SWNOVELS Chapter 9
CHAPTER 9
I sling my bag into the corner of the tiled hallway, just inside the entrance of my parents’ house; or rather, dad’s house since it seems that my mother, Beth, has moved out. Apparently, she left the day after I died. Ella had mentioned the move to me when she came to visit back over the Christmas holiday. I am shocked to find out though, that she has not told dad that I have returned from the spirit realm.
She must have been informing him about me because just as I go to announce my presence, I hear my dad shouting; “Oh, my, God! Oh. My. GOD! How is that even possible?” His voice resounds from the kitchen where I find him, Ella, Rifqa, and Natalie sitting around the kitchen island.
El is placing her bright pink mug, (full of coffee, I am sure), on the counter in front of her as she continues her conversation with my father. “Mr. Hopkins, remember, they are witches! They have magical abilities that we could never fathom to think is possible. And I assure you, Alina is very real. Just look at her, this isn’t a figment of your imagination.” She ticks her head in my direction, a smile lighting up her face.
Dad turns around and his eyes bulge from his head, his jaw falling wide open in surprise. “Hi dad.” I say hesitantly, suddenly feeling a little anxious as a small smile slips across my lips. He nearly bum rushes me; I didn’t know he could move that fast as he scoops me into his arms and twirls me around. “This is real? You’re really here?” His eyes shimmer as he tries to hold back tears of happiness at being able to hold me close once more. Dad sets me upon my feet before pushing me to arm’s length so that he can really look at me. Before I am able to say anything though, he has yanked me back into his arms, gripping me in probably, the tightest bear hug, ever!
I laugh at him as he continues to stare at me, trying to determine if I am actually, truly in front of him or not. “Don’t worry dad. I really am here. I’m not a figment of your imagination, I promise!” I throw my right hand in the air, giving him the girl scout hand symbol of sincerity. He looks at me, then over to Ella and then back to me.
“Wow, baby girl! I have missed you so much! How come no one let me know? I would have come visited you over the holiday, baby.” He raises his hands and swipes at the tears that have pooled in the corners of his eyes.
“Aw, daddy. I love you so much!” I exclaim as I throw my arms around him for one more hug. Just as we break apart, I hear El squeal in joy as she hops up from the chair she had been occupying.
“Oh Devon, I’m so happy to see you! It’s been a crazy few day since we last saw each other.” She flings herself into him, wrapping her legs and arms around his upper torso causing him to stumble back into the kitchen wall. He squeezes her tight to him, kissing her briefly on the lips and then allows her to slip back to the floor as his cheeks heat up, causing his face to turn a bright red.
“You two are so cute.” I make kissy noises at them before I look at Dev curious as to why it is taking so long for Dominic to show his face. Just as I begin to question where he was, Nic walks in with Riley, Raegan, and Chris on his heals. I could hear Jess and Vince arguing about something in the entry way which causes a smile to tug at the corner of my lips. Knowing those two would not be entering the kitchen anytime soon, I go ahead and begin to introduce everyone.
The girl Ella had introduced me to, Rifqa, who was leaning against one of the kitchen walls near El, straightens as she pushes herself away from the cream-colored wall. Her raspberry top drapes loosely across her shoulders, falling off one of them. I totally need to find out where she bought the ripped jeans she is wearing because they totally rock! I’m also in love with her dark brown leather boots! Eh, who am I kidding, I so need to find out where she found the entire outfit. I watch as she lets her eyes travel up and down each of the guys and unconsciously, I move a bit closer to Dominic, silently indicating that he is mine! A ping of jealously hits me, flashing in my eyes. I had forgotten how beautiful the girl was because even though she had been Ella’s roommate, she had never chose to hang out with us prior.
Even though I felt a moment of insecurity, I knew I really didn’t have anything to truly worry about. The bond Nic and I share is something that will never be broken. He is my soul mate. I see her turn her head, her shoulder length hair falling around her face as she does so, so she can look the last of the group up and down without being seen doing so. Looking at Chris, I watch as the two share a shy smile. Chris’ eyes seem to light up a bit as they do this. Unfortunately, just then, Jess and Vince finally appear, interrupting the moment that could have transpired between them. I sigh saddened a bit by this but am very hopefully that even though we have come to destroy Cal, that maybe, just maybe, it is Chris’ turn for finding love.
Our stainless steel, spotless, kitchen fills with noise as everyone seems to be trying to outdo the others in how loud they can speak. As I am trying to hold a conversation with Ella, my dad comes up from behind me catching my left hand in his. “What is this!” I can hear the astonishment in the question he has asked me as I glance at my hand to see what he is talking about. The fairly large diamond ring perched upon my ring finger feels so natural resting against my skin that I had actually forgotten it was there.
“Oh, um…” my voice trailed off as I pondered how to respond to him. “Dominic asked me to marry him and I said yes.” I have no idea why I felt so hesitant and nervous as I told him. I think I was scared of what he would say in turn.
“No! You’re too young to be thinking about marriage,” he says to me at the exact same moment I hear Natalie squeal and shout out “congratulations!” Dad’s head snaps around to give Natalie a glare and then just as quickly, he is looking back at me, giving my ring a stare that if I didn’t know better, I would think he was trying to melt it off my finger.
I place my other hand on his upper arm, trying to get him to focus on me instead of the ring. “Dad calm down. It isn’t like we are going to do it tomorrow. I am going to finish high school first, but you do realize I am eighteen, right? And besides that fact, I have also died, and returned to life. I know for a fact that I want to spend the rest of my life with him, okay.I’ve never been more sure about anything in my life.” Dad seemed unsure of what to say next but thankfully, Natalie came to the rescue by diverting his attention to herself.
I feel Nic walk over to me, taking my hand in his, giving it a comforting squeeze. And just like that, I feel myself relax once more and I pull his arm around my shoulders so I can snuggle into his side. Stifling a yawn, I ask how the current sleeping arrangements are so that, me and my group can sort out where we should all sleep. “I’m wicked tired guys. I think we should all turn in for the night. You know, get a good night’s sleep and assess the situation tomorrow.” Everyone agrees with me by nodding their heads or actually saying ’yeah’. We all grab our belongings and split up at the stairwell as we all head in different directions to claim beds.
*
Chris walked out of the kitchen of the mansion that Alina called home. Shaking his head like a dog, he tried to shake away the brown shaggy locks of hair that kept falling into his eyes, hindering his vision as he stared in awe over the grandeur of the place. He couldn’t even begin to fathom how someone could transition from the luxuriousness of this place to being happy and content with Dominic in his grandmother’s little 2-story cottage. Love, right?He thought as he tipped his head back, eyes skyward, as he gaped at the insanely large, crystal chandelier that hung from the ceiling in the entryway, Chris hadn’t realized anyone was nearby until he literally walked right into them.
As Chris turns and his soft brown eyes connect with Rifqa’s chocolate ones their eyes lock, and an instant connection could be felt between the two. “Oh, gosh, I’m so sorry. I didn’t see you!” He exclaimed as he ran a hand through his hair nervously, reaching out his other to attempt to keep her from stumbling backwards any further than she already had.
“No problem.” Rifqa responded in turn. “I was just coming to see if you needed help finding a room.” Rifqa placed a hand on Chris’s bicep as she chuckled softly and then allowed the dumb grin to spread across her lips. Neither one seemed able to tear their eyes from the other. As her hand stayed upon his arm, they stood frozen and stared in awe as a greenish, gold chord began to swirl around them. They watched as it travelled up their arms, a tingling warmth coursing along their extremities as the chord seemed to be trying to pull them closer to one another, as though trying to bind their hearts together.
“What the h-”, Chris began to question when they were suddenly interrupted as Riley and Raegan burst into the room, laughing loudly because of something that had happened to them from somewhere else in the house.
The sudden distraction caused Chris and Rifqa to jump back from each other, which caused whatever connection was occurring to snap, breaking as well. “Dude,” Riley said, his eyes lighting up as he spots Chris. “Have you been through Alina’s house yet? Goddess, if you haven’t, make sure you pay attention to where you’re going because you could totally get lost!” Completely oblivious to the moment that was taking place between Rifqa and Chris, Riley waited for Chris to answer.
“Yeah, no. Haven’t had a chance to go through it yet. Rifqa was just about to show me around. So, I, um, will see you guys in the morning, I guess.” He gave a half grin and then turned his attention back to Rifqa. She offered him a shy smile before nodding her head, taking hold of his outstretched hand, and leading him out of the room.