MadeleineI was not going to be a part of the lich’s evil plan. There was no purpose for me to continue living as the pain of losing Hayden was still fresh in my mind, clawing at my heart, making it bleed.My werewolf blood helped me lessen the physical pain but the hurt that I felt at losing Hayden right in front of my eyes was too much to bear.Thus, I ran towards the dagger and caught it before either the serpent, the girl or the lich could react.“I obviously can kill myself and be free of your underground prison”I held the dagger to my throat and I felt his cloak ruffle.“Yeah, I know you need me alive, and I am not going to give my blood to turn your wretched plan a reality. Both the serpent and the girl tried to move toward me and I held the knife close to my throat.“Ask them to back off, or I will plunge this knife into my throat”I warned as I tightened my grip around the dagger’s hilt, making my knuckles almost turn white due to the pressure.“Perhaps this will put some se
MadeleineAfter hearing my cries of begging and pleading, Leo was finally freed of the lich’s hold.He fell to the ground with a sickening thud and I meant to rush to him but the girl held me back.I was feeling so angry that I again used my elbow and drove a punch straight onto her nose.She stumbled backward and fell to the ground and this time, her hair fell to the side, revealing her face for the first time.I was just getting up from the ground but Leo’s face drained of all color as he stared at the girl.I turned to look at him and then the girl not knowing what was going on.He raised his hand in a disbelieving look and asked her, “W-what? How?”The lich once again cackled and asked in amusement, “Oh, I see that you still remember her.”Leo did not look at the lich but at the girl who was now getting up from the ground. She got up on her feet but with that same mechanical way as if she was a robot.“Who is she?” I blurted out without thinking.The way the color drained off his
MadeleineHis voice snapped me out of my thoughts as I awaited the next wave of horror, he was going to unleash upon us. The rest of my family was still dangling up in the air and I could feel their bodies pale as the snake’s coiled body was slowly cutting off the blood flow towards their legs.“Put them down”I didn’t plead or beg but simply stated. He did not even take a minute and simply ordered the serpent to do so.It hissed obediently before letting all of the others go. I rushed towards them and all of them collapsed on the ground.The serpent simply let them fall from such a great height instead of lowering them gently. But then I could not expect the lich or his pet to be nice to my people.Charlie and Ben were shocked but they still could get back on their feet. Raine on the other hand was pale as a white piece of paper. She had been silently crying all this time and made no effort to even move.“Raineeeee…” I cried as I could see her eyes grow heavy. She was the strongest o
Madeleine Both I and Leo looked at each other and had the same feeling of dread plastered on our faces. That one word said by Hayden was enough to tell us what the lich had done. He had given back the memories they both had of each other…of when Hayden had been in love with Cecelia. The old wounds that had scabbed were now being freshly scraped as our feelings and emotions went haywire. Hayden got on all fours as he scooted himself towards Cecelia. He threw Leo a confused look as if wondering why was a stranger holding the girl he loved in his lap. He looked into her eyes and asked, “Cecilia, what happened to you?” His voice was soft and filled with emotion and the gentleness with which he spoke ate at my heart. She looked at him, and her eyes mirrored his emotions. Hayden caressed her cheek and parted her hair as if he was her mate, not mine. Though I knew he was not my guy, it still felt odd to see him be so gentle and tender to someone who was not me. A hot wave of jealous
Madeleine My eyes flicked to Hayden who was still passionately kissing Cecelia. His hands had begun roaming through her body, into her hair, and would soon start…no, I did not want to imagine that. I looked away and the lich said just one word, “Enough” As if the two had been snapped out of something, both of them stopped kissing. Hayden had begun to draw back but Cecelia pulled him closer and captured another kiss, tugging at his lips before letting go. A devilish grin was on her face, lighting her eyes with desire and lust and the look on her face scared me. Hayden’s back was towards me so I did not know what his expressions looked like. And, I did not want to know either. I just felt relieved that they were not eating each other’s faces anymore. “Just send my family back home and I will stay here with you, willingly. Don’t hurt them and I will help you with your plan.” “Nooo” Almost everybody shouted the moment I uttered those words. But I could not bear the thought of the
MadeleineMy eyes adjusted to the dim light outside that was a bit brighter than the cave and the view of my home greeted me.My home.The property I and Hayden had selected to live forever…happily ever after.That also brought back the painful memory that it was going to be my wedding gift. In a week, from a recently married girl, I had become a mateless widow.Despite knowing that I would get no reaction, my eyes flicked to Hayden. If he could recall what this place had meant to us…of what it was going to be to us…our future.I blinked back tears and looked at the ground. This was the very place from which he had taken me inside, dragged me to the underground with him.And, this place was the starting point of his return. The very place where Amanda had realized his presence and the occultists did their rituals to raise him.Obviously, this place would mean a lot to him too. It was funny how one single place could have such polar opposite meanings for two different beings.To me, it
MadeleineI opened my eyes and felt that my face was wet. I touched my cheek and realized that tears had trickled down my eyes. However, what I had seen was just a memory but a powerful one. My mind began to come up with various theories as I replayed them in my head. The runes, the chants with me in the centre…that had to mean something.I was not sure why the memory had been hidden from me all this while or why it had resurfaced only now but my guess would be that the similarity of my current situation with the past memory might have brought it up in vivid clarity.The words of the old man and his conversation with my parents told me once again that the lich wanted to use me not harm me.I recalled everything that had happened in the cave and realized that it had been true. Whenever Amanda tried to hurt me, the lich shunned her. My blood had been too precious for him and now I knew why.Somehow, the wizard, which was what I called him in my head because of his appearance, had combi
MadeleineEverything happened so fast but it was as if I was seeing it in slow motion. As I watched in a daze, the white beam hummed with a vibrant and restless energy. It was so bright that I had to shield my eyes for a while. I believed it must be so bright and big that almost the entire forest must have witnessed the spectacle. The entire dark night that was filled with terror and gloominess and all the negativity surrounding the demon was suddenly punctured with that beam of light. Even the demon stopped chanting for a while and looked up at the sky.His expressions, at first, were of confusion but quickly it was replaced by rage. He had left the cave and came up on the land, left his stronghold, and decided to walk on the surface thinking that he was now undefeatable.Looked like he had gotten it all wrong.A smile appeared on my face as I looked at him for a brief moment and he grimaced. I did not say anything but my expressions were more than enough for him to understand what
Hello, all my lovely readers, The last epilogue marks the end of the story of Hayden and Madeleine. Writing this book has been a roller coaster of emotions for me and I hope I was able to do justice to the characters and to all of you who read the story, felt what the characters felt, rooted for some of them, and hated a few. I am still a novice writer and there is a lot for me to learn and improve. In these past few months, I have received a lot of love from you all which was my biggest dream; to be recognized as a writer. Putting my story out there was like putting my bare self out in the open for everyone to judge. I know I might have made mistakes, and that there is a lot of scope for improvement. I want to thank every single one of you for giving me and my story a chance, for giving me hope that I can write captivating stories that make you forget the real world and your worries, if only for those few minutes in which you read it. Reading your comments and reviews is the bigge
Epilogue (A month after the gruesome battle) Soft afternoon light spilled into the room where Madeleine was sleeping. The curtains rustled in the soft wind as she turned from side to side on the bed. For a month after the epic battle between her and the demon, she had been having nightmares. Pack doctors, herbologists, occultists and everyone who her family felt would be able to help her were called to her aid but their efforts bore little to no fruit. She was tossing and turning in her bed as Raine worried at her lip outside the room. She was carrying a tray in her hand that had a lot of different potions and medicines along with a cloth and a bowl of water. She quickly dabbed her eye and was about to reach for the door to open it when a hand stopped her. She looked at the man nervously and asked, “Are you sure, you want to do this?” He nodded his head gently and took the tray from her. “But the doctors say that it might shock her even more…” She said in the same nervous voi
Epilogue IISelene smiled at Madeleine, teasing her, “You really love him”Madeleine merely studied her body lying on the ground and thought of a remark but could not come up with anything.Selene spoke, “It is your wish, you have to ask for it”“I want Hayden” Madeleine spoke in a low voice.“Sorry? I can’t quite hear you,” Selene acted as if she had not heard a word.Madeleine opened her mouth and closed it again. She realized that the Goddess was making fun of her but then how long would they cry and mourn over the lives they had lost?“Please give Hayden back to me”Madeleine repeated herself and Selene said, “Louder please”“Give me Hayden!!!!”Madeleine screamed and immediately clasped her hands over her mouth. She was horrified that she had almost yelled at the Goddess but Selene did not mind.“Somebody found their voice it seems”Madeleine smiled and turned to look at him.“Come”The Goddess said and Madeleine’s soul drifted towards her. Slowly, they both neared Hayden and Mad
(All the epilogues are in 3rd POV instead of 1st POV)It was dark and gloomy while the pungent smell of smoke, charred flesh, and death hung heavily in the air.A silhouette of a woman was sadly walking through the ground, as silent drops of tears flowed down her cheeks. She was in pain; she was grieving and her ethereal form was blipping in and out of existence just like a candle’s flame that would fight against a breeze of wind to stay alive.She was Selene and she looked around at the wreck of a forest that she had lovingly and painstakingly nurtured. Her feet slowly took her to the demon’s corpse and she studied it impassively to see if there were any signs of the wretched demon left in that hollow vessel that he called his body.Then her eyes flicked to the severed head that lay not too far from the corpse. She picked it up and looked at it, dead in the eye.The demon’s eyes were thrown wide open, probably in shock and surprise at the way the dagger had cut through his neck. Sh
“Noooooooo”I let out a shriek. My eyes could suddenly see well beyond my limited vision and I saw that the crack fell just short of affecting the tree, the giver of life of the forest.The cracks stopped just a few meters away from the tree that shuddered from the impact of the demon's fist that cracked open the ground.It sobbed and gave out a terrifying cry that I had never heard before. I did not even know that it could cry but maybe it was the Goddess who could hear it and not me.I looked around wildly, wanting to find something that could stop him...something, anything...My eyes spotted the very same dagger that Valrok had hurled at me to make me cut myself and give my blood.I got up and swayed a bit but made my way towards the dagger. He saw me get up and let out a mirthless laugh.“Running away from me? That is what you should have done earlier, Selene”He taunted and looked back at the tree that was far away from both of us. And, I knew what he was going to do next.“You a
MadeleineAs I turned to the side, I saw Hayden looking at me, holding a long pole. I stared at him in shock as he raised his hands with the pole and brought it down upon me, smacking my back hard.I was so taken aback by his act that I was flung away from him and the demon. I crashed to the ground as the demon’s laughter reached me.“Fight your children, Selene”He mocked and I could feel the Goddess fuming inside me. She had been calm and composed all this while despite the demon taunting and jeering her but even a Goddess has a limit to her patience.I got up from the ground as I felt the anger wafting off me as it reached its peak. My hands shot to either side of me as I felt an uncontainable energy surge through me.The demon shot his hand forward in response as a ring of white light began to form around me. The ground below me began to crack as hellfire shot up from every possible opening, shooting straight up.The small crowd of onlookers who had dared stay back to witness our
MadeleineI took a step forward and I saw him curl his fingers into fists.“Hello my old friend Selene, took you long enough”He greeted me and I looked at myself in confusion. It was then that I realized that I had turned into a living, breathing halo. All of my body was glowing brightly as if I was made of nothing but pure, white light.The words that left my mouth were not necessarily mine but it did not matter. The Goddess had chosen me as her vessel and I would gladly let her.“I thought you had learned your lesson last time, Valrok.”'Valrok? That must be the name of the demon', I thought.The Goddess or rather I continued speaking, “I gave you enough chances to stop this madness, to not let innocent lives suffer because of your selfish goals but you leave me no choice.”Valrok snarled, “You gave me chances? You are the one who reduced me to this state! It is because of you that I had to rely on puny humans and werewolves until I grew strong enough”“There is still time, stop th
MadeleineEverything happened so fast but it was as if I was seeing it in slow motion. As I watched in a daze, the white beam hummed with a vibrant and restless energy. It was so bright that I had to shield my eyes for a while. I believed it must be so bright and big that almost the entire forest must have witnessed the spectacle. The entire dark night that was filled with terror and gloominess and all the negativity surrounding the demon was suddenly punctured with that beam of light. Even the demon stopped chanting for a while and looked up at the sky.His expressions, at first, were of confusion but quickly it was replaced by rage. He had left the cave and came up on the land, left his stronghold, and decided to walk on the surface thinking that he was now undefeatable.Looked like he had gotten it all wrong.A smile appeared on my face as I looked at him for a brief moment and he grimaced. I did not say anything but my expressions were more than enough for him to understand what
MadeleineI opened my eyes and felt that my face was wet. I touched my cheek and realized that tears had trickled down my eyes. However, what I had seen was just a memory but a powerful one. My mind began to come up with various theories as I replayed them in my head. The runes, the chants with me in the centre…that had to mean something.I was not sure why the memory had been hidden from me all this while or why it had resurfaced only now but my guess would be that the similarity of my current situation with the past memory might have brought it up in vivid clarity.The words of the old man and his conversation with my parents told me once again that the lich wanted to use me not harm me.I recalled everything that had happened in the cave and realized that it had been true. Whenever Amanda tried to hurt me, the lich shunned her. My blood had been too precious for him and now I knew why.Somehow, the wizard, which was what I called him in my head because of his appearance, had combi