Sophia’s POV
I started sobbing as soon as I saw her.
“Mom!” I screamed as I rushed to the window.
She looked at me and gave me a small smile.
“No!” I screamed loudly.
My heart broke and I felt the urge to break the glass between us. I couldn’t let my mom do this. I couldn’t let her get hurt. The darkness was mine, not hers. I was the one who was supposed to be in that room, not her. I was the one who was supposed to fight it, not my mom. She had enough. She did enough. She’d been through enough. She deserved to be happy with my dad. She didn’t deserve to be trapped in that room.
“Hi, my baby,” my mom said, placing her hand on the window.
Something between a sob and a scream escaped my lips. I couldn’t hold back the pain I felt. I had to get her out. I had to take the darkness back.
“Why, Mom?!” I cried out as I placed my hand on the glass as well. “Why?!”
I felt my dad’s hands on my shoulders. He pulled me to his chest and wrapped his arms around me tightly.
“I couldn’t let anything happen to you, baby,” my mom said, her voice laced with pain. “I had to protect you. I should have done this years ago.”
I shook my head and another sob escaped me.
“No, Mom,” I cried out. “Give it back to me. Let me in and give it back.”
My dad kissed the top of my head. I felt Lex take my hand in his.
My mom smiled through her tears.
“This curse is mine, Sophia,” my mom said. “It was never meant for you or anyone else. It was always meant for me. I won’t let it pass on to your children. This curse will end with me.”
My heart raced and I couldn’t hold back a sob that escaped me.
“Mom, please,” I sobbed. “Don’t do this. It’s mine and I need to deal with it.”
My mom shook her head and took a deep breath.
“It’s not yours Sophia,” she said. “It’s mine. It was always mine.”
Lex pulled me out of my dad’s arms. I buried my face into his chest and he hugged me tightly.
“Goddess, Emma,” my uncle sighed. “What the fuck are you planning to do now?”
I wanted to look up at my mom, but Lex wouldn’t let me. He placed a hand on my head and pressed me closer to him. I could tell that he needed comfort so I wrapped my arms around him and hugged him tightly.
“Find a way to get rid of it,” I heard my mom say.
There were a few moments of silence before my mom spoke again.
“I’ve been reading about curses and I found some interesting stuff,” she said and this time Lex let me look at her.
“What did you find?” Anna asked as she approached the window.
I watched as my mom got down to her knees and pulled a box from under the bed. I furrowed my eyebrows. I didn’t see her put that there.
She opened the box and pulled out an old, torn-up book. She sat on the bed and opened it.
I wanted to get closer to the window, but Lex tightened his arms around me and I couldn’t move.
“What is that, Emma?” Anna asked. “I’ve never seen that book before.”
My mom glanced up at her but didn’t respond. She kept turning the pages that looked like they were falling apart.
“Emma,” my uncle called her with a hint of anger in his voice.
I couldn’t even look at him. I couldn’t even imagine what he was going through. He loved my mom so much and I could only assume how scared he was. If something like that happened to Lex I would lose it.
My mom ignored my uncle as well. She kept turning the pages and frowning.
“Emma, I swear to Goddess…,” my uncle spoke after a few moments, but my mom interrupted him.
“Here it is!” she exclaimed as she stood up and walked back to the glass window separating us.
Hunter came to stand next to Lex and me. He crossed his arms over his chest and tightened his jaw. He kept his eyes on my mom.
I took a deep breath and tightened my arms around Lex. He rubbed my back gently.
I am so fucking happy to have you back. Lex mind-linked me.
I gulped and took a deep breath.
I wish it wasn’t at the cost of our mom being in there instead of me. I said.
Lex tightened his arms around me and kissed the top of my head.
I know. He said. She will find a way out. I am sure of it.
“Okay,” my mom mumbled as she finished reading the page. “This book describes darkness as something that hurt us in the past. It says here that dealing with that hurt could get rid of the darkness forever.”
I furrowed my eyebrows.
“I don’t understand,” my dad said. “How are you supposed to deal with something that hurt Sophia?”
My mom looked at me and sighed.
“I can’t,” she said. “But I can deal with the things that hurt me.”
She looked at my dad and gulped.
“I think that this darkness always belonged to me,” she continued. “I think that’s the reason we couldn’t get rid of it before. Sophia couldn’t deal with it because the hurt wasn’t hers. It was mine.”
She looked back at the book in her hands and took a deep breath.
“I didn’t even know that this book existed until I decided to take Sophia’s darkness,” she said. “I went through every nook and cranny in our library and I never saw this book before.”
She looked back up at us and closed the book.
“This darkness was meant for me and I have to be the one to fight it,” she said and my heart started beating faster.
