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

He's dead.

I gazed at my reflection of my full length mirror. I was dressed in all black attire, with my hair back in a ponytail. I looked like a day over death.

I heaved a sigh, moving away from the reflective surface, and sat down on my bed. The rain hit the window panes in a sad manner. The wind gently whistled through the air, accelerating the small pellets of water and causing a commotion outside, trying to pull me out from my thoughts. But I was just too lost to break out of my staring contest with the thought of Bruno and our last conversation.

I told him I wanted a break, but now that break was permanent.

I should have checked on him; I should have tried to work things out with him. I hurt him over and over again, and in turn, he killed himself. Teardrops came to my eyes as I replayed the event from a week ago.

"You started rebuilding?" My mother questioned as we entered into my office. 

I nodded."There are still a few loose demons we're hunting for, but Lynn and a couple of others have that under control," I stated confidently. 

My mother was a big help even though she crossed me. She lied to me when she said she'd save Rachael. She stole her memory and her aged body. From the last meeting with the wizards, they said it was hard to tell if the darkness was still inside of her. And because she was a teenager again, her abilities were unpredictable. We had no idea what she was fully capable of. Would she be like every other witch, or would she be as powerful as her mother once was?

"Is Lynn that little human girl you like?" I stopped and gave her a warning glare. She lifted her hands. "Oh, don't worry, I can keep a secret."

"It's none of your business about my relationship with Lynn."

"I just don't understand what the big deal is about paranormals falling for humans. I mean, this isn't that strange book series...god, what's it called?..." She tried to think of the piece of literature. "Twilight!" She screamed and I kept a constant face. "Yeah, Twilight. But all I'm saying is that, unless you have a plan, that relationship won't work."

"Why would I need a plan to love someone?" I asked.

"Honey, you know that little hunter of yours isn't immortal like us," She reminded me. I shrugged, not really concerned about it. Lynn and I were aware of the complications, but it just wasn't something that we focused on or cared about. But now that I thought about it, I would still be here, and the woman I loved would eventually grow old and gray. What would I do without her? "Not like she matters. You couldn't really make a family with someone like her anyways."

"Hey, are you ready?" I looked back over my shoulder and saw Lynn standing in the doorway, her arms crossed over her chest and a remorseful expression on her face. "We're all just waiting for you."

"Yeah, um...I-I just need a few more minutes. You guys should go on."

"You sure?" She inquired.

I nodded then turned around, hoping she'd take the hint, and leave me alone. Instead, she stayed in place. I could feel her sad eyes on me. I didn't want her pity, I didn't deserve it.

I did this to him. I caused Bruno's death.

"Well, I'll be downstairs waiting for you," She finally muttered before peeling herself away from the threshold and turning to escape downstairs.

Before she could go anywhere, I said, "No, just go on with them."

"Kenya, don't you get it?" She asked, "Everyone's waiting downstairs for you. We're not leaving without you. So take as long as you need, but we're not going anywhere." And with that, she stepped back into the hallway and pivoted on her heels, headed down the hallway.

"I'm not going to the funeral, Lynn!" I shouted and rushed back over to the mirror, launching my fist into it and smashing it into a thousand pieces. Silence fell over the house. There were no footsteps; there were no murmurs from the foyer. It was just pure silence. "Just fucking go without me, because I am not going."

Footsteps pattered up the stairs, followed by a quiet, "Let me talk to her." The voice belonged to a girl, someone that wasn't Lynn.

"Go ahead, but she's not going to listen," Lynn whispered back, her footsteps echoing through the quiet house as she retreated downstairs and joined the crowd standing in the foyer. I kept my back to the door as I listened to the floors creak underneath the person's feet.

"Brendon used to do that all the time," The person commented shyly and irrelevantly. I glared back over my shoulder, my eyes red and puffy, and saw that it was none other than Rachael. Anger boiled up inside of me, my jaw clenching in anger. "I'd have to bandage his hand up because he would always faint at the sight of blood. He's such a pussy."

"Why are you telling me this?" I questioned the teenage version of Rachael.

"Because I wanted to get your mind off of...of whatever his name is." She entered the room and sat down on the end of my bed, hanging her head.

"Bruno," I informed her, "And it didn't work." I heaved a sigh, shying away from the girl. I had to pull all the remaining strength left in me just so I could hold myself together. I wanted to keep a straight face, move on, and pretend like my mate's death didn't affect me.

"Well you didn't let me finish. One time, Brendon got so angry that he broke every mirror in the coven. Like, he just...exploded and all of the mirrors - all of the windows, too - shattered. My mom and Link were so pissed at him. But, you know, I don't blame him. He lost his best friend that day. I would've probably done the same thing."

"Look, I didn't lose my best friend. I lost my mate."

"Yeah I know, you lost your mate. Everyone's been telling me that."

"No, you don't know. I lost the half of my soul and half of my heart, and the last thing I told him before he-" I stopped short, still hurt by the awful scene and the pain inside of me. I swallowed the lump in my throat and continued, "Before he died, I practically rejected him. For you."

"Well that was stupid," The teenage girl retorted, kicking her legs back and forth like a child, "If he was your mate, why would you reject him for a stranger like me?"

"You wouldn't understand," I muttered while standing up and going for the window. 

I was still in denial that he was gone. And she didn't understand the pain I felt, when I loved someone else.

A moment of silence passed before Rachael blurted out, "Hey, do you know who that blonde guy is? The kind of older looking one but he still doesn't look a day over twenty-seven?"

"Huh?"

"The blonde guy. Patrick, I think someone called him? He's a vampire, I can feel it. But he was telling me these stories about how you and me are friends, and how when we first met, we thought we were both humans. That's crazy, right?"

"Why don't you just leave?" I shook my head as I stood and walked into the bathroom, slamming and locking the door in the process. I slid down onto the cold hard tile and held myself. 

That's when I heard the locks unclick and I was pushed across the bathroom floor.