33
NIRVANA
Unbelievable.
Since I turned eighteen, I have been independent. The last thing I wanted was to be controlled or dictated by some ancient practices. And we shouldn’t be discussing my choices anymore. I hated it that we had to argue about it.
I couldn’t believe we had to discuss my body, my choices, and my virginity when, from the very beginning, I didn’t want to be a part of this dangerous world.
I didn’t want anything to do with the gift or to be a werewolf anymore. I wanted to live a normal life, to be with my family and the people I cared about, and to be with someone who accepted me and loved me for who I was.
But not like this, where my choices were taken away from me.
“I need some air.” I could be disrespectful if I wanted to. Don’t get me wrong, I had a huge respect for Knight and Zarah, but I felt like I could explode in anger any moment I heard an argument about my life decision.
I walked out of the room, trying to process what Zarah had learned. I was still shaking with anger. I didn’t get mad often, but lately, my situation has tasted my patience on many levels.
I was living like every ordinary woman my age until recently. Then, I learned who I was, and my curiosity got the best of me- I was just so intrigued with supernaturals.
I found myself walking out of the house in the opposite direction. Knight told me it was safe out there. I didn’t have my phone with me if he called me or called Kailin to come and pick me up. At the same time, I couldn’t just leave the house without telling him what we had agreed upon.
A butterfly had caught my eyes, flying not so high as if it was wandering or lost. What was magical and hypnotic about it was that it somehow looked glowing. I was so amazed that I had to follow where it went.
I must have walked far or lost track of time. Through the tall trees, I could barely see the roof of the house.
“Oh, my God. What am I doing here?” I rubbed my arms when it suddenly got cold as if the temperature had dropped significantly.
“Please, give me a sign if what I am doing was right for me.” I barely prayed, but I was sure He was out there. I believed there was a higher being.
“I can’t believe I found you.”
I was startled by the voice behind me. I turned around to make sure I wasn’t dreaming because there was no way he was there when I didn’t even tell him where I was staying.
“What are you doing here, Axell? This is a private property.” My heart pumped so hard, and my eyes widened to see him. He looked deranged, starving, and sleeping in the same clothes like he hadn’t caught sleep in days. There were dark circles under his eyes. His hair was disheveled.
“I’m here to see you.”
“We’ve talked about this, Axell. We broke up last week, remember? And I told you I’m going away to move on. You shouldn’t have come here. How did you find me anyway?”
“I missed you, Vana. I love you. I made the mistake of not showing up at the airport, but I am here now. Give me another chance. Let’s start over.”
“It’s too late, Axell. I’m already dating someone else. You have to go home. You look like you haven’t slept in days. Are you okay?” Despite his behavior, I still felt concerned that he suddenly acted like he was losing himself.
“I’m fine. I just missed you.” He licked his cracked lips.
“How did you find me?”
“I have help. He showed me our future.” When he mentioned it, dread crushed me with so much fear.
“I think you should leave.”
“We’re going to be rich and have a happy life. Let’s go home, Vana.” When he took a step closer to me, I felt something odd. I felt someone was watching me. There was just a feeling I couldn’t explain, and it was thick in the air.
“You’re not okay, Axell.” I finally saw the blank look in his eyes, as if he wasn’t there- as if he had lost himself in deep sorrow. “You should get yourself checked.”
“I said I’m fine!” he yelled, startling me.
“Okay.” I raised my hand. “I have to go. Go home, but I’m not coming with you.”
“You will gonna regret this, Vana. You should have not left.”
“Please, leave-”
A high-pitched scream erupted from my throat, echoing around me. My hand flew to my mouth as I watched Axell fly, thrown away like a dead animal.
With my heart in my throat and my feet rooted to the ground, I stared at someone who just appeared a few feet away from me. I wanted to run as fast as I could, but my knees wobbled, my chin trembled, and my body shivered.
“He’s useless now. Nirvana, the daughter of Sophie, the descendant of Katzius. Do you know me?” His voice was echoey, as if we were in a theater. The man stopped just a yard away from where I stood. He was a black man, tall, in his fifties, but I had the feeling his age was ten times than his look, or maybe way older. He wore a classic brown suit with a scarf in its pocket.
“Should I?” My voice shook.Property of Nô)(velDr(a)ma.Org.
“You know me by now, child.”
“I’m sorry. I have to go.”
“You’re here because something brought you here. This circumstance is meant to happen. You and I are meant to meet this day. Do you wanna know what will happen if you will not do as I say?”
Despite how terrified I was, horrified of what was going to happen to me, I lifted my chin. “I’m afraid I can’t help you, sir. You should leave now. This is a private property. If you’ve seen the sign on your way here, you shouldn’t trespass.”
“Do you want to see how your life ends if you won’t come to me?”
“You can’t show something that hasn’t happened. I’m sorry if you come all the way here and can’t get what you want.” I turned around to run away, only to feel suspended in the air. A strong gust of wind knocked my breathing out. I felt something was taken away from me.
“Do you think a little trinket from a witch can save you from what I’m about to do?”
My body fell, landing my ass on the ground. I whined in pain, but at that moment, I was more horrified of my life and what he was going to do with me.
It became clearer that this man was a warlock and probably the same man who cursed me and killed my parents- the man even Zarah was scared to face.
“This will happen if you won’t give me what I want.” He barely touched my head with his fingertip, and I was instantly brought to somewhere unfamiliar, where I’d never been before. It was in the forest, so cold, the sun just went down, and I smelled horrifying deaths and so much fear thick in the air.
Gasping from the horror I saw, I fell on my knees, crying. I felt every pain, every sorrow, every loss of the people around me, dead bodies lying in the pool of their blood on the ground. It was a bloodbath.
“Oh, my God.” I could barely breathe. I barely had the strength to crawl towards Knight’s lifeless body with a hole in his chest, lying on the ground like an animal, left alone and with no one there for him. “Knight, who did this to you?” I wrapped him with my arms as I screamed to cry, but the pain was unbearable to bear.
All dead bodies around me. All the people I cared about were dead, but me, leaving me alone to endure such losses.
“Stop!” My throat was hoarse as I cried for the pain to stop. I fell before the man who tortured me emotionally and mentally.
“You have six hours, daughter of Sophie.”
I instantly felt an intense pain in my shoulder. Just seconds passed, and my body fell to the ground, unable to move until I drifted out.