Surprise!

Iris P.O.V

I sat in front of the mirror as I smothered coconut oil on my hair before brushing through it with a hairbrush.

I stared at myself in the mirror and for the first time in my life, I wondered who had the same face as me in my family lineage because I neither looked like my mom or dad.

   They once told me about how they usually argued about who I would look like between the two of them and I ended up dashing their hopes by not resembling either of them.

They also joked about how I ruined the bet they had by coming out different.

Apart from my mom and dad who were both browned hair, I had a vulcanite black hair that always fell on my back, a dainty nose complemented with rapture blue eyes that glittered like shooting stars.

  I was quite popular at school and around the neighborhood because of my looks.

While others admired me and always praised me, some people thought that I was proud and would usually say demeaning and condescending words about me.

I didn't really care about what people said about me because my parents had taught me that people would always have something to say.

Growing up, my parents pampered me with all the good things of life but they would always fuzz whenever I brought a boy home or if they saw me talking to a boy. They didn't believe in getting into a relationship at an early age, so my parents were really strict with the people that I related to.

Yesterday, I clocked twenty and unlike my other birthdays, my dad threw a party that looked more like a send-off party and they were really acting so emotional that it made me cringe on sight of their emotional state.

They never acted so emotional when I graduated at highschool or when I won a beauty pageant but they were bawling their eyes out on my birthday and it made me feel so embarrassed because even though my friends didn't express how they felt, I could see the cringe written on their face.

A knock landed on my door, jolting me out of my thoughts as I quickly tied my hair into a messy bun. 

"Iris? Are you in there?" I heard my dad ask softly.

"Yes dad, give me a minute."

"Honey, take your time. Your mother and I want to have a serious conversation with you, please come downstairs as soon as you are done." He said from the outside and I heard his footsteps receding.

I removed the robe that I was wearing and pulled a huge cardigan over my head, wondering why my parents would want to have a serious conversation with me. 

From my observation, my parents have been acting pretty weird since yesterday.

Apart from them acting emotional on my birthday, they were always around me and sometimes I would catch my mom cleaning her tears with a handkerchief while my father's face looked pale and sullen.

It was my birthday! Why were they acting like that?

I slipped my leg into the sweatpants and exhaled out before walking out of the room, strolling down the stairs while swiping through my phone.

"Hmmm." My mom cleared her throat as I got to where they were sitting.

"How many times would I warn you not to use your phone while coming down the stairs. What if you fall down the stairs? What's wrong with you, Iris?" My mom scolded and I noticed that my dad shot a glare as she was done talking.

I sat on the porch across the couch they were sitting on, glancing back and forth at my parents who had an emotional expression on their faces. "Mom, Dad, what's wrong? Why do you look sad? Is there anything wrong or is there a problem with the business?"

My dad heaved out a sigh, staring into space before clearing his throat. "Iris, it's about time I tell you about something very important."

"Important? Are you guys planning on divorcing?" I blurted out.

"No!" They both shouted at the same time.

"That's actually better, I can't imagine the two of you separating. I don't think I would be able to live with the thought of that," I smiled as they smiled back in return.

"Iris, your mother and I would never separate but I have something really important to say and it concerns your future."

After seeing the serious look on his face, it made me wonder what he could be trying to say.

"When your mom first announced that she was pregnant, I felt my heart leap for joy because I knew that my mini me was coming into the world. We were both happy and we anticipated your birth but everything changed on a certain night where your mom and I got into a car accident. She gave up the ghost with you in her belly." My dad said in a voice barely above a whisper.

I didn't know when I bursted into laughter because everything he was saying sounded so unrealistic.

If my mom died, how was she still alive and how was I still alive?"

"Listen to your father. I know this sounds quite unbelievable but let him speak." My mom said.

"Okay, I am all ears," I struggled to say, trying to control my laughter.

"I prayed to the gods to save my wife and daughter. Like a dream, the moon goddess listened to my cry for help, she revived you and your mother." He sighed with his head ducked down.

"Dad! Is this a joke? Are you playing pranks on me now?" I raised a brow, with my gaze fixated on him. When I saw the tears that welled up in his eyes, I knew that it wasn't a joke.

"Wait! What?"

"She made me make a promise to her! The promise is that if she revives the two of you, you would get married to a werewolf when you clock 20. Just a day before your birthday, I got a letter from her reminding me about my promise and who your groom would be." He sniffled, burying his face in his palm while I stared at him with my mouth slightly agape.

It seemed like the world stopped for a second and I was the only one in my own world or maybe I was just having a problem with my hearing. I must be dreaming because this can't be real. 

It can't be real!

"We are sorry." My mother's loud cry jolted me back to reality.

When I saw the seriousness in their words and tears, then I knew that whatever they were saying was true. Everything was starting to make sense now! When they protested against me having a male friend, how they were too overprotective and the way they acted all teary on my birthday. It was all starting to make sense now!

I was lost of words to say and suddenly felt a wave of resentment rush through me because how could they do this to me? Didn't he think this through before accepting her deal? How could my mum be in support of this? She was supposed to stand up for me! Why?

This was just too much for me!

I just stood up from the porch and walked back to my room with my parents screaming my name, telling me to stop but I ignored and drowned in the thoughts that flew around my head. 

Why would my father make such a promise without my consent? So he used me as the sacrifice to revive mum? Why would he do this to me when I have my whole life right ahead of me.

All the things that I promised to do when I clocked 20 rushed through my head and I felt every nerve of mine weaken as I placed my hand on the door knob while shuddering a breath. Before I knew it, a tear rolled down my cheeks as I sunk into the bed while crying my eyes out.

How did my life go from being perfect to being a nightmare?

Suddenly, a thought popped up in my head. What if I leave everything and run for my life?

I stood up from the bed and wiped off my tears with the back of my hands. I searched my eyes around the room looking for those damn car keys.

My eyes fell on the key lying on my dressing mirror, my fingers were all aquiver as I grabbed my keys and looked down the window, checking if I would be able to escape through the window without having any fracture.

It didn't really matter to me if I injured myself on the way down. The only thing that mattered to me was that I needed to leave this house as soon as possible before my worst nightmare came to pass.

I would never get married to anyone against my will, not to talk of a werewolf.