Chapter 0181

Athena

"How could I possibly forget, Isabella? That doesn't make any sense at all."

"Maybe you were confused. Perhaps you lost track of time."

"You don't believe that. Zachary must have told you something." I muttered. I rose from the chair and began pacing. Somehow, moving around helped me think more clearly.

"What does Nyx say?" Isabella asked quietly. Her eyes followed my movements around the room.

"She thinks you're all lying to me. But you can't all be lying, can you? This isn't like Silver Creek where they kept secrets from me. You would tell me the truth, wouldn't you?"

Isabella nodded slowly.

I lowered myself onto the edge of the bed. "There's a darkness inside me, Isabella. In the moment, I can't control it. It takes over completely. Once whatever needs to be done is finished, the darkness fades away like it was never there. Does that make any sense?"

"I think so. How long has this been happening?"

"Since Caleb. Maybe even before, I'm not sure."

She rocked gently on the stool. "Have you told my brother? Does he know?"

"He's aware. But he never had a problem with it before. He actually enjoyed it. Until now."

"Alexander does enjoy the darker side of life. I think that's why he gets along so well with Zachary." I saw her smile and felt genuinely happy for her, but Alexander and Zachary's friendship wasn't the issue right now.

"Isabella, I'm scared. What if they're right? What if I'm too far gone? What if it's too late?" I glanced down at my bump. "What about them?"

"That's a lot of questions to answer." She was deflecting.

"What else has Zachary told you?"

Her shoulders dropped as she frowned. "According to Zachary, if you... you know... become Rogue, they won't survive."

"The twins will die?" I scoffed.

She nodded solemnly.

I felt tears welling up in my eyes.

"Then I just won't turn." It sounded simple enough. "And no more killing."

That's what Alexander had said: Content belongs to noveldrama.com.

Isabella lowered her dark eyes.

"It's not that simple, is it?"

"Not from what I understand."

Why couldn't I just go back to the days when the hardest part of my day was learning to read and write!

"I could still turn?" I never wanted to be a monster, but here I was, slowly becoming one.

Her heavy sigh seemed to echo through the room as she nodded.

"But the good news is, we have Zachary who transitioned back and Brianna who helped him. She can help you too. If you let her."

"Brianna is bad news."

"Does it matter if she's the one who can help you and the twins?" Isabella offered. "At least then, you'll be able to keep a closer eye on her."

Nyx remained quiet but angry. She doesn't want to be shut away. She wants to be free - and I was fighting every inch of my being to keep her from taking control.

"Do you trust Brianna?" I asked Isabella.

"I believe her when she says she regrets hurting you. But if you don't want to be alone with her, I can stay with you. Maybe that way, I can stop you from killing her." She gave me a small smile.

It wasn't hard to find Brianna. Alexander had set her up in one of the guest bedrooms, but she seemed surprised to see me at her door.

"Is... is everything okay?"

I gritted my teeth, annoyance already building within me. "I need your help."

Her lips parted slightly as she tucked a strand of dirty blonde hair behind her ear. Taking a step back, she invited us both inside.

"How can I help?" She asked, looking between both of us.

"You helped Zachary, right?" Isabella muttered.