A Heart Worth Loving

Heading straight home, Layla tucked her little brother into bed and opened A Christmas Carol to the first page. Reading him the first couple of chapters, she carefully stood up so not to wake him and kissed his head. Putting the book on the side, she made her way downstairs and sat on the sofa next to her gran.

“It’s not too late to learn about your gift,” her gran said without looking away from the television, “I’m not stupid, I know that that man looking for you earlier was from you mother’s old coven…”

“How?”

“He may no longer possess his magic, but he still carries a trace,” her gran replied, “His being here could be dangerous for you, especially if he’s out for revenge or in search of a way to regain his power.”

“He’s probably more dangerous without his magic,” Layla told her, not surprised by the fact her gran had the ability to sense magic, “He told me that he’s just here looking for information on a hunter.”

“Does that have anything to do with the historian that’s recently arrived in town?”

“He is the hunter.”

“You and your friends need to be careful,” her gran warned, causing Layla to frown, “I may be old, sweetie, but I’m not blind…”

“We’ll be careful,” Layla promised, unsure of how much her gran actually knew, “Have you got any plans with Brandon tomorrow?”

“I have a few errands to run and a council meeting, but I was hoping that we could have dinner together at a grill.”

“Dinner together sounds good,” Layla agreed, “I might take Bran out tomorrow, show him around town and stuff.”

“I’m sure he’d like that.”

Sitting with her gran for a while, Layla headed upstairs and checked that the windows in her brother’s room were locked. Lying on her bed, she stared at the ceiling and gradually allowed the darkness to drag her under. Waking up the following morning to Brandon jumping on the bed, Layla groaned and shielded her eyes as he opened her curtains without warning.

“Layla get up,” Brandon whined as she pulled the covers back up over her head, “I want to go on an adventure.”

“An adventure, huh?” Layla replied, sitting up and smiling as her little brother nodded excitedly, “What sort of adventure?”

“I don’t know.”

“Let’s see, we could go on a bear hunt in the woods?” Layla suggested, earning another nod as she got up and chuckled as Brandon jumped onto her back.

“Yee-haw,” Brandon shouted, giggling and tightening his hold around her neck as she took him downstairs to eat breakfast.

Finishing breakfast in record time, Layla made sure that they were both ready for hiking through the woods and left the house. They had just reached the trail, when her phone chimed, and she retrieved it to find a message from Damon.

‘What are you doing right now?’

‘I’m on a bear hunt,’ Layla quickly sent back with a grin.

‘A bear hunt?’

‘Yep.’

‘Fancy some company?’

‘If you really want to hike through the woods with an over excited five year old, then sure…’

‘Beats listening to Stefan and Elena talking about their feelings.’

‘Well, we’re on the trail that leads directly to the lake… meet us there.’

‘Sure thing.’

Watching as Brandon looked around in awe, Layla pointed out a few wild animals and slowly guided them out of the trees into a clearing with a lake. The lake wasn’t all that big, but it was bustling with insects and she knew that Brandon would love it.

Spotting Damon leaning against a tree on the other side, she grabbed Brandon’s hand and led him over to say hi.

“Brandon, this is my friend Damon,” Layla introduced, “He’s Stefan’s big brother.”

“It’s nice to meet you, Brandon.”

“It’s nice to meet you too,” Brandon stated, “Layla, can I add some new drawings in my bug book?”

“Of course, don’t go to close to the water though and stay where I can see you,” Layla instructed, handing over the book and shaking her head in amusement as Brandon took off.

Sitting on the grass, Layla glanced over as Damon took a seat next to her and couldn’t help smiling as he nudged her shoulder. Removing her camera from her backpack, she took a few snaps of Brandon to add to her memory book and relaxed into a casual conversation about the hunter.