~BOOK 5/PART ONE~ Paranormal: Too Close To Home (Multi-Bandom FanFic)

I was walking around the pack house, my arms crossed over my chest and the room around me feeling colder than it actually was. I stepped into the foyer just as Patrick walked in through the front door, our daughter beside him and his friends, Kenya, Jack, and Lynn behind them. I gasped and rushed up to them, cupping Halsey's face in my icy hands. "Oh my god, you found her!"

"They did," Patrick explained as he gave her over to me, nodding over to the werewolves venturing further into the home.

"It wasn't hard considering they had drugs." Kenya rolled her eyes and walked away, fuming.

"That's how they got her possessed," Lynn explained, folding her arms over her chest and her eyes following after Kenya, "All I had to do was a simple exorcism to get rid of the demon. She's a little drained right now, but she should be good by tomorrow morning." The huntress walked off after my best friend.

I stared at my daughter, trying to comprehend everything everyone was telling me. Meanwhile, Jack shook his head and went in the opposite direction of his sister, the vampires going after him and leaving Halsey, Patrick, and me behind.

"How'd they find her?" I questioned, pushing a piece of her hair out of her face.

"Jack just knew where they were," Patrick answered, "It was an abandoned building way on the outskirts of town; there were at least fifty others there."

"These demons are spreading like wildfire," I muttered, avoiding his gaze I could feel on me.

"So is Halsey's growing addiction," He added. Our daughter snapped her head at him, a look of surprise written on her face, as if he wasn't supposed to tell me something I already knew.

"I know," I replied, sighing.

It was weird seeing Patrick care for her, even weirder when he said that he'd go look for her. I didn't understand why he seemed to want to be a father all of a sudden. Maybe it was because he really wanted us to be a family. If only he wanted it sooner...

"We'll talk about this later," Patrick told Ashley while pointing to the staircase, "Go get some rest." A disappointed look was sketched across his face as our girl walked off. Once she was gone, he looked to me and asked, "How are you?"

I shrugged my shoulders and turned my head, watching Ashley escape into the pack house. Patrick knew I wanted separation, yet he persisted on knowing I was okay. I'd closed him out, shut him down, and he was still worried about my well being. "I'm cold," I finally answered him, "Everything hurts, but it's nothing I haven't dealt with before."

"Is it the darkness?" He glanced around a little before leaning in and whispering, "It's getting worse, isn't it?"

"Patrick, I'll be okay, alright?" I looked back at him. "I'm just...I'm under a lot of stress right now."

"Rachael, this isn't stress, it's dark magic." I didn't need him to tell me. I knew it was the darkness eating me from the inside out. For hours, I looked in books to figure out how to cure me, but there was nothing. "Dark magic like this can kill you, for good this time." I remained silent, tilting my head down. He stepped closer to me and put his fingers underneath my chin, bringing my eyes to his. "I'm really worried about you, Rach."

"Worry about yourself, Patrick," I murmured, stepping away from him. I had to be cold and short with him; I had to distance myself. It was hard, though. I was so used to having someone to worry about me. It wasn't like Brendon didn't care, but Patrick, he always knew when something was off with me. He knew me inside and out, and after so many years, he wasn't there to fix whatever was wrong with me. It wasn't because he couldn't, but because I wouldn't let him. "We're not together anymore, so you don't have to worry about me."

"But I do," He retorted, shortening the distance between him and me again, "You're the love of my life, Rachael, and you're dying. How can I not worry about you?"

"Just stop, okay?" I snapped, taking another step away from him. I needed space, so I was putting as much distance between us as possible. I didn't want to let him back into my life because I knew what would happen. I'd fall back into the old swing of things and everything would go back to the way things were. I heaved a sigh and said, "Bruno wants us to have a meeting tonight. We shouldn't probably keep him waiting." I turned to leave when Patrick caught me by the arm.

"What do I need to do, Rachael?" He begged to know, "I've done everything I can think of. I even saved our daughter, for god's sake. Yet you still won't take me back."

"Hey, Rach," I heard from behind me, preventing me from responding. I spun around and saw Brendon descending the staircase, sliding down the railing rather than taking the steps. "Come on, we're gonna be-" He cut himself short when he landed at the bottom and noticed Patrick. "Oh, hey, you're back. Did you find her?" 

"Yeah," He replied, a sudden change in his mood as he retracted his hand and shoved it - as well as his other one - into his pocket. "She's getting some rest right now. Lynn had to perform an exorcism on her - the demon's army tried to recruit her."

"I hope she's okay," My lifelong friend replied, approaching me and wrapping his arm around my back, pulling me into his side. I began to warm up almost instantly, although the horrible feeling that had washed over my entire body remained. "I know how tricky demons can be, and how bad it can get recovering from an exorcism. Personal experience."

"Good for you," Patrick retorted, his jaw clenched. The three of us stood in silence before my ex-boyfriend announced he should be on his way to the meeting. He didn't even give us the chance to respond before darting off, abandoning Brendon and me in the foyer.

"Well I'm glad Halsey's back," He muttered, breaking the silence that had taken over once again.

"Me too," I murmured, holding him tighter for warmth.

"We should really get to that meeting, though. We don't want to keep the King of Assholes waiting." I nodded my head in agreement and the two of us began to make our way to Anthony's office.