Damon Chose Her

I called Damon as soon as I locked my door.

The blood-link charm warmed between my fingers, pulsing red.

Once, that warmth had comforted me.

Damon used to answer before the third pulse. He used to say my name like it mattered.

This time, the charm rang until I thought he would not answer at all.

Finally, his voice came through.

“Aria.”

Cold.

Distant.

My throat tightened.

“Damon, Celeste just told me—”

He interrupted me.

“The graduation trials are soon.”

I stopped.

“What?”

“We should talk less for a while,” he said. “It will affect your focus.”

I gripped the charm.

“Damon, my stepsister just begged me to give you to her.”

There was a pause.

Then he sighed.

That sigh told me everything before his words did.

“Celeste is emotional. Don’t make this harder than it has to be.”

My fingers went numb.

“Harder for whom?”

“Aria.”

He sounded impatient now.

“I care about you. But lately you’ve been too intense. Celeste makes things feel… lighter.”

Lighter.

I almost laughed.

Of course she did.

Celeste had never had to carry anything heavy.

Before I could answer, he cut the connection.

The blood-link charm went cold in my palm.

A second later, music drifted from the living room.

Celeste’s phone was ringing.

Then came her delighted voice.

“Damon?”

I stood behind my door and listened to her laugh.

Soft. Sweet. Victorious.

My heart did not break all at once.

It sank slowly, like a stone dropped into black water.

That afternoon, I followed them.

I told myself I only wanted to confirm it.

But some part of me already knew.

Midnight Carnival opened early for the winter season. Red lanterns hung from iron gates. Ghost-fire lamps floated above the paths. Vampire vendors sold blood-rose cotton candy, and werewolf children ran between booths wearing moon masks.

Damon had once promised to take me there after the graduation trials.

He said we would ride the glass wheel at midnight.

He said he would buy me a silver rabbit keychain from the old witch’s stall.

He said a lot of things.

I found them near the carousel.

Celeste sat on a white horse, laughing as Damon stood beside her, one hand resting on her waist.

He looked at her the way I had begged him to look at me.

Gentle.

Focused.

Proud.

When she reached for cotton candy, he wiped sugar from the corner of her lips with his thumb.

When the fireworks started, he covered her ears and bent down to whisper something.

She blushed.

The crowd cheered around me.

No one noticed the girl standing alone beneath the shadow of a dead tree.

No one wondered if I was cold.

No one wondered if I had eaten.

No one ever did.

I left before the fireworks ended.

On the way home, I passed a black-market charm shop tucked between a pharmacy and a closed bakery.

In the window, a new notice glowed in purple ink.

Sleeping Hex Seals. Temporary soul suspension. Licensed sale with identification.

I stopped.

My reflection stared back at me from the glass.

Pale face.

Red eyes.

A girl who had been robbed so often she had forgotten what belonged to her.

I thought of Celeste kneeling.

Celeste smiling.

Celeste taking Damon to the carnival meant for me.

Then I smiled too.

Maybe it was time for us to make a clean ending.