiding and taking the chance of him being sick!" My voice suddenly wavers, and I can feel tears welling up in my eyes. I'm still trying to process what just happened.
On the other hand, she starts crying quietly and stays silent, which makes me even more angry at her.
"When he wakes up, if you don't tell him, I will," I say. She looks at me with wide eyes and says, wiping away her tears, "Sorry."
I laugh quietly and say, "No, I'm not the one you have to apologize to." Then I notice the ring suddenly disappear.
My blood suddenly freezes in my veins, and my heart races as I hear a deep voice whispering in my ear.
It's a voice I recognize.
It's Cynthia.
(You want to play? Alright.)
...
Pov, Harry.
What's going on with this weird vibe?
I'm sitting on the couch like a child who's been grounded, and I'm super tense. I keep looking from my mom's angry face to my uncle's, who's sitting next to her, staring off into space with a disappointed look on his face.
Poor uncle. I'm really sorry. I didn't want it to come to this.
Evander had a stupid idea.
I let out a deep sigh, cross my arms over my chest, and glance at the goblin sitting next to me.
He doesn't budge; he's just sitting there, staring at the ground, absentminded. I don't want to scold him because he looks so sad when I look at him.
My uncle suddenly stands up from his seat. He walks slowly over to the house door, opens it, and then goes out.
"Where's he going?" I'm about to follow him when my mom chimes in, "Let him be, he just wants some alone time."
Evander's sudden rise and scared expression make me startle. He's looking through the window and outside the house, and I do the same. I'm shocked to see feet hanging on both sides.
"No!" I yell as soon as I realize that those feet are my uncle's feet. He's trying to commit suicide by hanging himself with a rope.
The three of us rush outside, and we're all shocked when we see him struggling to free himself from the rope, like someone else did it to him.
" I'm on my way!" I yell. Just as I'm about to climb the tree, Evander comes up front and I see two black wings sticking out of his back. Then, he's flying towards my uncle, untying the ropes from the tree branch.
As soon as he frees him from the ropes, he quickly holds him to stop him from falling on the ground. I rush to my uncle with my mom and we kneel in front of him, worried, as he's coughing hard, trying to catch his breath.
"When he finally calms down, he says, looking scared and also confused, "I don't know what happened to me!"
"It's Cynthia," Evander suddenly says. I look at him, confused, and he's staring at the ground, looking extremely angry.
"Who's Cynthia?" I ask, but he doesn't answer me. Then he stares at me when he stands up from the ground and furiously hits the tree trunk with both fists, yelling, "Leave us alone! You pathetic bastard!"
...
Pov, William.
I run home, afraid that Cynthia had done something terrible to someone else close to me, or even hurt my son.
Clara betrayed Leo, and you betrayed your own kind.
She's a bitch who uses others as a means to carry out her threats.
I open the door as soon as I arrive and look for everyone. I'm breathing hard from running, and I see my dad sitting on the couch, holding his head in his hands while looking at the floor.
Then I look over at my cousin and his mom, who are sitting on the floor next to each other, looking at me with a blank face, like time stood still in my house.
Everyone is silent, like the calm before the storm, or maybe the storm has passed and it is over.
"Where's Evander?" I ask, sounding a bit scared, and Harry points to the bathroom door.
I run to the bathroom and open the door.
He's sitting in the corner with his knees to his chest, his face buried in his arms, his shoulders shaking from his silent sobs.
I kneel down in front of him and pat his hair. His body shakes, and he raises his head, staring at me with wide eyes. He says this amidst his sobs, grabbing my jacket with both hands. "I told them to leave, but they won't listen to me!"
I grab him by the shoulders and pull him to my chest. I rest my chin on his head and gently touch his hair.
Then I say softly, trying to calm him down. "I'm not going to ask you what happened, but I just want you to calm down."
When he finally calms down, I break the hug and run my thumbs under his eyes, wiping away his tears. I smile and say quietly, "I got rid of the second ring."
He raises his eyebrows in surprise, "Really? How?"
"Evander, how many rings are left?" I ask him, and he looks away for a few seconds. Then, after looking at me again, he says, "Three more."
I nod lightly and hug him again, saying, "There's not much left. I just want you to hold on. She can't do anything, and we're together, so don't worry."
But then I see something on the mirror and I freeze.
I stand up and go over to the mirror to read it, raising my eyebrows.
(Are you okay, baby?)
This is what's written on the mirror, and I try to rub it off.
But it doesn't go away.
"It's my mom." The goblin says, and I quickly turn to him, staring at him in confusion. He's standing near me, looking at the mirror with a big smile.
"What?"
I look back at the mirror, but now everything that was written on its surface is gone.
I run my fingers over the surface of the mirror, staring at my reflection. "Was that Rose? Is she talking to you through this mirror?"
"Yes," He replies, and then I realize why he would go to the bathroom whenever he is upset.
...