Chapter 20.1

Birds chirped outside the window, enjoying the morning light as it slowly filled the sky. A soft breeze passed through the autumn leaves, shaking some of them loose before they fell to the ground. Inside, a phone prepared to sound its alarm, but was silenced before it had the chance.

Vee had recently started rising with the sun, and only set her alarm out of habit. She slid out of bed, her nimble feet sinking into the plush carpet as she started her stretches. Her back cracked in a few places, and her hips were a little tight from the lack of activity the last few weeks, but that was the worst of it.

The nightmares had stopped shortly after Halloween. Or perhaps they’d stopped before? She honestly couldn’t remember, so much had blurred together in the week leading up to that fateful night. With her dreams no longer haunted by visions of demonic incursions, she was finally able to sleep again, and for that she was thankful.

As she finished her more mundane stretches, she sat on the ground and crossed her legs. With a short prayer, she connected with the divine power inside her, and asked it to continue aiding her recovery. Its power traveled through her body, dispelling her aches and pains, drawing on her own natural energy to try and keep her healthy. Not only was it a fairly simple exercise, but it also prevented her powers from diminishing while she wasn’t actively pushing her own limits.

Vee touched her temple, wincing slightly as her fingers traced over the gap in her brow. Her divine magic hadn’t been able to restore it, and she suspected it was due to the hellfire that had burst forth from the Demon’s fists when she’d been struck.

She thought back to Halloween, her feelings a tangled mess. For all the time she’d spent reflecting on what had happened, she was more confused than ever.

A knock on her door startled her, and her mom peeked inside. “Morning hun! Whenever you’re finished with your morning prayers, breakfast is ready!” The older woman’s eyes lingered for a moment, captivated by the magic that pulsed just underneath Vee’s skin.

She smiled back, used to her mom being awestruck by her divine abilities. “Of course, mom, I’ll be down in a minute.”

Vee checked the time on her phone, it was almost seven already. As she looked at her lock screen, she also saw a single push notification; unread messages from Amara. She couldn’t bring herself to open them, but every time she tried to dismiss the notification, she hesitated. She stared at the most recent message for longer than she intended, then shook her head.

It only took a few minutes for Vee to get properly dressed. She didn’t have much of a wardrobe to pick from, as most of her clothes were still at school, but she still found something cute. Downstairs, she hugged both her parents, giving each a kiss on the cheek before sitting down for breakfast.

“Are you sure you’re feeling up to going back?” her dad asked. “If you want to wait another week, you know we won’t mind.”

“I have to go back eventually; it might as well be now.” Vee piled her plate with bacon and eggs before taking a seat. “Besides, it’s a nice day, the drive will be easy.”

Her mom came closer, cupping the side of Vee’s face as she looked down in concern. “We have nothing but faith in you, love, but that doesn’t stop us from worrying. I just wish you could tell us what happened.”

“You know I can’t, mom.”

“Oh, I know. ‘Official Church business’ and all that. You’d think they could make an exception for your parents, that’s all I’m saying!” her mom huffed.

The breakfast was delicious, as expected, but soon enough it was time to leave. Vee grabbed a light coat, said goodbye to her parents, and started the drive back to Aurelius University.

It was hardly a long drive; even in bad traffic it never took more than two hours. She kept the radio off, preferring the silence of her own thoughts. She focused on the road, on the clouds racing just over the horizon as she drew closer and closer to school.

She had no idea what to expect. The events of that night had replayed in her head thousands of times, and she still didn’t understand exactly what had happened. For some reason, Amara had let her live, and she didn’t know what that meant. Was it a trick? Was it genuine? Even if it was, it didn’t change the fact that she'd burnt down the building during their fight. She still blocked off the exits, preventing Vee from deescalating the situation by leaving.

She shook her head. Regardless of everything else, she needed to finish school, and she was trying to focus on doing that one step at a time. Step one was getting back to campus, step two would be to contact all her teachers and ask for the homework she’d missed. Anything past that didn’t feel worth thinking about.

Before she knew it, she was back. She parked outside her apartment and walked inside for the first time in weeks.

Nothing had changed. In the corner sat an empty pile of large water jugs, and a few spare rosaries were still on her kitchen counter. She set down her backpack, nervously walking around the apartment, feeling as if she were talking with some past version of herself. In her bedroom, her wall still had several dents in it, and her sheets were still a crumpled mess.

Vee sighed.

She took a few hours to clean up, start some laundry, and move the water jugs to the recycling. She appreciated having busy work, thankful that it gave her a distraction from her thoughts.

After she finished, she heard her stomach grumbling. Unfortunately, nothing in her fridge was good anymore, so there was only one choice. Grabbing her keys, she left the apartment and headed for the cafeteria. The weather had stayed nice, thankfully, but she was nervous about the crowds she could see heading towards the center of campus. She didn’t know if she had the stomach to face anyone today.

As she drew close, her fear manifested when she saw Tania walking towards her. The same girl that had been harassing her over Derek’s false claims, who’d even crashed her date with Nick. Vee clenched her fists, doing her best to steel herself for what was coming.

As Tania drew close, with several of her friends in tow, Vee spoke up. “What is it now, Tania? I’m really not in the mood.”

To Vee’s surprise, Tania said nothing, instead pulling her in for a tight hug. They stayed like this for a moment before she finally spoke. “I’m so sorry, Vee, I had no idea. I can’t believe what that must have been like for you!”

“Um… thanks? What are you talking about?” Vee didn’t know what to say, and looked at Tania’s friends in confusion as she half-heartedly hugged Tania back.

“You haven’t heard?! It’s all anyone can talk about!” Vee continued saying nothing, and in response, Tania pulled out her phone. “Derek confessed to everything! He made a huge post, even turned himself in to the police!”

“He what?!” Vee gasped, hardly able to believe her ears.

“Yeah! He admitted to attacking you, and he admitted that his injuries were his own fault, but it’s so much more than that! He’s confessed to years of awful behavior, and he’s been apologizing to dozens of girls that he’s hurt. Apparently, he also got someone killed back in High School? He was driving drunk and crashed his car, and his girlfriend didn’t survive.”

Vee froze in shock. This didn’t sound like Derek at all, but when Tania showed Vee her phone, she saw that all of it was true.

“I… but why?”

“Who knows? Maybe he had a change of heart, maybe the guilt was driving him mad, beats me. A whole bunch of girls have started speaking up, it’s like the Me Too thing all over again.” Tania placed a hand on Vee’s shoulder, “Anyways, Vee, I’m really so sorry about everything. If there’s ever anything I can do to help, to make this up to you, please just ask, okay? I can’t imagine what you’re going through, with the attack, and then getting caught in that fire…”

Tania pulled away from their hug, her eyes glancing to Vee's eyebrow, then the rest of her friends apologized as well. Soon enough, Vee was on her own again, more confused than ever.

When she made it to the cafeteria, she spent all of lunch combing through news outlets. Every major site in the area was covering Derek’s shocking confessions, even a couple national papers. As she scrolled through everything, she finally got around to checking her own social media feeds as well. She found hundreds of messages and posts, all from people wanting to talk to her and express their sympathy. Some were apologizing for their actions, some were applauding her for her strength, she even had a sizeable amount of random donations.

Even now, in the cafeteria, a few casual acquaintances approached her with their regards. She’d gotten used to the icy stares of people who thought she’d attacked Derek, and this complete reversal was incredibly baffling. Before long, it proved to be a little overwhelming, and she gathered up her things to head back to her apartment.

She walked quickly, eager to make it home without any more awkward conversations, but something caught her eye as she left the cafeteria. Towards the center of campus, on the edge of the quad, a crowd had gathered. Curiosity got the better of her, and when she drew close, she was thankful to see this crowd had nothing to do with Derek or his confession. It looked like some volunteers had set up a fundraising campaign for the Jade Palace, and something had everyone particularly excited today.

She took a deep breath, and decided she would brave the crowds to make a donation.