Here's chapter four!

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**Edited as of Sept. 19**

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CHAPTER FOUR

I return to the coven a few hours later, chilled to the bone but surprisingly collected. When I enter my bedroom, Nora is waiting, sprawled out on her bed, ankles looped. Her eyes flash open at the sound of my arrival and she sits up, crossing her legs beneath her. “So, where have you been?” she asks, immediately noticing my slightly damp hair and clothes.

“School,” I answer, but the guilt gnaws with aching persistence inside my stomach.

Nora catches the slight flicker in my eyes. “Seriously, Sophia, where have you been?” she asks me again, her eyes changing from their violet color to a shade of indigo thick with authority.

“At the lake,” I finally tell her, my back facing her.

“Why weren’t you at school?’” she questions, and I hear the bed creak as it is released from her weight.

“I might ask Carmen the same question,” I snap, spinning to face her. Nora takes a step back as if she has been slapped.

“He wasn’t feeling well,” Nora defends, her eyes shifting to an even darker shade until they look almost black.

“Really? I didn’t know vampires could get ill,” I say, voicing the word out loud. It sounds odd coming from my mouth, and my tongue feels heavy as I try to pronounce the cursed syllables even if it is what I have become.

Nora seems slightly taken aback when I say the word too but soon her face clouds over again with an expression of forced calm. “You know what I mean, Sophia,” Nora says, her voice thick with agitation.

“No, I don’t think I do.”

“Carmen was worried to go to school. He said that you had accepted his apology but…” Nora trails off.

“But what?” I feel my hands curl into fists. “Did he rather stay with you?”

Nora’s eyes sink into a dark abyss. I have pushed her too far but it is too late to regret my words. They are already creating an effect. “He said he wanted to talk with me today. He said that it would help him.” Nora’s voice is silky smooth in an effort to keep her emotions in line.

“Why wouldn’t he come to talk to me?” I question.

“Because I knew you wouldn’t listen,” a velvety voice echoes from the doorway. My eyes lock onto Carmen’s form.

“How do you know I wouldn’t listen?” I ask but my voice is no longer harsh. It is weak, childish to my ears.

“Would you?” Carmen steps closer to me. “Would you really, Sophia?” He shakes his head the blonde strands catching the light and making them glimmer. “I know how my words hurt you. And I know how fierce your anger is.”

“I-I wouldn’t have—“ but Carmen cuts me off.

“Nora was doing me a favor. She stayed with me; kept me company as I tried to figure out a way to express to you that I hadn’t meant what I said. I knew you didn’t forgive me fully. I could see it in your eyes.” He pauses, glancing at Nora. Their eyes meet, and I see a note of understanding flit between them. My stomach tightens and I know what I must do. But I’m not sure if they are at that point in their relationship yet, and I doubt myself, chewing my lip in worry. It had been a shock to me seeing that intense moment in the kitchen earlier this morning.

Suddenly, I feel like an intruder, and I retreat to the door. Carmen’s eyes flicker to me as I reach the threshold. He opens his mouth to say something, but I hold up a hand to halt him. I know now deep within my gut that what I do is the right thing.

“Carmen, I know that we have had our ups and downs. You are one of my closest friends.” I swallow. “Please understand that what I am doing is for the best.” Without another word I stride towards them, stopping between them. Carmen’s eyes are clouded with bewilderment, as are Nora’s. Gently, I take each of their hands. Nora’s eyes widen, but Carmen’s stay hidden under a cloak of confusion.

I breathe deeply, placing their palms together, fingers pointing upwards. I feel a quick shock of electricity shoot through all three of us, my hands holding on to each of their wrists’. Carmen and Nora’s hands illuminate as though they hold a ball of light between their palms and then the light fades and things are as they were.

Carmen’s eyes clear and they gaze down at me with a hint of anguish. “It is for the best,” I whisper to him.

Then without another look back, I scurry from the room.

* * * *

The next morning, I wake with a feeling of unease twisting painfully in the center of my stomach. I haven’t seen or spoke with Nora or Carmen since the night before. I roll onto my side and spot Nora’s backside draped under the patched quilt. Her hair is tied into a knot at the base of her neck, a few tendrils escaping the hair-tie. I rise quietly, pulling together my clothes and retreating to the bathroom.

As I scrub my hair, I try to reason with myself. I have done what I think is right, what I knew is right. I am still trying to get over the surprise I had felt when that shock of electricity had shot through us or the glowing orb appearing between Nora and Carmen palms’. I had heard all about the Bonding process but I had never heard anything like this happening.

I just hope I had done the right thing.

When I leave the shower, I peek into the bedroom, surprised to find Nora still sound asleep. Sighing, I throw my dirty garments into the laundry bin before descending the stairs.

In the kitchen, I see that I am not the only one up. The only other soul occupying the space is Philip. His hair is tousled from sleep, his eyes a drowsy brown. His body is clothed in a fitting tee and paint-smeared sweatpants. He looks the most human out of all of us, wearing such ordinary clothing all the time. His eyes lighten when he spots me, a soft smiling playing across his lips. “Sophia, up so early?” he asks with an upturned brow.

I smile in reply, sitting across from him at the table and hooking my feet beneath the bottom rung. Philip watches me closely over his newspaper. “Something troubles you,” he states abruptly; I shrug. He turns the paper without looking at it as I pick absently at the table. “Care to tell me?”

I consider him under my lashes. “Its nothing,” I finally reply.

Philip sighs. “Nothing, hmm? That’s not what Carmen tells me.”

My eyes widen at his statement but then I glance back at my fingernails. It isn’t entirely a shock. I had always seen Carmen and Philip as close. Why wouldn’t he tell him?

When I don’t reply, Philip continues, eyes returning to the articles in his hand. “Carmen says you gave Nora and himself your Consent.”

I stay mute, wondering what Philip thinks on the matter.

“I must tell you, it was a surprise to me,” he confesses. “I mean, even if you told him no I thought that he would always be true to you.”

“Well, I guess you were wrong,” I grumble.

“Guess so,” Philip muses. “But,” he adds brightly. “I find it noble of you to give your Consent for him and Nora. I had seen the love between them growing. It wouldn’t have been long before Carmen came to see me about it.”

I shrug.

“You know, Sophia.” I glance up at my name. “Carmen still loves you.”

I shiver involuntarily. “I know. I love him too. Just not in the same way.”

“But you wish you would,” Philip says, and I startle at his words. His eyes twinkle beneath the thick shelf of eyebrows. “I know that you crave for the same love Carmen has for you. But we can’t change the way we react to others, Sophia. We can’t change the way we feel.”

“I know,” I mumble.

“It’s a magical thing, love.” Philip purses his lips, turning to face me. “They love each other, Sophia. Nora and Carmen truly do love each other. I know that you didn’t know it, but I have been observing them for some time. It’s a fast process; They have both the trust and faith in each other to make it work. It is one of those totally surprising, yet wonderful things.

“Us vampires, we don’t love like humans do. Humans look at it like a relationship, like a partnership. Their love grows slowly, starting out as a tiny brook but slowly building into a chaotic river. Now us, our love is the opposite. We start out like the chaotic river but slowly even out to a calming ocean. Our Bonding is a connection of two individuals who are compatibly matched to last for all eternity.” I nod slowly, never able to hear about all this before.

“It is the same for Nora and Carmen. It must have been a shock to their system to be united beneath you. How they met, you being both of their friends. But one look and that all it takes. Once you find your Blood Mate, you can’t think of anyone else beside that person.

“You should be happy for them,” he tells me. I sigh. I know I should be happy for them. I know I should be their loyal friend after giving them Consent to Bond, to marry for eternity.

Yet, I can’t forget that seed of fear sprouting deep within me. I think of all the things that would change if Nora and Carmen unite. They would be a couple. Free vampires, able to leave and go as they see fit. They could even permanently leave the Coven if they chose and seek a life elsewhere.

“What do you fear, Sophia?” Philip’s voice is barely a whisper, and I crumble at his coaxing voice.

“I know I should be happy, Philip. But what if they decide to leave? What if they deem this life unfit? What if they don’t want to keep being—“

“Your friend?” he finishes for me, and I nod shakily.

“Sophia, you have nothing to worry about,” he assures me, placing the newspaper on the table. “Nora and Carmen love you equally as a friend. I have heard them both talk very highly of you. There is nothing to fret over.”

I heave a sigh as Philip picks up his newspaper once again. I trace a scrap in the table’s surface when I hear the rumble of awakening vampires. I quickly stand, and Philip glances at the clock. “Time for school?”

I nod and turn to go. But then I spin back, and Philip glances back expectantly. “Thank you, Philip…for everything,” I say graciously. He just flashes me a smile. I grin, amused, before leaving the room, practically skipping out the front door.