Hazel

I look to Jake who is near the window. He is pretty calm about this too.

"Find what out?" I am scared of what she is going to say next.

She sighs and runs a hand through her dark hair. "Can you please sit? The color on your face is still alarmingly pale."

"No," I begin to pace again. "And where is Leo?"

That catches Jake attention. "Why did he stay behind?" His voice is gruff.

I briefly wonder why Jake would care about Leo. I know they hit it off tonight but that is not enough cause to make him worry.

Hazel shifts on her bed. "I didn't expect to have to explain all of this to both of you, but considering there are dangerous people in town, I have to be completely honest with you guys."

Jake leaves the window and stands in front of the fireplace. There is a low fire burning. I follow his lead and stand next to him. I cross my arms and wait for Hazel to speak. She doesn't look too happy to see us side by side.

She huffs when she realizes I am staying by Jake's side. "I'm a witch." Straight to the point.

I bite my lip, letting the news settle in my brain. It's not like I didn't totally guess it when we turned into thin air.

"Is Leo a...?" Jake lets the answer hang in the air.

Hazel reluctantly looks at him and gives one firm nod. "He is a warlock."

"I want to go home." I say when no one else speaks.

Hazel finally lifts from her bed. She crosses her arms. "You can't." When she sees that I am about to complain she raises a hand. "Not until Leo is back."

"You said there were dangerous people in town." Jake crosses his own arms, his muscles straining against his shirt. "Were they at the bowling alley?"

Again Hazel gives one firm nod. "They're Rebels: witches that are not part of a coven and have their own hidden agendas. They're dangerous and have no regards for human life."

Fear attaches itself to my already racing heart.

"What do they want?" Jake is all business-mode. He's taking this surprisingly well.

Hazel shrugs. "We'll find out soon enough. Just don't tell anyone about us. We keep you humans safe without exposing who we are."

"So why tell us now?" Jake is skeptical.

Hazel doesn't say anything. "Leo will tell you."

"Jake," I turn to him. "We have to go."

Jake barely looks at me. "I'm not leaving until I find out he is okay." He walks back to the window.

I see a look on Hazel's face as she watches him.

"So what? We're being held captive until you think it's safe?" I am two seconds away from having a complete breakdown. Even though Jake has found this out the same time I have, he does not seem to care much about it. All he's worried about is Leo. Does he not care about me anymore? Well he did say he was no longer my boyfriend. And now that I found out Hazel is a witch, I can't trust her to keep me sane.

Her phone rings. She looks at me before answering it.

I walk to Jake, trying to find some form of comfort in this bizarre situation.

"Jake I'm scared." I feel my voice get small.

He turns to hug me. The familiar feeling of his arms around me makes me feel a little better.

"I have to go, Leo needs me." Hazel says behind me.

That statement stops me short. It is like I have just woken from a weird dream just to find out it is not a dream, but real life. And Hazel is about to go back to the place we just ran away from. Since getting here I finally feel all of the emotions I have for her rush through my body. Her words awaken the suppressed feelings I have for her. It is like for a second I forgot who she is and what she means to me. And now knowing she is about to go and face those dangerous Rebels...I pull away from Jake and turn to look at her.

She watches me warily.

I run to her arms and hug her out of desperation. I don't know what has gotten over me but I am all over the place. I go from not trusting her, to wanting her to be safe with her precious life. "Don't go." I whisper. I can feel the panic really pile up in my throat now.

"I'll be back before you know it." She kisses my head and looks down at me. "I left you some tea by the bedside, drink it when you're ready to go to sleep. My bed is very comfortable." She looks up at Jake. "If you get tired you can sleep on this." She snaps her fingers and a blowup mattress appears in the middle of the room. "Please stay until I get back. I can't leave worrying about your safety while we're out there."

I nod, willing to risk my sanity for her safety. I will stay here and wait until I know she is safe.

******

~Hazel~

By the time I get there the place has been shut down and a policeman is putting yellow tape around the building. How the hell did we let the police become involved? I am almost annoyed at how sloppy the Roderick have handled this. We usually handle things without the humans becoming involved. We leave no traces behind and don't leave until the job is done.

Leo comes to my side when he sees me. I see a couple of other people from his Coven hanging around the outside of the building. They're all shielding themselves so no humans can see them.

"What happened?"

Leo pulls me to a nearby tree. There are a lot of witnesses all talking to news anchors with their cameras or policemen with their notepads. It makes me nervous.

"It got bad. They kidnapped a girl." He's pissed. I know his clan will now have to go in front of the Purelite leaders to explain this. He kicks the ground. "They were going to blow the whole place up. Basically threatened to kill every single human in there if we did not let them leave with her." His yellow eyes are glowing. I can tell he is having a hard time keeping his magic in check. One wrong move and the whole place could go down in flames. Roderick's are known to love fires.

"So you just handed her over?" I'm incredulous.

He shakes his head. "Not until we lost one of our own."

"Who?" I whisper. This is really bad. In order for someone to take down a Roderick they had to be lethal killers.

"Phil." He clears his throat. This had to be a low blow for his Coven. Phil was one of the older, more experienced fighters.

"How?" I am still at loss for words. We are usually a lot better at handling these types of situations.

He shakes his head. "I don't know. There was something different this time."

"What?" I wish I had stayed behind to witness it or to help out in any way that I could.

"There's a bigger, darker power working with them." He sighs. I can tell he is getting exhausted. The amount of power he had to use tonight is about to take a toll on him.

"Why are the police here?" That is another thing he would have to explain to the Purelites. We always have to cover our tracks. If any of these humans saw too much, we would be screwed.

"Once they killed Phil the spell that kept time still was broken. When they killed him we had to scramble to hide from the humans and they took that chance to take the girl. It took about thirty seconds for the humans to find out the girl was missing. We had to go into hiding and retreat as quickly as possible." He curses again.

I shake my head, upset. None of this is good. Who is this bigger darker power siding with the Rebels now? What did they want?

"How is he?" Leo finally asked. I can tell his is anxious to get back to him.

"He's fine." I smile a little. "Worried about you."

Leo frowns a little. "I had a hard time focusing when all I could think about was his safety." He is struggling with the helplessness. "It's still so new to me. Even though I want to be by his side and I want to keep him safe, I can't imagine actually being with him."

I laugh a little. "It's only a matter of time before you jump his bones."

He shakes his head not amused. "Let's head back. I have to meet with my clan tonight so I will only get to see him for a little bit."

"He's going to want to know everything." I try and warn him before we leave.

Leo looks grim.

******

~Amelia~

I am almost drifting off when I hear Hazel's voice.

I lay still, pretending that I am sleeping but I can't make out what she is saying. I tried to stay up for as long as I could but Jake wouldn't make small talk with me and after we transported here I felt like I was coming down with a cold. I hear Jake shift on the air mattress and he begins to speak as well. I open my eyes slightly to see what is going on.

Leo is kneeling down by Jake's head. They stare at each other silently for a long time and I feel weird for looking at them. Finally Leo breaks the silence.

"I have to go. I just came to make sure you were okay." He gives Jake's arm a light pat and stands straight.

Jake jumps to his feet and seems at loss for words.

Again, I feel weird watching this. It all seems so intimate.

"So what now?" Jake's body naturally leans into Leo's. Leo takes a step back and Jake clears his throat also stepping back.

I stare in confusion. Did I miss something?

Leo searches Jake's face before shaking his head. "I have something to take care of. I have to go. Hazel will take you home."

Jake's face falls and he looks down at his hands. He clenches his jaw. "Whatever." He turns to Hazel, who I just noticed is standing near my feet. "Where is the restroom?" She gives him directions and he leaves.

Leo looks after him but shakes his head.

"What are you doing?" Hazel whispers to him. They haven't noticed me yet.

"I can't do this." Is he breaking up with her?

"Sure you can," She sounds annoyed with him.

"He can't either." Leo interrupts her. What does Jake have to do them? "Maybe it's for the best."

She sighs, angrily. "You better go fix this before you regret it in the morning."

Again, he shakes his head. With nothing else to say he disappears into thin air.

My eyes go wide. This is really happening.

Hazel momentarily hangs her head. Then she turns to me and seems surprised to see that I am awake. I then remember that she was just in harm's way. My heart races at the sight of her. A smile touches her lips, like she is in on a secret. She makes her way to me and sits at the edge of the bed. She takes one of my curls in between her fingers.

I watch her for a little while. Her brown eyes look dark. She is lost in thought.

"Get some rest," She kisses my forehead. "I'll take both of you home tomorrow morning." Reluctantly she gets up and leaves the room.

I have a sudden urge to cry.

******

~Hazel~

Two weeks have passed since the incident.

Nothing is going right. After I took Jake to pick up his car at the bowling alley, he left without another word. Leo has been stubborn and has stayed away from him. I know it is killing him inside but he refuses to acknowledge that Jake is the person he is meant to be with. The morning after the incident he along with the Roderick leaders went in front of the Purelite leaders and explained what happened. They didn't get in trouble but were now on high alert and had to bring the missing girl back home. I have barely seen him and I know this is taking up most of his time. No matter how many times I bring Jake up, he shoots me down.

My love life isn't going any better. Amelia refuses to answer any of my calls and has stopped coming to my Friday lectures all together. I'm finding it harder and harder to give her space. Naturally my body yearns for her and I want nothing more than to be at her side. I have been reduced to keeping an eye on her through wet surfaces but even that is not enough anymore. I am just waiting for her to take her midterm this Wednesday to finally put an end to my misery. I have to see her and remind her that she is the only person I want to be with.

I know she and Jake have been trying really hard to get back together. I'm guessing Jake is not happy about his unexplained feelings towards Leo and believes he can make them go away by being with Amelia. And Amelia probably wants nothing to do with my world, and even though I have found myself wanting to give up and letting her come to me when she is ready, I am secretly scared she will be fine without me. I am pathetic.

I'm trying to read the most recently published finance book from Professor Hill when my parents knock on my door. I haven't really talked to them since I have found out that Amelia is my soul mate. They have also been so busy trying to figure out who is the person working with the Rebels and have not had time to talk to me. My mother always asks about Amelia and I have to pretend everything is going well. I can't bring myself to admit the truth to them. I snap my finger to shut the book. I can read the book in less than a minute by just touching it, but I actually prefer looking through each page. The feeling of each page, the smell of a new book, it makes reading much more rewarding to me.

"How's the studying going?" My father walks to the fireplace. I try not to think too much about it. He usually walks straight there when something is wrong.

"Quite well, if you must know."

They trade a look. I try not to let that worry me either.

My mom stands next to me and places an arm around my shoulders. "So we've been doing some research ourselves."

My father walks across the room with his hands behind his back. He stands next to my bed. I can still smell Amelia all over it. I let my imaginations run wild at night. "It seems that human soul mates are not uncommon."

I turn to look at him. "So why have I never heard of it?" I have long since accepted my human soul mate that I even forgot my parents were looking into it.

"Those who have found that their soul mate is a human being usually stay away from them." He continues when I don't say anything. "It seems that a relationship with a human is almost impossible."

I feel my hands shake and place them on my lap. "I won't let her go." My voice quivers. It is already bad enough she is trying to stay away from me. Now I might actually be forced to leave her alone for good.

"It is too dangerous. You could expose us." My mother tries to reason with me.

"I told you guys, she already knows I am a witch. I just have to get her to trust me again and she will be by my side." I get up and start to pace the room. "She hasn't said anything to anyone and she won't say anything to put us in danger."

"You can't have any type of relationship with her." My father speaks again. "As a witch, you could literally kill her in an instant of rage or lust. You are too powerful for a regular witch, imagine a human." He shakes his head. "And we can make her forget she ever met you so she can never expose us."

As the daughter of the Concord leaders, my powers are slightly more potent than the average witch. From a very early age I have been taught to harness and control it. One wrong look or a moment of anger could have a whole building collapse. Most regular witches knew to stay away but others were attracted by that amount of power. I know I can keep Amelia safe though. I will not allow anything bad to happen to her.

"Father, I cannot just let her go. She is my soul mate!" I feel myself getting angry. "I will find a way to keep her safe."

"The only way to do that is to stay away from her." He simply states. My father is never so cold towards me, but I can tell he is trying to be stern. He is serious about this and is not willing to see it any other way. His duty is to keep humans safe and if that means breaking my heart in the process, so be it.

A sob tears through my throat. I cover my mouth and blink myself away to Leo's room.

He's sitting in front of his window painting the scenery before him, except he's not really painting. He's looking at the portrait, probably thinking about Jake.

"What have I told you about coming in unannounced? I could be indecent." He doesn't turn around until he hears me sniffle.

"Leo, you have to help me." My voice is thick.

He nods, no questions asked.

******

~Amelia~

Her intense light brown eyes are burned to my memory.

It is getting worse now that I know I will probably never see her again. I have vowed to stay away from her just like Jake vowed to stay away from Leo. We both agreed that being in their world is not safe for us. Only once did Jake speak about Leo. I have a feeling there is some unresolved feelings there but instead of feeling jealousy, I feel bad for him because we're basically on the same boat. I don't want to fall under Hazel's spell, and Jake is reluctant to admit he might be into Leo. We have been trying to make things work between us but even I know there is nothing keeping us together anymore. We don't even kiss anymore.

I just took my midterm today and I know I did well. I would have probably done better if I went to Hazel's lectures. That's a lie. I would have probably done worse because I would have been unable to focus. Any time we are in a room together there is static between us that turns into fireworks. Her eyes are just so demanding and...and...

"You're thinking about her aren't you?" Juliet throws popcorn at me.

I throw a pillow at her. "No, I'm thinking about school." My ears burn.

"You're a terrible liar." She giggles at my mortified face. "I don't blame you. She's hot. Everyone on campus can't stop talking about her. Apparently she's rich as well. Her dad donated close to 5 mil last year." She wiggles her eyebrows.

Juliet still doesn't know the truth about Hazel. She just knows that since the moment I met her I have changed. Even I can't explain why, I just stopped questioning it. I wonder if she would still be team Hazel if she knew she was a... I still can't bring myself to admit it.

I shake my head and get up. I need a drink. I have a hard time ignoring her texts and calls. I secretly get happy knowing she thinks about me almost as much as I think about her. So why am I denying us the pleasure of being together? I think about the Rebel's and the missing girl. That's why, I remind myself. "You want anything?"

"Whatever you're having." She pauses the movie and comes into the kitchen. I brace myself for the oncoming interrogation.

"Seriously, Amelia, what's up with you?" She leans against the counter and crosses her arms. "You go from talking about Hazel non stop, to trying to make things work with Jake, and then moping around thinking about her." I feel bad for Juliet. She is usually the first and only person to ever know that is truly wrong with me. I can't look her in the eyes and lie.

I pour our drinks into our assigned cups. "I already told you, Jules, she is just my TA. Plus JAKE is the only person I have eyes for. Not some random girl that popped up out of the blue." For just some 'random girl' I sure cannot get her out of my head. Even when I visit my mom's grave I keep thinking about her. I did mention her maybe once of twice in passing. I wonder what my mom would say. She would probably approve until she found out the truth. What mother will give her daughter over to a...one day I'll be able to say it without hesitating.

Juliet looks like she wants to ask more questions but I must look really miserable because she doesn't.

We go back to the living room. I bring the bottle of whiskey with me.

By our second movie I am feeling the drinks get to me. I can tell they're getting to Jules too because she's glued to her phone. She's probably texting one of her booty calls and will get laid tonight. I look down at my phone and see my wallpaper. It's Jake and me kissing on a swing set. I smile and frown immediately after. I'm still thinking about her.

I feel the yearning in my gut. I want her. I want to see her again at least and say something to her. The silence between us is killing me. I look back down at the picture and frown again. My body feels warm but I want it to feel hot under her touch. I want her to be here so bad. What in the world is going on with me?

There's a knock at the door. I roll my eyes and look at Jules who has a sneaky smile on her lips. "Which one is it this time?"