Chapter 008

Hey Sera!

It's been long, hasn't it?

I'm glad you gave me something exciting to spend the day doing but unfortunately there's no trace of what you are looking for on the internet.

It's almost like it was wiped off from every single place with a duster.

But! The good news is - I am currently visiting my grandmother and she remembered a story her grandmother used to tell them, about the mark.

According to her, it was a story used to scare and caution children in their times, but with time nobody heard of these stories again.

Stories of scary creatures coming out from the pit of hell to torment mankind.

Creatures who once rose from the darkness - seeking domination over the earth, wanting revenge on mankind.

It was just in tiny pieces because she didn't recall the full story but she remembered the mark and the creatures who bore them.

It was a magical mark - and the names of these creatures are Vorlak.

In her words, 'where they went, death and darkness followed. Their main aim was to end life on earth because of their jealousy and hatred. Because millennia ago, the moon goddess had casted them away to the realm of hell - and they envy mankind for being the sole benefactors of the goddess' creations.

So one time, they rose - killing, wrecking havoc until they were casted away once more by a powerful witch who sacrificed her life, to see their end.'

I hope this helps.

Do hit me up if you need anything else and if I find something I'll be sure to let you know.

My fingers were shaking as I closed the mail, then I opened it up again and sent Derek another mail.

'Thank you so much for this. Please check if you can find anything about the abandoned Costa Zoo.'

What on earth am I doing? What on earth was I getting myself into? I had no idea but the point was I didn't want to stop.

I had to know.

Goddess above helped me but I had to know. I just had to pray to the moon that it doesn't become my end.

I didn't have to wait for up to five minutes before Derek responded.

'Perhaps soon you should be able to tell me what's going on, Sera. But about the zoo - here are some links I was able to dig up. Good luck in whatever this is, Love.'

Good luck...

Sure I'm going to need it.

I sent Derek my thanks before clicking on the first link he sent. It was just a heap of nonsense with no real and helpful information so I skipped to the second one which was a little more helpful.

So one after the other I went, my eyes scanning every single word in the sites, taking in the information.

By the time I got to the end of the fourth one, my heart was wildly racing as I had gotten more than enough.

The abandoned Costa Zoo was said to be the very first building on this land, built by the first ever Alpha of the park.

If it was that ancient - perhaps it could have some helpful information about these ancient werewolves and creatures.

Well, at least I hope so.

I went to the fifth link but it was just pictures of maps, drawings.

Some minutes later, I already knew that there were secret tunnels in the zoo.

With another silent prayer to the goddess or whichever gods cared enough to listen, I shut my laptop off, grabbed a bag and left my room.

I was so distracted, only focused on getting to my destination that I hadn't noticed that there was someone in the sitting room until my mum called out to me.

"Sera? Where are you going?"

I turned, and paused as she got up from the sofa she was sitting on with concern etched on her swollen face.

"I have to run some errands mum, I'll be back soon."

"Be careful - I can't afford to lose you Sera. You are my only daughter left." She hiccuped at the last word and despite myself, I frowned.

"Definitely wasn't what you were yelling at me yesterday, mother dearest."

Her face crumbled and she took a step forward towards me then stopped.

"I'm...I'm sorry about what I said to you dear. You didn't need to hear any of that and...I was just so..."

I knew.

I should understand that she was going through a pain so grave it could mess with one's head. But that didn't stop my heart from breaking all over again when I recalled her words.

∆ It was supposed to be you. ∆

"It's fine mother," I said, turning away, "I understand."

I didn't wait for her response, didn't want to - before I left the house.

The zoo was dead quiet when I got there and there was no single sign of Madison.

So, I just went ahead to the back door where I knew one of the secret places I sought was.

༺༺♡♡༻༻

One gasp wasn't enough to express just how shocked I was, so I released another, and another.

Because standing before me was a secret library which had been built under this zoo.

It hadn't taken so long to get here thanks to the maps that Derek sent. There was a secret entrance right in Madison's office which was thankfully empty and the entrance had led me directly to a tunnel which brought me to this magnificent library I was staring at.

I walked in, and squeezed my nose at the smell of dust and rotten odour that filled the room - which wasn't really that surprising since gods alone knew how long this place had been abandoned.

From the smell, and the dust and cobwebs, I was willing to wager that no legs had crossed this place for a century or even more than a couple of centuries.

I ignored the bad odour and the cobwebs hanging out, and walked straight to the first shelf I could reach.

There had to be about a hundred thousand books in here and the goddess above. How was such a treasure chest hidden from the world? I had no idea.

I picked up the first five books that caught my interest and stuffed them in my bags.

If I'm lucky, perhaps I'd get some helpful information in them because these books were ancient ones, judging from their covers and all.

I hesitated for a while contemplating if I should perhaps stay a bit longer but I shook my head and turned back to the door.

I'd definitely come back later. Right now I had to make sure that Madison doesn't catch me here.

Luckily for me, when I opened the door in her office she was still nowhere to be found so I carefully placed the secret lock back, and crept out.

༺༺♡♡༻༻

The tension I sensed the moment I walked through our door had me freezing mid step even before I saw my mum on the floor holding another woman who was sobbing. They were both surrounded by more women - all familiar faces.

Oh, what's it again?

“What's wrong?” I whispered, unsure if anyone could hear me, but one of the ladies lifted her gaze, her red eyes locking onto mine.

“Beta Matthew and his whole family were found murdered in their house - butchered the same way your sister was.”