"What...the..?!"Suddenly, I felt as if I was being pulled down from the floor. I didn’t know if there was any surface beneath me or just...endless road of terror.“No, no, no, no,” I screamed and closed my eyes to accept my fate when suddenly, I felt a pair of arms around my waist.I opened my eyes and saw him.“VALENTINE?!” he was smiling at me, holding me in his arms. His grip was strong, yet the most romantic one. He was looking deep into my eyes as he chuckled.“Were you scared, My Love?”“I..I.” I don’t know why I couldn’t speak a single word. Watching him, feeling his grasp on me, was making me much more curious about him.It felt as if he was using his charm as magic on me. To impress me, make me feel things I’ve never felt before. Getting me to like his existence around me more.“Hailey?” He calls out my name.“Y..yeah?” I come out of my unconsciousness as I figure Valentine is now laughing at me in silence. He finally set me down on the grass and plucked a flick of my hair b
“God, you’re driving me crazy, Hailey.”Valentine gripped my hands and slid them above my head as I lay back under his command. He moved his face closer and stared right into my eyes.“Can’t say I wasn’t waiting for this moment to arrive, Hailey. I wanted you so badly. I never thought I’d be living this amazing and sensual moment with you.”He killed the distance between us, and once again brushed his soft lips against mine. It definitely grew stronger.Suddenly, I feel one of his hands on my stomach, reaching down to get a hold of my waist, then even lower. He managed to slide his fingers underneath my nightwear, under my panties, as I stared into his eyes, almost terrified.Valentine Stopped. He smiled and retrieved his hand.“You never experienced this, have you?”I stay silent for a while before admitting.“I haven’t.”I thought he’d get all awkward and act foolish or aloof, but he did just the opposite. Valentine cupped my cheek and picked me up in his arms instantly.“Woah,” I h
I shielded myself, crumbling into the ground as I saw through the peek of my eyes that June already launched her attack on Victoria.Before June can reach her, she gets thrown into one of the cafeteria tables by an invisible force.“June?!” I screamed as Eve and I both rushed to her side. She was still in her werewolf form.“June, easy. Stop this.” She opened her eyes, and they instantly searched for Victoria, who had already run away. And suddenly, I see a shadow behind me.“Enough, June. She’s gone.” It was Jace. She was the one who pushed June aside. June faced her own brother in frustration, and growled at him.“She should have been gone from the start, Jace. This is on you!” June was talking to Jace, but obviously, I could hear her thoughts.Jace turned his face down in tension and anger. He shook his head as if he was already exhausted by all this.“What is going on here?!” Our eyes fall to the other side of the room from where our supervisor and principal were coming from.Her
“She..what?” Eve screamed as she quickly got up from the bed, pacing closer towards us.“Look, I’m not really in the position to tell June’s story. I’m her big brother, and I would not disrupt her privacy or any other thing. So if you can ask her directly, that would be great. I need to go and check up on her.”Jace was about to walk away again, but I smashed my hand on the door once again, showing how frustrated and angry I was.“Well, June is in no condition to do this herself, is she?!” I moved my hand away instant because I knew anger wouldn’t help to get us anywhere.“Look, Jace. June sure is your sister, but she’s our friend too. She means something to us. She’s been there for us. I think it’s only fair that we truly be there for her, too.”Eve and I stood right beside each other, facing Jace with concerning looks on our faces. After a few seconds, he surrendered and walked over to my bed, sitting down.“Before we came here, June had a friend. His name was Mikael. He was the onl
”There is one problem, though,” June said, as we all turned our attention to her.“What?”“Ms Laura, she..uhhh. She decided that it would be better if I didn’t take part in the races. She fears of me transforming again if I competed against Victoria.““Speaking of her, where the hell is she?” Eve asked.“She’s being questioned by Ms Laura. She already questioned June about it. It’s her turn now.”“Well, let’s just hope something good comes out of it.”“But that can’t be possible, right? I mean, June transforming again? She can control herself, I’m sure. She’s no threat to anyone...right?” We all stare at each other because deep down we all knew there was a possibility of her shifting again.She knew the truth, and we knew the truth. We just didn’t want to believe it.“Look, I’ll work on it, I swear. I...” She took a deep breath and fell down on the grass in disbelief, “I...I don’t know. I don’t think Ms Laura would allow me to engage in it. And I don’t want to waste each one of your t
--Day 1 of the Tournament--It was miraculous. I never thought that so many students were fond of games like these. They were going on for generations, that’s for sure. But I guess my thoughts of ‘the modern world taking over the supernatural one’ were rather stupid.We don’t lose faith in our morals and the way we used to live. We stick to our traditions. And we loved them.Ms Laura was calling out the rules. There were a total of 8 teams including ours. We were number 4 and Victoria’s team was number 1.“Okay, I’m a little scared,” Eve says while hopping up and down.“It’s okay, Eve, you don’t have to worry about anything. I’m here, aren’t I?” Dario speaks to her as he softly and awkwardly patted her shoulder.They both were weird and geeks, but they looked perfect together.“Okay, the university sure does change the whole cycle of the games every year, but there is one game that’s the most difficult. And that is the last one.”“That is?” I ask Max.“Getting in possession of the gre
“Hailey, look!” Eve screamed as she pointed towards a few scary, black trees. The dark forest, we’re here!"I look in the direction of June joins me. Since Jace was the second strongest in our group, he had no difficulty driving the boat alone.“Look, we’re late and already on number 5! We have to hurry!” June exclaimed as me and Eve helped Dario and Max climb up.“You both okay?” I extended my hand to Max, and I could clearly see he was hella shy taking it. Even if it was just a small decent gesture, he couldn’t maintain and control his cheeks turning red.“Ugh, come on, nerd,” Dario shifted back right after his lower body was out of the water. He helped Max climb up on the boat instead, as we all made our way into the forest.The surrounding trees weren’t trees, they were giants. Literal giants.“Okay, June. What should I know about this dark forest?”“This is a game of trust, Hailey. We can encounter anything here. From a fly to an animal. Anything.”“Even snakes,” Eve added.“Snak
“Hailey?!” I hear screaming and I knew I was dead. I closed my eyes and shielded my body with my own hands..before...“Hey, Grandpa!”Everyone looked around to see where the voice was coming from, but we couldn’t find anyone. The giant bunny ignored the voice and continued his process to crush me, but before he could see me, Jace had already picked me up and had me hide behind a tree with him.“Are you okay?!” Jace had his arms around me, he was practically holding me up like a baby. I could see his perfect crystal eyes, which were turning red.I knew that whenever a vampire is tensed or under pressure, their body reacts to the situation, implying a threat to others and automatically turning their eyes red.Jace finally settled me down, carefully addressing and securing the surrounding area. We were a few seconds away from the others. We could see our friends, but they didn’t know our location just yet.“Y-You saved me!?” I stare deep into Jace’s eyes. Suddenly, I realized that I had
“Yes, yes, I did. I found you because you told me so.” I say to her. It was always like she was impressed. Impressed by my actions, my courage and the audacity to bring and risk someone else’s life too.Somehow, I knew that Constellation knew about Ms Wallace around. Of course, if someone’s asking you to come visit them discreetly, they want to be discreet. Me, bringing Ms Wallace was a break of trust and boundaries.“I see you brought a friend with you.” She says, pointing in a direction behind me.“You were the only one who said no to trust people, so I guess that’s all I’m doing. For now, I don’t trust you, but I do trust Ms Wallace that, if something goes sideways, she’ll help.”Constellation smiled, exposing her gritted blackish teeth. Even her tongue was dark. It was almost like she was a dark witch, not a good one. Her aura was the only thing that led me to think this was a bad idea.“Follow me,” she says.“Follow you where?!”“You’ll find out soon,” and just like that, she sta
Prom was coming. Before that, our mid-semesters were coming. Was I prepared? Hell no. I wasn’t. Sure, I was doing great in my lectures. I paid attention and was, an A-grade student. But..I guess there was something that was keeping me from studying.That old lady. Constellation.I knew Ms Wallace knew something about her. Something that no one else knows about. I just knew it, deep in my heart. But I guess I can’t really blame her for not telling me. I was keeping a few secrets from her myself, and so was she.We were just playing...safe.A few days went by. Ms Wallace and I agreed not to talk about this to anyone else. Not Eve, not June. not anyone. Not ever my Dad. And I accepted her rules. It was always better this way. I’ve already put a risk on Eve before. Not in hell would I do it once again.And Valentine? Can’t say I didn’t miss him, but I sure in hell didn’t call out to him.Maybe...just maybe June was right? What if he was a tribrid? What if he was, and is that why he is sti
“Well, if you’re trying to send me on the right path, and if you’re trying to help me live my life. Let’s start by telling me who you are.”The old woman smiled. It was almost like she was toying with me, which made me fucking uncomfortable. She talks about trust and I don’t even know who she is.Or maybe, maybe I do?“Who are you?” I asked in a dominating voice.“I..am the ancient one. I am the immortal one. I am...Constellation.”“Constellation? As in stars?”“As in an ancient creature, young one.”“Creature? Well, that’s not new to me. We’re all creatures here..just not old.”“You’ve grown. A lot faster and more intelligent than I thought. Only, you’ve become weak.”“Weak? Well, if you helped me in some way, it didn’t make my life much easier. It made my life worse. I have these freaking nightmares and visions that I shouldn’t even suppose to be seeing. And now you’ve come again, saying you wanna help?”“No thanks. I’m way okay being weak than begging for your help.”“Who said you’
Ms Wallace stared at me for a while. Felt like she was trying to figure out whether to help me or not. After, the big act, I put it in front of her and Dad.“Look, I know that I have no reason to ask you something like this. Not after the way I treated you at my Mother’s funeral, but.”I stare at her eyes and let it all out.“Ms Wallace, these nightmares that I always have are the worst. Every emotion I feel, I feel in reality. Every injury I get, I feel the pain of it on my body. Every person I see or meet, it feels like I know them, but I actually don’t.”“I don’t know at this point who to trust and who to not. It all feels real, but then I wake up in the real world. And I just sit there and curse myself for being this different. I don’t want to be this person.”“Adult life or college life. It’s all about finding the real you. How can I even do that when I don't even know if I’m living in the real world or not?!”She stayed quiet, maybe addressing the scenario before speaking again.
“Yes, yes, I did. I found you because you told me so.” I say to her. It was always like she was impressed. Impressed by my actions, my courage and the audacity to bring and risk someone else’s life too.Somehow, I knew that Constellation knew about Ms Wallace around. Of course, if someone’s asking you to come visit them discreetly, they want to be discreet. Me, bringing Ms Wallace was a break of trust and boundaries.“I see you brought a friend with you.” She says, pointing in a direction behind me.“You were the only one who said no to trust people, so I guess that’s all I’m doing. For now, I don’t trust you, but I do trust Ms Wallace that, if something goes sideways, she’ll help.”Constellation smiled, exposing her gritted blackish teeth. Even her tongue was dark. It was almost like she was a dark witch, not a good one. Her aura was the only thing that led me to think this was a bad idea.“Follow me,” she says.“Follow you where?!”“You’ll find out soon,” and just like that, she sta
Prom was coming. Before that, our mid-semesters were coming. Was I prepared? Hell no. I wasn’t. Sure, I was doing great in my lectures. I paid attention and was, an A-grade student. But..I guess there was something that was keeping me from studying.That old lady. Constellation.I knew Ms Wallace knew something about her. Something that no one else knows about. I just knew it, deep in my heart. But I guess I can’t really blame her for not telling me. I was keeping a few secrets from her myself, and so was she.We were just playing...safe.A few days went by. Ms Wallace and I agreed not to talk about this to anyone else. Not Eve, not June. not anyone. Not ever my Dad. And I accepted her rules. It was always better this way. I’ve already put a risk on Eve before. Not in hell would I do it once again.And Valentine? Can’t say I didn’t miss him, but I sure in hell didn’t call out to him.Maybe...just maybe June was right? What if he was a tribrid? What if he was, and is that why he is sti
“Well, if you’re trying to send me on the right path, and if you’re trying to help me live my life. Let’s start by telling me who you are.”The old woman smiled. It was almost like she was toying with me, which made me fucking uncomfortable. She talks about trust and I don’t even know who she is.Or maybe, maybe I do?“Who are you?” I asked in a dominating voice.“I..am the ancient one. I am the immortal one. I am...Constellation.”“Constellation? As in stars?”“As in an ancient creature, young one.”“Creature? Well, that’s not new to me. We’re all creatures here..just not old.”“You’ve grown. A lot faster and more intelligent than I thought. Only, you’ve become weak.”“Weak? Well, if you helped me in some way, it didn’t make my life much easier. It made my life worse. I have these freaking nightmares and visions that I shouldn’t even suppose to be seeing. And now you’ve come again, saying you wanna help?”“No thanks. I’m way okay being weak than begging for your help.”“Who said you’
Ms Wallace stared at me for a while. Felt like she was trying to figure out whether to help me or not. After, the big act, I put it in front of her and Dad.“Look, I know that I have no reason to ask you something like this. Not after the way I treated you at my Mother’s funeral, but.”I stare at her eyes and let it all out.“Ms Wallace, these nightmares that I always have are the worst. Every emotion I feel, I feel in reality. Every injury I get, I feel the pain of it on my body. Every person I see or meet, it feels like I know them, but I actually don’t.”“I don’t know at this point who to trust and who to not. It all feels real, but then I wake up in the real world. And I just sit there and curse myself for being this different. I don’t want to be this person.”“Adult life or college life. It’s all about finding the real you. How can I even do that when I don't even know if I’m living in the real world or not?!”She stayed quiet, maybe addressing the scenario before speaking again.
Before I could respond to this news, the bell rang. It was time for our classes. June sighed repulsively and calmed her anger down.“Look, Hailey. I know you must hate me. And I’m sorry that I clashed with you like I did just now. But...that guy gave me the vibes that I did not like. And..You have to know that I’m just looking out for you. You..know that, right?”I stared at her, and quickly diverted my eyes. Maybe she misunderstood him. If Valentine was a tribrid. He would have told me. But...June is only one step backwards for being a tribrid herself. She knows what she’s talking about.“I..” I fluttered as she recognized my uneasiness, changing the subject.“Okay, look. We don’t have to talk about this right now. And don’t worry, I won’t tell anyone about your secret prince charming. Just...try not to hide stuff from us, Hailey. We’re all your friends here.”As soon as June let out her frustration, she walked out of the bathroom, leaving me alone. I knew she was disappointed. That