My hand reached her side of the bed, wanting to take her between my arms, but my hand only landed on the cold material of the thin sheets and not Pearl.

I opened my eyes, lifted my head, then climbed off the bed. Where is she?

I walked to the kitchen silently, hoping and hoping and hoping that she would be there like every other morning. The delicious scent of cookies hit my nose as soon I stepped in. I got closer to the plate and studied it, then studied the note placed next to it.

"It hurts" was everything that was written on the letter. Only two words were scribbled in her messy handwriting.

And it really did.

Like magic, every definition of the words affected me.

I was under a spell called betrayal.

A spell that I myself created.