17 You need to be dead to see beyond the death

It was really irritating her, she felt like those shrieks of laughter was played on a headphone with full speed.

Somehow, she managed to stand with the support of the wall. She covered her ears tightly, it was ringing so loud.

The maniacal laughter of Rebekah was never-ending. She was screaming in pain.

Suddenly someone placed their hand on her, she got scared and quickly checked who it was.

It was Alex, he wore a worried expression on his face. He was sweating, he was really worried about Sal.

For a moment, Sal forgot about everything. Rebekah, curse, and everything.

She felt like, time stopped and the only thing she could see was Alex's pretty brown eyes, his wavy blonde hairs shined in the sunshine as if they were gold.

She felt like she was seeing a whole new side of Alex, the one she never cared to see, the one that caught her eyes for so long.

Even Alex felt it, Salvadora's beautiful silver eyes were sparkled in the sunlight, her rose-red lips wanted to say something he wanted to hear.

They both were best friends, but today it seemed like it was gonna change...only if it was good timing.

"Calm down, Salvadora," he said.

Everything was back to normal now, the world started to work normally again and they both came to their senses now.

"What happened to you? You suddenly started screaming...I don't understand," he said. They both tried to ignore the past few minutes.

But it didn't help much, Sal blushed anyways. "See Alex, A lot of things are happening in my life right now, and I don't want you to get involved. Trust me, it's for your good only," she said calmly.

"Then for god's sake, TELL ME! Do you think I will laugh? Is that what you really think?" he shouted.

Alex was clearly hurt by Salvadora's words, he thought that he was close to her and she was hiding a really important thing.

He couldn't let anything hurt Salvadora, he has always been protective but today, it all felt different, it was different than anything they've felt before.

"Okay, then. But don't you dare walk away from me after you hear everything," she said almost crying.

"I won't, I promise," he said firmly.

"Let's go somewhere we can talk, it's a long story," Sal said gently with a smile on her face.

Then she told everything about her family's history, every tiny detail and emotion. In between, Alex asked some questions and she answered them honestly, she didn't hesitate for a second.

Alex was shocked a bit scared by hearing it all, but he promised her and he wasn't going to break it by any chance.

"Actually, I have some information to tell too," he said with a smirk.

"And I thought I was the only one with loads of information," she laughed.

Alex was happy to see her smile again, he wanted to see it for ages. He laughed too.

''So, are you gonna tell me today only or..." before Sal could complete it, Alex said, "Yeah, sure."

Then he told her about his visit to Mr. & Mrs. Bloodstone and what he saw them doing. He also told her about Adaline, and what she did.

"I'm really sorry, Alex. I didn't know so much happened to that little girl, I hope she's okay with all this," Sal said with remorse.

"Yeah, she's braver than I thought. Without her, we would be really confused," he said with a smile.

"That's a lot to digest, but the main question is, why are they doing this?" asked Salvadora.

"I thought they were the key to all answers until you told me about your family," Alex said in a suspicious tone.

"The thing with Adaline.... those Bloodstones said they were looking for a taller girl, could that be me? I don't think they're referring to someone else other than me," she explained.

A moment of silence filled the place, Salvadora didn't like it but every part of the puzzle pointed to her.

Alex tried to deny it, he tried to find another explanation for it but every time, he came to a dead end.

They had to see beyond the death to figure it all out, that's where the solution lies. Alex ignored it for now.

"Ok, let's leave it for now. Earlier, why did you looked like you had seen a ghost?" asked Alex curiously.

"Rebekah's messing with me, Alex," Sal said scared.

Then she told him about her encounter with her dead aunt.

"OMG! I'm sorry Sal, it must be horrible," Alex said sadly.

Salvadora hugged him and started crying. "I really don't know what to do, I'm scared," she sobbed.

"It's okay, Sal. It's normal to be scared in a situation like this," he reassured.

She smiled and looked into his eyes once more and then went home.

While she was walking in the corridor to make her way home, a hand pulled her into a room.

She screamed there. After such a nice moment with Alex, this was the last thing she wanted.

She was tired, she wanted to rest.

It was Madam Pomphrey, she asked her to calm down.

"Salvadora, I think you know I am more than your teacher and you're more than a student to me."

"But mam…" Salvadora started but Pomphrey interfered, "Stop calling me Mam, you really think a teacher would do this? And by the way, I'm your aunt."

"Aunt, didn't you recognize me all this time? I didn't know you, but you did."

When Salvadora said 'aunt', Pomphrey felt a caring sensation in her body, she didn't know how to respond.

Salvadora was overwhelmed with the thing with Alex, but this was important, she needed her attention here for now.

"See, I was so little when Rebekah died and my mom didn't want me to become a witch after this, so I and your mom never met…" She stopped when she realized that she was wrong.

"Salvadora, we all have done past mistakes but from now on I'll always be at your side," her eyes were filled with tears but she managed to swallow it back.

"I know, and I'm not mad at you for it. I forgive you, aunt," said Salvadora and they both hugged each other.