Blood Of The Luna

Chapter 7

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I was brimming with rage by the time I got home. In my frustration, I found that the door was locked and I slammed my face against it.

“f*****g piece of s**t!” I yelled, kicking the door once again for extra measure. To make matters worse, my toe began to throb painfully while I leaned against the wall and massaged my forehead.

Safe to say that today was turning out to be one of the shittiest days ever.

When I finally got the pain to subside, I slipped my hand under the doormat and retrieved the key from underneath. Once I was in the house, I slammed the door shut behind me and leaned against it with a groan.

Sanctuary at last.

Mercifully, there was nothing but silence in the house, and I stood there for a minute and just took in the relief of being home. Everything that could go wrong had gone wrong today, and I couldn’t believe that I had been stupid enough to think that it would be better. I couldn’t believe that I woke up today feeling happy, or that a few hours ago I had been obsessed with the idea of seeing Damian. Right now, all I wanted to do was punch him in the face for being such an asshole. If I saw his face again, it would be too late.

My head suddenly began to throb painfully, and I had to lean against the wall to steady myself. The room seemed to be floating, and everything was spinning as I felt the ground becoming unsteady.

Shit!

The last thing I remembered was wondering if I had locked the door before everything went black.

I was floating for what felt like hours. Everything felt irrelevant, and every problem I was dealing with felt meaningless; insignificant. I was free, and for the first time in a really long time, I had no fear or worry in my heart.

But then, something came over me; a darkness of some sort. It stretched out before me like a shadow, covering everything in sight and spreading over the ground beneath me. It was cold, and evil, and all it wanted to do was to destroy.

I ran, but there was no getting away from the darkness. It was coming for me, and very soon it would take me. People were screaming up ahead, fleeing for their lives. The darkness scorched them, and it wiped out the entire earth within minutes. The death and destruction rang out in front of me, and the screams were incessant now. They caused my head to throb even more, as forks of lightning began to appear in the clouds of darkness.

My lungs were burning, and it felt like they were going to explode. I had to run, and I had to make sure that the darkness never reached me. But even though I was sprinting at top speed, I could still feel it inching closer to me, destroying everything behind me. Powerful gusts of wind swept up trees, rocks, cars and houses before ripping them to shreds. And all this was happening just inches behind me.

And then I heard the voice, high and cold with a hint of satisfaction in every word. I recognised his voice immediately, and when I dared to glance backwards I saw that he was the one controlling the chaos.

“You’ve lost,” he said. “And you will always lose. The chosen one was always meant to fall, and by my sword you shall suffer.”

I screamed, and suddenly a powerful light exploded from within me, blocking the darkness and flooding the earth with my light. The heat was almost unbearable, and I was hurtled to the ground while the light filled everywhere.

I woke up with a jolt to find that I was lying in my bed, still drenched with sweat and trembling like a leaf in autumn wind. The lights were off, and the curtain was drawn shut. The darkness was almost suffocating, and I sprang towards the door immediately, desperate for some light. As soon as I stepped into the hallway, I heard father’s voice downstairs complaining about something. He was trying to keep his voice down, but his anger was noticeable even from here.

I went downstairs to see him, and he paused as I walked into the kitchen to give me a smile. He was talking on the phone, and he motioned for me to sit down while he leaned against the counter.

“I’ll call you when it’s done,” he said before hanging up and looking at me. “Why do you look like you’ve just seen a ghost?”

I shrugged, my throat impossibly dry. Somehow he seemed to recognise that, and he handed me a bottle of water.

“Your mother is out with Rose,” he said. “It could take her a while before she returns. Would you like some pancakes while we wait?”

“I’m fine,” I whispered in a voice that was absolutely not fine. He tilted his head slightly, narrowing his eyes as he studied me closely. And then he asked, “Is this about what happened at your school today?”

“How do you know that?”

“It’s my job to know,” he said. “You should know that Damian has already called to apologise. He wanted to speak to you, but I told him you were asleep.”

“I don’t want his apology,” I said. “I don’t want anything to do with him ever again.”

“Why is that?”

“Because he’s a psychopath,” I said. “He hurts people for fun, and I don’t want to be associated with someone like that.”

“Alyssa, he apologised already,” father said. “Any man who can apologise when he’s wrong shows a lot of courage. You should forgive him.”

“I won’t. And I want this marriage to be called off.”

He looked at me for a moment, the silence stretching between us as I dared to look him in the eyes. His arms were folded across his chest, but his fingers were drumming slowly on his biceps, which was always a sign that he was furious.

"Absolutely not," he said finally.

"But dad..."

"I have made my decision already, Alyssa, and my decision is final."

I could not believe he had just said that. He turned around and grabbed a bottle of vodka from the fridge before pouring himself a glass. I could tell that he just didn’t want to look at me, and he must have known that I was going to protest. There was no way in hell that I would accept this without an argument.

“You don’t know him like I do,” I said. “Damian is not the person you think he is.”

“That can be said about each and every one of us,” he replied. “I have heard the rumours about Damian. I have even seen him for myself, and believe me when I tell you that nothing you are telling me is new information. But the fact remains that I have already made this decision. Your marriage to Damian, while in part meant to teach you how to be a mature person, is also to broker peace with the Bloodhounds.”

He downed the contents of the glass in one gulp, throwing his head back as he did. I took the split second when he wasn’t watching me to throw the dirtiest glare I could muster at him. If looks could kill, then he would be a heaping pile of bones and skin on the ground in that one second.

He finally dropped the glass, and dumped the bottle back in the freezer before he looked at me with his eyes reddened.

“There is a growing tension between both our packs,” he explained in a quiet voice. “The Bloodhounds are becoming restless ever since the hunt last year. They have been trespassing in our territory, harassing our people and pillaging the outer boundaries. I have made every effort to stop this, but it has become quite clear that what they intend to do by engaging in such nefarious activities is to instigate a retaliation; one which could possibly lead to all-out war if things get out of control. Alpha Dominic claims he is unaware of these problems, but I have inside information that everything is done with his full consent. He has grown his pack ever since they took the Forklands beyond the river. He seems to believe that his pack is powerful enough to challenge us. And it might be true that they outnumber us three to one, but that has never stopped us. Except this time, because the pack is in disarray. I cannot have us go to war when I am certain that we will lose it. I need to be cautious about this and I need to avoid another catastrophe from befalling us all.”

“So you are offering me up as a sacrifice?” I demanded. “Is that all I am to you? Nothing but a pawn in your great game of chess where you can use me however you wish?”

“Don’t you ever say that again,” he growled. “You are the most valuable thing I have ever possessed, Alyssa. But this is war we’re talking about. Would you want to see your pack destroyed? Do you want your people to suffer? To be bent and broken by the will of another? Do you want everything we hold near and dear to become nothing more than a memory, washed away by the sands of time? We all have our part to play in this situation. Your marriage to Damian will invoke an ancient and powerful law which prevents a wolf from harming his kin. As soon as you marry him, none of them will ever be able to attack us. None of us will have to suffer.”

“Of course,” I said bitterly. “No one will have to suffer except me.”

“He will never raise a finger to you,” father said. He turned to face the window, and from the rigid line which his shoulders formed, I could tell that he was pissed at me even suggesting something like that. But what did he expect? How could I be forced to marry someone who would end up ruining my life? Damian had shown me his true colours already, and that was enough for me to know that I could never be with someone like him. I needed someone who would respect me and treat me right; someone who would understand that I was not beneath him, but rather his equal. Damian clearly couldn’t see that, so why should I even give him a chance?

“How do you know he won’t do that?” I asked. “How do you know he’s not going to lock me up in a basement and torture me for the rest of my life? You don’t, father. And yet you’re willing to let me go for the sake of everyone else. When will I matter to you, dad? When will I become worthy of recognition?”

I stormed out of the kitchen before he could say anything, hot tears burning at the corners of my eyes. I couldn’t bear the anger which was coursing through my veins, and I didn’t know how I was supposed to feel from all this. I couldn’t even bear to stand in the same room as him, and breath the same air he was breathing. I could hear Joaquín’s voice at the back of my mind, telling me that he actually cared about me. Somehow, I found that hard to believe given the way he was treating me. What kind of father would treat their own child like that? Their only daughter, for crying out loud.

I made sure to slam the door to my bedroom loudly on my way up, and I collapsed onto the bed with a groan. I wanted it all to end, and yet the torment in my heart remained.

All because of Damian, and his stupid golden eyes and wretched chiseled jawline. I hated the bastard, and I hated the fact that in such a little time, he had come to play a significant role in my life. How could my own father choose him over me? How could he not see how disgusting the man’s behaviour was? I couldn’t even stand him right now, so how could I be forced to live with him?

War be damned! I refused to be sacrificed for the sake of avoiding something as pathetic as a war. Regardless of what I did or didn’t do, the war would happen if they wanted to or not. So why should I sacrifice my happiness and my future for it?

I couldn’t remember how long I lay there and cried for. But pretty soon, my bones began to feel numb, and the ambient noise seemed to fade away. I couldn’t remember how it got dark, but then it did and I ended up falling asleep in a very uncomfortable position on the bed, dreading what I was going to dream of now.

I opened my eyes to find myself in a clearing right in the middle of the woods. The trees and grasslands looked familiar, and the skies were a familiar shade of dark grey. I could feel the cold air on my face, and the din of a dying battle behind me.

This was the spot where Vlad had stabbed Kendra.

Oddly enough, both of them were missing from the spot now. The only thing around me was the sword which was drenched in blood, and a trail of blood which was leading into the woods and away from me. From the looks of it, Kendra must have crawled away after she was stabbed. I hurried after the trail, desperate to help her. Somehow, I felt like it was my responsibility to to help her. She was clearly in pain, and to be able to drag herself away from the spot must have taken a heavy toll on her.

I hurried after her, following the trail of blood with her handprints on the mud. My heart was thudding loudly in my chest, and I was desperate to find her. It was almost as if I could feel her pain pulsing through me, and I could feel the fear in her heart.

Suddenly, I stumbled upon her leaning against the bark of a tree, and I rushed to her side where she was bleeding profusely. I panicked as I knelt beside her, staring at the gash in the side of her stomach. Blood was trickling slowly, and she looked like she was fading away slowly. I didn’t know what to do, and I was losing my mind at the sight of all the blood.

She looked up weakly, and once again I was shocked to see that she looked exactly like me. Even though her eyes were fading, she looked up at me and tried to smile.

“Hi,” she said in a weak voice which sounded exactly like mine. I was absolutely confused, and I didn’t know what to say or do as I opened my mouth and closed it several times. Kendra was struggling to breath properly, and she was trembling all over. But still, she took the time to look at me carefully.

“Alyssa, right?” she asked. I was far too stunned to talk, and I was too terrified to do anything. Somehow, I could sense that this was a dream. But I could still feel the pain coursing through her veins.

She tried to lean forward, but the trembling intensified and all she could manage was a weak tremble before she managed to fall back again.

“Careful,” I said. “You shouldn’t stress yourself too much. Keep pressure on the wound, and I’ll find something to help with the wound.”

“Listen to me,” she said, reaching out to grab my hand and stopping me. “You have to listen to me, Alyssa. The time is coming. When it does, you must be ready for it. I cannot tell you when or how it will happen, but you must prepare yourself for it. I have failed, so you must continue in my stead. Forgive me for placing this burden on you, but you must succeed where I have failed. Please, you must prepare yourself for what’s to come.”

“What are you talking about?” I demanded. “What is coming for me?”

“Vlad,” she whispered. “He’s coming. And there is no escaping him. The hour of reckoning is upon us, and you must rise up to this ordeal if you are to survive it. He’s coming.”

And with that, followed by a heavy breath which shook me to my core, Kendra finally took her last breath.

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