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Emily knew the second she saw it, “I think it’s like before, with the car. An item of his that is attached to him. It’s his class ring. It’s on a chain around Willow’s neck.”
Raven thinks out loud, “So, do we just get it somehow and toss it back in the hole with him like before?”
Sam actually looks excited at this prospect, “God, I hope so because that sounds a lot easier than the car was.”
Callie has been silent since arriving at the greenhouse, but this realization brings her back into the conversation, if only for a second, “We’re fucking done with him. This ends. Now.” Without another word, Callie turns and walks straight into the greenhouse with all her friends staring after her in fear.
Done.
That is the only emotion Callie can feel pulsing through her body as she marches into the greenhouse. She is just done. He has had a constant presence in their lives for entirely too long and she is over it. Fuck him and his ability to constantly live in their minds, a constant fear just waiting to be realized. Fuck this.
She immediately sees Willow’s body struggling against a jungle of vines holding her down and it just makes her even more angry. How dare he desecrate her body by taking up residence in it. He doesn’t even deserve to breathe the same air as kind, wonderful Willow. He isn’t even worthy of her presence.
Upon seeing her, he plays dumb, “Oh, Callie. Thank goodness. I don’t know what’s gotten into Emily. I was out here working with the plants and she attacked me. The plants must have fed off her energy and came after me too. Can you give me a hand? There’s some scissors over there, I think.”
Callie stares in disbelief. Who does he think he’s kidding with this bullshit?
“Callie, please hurry, dear. These vines are tight,” he says with mock sweetness so thick it makes Callie’s teeth hurt.
Callie rolls her eyes and walks toward his bound body, “Do you think we’re stupid? Cut the shit, you piece of undead garbage.”
The smile slides off Willow’s face and his darkness shines through her eyes.
Callie stands before him and stares him down. She gets in his face and watches him. She can see the fury in him, billowing up like a cloud of smoke. She says, “How does it feel to be the powerless one?” and spits in his face.
He growls out his utter contempt for her and snaps Willow’s teeth in her direction, “You will regret that, Lover.”
Callie can physically feel the anger rolling off of him in waves. She knows deep down in her gut that she doesn’t have much time left to control this situation. She reaches out her hand and grabs for the ring dangling from his neck. He sees her making her move and his anger boils over, knowing the likely repercussions of letting her take it from him. He knows she will have the power if he lets her take it and he has never approved of the women in his life having power. He is definitely tired of these women having it.
Boom.
In a split second, all of the hate explodes out of him with the strength of Willow’s supernatural abilities. It hits Callie head on like a brick wall. The windows of the greenhouse shatter and send shards of shrapnel through the air. Callie is lifted off her feet and flies backward. Five feet off the ground, her body crashes into the greenhouse frame. The force is so much that it knocks the wind from her lungs and causes sharp aches across every inch of her body.
She is falling now. Slowly coming back to earth from the height she was propelled to. As she feels the wind rush by her, she sees his furious face slipping away into hiding where he can regroup and plan his next attack. Callie knows she needs to tell the others. She has to let them know, but before she can yell out to them her body hits the ground.
Pain cascades through her as her entire world fades into black silence.
The second Callie walked to the greenhouse, Raven had to be held back from following her inside. When she strained against her friends holding her back and watched the entire building holding her love explode before them, nothing was strong enough to hold her back anymore.
Heart thudding out of control in her chest, Raven tears herself loose and sprints into the building. It takes her only seconds to find Callie, slumped lifelessly against a wall of shattered windows. Raven falls to her knees at Callie’s side. Tear pour down her face as she cradles her lifeless love in her arms.
“Callie, oh god, Callie. Please, Callie. Wake up for me, my love. Wake up. Please,” Raven croons in her ear as she layers kisses across her face. “Callie, please. The world cannot lose you.”
Raven’s heart is in pieces, but she can see the rise and fall of Callie’s chest. She begs the universe for that to be enough to prove Callie is okay. The others have reached them now, but all Raven can see is Callie’s face.
She pours her entire heart out, “Callie, I’m begging you to stay. I never stopped loving you. I have loved you every single second of my life since that first time our hands touched and we felt that spark. Not for one single minute have I stopped and I never will. I didn’t ever really want you to leave. I swear I didn’t. I just wanted you to have all the beautiful, wonderful things in this world that you deserve. I wanted you to have your dreams without feeling like I was holding you back. I wanted you to have it all without worrying about me. I never wanted to be the reason you gave up on everything you have worked so hard for, but you are so kind and so loving that you never would have lived your dreams if you knew I was still here loving you. That’s why I lied. I lied and I’m so sorry I hurt you. I wish I had never done it. I wish we had never lost those months together. I am so, so sorry and if you will wake up right now, I promise I will spend the rest of my life making it up to you. I will never let you down again. I swear I will do whatever I can to be enough if you will wake up and come back to me.”
Emily and Sam have come to sit on either side of Callie and Raven. Sam holds Callie’s hand, stroking it lovingly. Emily puts a protective arm around Raven’s shoulders, wanting so badly to shield her from this pain. Both remain silent and let Callie hear the one voice in the whole world that means the most to her.
Raven watches Callie’s face for any sign of consciousness, “Do you remember the time we snuck out my bedroom window and laid on the roof to look at the stars, but we fell asleep and it started pouring down raining at three in the morning? It scared us so much that we almost rolled off the roof. Or the time we went on a road trip to Arkansas, but we got lost and had no signal so GPS wouldn’t work. We had no idea where we were or where we would end up, but it was okay because we laughed and blasted music and rode with the windows down. Our hair blew in the wind and the sun warmed our skin. I looked at you during that drive and was just in awe. I knew in that moment that you were so far out of my league and I was so lucky that you chose me to love. That’s the same way I feel when I wake up in the morning and walk into the kitchen to you making breakfast. I see you standing there over the stove in your pajamas and you are the most beautiful thing in this whole world. You are the world I revolve around and I’m sorry I ever made you doubt that. If you wake up, I promise to never stop making it up to you. I will follow you anywhere.” Raven sees movement in Callie’s face, “Oh, yes! Wake up, Callie! Come on!”
Slowly, Callie comes back to them and blinks her eyes into the bright sky above. Raven squeezes Callie against her and cries out all the fear she just felt. When Raven finally lets go of her, Callie stares up into her love’s eyes.
With a smile tugging at the corners of her mouth, Callie says, “No takebacks.”
Raven laughs out loud, “No takebacks, I promise. You can’t get rid of me.”
Callie reaches up and touches Raven’s cheek, “I want you to know, I will always choose you if you are an option. You have never held me back from anything. I choose you.”
