Chapter 104 Chapter 104
“This is… I don’t understand, Travis,” she sighed. “Why doesn’t he show himself? I wish I could see him again.”
“You’re in love with him.”
“I am,” she replied quietly, gnawing on her trembling lower lip as tears pricked at her eyes.
The wounds she had sustained during the encounter with Zane couldn’t be hidden, and so it was only a matter of time until Thorne noticed them. He was angry and worried at the same time, demanding for her to tell him what had happened, but she was reluctant to do so since the memories of that day haunted her.
The feeling of Hope that had risen within her afterward had caused a mix of joy and pain. On one hand, she was happy that Maxwell seemed to be checking in on her. On the other hand, she did not understand why he didn’t show himself to her and she was reluctant to let this feeling of Hopegrow because she feared being disappointed once more.
Sitting in Thorne’s office and being confronted with the scrutiny of his green eyes, Valerie knew that she didn’t have much of a choice. She couldn’t keep what had happened from him since he would bug her until she cracked, so she might as well get it over with.
He ended up being more shocked than angry at Maxwell’s strange behavior, a bitter smile spreading over his lips. “I think I get what he is trying to do,” he uttered, knitting his brow in thought. Valerie still didn’t understand anything and stared at him expectantly, waiting for his explanation.
“Want to elaborate?” she asked when he tested her patience by keeping quiet.
Thorne hesitated and the heavy sadness in his eyes scared her. “It’s not my place you tell you, Valerie,” he answered. “Maxwell’s past is complicated. A lot has happened and he’s become… rather stubborn in some aspects of life.”
“Please, can’t you tell me more?” she pleaded.
“As I said, it’s not my place to tell you,” Thorne said, shaking his head, “But I’m sure that he has a good reason for leaving you. Don’t be mad at him. I know it’s a lot to ask for after he left you so abruptly and without explanation, but the stubborn idiot has a really messed up way to deal with problems. It’s usually through rash actions instead of calm thinking.”
She knew that much already. His past was a mystery she would love to unravel, but as long as nobody wanted to reveal anything to her, her hands were tied.
—
After she was done with work, Valerie headed home quickly because she was planning on meeting Naomi and Hope later. She hadn’t seen them in a while, feeling guilty about this, but she had been too busy going on hunts with Travis.
Valerie walked into her bathroom to get ready for the meet up with her friends. She stared into the mirror, carefully applying make-up and brushing her long black hair until it was shiny. Since she hadn’t met Naomi and Hope in a while, she wanted to make sure that they didn’t notice what she had been up to in the meantime. Hope in particular would get suspicious if she saw the dark marks on her skin, the scratches, and scrapes from the fights against demons. Therefore, Valerie picked a long-sleeved top and hid the violet mark on the side of her jaw with an extra amount of make-up. She wanted to avoid drawing Hope’s attention to it. When she was satisfied with her work, she stared at herself in the mirror, taking note of how much she had changed during the past month.
She had lost weight and her cheekbones were more prominent as well as her jawline. Over time, she had gotten used to skipping meals since she often wasn’t hungry even though she should have eaten something. The paleness of her face was easily concealed with her make-up and it was the same for the shadows under her eyes. Nobody would notice. She could keep pretending things were fine in front of everyone, even herself.
She sighed and grabbed her jacket so she could finally leave her flat. If she lost any more time, she would be late…
—
When she arrived at the café where she wanted to meet her friends, they were already waiting for her, sitting at a table close to the window. Naomi waved enthusiastically, not having seen her in at least a month. Understandably, she couldn’t wait to finally talk to her friend.
Valerie approached them with a smile on her lips, the scene making her feel nostalgic since they often used to meet like this before this supernatural crap had turned Valerie’s life on its head. It was nice to have a small bit of normalcy now and then.
“Hi, it’s been a while,” she said as she sat down at their table.
“Ithas.s We’ve missed you, Valerie.” Naomi said and other than Hope, she didn’t hide her annoyance. “You’ve been so busy lately, never making time for us.”
“I’m sorry, Naomi. Life has been stressful,” she answered, her smile becoming somewhat strained. Hope sent her a knowing look since she was aware of what had been going on, but she didn’t want to pressure her friend by asking tons of questions.
They ordered coffee for themselves, picking cupcakes to eat since the café offered really cute ones with pink icing on top. Valerie noted that they tasted as sweet as they looked, but even though she liked them, she couldn’t bring herself to eat more than a few bites.
“What have you been doing these past weeks?” she asked her friends.
Hopesnorted, rolling her eyes. “Naomi has been busy every weekend, filming random stuff for her new YouTube channel. She’s dragging me into it too.”
“Oh come on, we’ve had fun!” Naomi pouted. “Besides, it’s just a hobby, nothing more.”
Valerie grinned seeing her friends bickering. “What are you filming?”
“All kinds of stuff. I’ve started with a make-up tutorial and I might do some other things too.” Naomi said excitedly. “It’s hard to gain subscribers, but I have a few people who support me already. Most of them are from university and the rest are pretty much random, I guess. If you want, you could participate in one of my videos too! Hope and I had a lot of fun doing each other’s make-up last time.”