Aria walked towards the man who emerged from behind the trees. She stared at him, mouth gaping. “Who are you?” she asked, though there is no doubt she already knew the answer in her heart.
“Holy-” Matt blurt. He was just as surprised as Aria. He stood up and grabbed Aria’s arm. “Hold on,” he said. “We need to be sure who he is.”
Aria nodded.
Yet she still took a step forward.
“Who are you?” she repeated, tears started forming in her eyes.
“I am Blake Crestwood,” he answered.
Aria and Matt did not say anything for the first few moments after hearing those words. They only looked at each other, both confused, yet hopeful.
“Blake Crestwood was dead,” Matt said.
“Father. I think you’re mistaken,” Aria said, holding her father’s arms, stopping him from attacking Lizzie again.“I will never be mistaken. If she is her daughter, that would mean that girl is also a traitor,” Blake raged.“Father, please calm down.”Aria was using all her strength to keep Blake away from Lizzie. Leo intervened as well and tried to talk Blake out of it while Matt only watch from the sofa as if the whole thing was an amusing movie.“He’s right,” Lizzie shouted.They all stopped and stared at her. “What do you mean he’s right?” Aria asked. Lizzie stood up and walked closer to Aria.“He’s right about my mother being a traitor,” he said.Aria let go of her father’s arms and pe
Aria and Leo visited one house from another, finding and analyzing clues and marks left by those who took the kids."Thirteen kids in total," Leo stated while looking at the last house they visited. Those who stayed in contact with Matt and Leo while Aria was not aware of her identity chose to leave near them.Clarke's Lake.They run when the Hunters run. They hide when they hide. And they fight when they fight.“Please, he’s only seven,” Danielle cried to Aria and Leo. She still had her apron on, she said she let little Rob play in the garden, they had a fence, so she was not worried.But then she heard him scream and when she ran after her child, all she saw was the smoke of a black van dashing out of her sight.All cases of abduction left similar traces – the symbol of the moon with runic alphabets written below it. Aria looked up t
Despite the gloomy atmosphere, the members of the Crescent pack did their part to prepare for the wedding of Leo and Aria. Cassie, the only person present who had superhuman strength because of being a vampire, lifted most of the heavy equipment that needed lifting.The others helped each other build an altar with its back facing the rippling falls behind.Aria was watching the people below work. She smiles, occasionally, at those who meet her eyes, but after that, she finds herself staring to the distance, thinking of the things that led them here and where this will lead them.She loves Leo.She loves her pack.And even though she does not think she is ready for marriage for the sake of her pack, for the sake of those kids, she will do anything.But the melancholy she felt i
Leo’s footsteps echoed all over the abandoned warehouse. He could feel the tingling sensation at his nape, which indicated that he was not alone. Despite being so quiet, he knew there were people lurking behind the shadows.He positioned himself to be ready in case someone attacks him from behind.Matt met his eyes, and they nodded to each other, understanding there was no going back in executing their plan. Everything must go without a hitch.“Althea!” Matt shouted. He heard his own voice as it bounced back within the walls of the compound. He looked up at the ceiling and made sure he was alert.No one responded.“We know you’re here,” Matt said in a loud voice. He turned around and inspected every corner of the gigantic empty place.A huge
Petals of flowers were scattered all over the green ground. People were talking in low voices like bees buzzing, and the liquid purl of the falls nearby was the only thing they could hear.The moon illuminated the Crescent pack's haven where Aria and Leo’s wedding will take place. The parents who lost their child were rejoicing upon reuniting with them and had never seen Aria and Leo without saying thank you.Everything seemed to be in place, contrary to what was happening the night before when they were all chaos because of the abduction of their kids. Matt was staring into the distance, a glass of whiskey in one hand while guarding Althea’s body.On the other side of the cabin, Cassie was putting make-up on Aria’s face. Aria looked at herself in the mirror and sighed.“What? You don’t like it?” Cassie asked.
Aria replaced her white wedding gown with black pants, a leather jacket, and combat boots. She tied her waving curly hair earlier into a bun and prepared all the other equipment they could bring to be used against the Valles.Despite having an army of hybrids, Aria can’t just go there unprepared.The rest of the pack who would fight with her made the wedding venue earlier into a space for training and preparation. From a white occasion earlier, their sanctuary turned into a training ground with kids as young as twelve throwing daggers at targets made of woods.Matt looked up at her and nodded. She smiled and nodded back at him, then Matt continued on teaching one child in aiming at the target.“We can’t these kids come,” Aria told Lizzie.“They know they can’t go with you to
Lizzie felt another searing pain on her right arm. At first, it appeared to be read, then after a few seconds, the burned skin appeared. Its appearance on her skin was also the disappearance of the burn on Blake’s right arm.“It’s so painful,” Lizzie cried, her tears swelling up in the corners of her eyes. Cassie helped her sit comfortably, as Aria inspected the burned wound.“We have to call your mom.” Aria took out her phone and started dialing Mrs. France’s phone number, but Lizzie took the phone out of her hand.“You, can’t,” she said. “I defied her by going with you, by going here. If she hears about this, ah!” Lizzie grimaced as she felt another pain in her back, “the way she sees all of you, it would be worst.”“She helped us before when we found out
The stench on Aria's nostril was replaced by a sharp and thick smell. It permeated the air in the whole new chamber they had reached.The iron-like smell became stronger as they left the secret tunnel. Aria glanced at Leo, who was crunching his nose after the smell hit him. “It’s a lot of blood,” Aria said.They walked further inside that room and had found out why the smell of blood was so strong in that room. Aria gasped after pulling out the huge curtain. Hundreds of bodies, being drained of their blood, were on the other side of that room.Some of them were still conscious that they raised their hand as high as they could, asking for Aria to help them while most of the people there were unconscious, pale, and probably, dead.“Help us,” the girl said in a weak voice. It was almost inaudible. There were tubes all
It was already seventy years ago since Aria had buried three of the people dear to her heart. It was seventy years ago since the curse of being a hybrid manifested in her life.She buried more people after that, watched them take their last breath as she held them helplessly.For the rest of the Crescent pack, they all met their end and found peace on the other side of the realm.Since she had only shared her abilities with them - taking control of when to shift, vampire-like speed, and heightened senses, not her actual hybrid status, they still stayed mortal.She watched in the background as their skin sagged and white hair filled their head.She wept and mourned and let the earth swallow them - naturally, just like her best friend, Elizabeth France - Wilson.She knew this day would come, but it still hurt like hell. Aria had prepared herself. She and
Aria and Lizzie both dashed to the woods and found a bunch of bodies scattered all around the opening. Blake’s head was still on the spike. Aria glanced at it and clenched her fists. “I will make them pay,” she whispered in between her teeth as she went inside the moonlit forest.They found Cassie kneeling on the ground, embracing Matt’s limp and lifeless body in her arms.With eyes still full of tears, and a quivering lower lip, she looked up at Aria and shook her head. “He’s gone,” she said. “He’s gone,” she said, her sobs echoed in the middle of the night.A few meters away from them was a distraught Leo. He was looking down on his bloody hands, then to Matt. Aria could hear his heart thumping from there.She flashed towards him and tried to make him focus on her eyes.
Althea came back to the castle of Crescent Hills, raging about losing Aria and her pack’s only hope to be free from the moon curse, which would consequently make them respect and worship her.But she was not the only furious one. Amara’s anger made one of the towers of the castle explode and burn. The dark clouds hid the moon, and thunder bolted on every part of Crescent Hills.The kids in each house surrounding the castle trembled in fear and loneliness as their parents were affected by the spell that compelled every Crescent to turn their back against the alpha.Leo's eyes were still
Aria’s life flashed before her eyes. She thought of her parents. They already lost her. How would they feel if they lose her again?She thought of the unjust death of her father, Blake, who was imprisoned for years in his own home and died right after taking it back from the oppressors.She thought of her best friends and her pack. The people who rely on her. The people who had their hopes for her.She thought of Leo.The love of his life.Aria knew Leo would never betray her unless he was under some kind of a spell. The person she met tonight was not the man she married.She has to save him. But how?Aria's tears meddled with the summer wind as gravity pulled her towards the dark hollow below. She marveled at the moon that cast its light over Crescent Hills.
Matt woke up from a nightmare and immediately looked at his bedside table. Beads of sweat trickled all over his forehead. He got up and walked out of the balcony to breathe fresh air.He did not realize it was already a full moon until he saw the majestic Luna shining from above. If it weren’t for Aria, if it were not for the prophecy, they would still be in pain of transitioning as a wolf tonight.He wondered what they were doing in Crescent Hills.Matt went down to grab some beer, and he almost jumped on Cassie when he saw her lurking in the dark garden. “What are you doing there?” he asked.Matt opened the glass sliding door and let her in. “What happened?” he asked. He inspected her, but she seemed fine, except for her expression.“I always have a dreamless sleep,”
Aria woke up with the sound of a woman yelling words she could not understand. The woman had long black curly hair and looked a bit older than her mother. She was holding some kind of herb, her eyes were closed, and below her is a wooden table with a little glass.The smell of wolf's bane, chrysanthemum, and other herbs Aria could not recognize lingered in the air around her. She could feel the two ropes binding her.“Hold her down,” the woman said when she noticed Aria was already awake. Before Aria could even fight back, arms surrounded her, pressing her against the tree she tied at.Aria did not know how many people were there, but she saw familiar faces with vacant eyes as if they did not recognize her.“What did you do to them? Who are you?!” she yelled at the w
Aria grunted in frustration after trying too many times to remove the ropes binding her hand on the two opposite poles. Her wrists were already red, and she could feel every fiber of the rope pricking her skin as she tried once more.Each and every one of her packs was inside the castle, celebrating with the enemy while mosquitos were biting every exposed part of her body.Her wounds did not help her in getting out.Aria tried once more with all her strength, and a muffled scream escaped her lips. She freed herself from the ropes binding her, but not without wounding her own wrist. She ignored the wounds and just ran as fast as she could, hurting herself once more in the shoulder.She knew something was in the drink they forcefully gave her. It seemed like it took all her strength. She ran towards the woods of Crescent Hills and glanced at the moon.
“Where are they?” Aria asked Matt right after torched Raymond Valle’s body together with the vampires they killed. The other vampires escaped death and ran far from Crescent Hills to God knows where.“They are with Abigail,” Matt answered.Aria breathed in relief and glanced at her father. Blake was silently staring at the dancing fire burning the bodies of those who made his life a living hell.“Father.”Sometimes, it still feels odd for her to say those words out. But, they came out of her tongue naturally as soon as she met Blake.Blake turned around, and Aria welcomed him back with a tight hug. “Thank you, for coming back,” she said, trying to speak without breaking her voice, but she failed.Aria sniffed and leaned back.&ldq
The stench on Aria's nostril was replaced by a sharp and thick smell. It permeated the air in the whole new chamber they had reached.The iron-like smell became stronger as they left the secret tunnel. Aria glanced at Leo, who was crunching his nose after the smell hit him. “It’s a lot of blood,” Aria said.They walked further inside that room and had found out why the smell of blood was so strong in that room. Aria gasped after pulling out the huge curtain. Hundreds of bodies, being drained of their blood, were on the other side of that room.Some of them were still conscious that they raised their hand as high as they could, asking for Aria to help them while most of the people there were unconscious, pale, and probably, dead.“Help us,” the girl said in a weak voice. It was almost inaudible. There were tubes all