Empire of Eternals (Book 1 of The Eternal Series) ✔️

Chapter 28 | Sinner's And Saint's Are 2 Sides Of The Same Coin

Johnson Residence, Hilversum

***Paige Johnson POV***

I chewed on the tip of my nail, occasionally biting down hard on it as I stared at the blank TV screen across from me. I liked the silence that I was surrounded by right now, it gave me time to think. Dexter had gone into town to visit his father, Hermione was up in the guest bedroom and Aiden and Adriana were back home doing god knows what.

I felt intrusive when I walked in on them like that in the kitchen. It was embarrassing, and I couldn't take my eyes off of them for some reason. They really were together. It came as a real shock to see Aiden standing there half-naked whilst Ana tried her best to cover up the hickeys that went up to the edge of her jaw; they were visible from miles.

I couldn't help but feel the cringe kick in every time I thought about that awkward moment. I should've knocked, but I was in such a hurry to tell Ana about the Amulet incident that it completely slipped my mind to be respectful.

I picked up the TV remote beside me, hoping the sounds of the news reporter would push the sudden revelation from this morning to the back of my mind. I turned up the volume as I listened in on the reporter, explaining the incident of a truck that crashed on the bridge.

It was on the news. The car crash was on the news. Several news channels were covering the incident as the drive was killed, and the cause of the accident wasn't found yet. And if any more pressure couldn't be added onto our lives, detective Edith Parker had been assigned to our case again.

This was horrible. The truck had left Anderson's Residence, from the masquerade ball that Adriana, Aiden and I attended. The horror on our faces was present when I told Ana and Aiden that I had been called into the NPD, so they could investigate what I was doing at the time of the crash.

That little detective was getting on my nerve. She couldn't be mind-controlled like me, and things were made a thousand times harder. If we could just compel her to forget everything our lives would be easier.

I listened intently as the news reporter explained the car crash and how the truck was in total ruins, steering off of the bridge and into the cold water below as the driver drowned. They didn't even know that a precious item was missing, an item that could be used to resurrect the first hybrid and send the humans into the wrath of Kristopher.

Ever since I found out about Kristopher, I couldn't get a full night sleep. The thought of Josephine coming into the house and killing us was always on my mind. Because of her, I had to place a barrier around the estate so she wouldn't barge into my house. Because of her, I was constantly living in fear. Because of her, Hermione was traumatised.

She was gone. The Hermione that we all knew was gone. I missed her more than anything. Jenna's death really took a heavy toll on her, so much that I hadn't seen her face in weeks. I missed her voice, her presence, hell even her sarcasm and her mean humour. Josephine ruined her.

"Paige?"

My head shot up at the sound of the weak voice I hadn't heard in weeks, my eyes landing on Hermione as she stood with a gap between us, her dark brown hair in a bun as her shirt hung loosely from her body, going down to her thighs.

"Hi." I weakly called out, my eyes fixated on her

I took in the sight of her, the skin under her eyes dark and baggy as she seemed to be suffering from insomnia, her eyes lids droopy and half-closed as she was paler than usual. She looked sick, even though she wasn't. She was completely healthy, but the same couldn't be said for her mind.

It was broken. Her mind was broken, damaged beyond repair as her life had been drained out of her body. Her magic which I could normally feel radiating off in waves was gone, replaced by the dark, cold, hollow feeling that surrounded her every second of the day as she stood there, waiting anxiously.