“But it is not always like that.” Laura opined, adding to what Peter had stated calmly, without a note of unhappiness or dissatisfaction or envy in his voice. It was as if he had just been talking about the weather, as if he hadn’t just intoned that he was under his wife. “Yes, the females are mostly endowed with more magic, but there are some cases whereby men are too. For example our last ruler was a male, so said my mother…” “Did he have white hair?” I asked, interrupting her mid sentence, apologizing by lifting my two hands, but not retracting my sentence either way. It was best to put two questions together for her to answer. That will save time. “Yes. Here, in this community, white hair signifies more power. And so leadership isn’t passed on hereditary basis, as other communities do, but in relation to white hair component; except the ruler’s child has the white hair blessing.” Laura answered, and I nodded, thinking back to the girl I had seen with the queen, and then the boy
“Zande was with me before Diana came….” A look of fondness has overtaken Laura's face, her eyes glossy as she began to speak about the girl that was no more, the girl I wished I had met. Zande had obviously made a significant impact on this family. Even Peter was shaken. His hands were now unclasped, and he was rubbing them softly on his jean clad thighs. “She was kind and sweet, with an air of freeness and gentleness around her. The community had been skeptical about her at first, because of the rumors about her using black magic to kill her parents, but with time, she won them over when she came out from coma. She even attracted Queen Aliana’s attention, who later wanted the girl for herself; but Zande had been firm with her decision to stay with me. She had been the daughter that I had been praying to the goddess for. I thought she was the answered prayer, so I took her as one. It wasn’t long after her name got cleared up that she started going out with Aliana's first son. I act
Seeing Diana step into the room with the cup of medicine, which I had been taking for one week—since the night Laura had broken down in tears before me—I sighed, not concerned that Diana would hear me, or moved by the fact that she was laughing now. The brute. “Why the long face, Maya?” She teased, stretching the cup of greenish bitter liquid to me, her eyes twitching and swishing.I ignored her. “You don’t want it? I will have to call my mother then…” She said, dropping the cup of medicine on the bedside table. She was about to turn away, but I held her by the arm, and dropped a soft knock on her head. She was really getting bouts of fun out of delivering a medicine much bitter than anything I had tasted. It was something that Laura had concocted for the memory loss that she thought was plaguing me. Serves me right.The first time she had given it to me had been the following morning when Peter and I had prepared to go around the community as he had mentioned on that night filled
Was it already that time of the year? I knew there was an annual celebration of the peace pact between the two bordering communities and my pack, but I hadn’t known for what or who were involved. It was never held in the pack, but in either of the communities. My parents, and siblings when they had come of age in the last two years, had usually gone to these annual celebrations, leaving me alone in the house during that period. They stayed for two to three days before they came back, excited and happy. And although it got lonely sometimes—staying at home alone—I had still fancied it because I was free from bullying then, and from academic activities—since school was always put on hold then. Once, I had asked my mother why I wasn't allowed to go; why I was always left behind with the underaged in the pack, and a few aged fellas. Was I not worthy to see the communities at least? She hadn’t given me an answer. She had ended up stuttering after a long silence, before asking me to go aw
Laura and Peter’s eyes drifted from Diana to me in a split second. From the sad look in their eyes I could tell that they had witnessed, to an extent, the panic attacks, and that they felt sorry for me. I didn’t want that. I didn’t want to be someone to be felt sorry for.A sudden anger mixed with irritation arose in me, and I just didn’t want to sit on the floor again, I just didn’t want to sit in the same room with them; I needed some air—damn the suspicions it might raise. If worse comes to worse, I resolved to tell them all about it, all about my near experience with the afterlife.My hand shaking started again, but I was having none of it. I bit my lips hard till it drew blood, till my hands stopped shaking. I soughed deeply, gingerly getting on my feet, and making the walk that led me out of the room, not minding that I was the center of attention. When I got outside, I took a deep breath in, wondering which way to go from here. I could hear Laura asking Diana about the details
I stood alone in my dimly lit room, surrounded by a veil of silence that allowed my thoughts to echo through the caverns of my mind. I knew I was about to embark on a daring journey, one that would force me to confront my past, my fears, and the very people who had once inflicted immeasurable pain upon me. But I was not the same fragile girl who had been beaten to the brink of death. I was different now, stronger, both physically and emotionally.At least I thought so.It was as Diana had stated it; the Queen had announced the party two days prior, but only to the eligible representatives of varying families who had shared the information to their family members. Dim had communicated the same to Peter since he was the representative of their family—he had done that in the center square to make a fool of himself rather, for Laura had already gotten a special invitation from the Queen herself. And so today was the day whereby I went back to the pack that has haunted my life.In the
“Are you ready to go, Maya?” That was Diana. I knew her voice as much as I knew Adam’s. But why wouldn’t I? The girl called my name more than a thousand times daily.I swerved, placing automatically, a short smile on my lips, as my eyes connected to her shiny blue ones. I was not ready for another bout of inquiry from her. Besides, she looked too happy to be going to a pack party. Laura thought it was because the little girl had been hearing of werewolves all her life, the bigness of their sizes, and the softness of their thick furs. It was safe to say that the little one was curious.Diana wanted to see them change to their wolf forms too. No matter how hard I tried to talk Diana out of it, the little girl seemed intent on asking a werewolf to shift for her. I didn’t know which werewolf would do that, to shift for show, but I wouldn’t be surprised if she finally achieved her purpose. The girl was so cute to be turned down, especially now. I thought, taking note of her made up face
I felt nauseous. I felt like puking. Even though the journey to the pack had barely lasted one minute, I felt like disgorging the contents of my stomach from my mouth. My throat was scratchy too. First time perks I thought, from teleporting.One second I was holding hands with Diana on one side, and Laura on the other side, connected to the hands of the other party troopers—we were all holding our hands together like a cult would—while the queen stood in the center of the circle and chanted things that I had known nothing about; and the next minute we were here. The queen; she had been looking ethereal in her white gown which had gone past her ankles, and even shoes. She had worn a white mask too; a white mask that had enhanced the mystery that shrouded her. She hadn’t looked human; she had looked like an angel. I had seen her sons too, and her daughter. Handsome fellows if I would admit, but I looked nothing as I felt; just blank. I guessed they felt the same as our eyes had co
This week has been uneventful. I surmised as I watched the professor summarize her teaching for the day. Even my magic classes that had been slotted on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays had been uneventful. Seeing as I had a better control of my magic, I just did as they asked me, without any extra flourish. There was not a note of extra in me, of having fun whilst doing magic—not with the threat of Adam and his brothers hanging over me. Since the week started, till now, I had been waiting for the drop of the other shoe, but so far nothing has happened. It was like last weekend didn't happen, like my scar hadn't shown itself. And for my neck, all efforts to cover the mark had been futile. So, I had taken to wearing scarfs around my neck, and since it was a cold season, no one had raised an eyebrow at the piece of accessory which had never been equated to me. I had also gotten more friends, than I would have liked, or rather acquitances—people who liked me because I wasn't an ordinar
As I walked out of the Queen’s palace which was now filled with suffocating air, my heart pounded like a drum. I couldn’t shake off the feeling that Adam might have found out who I really was. I couldn’t shake off the fact that he might put two together—the mark and my accurate information on Maya—and conclude that I was she whom he sought. Maya. The thought of this possibility sent shivers down my spine, and my mind raced with fear and uncertainty.For months, I've hidden my identity well, keeping the truth open to my adopted family alone, keeping it tucked away from prying eyes and whispers in the community and the pack. But now, a careless slip, a moment of indiscretion on my own end, and everything had come crashing down—it felt like the walls were closing in on me. Could this be the reason why my significant other hadn’t wanted me to speak to their parents?‘Was it the reason?’There was no response; just the thrumming of energy I felt. She was choosing to keep quiet? Quite unde
Had I dug myself deep into a hole by bringing up the subject about Maya? I wondered, sinking into the tension that had surrounded us after Adam's last statement. Rachel's mouth has never gotten around getting closed, and Raul's grip had tightened on my hand. The triplets all had smirks on their lips, masking, almost completely, the uncomfortableness that the topic on Maya had brought up. I shook my head. Even if I hadn't talked about Maya, the triplets wouldn't have allowed Raul to leave here with me, without making some lame agreement. "Dora, is this right? Did you agree to it?" Raul asked, incredulity ringing in his voice. I hissed from irritation, before I could stop it, causing Noah's smirk to get more prominent. "Why would you think I will agree to such stupid suggestion made by egocentric fools to soothe their egos because a girl turned them down?" "I'm sorry, I just…" "You thought I will be way over my head because three fine ass boys were coming for me." I freed my hand
At my question, I noticed first that the boys became confused. They were still sporting looks that claimed that I was lying, that I was wasting time, but at the same time, I could see the doubt of their own selves, of their own story accounts, like they weren't sure of their earlier stance. I saw it in Adam's jerk, and his subtle staggering back, as if I had dealt him a blow. I saw it in Noah’s lip biting intermittent motions. I saw it in Daniel’s subtle shifting of feet, and twitching hands. Then, I saw Adam dart a glance at his brother, Noah, then at himself—an inward look into his mind—as if trying to recall something that seemed out of his grasp. His brothers were in the same turmoil, and if I wasn't hearing their heart rate, if I wasn't as confused as they are, I might have called them liars. But my ears were attuned to their heart rate, my eyes were attuned to the several emotions that ran through their face in split seconds. The triplets were confused.They were confused abo
I would have said no to Raul's request if we were alone in the hallway, considering the topic I had just bashed Duke for, considering the fact he had been aware of the matter, but for the Lycan boys. Rachel had no place in my thoughts. If I were to deny Raul his request, then the purpose of kissing him in the first place would be defeated. I couldn’t allow that. Not that I regretted the kiss though. "Yeah, sure. I would love that." I managed to say without gritting my teeth, even going ahead to clasp his hand in my mine, when what I wanted exactly, was to slap him for endorsing his family's misconduct. He must have known my thoughts on him, because he instantly made an apology with his eyes. I diverted my gaze, I wasn't going to forgive him that easily, not even with those cute eyes of his. I made no comment as I and Raul walked past Rachel and Adam, not until Daniel called me, right after I walked past him and Noah. "You must think me a joke, if you believed I was going to let y
"So where did I stop with my story?" I asked, ignoring the subtle tap on my elbow—Raul was handing me a lame warning, to stop with it. That would be expected, considering the hatred I was seeing in Duke's face now. I had taken a huge guess when I had mentioned the fact about the throne—it had come up when he had spoken of me after the throne-as if Raul had the potential of being the next one on the throne, even though there was no strand of white hair on his head. It told me that either the Queen had so much faith in her second son, or she had placed the faith on the bethrothed. That brought my attention to Diana, and her former classes with the Queen. Could Diana be the bethrothed one? If she was, then I hoped that Raul had really denounced it. I couldn’t bare the thought of Diana being plunged into this mess of a family. As much she was strong willed, she would be broken. I loved my sister too much for that. I would have taken this incident as a pointer to start speaking to her,
Three seconds into my kiss with Raul, I forgot that I was supposed to disengage from the kiss when the boys went through the bend and came to hallway we were in, I forgot that they were coming, I forgot that I had made a plan like that, I forgot that this was a kiss meant to deliver a piece of information, not for pleasure. When Raul grabbed my ass however, and squeezed, when I moaned into the kiss biting his lips, enjoying the moan that escaped from his, there was an intentional cough that brought reality into my vision again, that brought my attention to the burning mark on my neck. Oh my god. This was good. I concluded, when I remembered myself. Raul was a good kisser. Despite knowing that there were more than three people watching us, I was adept enough to still play the game. I smiled at a Raul who was shocked by my gutsy kiss and smile, but who remembered quickly how to smile flirty. Satisfied with our interaction, I disengaged from the hug. Slowly. With infinite flourish, I
This time around, the shock on the Queen’s face lasted for more than two seconds. It lasted until she croaked out a sound of amazement from her lips, which was similar to one in my head, which was similar to the ones I heard from our watchers, which had increased by the minute. “You…” She stuttered, unbelief in her eyes. She was still holding the offending hair, an offending hair that I vowed to cut when I got home. As I was still cussing the offending hair, the Queen pulled another one, and this time around, it was a little lower than a chunk. What the hell!Without much ado, I pushed her away from myself, held my hair by myself, and swerved to one of the windows of the castle—the windows could do the job of a mirror. My mouth dropped open in shock when I noticed that almost one quarter of my hair was white hair-not together-some were scattered, mixed with my black long hair. It looked like a trend, like a swag, only that it was not. I wanted it gone. It had appeared first when I
The surprise on the Queen's face, however, didn't last two seconds. As quickly as she had seemed fazed by the fact that I could add and subtract flames without needing to make a gesture with my hand, as quickly as the surprise had left. The only indication that she had been shaken had been the slight shaking of her hand as she returned the cup to the table, a shaking that led the cup to spill some of its content. Its content was a blood red liquid. Wine then. I thought, taking my eyes off the cup to her face when she stood up from her seat, dusted her hands on each other, and started walking toward me. "So, it seems that you can control the fire with your mind, at such a young age. That's huge potential, I will have to admit. Let's see how far you can go…" She said, staring at me, from my hair which was tied to a ponytail, to my tennis shoes. My significant other recoiled further into my mind, as if the gaze was scorching her. What exactly was with the both of them? I wondered,