Rebirth: Love me Again

[LINA]

I still couldn't wrap my head around it.

A love spell. A love spell.

In this age of nanotech, AI, and space travel, someone had the audacity to use magic to mess with my brother's mind? It felt absurd—like something out of a bad fantasy novel.

And yet, here we were, sitting in my grandparents' ancestral home, undergoing a cleansing ritual like we'd somehow been dragged into a supernatural horror story.

I had a million questions, but no one seemed in a hurry to answer them. All I knew was that my mother had whisked us away the moment she realized what had happened to Cole.

And now, thanks to some ancient, unseen forces, we had to stay here for an entire month—just to make sure the spell was completely gone and wouldn't leave any lingering effects. Oh, and lucky me, I had to go through the cleansing too—just in case.

At first, I thought it was ridiculous. I mean, I felt fine. But as the days passed, I started noticing things.

Cole was . . . changing. Well he was beginning to be himself again.

When we first arrived, he barely spoke. His eyes had been hollow, his face completely devoid of emotion, like he wasn't even there. He avoided mirrors, flinched when touched, and spent most of his time either locked in his room or staring blankly at the wall.

But slowly, ever so slowly, he started coming back.

It was in the small things at first—a fleeting expression, a slight reaction to something he normally would've ignored. One morning, I caught him actually frowning at his reflection in the mirror, as if seeing himself for the first time in ages.

Then, a few days later, he ate a full meal without having to be reminded. And just yesterday, he laughed—actually laughed—at something stupid I said.

It wasn't much. But it was something.

The rituals were exhausting, though. Every night, my grandmother and her group of mystics and a group of expert Abularyos performed ceremonies that involved incense, chanting, and all sorts of old-fashioned methods that made me question everything I knew about reality. We bathed in herbal-infused water, burned protection sigils, and listened to our elders murmur in languages I didn't understand.

The worst part? The dreams.

I don't know if it was my mind playing tricks on me, or if whatever magic had affected Cole had also brushed against me, but ever since we arrived, my dreams had turned strange—dark, twisted, filled with shadows whispering in voices I couldn't place.

Some nights, I'd wake up drenched in sweat, my heart pounding, as if something had been watching me from the corner of my room.

I didn't tell anyone, though.

I figured my mother had enough to worry about.

As the days passed, I could finally breathe a little easier.

The heaviness that had settled over us like a dark cloud was lifting. I felt it in the way the house no longer felt suffocating, in the way I no longer woke up in the middle of the night, drenched in sweat from nightmares I couldn't quite remember. Most of all, I saw it in Cole.

He was getting better.

He no longer walked around like a ghost trapped in his own body. The blank, hollow expression had faded, replaced by something closer to himself—still subdued, still a little distant, but present. He spoke more, even cracked a sarcastic remark or two, and for the first time since we arrived, he voluntarily joined us for a meal without being forced.

It should have been a relief. It was a relief.

But it also left me with a problem.

Eve.

I didn't know whether to tell him or not.

He had been through enough already, and I didn't want to shove more pain in his face just as he was starting to recover. Maybe I should wait—just until I was sure he was strong enough to handle it. But the longer I stayed silent, the more restless I became.

Because the truth was, Eve wasn't doing well either.

Her fashion show had been a massive success, all thanks to Dean Cole hyping it up like his life depended on it. But that was the good news. The bad news?

Her entire family was fake.

The people she had called her parents, the ones she thought she could rely on—they weren't even related to her. They had exploited her. They used her for their own gain, manipulated her, made her believe they cared—only for her to find out it was all a lie.

And just when she thought things couldn't get worse, my idiot of a brother had broken up with her—while under a spell—for some witch named Elena.

I couldn't even begin to imagine what Eve must have gone through. One betrayal was enough to destroy a person, but two? That could break someone entirely.

Eve was strong—I knew that. But strength wasn't infinite. She had confidence, intelligence, and enough pride to carry her through most things. But confidence could crack, intelligence could become self-doubt, and pride could easily turn into a cage if she convinced herself she had to bear it all alone.

I had no idea how to approach this.

Should I call her? Would she even want to hear from me? Would she pick up? And if she did, what was I supposed to say?

"Hey, my brother was brainwashed, and he didn't actually mean to break up with you. Hope that helps!"

Yeah. That would go great.

But regardless of how hard this conversation would be, it had to happen. Eve deserved to know the truth.

And deep down, I had a feeling that she needed to hear it.

I took a deep breath, steeling myself, and dialed her number.

No answer.

Okay . . . maybe she was busy. Or asleep. Or just didn't want to pick up.

I tried again. Still nothing.

A sinking feeling crept into my gut.

Maybe—no, definitely—she had changed her number. And honestly? I couldn't blame her.

Sighing, I reached out to our spy network to track down her new contact. It didn't take long.

Piece of cake.

I dialed again.

This time, it rang.

"Hello?"

Her voice was groggy, hoarse—wrong.

I had braced myself for anger, maybe even a cold, clipped tone, but I hadn't expected this.

She sounded exhausted, like someone who hadn't slept in days, someone barely holding it together.

"Eve? It's me, Lina—"

Tut.

Silence.

She hung up.

I stared at my phone, stunned.

Great.

I tried again.

Call cannot be completed.

She blocked me.

Fantastic.

Now what?