“I’m sorry I’ve been so absent,” I say, dropping my arms to my sides. I came here to hang with her like we normally do, so I might as well get this out of the way. “A lot has been going on, as I told you. The pregnancy, and then I’ve been having these dark feelings, these thoughts-“
“I’m sorry to hear that,” she interrupts. “You wanna come sit?”
I’m taken aback. I was fully prepared for a fight.
“Oh,” I mumble. “Well, yeah, sure. Okay.”
I cast a spell, wave my fingers through the air to create a blanket, and she frowns at it on the floor.
“You didn’t have to do that. The forest floor would have been fine.”
“I thought it’d be more comfortable?” I question.
I know Monroe can feel insecure about the magic thing, and I realize that me creating this after she mentioned she can’t cast could come across as insensitive.
But usually, she wouldn’t care this much.
“Do you want to talk about it?” I ask her. “Tell me what I can do.”
“Let’s talk about you,” she sighs. “You’re not feeling good, right?”
I shake my head. “But I want to talk about you. I don’t want to be selfish. Tell me,” I say, taking her hands. “What have you been doing?”
“Everyone’s been worried, the vibes aren’t great. Life is the same as you left it here.”
“And Penelope?” I ask.
She looks off into the distance. “Penelope is the same.”
We go on to talk about our coven sisters, but the whole time, Monroe finds it hard to focus. I can tell that something is wrong.
After a little while, she cuts our conversation short.
“I’m tired,” she says, frustrated. “You should go.”
“Look, I am sorry about abandoning you,” I tell her. “I won’t do it again. I’ll be here every day.”
“That sounds good. But now I want you to go.”
I go to touch her, but she pushes me away. “Now, Danielle.”
Seeing her like this makes my heart ache.
I get up, and feeling even more confused and dark than I did before I came, I begin to walk away.
Have I beenthatabsent? It’s hard to know when things have been so hectic.
As I walk further, it dawns on me that maybe something dark, an energy similar to the one I’ve been feeling, has been growing inside Monroe, too.
It felt as though the darkness within her was even stronger.
Am I being selfish? Is she like this because of the way I’ve been treating her, rather than some old curse?
Then I freeze.
But it would make sense if it’s the curse, because we’re twins. If I’m affected by something this strongly, then she usually is too.
Oh my God.