magic • j. hale [✓]

Chapter 32

"Remind me why you still want to go there, please?" Ariella grimaced, looking at her sister. They had went to the old house, and found a voicemail about going to the old ballet studio around the street. Ariella already partly knew what was going to happen.

"What if Mom is there, Ariella?" Bella asked with a pained voice. "What if she's hurt?"

"Bella." Ariella sighed. "If Mum is there, then I'll do everything I can that she won't get hurt. And if she's not, then I'll take the opportunity to murder James."

Bella winced at the word 'murder'. Ariella noticed this, and looked ahead with a hard expression. The two headed to the old ballet studio, just like the voice mail had instructed Bella to. Ariella wasn't supposed to be there in the first place. "Bella, listen. You're going to have to go in alone. I'll be watching you from the shadows, do you understand? Don't say anything that might aggravate James, or else you're technically asking for a death wish."

"I understand."

Bella entered the ballet studio, and Ariella covered herself with the golden mist. Taking a deep breath, the golden mist curled itself around Ariella, and soon, she was already practically invisible. To make sure, she also cast the disillusionment charm. She followed her sister, and made sure to be silent and stealthy. She could pick up some talk between Bella and James.

"I suppose you're going to tell me your boyfriend and your sister will avenge you?" James asked rather hopefully.

Of course that's what he's asking. He wants a nice and decent fight. Ariella scoffed internally, careful not to make any noise to not alarm James.

"No. I don't think so, at least I asked them not to." Bella replied.

Typical of her to converse with a man trying to kill her. Ariella smirked.

"And what was their reply to that?"

"I don't know. I wrote them a letter."

"How romantic, a last letter." His voice was tinted with sarcasm, making Ariella want to laugh. "Do you think they'll honor it?"

"I hope so."

"Hmm, well our hopes differ then. You see, this was a little too easy, a little too quick. To be honest, I'm disappointed. I expected quite the challenge. Especially with your sister, seeing as she's newborn with abilities. Quite disappointed really." James said. Ariella clenched her wand tighter, prepared to attack James in any case needed.

He, of course, continued to babble on. James was the type of villain to keep on talking, explaining their vicious plans and whatnot, making Ariella roll her eyes. "When Victoria couldn't get to your father, I had her find out more about you. There was no sense in running all over the planet chasing you down when I could comfortably wait for you in a place of my choosing. So, after I talked to Victoria, I decided to come to Phoenix to pay your mother a visit. I'd heard you say you were going home. At first, I never dreamed you meant it. But then I wondered. Humans can be very predictable; they like to be somewhere familiar, somewhere safe. And wouldn't it be the perfect ploy, to go to the last place you should be when you're hiding - the place that you said you'd be.

"But of course I wasn't sure, it was just a hunch. I usually get a feeling about the prey that I'm hunting, a sixth sense, if you will. I listened to your message when I got to your mother's house, but of course I couldn't be sure where you'd called from. It was very useful to have your number, but you could have been in Antarctica for all I knew, and the game wouldn't work unless you were close by.

"Then your boyfriend got on a plane to Phoenix. Victoria was monitoring them for me, naturally; in a game with this many players, I couldn't be working alone. And so they told me what I'd hoped, that you were here after all. I was prepared; I'd already been through your charming home movies. And then it was simply a matter of the bluff.

"Very easy, you know, not really up to my standards. So, you see, I'm hoping you're wrong about your boyfriend and your sister. Edward and Ariella, isn't it?"

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[ what do you think of the new cover? yay or nay? ]