Chapter 23: The bitter truth

Chris stared at Damien in disbelief, his brow furrowed as he tried to process what he had just heard. "You found Annie?" he repeated, the words sounding surreal even to his own ears. "How? Where? After all this time, how did you even find her?"

Damien leant back in his chair, his eyes distant as he recounted the events of the day. "She had been living among humans in this town, blending into the human world. I went to see her at the café she's been working at. I needed answers, Chris—I needed to know why she left, why she never came back."

Chris shook his head, still struggling to wrap his mind around it. "So you just walked in and found her? After five years?"

Damien nodded, a bitter smile tugging at the corner of his lips. "It wasn't that simple. She didn't exactly welcome me with open arms. She's angry, hurt... and I can't blame her for that. I forced her to talk to me to explain why she left. And she did."