Chapter 10: The Changes
When Damon was back in the Monroe family's garden, his heart began to beat faster. Out of nowhere, there was a passionate desire to meet this girl again inside of him. He knew she would probably kill him—after all, she was a sorceress and her job was to wipe out demons—but that didn't seem to scare Damon off. He was ready for it, if only to be able to see her again, even if it would be the last time in his life.
Damon walked over to the wall, hid behind the trees, and then saw HER. She was walking in the garden with some other girl with red hair and a pale complexion, he sensed that she was also a sorceress. They talked freely about anything and everything, laughing out loud from time to time. His beloved looked so radiant when she smiled... and that made him happy too, mainly because he could at least observe her from a distance. Damon tried to look more closely at her while being careful not to lean out too far. If they both noticed him, he would be dead for sure. At the same time, now and then, Damon wondered about the whole new feeling that was overwhelming him. A wonderful warmth spilled over his heart, which at first, as something new and unnatural, scared him a lot. However, as time passed, Damon grew accustomed to all these new feelings and even began to like them and seemed to gradually forget that as a demon he shouldn't have had such feelings within him. Even if such a thought crossed his mind, it immediately disappeared in the wave of warmth caused by every look on that girl. Damon seemed to be literally forgetting the whole world as he looked at her, including every law he was breaking now.
Damon studied the girl carefully, trying to remember every detail of her face. When she laughed, her eyes sparkled and lovely dimples appeared in her cheeks. The wind blew her long black hair, making look like a beautiful forest nymph and the Californian sun reflected wonderfully in those dark curls. Suddenly, a crazy thought appeared in his head: How much would he give if could at least brush her hair or skin with his fingertips, embrace this girl in his arms... At first, Damon wanted to get these thoughts out of his head as quickly as possible, but it was with great difficulty. Something squeezed his heart so he closed his eyes for a moment, not knowing what to do next. Damon's mind became one big black hole for a moment.
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Selene walked slowly beside Alice. They were just silent after a long and exhausting conversation and she now had mind full of thoughts about the mysterious stranger.
"You still think about him." Alice spoke up finally.
"Hm... What... what?" Selene broke out of her thoughts, blinking eyes and looking at the girl walking beside.
"I'm saying that you still think about that man who saved you, even though he wanted to kill you earlier." Alice explained.
"Ah... Yes, that's true. And what's worse, I can't stop." Selene confirmed. "Know I shouldn't, but... I can't help myself." she added.
And there was silence again. Suddenly Alice frowned as she did while trying to read Tess's mind.
"What's going on?" Selene looked at her questioningly.
"Someone's watching us. I hear some strange thoughts vaguely, but I don't understand any of them, so this is none of the people I know. If it were one of the strangers to me, I would understand it after a short time, so it must be some creature from a race whose thoughts I have never read..." she replied.
"Then which one?" Selene asked, horrified.
"It can be a demon or some other evil spirit. It's certainly not one of the good creatures." Alice replied.
"Then we'd better come home." Selene tugged her by sleeve, walking toward the house.
"All right, let's go. I can hear Rita's thoughts, she's here to see how you handle the gift. Together with your aunt, they will teach you how to use it." Alice informed, following politely after her.
"Great, I'm looking forward to it." Selene replied enthusiastically as she opened the door leading from the garden to the kitchen.
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Damon got scared hearing the words of this red-haired sorceress who accompanied his beloved. She could read minds, and that didn't bode well. Even if she heard his thoughts but didn't understand them, this witch was still dangerous. Sooner or later, she will be able to read them if focused hard enough, and this girl clearly knew it very well. Damon was also sure of this, so he decided to avoid her as much as possible while being near the Monroe house. He hoped that his beloved would not go everywhere with this witch, because he wanted to see her again. Damon felt that would be devastated if his beloved wanted to spend every free moment with this red-haired girl. And really, sincerely, he wanted to see the lady of his heart at least one more time, although it probably wouldn't be enough for him. Damon felt he could watch her like that for eternity, and wouldn't have had enough.
"I wonder what her name is... All I know is that she is the daughter of Namida and Nathaniel Monroe. And she's beautiful, the most beautiful in the whole world." he thought, slowly walking away from the Monroe mansion.
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Meredith sat in her room thinking about yesterday's events. Selene's behavior worried her a lot because instead of being scared by the demon's attack, she seemed very... pleased?
"And what she said later, 'This demon saved me,'" Meredith recalled exactly her niece's words. "It's a complete nonsense! What demon saves the sorceress? We are deadly enemies to each other..." she thought indignantly, but her thoughts were interrupted by the doorbell. When she left the room, Teresa was already welcoming Rita, Tess, and Elisabeth in the hall, so Meredith came up to the guests and greeted them as well. Teresa took her sister, Tess, to the kitchen to talk to her in peace. Meredith, on the other hand, stayed in the living room with Rita and Elisabeth.
"And how is Selene?" Mrs. Spelling asked stoically.
"Like I told you on the phone yesterday, she considers this demon as her savior. She says he wanted to kill her first and then saved. In my opinion, this is complete nonsense, because which demon, instead of killing the sorceress, saves her life?" Meredith replied indignantly.
"A demon in love does that." interjected Rita.
"What do you mean by that?" asked Elisabeth, curious about her theory.
"If he saved her, there's only one explanation, and that is the charm. Selene, as a sorceress from a great family line, and Monroe certainly belongs to one, has this charm, which is working for every creature, good or bad. The demon succumbed to it and therefore saved her." Rita explained seriously.
"You think so?" Meredith asked, pleasantly surprised by this practical possibility. "But it's probably too early for the charm to show." she added hastily.
"Rita is right, there's no other way. It's just that Selene is growing faster than other sorceresses. This is evidenced, among other things, by the fact that her power also began to unfold very early on." Elisabeth replied.
"Yeah, it actually makes sense. There's no other way. Rita, your thesis is quite plausible." Meredith admitted.
"Thank you." she smiled while sitting comfortably on the sofa.
~~~~~~
Selene and Alice first burst into the kitchen, passed a surprised Tess and Teresa, who were sitting at the table talking, then quickly entered the living room, but only Rita was there.
"Hello. Where's aunt and Mrs. Spelling?" Selene smiled at the sight of her.
"Elisabeth and Meredith are in the library. They are talking, so it's best to not disturb them," Rita replied.
"I'll leave you two alone," Alice said suddenly, looking meaningfully at Rita. She must have read some silent plea in her mind.
"Thank you, Alice." Rita smiled heartily at her, then looked at Selene.
When Alice disappeared outside the door, Rita patted the empty seat next to her. Selene sat up and looked at the woman questioningly.
"I would like to talk to you about this demon who attacked you yesterday and then saved." Rita explained.
"Ah, yeah, sure..." Selene stammered.
"Me and Elisabeth and Meredith concluded that you were extremely lucky. The charm you have by virtue of your birth activated very quickly, thanks to which the demon did not kill you. He succumbed to it and rushed to help you." said Rita. "At first your aunt refused to believe my theory, as usual by the way. If only Isabelle were in her place..." she sighed.
"Isabelle?" Selene asked, not understanding.