The Beautiful Monster

Chapter 227  Old friend

"Alyssa?" Elias asked her as he peered at her. He didn't want to worry her too much, but she had to understand that this was what they needed to do next.

Any decision that they made was risky, but this one could end of all this sooner rather than later.

Alyssa stared at him for a few seconds, looking wary. Her face then softened, and then she nodded to him.

"Okay. Let's go with your plan," she told him.

Elias smiled gratefully at her. Her opinion mattered the most to him. It always would because they were two parts to a whole. He refused to do this without her.

"Thank you," he told her. He needed her support for this. With her having his back, he felt like he could do anything.

Plus, he didn't want to let her down. He looked over at Scott, knowing that he would never fully win him over. Scott was too stubborn and set in his own ways.

Scott eyed Elias for a few seconds before clenching his jaw and shaking his head.

"Whatever," he said before going back to eating his breakfast.

Elias felt a small smile tug at his lips. It was the best response that he could hope for, and that was good enough for him.

He didn't want to argue anyway. If they were all somewhat on the same page, they could move forward. He was tired of going in circles.

"Then, it's settled. We'll go after Alaric. We'll bring the fight to him," he told the group.

"I might have a way to locate Alaric," Melina commented. "But I'll have to bring in an old friend."

"An old friend?" Elias questioned with a surprised look. He didn't expect to bring any outsiders in.

He didn't think that anyone would want to risk that. Even just being associated with them could possibly land them in some sort of trouble.

"From boarding school. She'll be able to help us," Melina explained. "We can trust her."

Elias nodded, figuring it wouldn't hurt to have a little help. If they could figure out Alaric's location, they could track him down and catch him off guard.

Maybe the element of surprise would be enough to help them win. It wasn't a guarantee, but there was a chance. He wanted to take that chance.

"Alright, call her up. Let's get this started," he said with a determined nod. Even if he had a grin on his face, he was silently panicking on the inside.

This was his plan that he put into place. If anything went terribly wrong, it felt like the blame came down to him, and he didn't want his friends' blood on his hands. That was a level of guilt that he would never be able to get over.

********

After a day of travel, the group stopped in a state park to meet Melina's old friend from her boarding school days.

While the others stayed inside, Melina and Elias lingered outside of the RV, peering out at a nearby lake and enjoying the brief moment of peace.

Their nerves were still high, though. Melina's friend was the next step to their plan, and Elias wanted everything to run as smoothly as possible.

"So, tell me more about this friend," Elias said as he sat with Melanie at a picnic table near the RV.

He wanted to know what he was getting into and who he was dragging into all of this. He didn't want Melina's friend to get burned just because she helped them out.

"She was a few years older than me. She was about to graduate once I got to know her, so we didn't get to spend much time in school together.

We kept in contact, though. She's the smartest witch that I know," Melina explained.

"How do you think she'll be able to help?" Elias asked her. Between him and Melina, he figured that they had enough magical know-how to track Alaric down.

That wasn't the case, but he didn't know how her friend could come up with a solution and pull it off on her own.

"She knows more spells than anyone I know, and she can master a lot of them. If anyone knows a spell and can pull it off to track down Alaric, it'll be her,"

Melina replied as she sat across from Elias. She shifted on the bench impatiently, waiting for her friend to finally show up.

"And you think that she'll actually help us? Even if that's risky for her?" Elias asked her. He wanted her friend to know what she was getting into first before helping them.

None of this came without risk. That was why they were so careful with everything that they did.

Melina thought for a second before nodding.

"I believe she will. She's always had my back," she said before rubbing her hands together nervously.

"It's been a while since I've seen her. I'm glad she agreed to meet us."

"Me too. It's nice of her to even hear us out. I wouldn't blame her if she turned us down, though,"

Elias replied with a small shrug. He understood people looking out for themselves, especially when faced with danger.

"Yeah, I let her know that things are pretty intense," Melina sighed as she dragged her fingers through her hair. "But she isn't scared of anything."

A smile crossed Elias as he peered at Melina.

"Really? I envy her," he replied. He wished that he could get rid of his fear, but it would always be a part of him. He had too much to lose to not be fearful of things.

"I've always looked up to her," Melina told him before looking past him as a white car pulled up behind the RV. A nervous smile broke out across her face. "She's here."

Elias turned as Melina rose to her feet and walked over to the car. He stood from the table, but he remained there as he watched Melina hug a brunette who was a few years older than them. She wore a pink and yellow floral dress and brown ankle boots.

"This is Elias, my brother," Melina said as she led her friend over to him. "Elias, this is Lily."

Elias reached out to politely shake Lily's hand.

"It's nice to meet you," Elias greeted her. "Thank you for coming."

Lily smiled as her eyes swept over Elias.

"So, you're the twin brother. I can't believe you actually have a brother," she said as she looked over at Melina.

"It's definitely an adjustment," Melina laughed softly before gesturing for them to sit down. She sat next to Elias as they sat across from Lily. "He's a good brother, though."

Elias felt a warm sensation bloom in his chest as he smiled at Melina. Her words meant a lot to him, and he thought that she was a good sister too.

They were new to the whole sibling thing, but they got along well now. It just took some time to get to know each other.

"Thanks," he told her before looking at Lily. "Melina said you're the smartest witch that she knows."

Lily laughed softly as she joined her hands together in front of her.

"I know a thing or two. She's too kind, though," she said as she flashed a smile at Melina. "What are you trying to do?"

"We want to locate Alaric so that we can attack him," Melina blurted out the words before looking sheepish.

Lily's eyes widened as she stared at Melina.

"Really? You're going after him?" she asked.

"It's crazy, but we're ready to face him. We know what to expect from him. We just have to find him first," Elias explained.

Lily nodded after a moment.

"I know a location spell," Lily replied. "I have to get some ingredients, though."

Melina leaned forward slightly.

"I have some on the RV. If you need anything else, we'll go into town to look," she said.

"It'll let you know his general vicinity, so you'll still have to do some searching," Lily explained as she looked between the two. "You two better be careful."

"We will," Elias assured her. They were always careful. They wanted to make it out of this alive.

"Thank you for helping us," Melina told her sincerely. She reached out to take Lily's hand and give it a gentle squeeze. "I need to stop Alaric before he hurts more people."

Lily's face turned more serious as she nodded.

"You're right. I'm behind you. I hate what's he done," Lily replied.