Hidden Horns

Have you ever met Nicole?

Yohan froze upon hearing Chloe. She felt something inside her chest. It's as if churning in too much pain. She looked down but didn't see any bruises or wounds, but she could feel the excruciating pain.

"What marriage?" She mumbled, her eyebrows knitted in the middle. She looked up and shook her head before deciding to go down and join the others.

As she approached them, everyone looked up to her, as if they were waiting for Yohan to say something but she ignored the gazes and she sat down next to Agma.

"What happened?" Agma asked cautiously.

"Was something there supposed to happen?" Yohan said.

"I honestly not expecting anything to happen." Agma replied with a chuckle and handed the bottle at Yohan. "But that face of yours says that something bad happened in Chloe's room." Agma added.

"Nothing really happened, when I stepped inside her room, she's already sleeping peacefully!" Yohan said a bit higher than her normal pitch and everyone knew that she's mad except for Charlene as she couldn't see the dark aura covering Yohan's body. Only the one who belongs to hell could see it.

Nathalie stood up from her chair and she slowly walked away but Yohan snapped her head behind, which caused Nathalie to freeze and smiled at her nervously.

"Let's all go to sleep." Yohan said as she stood up again and walked out of the house without looking back.

Everyone who was left in the living area exchanged glances. Then they all looked up to see Chloe standing at the top of the stairs and looking down on them.

"Haven't seen her like that." Agma chuckled to break the silence then she also stood up and curt a nod at Jess. "Let's go." She added before walking out of the house.

Yohan slammed the door hard on her bedroom, then she let her body fall down on the bed with arms sprawled out and staring at the ceiling. She heard the door slam on the other room and she knew her two friends were already inside of their rooms.

She let out a deep sigh and decided to sit up, then stared at the door. "She's getting married? By who?" She asked herself.

She's been following and watching Chloe every single day since she was not allowed to go near her. But she hasn't seen a guy with her, the last guy who tried to touch Chloe got killed by Yohan. Another release of a deep sigh before she decided to stand up on her feet and walk out of her room to Jess's room. She knocked three times and the door automatically opened.

"I've been waiting for you." Jess said, she's sitting on the couch with coffee in her hands.

"I heard Chloe say something about marriage." Yohan said and sat across Jess. "Do you have any idea who the guy is?"

"No, but I'm trying to know." Jess replied and she picked up something like a mini bottle on her side and gave it to Yohan. "Drink it, it will help you to remove your frustration."

Yohan looked at the bottle suspiciously then her gaze darted up to Jess. "You're not gonna poison me, right?"

"Silly, why would I do that? You're my best friend." Jess chuckled

"I was just making sure, after all, you're mad at me for preventing you from being with Charlene."

"I'll rephrase that for you." Jess said but she sipped on her coffee before proceeding. "You are actually saving me from the worst possible thing to happen if I let myself be with Charlene."

"And it sucks." Yohan said and chugged all the liquid magic drink that Jess made using her witch powers. "I don't know why we have such rules like that?"

"Because we are not ordinary people. I am a pure blooded witch, you are the Devil and Agma is a demon. You think people will like us if they know our true identity?"

"They will." Yohan said with certainty in her voice, which made Jess look at her confusedly. "Have you ever met Nicole?"

"Nicole? You mean Nathalie's younger sister?"

"Yes."

"Isn't she the one who gave her soul to you?" Jess asked again.

"She was my first girlfriend." Yohan said and she looked at Jess but it did not appear in the reflection of Yohan's eyes as her mind went back to the past.

"Whoa whoa wait, you didn't tell me about it! What the hell Yohan?!" Jess said in flummox. "Where was it?"

"Remember when I kept going out of hell and told you that I've been working with some things alone?"

"Yeah? I can remember that."

"That's when I met her." Yohan sighed, then her gaze went back to the bottle she was holding with a sad smile while reminiscing her past, meanwhile Jess didn't utter a word as she kept waiting for Yohan to proceed. "We were so in love with each other. Until one night, she accidentally saw me with my Devil form."

"What happened next?" Jess asked.

"She was so scared that she told me she didn't want to see my face again." Yohan chuckled throatily. "But she loves me, so when I tried to visit her again, she accepted me."

"Then why do you have to take her soul?"

"Because I had to. My father found out about her and he tried to kill her, so I had to intervene and take Nicole's soul rather than give it to my father."

"Yohan.."

"Nathalie is right, I killed her sister."

"Why didn't you stand up? Why didn't you fight for your relationship?" Jess asked, her voice laced with irritation that she tried to hide but Yohan still felt it.

"Do you think fighting the man who created me for a mere human was worth dying for?" Yohan asked. She smiled wryly, heaving a deep breath and looked up to the ceiling, trying to stop her tears from falling down since it's still hard for her to think about her past. Those painful memories are books with chapters, deep and horrible; and so she leaves them on the shelf to gather dust. She can pick them up if she needs to learn something, to gain a perspective that helps her to create her new story. She can use them to re-see situations through the lens of her needs and traumas from the past painful memories.

"Mere human? Then what the heck is we were so in love with each other?" Jess scoffed. "So you're telling me that you love Nicole but you cannot stand up for her?"

"I know Jess, I'm such a coward."

"No Yohan, you ain't coward, you are a f*****g asshole." Jess stood up and she started pacing back and forth in her room, creating traces in her carpeted floor. Then she stopped and turned to Yohan abruptly. "You know what? I know that you are starting to like Chloe."

"And that is the reason why I am here."

"So are you telling me now that you'll do the same to her?" Jess asked.

"No, as long as I don't tolerate these feelings, then the same history won't repeat." Yohan said.

"That's bullshit." Jess scoffed again and kicked Yohan's shin. "You haven't learned anything from Nicole?"

"What would I learn from her? That loving a human will make me suffer?"

"No, choosing your freedom and happiness is what matters!" Jess exclaimed and threw her hands in the air.

"My father will kill her and so do I!" Yohan yelled back.

"Then fight! You know that you are not alone, you have me, Nathalie, Mr. Smith, Ivy and Agma!"

"You talk like fighting the ruler of hell is easy." Yohan chuckled dryly.

"I never said that it was easy, but you have to try." Jess said calmly and she sat back in her chair across Yohan. She took the latter's hand and held it between hers. "Yohan, I am your best friend, I know and I saw everything your father did to you since we were kids. But I think it's time for you to make a decision on your own."

Yohan shook her head slowly with a lungful sigh. Then she looked at her friend's eye. "I can't, it's easier to just follow him and my life will not be miserable again."

"Wanna know a secret?" Jess asked coyly, her heart-shaped lips stretched out widely. Yohan waited for her to proceed and nodded her head. "My clan can help you with your problem."

"You mean with my father?"

"Give me three more months, you will have your freedom Yohan." Jess said and she squeezed Yohan's hands. "But for now, be the person that Chloe needed the most in the time of her miserable days starting tomorrow."

"Jess.."

"I'm doing this as your best friend, so do me a favour." Jess paused and let out a soft sigh. "Don't stop yourself from loving Chloe."

"She's right and I'm in. Whatever it is, I'm in." Agma said who's standing at the door, she was leaning her body on the doorframe with arms crossed against her chest.

"Thank you." Yohan said sincerely.

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