The Beautiful Monster

"You didn't tell me that you fell," Alyssa spoke up, giving him a confused look.

"I didn't want to worry you. I didn't think that it was important at the time," Elias replied. Maybe he had been wrong about that. He should've said something earlier, but they still wouldn't have thought anything of it.

Melina suddenly grabbed Elias' arm and turned him around. She grabbed the back of the neck of his shirt and tugged it down.

"You were marked," she said.

"What is it?" Elias asked, not knowing what she was seeing.

Melina grabbed her phone and took a picture of the lower section of the back of his neck. She handed him her phone with a grave look on her face.

Elias looked at the picture, seeing a black line down the middle of his neck. Chills erupted over his skin as he stared at the mark. He had no idea that was what happened when he felt his neck sting. He thought a bug had bit him or something.

"What does that mean?" he asked her.

"Your mind is typically locked off from other people. That mark is the key. It opens your mind up, and if someone is powerful enough, they can walk right in and do what they want," Melina replied.

Elias breathed in deeply, steadying himself. He didn't like the sound of that. It was like Alaric could stroll in and out of his mind whenever he wanted.

"How did that happen?" he asked her. He knew that he hadn't agreed to this, so it was brought upon him at some point somehow.

"It's a witch thing," Melina said as she slumped back down on the sofa.

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"What does that mean?" Alyssa asked, looking worried.

Melina looked up at Elias, and he could immediately tell that something was very wrong.

"He has a witch," she replied.

Elias had to sit down as well. He sat in the other lounge chair, feeling the quick thump of his heart in his chest. He couldn't imagine trying to fight a witch and Alaric. That sounded like a dangerous duo.

"I'm guessing this is very bad news for us," he murmured. If someone told him that he had to fight against Melina, he would be pretty nervous because of how strong she was.

There was no telling what kind of threat this witch was, but she was able to mark him with ease, which made him incredibly nervous.

Melina shrugged.

"It depends on how strong she is. He has followers. We should've seen this coming," she replied.

"So, what do we do?" Elias asked her. He felt lost. Could they really defeat Alaric when he was backed by a witch and other followers? He felt like he and Melina were in over their heads.

They had Tyler and Scott to help too, but he wasn't sure if even that was enough. He knew that Alyssa could help with healing, but he wanted her to be as far away from the fight as possible. He refused to stand by and let her get hurt.

"We get stronger," Melina replied. "That's all we can do. We can't give up."

Elias nodded his agreement after a moment. He supposed that she was right. Just because circumstances were slightly different didn't mean that their plan had to change. They just had to work toward it harder.

"I say we drive for a little while and then stop to train again. I'm worried about how close he might be," Elias said.

Melina brushed her fingers through her hair, pulling more strands out from her loose braid.

"Yeah, that'll be for the best. I need to remove the mark and cut the connection, though. He'll keep messing with you if I don't," she told him.

Elias' eyes widened slightly. He didn't want Alaric to ruin another night of his sleep, and he was worried about what all Alaric could do if he kept treating Elias' brain like a playground.

"Yeah, okay. Let's do it," he replied. He didn't want to waste any time. He had too many important things in his brain to let Alaric hang out in there.

Melina grabbed her bag and motioned for him to follow her to the bedroom.

"It's not going to feel all that great," she warned him.

Elias paused and looked over at Alyssa, who looked worried out of her mind. He didn't want her to watch this, but he wanted her to know that he would be okay.

This was for the best, and he was looking forward to cutting the connection that had been made between him and Alaric.

"I'll be right back, okay?" he told her with a small smile.

Alyssa forced a smile on her face and nodded. She reached out and took his hand, giving it a quick squeeze until she had to let go to let him follow Melina to the back.

Elias took in a deep breath and shut the bedroom door behind him, preparing himself for the rest of this awful night.

*********

Melina rummaged around in her bag, bringing out her lighter and a needle. She looked over at Elias and then nodded to the bed.

"Lay on your stomach. Maybe bite into a pillow," she replied.

Elias eyed the lighter and needle warily. He knew that she said that it wouldn't feel great, but it seemed like it was going to hurt a lot.

He pulled his shirt off so that she could get to the mark before laying down on his back.

He grabbed a pillow and hugged it close to him, trying to slow his heart rate as much as he could. He was mostly nervous because he didn't know what to expect.

"How do you remove these marks?" he asked her. "Have you done it before?"

"I learned in school," Melina replied as she lit the lighter and placed the tip of the needle in the flame. "I have to burn it off."

Elias' eyes widened. He didn't like the sound of that, but he didn't exactly have a choice. He either endured this or let Alaric hang around in his mind.

One of those things was far worse than the other. He could deal with some pain to cut the connection.. It would be worth it.