Forbidden Forest

Lied To

I stared at her silently. There was no way that this woman was my aunt. I don’t know who she is, and I had never met her before yesterday. She had to be crazy. What the hell did I just walk into? Also, why the hell did she grab my head like she was reading it or something? I needed to pack up and keep going. I started to put the box back into my bag when she finally spoke again.

“You don’t believe me, do you?” she said. It wasn’t a question she already knew.

I didn’t answer and heaved my duffel over my shoulder, and was about to go down the stairs, but then she touched my arm and something weird happened. Images flashed through my mind, me as a baby being held by a woman with raven black hair like mine, her eyes were a deep purple, her skin ivory. There was a man standing next to her and his hand was on my head, his hair was a deep brunette, his eyes were as blue as the sea, just like mine. They were smiling down at me.

I dropped the duffel and it hit the floor with a thud. I turned around and looked at her wide-eyed. I don’t know how she did that.

“It’s a gift called transfer,” she said. What the hell does that mean? I thought. “I can transfer memories to you. I can also bring memories out of the subconscious and into the conscious mind. That was your own memory.”

“I don’t understand,” I said to her, “I have been with my father since I can remember.”

“The man who raised you was not your father,” she stated, matter-of-factly. “He took you from your parents when you were only two-years-old. He thought by taking you, he could drive us all out of the forest.”

“Why would he think that?” I asked, still in disbelief.

“Because, Celeste, you are the princess.”

“What?” I said, dumb founded.

“Celeste, you are the princess of the east village.” She said.

I stared at her; this was a lot to take in. I mean, I knew that my father…I shook my head mentally. I knew that Henry had always been cruel, but I never knew why. He never showed an ounce of love towards me, but that makes sense if he never had any connection to me, I was just bait for him. I’m assuming when no one came after me, that’s when the abuse really began. He was angry that his bait wasn’t good bait.

“Why did you guys never come after me,” I asked.

“Celeste, I know you have a lot of questions, but they are for you to ask your parents, not me,” she responded.

“Well, where are they?” I asked.

“They are not in the village, sadly, but they will be back within a week. Until then, I suggest you stay indoors. We don’t want any attention attracted to you right now.”

“Why not?” I asked. I knew I was pestering her.

“Enough, child,” she said sternly, “Your questions will be answered in due time.”

I huffed. I just wanted to know who I was. If Henry wasn’t my father, who were my parents? How does Mary have these strange abilities? Do I have them if she is my aunt? Do my parents have some weird magical powers?

“I guess this all happened at the right time,” she said, pulling me away from my thoughts. “You turn eighteen the day after they come back.”

“Wait, what? My birthday isn't until…”

“Child, you were lied to, your birthday is June 14th. I know it is because I was there the day you were born.” She said, interrupting me.

Oh how wonderful, my whole life has been a lie. What else am I going to find out?

Mary's POV

I never thought I would see my niece again, I thought she was dead the second she was kidnapped by that awful hunter. Hunters are known for their ruthlessness, cruelty, and lust for death. They despise supernatural species. They see us as abominations.

She is lucky that she wasn’t killed by him when none of us came for her. The only reason we didn’t was because we thought she was already dead, and I don’t want to think about whether we had known if she was still alive. We would have been slaughtered; our village only had twenty members living within at the time.

She is also lucky that she hasn’t emerged into her powers yet. She doesn’t realize the power that she holds within. The power already radiates off her so powerfully that I can’t be in the same room with her too long, it makes my mind hazy and it makes me feel sick. I will have to teach her how to control her aura, but that’s only when she is settled, and she opens the box on her eighteenth birthday. There is a medallion in there that I had blessed when she went missing. I had to use most of my strength to teleport it to her without knowing her location. The medallion will be the key to convincing her mother that Celeste is real and not fake. When Celeste puts it on, it will grow red like her mother's. This will prove the blood bond between them.

I wish I could send a letter to them, but I don’t want them coming back too soon from their business trip to the West Village. The peace treaty is more important at the moment. We have to put off an impending war with them. If a war between us breaks out, the barrier will fall, and we will all be left vulnerable. The hunters won’t hesitate to come to a slaughter us the best they can.

I heard a knock at my door, and looked up into the loft to make sure it didn’t wake Celeste up. She is still sound asleep. I got up from my altar and headed to the door. When I open it, Alpha Adrian is standing there, staring at me.

“Who is she?” He asks, authority and power rolling off of him.

I shove him out onto the grass, and shut the door behind me so Celeste cannot hear.

“I cannot tell you right now,” I told him.

“You will tell me now,” he growled, his eyes glowing gold. He sniffed the air, “Mate,” he stated.

My eyes widen, she is at my door and within almost two days of her being there, Adrian has already sniffed her out and feels his mate is near. How is that possible? The village is five miles north of my cottage.

“Ho..” I start to say, but he cuts me off.

“I saw her cross the barrier and the man that was chasing her. I smelled her immediately. Fear and strawberry fields.” He sniffed the air again and tried to push past me to get to her, to claim her as his own.

“Enough,” I whispered. “She doesn’t know about what we are and what the village contains. We have to wait until Queen Nyx and King Erebus get back. They will debrief her.”

Adrian’s eyes widened, “The lost princess?”

“You mustn’t tell anyone,” I tell him, and he nods. He puts his fist over his heart and bows.

“I vow not to until I am granted permission.” He vows.

“Now,” I say, “You must go before she wakes.” He nods again, bows, then he sifts and runs into the woods.

I opened my front door and walked into my small cottage and froze. Celeste was standing not two feet from me, and she heard everything. She opens her mouth to start bombarding me with questions, but before the words come out, I snap my fingers and she passes out. I put my hands out and her body lifted into the air. I motioned my hands up, then slightly down and she was back in her bed.

I sigh, exhaustion takes over my body, using my powers can make me weak and I need to stay strong to keep this barrier up. I go to my corner room and lay down on my bed. Soon I drifted off into a dreamless sleep.