This is a disaster

"This is a disaster! How could this happen…..", Lucas was pacing back and forth in the home office room while Oliver was slumped in his chair.

"We've been over this a million times, Luke…. You've gotto let it go!", Oliver said sleepily.

He was tired to his bones to go through this once again. His head was banging just reliving the whole thing and he'd be glad to go to bed already.

He knew very well that the binding ritual had gone terribly wrong because of Ana. Since then, they both had been discussing about it continuously without rest. But, it didn't seem to do them any good as they both had no idea how to make things right or what was the next step in all of that.

"But…..", Lucas started to speak but Oliver was already speaking up, "Luke! I don't know how she ended up with that pendant which had been lost for almost thousand years or how she appeared there at the right time….. But just now, I wanted her to remove it.... when she touched, it threw us both in a world of pain. So, I don't think she can remove it either. And as you are already aware of, I've been feeling exhausted since yesterday no matter what I do. So, I guess you get it now?", Oliver said frustrated.

"But…. Why can't you heal yourself?", Lucas had already asked him this question and he already knew the reason for it. He just had a hard time believing any of it were true.

"I told you already….. blood magic is stronger than any other magic. You have to believe me. I….. We're bonded. Whatever she feels, I feel it too…. Because of the pendant, the ritual I performed counteracted and I'm now forever bonded to that stupid human….", he ran a hand through his hair in absolute irritation.

"Does this mean…?". Before Lucas can finish his thought Oliver spoke up, "Yes! Until she's wearing that pendant, if she dies, I die too…"

Oliver continued oblivious to his friend's inner conflict, "This time after she wakes up, you go in… Dig deeper on how she ended up with that necklace. Maybe we don't have a way out of this but at least let's try and see if she's able to give it up by herself safely. Find out whatever you can... But, make sure that you don't blabber anything".

"I won't…. But, why not you?"

"She freaked out on me… She doesn't remember that I tried to kill her, but I think she's scared of me. Plus, you're good with humans, so, I think you'll have a better chance..… Once she gives it up, we should kill her and be done with it, she knows too much... I hate this! I must be in hell right now. Instead, I'm still stuck here with a human nonetheless and I have to kill her when all this is over. This is not going to look good on me when I go back… Why should everything be so complicated?? Ugh! This is the worst thing that could ever happen!", Oliver complained.

Lucas just nodded and said, "You should get some sleep….… You look terrible", seeing how exhausted Oliver was.

"You're right! At least I'm glad you still have your powers….", Oliver sighed regretting his bad fate.

"I want to fix this up, Ollie. I was so happy yesterday and I can't just let it be..….I'll do whatever I can to send you back… You go…..", Lucas sounded concerned.

"Hmm! Stupid humans... They can't let anything be good….", Oliver mumbled under his breath on his way to the bedroom.

Lucas came up and sat on the chair which was previously occupied by Oliver and fired up the computer in front of him.

"This is a disaster..", he told himself again and he was determined to find out what really happened.

Lucas wouldn't rest until he fulfilled his promise to Oliver of sending him back and helping him rightfully claim his position.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Ana was finally awake. Unlike last time, she was feeling fully rested and rejuvenated and sat up upright immediately. She noticed that this time she was dressed again but not in her night pants and instead in a white gown which draped from top to toe effortlessly. She wasn't completely comfortable in that attire but was happy to be wearing anything at all.

She touched herself and observed that she was alive and well and good to get up from bed. She wondered if everything which went through was just a dream and she was waking up only now but her surroundings were still the same and she wasn't in her bedroom.

One difference in that room was that Oliver was gone now and Lucas was sitting in the same chair resting his chin on the back of his hand, napping.

She tiptoed around the bed and went near his chair to wake him up. But since he looked soundly asleep, she didn't disturb him and was observing how beautiful he was. His ruffled blond hair covered one side of his forehead making an arch over his eyebrows and the shadowy patterns casted by his long lashes made Ana's heart skip a beat.

She chided herself for ogling at him and cleared her throat which eventually woke him up.

"I'm sorry…. I, um... I didn't mean to stare…", Ana said awkwardly, bunching her almost see through dress in her hands.

"Hi Ana….", he smiled lazily and rubbed his eyes to remove the drowsiness.

"Hi…", a naughty smile played on her lips and she nervously tugged her hair behind her ears.

"Did you rest okay?", he asked her calmly.

She nodded and suddenly asked what was bothering her for some time, "Was Oliver here before?"

He nodded a yes and she was sure now that it wasn't a dream after all.

"Where am I? What's happening?", she asked concerned and Lucas got up from his seat and took her by her shoulders.

"First sit….", he made her sit back again on the corner of the bed and sat opposite to her in the chair.

"Ana…. We're in Oliver's house…. I'll tell you everything that happened yesterday but first of all, I want you to be completely honest with me and answer my questions…. Can you do that?", asked Lucas very kindly and took her hands in his.

Ana blushed a crimson red under the attention, "Sure… I'll be honest…".

"Thanks….. So…. Where did you get that pendant?", he asked softly.

"Um…. I just received a package yesterday in the museum and this was buried in a clay piece…. It accidentally broke and then I took out this pendant…", she replied noticing that his expression was intent and serious.

"Do you know who sent it to you?", he asked but she just nodded no.

"Oliver was here and he was asking me the same thing… What's going on?", she asked.

"I'll get to it in a while…... And may I know why you're wearing it around your neck?", he asked her still holding her hand firmly in his. He didn't want to let go of her hands because he didn't want her to touch the pendant again. It might cause some serious repercussions as Oliver stated.

"I just….. Okay, this is embarrassing… See if this is yours, then I'll just remove and give it to you….", she said avoiding eye contact clearly feeling awkward seeing how she took that belonged to someone else.

"No… I mean, don't feel embarrassed and tell me honestly…", he said with a smile putting her mind at ease.

"Okay….. Listen… I got this yesterday and since it was addressed to me, I took it home. I was trying to examine it when it broke….. The pendant looked beautiful and I just wanted to try it because I thought it might be from Joshua and he might have gifted me this as a way to get back together….. but there was no sender's address…. Oh! I feel like such a fool now….", she crouched and took her hands away from his.

"Wait I'll give it to you….", she touched the back of the necklace to remove it but Lucas quickly caught her hand again.

"No… Ana… Wait! Don't touch it…."

Ana shot a confused look at him.

"Why?", she asked him seeing him hesitate for a moment.

"Ana I just….. I don't know where to begin or what to tell you…..", he was in conflict and Ana squeezed his hand.

"Lucas… what happened? You can tell me.... ", she said worried. Lucas was hesitating again bidding time to find out the extent to which he should confide in her.

Suddenly, a huge bang was heard and both of them panicked.

What was that! All her nerves came into attention and so did his. They stared at the door and at themselves again and Lucas uttered, "Shit!" before he started running outside with a scared Ana jogging behind him.

Ana found Oliver rushing towards the door in front of them already. She was hiding behind Lucas unsure what was happening.

Suddenly, the door swung open violently and a dark mist surrounded everything and Ana couldn't make out where she was or where Lucas was. A minute ago, he was in front of her and now she was completely lost in the dark.

Panic gripped her heart and a lump formed in her throat indicating something really bad was going to happen.

She gulped once and took a step forward in the dark unsure which way to move. Before her mind could process it, a silhouette moved behind her and covered her mouth and Ana was taken aback by shock.

She tried to yank off the rough hand which was brutally chocking her when a puff of air tickled the skin behind her ear. She froze midway panic ridden.

"It's me…..", a soft voice purred making her whole body go rigid.