"V?"
Ava looked at the stairs and met the shirtless Phil’s eyes.
"What happened?" Phil asked. "You look so pale. Are you alright?"
"I— " Ava pursed her lips. This was just an illusion, she reminded herself. "Of course. I am hungry. Right... I need food."
"Good. Don’t forget to put your laundry in the washer. I am going to take care of that after I came back."
"Ma?" Ava held Gabriella’s shoulder.
"Hm?"
Ava was stunned as she stared at Gabriella’s eyes. This morning... this day... If she was right...
"What date is it today?" she asked.
"Twentieth... what’s going on? Are you feeling alright?" Gabriella immediately put her palm on Ava’s forehead. "You don’t have any fever. Did something happen?"
She gave her that look. The look that she always used every time she told her her dreams and nightmares. At that time, Ava thought Gabriella always looked at her with gentle eyes and an understanding gaze.
Now she noticed something different.
There was a look of pity and... sadness.
She had mistaken her sadness for an understanding gaze.
But this isn’t the most important thing right now.
"Did you have breakfast?" Ava walked past her adoptive mother and went straight to the kitchen. "I’m sorry I was starving. I spent the night studying."
"For what?" Phil asked. He followed her towards the kitchen.
"An exam?"
"I thought you were done with them yesterday?"
"Well, it was for another exam."
"I didn’t know you are this hardworking," Phil smirked. "Why not do something productive like my assignments instead of your exams?"
"Asshole..." she rolled her eyes. Phil laughed and shook his head. Then he poured Ava and himself some milk before bringing them to the wooden breakfast table where they used to eat together.
She observed Phil’s casual movement and immediately realized how caring he was. Ava used to ignore his efforts in the past but now she quite liked it. Phil always prepared her toast and gives her milk. He does the dishes too which is definitely a plus in Ava’s books.
Moreover, Phil liked to help her study Math and sciences and sometimes does her assignments especially if she was struggling with them.
Her brother was actually very kind towards her.
Her eyes drifted towards Gabriella. Yesterday was supposed to be the day Gabriella died but now... she’s here. Meaning, the attack didn’t happen.
"Ah... V, your dad is dropping by later. Be kind to him. He had been busy lately." Gabriella gave her a stern look. "What’s that look for? Don’t tell me you forgot about your trip? He is taking you to— " freewёbn૦νeɭ.com
It was as if the rest of Gabriella’s words echoed inside Ava’s head. No. She felt like she was deep underwater struggling to hear what she was trying to say.
Ava’s brain just stopped when Gabriella mentioned Ava’s dad.
With that, Ava suddenly got up and ran back to her room. The moment she opened her door, her eyes went straight to the walls where she hung the...pictures.
It was mostly of her and Gabriella during her birthdays and elementary graduation or their occasional trip to the forest. But this time...
Ava could feel her heart thundering against her chest as she moved closer and stared at the Photos.
There was a photo of her father!
He was there during her elementary graduation and some of her birthdays!
In this world... her father was alive!
"V?" Gabriella and even Phil followed her inside her room. "What’s wrong?’ Gabriella asked. "Did something happen?"
"V? Are you alright?" Phil approached her, his eyes full of worry. "Why are you crying? Did someone hurt you? Do you want me to beat them up? Say something!"
"V, I swear if some boy made you cry I will beat him up until his face would— "
"It’s not real," Ava said. She didn’t even realize that she had been crying until she tasted the tears on her lips. She stared at the tall Phil.
"What?" Phil asked.
"You are not real."
"V?" Phil snorted. "What are you talking about?"
"It’s nice..."
"Huh?"
"This is nice." Then Ava held Phil’s hand. "Thank you." Maybe it was just a few minutes but... she quite liked it. "But no thanks." The past is in the past.
She was ready to move on!
With that, Ava twisted Phil’s hand, and her eyes then started glowing.
"You will be sorry for playing with my emotions!" she said in a cold tone.
.....
On the other hand, the others in the real world were also fighting their own battles. It didn’t take a few minutes before the rogues arrived on the stage. Fracheska, Jude, and Samuel formed a circle around Erenes as she tried to break the shield that surrounded Ava.
"Hurry up!" Jude said as he fought against a large werewolf.
"Fuck!" Jude cursed as he took his coat off. He looked at Samuel who effortlessly fought against a werewolf using a short sword that he secretly had all the time. How come the old man was so good at fighting?
Then he recalled that Samuel was Ava’s trainer at one point.
Ava’s martial arts were very good too!
"Damn it! Erenes faster!" Jude said. Again, his lack of experience was already showing. He was strong but he had been sitting behind a desk for months and hadn’t had any real hands-on experience. Plus, the number of werewolves was easily exhausting him.
From his peripheral, she saw Francheska struggle to fight too. She was really strong and fast but... how could she easily fight against three werewolves!?
"Ah!" Francheska’s scream immediately interrupted Jude’s concentration. The moment he turned his head, a werewolf immediately launched at him, knocking him to the ground.
"Fuck!" Jude said. Luckily for him, he still had a hidden dagger that he used to stab the werewolf’s neck.
Then like a knight in shining armor she immediately helped Francheska by killing the wolf who was attacking her.
Jude felt like the world had slowed down as he fought against the animals clearly larger than his human body. But soon, exhaustion started to take over.
And just as his hand started shaking he heard what sounded like a glass breaking.
It was the shield.
He looked back and realized that werewolves had now surrounded the shield.
Ava was still standing inside with Amore.
And both of them were still inside the illusion.
**CRACK**
Another crack.
And another.
Then the shield crumbled.
The shield was broken.
..........
5/5
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