Wiccan Act One: Occult

16 | Never a Happy Ending

Cyrus

XVI

Two weeks later.

He always wondered what became of to the final girls after the movie. How they managed to go on living when their friends were all dead. It soon became clear they didn't. 

They didn't go back to their lives as if nothing happened, nor did they move on. Instead, they sat on their couch for days, unable to eat or sleep.

That night played over and over like some sick joke. Oakwood remained the same. The only difference was that now they had a fresh string of actual homicides to add to their ghost town gimmick. Those who didn't know Hazel got to go about their day without a care in the world, while the opposite had to pick up the pieces. The only peace came from Sheriff Silva arresting that kid and the murders stopping. 

His phone rang, triggering Cyrus to shut it off the instant he saw Christian's name pop up. He refused to talk to anyone right now, especially not Christian. Deep down, he knew he was being unfair, ignoring the dozens of calls from both Christian and Rowan over the past few days, but he couldn't help it. If they talked, the call would turn into a therapy session and he would rather not open the floodgates.

Whenever he allowed his mind to wander, it would take him to dark places, only to send him back with immense anger. He was angry with Christian for defending that boy. They concluded that a witch was controlling the creature and the second they found one that attacked Rowan; he was quick to defend them.

His blood boiled thinking about Rowan and how he still, after everything, didn't come clean like he said he would. If the police had known sooner, they might have been able to help her. Then there was the Sherrif, who hid it all from the town and his children. His dad didn't make anything better with his infrequent texts, nor did aunt Rose's cooking. 

Still, nothing compared to how much he hated himself.

Perhaps he wasn't to be blamed for Hazel being taken, but his idiocy got her killed. If he had been smarter and looked at the signs, he could have prevented all of this. But in life, you don't get do-overs.

The lake, the burning, seeing her in class two weeks ago covering in moss; all pointed him in the right direction. Whatever was in him, magic or whatnot had been trying to communicate it all. His denial had kept him from realising it, however. Instead, he was doing card tricks with Christian.

IDIOT!

His phone rang again, breaking his concentration.

Christian.

He groaned, grabbing the small device and declining. He opened up his gallery and scrolled, taking a while to get past the multiple rows of book pages Christian sent, but in no time he found a picture of Hazel. It was no magazine cover, but that's what made it special. It was one of her sitting on his bed with a silly rubber ghost face mask on her face. She was smiling. Even if she had the mask on, he could tell her lips formed a smile. One he will never see again.

It felt cheap. The picture was a cheap copy of the real thing, one that only brought water to his eyes and pain inside his ribcage.

His head blistered, pain splitting it open and pouring out his emotions. A clatter awoke his senses to what was happening, the living room comes alive because of his lack of control. Through the reflection on the screen, he could see the green glow in his eyes make yet another appearance.

Cyrus took deep breaths, focusing on the beating of his own heart, slowly letting the world fade to black. The noise ceased, bringing him to ease.