Strings of Fate

Cam 49- Distressed and determined +10% Bonus 06:16 | don’t sleep much. | stay up most of the night trying to figure out how to make things right. with Harry. | don’t get too far but | do at least form the first step of the plan, one that I’m hoping will lead to more plans later on.

I'm going to call Ryann and ask to meet up with her. Hopefully Harry hasn't told her to ditchor something. | suspect that if he did she would do as he asked, but | don’t think he would. My tentative friendship with Ryann hasn't really had much to do with him, at least not until now. I'm hoping that she can fillin a little on Incubus magic and maybe a little more about Harry in general. If I'm really lucky she will have sidea on how | can get him to talk to me. Right now I'm just kind of hoping that if | give him a bit of tto cool off, he’ll take my call. Or even better, turn up to talk toin person. Ryann might be able to givehis address, but turning up at his huninvited feels like crossing a line. | practically leap out of bed with far more energy than I'd usually have in the morning and grab my phone. | want to call Ryann first thing. I'm hoping she might have sfree tto seetoday. I'm not particularly shocked to find that | have about five missed calls from my mother and several text messages. She’s probably pissed that | got Simon arrested. Although realistically he got himself arrested. | was the victim. With a sigh, | open the text conversation.

Mum- Cam, | just heard what happened with Simon. Can you callplease? Mum- | know you're unhappy withbut | would really like to talk to you. Please call back.

Mum- | didn’t know that Simon would go so far. Please lettalk to you.

The messages continue along the sline. They are a little different to usual though. My mother doesn’t say anything to imply the issue was my fault and she doesn’t say anything to insultor makefeel guilty. | know the definition of insanity is repeating the saction and expecting different results, but her messages seem a little different, and since the other option is to cut her off entirely I'm willing to risk listening to smore lectures and insults if there's even the slightest chance that she might have changed her mind. | make myself a coffee for emotional support, then | call my mother back.

“Hello? Cam?” She sounds a little desperate.

...Hi mum.” | greet her quietly. She is silent for a moment, seemingly searching for the right 1/4 Cam 49- Distressed and determined thing to say. Suddenly she bursts into tears.

“I'm so sorry darling!” She says between gasping breaths. | sit, completely stunned. | thought she might be willing to have an actual mature conversation, | didn’t expect an apology. I'm scared to hope so I'm cautious when | respond.

“What exactly are you sorry for?” | ask for clarification. She deep breaths and takes a fo manages to get her sobs under control, although she still sounds a little choked up when she answers.

+11 “I'm sorry for trying to force Simon on you. | should have listened when you said he wasn’t a good man. The police contacted us about our interactions with him. He was claiming that we asked him to save you from the Incubus and that he hadn't done anything wrong. The police told us that he’s been stalking you, that he attacked you and... your friend. | swear we never thought he would do anything like that. We encouraged him to pursue a relationship with you and not to give up so easily. But we never would have wanted him to hurt you. Are you really okay? The police assuredthat you were, but | just needed to know for sure, and then you didn’t answer the phone...” My mum sounds absolutely devastated and genuinely apologetic. It's pretty much everything | wanted to hear from her. I'm still cautious, but my heart is racing with excitement. She still has a long way to go if she wantsto completely forgive her, | mean she tried to use a love potion onand has basically trashed all my life choices. for a few years now. But this is a start. She’s willing to acknowledge that she made le mistakes.

“Wh... what about grandma? What does she think of all this?” | ask. Mum takes a couple minutes to answer.

Bor 06 “She thinks that your Incubus did something to you and that Simon was trying to protect you. She doesn’t know I'm calling. I'll try to talk to her about it though. | promise.” She assures me.

“And you don’t think Harry is manipulating me?” | ask. My mum laughs..

“Honey, you're many things, but you're no idiot. | raised you to be independent, and that’s what you are. | doubt any Incubus would be capable of manipulating you without your knowledge. You are MY daughter and a very talented Witch. I've taught you better than to allow yourself to be controlled by sIncubus. | can’t say that | particularly approve of your choice, but | know that being with the Incubus is absolutely your choice.” She says firmly.

2/4 Cam 49- Distressed and determined That's it, I'm done for. | burst into tears.

“Honey? What's wrong?” My mum asks, very alarmed. She sounds exactly like she always has when I've been upset and | answer without thinking.

“Harry and | had a fight last night and we broke up.” | admit. My mum immediately starts in on a rant.

“I knew that boy was no good, too pretty he is. What happened? Did he cheat on you? He is an Incubus so | wouldn't be surprised | bet he-" | cut her off.

“Mum no! I'm the one who screwed up. He didn’t do anything wrong. It’s hard to explain but | messed up and it was entirely, one hundred percent my fault.” | say, leaving no room for argument.

“Right... but you regret it. You want him back?” Mum asks Slow “Definitely.” | respond quickly with no hesitation.

“Then you'll go get him back. You know what you want so go figure out how to get it. | can’t say | understand or that | think this is a good idea, but as this whole debacle with Simon proved, I'm not as good a judge of character as | thought | was. Personally | worry that this is a mistake... But | know it’s your mistake to make and | will do what | should have done from the beginning and I'll support you. | suppose | forgot for a while that as your mother my job is to teach you to run your life, not to try to run it for you. So go get your Incubus back and... Maybe we could talk again soon?” She asks warily..

“You know everything isn’t all great between us, but I'm willing to work on it. Maybe you could calltomorrow?” | offer. Mum jumps on the offer and we arrange a tto talk before my shift at work tomorrow. I'm cautiously excited. Mum's acceptance means a lot to me. I'd love it if she could cand see my bar sometime. | don’t think | could ever be part of my family’s coven again. My trust is too broken for that. But I'm not ruling out having an actual relationship with my mother at the very least.

| make my call to Ryann and I'm both surprised and pleased when she answers right away. She offers to meet up in an hour and we agree to meet at my bar. It won't be open for ages yet, but that just means we can have a little privacy. | frantically skull my coffee and shower +1 Bo 06 3/4 Cam 49- Distressed and determined.

+1 Bo as fast as | can so | can get to the bar to meet them. After talking to my mum I'm feeling more determined than ever. | know | love Harry, he’s angry right now but I'm pretty sure he still loves me. | just have to figure out a way to earn his forgiveness and meeting Ryann is the first stage in that plan.

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